Demetri reined in Dusty, and halted along the fence that bordered the south pasture. The hillside ended at a seaside cliff, dropping off to the sandy beach below. A brisk breeze blew in off the ocean. He bent in the saddle, adjusting the brim of his hat against the glare of the late afternoon sun, and watched while Colleen sniffed the ground.

"Is it Quentin again?" Demetri asked.

"Yeah, it's him. The tracks are at least twelve hours old." Colleen lifted her head and aimed her muzzle at him. Of course, they only talked like this when they were alone. Mary had driven into town to run some errands, including picking up groceries and the mail.

"Are you sure?" Demetri shifted in the saddle. Reflexively, he scanned the horizon, searching for potential threats. At the moment, there wasn't a coyote—Quentin Cox specifically—in sight. Mary's ex-husband hadn't paid them another visit, at least in person. Not in broad daylight. The vermin only came after dark. The evidence of his continued presence, however, and the threat he posed, was right there in the rocky soil.

Colleen snorted. "Of course I'm sure. The nose knows."

Dusty neighed, offering her opinion, but Demetri didn't speak horse.

"Yeah, yeah." He gave a good-natured grumble. Colleen's superior sense of smell—and her lording it over him—was an old joke between friends.

Seven days had passed without Mary's Wooly Acres losing another ewe to predation. On top of the normal chores, they patrolled constantly in alternating shifts, and continued to bring the flock into the barn every evening. The days were long and grueling, and the work unending. Demetri marveled that Mary had managed to do it alone prior to his arrival. His respect for Mary grew in leaps and bounds.

Keeping Mary in the dark regarding their true shifter natures ate at Demetri's conscience. He hated it, but he deemed it best. For now, anyway.

"You should tell her the truth," Colleen said in response to Demetri's unspoken thoughts.

He frowned. "You were there that first morning. Mary was angry over me having kept my full name from her—"

"And rightfully so." Colleen snapped her jaws.

He ignored the jibe. "That was a pretty minor lie."

"You have a funny definition of minor."

Again, Demetri refused to rise to the bait. "Can you imagine how Mary's going to react when she finds out you and I are both shifters?"

"She's going to be furious."

"Exactly my point."

"I like Mary. I don't want to see her get hurt. The longer you wait, the worse it'll be when she finally learns the truth," Colleen shot back. "Not only that we're shifters, but about your ulterior motives. You're letting Mary believe that you're staying and protecting her and her flock out of some misguided sense of nobility. How do you think she's going to feel when she finds out you're only here because you have to be?"

He winced because Colleen's accusation stung. "It doesn't matter why I'm here. The fact is I am here and I want to help."

Duty to his divine bloodline had brought him to Fall Haven, California, in the first place. Demetri's father was the ram of the Golden Fleece from Greek legends, a prolific bastard who sired offspring all over the globe. According to the research, at least three of the ewes in Mary's flock carried shifter genes, maybe more. Since they were several generations removed from their progenitor, DNA testing was the only way of knowing which ones. Technically, it was Demetri's responsibility to rescue the relevant sheep and bring them home. But since his arrival, he hadn't made any effort to obtain blood samples, even though he had unrestricted access to the flock. His concern for Mary overshadowed everything else.

"I believe you, but this is what she's going to think, and you need to hear it. Is this because she wanted to snip your balls yesterday when she caught you in your ram form?"

"No, this has nothing to do with that," Demetri retorted. Heat spread across his throat and face to the point he suspected his ears were aflame...or emitting smoke.

The reminder of the humiliating incident stung his pride. Granted, Mary hadn't a clue as to his true identity, and she possessed no knowledge of his vaunted pedigree. But what woman—who owned a sheep ranch—discovered a prized ram of divine origin, and her first reaction was to have him fixed?

Insanity! Not to mention, highly insulting.

"Of course not." Colleen's voice lilted with laughter. "You poor thing..."

"Colleen, knock it off already, will you?" Demetri pressed his lips together and exhaled so hard his nostrils flared. He seldom lost his temper, so the outburst rocked them both to the core. But damn it! The memory of how he'd run away as though the Hounds of Hades chased on his heels was positively humiliating.

"Fine, Mr. Grumpy Pants," Colleen shot back. "What happened to you? You used to have a sense of humor. Did someone threaten to snip that off, too?"

Uncomfortable silence ensued between the friends for several long minutes. Colleen's accusing stare weighed on Demetri. His agitation increased until he twitched. Colleen was right, of course, and they both knew it. Still, he worried and feared the potential consequences of coming clean.

Finally, Demetri sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Believe me, I want to tell Mary the truth but I'm worried. What if she blows up and fires me? Throws us off the ranch? There'd be no one to guard her and the flock."

Chills coursed down his spine. The prospect ran contrary to his every instinct as a dominant ram. He'd only been on the farm a week, but he already regarded the flock—and Mary—as his. They belonged to him, and it was his duty to protect them.

"You're sure that's all this secrecy is about?" Colleen asked.

