The farmhouse door smashed closed with ominous finality. The abrupt ending stunned Demetri. For a minute, he stood with his fists clenched at his sides, staring straight ahead. In some irrational way, the door became more than just a physical barrier between him and Mary. It represented all the complicated and messy emotional and metaphysical obstacles that separated them.

Anger flared deep within Demetri, and his ram surged to the forefront of his psyche. A ruddy haze dropped over his vision and energy crawled across his skin in a precursor to shape changing. Demetri bowed his head and snorted. Steam poured from his nostrils as his hot breath struck the cool air. He stomped his foot down on the porch so hard the wooden boards groaned in protest.

"Whoa! Hold up there!" Colleen called out. Her nails clattered as she flew up the stairs and across the porch. She skidded to a halt on the welcome mat, baring his path.

Disgruntled, Demetri pulled up. A holler of resentment formed in his throat, but an ice-cold downpour of common sense drenched him before he shouted. Abruptly, he returned to his senses. Even in the grip of fury, though, his protective instincts overrode his desire for destruction. Nothing could've pushed him so far that he'd charge and risk trampling Colleen.

"I know it's rough, mate, but you can't go bashing Mary's front door to smithereens. That won't help anything. It'll make her madder." Colleen leveled an intense stare and settled into a crouch, her head and body held low. She advanced a pace, stalking him.

Reflexively, Demetri took a step back before he returned to his senses and stood his ground. Damn it, he was being herded like some common sheep. Resentment percolated in his gut and bubbled through his chest, but the burn of humiliation quickly took its place. It embarrassed him to admit that he'd lost control and Colleen had witnessed it.

"I thought you went for a patrol. Were you eavesdropping again?" Demetri took a stiff-legged stride that turned him away toward the yard. Right then, putting some distance between himself and Mary struck him as a smart thing, so he descended the three-step staircase into the yard.

Colleen followed. "I did patrol. The flock and Dusty are in the barn, so I did a few laps around it. Then I heard the door slam and I figured I'd better check it out."

"Of course, you did," Demetri returned in a sarcasm-dense tone. He supposed he owed Colleen his thanks. She'd stopped him from damaging Mary's house, but he couldn't quite summon feelings of magnanimous gratitude.

"It's a good thing I did, too. Your battering ram approach to life works great sometimes, like with Mary's ex, but there are some situations that require finesse," Colleen snapped, no doubt responding to his unspoken resentment. The trouble with having a canine companion? She was essentially a four-legged lie detector.

He grunted, but let it pass. Better to let her have the last word. This constituted one of those arguments he couldn't win. Deep down, he acknowledged Colleen was right and he was wrong. Admitting that didn't change how he felt, however. Even now, creating a greater separation between himself and his lover went against every instinct. He wanted to chase after Mary, take her into his arms, and kiss her until she changed her mind about him, about them. That wouldn't be fair, though, especially not to her. He'd lived with the injustice of the Aries Curse for centuries. Three hundred years of isolation, knowing that every mortal he cared for would eventually wither and perish.

Needing the release, Demetri settled into a brisk jog, channeling his aggression into physical exertion. Colleen trotted at his side; her four legs enabled her to easily keep pace. By the time he reached the main thoroughfare, he'd calmed down. He stood on the corner of the T-intersection and looked both ways down the dark highway.

"Trying to decide which direction we're headin' when we leave?" Colleen detoured through the brush, pausing to scent the ground, and then scampered over to stand beside him. Her pink tongue lolled from the side of her mouth, and her sides rose and fell with quick panting.

A tic tugged at his mouth when he clenched his jaws. Irritation pricked his temper again, and he was tempted to ignore the crack. The taunt hit a little too close to home, which told him something—he had it coming. He couldn't hold a grudge against Colleen for calling him out on his bad habits or telling him what he didn't want to hear. He counted on her unique perspective to keep him grounded. Without her friendship, he'd be lost.

