J.M. Snyder

Once a Yankee soldier, Brance Brenneman has left the War Between the States behind and gone into hiding with his lover, former Confederate Caleb Chilson. Deserters intent on keeping to themselves, they find a nice, sparse acre of land where they can finally settle down. Life falls into domesticated routine for both the brooding Yank and the excitable Rebel. Together they struggle to create a more perfect union forged of love and their shared shapeshifting secret.<br><br>But the discovery of another bobcat encroaching on their territory brings out the possessive alley cat in Caleb, eager to defend his home and his mate. Will the newcomer destroy what they've worked so hard to attain? Or is there room enough for the three of them deep in the wilderness of Pennsylvania?

A More Perfect Union

Caleb let that sink in as he ate,unwilling to admit that hecared—for the kittens,at least.He had never seen bobcat kittens,and he pictured the hairless litters his parents’barn cats used to birth in the spring,a writhing bed of blind kittens mewling in voices almost too high-pitched to hear.Did Anna know the land and weather enough to keep her young safe in the woods for the rest of the winter?Would she be able to teach them to hunt and stalk their prey?And when they went out on their own,would he and Brance have to fight for their right to this territory,or would the bobcats steer clear of them?


He didn’t know.The two men had been lucky to find such an isolated spot,close enough to a town to deter other wildlife but far enough away to keep their feline lifestyle a secret.What would happen if the kittens didn’tmove on,if Anna stayed in their lives,if her young attacked the horses and tore up their fields—


Chapter 15