Lily had made a grave mistake. It wasn’t that she had gone to Stammerin’ Eddies to drink the best-worst coffee in town, or that she had tried to patronize local businesses to prove she cared about the new town she was moving into. It wasn’t even that she had tried to talk to a total of seven locals, the last of whom had grabbed her child and ran.

The woman actually ran down Main Street.

Down freaking Main Street.

Compared to this, those things were nothing.

Compared to this, well... nothing compared to this.

Lily looked down the tree to where the cat-human and the dog-human circled beneath her. If the strange noises in her new house, the randomly appearing gnomes, and glowing eyes of her contractor-handyman hadn’t convinced her that Lucky Valley was full of the unexplained, this definitely did the trick. The cat roared and hissed. The dog growled and barked. They both looked like they wanted to eat her.

Lily tried to catch her breath as she hugged the trunk and balanced on a tree branch. Her hand shook as she fumbled for the phone inside her pocket. It slipped from her fingers and she caught it between her legs. Beneath her, the shifters continued to pace and stare up at her. The cat roared louder and jumped several feet off the ground. She jerked out of his way so he couldn’t grab her.

“Breathe, Lily, breathe,” she whispered.

She brought up her phone contacts and tapped Nolan’s name. The dog jumped, and then the cat, as if competing to see who could get closer. She yelped in fright as claws knocked off her shoe.

“This is Nolan,” he answered.

“Where are you?” she demanded.

“Lily? Is that you?”

“Where are you?”

“Near the woods outside of town. Why? Is everything all right?”

“Nolan, you know how you said I would need you, and that I was lucky to have you because you knew the supernatural stuff around here and—”

“Whoa, easy, calm—”

“—I didn’t know about that stuff and—”

“Slow down.”

“—there is a cat and dog trying to eat me and I don’t particularly want to be on the menu—”

“Wait, what are you talking about? You’re not making any sense. Can you get to better reception?”

“No, I can’t get to better reception,” she yelled. “I’m stuck in a tree.”

“A tree?”

“Seriously, is this the best help you’re going to—ah!” Lily felt a tug on her shoe and the second one fell off. “I think I found who has been threatening us. And they want me dead.”

“Lily, where are you?” Nolan’s voice filled with concern, though she would have liked a little more urgency in his tone to indicate he understood the full horror of her situation.

“Some park with a statue of a naked mermaid.” She lost her balance for a moment and wobbled on the branch.

“Poseidon Park. I’m on my way. Who’s after you?” Nolan asked.

“A cat and a dog,” she said.

“Wait, what? Seriously?”

“Dog-man and cat-man,” she said. “I don’t know what to call them. One second they’re smoking by the public restrooms and the next they’re sprouting fur and chasing me up a tree.”

“Catshifter, wolfshifter?” he asked.

“Are you really going to lecture me about my language choices?” she demanded. “Never mind. Some bodyguard contractor you are. I should have called the police.”

“No, wait. Here’s what I need you to do. Tell them you’re on the phone with Nancy Felinus.”

“I don’t think they’re going to care, Nolan.”

“Just do it, Lily.” He mimicked her tone.

“I’m on the phone with Nancy Felinus,” she yelled.

The cat stopped jumping and grabbed the dog’s arm.

“Now say she’s calling Darcy,” Nolan said.

“And she’s going to call Darcy,” Lily yelled before ad-libbing, “She’s not pleased.”

To her surprise, it worked. The two shifters ran off, leaving her in the tree.

“Nolan, I can’t believe that worked. Who are Nancy and Darcy? Local law? Animal patrol?”

“Their mothers,” he said with a small laugh. “Trust me, that’s worse than anything law enforcement would do.”

The catshifter came running back, and Lily stiffened. She drew the phone back, readying to pelt him with it.

He held his hands up as the fur retracted into his face. He looked like a high schooler. “Please don’t tell her you caught us smoking, Ms. Goode. We’re sorry for scaring you. We were just joking around. I promise, we won’t do it again.”

Lily frowned. He even sounded like a kid. His young voice held more fear than threat in his human form. “And you’ll stop vandalizing my property?”

“I don’t know what that means, ma’am. We don’t go on Goode land.” He bounced on his feet as if he might run away at any second. “I swear. We know better than to tempt the spirit of Marigold Crawford Goode.”

“Lily? Lily?”

She realized Nolan was still on the phone yelling at her.

“Good point. You think your mom is frightening, you better get home before my mother comes,” Lily told the kid, feeling only mildly guilty using Marigold as a threat. He nodded and ran. She lifted the phone. “Yeah, I’m here. All good. Thanks.”

Embarrassment set in as she realized she had treed herself for a couple of prankster teenagers.

“I’m near the park,” he said.

“No, it’s fine. I’m fine. I’m…” Lily grimaced. Adrenaline had helped her up the tree. She wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to get out of it. “I’m stuck.”

Nolan laughed. “What do you see? I’ll come find you.”

