––––––––

“That’s a bad idea, Dad,” Tess argued with her father.

He cut into his steak, taking his time to answer. “Why? They’re beasts. They have the advantage over humans. They can scent things you can’t imagine.”

Oh, yes, she could imagine, but she let her dad continue because interrupting him only delayed the inevitable. She’d found him the best fine-dining steak house in downtown Spartanburg, hoping a good meal on a rainy Friday night would open the door for them to communicate better.

Maybe dial back his prejudice against shifters.

Not happening.

Her father continued as if she hadn’t studied shifters for years. “When these shifters change into an animal, bullets often have little effect on them. Why not require branding and do it right on their foreheads while they’re in human form? That way a real human knows immediately if they’re dealing with a dangerous animal.”

Tess hid her horror at that idea. She could not see someone like Cole, or the jackals working at SCIS for that matter, allowing anyone to brand their foreheads.

Not in this lifetime.

That would start an all out war and she wouldn’t blame them.

Her father belonged to the extremist’s side when it came to shifter politics. He’d been in on early issues that arose once the shifters came out in the open.

Ironically, it had been a shifter who had outed the existence of people who changed shape into animals. Thinking of Cole, she amended that maybe not all of the shifters had been made public, but the bulk of their world had been exposed.

A jackal shifter had been at fault.

Cole would be saying, “I told you so.”  The jackal had paid a human videographer to do a secret documentary on a wolf pack. After being invited in to talk with pack leaders, the cameraman had taken video of things that he had no authorization to shoot.

He and the jackal shifter had enjoyed their fame for less than twenty-four hours. Unhappy shifters who took the law into their own hands had never been fingered.

That created a huge distrust between shifters and humans early on, which had never improved.

She did not straddle a fence when it came to her convictions. She was not a sympathizer for a shifter or a human who broke the law.

She’d spent years hearing her father’s constant preaching against the unnatural beings, but the older she got, the more her convictions shifted to fit the conscience of the woman she saw in the mirror.

She didn’t like calling anyone a beast.

It wasn’t as if shifters had a choice in being born that way. She’d seen some act like rabid beasts, but others were as normal acting as her or her dad.

Then Cole had come along, talking about being a descendant of an ancient group.

If she believed what he’d told her, and he had yet to give her reason not to, Cole and his men had probably saved a lot of military and civilian lives.

Was no one taking that into account?

Not when Cole’s people stay so well hidden that no one knows what they do.

Yep, there was that.

This sucked. Visits with her dad were strained as it was, but she felt guilty thinking about Cole while sitting across from her dad.

That was absurd.

She was a grown woman who could make her own decisions.

But she didn’t want to lose another parent.

Her mother had keeled over with a heart attack in Richmond and didn’t make it to the hospital.

If Tess gave her father a heart attack, she couldn’t live with herself. Her father did not have a bad heart, but that fear dangled at the back of her mind.

“What’s the matter, Tess?”  Her dad had paused in eating his steak to give her a weighted look.

She tiptoed back to the subject they’d been quietly disagreeing on. The last thing either one wanted was to speak loud enough for a quote to end up in the news tomorrow.

Still, with all that was going on, she tried to get her father to look at this issue from her side. “I’m just saying that tension is running high right now and—”

“Right. And why is everyone tense?” her father asked, sounding like the prosecuting attorney he’d been early in his career. “Because that Black River wolf pack is pouring Jugo Loco into this country, turning shifters into maniacal killers, as if they weren’t dangerous enough without it. Maybe if that young couple camping out in the Nantahala National Forest had known the person approaching them was a shifter, they could have used a weapon to protect themselves. But they thought it was just another human.” 

She hated that he made a valid point, but she still would not brand a shifter. That crossed the line to treating them as nothing more than wild animals.

He picked up a cut of steak and stopped right before putting it in his mouth. “That’s another thing. We have some brilliant minds working on weapons for civilians. We should have something capable of dropping a shifter at ten yards pretty soon.” 

