“That she’s a corgi shifter,” Dewi said.
Tamsin nodded. “Correct. I’m used to corgi shifters. It wasn’t until Carl noted that she wasn’t a wolf puppy thatIfully processed that…” She shrugged. “I’m simply gobsmacked. There’s no other adequate word for it.”
Dewi took a deep breath and focused on Nami, gentling her tone. “Are you okay?”
Nami started to nod but then shook her head as her tears brimmed and rolled down her cheeks. “I thought I was prepared for anything,” she quietly said. “But I wasnotprepared for a glowing neon target to be painted on that baby’s forehead. I was certain y’all were wrong and she was just bein’…feisty.” Nami choked back a soft sob. “Does this mean Dania can shift, too? And why is Bebe acorgi? How the hell does that evenhappen? How do we have two little girls who are shifters but their parents are humans?”
Malyah draped an arm around her shoulders, comforting her.
Badger stood there, arms crossed as he stared at Bebe. “At least now we know why the girls were scrappin’ the way they did at Reggie’s birthday party.”
“We don’t know for certain Dania’s a shifter,” Duncan said.
“Oh, juststopit!” Nami snapped. “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. I know this means Dania’s likely a shifter, too. Girl’s beenbitin’ other kids and acting like a wolf when she ain’t been around Bebe to pick it up from her. Which means her sisters could be, too.”
Dewi stroked Bebe’s fur. “But we don’t know any of that. The only thing we know for certain right now is that Bebe is a shifter. And once Faegan’s eliminated, that particular threat is nonexistent.” She offered Tamsin a kind smile. “And well-done, you, on teaching her to shift.”
Tamsin blushed. “I don’t think I had much to do with it.”
“She knew what was possible with your tutelage. So yeah, you did. At least now we know. We finally have our answer. About her, at least. Still need to figure it out with Dania.”
“Nami’s right—how is thispossible?” Malyah asked, looking at Badger. “Forget having human parents—how do we go from wolves to acorgi?”
Badger crossed his meaty arms over his chest. “I dunno. Far’s I could tell, there are no known corgi shifters in either yer family’s line or Reggie’s. Meaning all my plans just went right out the window.”
“Why?” Malyah asked.
“Fer starters, I’m gonna need to take DNA swabs on all of Reggie’s immediate kin. Maybe the issue is incomplete or faulty information.” He slowly shook his head. “Not to cast aspersions on anyone’s character, mind ye, but perhaps there’s someone who believed they were a father when they actually weren’t. Whoever the culprit is, it’ll likely be a recent ancestor. I’m gonna need DNA to puzzle it out.”
“Corrine, Reggie’s grandmother, is still alive,” Nami softly said. “Imani’s mother. But she’s in an Alzheimer’s care facility outside of Atlanta. She’s in her 90s, I think. I haven’t seen her since Lu’ana and Reggie’s wedding, and even then she was in decline.”
Badger grimly nodded. “Aye. She’ll be my first stop, then. Can ye get me that info? Immediately?”
Nami numbly nodded. “Yeah. We send her cards and care packages all the time.” She started paging through her phone.
Badger looked at Dewi. “I mean, I need to handle thisimmediately. Time is of the essence. I will head out tonight and drive up to Atlanta so I can see her first thing in the morning.”
“Yeah,” Dewi said, feeling weary as she stared down at Bebe’s adorable sleeping face. “She’s got to be getting up there in years.”
“No, yer not understandin’ me.” Dewi focused on Badger. “If there’s acorgishifter out there somewhere—in the United States—who sired or birthed a child no one knows about, are they alive? Dead? How many other children are there?And, how close is that shifter to Faegan Lewis? Not to mention, are they givin’ him aid? Here. In the US.”
They all looked at Tamsin.
“Your father never said anything about a corgi shifter in the US?” Dewi asked.
“Never. I don’t remember Father mentioning any relatives or potential mates over here. Father had many in-depth conversations in front of me about potential mates.” She bitterly added, “Not that he cared whatmyopinions were regarding any of them. Had there been a corgi shifter he knew about, I’m certain his name would have topped Father’s list. Father’s primary concern was with not ‘diluting the pack’s gene pool’.” She wrinkled her nose in distaste at that phrase. “He would have eagerly married me off to a full corgi shifter even if they weren’t from our pack. I know he had contacts in Europe, and elsewhere in the UK, but I never heard him discuss American contacts.”
“Can they question Tamsin’s mom?” Carl asked Dewi.
“Peyton told me he was one of the Primes who questioned Tamsin’s mother,” Dewi said. “She had no information about any US contacts. But that doesn’t mean Faegan didn’t have some and never told her.”
“We still don’t know if this shifter is or was a man or a woman,” Badger said. “Faegan Lewis had a sister but he reportedly killed her for matin’ outside their species without his permission.”
“Regarding this mystery corgi,” Duncan said, “we don’t know for sure if he—or she—is even related to Faegan. There were multiple corgi shifter families at one time. Maybe someone crossed the Atlantic the way we did a long time ago and they lost the knowledge of their true roots after living over here for a generation or two. Especially if they crossed earlier than we did to settle here.”
Badger scratched at his chin. “I dunno. My gut tells me this shifter is closer than that. We know there’s a Prime Alpha wolf in the Beatrice Wycroft Drexler line, but it’s far back. For the corgi to overpower it, I’m bettin’ it’s close. In my experience, the corgi shifter is most likely within four generations. And DNA tests will quickly tell us if Bebe’s in any way related to Tamsin or not. So I guess were gonna be doin’ all of that now.”
“Is it possible the corgi shifter could be an unknown child of Uncle Hamish?” Tamsin asked.
