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“Oh? I thought ye had. My mistake.” He ducked his head and stepped back to his seat but not before casting a smug glance my way.

Giselda straightened her clothes and muttered under her breath before pinning her gaze on me once more. She had even more fire snapping in her eyes this time.

Great.If Giselda had the final say, I wouldn’t be allowed to spend a second more in Red Tail than it took to boot me out. If they didn’t also murder me for the hell of it, I would have to ask Jasper how it felt to be tossed out on his ass. We could compare notes. Shifting might be the only way I could prove anything to any of them.

I glanced at Jasper. Maybe I could convince him to attack me, though I wasn’t sure any part of me would believe I was in actual, mortal danger with my new shifter BFF.

What move did that leave me?

Appeal to their egos.

And I decided to pull out all the manipulative stops. My life, and the lives of those I loved, depended on staying here and learning how to be the best damned shifter I could. My pride had no place in it.

I raised my arms the way I’d seen monologists do at Shakespeare in the Park. “What would you do with the opportunity to be at the beginning of a pivotal momentin history?” I asked, my voice clear and strong. “That’s the opportunity you have now. You can tell the clans that you were there when the multimorph emerged and that you trained her in your dens, taught her your magicks, and protected her as she matured enough to embrace her destiny.”

Beauregard’s eyebrows climbed his forehead, but he rumbled in appreciation. “Now that is something we’ve never had.” He turned to Giselda. “Renown among the clans. You know we keep to ourselves.”

Giselda’s eyes glinted with something else now, coldly calculating. “You have a point, Rainbow.”

I nodded to her, offering a respect she didn’t deserve, serving only my ultimate goal. “I cannot shift now because I don’t know enough, but you could teach me.”

“I could, girl,” she murmured, drumming her fingers on the thick wooden table.

Before I could continue the ass-kissing and ego-stroking, footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Jasper hopped to his feet again and jogged toward me. “Flynn’s here. He’s my brother, and he’s the alpha of Red Tail,” he murmured.

“That’s how you get away with so much, isn’t it?”

He shrugged and showed his teeth. “Mayhap.”

A naked Flynn marched into the center of the den with his head held high. His beard was decidedly brighter red than Jasper’s and had been adorned with tiny braids. Flynn didn’t carry any trinkets in his facial hair, and unlike Jasper, Flynn didn’t have freckles. He took a deep breath. “I demand recognition as the alpha.Whatever has been discussed will now be decided by me with commentary from the council. However, I will make the final decision.”

A familiar scent tickled my nose, and I peered into the stairwell. It was…

Oh, fucking hell.

Flynn gestured to the stairs, his voice booming. “The alpha of Six-Mile has come to broker a partnership between our two clans concerning the safety of the multimorph. He has offered all information.”

Logan.His name swirled through my brain like a sigh. He was naked again. No matter what he said, I would never get used to seeinghimin the buff. His muscles bulged in his thighs and calves. Strength and confidence radiated from him, and I wanted to swoon. Fucking swoon. What was wrong with me?

I scowled at Logan. “I had this thing worked out,” I said. “Nearly had their permission to stay here.”

Logan glared at me and crossed his arms, accentuating the tightly restrained power coiled inside him. “You won’t stay here.”

“Iwillstay here. It’s safer than anywhere else I’ve already been.”

And you won’t be here!

“You will not,” he barked.

“No.”

“You will come back to Six-Mile, and you will live in my home.”

My home…His home… Maybe even his bed. The idea dried my throat and battered my resolve, and no matter how frustrating he was, I craved a chance to finish what we’d started in the parking lot of Vixen’s. Could we warm ourselves by the fire between us and not raze both our worlds? No, I didn’t think there was any way.

The council observed the exchange as though they were spectators at a tennis match, and Giselda seemed particularly interested in my ability to serve a heaping of attitude back to Logan. Old fox probably liked the drama of it all.