Enforcer Ewan “Cal” Calder hasn’t shifted into his Scottish wildcat form in two years. He should’ve gone crazy by now, because that’s how these things are supposed to work. The governing body of all shifters, the Council, has sent him and his adopted teenage son Kit to a sanctuary in Finland. It’s a last-ditch effort to wean Cal off the morphine he’s been using to keep his cat at bay. If he doesn’t shift soon, there’s no way he’s going to retain his sanity.<br><br>Two years ago, Council security officer Derek Lamont was tentatively dating and getting to know Cal, but then he lost an eye in a tragic accident. While he was recuperating in the hospital, Cal and Kit vanished from the house they’d all shared. Derek has been searching for them ever since, traveling the world and grasping at straws because of the undeniable truth: Derek knows Cal is his mate, even though humans aren’t supposed to be able to feel the mate bond.<br><br>When Derek finds Cal and Kit at a small farm in the middle of nowhere, Finland, he feels relief. But their problems are far from over. From Cal’s guilt over the accident, to stray hunting dogs, to figuring out how to deal with the Council, things keep piling up.

Off and On Again

Life slipped into a comfortable routine.Derek worked with Mikael’s people on fixing the outbuilding and the rest of the house.The windows wouldn’t arrive until early fall,but they needed to be changed because the old ones were letting too much draft in,even on rainy summer days.


He couldn’t imagine what it would be like in the winter.


“You’ll be dead in the winter with those windows.”Noah snorted.“At least if it drops to the minus thirties like it did last winter for a few days.”


Derek blinked slowly.“Wait,Celsius or Fahrenheit?”


Dallas,who was changing the battery of the rechargeable drill grinned.“Both.”


Yeah,better windows would definitely be needed.


“The house itself has been fixed so that there’s proper insulation everywhere.It won’t help if the windows let the warmth out,though,”Noah mused.


“Can I at least pay some of the window costs?”Derek asked.


“No,the Council is paying for everything,”Mikael said as he came around the corner just in time to hear him.


Chapter 12