Chapter 33

"This is either really bad," Mike said in a tone only half-joking, "or very good. Come on, Riley. Don't keep us in suspense."
"Okay, here's the bare bones of it. And the reasons why I think you should talk to her."
He told them about his lunch with Lia and the afternoon they'd spent together. Told them her reasons for wanting to meet Jamie and ask about the book. He gave them his assessment of her as a person and why he did not think she was a danger to them. As delicately as possible, he hinted at the connection they'd instantly made, hoping his friends wouldn't either laugh him out of the house or be pissed off that he was pursuing a relationship - and what a mild word that was for what he felt - with someone they found suspicious.
When he told them he'd brought her home to stay, they didn't seem to be nearly as shocked or angry as he'd expected.
"Why aren't you shouting at me?" he asked. "Or telling me I'm out of my mind?"
"Finish your story," Mike said, "and then I'll answer your question."
"But here's the real thing. And I hope you won't tell me I'm nuts and toss me out of the house."
"Nuts because you felt something very strong for her, even before you could take another breath?" Jamie asked. "Or for something else?"
"Something else." He took a long drink of his beer. "I've been thinking about her family roots. Romanian, like yours, Mike. She's researching werewolves. She's fixated on finding a certain book. Jamie, she thinks it's the one you used for your research. The one with Mike's ancestral history in it."
Mike leaned forward and fixed him with a penetrating look. "Are you telling me you think she's a shifter?"
Riley looked from Mike to Jamie and back again. "Yes. That's' exactly what I'm saying. It's - I get a certain - " He waved a hand helplessly in the air. "I can't explain it."
Jamie and Mike exchanged a deep look.
"Are you sure you aren't just fixated on my situation," Mike asked, "and all of a sudden sensing things because this woman and I have the same ethnic heritage?"
Riley shook his head. "I trust my cop's instinct. It hasn't failed me yet." He raked his fingers through his hair. "A year ago, if someone had told me I'd fall like a ton of bricks for a woman who was a shifter, I would have arrested them and called for a psych eval."
"But that was before you met Mike," Jamie said. "Right?"
"Right. Now I'm a believer in something I sure didn't give credence to before...before."
Mike chuckled. "Before I shifted while you watched?"
Riley gave a half-laugh. "Yeah. Before that."
"So you think that, like Mike when he came looking for the book, Lia is looking for her heritage? For traces to her pack?"
Riley nodded. "I do. Am I an idiot for thinking that?"
"No more than I was when I first learned about Mike," Jamie told him.
"You said you had an instant, deep connection with her," Mike reminded him.
"That's right. Why? You think that's stupid, too?"
Mike shook his head. "It's a funny thing about shifters, Riley. We only mate once, and it's for life. Whatever it is that connects us to others, the signal we have met our mate is by far the strongest. It's inherent in our bodies, in our chemical and genetic makeup." He looked at the woman sitting near him and smiled. "I knew it the instant I saw Jamie. It wasn't a hormonal reaction. I knew it in my heart. I just had to convince her."
Jamie gave him a smile so intimate, so personal, Riley had to look away for a moment.
"I felt it, too," she said. "And I'm going to guess that it's the same for Lia."
"So now you know why I didn't react the way you expected."
Mike stood up, drained the rest of his beer, and walked to the edge of the deck. "You know," he went on slowly, "this could be really good or really bad."
Riley snorted. "Well, yeah, you could say that about anything, Mike."
"What I mean is if the pack she is looking to connect with is mine because it's her heritage, too, that means I have someone who can help me locate others. But...."
"But?" Riley prompted.
"But she could also be descended from the pack that nearly destroyed mine and is looking for any survivors to eradicate. Then there would be no one left anywhere to rise up and challenge them."
Riley thought for a long moment. "Well, I'm no expert on this, as I'm sure you are well aware. But, like I said before, I trust my cop instincts, and I do not get any vibes of danger from her. Nothing bad. Only desperation, as if finding this connection is the most important thing in her life."
"It very well could be," Mike pointed out. "There are so few of our pack left, and linking up has gotten harder and harder. If we can't find a way to connect with the few members who are left, the pack and its heritage will die out."
Jamie set her glass of iced tea on a small table and walked over to Mike, putting her arms around him from the back and holding him. Then she turned to Riley.
"We're certainly doing our part to make sure that doesn't happen."
"You mean with Mike looking for pack members like Lia is?"
Her lips tipped up at the corners in a secret smile. "And in other ways."
Mike turned, stood next to his wife, and put his arm around her. "What Jamie means is we're going to have a little cub. Baby. Both!" He laughed.
Riley gaped at them. "You're having a baby?"
Jamie nodded, her face alight with excitement. "Mike's going to get me all the special herbs I'll need to take, and also the ones we'll need to start the baby on as soon as he or she is born."
"It's what controls our urges to shift," Mike explained. "So we can function in a human world."
God, he'd never even given that a thought. And why would he? The whole concept had been so otherworldly to him before now. Something out of science fiction.
"Well. Congratulations, guys." Riley stood up, shook Mike's hand, and gave Jamie a kiss on her cheek. "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." He shrugged. "Whatever that might be."
"As a matter of fact...." Jamie looked at Mike, and he nodded. "Since neither of us have any family, we'd like you to be the baby's godfather."
Riley was hit with a wave of emotion so strong it swamped him. "Wow! I'd be honored, you know that."
"We hoped," Mike said. "But that means it's even more important to see which side of the fence Lia is on. Because if she's from them" - he stressed the word - "I need to fix that as quickly as possible."
Riley didn't even want to know what that meant. He refused to consider the possibility. He felt Lia's goodness in his bones, and he was sticking with that.
"If you'd be okay with it," he told them, "I'd like the four of us to get together, as soon as possible."
Mike looked at Jamie, waiting for her to say something.
"I'm on board with that," she told Riley. "Why don't you bring her over after dinner? Or, better yet, bring her back for dinner. I got a little carried away with the lasagna. I think I made enough to feed a family of eight."
"Let me check with her. She said she was cooking something special tonight."
"Wow!" Jamie giggled. "You must be a dynamo in the sack, Riley, if she's already cooking for you."
Riley felt heat creep up his face. "On that note, I think I'd better leave." He rose from his chair. "Thanks for the beer and the chance to talk to you about this."
"I think it's good that you did." Mike took Jamie's hand. "Protecting this family and the baby we're expecting is a priority with me. If Lia's the enemy, we want to know now. If she's not, this connection comes at a very good time. So bring her over here later, and we'll see what's what."
"You'll like her," Riley promised.
"I hope so." Jamie kissed his cheek. "For all our sakes, I really hope so."