Without looking at her, Graham started up the truck, backed out of her driveway, and roared off. The cubs waved out the window, then the truck turned a corner and was gone, leaving Misty alone with the warming morning and the stench of exhaust.

 • • •

"Warden,” Graham said, walking into the Shiftertown leader’s house. “We need to talk about the Collars.”

Graham hadn’t been invited in, and Eric’s sister and his son, Jace, were in front of him before the screen door slammed, the soft snarls in their throats threatening mayhem.

“Good going, McNeil,” Eric said from where he lounged on the couch. He was in T-shirt and jeans, his bare feet propped on the coffee table. “Why don’t you charge into an alpha’s territory and start giving him commands? That’s the way to get your balls torn off.”

Graham watched Cassidy and Jace, who continued to block his way, their eyes, so like Eric’s, fixed on him with near-feral anger. Diego had come out of the kitchen, and now he paused in its doorway, also watching Graham. He was probably armed, like his brother, and Diego had less of a sense of humor than Xav.

“We don’t have time for this shit,” Graham said. “We need to get the Collars off the Shifters. All Shifters. Right now.”

Eric finally looked startled, though the only sign he made was his Feline eyes widening a little. “And you know why we can’t rush.”

“Things have changed. Collars need to come off. Now.”

“He’s not wrong,” Stuart Reid said from the other side of the screen door. Unlike Graham, he was savvy enough to wait outside until the alpha Shifter invited him in. “Or things are going to get bad for all Shifters, everywhere.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Did Warden leap up, grab his son—who’d just spent a painful time learning about how Collars came off—and start running around Shiftertown doing it? No, he sat there contemplating Graham with his jade-colored eyes, and clasped his hands behind his head.

“You two want to tell me what you’re talking about?” Eric asked.

“You want to call off your posse?” Graham growled, baring his wolf’s teeth at Jace and Cassidy. “If I wanted you dead, I’d have attacked you and not let them stop me. Where’s your mate?” he added, realizing he neither saw nor scented Iona.

“Busy.” Meaning Eric wasn’t about to tell Graham. “Reid, get in here and close the door. It’s hot.”

Reid obeyed. Showed how seriously he took this, because Reid usually gave Shifters who told him what to do a f**k-off glare. Now Reid only walked inside and shut the solid door, closing out the morning heat.

“All right, you have my attention,” Eric said. “Talk.”

Graham drew a breath. The last person he wanted to tell he was weakened was Warden, but the risk went beyond him now. Being alpha, and leader, didn’t only mean Graham could best all other Shifters. It meant he took good care of those he bested.

“I think we’re all screwed,” Graham said. “Because of the Collars. What I’m about to say doesn’t leave this room, all right?”

He launched into the story of what had happened out in the desert, including him drinking the Fae water, the dream he’d shared with Misty, the way they’d tried to counteract the spell, and his dream alone with Oison. He left out the more intimate moments he and Misty had shared in her backyard after the spell had left her—some things were none of their frigging business.

As he spoke, Cassidy moved to Diego, who put his arms around her from behind, and Jace joined his father on the sofa. No one had changed position all that much, but just enough to show that fighting was no longer imminent.

“Oison,” Eric repeated when Graham had finished. “Know anything about him, Reid?”

“Never heard of him,” Reid said. “But Faerie’s a big place.”

“If you’ve never heard of him, how do you know I’m right about him and the sword?” Graham asked. Reid had never hurried to agree with Graham before.

“Because of Misty’s book,” Reid said. “It contains many anti-Fae spells. From what I gleaned from the notes and subtext, the Fae might once before have tried to use devices to bring the Shifters back into their power, I’d say about a hundred years ago. Except, the last time, they didn’t have the technology available to them that humans have now.”

Only Reid could use words like gleaned and subtext with a straight face. “I really want to know about this half Fae who designed the Collars for us,” Graham said. “No, what I really want to do is break his face.”

“He’s dead,” Eric said in a mild voice. “But his son is still around somewhere.”

“I say we round him up and talk to him.”

“I think we agree,” Eric said. He unclasped his hands and rested them on his abdomen. “Write it down. Doesn’t happen often.”

Diego spoke up from behind Cassidy. “Let me see if I understand this. This Fae, in your dream, had a sword that, what, connected to your Collar?”

“Yep,” Graham said. “Like a key and a lock. Only the lock hurt like hell.”

“And from this dream, you’re guessing there are more swords that will affect more Collars?” Diego went on.

“I’m saying they figured out a way to manipulate the Collars,” Graham said impatiently. “Figured it out even before the Collars went on us. Like electronic dog leashes. And they’ve been planning this for the last twenty years.”