“Well.” Sarah waved a hand. You know, twenty years, journeys of self-discovery, all that kind of thing. I met somebody too, actually. Last summer. He’s amazing, Zane, you’ve got to meet him, he’s an archivist and he’s—” She broke off abruptly, a peculiar expression on her face.
It was, Zane thought,exactlythe same set of expressions that had just played out overhisface. Without allowing himself to think about it, he said, “He’s a shifter?”
Sarah’s jaw dropped like a marionette’s and she stared at him, absolutely speechless with shock for several seconds. Then, with obvious effort, she pulled her jaw back up, croaked, “You—” and stopped again, her thoughts almost visibly whirling in her eyes. After alongtime, still in the same croaking voice, she said, “Zane Lowell. You know what, you’ve been a Bellamy so long, I forgot you were also a Lowell. The Lowell family goes back to the charter of this town. And all the founding members of Virtuewere shifter families.Zane Bellamy, are you ashifter? And you nevertoldme?”
“Wolf shifter,” Zane whispered almost apologetically. “We’re not supposed to talk about it, so…I didn’t.”
Sarah lifted a finger like she was warning him to be quiet, rose, turned her back to him, and flailed her hands like a puppet as she made a series of barely-contained shrieking sounds in the back of her throat. Then she straightened her jumpsuit, took a deep breath, turned back around, and returned to her seat. “Okay then. Go on. You met…” She brightened suddenly, clearly putting away her momentary angst. “You met your fated mate?”
Zane groaned and put his face in his hands. “I met…someone special. I don’t know if I believe in fated mates, but…someone special, yes.”
“I believe,” Sarah said almost dreamily. “If you’d dropped the idea on me before I’d met Matthew, I’d have thought you were nuts, obviously, but I justknew, Zane. And I'm not even the shifter half of the equation. I don’t have an animal telling me it’s right. Your wolfistelling you it’s right, right? What’s it like?”
“Quiet, mostly. It doesn’t interfere. Including in identifying people, which it would be a lot better at than I am, if it was at all interested.”
Sarah looked a little envious. “Matthew says his bear is mostly chill. But the wolfistelling you it’s right, right?”
“Yeah. Yeah, but…I mean, it’s a wolf. What does it know? And my parents weren’t fated mates, and Dad doesn’t believe in the whole thing at all, so I guess I’m not sure I believe it’s happening. And I haven’t told her yet. I just met her. And then I blew her off because I didn’t recognize her.” Zane winced.
So did Sarah. “Did you explain?”
“I did, and she was really kind about it. She even wore the jacket she knew I’d recognize when we met for breakfast this morning.”
“So sheisin Virtue!” Sarah’s eyes widened. “Oh my God, is it Vicky Hawthorne?” At Zane’s nod, she clapped her hands. “Oh, that’sgreat! She’s really nice! The kids love her! I think she’s kind of lonely, though. I grew up here, so I don’t see it from the outside, but I think Virtue isn’t necessarily very friendly to non-shifters who move here.”
“She mentioned that. Not that I thought it was very friendly to shifters who were born here,” Zane said with a shrug.
Sarah wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, but you had your father to deal with. Have you seen him?”
“No, and I’m not planning to.” That came out a little more stridently than Zane meant it to, and Sarah raised her hands apologetically.
“I don’t blame you. I just wondered. He’s a pain in my ass, too. Matthew and I…” Another peculiar, complex expression darted across Sarah’s face. “Boy, there’s a lot to catch you up on. Super short version is, you know how Virtue’s a chartered town from like George II of England? And a sanctuary city for shifters?”
Zane nodded cautiously and she went on with enthusiasm while also obviously trying to stick to the highlights. “Right, well, Virtue’s had a shifter protector for a long time, and Matthew and I have ended up taking on that role. But the truth is, one person wasn’t enough, and two people aren’t enough. We’retryingtobuild a city council, a—” She broke off to laugh at herself. “A shadow council, if you want to be really super dramatic about it. People who work together to both help Virtue deal with the modern world whilealsokeeping the shifters here safe and protected. Because the thing is, Zane?—”
Sarah leaned forward, suddenly impassioned. “The thing is, the town can’t survive without engaging with the world to some degree. We’re not Brigadoon. But the shifters need safety. It’s stupid to pretend we can just keep going along without anything changing. There’ve been multiple developers trying to get in here the past several years, and now they’re talking about bringing the train back up through the township to the border, so wecan’tjust ignore that.”
“And my father is holding a bunch of the other old family patriarchs hostage with his strong isolationist opinions, so you can’t get anything done,” Zane guessed.
“Basically.” Sarah flopped backward in her chair again. “I’d ask if you had any tips for handling him, but I’m fully aware the only way you handle him is to not engage. Which isn’t an option right now, so…” She let out a huge raspberry, then waved it, and her complaints, away. “But that’s not what we want to be talking about! You have a mate! Have you told her yet?”
Zane made a face again. “I have a woman I like a lot. And no, I haven’t told her anything, and I was supposed to have left this morning. But we’ll see each other again, because I’m making the dress for her…”
“You should go tell her right now,” Sarah said enthusiastically. “I know it sounds crazy, but Ipromiseshe’s going nuts with thinking how amazing and incredible and gorgeous and talented and kind and everything you are. And also definitely that she wants to bang you silly.”
“Eeigh. I did not need you to say that.”
Sarah laughed. “No, probably not, but you get the ‘old friends filter.’” She paused. “To be fair, so does almost everyone over the age of eighteen.”
“Probably everyone over the age of eighteen in Virtueisan old friend of yours. I hear the library is the heart of the town.” Zane smiled at Sarah’s surprised-but-pleased expression. “Vicki talked you up. It sounds like you’ve made the library everything you always wanted it to be.”
“AndI’m training up the next generations of librarians to do it all right,” Sarah replied with satisfaction. “So how long are you here for?”
“Until the weather clears. I can’t work from Virtue,” he said with a helpless motion. “I can’t get the fabrics I need here. And my scissors are at home!”
“I could help you on the scissors front, but not the fabric,” Sarah said in sympathetic amusement. “I’ve got lots of fabric at home, but nothing that Zane Bellamy is going to use for a Starlight Foundation ball. Well, go tell Vicki you’re still in town, anyway. It’s not like the ball is next week. There’s plenty of time to get the gown made.”
Zane stood, smiling. “It’s really good to see you again, Sarah. I’ll see if I can figure out a way to tell her. Thanks for the support.”
