Mark Dauphin loves his nephews, Sam and Logan, and he'll do anything his brother-in-law Cole asks, but when Cole wants Mark to play nice with Stefano Magnussi, Mark isn't sure he can comply. Stefano is hotter than fire, but Mark can't see past the fact that Stefano is one of those guys, the type of men who date guys half their age, the type of guys who made Mark give up on dating.<br><br>Of course, a little wine and several cocktails later, Mark finds himself dropping more than his defenses with Stefano. But when Logan and the rest of Mark's family surprise them in the morning, Mark and Stefano are suddenly at odds.<br><br>When Logan's ego is wounded, not only does Mark find himself desperate to fix his relationship with his nephew, but he also questions whether his night with this beautiful man meant anything to either of them. Mark isn't given much time to reflect though, as the war that's been brewing between the shivers comes to a violent head, and he soon learns that sometimes you just have to trust in those around you.

Mark's Midlife

“Fear?” Zev asked incredulously. “You two think that adding fear to a war is going to help end it? Seriously? Do you know how many people use fear to bring hate into a culture or group of people just so they can cause a war? Most wars are caused by fear. Well, that and a lack of diplomacy, and often a pretty good dose of stupidity. Some wars may have started with just causes, but they still end up with dead people. Maybe a few wars have even been avoided because of a healthy fear of nuclear power, but even that’s iffy. Those people have filled our world with nukes. Oh, this is why I teach classes about the karonden, and shifter relations not just at Suncoast, but I offer several here to the community at Shark Beach and a few other locations. You two should consider taking one. It might help.”


“We’ll definitely consider it,” I said. “Could we get to work on this though?”


“Of course,” Zev answered. “So, you have an actual karonden?”


Chapter 46