“Wake up! Our mate got out of bed.” Rocky shakes me from the inside, making me bolt straight up in bed. “Huh?” I squint my eyes and look at the clock. It’s only four a.m. I reach my arm out, but Zara’s side of the bed is empty. I don’t hear the kids, so they must still be sleeping. I slide out of bed and listen carefully, the refrigerator open and close and the sound of a glass being filled. Even from this far, I can feel how discontented Zara is. “I got her, Rocky.” I stretch and yawn, then make my way out to the kitchen. Zara is leaning against the counter with a glass of juice in her hand, with a faraway look in her eye. She’s wearing a light yellow cropped t-shirt and light blue panties. “Not now, lover boy.” Rocky snaps me out of my dirty thoughts. “Something’s wrong.” He’s right. Zara doesn’t even acknowledge that I have come into the room. I walk over and clear my throat. She looks at me from the side of her eye and takes a small sip of her juice. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to

By the time we get home, Zara and Katie have snuggled together in the backseat, fast asleep. At some point, they took their seatbelts off and laid down together. If I didn’t know they both have boyfriends, I would think they fell asleep making out. Katie has her arms wrapped around Zara’s waist with her fingers laced together on the small of Zara’s back. She nestled her nose in the crook of Zara’s neck, dangerously close to where I marked Zara. Zara has her leg hooked around Katie’s waist, preventing her friend from falling off the seat, and her fingers tangled into her hair. Her cheek is resting on the crown of Katie’s head, making her pouty lips look even more full.“Uh… they look… cozy?” Jasper observes their suggestive position and rubs his hand on the back of his neck. “Well, if they tangle up like that, it’s more difficult to separate one from the other. They do it when they’re homeless to protect each other. Um, it doesn’t look like… this… but, um… yeah… you get the idea.” I r

“Keller will grab Zara. I’ll grab Katie’s top half, just grab her legs. Stop her from kicking if you can.” Les motions how Jasper should try to hold on to Katie. “We’ll take her to the nursery bathroom.” “How do we know who will come out first?” Jasper looks at me and back at Les. Les gives Jasper a sweet smile. “Oh, darling, so innocent. Wolf mentality.” “Wolf mentality?” He looks at me for help. “Wait, how do we know they didn’t turn into wolves? Shift. How do we know they haven’t shifted?” “Their wolves have an advantage to use their senses but stay in human form right now.” Les tugs at her braided ponytail. “They can open doors, push elevator buttons, call for help, things like that.” “Zara is freaking out because her pup is gone. Katie is going to protect Zara to give her a chance to find her baby.” I put my ear to the door. “Katie will make sure danger is out of the way.” “Katie sees Zara as more dominant than she is in the pecking order of your family dynamic. So yes, she

I thought it was going to be difficult to get Zara to pull out of the study, but it wasn’t. She was more worried about what could have happened to Orli and Dillon and everyone else she loves and cares about. Two days after the incident, she goes to the lab to speak to the other volunteers to let them know why she has pulled out, but promises them they will still get to see her all the time because she is going to be working directly with Estelle. Katie, on the other hand, won’t be deterred. Even after we explain that she and Zara could have died, she insists she wants to keep going. Jasper is miserable, but puts on a brave face for her. He spends lunch with her every day and comes home to mope. Zara and I try to cheer him up and even help him take care of Mister Happy and Midnight. Mom takes over nanny duty while Katie is away. “Zara, it’s only been a month. Are you sure taking all nine girls all the way to Cozy Up is a good idea?” Jasper stops her from leaving the lab to let the gi

“You’re sure you feel okay?” Zara is already sitting on my lap, but I take her face in my hands and look her in the eye. I look her over and give her a quick peck on the cheek. “You don’t feel warm or anything?” “I feel fine, Keller. I just took the serum fifteen minutes ago.” She covers my hands with hers. “It takes a couple hours for it to get into my system. Right now I’m just exhausted. We intentionally added a light sedative to this version, and it was a later night than I was expecting. If I had known you planned to stay at a hotel instead of going home, I would have packed a bag.” “I’ll know better for next time.” I nuzzle her cheek and settle into the recliner. “You tell me if you feel weird at all. Even a little bit.” “I will, sweetheart.” She leans her head against my shoulder and places her hand on my chest. I slide my hand over hers and interlock our fingers. It makes me smile to feel the ring on her finger. I look at Jasper, who has Katie in his lap as well. He has