"Heart turned to me, his face thoughtful. "Yesterday morning. Yes, that means that Daphne hadn't been home for two days before that. He smiled at me. "You were supposed to be the Alpha's eye candy.Adam laughed."What? I asked him. "You don't think I'd be good eye candy? I looked down at my overalls and grease-stained hands. I'd torn another nail to the quick."Honey is eye candy, said Ben apologetically. "You're . . . just you."Mine, said Adam, edging between Heart and me. "Mine is what she is.""

"Yes," he said sincerely. "Such a one deserves peanut butter on the seat of his pants."

"You can't cage an eagle for long without destroying it."

"Fear makes idiots out of us all, at some time or other."

"I thought it would be quieter here. [Anna] hadn't meant to say anything, but the noise startled her. "The wind in the trees, Bran said. "And there are some birds that stay year-round. Sometimes when the wind is still and the cold is upon us, the quiet is so deep you can feel it in your bones."

"Nothing says you're sorry like a dead bunny."

"A man says a lot of things in summer he doesn't mean in winter."

"A rape victim... a rape victim who fights...They've been violated, made helpless and afraid. It breaks their confidence in the safety of their little world. It makes them afraid." .... "If you don't fight, it's not quite the same. If they make you help, make you cooperate, then it's not clear to you anymore. Is it rape? You feel dirty, violated, and guilty. Most of all guilty because you should have fought. Especially if you're Mercy and you fight everything."

"Only cowards torture women."

"My mother raised her eyebrow, and murmured, "And to think I was always worried that you didn't have any friends. I suppose I should have been counting my blessings."

"I am the reality of all coyotes. The archetype. The epitome. You are just a reflection of me."

"I didn't like anyone except me having their hands all over him. There had been possession in Wolf's touch, and Adam belonged to me."

"For Adam, screwed-up bonding thing or not, I'd wait forever."Really? he asked in a tone I'd never heard from him before. Softer. Vulnerable. Adam didn't do vulnerable."Really what? I asked."Despite the way our bond scares you, despite the way someone in the pack played you, you'd still have me?He'd been listening to my thoughts. This time it didn't bother me."Adam, I told him, "I'd walk barefoot over hot coals for you."

"Honey will wipe the floor with you." His eyes went half-mast, and his voice dropped in evident pleasure. "I know."

"Brother Wolf gave Anna an amused look and then went back to being scary."

"It is hard to accept being different, hard to have people avoid looking at you, and still believe in yourself."

"You have to acknowledge evil, or you give it too much power over you."

"I was going to fight vampires, and my name wasn't Buffy--I was so screwed."

"Don't make light of any man's pain."

"You cannot sacrifice the world for your children."

"Intelligent men are dangerous."

"It was complicated. I understood it, mostly, but I had to think a little sideways to do it."

"You play games with people's lives.(...) You forget that they are fragile."

"This was not a man who wanted to give up his mate. This was a man trying to do the honorable thing-and give her a choice, no matter hiw much it cost him."

"Where does a werewolf sleep? Anywhere he wants to."

"Trouble seems to follow me around, waiting to club me with a tire iron."

"One of my professors once told me that the last official act of the British monarchy was when Queen Victoria refused to sign a law that made same-sex acts illegal. It would have made me think more highly of her, except the reason she objected was because she didn't believe women would do anything like that. Parliament rewrote the law so it was specific to men, and she signed it. A tribute to enlightenment, Queen Victoria was not. Neither, as I have observed before, are werewolf packs."

"It is one of those lessons that every child should learn: Don't play with fire, sharp objects, or ancient artifacts."

"Some people are boys longer than others."

"Cheeky. Carry them for nine months, feed them, clothe them, and what do I get? Impertinence."

"You are a sick, sick man, I told him."Thank you, Ben replied, looking modest."

"I don't like lies," said Bran, and I knew I'd failed to keep the pain of his revelation from my face. "Not even lies of omission. Hard truths can be dealt with, triumphed over, but lies will destroy your soul."

"It was like being leaned on by a very heavy, warm brick. A sexy brick."

"You going to watch my butt all day, or are you going to join me?" asked my mate."What if I had said I was going to watch your butt all day?" I asked curiously as I opened the door an stepped into the hot water."I've been considering belly-dancing lessons," he told me in a serious voice."

"Women are sneaky."

"We've determined that Ms. Hauptman is a potential threat to the public safety, and we are bringing her in as a murder suspect who has supernatural powers that make her too dangerous to be incarcerated in the usual ways."

"Almost-Sister, you picked a real catch."It was I who caught her, Adam said softly. "It took years."

"Mercy has this ... this uncanny ability to go where the trouble is thickest," Adam told him. He had decided a while ago that it wasn't deliberate, and that it had something to do with being Coyote's daughter. He was pretty sure that Mercy was completely oblivious."

"Time was such an odd thing. One moment you could talk to someone, then suddenly, they were gone."

"If she know how strongly he felt, she'd have run out the door. He wasn't used to the possessive, or the savage joy she brought to his heart. It ate at his control, so he turned his attention to the music. He understood music."

"Vampire politics make the very complicated dance of manners that is werewolf protocol look like the Hokey Pokey."

"He was like Superman, but with fangs and oddly impaired morals."

"Then he'd come back home and found out that war didn't cause fear-love did."

"Knowledge is a better weapon than a sword."

"If creation was given no limit, ultimately everything would cease to exist."

"Adam has always had . . . heroic tendencies.I touched Adam's arm. "He's my hero.There was another pause. . ."That is the most romantic thing I've ever heard you say, Bran said. "Be careful, Adam, or you'll turn her into a real girl.Adam looked at me. "I like her just the way she is, Bran. And he meant it, greasy overalls, broken fingernails, and all."

"One more month," he said finally. "And then they-and Samuel, too-will just have to get used to it. His eye is the color of a bitch with dark chocolate, worst few years and he leaned forward. "And you will marry me." I smiled, showing my teeth. "Don't you mean, 'will you marry me?'" I meant it to be funny, but his eyes brightened until the gold flecks were swimming in the darkness. "You had your chance to run, coyote. It's too late now."

"What do you mean? Leslie's voice was cool, as if she questioned witches who were flat on their backs being threatened by werewolves every day."

"Who hurt you?" she asked, slicing through the two other conversations going on at the table. "He's dead," said Charles, his hand sliding up Anna's back reassuringly. "I killed him. If I could, I would bring him back to life so I could kill him again."

"I don't know who you think you are - my mother's voice was low and dangerous - "but if you don't get out of my way right this instant, it won't matter.Adam was the Alpha werewolf in charge of the local pack. He was tough. He could be mean when he had to - and he wouldn't stand a chance against my mom."