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  “You get used to it.” Trisha’s father had shrugged. “About half of them are on our side, watching the watchers. The rest are mostly agents of foreign powers trying to figure out what’s going on with our Teams from my movements.”

  “It can’t be easy living in a fishbowl. Especially with your abilities,” Steve had observed.

  “It’s not, but if I’m to keep doing what I’m doing with the military at this level, then it’s something I have to put up with.”

  “Uh, sir…?” Steve had an idea forming as he spoke. “Maybe not.”

  “What do you mean?” The admiral looked interested.

  “Do you mind if I take a little stroll around the neighborhood? I have a few contacts in the area and it might just be feasible to call on some of them to help give you and your family a little more privacy.”

  “Supernatural help, you mean? What could shifters do for us?”

  “More than shifters, sir. There are a few bloodletters who actually enjoy covert work, and several magic users that I know personally, in the area. One of them is practically a neighbor of yours. She lives a few miles away, but that’s no distance at all to someone like her.”

  “A female?” The admiral looked skeptical, but then the Morrow men all seemed to have a blind spot when it came to women and their strengths.

  “Let me talk to her and I’ll see what she says. In any case, you should probably make her acquaintance. She’s part of the local hierarchy. Very highly placed, in fact.”

  Steve didn’t want to say more until he’d spoken to Sadie. She was one of his oldest friends and he meant that in every way possible. Sadie had been one of his mother’s dear friends, for all that she was a witch. In that way—and many others—his mother had been very progressive. She judged a person on their own merits rather than allow stereotypes to interfere in her friendships.

  Steve reconnoitered the area before visiting his mother’s old friend. They spoke briefly and she seemed interested in learning more about the situation, which was a start. She agreed to look into the magical use in the area around the Morrow’s home, and they would arrange a meeting to discuss strategy if she thought she could help. And payment. Witches didn’t work for free. Even good witches like Sadie.

  Steve also made it a point to invite Sadie to his wedding. Once Mrs. Morrow had gotten used to the idea of her only daughter getting married, she had jumped into wedding plans right away. Steve was given the guest room conveniently located in the pool house while Trisha stayed in her room in the main house.

  There was no getting past her brothers for midnight rendezvous, which was annoying. Steve would’ve gone insane if they hadn’t been able to sneak off together during the day to supposedly sightsee. The only sight he was really interested in seeing was his mate—naked and ready for him.

  They managed to be together enough to calm the beast inside him, but he missed holding her at night while they slept. In only a few days, he’d gotten used to the feel of her in his arms, and now, sleeping alone, he knew something important was missing. Someone important. Vital, in fact.

  Steve continued to work on the problem of all that surveillance and he went out to prowl at night a few times and ran across a few other shifters. Some of them, he knew. Redstone Construction had a big job site nearby and quite a few of the crew were people he had worked with in the past and knew well. He enlisted their help—once Sadie had laid a few preliminary spells on the area—to help clear out the rodents, as he liked to call them.

  Without doing anything overt, between Sadie’s magic and the shifter dirty tricks squad, they were able to cut the number of watchers by more than half in just a few nights. Life at the Morrow house was getting easier, but Steve had another idea in mind to help the family. His new family.

  He took them on a tour of the housing development already under construction a few miles away on the outskirts of town. It was a Redstone site and it was one of the special ones. The moment they set foot on the site, they were on protected lands. Magically protected.

  And everyone working there was a shifter or Other of some kind. It was okay to talk freely, which was something they couldn’t do at the Morrow house, even now that the watchers had decreased in number.

  “Redstone builds housing developments all the time,” Steve explained as he took the family on a tour of the site. Several of the homes were complete. Several more were in various stages of completion and yet others had been sketched out with the land cleared enough to begin work. “But a few of our projects, scattered around the country at any given time, are extra special. This one, for example, is going to be a shifter neighborhood, built especially for Others and run by a Council of Alphas of the various Tribes, Packs and Clans that decide to take up residence. Right now, there’s a small wolf Pack, a Pack of coyotes and several raptor Tribes that want to move in. We’re building homes to suit each of them. See the balconies on that house over there?” Steve pointed to a three-story home with high balconies as well as roof access.

  “Let me guess,” Deke’s tone was bored, but Steve knew he was thinking back to the shifters he’d met in Las Vegas. Deke had been especially fascinated by the birds. “The decks and railings offer perches to bird shifters.”

  Steve nodded. “The family who’ll be moving in there has teenagers. They’re just learning to fly, so they need different levels of relatively safe places to land. You’ll notice all the trees in close proximity to the house in back. We left the old growth specifically so that they had cover and plenty of sturdy branches to learn to glide from.” Steve pointed to another house as they walked down the street. “This one is for the local priestess. She’s an older lady who can’t handle stairs very well, so we built her a ranch-style house where everything is all on one floor. The bathroom has handrails and a special bathtub with a door so she can walk in without having to climb over the side of a conventional tub. She’s a sweet old lady and we want to make life as easy as possible for her—as she makes our lives richer, serving the Goddess and our people.”

