Tsu’s laughter startled Kavik, causing his hackles to spike like the quills of a spooked porcupine. The espresso prince really had no room to judge, being something of a dual nature himself, yet he couldn’t help but feel very unsettled by this girl’s changeable attitude. One moment so sad her shoulders seemed to sink under the crushing paws of depression . . . and the next giggling like one of the many talkative birds roosting above them. When Tsu began to struggle beneath him—trying to escape—Kavik jumped backward as though her fur had suddenly turned scalding hot. His thin tail switched nervously behind him as he watched the shadowy girl crouch behind him and—

“BOO!” Her high-pitched yip detonated in Kavik’s ears. He stood frozen in consternation, ears pinned to his glossy skull—and then Tsu plowed into his back like a miniature linebacker, sending both pups sprawling unceremoniously into the leafy earth. His mouth burned with the urge to bite her, but the lass was already happily sawing on his ear. Cries of distress and frustration peeled wordlessly from Kavik’s white trap. Kirastasia had never played with him this roughly; Kavik instantly regretted trusting Tsu and taking her to his den, because she was surely planning on killing him. Evil woman, Kavik thought to himself, claws digging viciously into the dirt. You will pay for that.

Abruptly the brown-eyed beauty launched herself from Kavik’s spine. Since his face was pressed fearfully to the ground, he heard rather than saw her prance screaming into his den, her bright voice muffled by the weight of many roots and heavy soil. He stalked cautiously up toward the entrance. His odd eyes narrowed suspiciously. Tsu was too far inside the nursery for him to see, but he could still detect her deep breaths as she inhaled the scents of his home. A blush warmed the skin under Kavik’s dark earthen pelt. What could Tsu possibly find out about him and Kira by smelling their bedroom? Obviously Kavik didn’t think there was anything interesting about the small cave, but that didn’t mean that Tsu wouldn’t discover something . . . some embarrassing secret, perhaps . . .

Kavik had prepared himself to dash inside the den and drag Tsu out kicking and screaming when the girl climbed back out. She plopped down beside him. “Hi.” A mistrustful frown darkened Kavik’s face. Hi? Seriously? He offered a half-hearted growl in response, wishing for the millionth time that his stupid sister was here. Kirastasia could do all the talking for him. All he needed to do was sit back and allow her to act as his voice. But no. Now Kavik had to sit here awkwardly with this trespasser who wanted to murder him and nose around his sleeping place.

Flashing a fang, Kavik purposefully marched four paces away from Tsu, nestling himself into a tangle of tree roots like a bird in its nest. He did not move his sharp stare from her soot-dusted face. Kavik decided that Tsu wasn’t bad looking; her ebony pelt reminded him of Queens’ luxurious robes, and there was a lightness to her coffee pools that Kavik had never seen in a wolf before. Did her brother look the same way?