Deni went for Ellison again, fangs bared. The Collar was taking its toll on her—Deni was a little slower this time, the impact not as strong. Ellison saw pain in her eyes as she landed on him.

This time she clung on with her claws, her jaws snapping at his neck. Ellison changed under her grip, his favorite black cowboy shirt ripping as his massive wolf shoulders burst through it.

His own Collar sparked as he caught Deni’s muzzle with his mouth, now a wolf’s mouth, turning aside her deadly bite.

Ellison tasted her blood, the blood of his pack, and his feral rage ignited. No wolf attacked the alpha and lived.

The human part inside him knew that this was his sister, lashing out, scared. The wolf in him said it was one of the pack, hurt yes, but she needed to be subdued.

Both entities wove together and knew what to do. Ellison released Deni’s muzzle and went for her throat, locking his teeth around loose fur. Deni howled, her Collar sparking wildly as she shook her head to try to tear free.

Ellison held on tighter, carefully not letting his teeth break her skin. He put his large paw on her head and used his weight to bear her to the floor. He landed on top of her, his wolf big enough to cover her and keep her down.

He heard the distinctive footsteps of Andrea and then Glory, Dylan’s mate, following his nephews—Andrea sure-footed and graceful, like her wolf; Glory with the click-click of impossibly high heels.

Deni howled, still fighting, but Ellison’s hold was strong. Deni growled and snarled, terrified, not understanding.

“I can tranq her,” Glory said.

Ellison didn’t want Deni tranqed. She’d been given drugs and sedatives, poked and prodded. She didn’t need another round of tranquilizers that would leave her groggy and afraid.

But they might not have a choice. Deni was still fighting, weakening, but fighting. She still didn’t know who Ellison was—she was lost and scared, afraid to yield to the wolf who pinned her. In the wild, Ellison would have had every right to kill her for the safety of the pack. Deni’s wolf, by the look in her eyes, somehow sensed this.

“Mom,” Jackson said, voice thick with tears. “Mom, try. Please.”

Deni snarled again, trying to dislodge Ellison. Her Collar gave her a barrage of shocks, which shocked Ellison at the same time, hot bites of pain.

Ellison growled, a long, low sound. Stop. I’m your brother. Those are your cubs. Come on, Den.

Deni snarled again, then she blinked once, twice, and her eyes cleared. She drew a breath through her wolf muzzle, and her Collar went silent.

Ellison snatched his teeth away from her throat as Deni shifted to human, lifting himself away from her before he could hurt her. Tears filled Deni’s eyes. “Jackson?”

“Mom.”

Jackson fell on his knees beside Deni as Ellison shifted back to his human form. Ellison’s arms went around his sister, and she relaxed into his strong embrace.

Ellison kissed her hair, holding her, rocking her. Deni reached for Jackson, who came into the embrace with them, her son openly crying. Will knelt on Deni’s other side, sliding his arms around his mother’s waist.

Ellison didn’t get up, knowing that Deni needed his comfort, his forgiveness, his understanding. Her cubs gave her love, and Ellison gave her strength.

“So,” Glory said. Ellison heard the butt of the tranquilizer rifle click softly on the floor. “We won’t be needing the tranq, then.”

“No,” Andrea said. “Just me.”

She came to kneel beside Ellison, careful not to break the family huddle. Ellison couldn’t have let Deni go for anything right now, in any case. Andrea reached between them, laid her hand on Deni’s forearm, and let her healing magic trickle into Deni to soothe her better than any man-made tranquilizer ever could.

Ellison felt the small pulse of magic flowing into him through Deni. Though Glory was the leader of the rival Lupine pack in this Shiftertown—Broderick’s pack—and Andrea her niece, Ellison had nothing but gratitude for them.

***

Maria finished her shift without any more asshats harassing her, or drinks spilling, or glasses breaking.

Liam had cleaned up the mess by the time she emerged from his office, the floor pristinely clean. He said nothing to her about the incident, only winked at her as she walked back to the bar to fill her next order. The rest of the Shifters had gone back to drinking, laughing, and talking, the excitement over.

Maria’s shift that night finished before the bar closed. She let Ronan walk her partway home, but he had to get back to help Liam close, and she told him to go. Shiftertown lay before her, with its small bungalows and neat yards, quiet under the cool of the night. Summer would hit soon, with sticky weather that only Austin and its river and creeks could bring.

Ellison had gone before Maria emerged from the office, long gone, Spike told her. Jackson had called, and Ellison had raced home.

Spike, a man of few words, of course hadn’t been that effusive. What he’d said was: “Ellison went. Jackson called. While ago.”

Maria knew why. Poor Deni, and her poor sons. Jackson and Will were grown men in human terms but still considered cubs to Shifters.

She hoped everything was all right. She’d have to visit Deni tomorrow if all was well, maybe cook her something. Buñuelos. Deni liked those, and they were fairly easy to put together. Sean always kept flour, sugar, and honey around for making his pancakes, and never minded when Maria used the ingredients. Maria helped pay for groceries with her tips from the bar, in any case.

Her tips had been pretty good tonight. Maria’s pockets were full of coins and bills, more for her jar of savings.

A shadow rose beside her, and a Shifter fell into step with her. “I liked how you stood up to that human,” the Lupine called Broderick said. “Took guts.”

“Thank you.” Maria kept walking, though her calm had shattered again. Broderick liked to follow her home, to walk to close to her. Though he’d never done anything inappropriate in Shifter terms, he violated her personal space all the time, doing everything but rubbing against her.

“No one would do that to you if you had a mate,” Broderick said.

His constant argument. “I don’t want a mate,” Maria said quickly. She’d been mate-claimed by one of the Lupines in Miguel’s Shifter pack, and at first, she’d been stupidly enchanted with Luis, which was how she’d been stolen from home in the first place. She’d learned quickly about the things Miguel expected from females brought in by his feral males.