Free Changing Focus by Marilu Mann Page B

back. Or, you could always go upstairs to my apartment and wait for me there?”
    “Just do what you need to do, Micah. This is totally out of character for me, anyway. I think it must have been the wine and the emotional baggage I unloaded on you. I’m-”
    He spun her around and kissed her. Hard. “Do not say you’re sorry. Don’t you dare, because I’m not. I want you, Olivia Volksson Decatur. I want you in my bed, or yours, it doesn’t matter which. I want to make love to you, with you.”
    Micah kissed her again, gently this time. “Just wait for me, sweetheart, I’ll be right back.”
    He hit the door with enough force to cause it to bang back into the hallway. The noise didn’t soothe his irritation at the uninvited interruption at all. He truly felt that he had never been this close to murder before in his life. Growling under his breath, he reached the front door to hit the porch light. All rage faded when he saw who stood on his porch.

Chapter Five
    “ Talia?”
    “Uncle Micah!” The sobbing girl threw herself at him. He barely had time to catch her. Hugging her close, he breathed in her soft girl child scent. She wouldn’t have a truly identifying scent until puberty if the change occurred. He adjusted her weight as he peered out at the car. A woman stood beside the driver’s side.
    “Micah, I’m sorry to arrive unannounced, but today was the last straw. Talia is just so unhappy with us.” The trim brunette shoved her glasses back up her nose. “We’ve tried. God knows we’ve tried, but…she needs you, Micah, and that’s all there is to it. She’s been with us almost a year. And she was with Grey and his sister before that. You remember how that turned out.” Her eyes darkened. “Talia, honey, I’m sorry you weren’t happy with us.”
    The child sniffled against his neck. “I’m sorry too, Aunt Jane. Uncle Micah, can I please stay here with you?”
    Micah looked down at the miniature version of Shelly. His friend and one-time lover. A woman whose life had been taken in a Pack battle by a vicious, now-dead bitch named Maggie. Talia’s eyes batted in unconscious mimicry of her mother. A woman who had named him godfather to her only child. There was no way he could refuse. Having tried to place Talia with two other shifter families, thinking she needed siblings and two parents, he knew now she wouldn’t really be happy anywhere but with him.
    Sighing, he nodded to Jane. “I’ll take her from here. I never should have let her go in the first place. You, young lady, are too much like your mother.” The child’s answering giggle elicited a chuckle from him.
    “I’ll leave her things in the living room and head home then.” Jane headed for the back of her car.
    “You aren’t staying here tonight?” He wasn’t really surprised. Jane didn’t like being away from home for long periods. It was one reason he’d thought Talia would be happy there. A stay-at-home mom and siblings should have given her the comfort and stability she needed.
    “No, I need to get back to the kids. If Talia’s forgotten anything, we’ll get it to you here.”
    Micah put Talia down and stepped out into the cold to help Jane carry the child’s meager belongings into the main room of the lodge. Talia amused herself by wandering around the main floor of the lodge while the adults finished their task. Micah followed Jane out to tell her goodbye.
    Jane opened the car door, hesitated, then looked up at him. The slight lift of her chin let him know she’d been carefully considering her words and how he might react to them.
    “Micah, don’t foster her again. Her spirit may be broken if you do.” Her voice caught and she shook her head, taking a deep breath. “She’s so much like Shelly, but she’s just a child. She’s not ready for any more upheaval.”
    With that warning ringing in his ears, he watched her drive away. Locating Talia curled up on one of the couches, he studied her sleeping form. He