The kids race toward the entrance of the cave and I trail behind, arms sore from handling the little shifter tornado, who now twists in my grip at the promised arrival of food.

"Pah! Pah!" Pip chants, kicking her legs against my ribs as she giggles.

The exhaustion hits me in a wave. Between Pip's shifting frenzy, the bizarre rumors about Asher and me, and just the general chaos of being trapped in a cave with hyperactive shifter children—my body's tapped out. Done. Dead.

My hospital stay seems like a lifetime ago, and yet it's only been hours.

Rowan staggers inside, arms loaded with the promised holy food, and Finn shouts, "Did you remember cheese?"

The man grunts, his eyes darting around the room until he sees me. Then he glances behind him.

He looks paler than when he left, a sheen of sweat visible on his forehead. The unflappable, impassive man is…

Nervous.

My stomach drops.

"Pizza!" Lily and Finn practically tackle him, grabbing at the boxes, oblivious. Despite their excitement, Rowan remains rigid, jaw tight and eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" I ask, shifting Pip to my hip as she makes grabby hands toward the food.

Before Rowan can answer, another figure steps into the chamber.

I blink.

"Honey, I'm home." Echo's rainbow hair catches what little light filters into the cave as she saunters in like she's arriving at her own dinner party instead of a hidden shifter hideout. She waves at me with casual flippancy, cat eyes gleaming with satisfaction.

Behind her, the massive form of Wolf-Eye ducks through the entrance, his red hair tied back, expression as bewildered as I feel.

"Echo?" I ask in disbelief. "How did—"

"We followed the pizza boy," she says with a shrug. "Oldest trick in the book. You okay?"

Rowan flinches when she speaks, practically jumping backward. The pizza boxes wobble dangerously in his grip, and Lily shrieks.

"Put those down before you drop them," Echo commands, and Rowan instantly complies, like he's been shocked.

Wolf-Eye edges away from Echo, pressing himself against the cave wall and maintaining at least ten feet of distance between them. His eyes never leave her, tracking her every movement like she might explode at any moment. The Beta of the Lycan Pack—a man who commands respect from alphas—looks like he's sharing space with a live grenade.

I blink again.

Am I hallucinating? I must be hallucinating. Maybe Pip ran into my head while she was flying around, and now I'm unconscious.

"Everything's fine," Rowan says to the suddenly silent children. "They are Violet's… friends."

Maddox, ever the observant one, narrows his eyes. "Are they?"

Lily grabs a box of pizza with a frown and takes five or six steps back, as if she's afraid Echo's going to snatch it out of her hands. "Are they going to eat, too?"

Pip reaches out with a shriek. "Pah! PAH!"

Echo strolls over to the stack of pizza boxes now on the floor and flips open the top one. "Pepperoni. Basic, but acceptable."

Pip twists, smacking my face with her chubby hands.

Nope. I'm not unconscious.

"Maddox, can you…"

"Got her." The older boy plucks the toddler out of my arms. "Finn, go get her chair so she can eat."

Finn's hand pauses a millimeter from a slice of pizza, and he groans. "Fiiiiine."

"You okay, Violet?" Wolf-Eye asks, without moving closer. His eyes flick from Echo to me and back again. "Asher's on his way. He should be here soon."

Oh, dear.

Lily's concern about being eaten suddenly sounds legitimate. "Ah," I mumble, not sure what to say, but already worried about Pip. And the kids. And even Rowan, who technically kidnapped me, though he seems to have had a good reason for it.

"She's fine," Echo says, grabbing a slice of pizza. Lily's eyes follow her every move with a frown.

I can see her look at Maddox and mouth, I don't think he got enough pizza.

My lips twitch.

Rowan herds the children toward the food, his movements stiff. "Everyone grab some pizza and eat in the other room."

The kids, sensing the gravity in his tone, gather slices and retreat without argument. Even Pip allows herself to be guided away by Maddox, who looks back at us with suspicion as they disappear around the corner.

Finn, on the other hand, sighs loudly when he has to turn around with the chair he just brought in, grumbling about how they could have told him before he got it.

With the children gone, I turn to Wolf-Eye, who stands unnaturally still, his gaze fixed on a point just past Echo's left shoulder. His entire posture screams discomfort.

"Okay, what's happening? Why are you acting like that?" I gesture toward Wolf-Eye, then to Rowan, who's still staring at Echo like she's about to eat him. "Both of you look terrified."

The Lycan Beta clears his throat. "I'm not—"

"He's afraid I'll turn him into something unpleasant," my rainbow-haired friend interrupts, taking a bite of her pizza. "Toad, newt, slug—the possibilities are endless. Good pizza. You should eat some too."

Wolf-Eye's face flushes red beneath his freckles. "That's not—"

"You turn someone into a toad once and suddenly everyone thinks you're going to do it to them." Echo sighs dramatically, licking sauce from her thumb. "I'm hurt by the assumption. Truly."

My jaw drops. "You turned someone into a toad?"

Rowan pales.

"For all of two seconds," she says dismissively.

I look from Echo to the Lycan, who now stands with his arms crossed protectively over his chest.

"Was it him?" I ask, pointing at Wolf-Eye.

"No," he answers quickly.

Rowan flinches.

I trail my finger in my erstwhile kidnapper's direction, and the beta clears his throat and nods.

Wow. Poor Rowan.

Echo shrugs. "I wanted to know where you were, and he realized we were tailing him about a mile in. It was the easiest way to get his attention. Don't worry. I waited until he was at a stop sign. I'm not a monster."

Then she tilts her head, looking thoughtful. "Sounds like the real monster's arrived, though."