LOGIN~ Harvey ~
The sky is already dark; the day passed in the blink of an eye.My head feels heavy. My intelligence team has been working day and night, and still we haven't moved an inch closer to finding Dorian's location.Derek's off on some sudden emergency trip to secure a major deal. Justified enough — except it should take two days at most, and I'd bet he's keeping the other five to screw his so-called personal assistant. And now his workload lands on my desk, to~ Maya ~"Princess, are you all right?" I hear Harvey's voice, and my eyes flutter open, darting around the room. No one's there. Maybe it was just a dream. But as I rub my eyes and stretch lazily, I hear his voice again, loud and clear."Maya?"I blink nervously, searching my room again."What the hell is going on? Am I losing my mind?" I curse silently.And I hear him laugh."You're just not used to mind-linking yet," he says softly, and I blush with embarrassment. How did I not realize that, with my wolf awakened, I can now mind-link with pack members?"Where were you last night? I came to check on you, and your room was empty," he asks.I bite my lip and mumble, "I was in the garden."Technically, I was in the garden last night. I'll just skip mentioning what I was doing there. Hmm — so, technically, I did lie, didn't I? Shit. I hope I didn't just mind-link all of that to him. I suck in a breath.
~ Harvey ~I still can't fully process that Maya is an elemental wolf. I'd bet even the wildest imagination couldn't have seen this coming."I always said our mate is special," Zev says affectionately.True. Even as a wolfless girl, Maya was one of a kind — beautiful, intelligent, graceful. Just thinking of her makes my heart race, and, unbidden, the Elder's words echo in my mind: "Zev sensed the strength of Maya's wolf and claimed her as his own." So was it nothing but instinct?"No. That wasn't the reason," Zev objects."How would you know? You don't remember anything.""I just know," he snaps, losing his patience. "I have a feeling — and that explanation sounds far too far-fetched.""Do you have a better one? You said yourself you don't feel the mate bond," I sigh deeply — because somewhere along the way, I secretly began to dream of being Maya's fated, of slipping free of an engagement-for-alliance that stopped bring
~ Maya ~ Without waiting for an invitation, Rowana breezes past me, sets the tray on the table, and just smiles, watching me. "Don't be afraid, little girl. I mean no harm," she says, as if speaking to a child, and Kitty bares her teeth. I don't care for her patronizing tone either. "I'm grown, and the Luna of this pack," I hiss. I'm no child, and no weakling — I'll make sure this arrogant witch treats me with respect. Her smile widens as she teases me. "Oh, of course, Luna. Don't mind an old hag. I'm about the age of your great-great — I've lost count of how many greats — grandmother. One thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, to be exact. So forgive me for acting like an elder — I only thought I might teach you a few tricks." I narrow my eyes and fold my arms across my chest. "You're not really here to protect me from vampires." "Bingo. And I'm not here to chat and braid each other's hair, ei
~ Maya ~I quickly dry my hair and twist it into a messy bun, slip into jeans and a blue tank top, and head out to the lounge.Harvey is already there — and, strangely, so are Rowana and a vampire whose name I don't know.The moment the vampire's dark eyes land on me, he goes rigid, his nostrils flaring as though he's caught the scent of something staggering — and I realize, with a jolt, that he can feel it: the power humming just beneath my skin, the thing I've barely begun to understand. Rowana, by contrast, simply closes the magazine she's reading and rises to her feet with feline grace."His Highness assigned us to guard you, Luna. We'll shadow you everywhere you go."I frown. It'll be extremely awkward to show up to work or combat training with a vampire and a witch in tow. And there's no way I can bring a witch before our Elders."I appreciate your prince's kind gesture, but I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself," I
~ Maya ~My body aches, and I'm too tired even to open my eyes. The alarm hasn't rung yet, so I still have time. My pillow is so warm — strangely hard — and this scent… Mmm, a blend of grapefruit and sandalwood, mouthwatering…The realization hits me, and my eyes fly open, wide with shock: I'm sprawled across Harvey like a koala. With my so-called mate — and once again, no idea where I am. I blink, terrified, as it triggers memories of the night I was drugged. The same man, an unfamiliar room, and no idea how I got here.I scramble to the corner of the bed, sitting up and pulling my knees to my chest, realizing I'm dressed in nothing but a T-shirt — no underwear."Relax," Kitty clicks her tongue. "He was just afraid to leave you alone after you shifted, so he brought you to his bedroom."I swallow hard. The pup. Can he scent the pup? I need to spray the masking scent right now."Too late for the spray. He noticed a change in our
~ Harvey ~A tangle of feelings knots tight in my chest — pride, admiration, confusion, fear, desire — as I hold Maya's unconscious body in my arms. Her nakedness doesn't bother me — or rather, it excites me, though I suppress it — but I won't have any passerby seeing my mate bare.Without letting her out of my arms for even a second, I grab a T-shirt from the basket of spare clothes kept at the edge of the garden for dressing after a shift. It's exactly that situation now. The shirt covers Maya to mid-thigh, its loose shape hiding her curves — but the scent of another male on it grates at me. I grit my teeth and carry her toward the Alpha manor, taking whatever routes will keep us away from the pack house.She asked me not to tell anyone about her shift, and I intend to keep that promise. The way she reacted to the shift was genuine shock — but there's no way she hadn't spoken with her wolf before tonight. A wolf spirit always wakes before the first shift







