Malcolm awoke alone. He stretched and found the place beside him was cold. Sitting up, he went still, trying to locate the sound of her moving around. But everything was silent. Worried something may have happened to her, Malcolm searched the building. Nothing. She wasn’t inside the house. He started looking outside and stopped dead in his tracks. Her car was gone, her bag too. She left without a goodbye. He checked again for a note, nothing. Malcolm stood there stunned, in disbelief. No goodbye, no reason for leaving early. He tried to call her phone, and she didn’t pick it up any time he called. Finally, he called Jordan and told him what had happened. Jordan told him she’d probably explain on Tuesday when she saw him. That maybe she had a family emergency and reminded him about the cute Ellie. She’d not wanted to talk about it. Perhaps that was the case. He still wanted to change the rule of their agreement. Now it would have to wait. He cleaned up the

Melody missed working in the office. She enjoyed healing well enough. But it didn’t make her happy. She felt like a fraud and a failure. No one was ever happy around her and it boggled her mind how many women came to about either, then asked how she found working outside of the den. One or two even asked how they could do it. The greatest fears were being excommunicated from the den, and the large population of wolf shifters. Melody couldn’t mention that she worked with wolf shifters. It was bad enough when her pregnancy became obvious. The Elder women of the den loved the idea of a new kit or two around the den until she wouldn’t name the father. Their tune changed to a more malicious and quiet tone. They said nothing to her face, but their words got back to her through Ellie. Ellie who now moved in with her to the old and rundown apartment. The tiny place was too small for her healing practice, to load because they surrounded apartment with public spaces, and ther

Ellie had to make another run for the post office. To avoid too many eyes on her, she packed the trunk of her old Buick after most people were asleep and hit the road early so she could miss the elder foxes snooping on the den looking for someone to disapprove of and to avoid line ups at the post office. Today Melody and she had to make house calls to several foxes. Several kits were down with a common virus. Miserable, but they would be fine in a week. Then there were the Elder foxes, who expected to be catered to at what Ellie believed was everyone else’s inconvenience and at times detriment. But honour thy elder was firmly planted in their den in life. She then wondered if this was the case with other dens. Just like why didn’t they move to a location more friendly to fox shifters? Though Ellie had a theory on that, and Melody agreed. Once they settled, they’d search for another den and find out if Ellie’s theory was correct. She suspected the elders were desperate to hold

It took Ellie several months to get Melody on the mend, and she worried constantly. Mel took too many of the scent blockers for too long and Ellie was sure it didn’t help her health wise. She’d found an email from the pharmaceutical manufacturer of the pills. The letter stated that they’d like to remind the users of the drug signed a waiver releasing the company of their legal responsibilities for any ill effects caused by the drug or unforeseen drug interactions. After that, they warned that women on certain types of birth control could expect their birth control to fail, and possible pregnancies could occur with long-term use of their product. Normally, Ellie would wonder who would use such a drug for a long period of time. However, she knew someone and the why. “Hey, you’re out of bed. How are you feeling?” Ellie looked up from her laptop on the table to see Melody entering from the bedroom. “Yeah, I’m feeling better, like a truck ran me over, but

Malcolm, weeks later, had his meetings, with everything in his life a mess. It wasn’t his fault this time, though. His client was having issues with a virus running rampant through their shops and facilities. It forced everyone to postpone several inspections and face-to-face meetings until the virus ran its course. He tried to go over his files and notes on the client he’d met today, but he was restless. Nothing would stick in his mind. This wasn’t him. Malcolm was distracted from everything. Jordan kept warning him he was acting like a shifter who’d lost his mate. Now he wondered if he was like this still. Did he risk losing a mate? Humans and other shifters sometimes could become mate. But he was an Alpha and a mate like that wasn’t acceptable. His mind kept drifting to tan curves and a string bikini. That purple dildo and the feel of her around him. Malcolm put his laptop down and looked at the heated state of his lap. Jordan, among others, star