“What about the shifters who are good people living in enclaves and not harming anyone?”

Some shifters had been willing to move into areas set up as enclaves where they could raise their family safely, but others compared that setup to a Native American reservation. That group fought it with every breath.

Some days, there was no perfect answer.

Her dad said, “You may think the civil shifters are not an issue, but the minute they get their hands on that damned enhancing juice you have an uncontainable problem. The rare docile shifter turns into a killer.”

Again, she’d argue that docile shifters weren’t as rare as he thought.

He finished chewing a piece of steak and added, “Like that bombing the other night. That pack strapped a human into the seat of the truck and stuck a bomb between his legs. What kind of person does that?”

She sat back, shocked, but quickly recovered to demand, “How did you know that? I haven’t told you anything about my investigation and the details are classified.” Or they should be. The last thing she needed was to be accused of being the leak in her department.

Especially with her father’s political fingers in anything related to shifter law enforcement.

Cole had said she had a mole in SCIS and now her father had specific information from the bombing.

Who on her team was undermining their efforts? She wished Cole had given her a phone number to call so she could press him for more details.

Her father harrumphed at being chastised. “Don’t make a big deal out of me knowing about your investigation. I need to know these things to do a better job on my committee.”

“Who told you? That information is not ready to be disseminated. Have you thought about the fact that someone may finger me for it getting out?”

“No. And as far as who told me, it’s someone with a higher security clearance than you, so stop worrying about it, little girl.”

She used to smile at his occasional use of that term of endearment from her childhood, but lately it sounded condescending.

Her mother would not tolerate him talking down to her and neither would Tess.

“I’m not a little girl any more, Dad.”

He waved that off.

So much for calling him on his attitude. Tess chose the battles to fight and this one would end with them not speaking again. That had already happened once when her dad found out Tess was studying shifters and demanded she stop. They’d both been hurting and a lot of words were spoken that couldn’t be taken back.

It had taken six months before they began talking again ... on the anniversary of her mother’s death.

Thinking about her mother, Tess recalled what Cole had said about alphas enforcing the law among their own people. Based on what he said, someone should have come forward to deal with the shifter who tried to mug her mother and the ensuing battle that triggered her mother’s heart attack.

That tragic day, her mother had tried to reach Tess. She’d wanted Tess to join her at a doctor’s appointment and then have lunch. Tess would have loved that opportunity to keep track of her mother’s heart condition and spend quality time with her.

But Tess had been hip-deep in the day from hell by that point, and the stress had brought her crazy energy to the surface. Still angry and hurting over Cole, she’d let her emotions get the best of her and had fried her own phone two hours earlier.

She never got the call from her mom.

As soon as Tess got out of school and had access to research resources, she’d started digging into her mother’s case.

Right away, she ran into a wall when she found the file sealed. No judge so far had been willing to risk the political backlash of reopening it against the wishes of a senator as powerful as her father.

Swallowing the lump forming in her throat, Tess took the risk of bringing that day up with her dad. “I know you don’t like talking about this, but ... I want to ask about what happened when Mom died.”

He kept staring down but he was no longer eating. He put his fork and knife down then lifted his head. “It’s a closed case. I don’t want to discuss it and I forbid your pursuing it.”

Don’t yell at Dad. This was exactly why she’d been digging secretly. “I’m not a child. You will not forbid me anything. It would be nice if you made the quick call it would take to get the file opened for your daughter.”

Fury burned in his eyes. “Do not talk back to me.”

“I’m not being disrespectful, Dad. You seem to forget that I’m grown and I make my own decisions. I only wanted to discuss what happened, but if that’s too painful for you, I understand.”

He eyed her the way he did a wily witness on the stand. “If you want to research it, read the media articles.”

“That only mentions an alpha who got sanctioned for his involvement. Who was the alpha?”