"Yes, absolutely. What else could it be?"

"Your fear of commitment."

"I'm not afraid of commitment." He scowled.

"Oh? Because from what I've seen, you're incapable of it."

"Incapable only because it's impossible." Demetri clenched his jaws and glared. Dusty neighed, flattening her ears. The horse's unease brought his attention to his rapidly eroding temper. He gave serious consideration to climbing from the saddle to continue the unpleasant conversation at the dog's level, especially since his mood was affecting the horse.

"Impossible because of the curse?" Colleen taunted.

"Yeah." He sounded surly to his own ears, but being mocked by his own damn dog was just too much. Man's best friend, his curved horns. Colleen's words hurt in ways he couldn't fully verbalize. Very few people knew about the curse that Krios passed on to his immortal sons. Having her take advantage of that knowledge and turn it against him...it was a betrayal of their trust.

"The curse that can only be broken by finding your soulmate. Only that'll never happen because you're not willing to take a chance. I've seen you bring countless women to your bed, but you won't let anyone get close enough to love you...or allow yourself to fall in love."

A tic pulled at the corner of his mouth. His pulse hammered between his ears. "My father has spent the past three thousand years searching for a means of breaking his curse. He failed but that didn't stop him from trying over and over. For centuries, he has found women he's seduced and stayed with for exactly one year until the Aries Curse forces him to move on. And he left a trail of countless heartbroken women in his wake, many with bastard children, including my mother and me. I may not be perfect, but I swore centuries ago that I'd never do that to anyone."

Colleen jerked her muzzle and her eyes widened. She'd heard stories of his past, but he'd never before been so brutally explicit. "So that's why you never do more than hook up with women in bars and only have brief affairs?"

"Yeah." He swallowed. His throat felt dry and tight. As much as he hated the bluntness of their discussion, Colleen had to understand. His choices might appear callous or cruel, but he had good reasons.

"You're protecting Mary." Colleen drooped her ears and her tail. Her expression softened with unmistakable sadness.

"I'm protecting Mary." He nodded heavily. His gut wrenched at the prospect of hurting her like that. Her asshole ex-husband had already broken her heart. Demetri couldn't stand to be the one who shattered it a second time. Mary deserved better than an uncertain future with a man who couldn't promise her a future.

"All right, I'll keep my mouth shut," Colleen said with a reluctant sigh. "But once this is over...after we get rid of that blood bastard that's her ex-husband, before we leave...I want you to tell her the truth. We owe her that much."

"All right," he said, because he'd have agreed to just about anything right then to put an end to this.

"Promise?"

"I promise." He crossed his heart.

"Good." Colleen bobbed her head.

"Are you ready to bring in the flock?" Demetri asked. His harsh tone reflected his grim thoughts. Fortunately, Colleen didn't seem to take offense.

She cocked her head, gazing at him with doggy worry. "Sure. It's a bit early but it's a good idea. One of the ewes is in labor."

"No way," Demetri scoffed, turning the horse. Colleen was screwing with him. If one of the ewes had begun labor, he'd have noticed.

"Pepper will deliver tonight." Colleen locked a pointed stare on him. The dog radiated cool, smug superiority. "You're so obsessed with Mary, you're slipping."

"I'm not obsessed," Demetri snapped. He touched his heels to Dusty's sides, urging the quarter horse to a trot, and ended the conversation.

"Are too!" Colleen's snickering laughter danced on the wind, chasing after him.

They rode up behind the grazing sheep and automatically fell into their assigned roles. Demetri rode behind the flock, driving them in the desired direction, while Colleen herded stranglers along the edges.

All seemed well until Demetri came upon a black ewe lying on her side, almost hidden in the tall grass. Alarmed, Demetri hauled back on the reins and brought Dusty to an abrupt halt. Pepper, the pregnant ewe, raised her head and released an anxious bleat.

"Colleen!" Demetri swung down off the quarter horse and dropped to his knees beside the distressed ewe.

"What's wrong?" Colleen sprang through the tall grasses.

"Pepper's in trouble."

"What are we going to do?" Colleen grew still.

Demetri hesitated, giving serious consideration to the matter. From the physical signs, Pepper was having difficulty with her labor. To tell more, he needed to conduct a proper examination. All the veterinary supplies were at the barn. Moving a ewe in labor was dangerous, but nightfall meant darkness...and prowling coyotes. Proper lighting and access to the right equipment and medicine could mean the difference between life and death, especially if a C-section was necessary. It was a hard choice, but he decided the benefits were worth the risk.

"I'm taking her in. Can you bring in Dusty and the flock alone?"

"Aye, I've got this."

The pregnant ewe weighed well over two hundred pounds: far more than poor Dusty was capable of carrying. Demetri bent and wrapped his arms around Pepper. He grunted under the strain but slowly straightened with Pepper cradled against his chest. The ewe bleated and struggled for a few seconds before she subsided.

Sweating profusely, Demetri took the first step on what promised to be a long, difficult journey to the safety of the barn.