Hard and Easy [High-Country Shifters 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Melody Snow Monroe

minutes helping her student.
    While Madra and Lara had been over every inch of this cave, maybe they’d overlooked something. The drawings were primitive, and sometimes what objects might have existed a few thousand years ago didn’t exist today. What they thought was maybe an ax could have been something entirely different.
    Frania pointed to a warrior with a sword. “If they could shift into wolves, why did they need weapons?”
    Madra chuckled. “That’s an excellent question, but I think that he might be a she, and women didn’t shift and still don’t.”
    Her mouth pinched. “You think women fought?”
    “If the lions did indeed invade their idyllic society, I bet every able-bodied person would have fought.”
    “That’s sad. I don’t know why they couldn’t have coexisted.” She pointed to another picture. “From the amount of food on the table, the wolves ate well.”
    “I agree. I’m not sure if we’ll ever understand where the lions came from or why they decided to control Anterra.”
    “Could they have come from Earth?”
    The question stunned her. Neither she nor Lara posed the question. Anterra was a large enough planet, and they’d figured the lions had come from a different part of Anterra. “It’s possible. Earth has lions, but not lion shifters, or so we’re led to believe.” A cool breeze prickled her skin. “Though I guess anything is possible.”
    Stomping feet at the entrance made her turn. “Frania!”
    “Skelak.” The young girl stepped behind Madra. “He’s going to kill me.”
     
    * * * *
     
    Every hair on Brin’s body stood on end, and he nearly lost control and shifted. Frania’s dad moved toward the girl, but Brin was just fast enough to put himself between the two. “Your daughter’s being well supervised.”
    “Supervised? Is that what you call it? I call it filling my daughter’s head with total nonsense.”
    The man tried to move around him, but Brin blocked his path. “She’s excited about learning. What’s wrong with that? Don’t you think she’s old enough to decide for herself what seems right and what is total nonsense? Surely you’ve raised her well enough.”
    The man’s gaze shifted right then left. He must realize that he wouldn’t look good no matter which answer he chose. When the man’s fists unclenched, Brin considered it a small victory and stepped away.
    “Come on, Frania. Let’s go home.”
    The girl looked up at Madra, almost waiting for her to save her. If Brin thought the man would harm his daughter, he would have escorted her home. Her dad dropped his head and wrapped an arm around his daughter’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”
    “Yes, Daddy.”
    He waited for them to get out of earshot. “Well, that wasn’t much fun, was it?”
    Madra’s gaze darted to the entrance. “Can’t the dad see how much his daughter has changed? She always acted lifeless in school. I wish he could see who his daughter is on the inside.”
    He wished the same for Madra. When she was with Frania, her passion flared. It was almost as if all obstacles in life had disappeared.
    Larek drew the blanket out of Madra’s school backpack and spread it on the ground. “I for one am starving. Anyone care to join me?”
    Madra’s smile lit up his body.
    Larek passed out three bottles of water and held his up in a toast. “I have to say, this cave is amazing. I can see it would take months to decipher everything. Kudos to you and Lara.”
    “It was Lara who discovered the cave. I just helped catalogue what she found.” She unscrewed the top and drank from the bottle. “It is exciting, isn’t it?”
    “Yes.” Brin leaned closer. “Makes you want to tell the world about it.”
    “It does.”
    “You’ll figure something out.”
    Her smile dimmed a little. “I wish.”
    Larek pulled out three different kinds of cheese, a container of cut fruit, and some bread from his favorite bakery. For the next few minutes they dug in. It was almost as if the