Sienna eyed the valley slopes before shifting herself.“Someone is trespassing on our land.”
“Yeah.But who?”Kitto asked.
The land was sparse, windblown moorland, except for this beautiful valley.
Sienna scowled.“Someone either doesn’t know it’s private land, or they’ve intruded on purpose.”
“Any village gossip?”Kitto asked.
“Nothing unusual.The baker is having an affair, but no one is sure if it’s with the launderette owner or the grocery store cashier.Locals have seen him with both.The Forbeses are having another kid, which makes seven.And the mayor keeps holding meetings and making secretive phone calls about his mall project.”She didn’t mention the usual whispers about her family or fresh ones about Liam.She hadn’t been forthcoming, and apparently, neither had Liam nor her mother.
“Okay,” Kitto said.“Let’s go home now, and we’ll come back before dawn to see if we can spot anything to suggest what is happening.And Sienna, you need to double down and ask questions.Someone might know something.”
“Plan.”Sienna shifted back to her leopard.She inhaled but still smelled nothing unusual.She glanced at Liam.He seemed calm, but there was a new, anxious edge to her brothers.The same apprehension danced in the pit of her gut.Suddenly, home wasn’t the same safe harbor.Was it because she’d been away, or was it the remorse that stuck to her like a second skin?
They made their way to the cottage silently and in close formation, using extreme caution and taking a roundabout route.
Her parents sat outside with mugs of tea, their relaxed posture vanishing the moment they spotted the group.The siblings shifted and dressed before rejoining them outside.
“What is it?”her mother asked.
Her father studied each of their faces before settling his gaze on Sienna.“What’s wrong?”
“It might be nothing,” Sienna said.“But I think someone was watching from across the valley.I caught the glint of light on glass.”
“Binoculars?”her father asked.
Kitto pulled a band from his shirt pocket and tied back his hair.“Yeah, I saw it too.”
Tension slid into her mother’s slim shoulders.“Did they see you?”
“I’m not sure,” Sienna said.“I saw the flash at least three times from different vantage points.We decided it was best to return and check it out early tomorrow morning.”
“Village gossip?”her father asked, looking at his wife.
“Nothing unusual,” she said.“Liam, did you hear anything?”
Liam grinned, the flash of humor making Sienna stare.The smile took him from faintly scary to someone more personable.A person she’d want to get to know.“The baker and his rumored affairs have tongues wagging.We served mostly humans since the shifters stayed clear.Tony told me about the baker.”
Would those in the village keep such important information to themselves?Sienna considered this because many of the shifters held her father and brothers in disdain—vermin who should’ve been strangled at birth.
Her father sighed, the weight of intense weariness and inner conflict heavy in his exhale.“Silence might be their way of driving us out.They’ve tried to get rid of us before.”
“They’d attack one of their own kind?”Liam asked.
“We’re inferior,” her father said, without inflection.
Liam patted her father’s shoulder.“I get it.One look at my scar, and people jump to conclusions.Anything different makes them uneasy.”
Sienna gaped at Liam.He’d spoken without hesitation, as if he’d remembered his past.Had he?
Her brothers must’ve thought the same.
“Dude, do you remember?”Cadan asked.
Liam’s brow creased.“No.”
The breath she’d held puffed from Sienna.She didn’t want him with a functioning memory yet.It was too soon.The thought made her uncomfortable, but it was the truth.
