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formed as his face, and as massive among humans as his stag body was among deer.   His arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks, and powerful with muscle and sinew.   His shoulders were broad, his wide chest lightly furred with tawny hair, tapering down to a slender waist and hips.   His abdomen was heavily corrugated, and a line of tawny fur ran down it, pointing the way to…
    Abruptly she became aware that both men were watching her, identical expressions of masculine amusement on their faces, and she looked away hastily.
    “Perhaps we should cover ourselves in the presence of the lady,” Hart said, bending to pick up the ruined clothes.   He tossed the robes at his brother, then picked up his plainer clothes and held them in front of his hips, concealing himself.
    “Another good set of robes ruined,” Prong grumbled, scrambling up off the floor.
    Katara felt the need to say something in order to cover the way she’d foolishly gaped at Hart’s nudity.   As if she’d never seen a naked man before.   “My people rarely wear clothes, for this very reason,” she remarked coolly, wanting to make sure that he realized the sight of a male body was no novelty to her.   Even the sight of a gorgeously sculpted, perfectly muscled male body.  
    “We don’t ordinarily shift indoors,” Hart said.   “But my brother needed to be taught a lesson.”
    She had been shocked by their sudden transformation, and the apparently vicious fight, but now she understood that it was merely a spat, a way of working out minor grievances and establishing dominance and hierarchy.   Her people sometimes fought the same way, although among the Claw even a minor dispute could turn deadly.   She had the feeling that wasn’t likely to happen among the Antler.
    Because they’re weak .
    She pushed the reflexively scornful thought aside.   There was nothing whatsoever weak about Hart.   In his human form, he was physically a match for any man she knew, and she wasn’t sure a single member of the Claw Kindred could pull him down in his stag form, either.   Nor was his behavior that of a weakling.   He didn’t permit his brother to challenge his authority, and he was willing to fight to protect the dignity and honor of a woman he scarcely knew.  
    She was beginning to wonder if perhaps the Antler Kindred were not the timid, fearful people she had always believed them to be.
    But courageous man or not, Hart’s next words showed he feared at least one member of the Antler Kindred.   He looked over the ruins of breakfast, at the china shards scattered across the floor, chairs tipped over, and vegetables ground into the carpet, and spoke in a low voice.
    “Mother is going to kill us,” he said.

Chapter 3
     
    “This is your chamber,” Hart said a few moments later.   “If there is anything you find not to your liking, you have but to let your attendant know.”
    “With the exception,” Katara said dryly, “of the food.”
    He shrugged a big shoulder.   “With that single exception, yes.”
    Katara walked into the spacious, round chamber.   An enormous, circular bed sat in the center of the room, atop a brightly colored rug.   The floor and walls were of a roughly hewn rock that glittered silver in the sunlight streaming through the tall, arched window.
    A window .   Feigning casual interest, she walked toward the expansive window and looked out.   She was distressed to see how high this chamber was, though not particularly surprised, considering the long spiral stairway they’d climbed.   They were evidently in a high tower.   Even if she could somehow shift, she could never hope to jump safely.
    “I trust you won’t leap,” he said.
    She jolted, startled, at the sound of his deep voice just behind her.   Turning, she found herself looking right into his dark eyes.
    “I’m not a fool,” she answered, trying to ignore the throbbing sensation of need between her thighs.   It had been too long since she had