Chapter  373

XENOIS I stood in my office three days after the rescue operation, staring at the stack of adoption paperwork Samuel and Silvia had left on my desk. Legal documents that would make Shawn officially my stepbrother, officially part of our family in ways that went beyond informal acceptance. My parents had been characteristically direct about the whole thing. They'd walked into my office that morning, dropped the papers on my desk, and announced their intention to adopt a seventeen--year--old werewitch they'd known for less than a month. "We're doing this," Silvia had said, her tone brooking no argument. "With or without your blessing. But we'd prefer to have it." I'd looked at the papers, then at my parents, then back at the papers. Trying to process the reality of gaining a teenage stepbrother when I was still adjusting to everything else that had happened in the last week. "You're sure about this?" I'd asked. "Adoption is permanent. You can't just return him if it doesn't work out." "W