“No, it’s fine.” She adjusted on the branch. “I’ll figure it out. Sorry to bother—”

She lost her balance, and the phone fell.

“—you,” she finished, even though the phone bounced on the ground beneath her. “Crap.”

Lily looked around the park. The playground and jogging path were empty. The teenagers had pulled off her shoes, so she didn’t have anything to protect her feet as she tried to wrap her legs around the trunk and ungracefully slide her way down. The bark scraped her hands and arms and poked through her socks to scratch her arches.

“Ow, ow, dammit, ow,” she swore as she tried to shimmy her way down.

A loud thump and crash of leaves sounded overhead, and she lost her grip.

Lily landed on top of her cellphone and a shoe. The wind was knocked from her lungs as she lay on her back. The sound had been made by a squirrel jumping branches. It paused to look down at her and chittered as if laughing.

When she could move, she rolled onto her side, off the shoe. She coughed, reaching behind her to slide the phone from beneath her butt. Her hands throbbed, her back ached, but at least no one had witnessed what happened and she had her pride intact.

“Are you all right, Lily? That looked like a nasty fall.” Nolan’s feet appeared close to her head.

Nope. She was wrong. Her pride was nowhere to be seen.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” He knelt beside her and then looked up into the tree branches.

“I don’t know why everyone in town is so scared of me. Apparently, the only one I’m a danger to is myself.” Lily tried to push up, but it hurt too badly.

“You’re bleeding,” he said. “I don’t think you should move.”

“I’m fine. Just winded.” She let him help her to her feet, mainly because he didn’t give her much of a choice.

“You keep saying that, but you don’t look fine,” Nolan said.

“Um, thanks?” she mumbled sarcastically.

Lily assumed being upright would somehow make her feel better. Why she thought that, she had no clue. More body parts began to throb in pain. Her left knee and ankle refused to bear weight. Her backside felt bruised, and her tailbone broken. She turned her arms to see angry red scrapes along her flesh.

Nolan tried to lift her into his arms so he could carry her. She swatted the back of her wrist at him. “What are you doing?”

“You need a doctor.”

“I can wal—”

“Oh my god, woman, seriously? You are the most hardheaded person I’ve ever met.” Nolan crossed his arms over his chest. “Okay. Walk. Let’s see it.”

Lily wanted to prove she could, that she didn’t need his or anyone’s help. She had always prided herself on being independent and strong. A girl had to grow up like that when she didn’t have someone around to offer guidance.

She tried to take a step and tears filled her eyes. She managed two limps before she had to stop. Her voice was quiet as she whispered, “I can’t.”

“I didn’t catch that.”

“Nolan, will you please assist me to the car?” She tried turning her head to look at him, but her neck hurt too.

“Yes.” The word held no mocking as he slipped an arm around her back and lifted her against his chest. He carried her toward where he’d parked his pickup at an awkward angle. The driver’s side was parallel to the curb and the back tire had driven up onto the grass. “Where is your car?”

“Downtown. I wanted to walk and explore.” She grunted as he stepped off a curb. “Oh, my phone. I need my phone. And my shoes. I only have the one pair of sneakers.”

He lowered her feet slowly to the ground and then helped her onto the bench seat. She leaned to the side, unable to get comfortable. It was only a few seconds, but Nolan appeared by the driver side door holding her shoes and phone. She glanced back toward the tree, surprised by the speed with which he had run there and back.

“I’ll try to take it easy on any potholes, but I’m getting you to the hospital.” Nolan put the truck into gear and slowly drove off the grass onto the road. Lily watched his face. The vehicle bounced, and he flinched for her. “Sorry.”

“Can you drive me home?” she asked. “And then maybe bring my brother downtown so he can pick up the car?”

“Hospital.”

“But—”

“Hos-pi-tal,” he enunciated.

“You’re…” She wrinkled her nose. “Difficult.”

“So are you.” His smile was strained.

She realized he was concerned. It was strange to think someone who was not one of her siblings was worried about her. He sped up, taking a corner. She watched his hands, bracing herself every time the wheel began to turn.

“I was wrong about the kids. They aren’t the ones vandalizing the house,” Lily said. “The kid seemed genuinely scared when I asked him about going on Goode land.”

“What are you talking about?”

“On the phone, I told you I knew who was threatening us. I was wrong.”

“I could have told you that. Luke and Patrick are troublemakers, but they’re not stupid.”

“The wolf kid…?”

“Luke.”

“Is he family?”

“Because all wolfshifters are related?” He gave a small laugh.

“I don’t know.” She closed her eyes and tried to turn away from him. The new angle hurt too badly, and again, she was forced to face him.

“No. Not all shifters are related. Luke is from a different line. He’s a decent kid, but his family is a little rowdy, even for us animals.”

Lily liked the sound of his voice. He distracted her from the pain. She stared at his hands on the wheel until her vision blurred. “Keep talking.”

“Lily? Lily, look at me. Open your eyes. Say something. Lily!”

“Keep talk…”