Paige was honestly shocked over the next few days that the news of her pregnancy remained a secret, under wraps. It was truly a feat when she considered how many people were now in and out of the Mayor’s residence on a daily basis. Half a dozen normal house staff, over a dozen of the staff from the Mayor’s office, officers from the local police force assigned to a position at the house, and visitors. Add to that the protestors from at least three different organizations and special interest groups. Journalists, paparazzi, curious looky-loos, and tourists from all over the globe.

All they needed was a striped tent and a few popcorn and churro stands and they’d have themselves a real circus.

But miraculously the news that she was pregnant hadn’t reached the outside world. It really helped to keep her own stress at a manageable level. If she was overwhelmed or tired, she would find her way back to her old room and toe off her shoes. A little bit of a refuge in a quickly changing world.

Curled around a long body pillow, Paige opened her eyes, blinking her eyes, trying to wake herself up. It was easier at home. There, Devlin was better than any alarm clock, brushing his lips against her neck.

Alone after her nap, Paige felt the chill of the air seeping through her clothing. Reaching down to pick up the edge of her blanket she gave it a little tug.

Turning onto her back she looked at the bottom of the bed.

Kelly, Jameson’s assistant, sat on the edge of the bed, looking immaculately perfect as she always did, her gaze focusing on the phone in her hands. “I never pegged you for the lazy type,” she sighed. “Do gooder-sure. Daddy’s girl, of course.”

Used to Kelly’s disdain, the words didn’t hurt so much as push her to exercise even more of her patience. “Is there something you need from me, Kelly?”

Turning back to her phone, Kelly gave an artful sigh as she muttered under her breath. “A vacation from babysitting.”

Instead of angering her, Paige felt laughter tickle the back of her throat. In the past, Kelly’s grumbling was just a low fumble of sound, but now, whether it was her mark from Devlin or as she was beginning to suspect it was the baby growing inside of her, she was acquiring some of their gifts. In this case, it wasn’t something she necessarily wanted.

“If you don’t ask for what you want, Kelly, don’t expect me to read your mind.” Sliding from the bed, Paige went into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face.

She was reaching for a towel when she heard the door bump against the wall. Looking up into the mirror she saw Kelly leaning on the doorframe. “You realize all of this work we’ve been doing is all your fault.”

Turning to face the other woman, Paige dabbed at her face and leaned against the sink. “You’re right. I asked that man to come to the event-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Kelly dropped her phone in her purse. “All of our original policy work has been deferred or dropped all together, and even that’s not a big problem. Do you think you’re the only one who knows a shapeshifter? You act like the whole country is as big a virgin as you were.”

Paige felt her cheeks flush with color.

“Everyone knew you were a virgin,” she laughed, “you wouldn’t believe the traction we got with the voters on that! Family values voters ate you up, but they’re also the voters your father’s going to lose on the next election. Still, there are those of us who knew shifters have existed for nearly all our lives, but we didn’t get caught with one of them between our legs in front of a camera.”

“That’s why we-”

“Just because you tried to fix it, doesn’t mean that the damage is going to go away.” Kelly reached out and jabbed her finger toward the window. “Do you have any idea how many people out there are calling for the government to put shifters in cages?”

The words were sobering at the very least.

“That’s the last thing that I want-”

“Well, that’s reassuring, Princess, because it’s all about what you want.”

Paige stepped closer, reaching out her hand to Kelly. What she was going to do, she wasn’t sure, she just wanted to help. “You know someone?” She wondered aloud. “Someone you care about-”

“Cared about until some trigger-happy idiot took my brother away from me.” Kelly stared at Paige with a look that bordered on hate. “He’ll never have what you have, but if you’re smart, you’ll be even more careful from now on. Private security?” She scoffed the words and they sounded like they’d rattled out of an old woman’s throat, etched with age and bitter resentment. “If they want to get at you, get at your mate. They’ll do it, because that’s what happens when people are scared, Paige. They’ll destroy anything they don’t understand.”

Kelly turned and headed toward the door, Paige following behind her.

“Wait. Kelly, wait!”

She followed the older woman through the door and into the hallway, barely touching her fingertips to her arm.

Kelly spun around and looked at her.

“What can I do? How can I fix this?”

Kelly waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Who knows? You’ve opened Pandora’s box, Paige. It’s anyone’s guess how this will work out in the end.” Her shoulders sagged the slightest bit. “You just have to watch your back, Paige, and do more… do better… before you lose everything.”

When Kelly walked down the stairs, Paige was still standing in the hallway drawing in one shuddering breath at a time, with one hand on her heart and the other protectively over her belly, fear bleeding through every pore.

* * *

Gary held the door open for Devlin as they walked in the back door of the station. Their shift had been one mind-numbing call after another. The two walked to the locker room in silence that lasted until Gary pulled open his locker.

Maybe it was the rusty scratch of metal as the catch slid open, or maybe it was just the indrawn breath of a familiar place, but Gary swore and slammed the heel of his palm against the metal door.

Turning around, Devlin’s partner repeated the strike with his elbow, ending with a hiss of pain.

“Keep that up and I’ll be dropping you off at the ER before I get to go home to my wife.”

Gary shook his head. “Bet you wouldn’t have to go to the ER.”

Devlin shrugged. “Probably not, but if you need to talk-”

The locker room door pushed inward and their Watch Commander stepped inside. “Kerr? I have a couple of suits here to see you.”

Gary stepped up beside his partner, and Devlin caught his curious look out of the corner of his eye. “You want me to come with you?”

Devlin shook his head. “You know where I’ll be later if you need to talk.” While he walked out of the room, Gary didn’t move, standing between the two walls of lockers. Devlin couldn’t help the odd feeling in his middle as he followed the Commander’s less than enthusiastic directions. It wasn’t lost on him that the room the men were waiting in doubled as an interrogation room for the detectives.