  “That’s so sweet,” Mrs. Morrow said, looking fondly at the ranch house. “It’s good to see your people take such good care of others.”

  Steve let her words stand without comment, but he knew he was teaching the whole family about how shifter society worked. It was an important thing for them to know, since they would now be part of it to some extent. They’d be immersed in it if Steve had his way. But they didn’t know that yet.

  “You’ll notice how we separated the raptors from the breeds that might want to hunt them. The priestess’ house will act as a small buffer zone—and a reminder that we don’t hunt each other in the neighborhood.”

  Mrs. Morrow looked at him, clearly shocked. “You hunt each other?”

  Steve laughed. “Only for fun. The youngsters especially like to chase each other around—like kids playing tag. But it rarely turns dangerous. Only if there’s instability or some kind of feud. But then the Alphas would step in and settle things. We all try to rub along together in peace as much as we can while not denying our animal natures. We’re all hunters and we like to chase things. We rarely kill. Our human sides are able to control the desire. And our human sides like our food cooked for the most part.” He grinned, inviting the others to laugh with him. They didn’t really understand yet, but they would. Eventually.

  He took them around a corner and soon they were looking at another part of the sprawling neighborhood. This was the part he really wanted to show them.

  “The wolf Pack house will be on the next street and that whole area back there will be the Pack section. A few big cat families want homes in this area behind us, and this street will be where all the Alphas live—at the heart of the neighborhood, each on the edge of his own territory. They’ll be neighbors and within close proximity to work out any issues between the different groups.”

  “Sounds like a good plan,” the admiral commented, looking at the layout with a critical eye.

  “There’s also plent
y of room here for you, sir. If you want it.” Steve sprang his surprise on them all at once. “I have some preliminary plans for a home on the edge of the cul de sac with a big backyard and a pool even larger than the one you currently have.” He took out some folded papers from his back pocket and handed them to the admiral. They were plans. Small scale because of the small paper, but they could get the general idea. And he had one more thing to show them. “If you’ll follow me, there’s something else you should see.”

  Steve set off through the trees, knowing exactly where he was headed. The family lagged behind, each trying to get a look at the papers he’d given the admiral, but they were following. Trisha skipped to catch up with him, a questioning smile on her face.

  “You’ve been planning this?” she asked.

  “For a while. The minute I realized where your family lived, I had this idea. And then, when I got here and saw the conditions… All that surveillance. Well, I’m surprised you can live like that. This is an option that will allow your family to thrive without a dozen foreign agents watching their every move. It’s better for them, and it’s better for the country and the Spec Ops guys your father runs if spies aren’t able to see his comings and goings. Believe me, they would never be able to penetrate this neighborhood once it’s finished and everyone has moved in.”

  “That’s amazing,” she whispered, following him. She was looking at him and he realized the moment she scented what he’d brought her there to see. She sniffed the air and turned her head to look in front of them through the screen of trees. “Is that what I think it is?”

  A smile played over her lips as they broke through the last row of trees and stood on the bank of a small river, complete with a new wooden dock and large boat tied to it.

  “Oh, wow.”

  The admiral came up beside on the other side of Steve, the rest of the family stopping on the small rise that led down to the water. Everyone had various expressions of joy on their faces and Steve knew he’d done good.

  “River access,” the admiral observed. “Nice.” That one word from the stoic older man meant more than gushing squeals of joy from a teenage girl. Steve knew the admiral was impressed.

  “Would you like a tour? I arranged for the boat to be here. It belongs to a friend and she was happy to let us use it if you want to get a good gauge for exactly where we are in relation to the Rio Grande.”

  The admiral didn’t wait. He started down the bank, his expression fixed on the water. Trisha took Steve’s hand and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “You’ve got him hooked,” she whispered. “It won’t take much to reel him in.” She was laughing as she stepped back and tugged him along to follow after the rest of the family. Her brothers were already on the boat, checking things over.

  They spent the day on the water, enjoying the picnic his friend had thoughtfully packed for them. Jim and Rick even stripped to their skivvies and jumped into the river, disappearing for a nice long reconnoiter. They came back an hour later, all smiles, though they waited to report what they’d found to their dad until they’d returned to the building site.

  The report was good. Clear, healthy waters and easy access to the Rio Grande not too far away. From there, they could get to the Gulf of Mexico if they wanted. It was a good mode of travel, and possible escape route, for a family that had an affinity for water.

  “Okay, Redstone, you’ve made us an offer it would be almost impossible to refuse,” the admiral said as they left the boat and headed back toward the site of the future housing development through the woods. “What would it take for us to get that house built? How much?”

  Steve knew he had him, but the next few minutes would clinch it. “Actually, sir, I’ve been authorized to offer you the house free and clear, if you’ll agree to certain conditions.”

  The admiral stopped short as they cleared the trees and were back at the building site. “What’s the catch?”

