The faintest trace of a smile flickered on River’s lips. “Good.”
Baz turned his attention back to the clan alpha. “It was our hope in coming here that this town might become a bridge of sorts between us, a place for our two different versions of shifter-kind to meet and learn about each other. We would like to invite some of you to stay here with us, if you wish.”
Thunder gazed at him for a moment before speaking. His voice was deep and measured, as if each word was being considered carefully. “We will think about it. In the old days, it was tradition to cement relations between clans with an arranged mating. Might your clan be open to such a thing? We have many unmated young males, and have noted that you have several females among your people.”
Baz nearly choked. He could only imagine how any of the female members of his clan would react to being told they had been betrothed to a stranger. Lexie would probably smash hernew husband over the head with a wrench, and bash Baz a few times for good measure. Fern would invent a brand new poison tea, and Maida would simply make all of them miserable in a variety of inventive ways.
“I can’t agree to that, I’m sorry. That is not a practice of my clan.”
Thunder inclined his head in a slight nod. What that meant, Baz wasn’t sure. “You also have humans among you.”
“This is Arden. She is my mate.”
“Sun-Hair, yes,” Thunder rumbled, and Arden looked surprised that he recognized her. “She is human. That is not a practice ofourclan.”
“It is for ours. Several members of my birth clan are mated to humans.” Baz slipped his fingers into Arden’s. Her hand was cold and slightly damp, but she squeezed back. “If not with a, er, a planned mating, may we show our goodwill towards you in other ways? We can get medical supplies that your clan might need, and we are willing to act as go-betweens if you need to deal with humans for any reason.”
The scowling man behind Thunder rumbled in a voice like two rocks rubbing together, “We have no need to deal with humansorwith you.”
Thunder turned his head and spoke a few words so quietly that Baz couldn’t make them out. The authority was clear, however, and Thunder’s follower subsided into threatening silence.
“We must discuss this among ourselves,” Thunder told Baz. “For now, let us proceed as we have been. You may remain here—for now.”
“Thank you,” Baz told him. “We hope to have good relations between our clans in the future.”
“We shall observe and consider.”
With that, Thunder turned and spoke a few more soft words.
A ripple seemed to pass through the assembled shifters, and they all slipped off into the darkness, vanishing so quickly that it was difficult, in a few moments, to believe they had ever been there at all.
Arden looked up at Baz. “Does this mean it’s all right for me to stay?”
“I’m not accepting anything less. And they’ve accepted our claim on the town, for now.” Baz let out a sudden whoop of joy and waved down the street to Lexie. Then he seized Arden in his arms, pulled her close, and kissed her.
When he let her go, Arden said breathlessly, “Not that I mind, but what was that for?”
“Just making sure everyone got the message.”
He raised his voice a little. An instant later, there was something like a rush of dark wind and then Declan was standing at the edge of the woods, having shifted so swiftly that Baz hadn’t even seen him do it.
“Yes, I get it,” Declan said. He gave Arden a solemn nod, and went past them, back toward the firelight.
“Come on,” Baz said. He tugged gently on her hand. “Let’s go home.”
ARDEN
By daylight,the town was just as Arden remembered—as of course it would be, since she hadn’t even been gone a day. It seemed strange, baffling even, that so much had changed so quickly.
She and Baz had spent the night in the store, with their sleeping bags zipped together into one. Now Baz was up on the roof with Lexie, checking the storm damage, and Arden went to retrieve her things from her cabin.
She was packing up when Fern knocked on her door. “You aren’t leaving Windrock?” Fern asked anxiously, looking around the bare interior of the cabin.
“No, I just need more room. This was lovely while it lasted, but Baz has invited me to move in with him.”
Fern giggled. “You’re going to be living in the store?”
“The storekeeper’s quarters, actually. It’s behind the store, and it looks nice. Baz says the roof leaks a little when it rains, but he and Lexie are fixing it.”