"We've found Quentin's tracks several times now, but always along the perimeter of the property. Town is north of here. I figure he must be leaving his vehicle in a pull-off along the main road."

Colleen cocked her head. "Why do you think he's driving? We're only eight klicks from town. That's nothing for a long-legged coyote to run."

Demetri snorted. "Did you see that fella with his fancy suit and his manicured nails? The terrain between here and town is rugged. I doubt that lazy SOB has ever run eight klicks in his life, let alone over rough ground."

The dog sniggered. "Okay, assume you're right. Wherever he's hiding his car must be out of sight from the main road or he'd be risking investigation by a passing copper. Besides, he'd need privacy to undress and shift."

"That makes sense." Demetri rubbed his finger across his upper lip. His facial hair had passed five o'clock shadow and reached the sharp stubble stage. He made a mental note to shave in the morning...along with his other plans. "Tomorrow, let's make a trip into town and see about getting a map of the area."

"Or you could just google it." Colleen acquired that needling tone again that meant she was amused at his expense.

"Google won't necessarily show all the old dirt access roads." Demetri grumbled and glared in annoyance. Darn it, the cattle dog had a contrary nature, but did she have to deliberately obstruct his excuse for going into Fall Haven?

"You're going to stop by the county tax assessor's office, aren't you? Maybe settle an overdue bill?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?" He narrowed his eyes and pinned the dog with a pointed stare. Of course, he'd been aware of Colleen's presence during his intimate conversation. But the dog-dingo shifter had polished her "pet" act to the point where even Demetri took her for granted.

"Nope, I agree you ought to pay the bill. Then we should deal with this coyote problem and get the flock's blood tested for the Krios gene." Colleen put no effort into hiding the critical note in her voice.

"Yeah, I should do that." Demetri's frown deepened, but he kept a tight rein on his surliness. Colleen was right. He ought to have gathered genetic samples from the sheep already, but Quentin had become both a pretext and an opportunity to delay. And Demetri wasn't such a liar that he could deny having welcomed a reason to spend more time with Mary.

Now that Mary knew the whole truth, Demetri had no more excuses. As part of the Aries Foundation's standard operating procedure, sheep that carried shifter genes were transported to their preserve in Australia. There, in partnership with devoted cattle dog-dingo shifters, the animals were protected and cared for. Of course, Mary would be financially compensated for the animals...but somehow, this time, that didn't seem like enough.

"I'm knackered. Let's turn in." A wide yawn pulled apart Colleen's jaws.

"Me too." Demetri caught the yawn. He fought it, covering his mouth with his hand, but it took him away. Damn, he was tired.

Without waiting for his agreement, Colleen set back along the path to the farm. Demetri trudged along, his weariness such that his feet felt leaden. Right then, even his creaky, uncomfortable bunk held immense appeal.

"You know, I'm rather hoping none of the flock is carrying the Krios gene," Colleen tossed over her canine shoulder as if the comment were simply a stray thought. Other things betrayed her intent to deceive, though. For one, she would've normally traveled behind or beside him. Colleen being out front meant crafty intentions preoccupied her canine brain, overriding her natural instincts.

"Why do you say that?" Demetri narrowed his eyes. He wasn't fooled, not even for a second, but he wanted to hear what she had to say anyway.

"It's going to break Mary's heart if we have to take away any of her ewes. She loves them like children," Colleen said with overwrought sorrow.

"That's true." Guilt twanged Demetri's conscience, and he winced. Of course, he shouldn't have asked if he didn't want to hear it. The dilemma left him in a real pickle—torn between his duty as an Aries Guardian and his concern for Mary's feelings. The two things seemed to be in direct opposition. The futility filled him with immense frustration because he couldn't accomplish one without failing the other.

"It's a real shame."

"All right, enough. You've made your point."

They entered the barn. Demetri secured the doors. The flock had long since settled and bedded down peacefully in their pen. Dusty was secure in her stall. He detoured to the birthing stalls to check on Pepper and Hope. The mother and baby made a peaceful picture, curled together on the clean straw.

