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Ozwin carried her back to his home. “Why are they staring?”
    “You are the only snow white shifter they have ever seen.” He smiled down at her. “I have to admit, we were not expecting you to be able to make a complete shift, but you did well. Haz will be gossiping about this in minutes.”
    “How long was I out?”
    “Only a minute. I let you go as soon as you shifted back. Do you understand why I don’t want you running around without me?”
    She shivered. “I wouldn’t have tried to get away if you hadn’t tried to subdue me.”
    “I wouldn’t have tried to subdue you if you hadn’t been seducing Haz.” His tone was most reasonable.
    “I didn’t mean to, it simply seemed like something I had to do.” Her confusion came out in a rush.
    Instincts she never knew she had were alive and well in her body, and it was beginning to wear on her nerves. She hated to be out of control, and this was almost enough to make her burst into tears. Almost.
    Lee leaned her head against his chest and sighed. “I apologize for the trouble.”
    He paused outside his home. Looking down at her, he came to some kind of decision. Ozwin set her on her feet, pulled her against him in full view of the watchers, wove his hand through her hair and kissed her lips with an intensity that she answered with her own hands in his hair and low sigh.
    A cheer rose from the crowd, and the noise was enough to break her enjoyment of the contact. She lunged back only to be held by Ozwin’s grip.
    “Oh, no, Badge. You are not going anywhere until I say you may.”
    She immediately started to fight him, and she heard voices calling out to him in encouragement. Lee clawed, twisted, writhed and bit at him, but he managed to pin her arms behind her back and held her tight against him.
    The struggle must have worked on him, because there was a rock-hard column of flesh beneath his clothing, and his gaze narrowed when she squirmed against him. “Let me go.”
    He smiled, showing pointed canines once again. “No. We need you here, and I will keep you chained if I have to.”
    The thought of being bound and at his mercy set off a reaction in her belly, moisture slicked her thighs and her new senses picked up on the increase in her scent. She smelled her own heat and shame flooded her body, rendering her limp in his grip.
    He sighed and stroked a hand up her back, pressing her forehead to his chest. “Don’t fight it, Leeahan. The changes to your body come with certain instincts, and right now, it wants a mate.”
    She whispered into his chest, “I don’t want to impose.”
    He jerked and then started to laugh. “I think this is a conversation best carried on inside.”
    She didn’t say anything, just walked ahead of him into the confines of his home. When the door was closed, she fought the urge to run. Instead, she watched Ozwin warily, trying to figure out what exactly he wanted.
    Ona came in with a cheerful smile, looked at their expressions and retreated back to the kitchen.
    “What is going on, Ozwin?” Going on the attack seemed the best course of action.
    “You are in heat, and I need a mate, Leeahan. It is really that simple.”
    She blinked rapidly. “Don’t you have your pick of Keymin women?”
    “I do, and I don’t want any of them. I need a woman who will not depend on me for her reason to live. In the few days I have known you, you have shown more determination and a complete lack of slack-jawed awe at my presence than any woman in this settlement. I am revelling in your irritation, and I think that we could make a good match.”
    “Not that I have a choice.” It needed to be said.
    He leaned next to the fireplace and shrugged. “Not particularly. Every time you fight, my beast rises to the surface with the urge to subdue you. I am hindered by my instincts as you are by yours.”
    “Your beast?”
    “The part of us that acts on instinct—the fight-or-flight mode that overrides our common sense. It drives us to hunt,