“You bit him?” Lena asked.
“Not on purpose. Or maybe on purpose, but it wasn’t me. It was my animal, but I haven’t done that in three days, and I already apologized—”
“Hey,” Tobias crooned, hugging her shoulders against his side. “She doesn’t have control over her animal. That’s why we have been quiet about her. I asked Link not to say anything.” Half-truths, and now Ian was staring at his brother with narrowed eyes like he smelled a rat.
“Are you crying?” Elyse asked.
“No?” Vera lied, her voice pitched up an octave. “I have pollen in both my eyes.”
“Oh, my gosh,” Elyse said, approaching with her arms outstretched. She hugged her up tight, and Vera caved against her with how damned good it felt to be hugged. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m just so excited to meet you all, and I’ve been imagining how this would go, and I’d planned on being so cool, you know? And then I get here and I’m a total freak and I’m going to go home so embarrassed, and Tobias will be really nice and tell me I did good, but I’ll replay this over and over in my head and—”
“You aren’t a freak,” Elyse murmured as Lena wrapped her arms around them. “We were just shocked senseless because your mate is a bit of a beast, and no one could’ve ever called him making out with a tiny woman in public, must less introducing her as his fiancé. I’m sorry we took a second, but Tobias just legitimately smiled at me, and I’m confused on where that came from.”
Lena squeezed them tighter. “Apparently, it’s from you.” She released her and pulled her hand up again, studying the ring. Her full lips were turned up in a genuine smile as she whispered, “It’s so pretty. Tobias did good.”
“Link told me you are engaged to Jenner,” Vera said, trying to steady her shaking voice. “Congratulations! And to you, too,” she said, turning to Elyse. “On your wedding to Ian.”
“Where is Jenner?” Tobias asked in a low, snarly voice.
Vera cast him a frown over her shoulder, but he was standing even farther behind her now. As far away from Ian as was polite. Ian looked uncomfortable, too, and Vera wondered if she suppressed their bears this winter, would they be able to relax around each other?
“Jenner’s on a guided hunt out in the bush right now. He and the Dawsons took a big group of frat boys out, and there is only so much bro-time I can handle before I want to duck out. Elyse and I are planning the wedding.” Her dark eyes went wide as she looked at Vera. “You’ll have to come.”
Vera grinned and got so excited she couldn’t breathe. Years on Perl, and now this. A real life wedding invitation from her future sister-in-law?
“It’ll be out at Silver Summit Outfitters lodge.”
“Oh,” Vera said as she realized how impossible that would be.
“What’s wrong?”
Tobias stepped in and saved her from fumbling. “Vera isn’t safe around humans yet. Her animal is a biter, and she’s capable of Turning people. We can’t put you two at risk. She’s docked at Link’s place until she can manage better.”
Lena let off a shocked noise. “That sounds awful.”
“I’ll be there if it’s safe,” Vera promised hopefully.
“Well, can we talk to you on the radio while you’re in seclusion?” Elyse asked. “I talk to Link that way.”
“Yes!” she said too loud.
Tobias chuckled beside her, and the others grinned.
“So,” Elyse drawled, “do you think it’s okay to have dinner together, or do you have to go back to Link’s right away?”
Vera wanted to say yes. She truly did, but she didn’t have enough control over her Changes yet to feel confident about spending hours eating and chatting with Elyse and Lena. They were human, and if she bit them, it wouldn’t matter if it was an accident. She would never forgive herself. “It won’t be like this forever,” she apologized. “I’m working really hard to get better at this.”
Ian had been quiet, but at her admission, he spoke up. “Vera, are you a born shifter?”
She shook her head slowly.
“Turned?” he asked, his eyebrows arching high.
She nodded.
“Did you choose to be Turned?”
Another shake of her head.
Ian looked and smelled furious as he swung his gaze to Tobias. “Did you kill the sonofabitch who did this to her?”
Tobias’s eyes had lost their humor and had gone cold and empty instead. “I did.”
“Good,” Ian said darkly. He turned to Vera. “I’m sorry for what’s been done. If you need anything, you ask, okay?”
“Okay,” she whispered.
Elyse squeezed her hand. “You tell us when it’s safe to visit you.”
Vera smiled brightly. “I will. I can make us beer and moonshine.”
“You know how to make moonshine?” Lena asked.