“Leave. It. Be. And stay away from that alpha.”

Ignoring the vehemence in his voice, she said, “Mom had a bad heart. I’m not out to blame anyone else or drag this out again when I carry just as much fault for not being with her that day. I have been going through old news articles I couldn’t bring myself to read back then. In one very small, shifter-supported newspaper article, the alpha claimed he was trying to save her.”

Her dad’s voice dropped to an evil level. “Lies, all of it. That alpha lied. He knows. I know it. Everyone does. Stay away from all shifters.”

Tess gave him a dry reply. “That’s not going to happen. I work with them.”

He gave her a dismissive look. “No, you don’t. That’s why I put Brant ... ” He sat back and didn’t even have the grace to look remorseful.

Brantley and her Dad were communicating?

She knew very clearly where to find the leak now. Brantley was sucking up to her dad, probably intending to use that connection to step over her. Her dad would help him, too, if it meant keeping Tess away from shifters.

A hundred questions raced through her mind about Brantley and her dad, all of them making her sick.

Seething, she struggled not to raise her voice. “What did you do, Dad?” 

“What any father would do when his daughter doesn’t have the sense to stay away from dangerous animals. I went to a lot of trouble to get Brantley in SCIS to make sure someone else interacted with the shifters. That’s why he heads up the security and deals with those damn jackals. That includes your security.”

She was so pissed her anger blinded her for seconds. “That’s how you’re getting confidential information. Are you the one he called to ask about the military background on one of our prisoners?”

“Cool your heels. That information is not going anywhere else. Yes, he called me because he’s doing his job and trying to capture that escapee.” He wiped his mouth on the napkin and dropped it on top of his plate. “Did you really think I’d let you take that position with SCIS where you’re exposed to those things on a daily basis and not keep an eye out for your well being?”

She’d become almost a friend with Scarlett, and Cole was ... another topic. For her dad to call people she cared about things grated on her. Arguing with a master litigator never went well.

Instead she said, “Let’s be clear on one thing. You didn’t let me do anything. I’ve worked my butt off to get where I am.”

His eyes turned into slits of anger. “Yes, you did, and you have a genius IQ. I don’t understand why you’d squander your education and talent on nonhumans when you could do so much more for your own people.”

“I live in this world now, Dad. Humans. Shifters. They’re all my people, whether you want to acknowledge it or not. I’m about upholding the law. I won’t bend it for a shifter or a human. I choose to see all sides and to do what I can to find a happy medium between nonhumans and humans. I want to be fair to everyone.”

He scowled and waved off her comments again. His phone buzzed with a text. He thumbed it open and read for a moment, then shoved the phone back in his pocket. “Damn trouble makers. A shifter went crazy in a courthouse back home. Tell me again how those creatures are so misunderstood.”

She’d never said that. “I have a very simple rule, Dad. If that shifter breaks the law, then he or she should be held accountable the same as a human.”

“Whatever.”  He stood up and looked at her still sitting. “I’ve got to get back for a meeting on Sunday.”

“On Sunday? What’s so important?” She’d expected him to stay in Spartanburg until Sunday evening.

He quipped, “Just keeping the wheels greased.”

She hated that statement. It usually meant he was doing something he wouldn’t share with her.

Pinning her with a look that was almost apologetic, he said, “Why don’t you come back with me tonight and we’ll spend Saturday together at home? You can fly back here Sunday on my jet. Be nice to see you more than once in a while.”

She wanted to say yes and have some quiet time with him at the family home in Virginia to bridge the gap that kept opening wider in their relationship, but she had too much going on. “Afraid not, Dad. Too many things going on here. I’m not off this weekend.”

Sighing with exaggeration for her benefit, he said, “When are you coming home?”

“How about when you take me and what I do seriously.” Okay, that had popped out without any review. She was too tired to be with anyone right now.

He leaned forward, managing to keep his face an unemotional mask but unable to hide his disappointment in her. “It would be nice to have a daughter in my life sometimes.”

