“But can we trust that he’d tell us?” asked Trey.

Given everything that Ryan had quite rightly pointed out about Sage and his lack of action . . . “No. We just have to hope that he does right by Riley. Her uncles will definitely let us know if anyone leaves for any reason. They can be trusted.”

“Who tried to imply that Riley had one of us in the mountains, picking off their flock members?” asked Roni.

“I expected it to be Cynthia,” said Tao. “Ethan said it was actually the Beta female, Dana. Personally, I think she’s just scared because aside from Cynthia, her son is one of the only people left unharmed who should have been at Alec’s party. She needed someone to blame so she could feel that Duncan was safe. What Dana and her mate don’t seem to know is that Duncan was never invited to the party. For some reason he never told them that.”

“What kid wants to admit to their parents that they were the only one who wasn’t invited to a party?” asked Dominic. “If his parents are Betas, they most likely would have reprimanded Alec for not inviting him. And that would have been damn embarrassing for Duncan.”

Tao inclined his head. “When you put it like that, it’s not so confusing that he didn’t tell them. Anyway . . . if anyone at all agreed with Dana, they weren’t vocal about it. I’d expected Cynthia and Shirley to back her up if for no other reason than to piss off Riley, but Ethan said they didn’t.” Maybe they hadn’t wanted to risk that Riley might stay just to spite them.

“I’ve gotta say,” began Marcus, “I don’t like the flock much. Riley’s better off with us.”

Tao agreed with that. “As I told Trick and Dominic, the majority of them—especially her uncles—are good people.”

“Well, Ethan and Max are welcome to visit,” said Taryn, “but my hope is that Riley will agree to never go back there.”

Tao was hoping the same thing. “On to another subject . . . You said that Ramón’s backed off. Do you think he’s gone for good?”

Trey pursed his lips. “What I think is that he’s not a guy who’s likely to waste his time pestering us when his brother doesn’t have long to live. He probably sought the help of someone else. He won’t have liked that we refused him or that he had to back off, but he had no choice.”

Nodding, Tao said, “All right. I’ll be back in a while; I have something I need to do.”

“Before you go,” began Taryn, “I wanted to ask about you and Riley―is it just a fling?” Taryn’s eyes held a plea that said she hoped to God his answer was no.

“It’s more,” he told her.

She beamed at him before barking a laugh at Dominic. “Told you he’d come through.”

Dominic frowned. “I told you.”

“Not as I recall it,” said Taryn.

Jaime smiled again, rubbing her hands together with glee. “I’m glad you two are finally together.”

Yeah, so was Tao.

If there was one thing that could always make Riley smile, it was the sound of a child’s laugh. Since she currently had four kids bouncing on her bed, giggling and squealing, she had a big smile on her face. Her raven, relaxed and happy to be home with them, wanted nothing more than to shift and play with them.

“You’re making a mess of my bed,” Riley playfully grumbled. They just giggled again.

When she’d walked into their bedroom, Savannah and Dexter had launched themselves at her and peppered her cheeks with kisses. Lilah had waved and given her a picture of squiggles, which she’d then taken back and stuffed in her little pocket.

Kye had scowled and said, “I don’t like you anymore; you didn’t come back when you said you would.” Then he’d wrapped himself around her leg and said, “Okay, I forgive you.” The kid didn’t hold a grudge long.

As they’d followed her to her bedroom, they’d been full of questions.

Why had she taken so long?

Did she enjoy the party?

Could they go with her next time?

And, in Savannah’s case, was she still not allowed to bite Greta?

Finished unpacking her stuff, Riley balled up her dirty clothes and put them all in the canvas laundry bag. Just as she turned, Savannah leaped at her. Used to it, Riley easily caught her.

“You smell like Tao,” Savannah told her, nose wrinkling.

Riley smiled. “I do?”

“Did you kiss him? I’m never going to kiss a boy. They’re silly.”

“Boys are not silly.” Riley chuckled. Not all of them, anyway. “Having said that, I’m glad you don’t intend to kiss any boys. You can do that when you’re twenty-one.” Her raven wholeheartedly agreed.

Savannah leaned in and whispered, “Lilah tries to kiss Dexter, but he runs away.”

Hearing a playful hiss, Riley looked to see that the cub in question had unsheathed his claws. “Dexter, do not rip my sheets.”

Dexter snatched Kye’s candy bar and raced out of the room fast as . . . well, a cheetah.

Laughing, Kye shouted, “Hey, that’s mine! Give it, give it, give it!” His shout faded as he disappeared down the tunnels with Savannah and Lilah.

Smiling to herself, Riley closed the door, intending to take a shower. She’d just taken off her T-shirt when there was a knock at the door. With a sigh, she slipped the tee back on and opened the door, expecting the kids. But it was Tao. And he was carrying several bulging duffels.

He barged inside and dumped his bags on the floor. “Don’t piss and moan. We agreed we were together, and I’m not interested in living in a separate room from my female.”

Tao held his breath, waiting for the argument that would no doubt come. No one appreciated their personal space being invaded, least of all a dominant female shifter. If she were anyone else, he might have consulted her about it. But Riley thought way too much sometimes, she stewed over things that were really very simple, and he wasn’t prepared to wait. As he told her, he refused to live apart from his female. He wouldn’t leave, no matter how much she—

“All right.”

Thrown, he had no words for a moment. “All right?”

She shrugged. “I figure if you’re prepared to permanently sleep in the same room as someone with insomnia, you must really want to be here.”