He wasn’t afraid of what a couple of men could do to him, not here in the heart of the Sylvan City Police Headquarters, but part of his mind was already occupied with his own thoughts.

He’d meant what he’d said to Gary. He liked the man. Thought he was a good officer. And as an officer, Gary Chin had accepted him and hadn’t thought to make Devlin prove himself again or treat him like a freak. If Gary needed his support, then Devlin would offer it.

Sylvan City had proved to be life changing for him.

The door opened before he reached it and the man who stood back, holding the door open, made him feel like he’d suddenly taken a large step backwards.

The man was of a comparable height, but he wasn’t nearly as built as Devlin. The size of the man’s hands, the gaps in his clothing, and even the slightly-too-fast breathing made Devlin even more cautious than normal.

A man breathing that erratically was going to be itchy for a confrontation, and if he didn’t have the advantage of size on his side, he was likely compensating for it in other ways.

It was easy to see the man’s shoulder holster under his coat. There was a slight twinge in his movement as he turned toward the room, saying there was likely a gun at his back. And there, against his ankle, a subtle shift of foot placement that said there was likely something interrupting the range of motion.

The other man in the room, the one already sitting down with his back to the two-way mirror was better at hiding his instinctual reaction. His breath was slower, at a normal pace, but it was forced, as if he was faking the ease of his posture.

“Officer Kerr,” the man behind spoke with a decided scratch in his voice, “so happy you could join us.”

“From what I understood, this wasn’t a request but a summons.”

The man behind the table laughed. “Straightforward, I like that.”

Devlin didn’t want to call him on his bullshit. He was due home soon and if it was a choice between two men and his mate-

“What do you want?”

Sitting up behind the desk, the man gestured toward the badge hanging around his neck on a lanyard. “I’m Agent Ford, the man behind you with his hand resting on the grip of his service pistol, is Agent Raspail. I’m sure you understand that he means to use his weapon if there’s a need. But-”

“What do you want?” Devlin repeated the words and waited. He could easily see the other agent in the two-way mirror, but he knew neither agent wanted to kill him. If that’s all they wanted, they could have had that in a single blast. He just wanted to know what they wanted so he could get home.

“Straightforward is one thing,” marked Agent Ford, “but there’s no need to be rude.”

“My shift is over. I want to go home. State your business.”

Agent Ford flickered a glance at Raspail and for a moment, Devlin wondered which one was really in charge.

Opening the briefcase on the table, Ford withdrew a file and dropped it on the tabletop, sending it skidding a few inches toward Devlin.

“We’re offering you a job with our agency.”

“Which agency?” Devlin wasn’t going to make it easy.

Ford gestured to his badge. “We’re FBI.”

Devlin’s gaze never left Ford’s eyes. “The badge is a fake. Either tell me who you work for or I’m gone.”

Ford and Raspail shared looks. He smelled their fear, felt the anger and suspicion they used to hone their patience, and watched the pulse jump at the base of Ford’s neck. “We’re unable to say at the moment-”

Devlin turned on his heel and started for the door.

Raspail stepped in front of him and Devlin had to give him some credit for his bravado. The beading sweat on Raspail’s face was enough of a sign, but still, he’d put himself on the line. “You should listen to us.”

Ford didn’t wait for Devlin to turn around. “We’ve been aware of your kind for quite some time,” he explained. “We have no interest in hurting you or any of your… people?”

“I don’t have a… I don’t have ‘people’ as you put it.” He was careful. A group of tigers together wasn’t a natural thing. Generally, they only joined together because of constraints put on their habitats. Even then, he didn’t like the word ‘streak’ and he certainly didn’t want to use the word ‘ambush’ around the agents.

“You have a wife, Officer Kerr.”

“My wife, as you call her, is mine.” The sound of his voice was heavy, pushing both men back as his tiger struggled to find his release into the world.

His tiger was more than happy to take care of the men, guns or no guns, he was easily a match for the two liars. And hungry for their blood.

He felt Raspail tense at his back, but Ford was still pushing through his fear to deliver the message. “Our agency can be very generous, Officer Kerr. We’ve seen your earnings statement and we are very confident that we can offer you at least three times your current salary. All we’d need from you,” Ford managed to crack a smile, “is a little ‘assistance’ from time to time.”

Devlin didn’t speak and let Agent Ford fill the silence.

“We have some issues that can use your special skills and talents.”

“What can tooth and claw offer you that you don’t have with your high-tech weaponry? Your smart bombs and drones should be the perfect weapons. In my tiger form I’m larger than a tiger in the wild, much more than one in captivity. And what I can bring to a fight won’t be a clean exit.”

Raspail spat out a curse. “You mean you can’t keep silent?”

Devlin half-turned his head over his shoulder. “I can stay silent,” he felt the corners of his mouth pinch up into a smile, “if I crush my target’s throat, he would be too, but death by a wild animal, even under the control of my own mind, is a messy proposition. If there’s even a chance that you’ll have someone test for blood, the scene would light up like Tesla’s laboratory.”

He could tell by the troubled looked that flung back and forth between the two men.

“That’s fine then,” he walked past Raspail to the door, “I can’t say that I’m disappointed that you can’t use me.” Devlin pointed at the aging plaque on the door. “I’m not planning to leave Sylvan City any time soon.”

Devlin had the door open before Ford spoke again. “You’ll hear from us soon, Officer Kerr.”

He shook his head. “I thought I made myself clear. I don’t want your offer.”

Raspail had to put a restraining hand on Ford’s shoulder. “Sometimes it’s not a matter of what you accept. It’s a matter of what we allow.”

Devlin grin was suddenly a thin, pale line. “Good to know. Now, I have to get home.”