That was classic Senator Janver, master manipulator. She’d told him more than once not to do that to her.

The last four days in her life had been hell. Add that to years of swallowing her pride to do as her dad wished and it all came to a head in her mind.

Even so, she managed to reply in a respectable tone, to show him she was treating him as a peer.

“As your daughter, I deserve respect for my position in this world, just as I respect yours, Dad. You don’t want a daughter. You want a robot that agrees with you and does as you say. That’s not me. You of all people should realize Mother raised me better than that. She taught me to make my own decisions, which I’ve done everywhere and with everyone but you. Stay out of my career if you want us to have a relationship built on respect.” 

Nothing happened, then he laughed. “Do you really think I worked this hard to become as powerful as I am to have anyone, especially my child, criticize me? You should be thanking me for protecting you.”

She started to smart back, “Where was all that protection when mom died?” But that would cut deep and she didn’t want to hurt him. Instead she muttered, “I wish I had a sibling so I didn’t feel so alone at times with all this.” She looked up at him, “Then maybe you’d be happy with one of us.”

“We did have ... ” He cut off his sentence.

“Have what?”

He looked guilty as hell all of a sudden. “Why can’t you just let things be without bringing up the past?”

She hadn’t brought up anything about her mother, but maybe talking about having kids reminded him of losing her.

His voice softened when he said, “Whether you believe me or not, I am proud.”  Tossing down cash to cover the meal, he shook his head.

Guilt came knocking and she was ready to make peace until he added, “But some days I wonder where I went wrong with you.”

Argh. She told him, “Maybe by thinking I should live according to your plan instead of my own.”

He ignored her and leaned down to kiss her forehead. “Be careful going home.” Then he walked out of the restaurant.

She sighed. Her father loved her, but they were as different as night and day. He’d have blown his stack if he’d known about Cole showing up again. Tough. She was not unhappy that he’d returned, even with the news that he was now a wolf shifter.

Her head was a war zone over what to do about Cole. She missed him every minute that she wasn’t telling herself to stay away from him. But nothing good could come of them being with each other.

She finished her gin and water, put her coat on and left. The rain had been coming down in fits and starts, leaving everything shiny now that night had fallen. She’d taken a cab to meet her father for dinner and could call a car service for her ride home, but she was too keyed up to just go home and stare at the four walls.

Admit the truth.

She was too keyed up to go home without Cole there.

Some force had taken over her body and at the moment that force wanted her to go track him down.

“Stop giving invisible energy a mind. The name of that force is horny,” she chastised herself.

Besides, how could she find Cole when a pack of jackal shifters hadn’t? She hoped.

On the way out the front door, she paused to figure out where she was headed. It wasn’t nine yet. She could go back to the office and put in a few more hours, maybe clear enough off her desk to consider taking a real weekend off.

That wouldn’t happen.

Still, having quiet time to clear off her desk and think would be nice. Rain had cooled the temperature which had reached the eighties earlier in the day. She’d walked this area often, completely at ease since a satellite police station was a block away, which meant they patrolled these streets regularly.

She pulled out her phone to text her assistant to see if files Tess had been waiting on had arrived yet.

The back of her neck tingled with a feeling someone was watching her.

Tess paused and looked around.

People strolled along the sidewalks. Businesses were open with lights shining through the glass windows and traffic moved at a lazy pace. Just a rainy night in the city.

Stop being so jumpy.

Her father had her looking for goblins everywhere now. Her phone dinged with a text.

You up for a drink at Twilight John’s?

Scarlett had finally surfaced.

Tess had been trying to build a bridge with someone from the shifter community for a long time and Scarlett was the only female shifter Tess had met. Scarlett wasn’t easy to break the ice with, but Tess felt like a ship ready to crash through a few icebergs tonight.

Shaking off the strange feeling she had a moment ago, she turned toward the bar.