Tied With a Bow

jokes, but not in years. And not her uncles. Not ever.
    And a beautiful, rumbly deep voice spoke behind her. “Arjenie, your uncles’ response was inconvenient but reasonable.”
    She turned and scowled at Benedict, who’d Changed back to human in record time just so he could take her uncles’ side. He was entirely naked, his clothes being back by the car. And he was entirely beautiful without clothes—broad and brawny and muscular—but she was not going to let that distract her. “Drawing a gun on my lover and their own guest is not reasonable .”
    “They don’t know me. They saw me turn into a wolf and take off for their barn. They don’t know why I did those things.”
    “Maybe we overreacted,” Clay said. Arjenie glanced at him. He was putting his gun back into the belt holster she hadn’t realized he was wearing because his jacket had hidden it.
    “No,” Benedict said. “You acted in advance of information, but sometimes that’s necessary. You couldn’t smell the intruder, as I did.”
    “Someone was here, then?” Arjenie asked. “Someone who made you Change and scared Muffin?”
    “Muffin?” Benedict’s mouth crooked up. “That fire-breather is named Muffin?”
    “Seri named him. She was in her cute phase, and—never mind that. Did you see who it was?”
    Benedict shook his head slowly. “I smelled him, though. It was Coyote.”
    Hershey snorted. “We don’t have coyotes around here.”
    “Not a coyote. Coyote.”
    In the silence that fell, Arjenie could almost smell the disbelief rolling off her uncles, it was so thick.
    Wait a minute. It was way too silent. “Where’s Havoc?”

Chapter Three
     
    The Delacroix family had a great kitchen. It was large, as farm kitchens often are, a big rectangle of a room with a long trestle table made of very old cherry wood at one end surrounded by mismatched chairs and one short bench. The cabinets were cherry, too, but not as old as the table; the stove was old, the refrigerator new, and there were lots of south-facing windows. It smelled wonderful. Meat simmered on the stove and four freshly baked loaves of bread were cooling on the counter.
    Benedict was looking forward to the meal those smells portended, but that was still a couple hours away, so he’d eaten three pieces of jerky as soon as he was reunited with his clothes. It didn’t pay to let himself get too hungry, and the Change burned a lot of calories.
    He sat at the long trestle table drinking coffee and listening. Large as it was, the kitchen was crowded. Everyone but the twins was back.
    Nate and his two oldest children, both teenagers, had returned from a ride while Benedict was still in the barn, pulling on the clothes Arjenie brought him. The others, save for the twins, had been hunting for a Yule tree. That bunch had arrived while Benedict was introducing his guards to Robin and Clay.
    Josh and Adam were outside, of course. They might be sleeping in the house, but their duty was the exterior. They needed to familiarize themselves with the grounds. Benedict had donned his earbud so they could report as needed, though he wasn’t keeping an open phone line.
    The twins were still gone. They were either looking for holly or for trouble, depending on who was talking.
    Havoc was still gone, too.
    Benedict had offered to find the little dog—it would be easy to follow the dog’s scent in his other form—or to send one of his men, but after thanking him, Robin had explained that she’d laid a mild compulsion on the terrier so he’d stay on Delacroix land. She thought he’d be okay.
    Benedict did, too. Coyote liked dogs. He wasn’t fond of wolves, but he liked dogs.
    The kids had been sent to the rec room in the basement under the care of the two oldest, who were teens. That left twelve adults, counting himself, most of whom had something to say. Or thought they did.
    The tendency to talk even if you had nothing to contribute was not an essentially human trait, from what Benedict had seen. Lupi did it, too. So did gnomes. Give most species speech, and they wanted to use it.
    It was easy to pick out the Delacroix brothers from those married into or otherwise connected to the clan. They were uncannily alike—not in features but in build. To a man they were broad-shouldered, muscular, and between six foot and six two. Their hair varied from dark brown to black, and they all had blue eyes.
    They shared a less visible trait, too. They were all Gifted. This was highly unusual.