Drake felt the older man’s sorrow. The look between the innkeeper and the old leopard was so intimate, he had to look away. To love like that and yet sacrifice for the good of a species. What a wasted effort.

“Every choice in my life I’ve made,” Pauline said quietly, “I made each one, knowin’ what I was doin’.” Her voice was firm. She stood up. “I’ll get you a plate of food if you think you can eat now, Amos.”

Saria was like Pauline Lafont—a woman who would stand by a man in spite of his mistakes. Drake waited until Pauline had slipped into the dining room.

“That woman is humbling. She’s magnificent.”

Amos forced himself into a sitting position, his face going gray. He clenched his teeth to keep from moaning and Drake didn’t add to his indignity by offering to help. Amos breathed shallow for a few moments before forcing a small rueful grin. “Yes, she is. Saria is quite a bit like her.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“I hope you do better by her than I did Pauline.”

Drake stretched out his legs. His bum leg was one big ache, and he wouldn’t be surprised if he found he was black and blue from thigh to ankle. His very bones hurt. “I think I’m too damned old for this fighting crap.”

“I know I am.” Amos glanced toward the dining room and lowered his voice. “Tell me about the Tregre boy. What’s he like?”

“He’s a good man. Rock solid. I put my life in his hands on a daily basis and I know he’s going to be there for me, no matter how bad it gets. That’s the kind of man he is,” Drake answered without hesitation. “So you answer me this—what the hell happened in that family and why didn’t you stop it?”

Amos sighed. “I went to school with Buford Tregre. He was a bully then. Mean as a snake. All the girls were terrified of him. Even the teachers were careful of him. His father was a mean drunk and no one ever saw his mother. They were part of the lair—we knew they were leopards, but they stayed to themselves. Mostly they lived off the land, huntin’ and fishin’. He dallied with Iris Lafont, Pauline’s sister, promised marriage, but in the end he kicked her out to marry a shifter, and then kept her tied to him by continuin’ to lie and saying he’d leave his wife for her. He was a no good son of a bitch and treated women like shit. As for his wife, once she set foot on Tregre land, no one ever saw her again.”

“And no one checked on her? I thought families here were close.”

“No one is close with the Tregre family. No one.”