Determined to be friendly and perfectly civilized, after rushing out the door like a heathen earlier, Ian walked in, said hello to the kids, who'd come back sometime during the last three hours. Then he planted himself in front of Tania. 

"Look what I got for you!" he said, triumphant, showing the suit off.

Ace and Cali gasped. As for Tania, she grimaced and said, "I'm not wearing that. I'd look ridiculous in it."

Ian sighed. Why had he assumed that she'd know what it was? Or that she'd be excited about it if she did. Maybe regular human women weren't into fighting gear. He literally was the equivalent of an eager cat showing off a dead mouse.

"All right," he said, having found that agreeing with her was often the best way to go about it. "But if you were to wear it under your clothes, that suit would absorb blows, stop blades, and even gunshots."

Now Tania gasped, suitably impressed. "Okay, that's pretty epic. Maybe open with that next time?"

Not the worst idea. Christ, he really didn't know what he was doing. 

"That's the stuff PIA agents wear, right?" Niamh asked excitedly. "Tria has one. How did you get one?" 

"From Roxie." 

"Can I have one, too?"

"And me!" 

All the kids chanted the same tune. "Maybe! They don't come in mini-people size yet, but Roxie said she might mention it to her boss, see if she can convince them to make kid ones." 

Niamh rolled her eyes. "I'm basically Aisling's size." 

"But you're not getting one if the others can't," said Rye. "Come on, guys. My turn to cook. You can help." 

Ian didn't mind Rye's basic cooking; he'd make mac and cheese or something equally unchallenging. But this was the second night his mate was spending on pride territory. They could do better than that. 

"I'm still on duty for two hours," Ian said. "I'll throw together a chili if you want me to." 

Everyone did want him to, unsurprisingly. Ian moved to the kitchen. He hadn't even been there for a couple of minutes when Tania joined him, followed by Clari. 

"Are those onions supposed to be diced or sliced?" the beta female asked. 

He hesitated. 

"Come on, control freak. It's not like I can mess up onions that badly." 

He nodded. "Diced, please. Thank you." 

Tania chopped peppers and then stirred the pan for him. Turned out, having some help was making things a lot faster, and considerably more companionable. 

"Hey, I could have heard wrong, but did you say you used to be regular before? I'm not sure I understand." 

Clari chuckled nervously. "I kinda hoped you'd missed that. We're moving into pride-secret territory. Rye?" She called out loud, turning her neck to look at the living room. 

"Tell her. Also tell her what happens if she betrays our confidence." 

"Right, so some shifters have the ability to turn regular humans into one of us. I was bitten by a turner a couple of years back. We keep that secret from the general population because they'd freak if they knew about the turners." 

No mention of Zack. That was smart of Clari, but Ian didn't like the semi-deception. His mate was trustworthy, he felt it. 

"And of course, if you speak of this outside the pack, we would have to kill you, and everyone you mention it to. Not even we, as in this pride. The entire shifter community comes together when it comes to hiding the turners." 

"How does it feel? To be changed into one of them." 

Clari beamed. "It's the best thing that's ever happened to me. The strength, the speed, my animal. I love all of it. Do you want me to chop the tarragon, Ian?" 

"I got it. Can you grab some chocolate? The 98 percent one on the top shelf." 

"Oh, so that's where you hide the good stuff!" 

Clari helped herself to a bit before handing him the rest. Ian grimaced. He wasn't fond of chocolate to start with, but the high cocoa content stuff he used in his chili was downright disgusting. 

"What now?" Clari asked. "I can't believe I get to see the great Ian in action. I should have written down the recipe."

"I need lime zest," he said, amused. 

Clari was a little obvious, if well meaning. He'd told them about his father's insults and so she was trying to flatter him. He could have told her just her help and company worked wonders. 

They were done in no time; he reduced the heat and let it simmer.

The food was as delicious as it had been the previous night, but if Tania was honest, she preferred the good old chili to the fancy food. She knew better than to post about it this time, though. 

After dinner, Ian offered to drive her up to the lake house. 

"Could we walk again?" she proposed. "I'm so full, I certainly can use a stroll." 

"Sounds good to me." 

She was a little better prepared than the previous evening, with a scarf as well as her jacket. He still offered her his coat, and it was so cool she did accept it. 

"Why don't you have a better coat?" 

She shrugged. "I left my dad's without any of my stuff. I'm certainly not going back to get them now his pals are after me. I'll need to get one soon. Listen, are we cool? I feel some weirdness; is it because of my offering myself up as bait? You've barely looked at me since." 

Ian remained silent. 

"Look, it just seemed like the best idea..." 

"It was. It is. They aren't stupid enough to attack a shifter, but they'll go for you. I know their kind. Bloodthirsty, violent, cruel and cowardly. They'll jump at a chance to commit atrocities." 

"Well then..." 

"We’re cool. It's just a shifter thing I'm dealing with." 

"What kind of shifter thing?" she asked, curious and excited. 

"The kind you don't want to hear." 

"Well, maybe I—" 

She didn't finish that statement because his lips had fallen on hers.