REJECTED BY THE COUNCIL

Devlen, Case, Elias, and Jameson represented the bears of Montana.

“Atlas,” Devlen spoke in his growling voice.

Atlas inclined his head in a small bow to each of them.

The four shifters all wore bear skins.

“Thank you for seeing me,” he said. “I am here to plead before the council. I would like to find a human mate. Clearly, Serenity and I were not a match, and this resulted in her death.”

“I believe, Atlas, that you’ve mated with a human before coming here to get our approval.”

Fear raced through Atlas, crashing into him in great waves and almost knocking him over.

But he remained steady, his face impassive.

“Not at all, sir,” he said as respectfully as he could. Anger had blended with his fear. “I simply want us to change the old ways of living to save the bear shifters of Hendrick Klaus.”

“The reason we do not mate with humans, Atlas,” Elias spoke in a gentler voice, though his face was stern, “is because we are keeping our species pure. Mating and procreating with humans only weak