^“What do you say we get out of here and grab some coffee? I know a little place a few blocks over that has the best cappuccino ever.”

“Cappuccino? In Bond, Alaska?” Aidan paused. “You’re serious.”

“Of course, I am. Bond has come a long way, or so I hear. We have a movie theater, and I’ve heard there’s even talk of a Costco going in.”

“That’s progress to you?” Aidan laughed.

“What? Did I say something funny?”

“You’re cute, that’s all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I side-eyed him playfully.

He cleared his throat, and glanced around uncomfortably.

“Do you have something you want to tell me, Aidan?”

“It’s nothing.” He chewed on his lip and avoided eye contact.

“Oh, now I really have to know, Mister.” I poked him in the ribs and faux glared at his handsome face.

“Fine. I’ll tell you. Things are changing so much up here, and it’s hard to get used to it. That’s all.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the population in Bond is exploding, for one. Humans from the Lower Forty-Eight come up here with the Northern Lights twinkling in their eyes. They think they can fix things up here, and make humans and shifters live in peace.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

He sighed. “It feels like progress is pushing out our way of life. There’s a reason shifters live in their own village. We’re not wanted here in civilization, and we know it. People talk about shifter equality, and they act like they’re not prejudiced, but that’s a lie. Separate but equal, they say. What kind of life is that for anybody, anyway?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I didn’t know you felt so strongly. I just wanted a cup of coffee. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Sorry, I get heated up about this type of stuff. It’s not your fault. It’s hard to live with after what they did to me.”

“Did to you?”

“Never mind. I’ve said too much.” He paused thoughtfully. “Let’s just scoot out of here and get our coffee. Forget I ever made fun of your fancy-pants cappuccino, okay?”

I rocked back on my heels. “Not so fast. I like it when you tell me the truth and not what I want to hear. I don’t want you to lie to me.”

“I’d never lie to you.”

“Okay then, tell me this. I know there’s a reason Dominic doesn’t want me defending Chase Reynolds. It’s more than ‘we take care of our own.’ What’s the real reason? I think you know why and you’re not telling me.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Aidan said as he dried his palms on his pants. The room had suddenly become uncomfortably warm despite the sub-zero temperatures outside my window.

“I don’t understand. Chase Reynolds is a nobody. He’s not going to challenge anybody else. Why let him die for a crime he didn’t commit? Even you didn’t want to help me when I came to see you.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” My eyes flashed with fire.

Aidan shuffled his feet on the floor. “Look, shifters have their own way of doing things. When I heard there was a human, and an outsider no less, coming around asking questions…well, it didn’t sit well with me at first. We take care of our own kind.”

“But then you decided to help me. You took me to see your pack’s council the first time we met.”

“Well, I didn’t expect you to look like this when I talked to you on the phone, now did I?” Aidan smiled at me flirtatiously.

“Is that the real reason?”

“What do you think?” He eyed my curves, and licked his lips.

“You’re insatiable, you know that?”

“Mmmm. I am for you,” he laughed.

I leaned back against the creaky oak desk and ran my palms against its roughly hewn surface. The scent of our passion still hung heavily in the air. I breathed it in, savoring it as it spread through my lungs, and smiled.

“So, what I don’t understand is why shifters play nicely at all with humans. I mean, you could rip us apart if you wanted to. Why do you guys stay clear of Bond and live in fear of humans?”

“Fear?” He laughed. “No, dear. It’s not fear. Shifters have a code of ethics that’s been passed down for thousands of years. We respect our clan, and we respect the land. That’s a foreign concept to most humans. You have us beat in numbers, and in weapons. Humans have nuclear warheads, missiles, and other things we wouldn’t ever consider using. It’s not the shifter way. When I kill someone, it will be because he deserved it, and I’ll be looking him in the eyes. I won’t stab him from behind.”

“Oh, I see. You like to stab people in the front instead of the back. Big difference.”

“Look, what we do is pure. It’s not some manipulation or tactical maneuver. When we see injustice, we right it. We don’t need prisons to do that.”

I scoffed. “Oh, so you think my law degree is worthless then? I should just go vigilante when I see something wrong and take the law into my own hands? Do you realize what kind of world we’d live in if everyone did that?”

He pressed his hands across my shoulders and massaged them in light, slow circles with his warm fingertips. A sensual tingle spread through my body. Even when we argued, my senses electrified at his touch.

“I’m not putting down your way. I’m just explaining,” he said quietly.

“And that’s why a crazy bear shifter ended up dead in my apartment?”

“I didn’t say it always worked out for the best. Anyway, that’s why we tend to keep to ourselves. Humans want to change us so we’re like them, and we’re not going to change. We have been doing fine for thousands of years without their so-called help.”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and chewed on my lip.

His eyes softened. “Look, I said I’ll help you with the case, and I will. It goes against everything in my body to disobey Dominic, just so you know. But I love you and my loyalty is to you.

“I love you, too, Aidan. And I know I have a lot to learn about shifters if I’m going to become one of you,” I said as I slid on my parka. “How about you tell me more over a cup of coffee?”

“Truthfully? I can’t stand coffee. It’s liquid poison,” he winced.

“Fine, then. How about a slice of pizza?”

“As long as I can eat the meat off the pizza and put all the veggies where they belong…in the trash.”

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” I laughed.