They ran through the night under the dappled moonlight below the forest’s canopy. Isabella’s lion form bounded on deft feet through the underbrush. She’d never felt so alive. With her mate Ashton beside her, the entire world felt open and free for the first time in a long time, maybe ever. Knowing that a child grew even now in her womb filled her with a kind of gleeful joy she thought reserved for the few.

As they approached Ashton’s family home, they shifted in the shadows of the forest beyond the pavement. On quick feet, they hurried through the backyard and through a sliding door into the family room. They stood naked and smiling in the dim moonlight streaming through the glass.

“Who’s there?” a voice called from the doorway. The light came on and Ashton pulled a throw blanket around their bodies. “Ashton? What are you doing here?” Ronan stood in the doorway in his black jersey pajama bottoms looking rugged and irritable.

“We came here to get some things,” Ashton growled showing his hybrid teeth. Isabella looked up at him half proud, but halfway thinking he was overdoing the power display a bit. She giggled and snuggled closer to his warm body.

“What happened?” Ronan asked, confusion clouding his features. Makayla walked in the room behind him, wearing a red silk robe, with perfectly manicured nails to match.

“What have you two been up to?” she asked in a teasing voice, her nose twitching. The newly formed lion shifter was as sassy as they came for someone who’d once been human. “Are you two…? No.”

“We’re hybrids,” Isabella offered, raising an eyebrow.

“Hybrids?” Ronan said from behind Makayla. “I didn’t know that was possible.”

“You should see what we can do,” Isabella said, happily feeling her power course through her veins. Perhaps now she could be free. Perhaps now she could be happy.

“I can smell the power coming off you in waves,” Makayla teased, holding her nose. “You need a shower.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” Ashton said, holding Isabella tighter. Isabella purred in agreement, her caramel eyes flashing. “Come on, darling. Let’s get you into something more comfortable.”

Ashton led Isabella through the house and up the stairs. Ronan grumbled behind them, but Makayla settled him down in the living room.

In Ashton’s bathroom, they showered and changed before going back downstairs. They found Ronan and Makayla still sitting in the living room drinking tea, Makayla trying to talk sense into her growly husband.

“We’ve scared off the High Lord,” Ashton started, coming into the room to sit down. “We doubt he’ll be coming back.”

“You confronted the vampire lord?” Ronan roared.

“Since he wanted to kill us, it seemed like the thing to do,” Ashton said. Isabella sat beside him and let out a dry laugh.

“Yes, I usually confront anyone who wants me dead. Some people consider it rude. Maybe it’s a cultural thing.” She shrugged, keeping a perfectly straight face.

“You two think this is funny, but it will start a war in Mystic Harbor that could tear this town apart,” Ronan stated.

“The war has already begun then,” Isabella hissed. “That man, my father, wanted to force me to marry a man I loathed. And force me to bare his child. When I didn’t do what he commanded, he decided I was better off dead. I’m sorry if you don’t think my life is worth saving, but I do. You won’t have to worry about my father. Ashton and I are a match for him. Even a vampire a thousand years old cannot beat two hybrids. We will defend this town. We will bring the races together.”

“Well said, darling,” Ashton said. She cooed and rubbed her cheek to his broad shoulder.

“I’ve been thinking,” Ashton said. “There should be some kind of emergency service for shifters. As it is right now, we have no one to call. We need to bring the clans and families together so that we have a safer place to raise our children.”

“Since when do you care about raising children?” Ronan asked him. Ashton raised an eyebrow at his older brother and smirked.

“Are you pregnant?” Makayla wailed, coming to sit next to Isabella and bring her into a hug.

“Yes. I suppose so. It’s the reason my father wanted me dead.”

“We’ll have to have a celebration. All paranormals will be invited.”

“How is the paper coming along, Makayla?” Ashton asked.

“We’ll have our first edition soon. I’m so excited. A news outlet for all the paranormals in Mystic Harbor.”

“If you think this will bring an end to the fighting and friction between species, you are wrong,” Ronan warned.

“Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, big brother, but it’s a start,” Ashton said.