Grace looked back to Nolan. He frowned a little, but he didn’t look surprised. “I can work with that, too.”
She hugged him again, then Kylie shoved him aside to get her turn at hugging.
“Holy shit, girl, you do not mess around.” Kylie grinned when she let Grace loose. “I totally would vote for you without the hot shifter man as your mate, but girlfriend, that’s going to lock it down, you know what I’m saying?”
That forced a laugh out of her. Grace thought all her tears had been wrenched out, but it turned out there were a few more left inside her.
“Our country is at its best when it’s practicing tolerance and respect for all people.” Grace’s voice boomed out over the crowd of reporters Kylie had assembled. She and Nolan stood to one side of the stage, next to Jared, who was scanning the crowd, ever vigilant for any kind of threat. He hadn’t tried to talk her out of this, but he’d thrown every resource that Riverwise had into protecting her during her “coming out” speech. Dozens of hunky shifter men were sprinkled among the crowd and lined the doors to the hall.
“You don’t have to be a shifter to recognize that the kind of abuses I’ve revealed, occurring right under our noses here in Seattle, are intolerable. We can’t continue to call ourselves a civilized country if this is what we’ve become. If this is what we allow to happen. But I don’t believe this is what we are. I believe we’re a country that can find a way to accept others, no matter how different, rather than fear them. Shifters are our neighbors, our friends, our family. They are serving in our military, building businesses and homes and communities. They are, in a word, us.” She paused, letting the word stretch. The lights were hot on her face, making her squint at the crowd. They were holding their breaths, waiting for her. “It’s time for a shifter to hold office. To lead us into an era where shifters no longer have to hide in the shadows or fear for their lives or hold themselves separate from society. We need shifter representation in the House precisely to keep these kinds of abuses from happening. Because that’s not the kind of country we want to be. We are better than that.”
She pulled in a breath. “Thank you for your time.”
Grace stepped back from the podium. Cameras flashed. The reporters shouted questions. But Kylie had insisted that she leave all of that for later. More interviews. More speeches. This was just the beginning, and Kylie and Nolan had thrown themselves into creating a campaign for her out of thin air.
Kylie hurried forward to take the mic. “Ms. Krepky is not taking questions at this time, but there will be plenty of opportunity in the days ahead.” Her best friend kept talking, placating the crowd, thanking them for their time, but Grace’s head was buzzing as she stepped back to Jared’s side. Nolan gave her a wide smile—she must have done okay in the delivery—then slipped away to leave her alone with the gorgeous shifter man she hoped would be her mate. Someday. Maybe soon? The long hours of the campaign loomed ahead, but the hardest part was already over.
Jared slipped his hand into hers and pulled her past the curtain, off stage. Then he tugged her into his arms and kissed the top of her head.
“You did it,” he said softly, beaming down at her with pride in his eyes.
“But what did I do?” she asked, biting her lip. She had taken this insane step of revealing herself to the world. And she was making herself the spokesperson of her fellow shifters. It was risky and outrageous. And necessary. But she had no idea what Jared truly thought of all of it.
“You did the right thing. And the brave thing.” He sucked in a breath, briefly squeezing his eyes closed with some kind pain, then opening them again to peer at her. “And you stopped me from killing a man.”
She scrunched up her face. “Don’t tell me Agent Smith is really alive!”
The pain on his face relaxed a little. “No. He’s still very dead. And Piper tells me the NSA isn’t eager to have his death splashed all over the news, so they’ve already concluded their brief investigation with the help of the FBI and decided that it was self-defense.”
“So you’re cleared? No charges?” It had been hanging over her heart since the night before.
“No charges.” His lips pressed tight.
“Oh, thank God.” She slipped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. They hadn’t had any time alone, not since returning to his family’s safehouse the night before, crashing, then preparing for today’s press conference. It felt amazingly good just to hold him.
But his arms were loose around her.