“We’ll need the help of the Hunters for that. Gabe, Ryan and Barney are on our side.”

“Maybe we can get Francois as well. I’m not sure he liked being lied to.”

Julian began to laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing. Maybe I should call some Coyotes for a visit, that’s all.”

Jim tilted his head. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Coyotes can sense lies.”

Oh. “Like Bears heal, Wolves have their Pack strength and Foxes hide their scent? That would come in handy.” If Francois was lying to them, a Coyote would be able to ferret that out in a heartbeat.

“The only way to trip up a Coyote is if the person they’re speaking to believes what they’re saying is the truth.”

“So if Francois is agreeing with us simply to get close to Chloe…” Jim grinned. “I like it.”

“I’ll give my friend a call. Maybe he’ll send his Omega for a little visit.”

And Jim knew enough about shifters now to know that an Omega could sense emotions. While the majority of Omegas could only sense the emotional well-being of their Pack or Pride mates, some Omegas were strong enough that, with some effort, they were able to sense the emotions of those who did not belong.

“We’ll need to let Max know a Coyote will be in his territory.” Julian grimaced. “I can’t wait to explain all of this to him.”

“Tell Emma.” Jim smirked. “Then she can tell Max.”

Julian grinned. “You’re evil. I like that about you.”

Chapter Ten

“Car.” The therapist pointed to her lips. “Ca-ca-ca-car.”

Chloe watched the way the woman’s lips moved and tried her best to imitate it, but her brain just couldn’t make the connection. “Bar.”

“Relax and try again. Ca-ca-ca-car. Car.”

Chloe frowned and licked her lips. “Ca-ar.”

“Good!” The therapist smiled. “Much better. Now, what do you put in the car?”

“Gas.” It sounded like a very stupid question, but the therapist wasn’t checking her intelligence. They both knew she could understand what was being said. She just didn’t speak what she wanted to say. Even in her own mind the words she spoke sounded correct, but weren’t. It was why she was still in speech therapy after almost a year.

“Excellent.” The therapist smiled, letting her know she’d spoken correctly. “Now. I want you to tell me where you would go in a car.”

“The breach.”

“Beach.”

Chloe made an exasperated face. So close, yet so far away. “B-each.”

“Good! Now, make sentences for me. Tell me how you’d get to the beach.”

“We get into the car and put on our treat belts.”

“Seat belts. Ss-ss-seat.” The therapist exaggerated her lip movements, hissing the s sounds out like a snake.

“Seat?” When the therapist nodded, Chloe grinned. “Seat belts and start the car.”

“All right. What next?”

“We start the car and put it in clive.”

The therapist blinked. “That would hurt.”

Chloe rolled her eyes.

“Drive, sweetie, not Clive. Clive might sue you if you put your car up his bum.”

Chloe giggled, the vision of some poor schlub named Clive having a VW Beetle-butt just too much for her.

“All right. Let’s start again.”

Chloe got her giggles under control and spoke slowly, focusing on the therapist’s lips. “We start the car and put it in drive.”

“And what directions do you use?”

Chloe described how to get to the beach, correcting herself when the therapist pointed out where she’d gone wrong. When she was done, she had a mild headache, but that was to be expected. She was attempting to retrain the language centers of her brain, but she hadn’t seen much improvement in the last few months.

“You’re doing well.” The therapist went through her notes. “You’ve improved a great deal since I first saw you.” She tapped the paperwork, lining it up together neatly before putting it in Chloe’s folder. “I don’t think you’re going to get much better, however. We need to discuss how you wish to proceed.”

Chloe grimaced. She’d been expecting this topic to come up sometime soon. “I know the insurance only covers one beer of—”

“Year. Y-y-year.”

“Y-ear. Of therapy.” She sat back, thinking. “Do you see my condition improving burger, or should I call this good?”

“I think, with continued therapy, you can improve slightly, but you’re always going to have problems. At this point, it is truly up to you, but you’d have to pay out of pocket and there are no guarantees you will get any better than you are now.” The therapist stared at her for a few moments before sighing. “Do you want my honest opinion?”

Chloe nodded.

“As much as I hate to say this, and as much as you’ve improved, I think you should take what you’ve got and run with it. The last two or three months I haven’t seen anything that would make me think you’ll get back to where you were pre-accident.”

Chloe tried to clench her left hand and failed. “I see.”

“I’m sorry. I can teach someone else some of the techniques we’ve been using, if you like. You can continue the lessons on your own with a partner. At this point it’s more a matter of exercising your brain, making the paths we’ve established stronger.”

“Tank you.” Chloe stood and held out her hand. “For everything.”

“You’re welcome.” The therapist’s face was filled with sympathy. “I wish I had better news for you.”

“It whiz what it is.” Chloe shrugged. “What are you gonna do?”

The therapist laughed. “I wish you the best, Chloe.”

“You too, Brenda.” Chloe picked up her purse and followed the therapist out of the tiny office, waving good-bye as she made her way into the reception area.

Chloe still had physical therapy and her sessions with both Sarah, the Halle Pride Omega, and Julian to get through this week, but for today she was done. She decided to head to Jim’s veterinary practice to say hello to everyone, but mostly to see her mate and let him know she’d been released from speech therapy.