Stella had dodged out of the way, but then she ran up and kicked the man again. "Nobody calls my kid a mongrel!" she screamed. Riley shook Christopher and Bodie loose and ran over to Stella, barely noticing the spike of pain in his knee. He grabbed her and held her.

"It‘s alright, hon," he said in a low voice that was still deep with unbridled anger. His eyes were on her completely. "No one gets away with that. No one." She was shaking so hard that her body quaked. She ...