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“I have to go with my mother for a while. Jamil and Shang-Da can explain what you have to do as my lupa tonight.”

I shook my head. “One of the bodyguards stays with you, Richard. I don’t care which one it is, but you don’t go out there alone.”

“Mom will not understand a chaperone that isn’t family,” Richard said.

“Don’t go all momma’s boy on me, Richard. I’ve had enough of that from Daniel for one night. Explain it any way you like, but you aren’t leaving here without backup.”

He stared down at me, and his handsome face was serious, arrogant. “I am Ulfric, Anita. Not you.”

“Yeah, you’re Ulfric, Richard. You’re in charge, fine, then do a good job of it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that if the bad guys find you out alone tonight, they might not wait to find out if you’re leaving tomorrow. One of them might get a little eager and try to hurt you.”

“If it’s not silver bullets, they can’t kill me.”

“And how are you going to explain to your mother that you survived a shotgun blast to the chest?” I asked.

He glanced back at her and Daniel. “You cut right to the bone, don’t you,” he said.

“It saves time,” I said.

He turned back to me. Anger had darkened his eyes, thinned out his face. “I love you, Anita, but sometimes I don’t like you very much.”

“It’s not me you don’t like, Richard, not on this issue. You’re terrified that if Mommy Dearest finds out you’re a shapeshifter, she’ll think you’re a monster.”

“Don’t call her that.”

“Sorry,” I said. “But it’s still the truth. I think you’re underrating Charlotte. You’re her son, and she loves you.”

He shook his head. “I don’t want her to know.”

“Fine, but choose a bodyguard. Why not tell your mom that he’s backup in case the police try to make trouble? It’s the truth.”

“As far as it goes,” Richard said.

“The best lies are always at least partially true, Richard.”

“You’re much better at lying than I am,” he said. I looked for anger in the words, but there was nothing. It was just a statement of fact that left his eyes empty and sad.

I was tired of apologizing, so I didn’t. “Do you want to take their car and I can drive the four-by-four back to the cabins?”

He nodded. “I’ll take Shang-Da with me. He doesn’t like you much.”

“I thought he might have warmed up to me since the fight this afternoon,” I said.

“He still thinks you betrayed me,” Richard said.

I didn’t even try to touch that one. “Fine, I’ll take Jason and Jamil with me. They can give me lessons in werewolf etiquette.”

“Jason won’t be much help. He’s never been part of a healthy pack.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.

“It means that because our old lupa was such a sadistic bitch, we were all afraid of each other. A normal pack is much more touchy-feely, more casual with each other.”

“How touchy?” I asked.

He smiled, almost sadly. “Talk to Jamil. He’ll teach you and Jason, too.” He seemed to think about that.

“What about the wereleopards, and the vampires?”

“I already asked Verne. They are our guests tonight.”

“One big happy family,” I said.

Richard looked at me. It was a long, searching look. It took a lot to meet his eyes and not to flinch. “It could be, Anita, it really could be.” With that, he turned and walked to his mother and brother.

I watched him go and wasn’t sure what to make of his last comment. I used to wonder why he put up with me, but after meeting his mother, I knew. It had taken me three Sunday dinners to realize why Charlotte and I were either in perfect agreement or on opposite ends of any discussion. We were too much alike. A family, like a pack, can only have so many alphas or it tears itself apart. Only Richard’s brother, Glenn, is currently married, and his wife and Charlotte butt heads constantly. Aaron is a widower. I’m told the fights between Charlotte and Aaron’s deceased wife were legendary. They’d all gone out and married someone like mom. Glenn’s wife, though full-blooded Navajo, was still petite, and tough. The Zeeman men seemed to