Page 71 of Anger

“I think it’s the spell we cast. We asked that your identity be hidden from the human world. Because you’re now not hidden from the world, the spell has reactivated and remodelled your shifter form,” Lily mused.

“It can do that?” Lanie gasped.

“I’d have said no, but with you being pregnant and the universal danger to you, it’s possible.”

“Damn,” Lanie replied, looking at Mac.

“I’ll love you no matter what, but I can’t help feeling like I’m betraying you with another woman,” Mac replied with a short laugh.

“I can see why.” Lily giggled as she began leaving their bedroom. “Next time, Mac, try not to bellow so loudly. You almost gave poor Jess a heart attack when you reached out to us, although I can see why. Having a strange woman straddling you must have been disconcerting!”

“Sorry,” Mac murmured as he studied Lanie. “This is damn confusing,” he finally admitted, and Lanie laughed.

“Poor you. Did you think I’d been spirited away?”

“Yes, I was ready to break your neck. Can we not do that too often?” Mac demanded.

“I didn’t know we could, and Lily did not either. But it gives us hope if we’re outed,” Lanie replied.

“I love you, babe, I do not care what you look like as long as you don’t change inside,” Mac said, dropping a kiss on her lips.

Lanie smiled and placed her hand on her stomach. “I thought love had passed me by, and then you came along and proved me wrong! Thank you for being you.”

There was hope. They had Refuge, and several other shifters had returned to them.

The Hunters might be hunting, but they’d lost a leader, and Alainen had been killed. Soon, Simon Clare would start spilling the beans on what he knew. And the Hunters would be outed as a cult.

A battle was coming. And this time, the Legends didn’t stand alone. And that was a relief.

But for now, all Lanie needed to know was that she was loved. And that was the most precious gift of all.

Epilogue.

Gargoyle

There it was, a silent whisper against his mind. He’d been locked down in his statue side for years. The Hunters had tried experimenting on him, but his stone was too hard to break.

Gargoyle gingerly reached out. There was a familiarity in the essence he sensed.

A smile broke out in his head, and he caught the tendril of thought again.

‘Hello, sister!’he murmured.‘It’s time. Come, free me!’

Ranson

He was smiling as he shut the laptop down showing Simon Clare ranting like a lunatic. Simon had pitched a full-on fit and claimed that Lanie was a monster and had insisted on seeing her body.

McIntyre had given permission, and Simon had returned hysterical.

‘All monsters shifted into their natural form when dead,’ Simon had kept screaming.

The cop with him pointed out that Lanie hadn’t, so she wasn’t a monster. Add into the fact that Fisher had died in the explosion Simon had caused, and the man was not coping. Simon had escalated into a meltdown of hysteria and guilt. Simon idled at wailing he’d murdered innocents and swearing everyone was deceiving him.

Either way, he was heading for maximum security physiatrist lock up and would not likely be released ever.

Ranson left the room he had been given as a guest and headed for Mary’s tower. He wanted to head back to Refuge for a bit. He’d lost a man to this, Fisher, and although Fisher had been buried, some guilt remained.

Ranson had ensured Fisher’s family were heavily compensated. It would not bring him back, but they wouldn’t suffer monetary problems. His boots stomped through the castle, and he entered an archway and banged into a woman.

Brown eyes held his before panic laced them. Ranson felt like he’d been hit with a barge pole.

“Oh, hell!” the girl exclaimed and raced past him.

Ranson stared after her in shock, feeling a warm sensation in his chest.

There was no time to think. Ranson chased after her, intent on hunting down what he believed was his mate!