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“Why is that so bad? As long as it’s her choice I mean.”

Sam rubbed a hand over his head, messing up his ponytail. “Well, yeah, but she had a hard time accepting a no, if you catch my drift.”

“You turned her down and she wasn’t happy?” I clarified. Suddenly, the conversation they’d had made more sense.

Sam nodded and took my hand to lead the way into his cabin. The smell of herbs and meat hit my nose, and my stomach grumbled. He’d certainly discovered my weakness. He led me to a roughly hewn wood table set with two massive candles and a bigger bunch of wildflowers than the ones he’d presented me with at the house.

“It’s lovely,” I said as he pulled out a chair for me.

Shifters had large appetites, and when it came to meals, they took things seriously. There was no chitchat or preamble. That happened during or after the food, so it didn’t bother me in the slightest that he ran off to the kitchen to retrieve the main course.

He served me a steak the size of my head, medium rare with something called a potato kugel that resembled a casserole, and a huge salad. Then he poured us each a goblet full of red wine before sitting beside me.

“I hope you like it,” he said as he dug in. “The kugel is a recipe from an old friend, and the marinade for the steak has to set for several hours. It’s something I’ve perfected over time. Not that I mind testing the recipe.”

“I doubt I can eat it all, but I’m certainly going to try,” I said, picking up my knife and fork with a smile. “So, about Lauren…”

Sam looked up as he chewed a giant mouthful of meat.

I sighed. I should just be honest. “I sort of overheard you two that night at the pub,” I said, waiting for him to swallow.

Guzzling his wine, Sam gestured for me to be patient a moment. Then he cleared his throat. “I was afraid of that. I know how it sounded, but I was tired of her using alcohol as an excuse to basically manhandle every shifter in reach, including me. I’ve had more than one person come to me crying because she’d convinced them to cheat on their partners.” Sam put a hand to his forehead. “I wanted to help her. She needed some time to let her senses calm down, but she got more and more wild every time I saw her. I was afraid she was going to assault someone.”

Yikes. “So, her mentioning her birth control pills being moved was—”

“Her way of telling me she was on the pill.” Sam drained the remainder of his wine.

I let out a huge exhale. “Was there anything she and Maryanne had in common? Other than being newly turned young women?”

Sam chewed as he thought it over. “Well, Maryanne also had some trouble controlling her impulses. But she was nowhere near as out of control as Lauren. In her case, she had a thing for the exotic, if you know what I mean.” He stuffed another bite in his mouth.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know.” I speared some salad as I waited for clarification.

“She liked people like, you know, Others.”

“Like Binx?” I almost jumped out of my chair.

Sam laughed. “Well, yeah. Who doesn’t like Binx that way? But I mean like the weirder supes that Binx is in charge of. Things like banshees and golems and shit.” He shivered. “That’s why I was so surprised she was pregnant. I thought most of them were sterile.”

“Speaking of the babies, where are they?” I asked, stomach clenching. I snatched up my own wine glass and drank deeply.

“The general had them placed with families looking to adopt,” Sam said, setting a hand on mine. “Thanks for being worried about them. And for saving them.”

I set down my glass. “You’re welcome. It’s such a horrible tragedy.”

“At least they’re too young to remember what happened,” Sam said, sitting back in his chair, hands on his stomach. He’d cleaned his entire plate already. “Another year and that wouldn’t have been the case.”

“They’d still be babies!” I exclaimed, setting aside my empty glass.

“Shifters age more quickly than most.” Sam leaned on the table with his elbows, making the whole thing tip for a moment. Silver streaked his tawny eyes. “Did you enjoy dinner?”

“Yes, thank you. It was delicious. I didn’t know you cooked like that.” It truly was amazing.

“I’m full of surprises. Ready for part two of our date?”

“What’s part two?”

“Follow me.” Sam stood and escorted me through his rustic cabin to a set of several French doors rimmed in wood. Outside, the moon had risen, nearly full, above the forest and reflected in the water of a small lake right in his backyard. Beside the water were a lit firepit and two Adirondack chairs, and a silver bucket with wine chilling inside and two stemless glasses beside it.