It didn’t sit well with Sean to be kept out of the room that Eden and her panther were in. But he got it; he knew he had no rights in his current position.

Hell, she’d not even admitted to liking him.

Not out loud, anyway.

Still, for a reason he’d be hesitant to have anyone overhear, he couldn’t imagine not being involved in anything that centered around her.

Sean paced. And paced. Straight lines, from the front door, to the kitchen entrance, then a one-eighty, then the same path in reverse, and other one-eighty, and then retracing his steps again. On and on he paced.

Until finally, on one of his one-eighty turnarounds, he almost ran into a man a hair larger than him.

“Griz.” Sean frowned at the older shifter. “What gives?”

“You’re fixin’ to wear treads into the wood.”

Sean crossed his arms over his chest.

“The rest of us are going to talk in Tyler’s front room. Want to join us?”

“Okay. Why there?”

“Don’t necessarily want Eden’s panther or elemental to listen in.”

Sean got it. “Let’s go.”

Paces later, Sean, Griz, Tyler, Cross, Judge, and Ciara, had crossed the common foyer and found seats or walls to lean against in Tyler’s place.

Sean studied the faces of those assembled. They were there for one reason. To help. He was overwhelmed by the sense of community he’d found here. Thus far, he and Tyler had been pretty much flying solo, keeping to themselves, avoiding everyone, just taking care of their business and trying to raise Trista and Tessa. But now, he knew what he’d been missing all this time.

Griz, the older shifter, still passing for much younger than his age—thankfully shifter genes gave the blessing of longevity and slow aging. Griz, the defacto spearhead, who didn’t claim a position of leadership, and yet was often deferred to. A mystery, his origins and training unknown to Sean.

Cross and Judge, Griz’s nephews, had been Enforcers for the Compliance Unit. Sean and Tyler had heard of the de la Cruz brothers: Cross, Judge, and Lance, but only in passing. Anyone who worked in private security, risk management, investigation, and intelligence had heard of the de la Cruz men.

Sean and Tyler’s work was a little more under the radar, and less involved in the government side of shifters, but they were very aware of the highly respected brothers.

Sean turned his glance to the only woman in the room. Ciara.

Intuitive. So why was she here? It seemed Griz had her here for a specific reason.

Am I the only one who doesn’t know what her purpose is?

“Recap time,” Griz announced. “Cedric and Jenner have the witch. They’re keeping her in one of Grant’s cabins. When we know exactly what’s going on, when everything is in the open, they’ll do whatever they need to do with her. For now, she’s ours to question. They’re going to be giving us an update.” Griz cleared his throat, emotions chasing one another across his face. “After we know that Eden is okay, we’ll head over there.”

Sean nodded. “No offense, but what’s Ciara’s purpose here?”

Ciara’s light gaze snapped his way. She locked eyes with him.

Suddenly, Sean found himself being effused with a sense of calm. A peace. It was as if his anxieties and concerns about Eden were gone.

He frowned.

A slight smile played across Ciara’s face. “Now you know?”

Cross looked between the two of them. “You did your thing?”

Ciara nodded.

Sean shook his head to clear it. How the hell did she do that? “Yeah. I see what you can do. But what’s it for?”

Griz leaned back in the wing chair his large frame overwhelmed. “We thought Ciara could help Eden with the problems her elemental has. The fire starting.”

Tyler nodded. “Camden talked to Mae about Eden, and between Mae and Griz, they came up with the idea to help her elemental chill. At least long enough to give them time to figure out what it would take to get to the root of the problem and straighten this out.”

Where the hell have I been? How do I not know about all this shit?

Sean exhaled. It was time to stop being so hard on himself. He was ass deep in worry about Eden and concern for her… and keeping it all to myself.

Tyler gave him a look of sympathy. “You’ve been a bit detached, bro.”

Sean nodded. “Sorry.” He hadn’t intended to come back from the last trip and get struck by these crazy, massive feelings for Eden. He hadn’t anticipated that he’d have fallen so hard. He also hadn’t anticipated she’d have an elemental who seemed to hate his damned guts.

I should have opened up to Tyler with this stuff.

Then again, Tyler had been so wrapped up with his new relationship with Camden, Sean wouldn’t have disrupted them with his petty concerns.

Griz rose and clapped Sean on the back, letting his hand linger on Sean’s shoulder. “We’ll get through this. She’s got a lot of people pulling for her. And you. Both of you.”

Sean frowned. Did Griz have an idea how Sean felt about her?

Maybe I’m not as good at hiding my feelings as I thought.

“Thank—” Sean’s exclamation of appreciation was interrupted by a sound. “Someone’s here.” He strode to the window and looked out.

A large dark sedan pulled up next to the other vehicles.

A tall, broad-shouldered dark-haired man stepped out of the vehicle and walked to the other side, opening the door.

Sean sucked in a sharp intake of breath. The woman that stepped out of the passenger side held such a resemblance to Camden and Eden that it caught him off guard. That has to be their sister.

The back doors of the car opened and out sprung a youngster not much older than the twins. A dark-haired little girl full of energy that bound into the arms of the second man that exited the vehicle. This one was equally as large as the first one.

Griz stepped next to Sean and studied the driveway. “Circe, Eden and Camden’s older sister. The others are Linc and Marco, though, I don’t know which is which. And Linc’s niece. He’s her guardian, now. Seems her parents, one being Linc’s brother, have passed. Long story.”

Sean wondered if there was any story Griz didn’t know, an incident that he didn’t have a hand in.

Sean and Tyler made their way toward the front door and opened it before the visitors knocked.

The woman was in front, the men flanked her, one carrying the little girl. Sean figured that was Linc.

Circe took a step back. Studied Sean and Tyler, then shook her head. An amused smile played on her lips. “What was I thinking… sending Cam and Eden here with the two of you.” Another headshake. “No wonder.”

Tyler stepped forward. “I’m Tyler. It hasn’t been as smooth as one would think.”

“What? She didn’t start another fire, did she?”

“I’m Sean,” Sean began. “It’s a bit more than just fire starting.” Then he launched into the recent events as they made their way to the others.

He told them how Eden had vanished, Cross had indications of witches. That Mae and Griz had brought in the two wizards. That the cabin was burning. That Eden wouldn’t come out of unconsciousness.

They’d barely reached the room where the others were sitting when Sean finished his recounting, but it seemed Circe would have nothing to do with talking to anyone right then.

“Take me to my sister, please.” Circe’s voice was laced with worry.

“Come with me,” Ciara took Circe’s hand in hers.

“I’m going with,” Marco announced.

Circe paused, studied Ciara. “Don’t try that stuff with me, please. I don’t need my emotions dulled or placated.”

Ciara raised a brow. “Of course not. Wouldn’t dream of it without your permission.”

How the hell did Circe know what Ciara was?

Sean didn’t spend more time on that thought when the little girl came to him and Tyler and tugged on their shirts.

“I’m Dina. Circe said there’d be someone for me to play with.”

Cross asked, “Where are the girls now?”

“Slumber party with Mac, Braden, and Dakotah. The only place we could think to keep them safe.” Tyler looked at his watch. “Shi-” he glanced at the young girl, and winced, “—shoot. And probably headed this way right now.”

Sean dropped to one knee, making himself eyelevel with the little one. “They’ll be here shortly. They’ll love having company. Want to see their room?”

Dina nodded.

“I got this.” Tyler took her hands in his. “You check on Eden.”

“Come on, Uncle Linc.” Dina grabbed Linc’s hand with her free hand. “Let’s go.”