Moons forbidden claim

racting a promise that I wouldn't go anywhere alone and would call her immediately if anything

rewolves didn't exist. Mates were something romance novelists made up to sell books. And Maya was just going through

onvinced

s that night was differen

turning everything silver and magical. I felt powerful, alive in a way I'd never experienced while awake. My senses were he

wasn't

e size of a small horse, with midnight-black fur and those same amber eyes that had haunted me all d

ck to human form in a fluid transformation that should have

voice rougher than it had been

ning to me," I admitted, surpris

," he said, stepping closer. "You'r

what

my cheek with a gentleness that contraste

ered, and leaned

understand. The dream had felt more real than my waking life, and I could st

getting o

r. Same brown eyes, same black hair that never cooperated, same unremarkable features I'd been living

er than normal. My eyes had flecks of gold mixed in with the brown. And there were faint scars on my shou

bite

ency coven meeting tonight. Something big i

h, she was part of a whole group of them. I was starting to feel li

four hours. A mysterious, dangerously attractive man who might be a werewolf. Dreams that felt

rowing certainty that my l

oked through the peephole, expecting to see Maya's familiar face,

iolet eyes that seemed to glow in the hallway's dim lighting. She wore a long black co

ht accent I couldn't place. "My name is Elena Va

d, my instincts screaming da

anyone by that

d I caught a f

May I come in? We have much to

te strangers

ds, showing me they were empty. "I'm not here to hurt you, Lyra. Quite the o

footsteps in the stairwell below. Multiple sets, movin

. "You have perhaps thirty seconds to decide come with me willingly,

foreign language. My every instinct was screaming at me to run, but there was nowhere to go.

I trust yo

lternative is likely to be significantly more unpleasant.

cautious part of my brain if I'd given myself time to thi

iately moving to the window. She pushed it open an

mb w

e fire escape I hadn't known existed. I followed

we going?"

afe. Kieran

in echoed through the night air. Angry voices shouted in that foreign language,

d remarkably calm for someone fleeing w

ack motorcycle parked in the shadows. She tossed me

r ridden befo

ing now isn't the

ight and try no

y arms around Elena's waist and pressed my face against her back, trying not to th

city and finally heading into the hills outside Portland. The landscape became increasingly

gate. We climbed steadily through towering pine trees until we reached a s

n territory," Elena sa

e windows that looked out over the forest. Warm light spilled from inside, and I c

eran's home

t, but Kieran thought you might be more comfortable here." Elena d

mind reeling from everything that had happened. This morning I'd been a normal coffee shop o

before we reached it,

his impressive physique, but he was no less imposing in casual clothes. If anyth

ps sent that familiar jolt of electric

though fine was probabl

that same overwhelming awareness I'd experienced in the coffee shop. My body respond

d, though his attention

I did. Six of them, armed and clearly prepared for resistance." Elena's

ed. "He's making his move

upted, tired of being ta

nd I felt the full weight of his

Alpha who believes he has a

I'm not property

're not. But in Marcus's mind, power is the only thing that matters, an

s so special about me. I'm nobo

thing wild and clean, like pine forests and winter

ost powerful Alpha bloodline in North America. Your fa

me, but Kieran said it l

y. "Left me on the steps of a church with nothin

urch because she knew it was the only way to keep you safe." Kieran's voice was gentle, but his words hit me like physica

s next month,

st. The dreams, the enhanced senses, the way you re

my feet. Everything I'd believed about mys

voice steady, "it doesn't explain why you and this Ma

vious thing in the world. "The other half of my soul. The one pe

ely knew each other. But standing there in the moonlight, feeling the pull between

said, but the word

is. But that doesn't m

espond, Elena cl

cerns. Marcus won't give up easily, and he has resources a

grimly. "How l

another move. But Lyra needs to understa

nd what?"

xchanged a look th

ly. "It's magical. Physical. When two fated mates meet, their s

erous

r not. The longer you resist, the more painful it becomes for

ike I was drowning in info

have a choice. Accept th

quietly. "But some choices come with co

and definitely not human. Elena tensed, and I saw he

s that?"

grimly. "Marcus is t

first, this one closer.

es does he hav

m as he turned to me. "I'm sorry, Lyra, but it looks like your intr

uld swear I saw shapes moving between t

we do?"

for the first time since I'd met him, I sa

," he sai