Page 78 of Shifters Unifying

Within a minute, the gap had been widened enough for Logan to squeeze through. He loped across the floor, sat back on his haunches directly in front of me, and shifted once more. After this shift, the injuries from his fight with Marcus were mostly gone.

He crossed his legs, remained on the floor, and pulled a long splinter from between his teeth and tossed it aside. “That was unpleasant.”

“I think the only thing I’ve ever seen you devour so ferociously is…”

His gaze narrowed. “Is what?”

“Well, me.” Maybe I was using sex and humor to soften his mood.

His mouth stretched in a feral smile, and his gaze scraped over my skin. “Is that so?”

I stood, turned slowly, bent forward, and shook my ass, nearly in his face. “Do you ever wonder if nudist colonies are descendants of shifters?”

When I faced him again, his gaze had narrowed, and his eyes had turned stormy. “What?”

“Weren’t you listening?”

He growled. “Didn’t hear a fucking word you said. Can’t be putting your ass in my face and expect me to retain anything.”

“I asked if you ever wondered if nudist colonies are the descendants of shifters. You know, because?—”

“Modesty has no place among shifters,” he finished. “Interesting thought. Maybe Dr. Wise knows. Speaking of Dr. Wise, what were you two chatting about while I ‘worked things out’ with Marcus?”

It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss yet, so I didn’t answer. Instead, I asked, “Thirsty?”

He hopped to his feet and caught my hand in his. “Emma, tell me.”

“She believes she’s discovered a clue.”

“A clue?”

“Drawings of a relic, complete with a poetic verse that could be taken as instructions for how to beat any threat like Acheron.”

“What’s the catch?”

“It’s not in Six-Mile. It’s somewhere else, and we have to locate it, only I think I already know where it is.”

“We’ll leave tomorrow,” he said, pulling me close and nuzzling my neck.

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him. “No, I’m taking Marcus.”

“The fuck you are,” he whisper-yelled.

“He’s been there before. With his sister. Before he had a nephew.”

“Is that the missing one?”

I nodded, unwilling to tell him that the missing shifter might be my birth mom or that a trip to the cave might net me my birth father. It was too much to hash out right now. Instead, I said, “They found a bat pendant and relic trove a long time ago at the back of Wolf Moon Cave.”

“Then all three of us will go.” He smoothed his hands over my sides and crushed me to him. “You want me to come along, don’t you?”

“No, we need to take as few as possible, try to sneak out under cover of night or something. Clandestine. Hush-hush. Mask our scents with deer piss. Like hunters do.”

He took a step back and glowered. “I don’t like it.”

“But it’s what I’m going to do.”Please don’t make me pull rank.Mentally, I begged him to understand.

“Pull rank, huh?” He echoed my thoughts aloud, cocked his head to the side, and studied me. “You’re different now. More confident. More… bossy. I might like it.”