As weary as a sleepwalker, Demetri trudged to his quarters. He kicked off his boots but lacked the energy to undress. Colleen curled up in her bed in the corner. With a grunt, he dropped onto his bunk. The rickety box spring groaned and the springs creaked, but right about then even a metal slab would've felt heavenly.

Exhaustion dragged him down toward dead slumber. Demetri clung to a thread of consciousness. The prospect of Mary losing even a single sheep in her flock bothered him more than he could verbalize. Over the course of the past week, he'd witnessed her affection and attachment to the animals under her care. She'd already endured enough sorrow because of her ex-husband. Demetri despised the idea of being the man who caused her even more grief.

"Maybe we can just leave the ewes with Mary. She'd do right by them," Demetri said into the quiet darkness of the room.

It took a full minute before Colleen answered. "What are you thinking?"

"We've talked about starting a second Aries Foundation ranch in North America or Europe. The journey to Australia is long and stressful for the ewes. And there's the inherent risk of keeping all the sheep carrying the Krios gene in one place. This might be the ideal solution. Mary could act as their caretaker; their wool would benefit her business. We can offer her financial aid as a subsidy..." The more he talked it through, the more he warmed to the prospect. Oh, there were bound to be issues that he'd missed, but the plan held a lot of potential to his sleep-hazed mind.

"It might work." Despite her agreement, Colleen sounded dubious.

"What's the problem?" Demetri roused enough to open his eyes and turn his head toward where the cattle dog rested on her bed.

"An Aries Guardian would need to live on the ranch. You know Mic isn't going to leave the Outback to settle in California. Pigs'll fly first."

"True," Demetri admitted, though grudgingly. Mic Sanders, his older half-brother, lived and worked on the Australian ranch as the operations manager. Mic's oversight allowed Demetri to travel.

"We'd need someone to live on Wooly Acres full time..." Colleen delayed for a significant pause and then added, "With Mary."

He grunted, unsettled with the turn the conversation had taken. He frowned, considering, and hit a brick wall. In his current state of exhaustion, Demetri had naturally assumed that he would head up the new startup. Forced to confront the issue, he recognized the absolute hypocrisy of it.

"It can't be you. That wouldn't be fair to Mary," Colleen responded to his unspoken thoughts with disturbing insight.

"Of course not." Demetri made the admission but there was no mistaking the churlish tone in his voice. Of course, Colleen was right. He didn't age but Mary did. It would be grossly unfair of him to subject Mary to his constant presence. Also, being around her but unable to touch her was an unimaginable torment.

"What about your brother Jace?"

"What about him?" Demetri demanded.

"Jace could help Mary manage the ranch."

"Jace is just a kid!" Explosive anger built inside of him. The mere suggestion of his randy little brother being around Mary annoyed him past the point of reason. With a heroic effort, he controlled his temper, especially since he was well aware that Colleen was baiting him.

Colleen snickered. "Jace is two hundred years old."

"He's way too much of a screw-up for that sort of responsibility."

"No need to bite my head off. It was just a suggestion."

Demetri exhaled, flaring his nostrils. "Look, this isn't the right time to hash this out. It was a stressful day. We're both dead tired and we still have to be up at the crack of dawn. Let's get some sleep. We can discuss it later."

"Okay." Despite her easy agreement, Colleen's bright voice filled with laughter.

Silently fuming, Demetri shut his eyes and settled back. His head struck the pillow with a solid thwack and it went pouf. A deep, dreamless sleep claimed him almost immediately.

Minutes or hours may have passed. He had no way of knowing. Demetri awakened abruptly to the stench of smoke and Colleen's frantic barking. Drenched in a cold sweat, he sat up in bed. The barn resounded with crackling roar and the frantic bleating of the sheep. For a disoriented moment, he thought he was having a nightmare.

Colleen recovered enough to speak. "The barn is on fire!"