  “Nothing too bad, sir. It’s just that these kinds of developments need a leader. You may have noticed the way our Clan is structured. There are Alphas over each group but they all answer ultimately to my brother. We’ve found that sort of arrangement works best for mixed neighborhoods like this will be. But of the groups that want to live here, there is not one Alpha we think is strong enough to rule them all. That’s why nobody has moved in yet. We can’t begin populating the neighborhood until we have a strong leader to oversee it all. Grif and I think that could be you, sir.”

  “But I’m not a shifter,” the admiral protested, but Steve could see the wheels turning in the older man’s agile mind.

  “Dominance isn’t always about what kind of animal you can turn into. In your case, it’s about raw magical power and the strength of your will. And your character, of course. Strength alone is not enough. The power must be headed in the right direction, if you get my meaning. You serve the Light, sir. It’s clear to us all who have served under you. Any shifters or Others who want to live in this neighborhood must also serve the Light. We won’t compromise on that. Our communities are on the side of the Lady and we all stand against evil. Others out there aren’t so picky, but for us and the communities we build, that’s a necessity.”

  “As it should be.” The admiral nodded and looked over the site. “I still have my duties to the military. That comes first until I retire.”

  “Yes, sir. And if you moved here, you’d still be close to the air support of Loughlin Air Force Base. You’d also have river access to the Gulf. Your duties to the community would take only a small portion of your time and they’d all know your responsibility to the military would take precedence at times. Frankly, a lot of the shifters who will be living here either work on the base or have family members currently serving. It’ll be a hybrid military-shifter neighborhood for the most part, which I think might appeal to you. And…there’s no way outside surveillance would get past any of them long enough to keep an eye on you. You’d be free of the watchers to live in peace and use your abilities whenever you wish.”

  The admiral looked over at him, meeting Steve’s gaze with a bit of wonder. “You’re offering me freedom,” the older man whispered.

  Steve nodded, a little choked up at the magnitude of the moment. The admiral was silent, clearly thinking hard, judging by the way his expression changed.

  “No wonder my daughter fell for you,” he finally said, surprising Steve. “Freedom to be ourselves is something me and my children have rarely enjoyed.” His voice grew stronger as he started walking again. “How soon can the house be ready?”

  Steve went back to Las Vegas, and Trisha followed him soon after. They lived together at his house for the few months it took to build her parents’ new home in Texas, visiting often. Plans were made and the wedding date was set. They held the ceremony on the riverbank behind her parents’ new house at sunset and had the reception in the backyard. Shifters of all kinds showed up to help celebrate, as well as Trisha’s human friends.

  Molly was in heaven when Jed Robinson decided to fly in for the wedding with the Redstone brothers. Magnus made his own way there, bringing Miranda as his date to the nighttime reception. The gift Miranda brought was an antique. A lovely baroque vase for the home she and Steve would build together.

  They still hadn’t settled on where exactly they were going to live, but Trisha knew wherever they ended up, as long as they were together, she was home.

  # # #

  Tales of the Were – The Others

  Rocky

  By Bianca D’Arc

  On the run from her husband’s killers, there is only one man who can help her now… her Rock.

  Maggie is on the run from those who killed her husband nine months ago. She knows the only one who can help her is Rocco, a grizzly shifter she knew in her youth. She arrives on his doorstep in labor with twins. Magical, shapeshifting, bear cub twins destined to lead the next generation of werecreatures in North America.

  Rocky is devastated by the news of his Clan brother’s death, but he
cannot deny the attraction that has never waned for the small human woman who stole his heart a long time ago. Rocky absented himself from her life when she chose to marry his childhood friend, but the years haven’t changed the way he feels for her.

  And now there are two young lives to protect. Rocky will do everything in his power to end the threat to the small family and claim them for himself. He knows he is the perfect Alpha to teach the cubs as they grow into their power… if their mother will let him love her as he has always longed to do.

  Available Now in eBook and Print

  Tales of the Were – The Others

  Slade

  By Bianca D’Arc

  The fate of all shifters rests on his broad shoulders, but all he can think of is her.

  Slade is a mystery. A warrior and spy who serves two masters—those in the human world and the Lords of the Were. They’ve sent him to Nevada to track a brutal murderer before the existence of all shifters is revealed to a world not ready to know.

  Kate is a priestess serving the Goddess and the large community of shifters that have gathered around the Redstone cougars. When their matriarch is murdered and the scene polluted by dark magics, she knows she must help the enigmatic man sent to track the killer.

  Together, Slade and Kate find not one but two evil mages that they alone can neutralize. It’s a tricky situation because Slade finds it hard to keep his hands off his sexy new partner, the cougars are out for blood, and the killers have an even more sinister plan in mind.

  Can Kate somehow keep her hands to herself when the most attractive man she’s ever met makes her want to throw caution to the wind? And can Slade do his job and save the situation when he’s finally found a woman who can make him purr?