로그인“…and as I've been saying,” Silas continued smoothly, leaning back in his chair like a man completely in control of the conversation, “the southern border patrol has been neglecting its duties. My men spotted rogues crossing twice this month.”
One of the elders frowned. “That report hasn’t been verified.”
Silas spread his hands innocently. “Perhaps that’s because the warriors assigned to tha
Solana let the question hang in the cool air of the lobby for one long, quiet second.Then she smiled."I'm afraid that's a private matter, Miss Silas," she said sweetly.Behind the desk, the receptionist stopped breathing.Ramona's dark eyes narrowed. The polished mask slid back into place, but it did not sit quite as smoothly as before, and a faint flush had crept up the side of her elegant neck."A private matter," she repeated, with a short, disbelieving laugh. "Darling, nothing that involves Alistair is private. Not in this pack." She stepped closer, and her voice dropped, sweet as syrup and twice as sticky. "And it's very much my business. Whatever happens between you and my cousin, you're going to be part of this family. One way or another.""Then I'm sure we'll have plenty of time to get to know each other," Solana replied pleasantly. "Three whole months."Ramona's smile froze.For a moment, the two women simply looked at each other, and the silence in the lobby stretched so
The brakes were not a little spongy. They were barely there at all.Solana discovered this at the first bend in the path, when she pressed down on the pedal and the golf cart kept rolling cheerfully toward a flower bed. She yanked the wheel hard, bumped over the edge of the grass and coasted to a stop a few inches from a startled man carrying a crate of apples."Sorry," she said politely.The man stared at her, then at the cart, and his eyebrows rose slowly."You're the new one," he said. "Richard's girl.""I am," Solana said.He looked at her for a long, thoughtful moment, then nodded once and walked on without another word. Over his shoulder, she heard him mutter, "Alpha's favorite," to nobody in particular.Solana's grip tightened on the steering wheel.So that's the word for it now, she thought.She drove on more carefully, pumping the useless brakes at every curve. The path wound along the edge of the lake and back across the valley, and everywhere she went, heads turned.A pair
"For the record," Evelyn announced, shoving her feet into her platform boots, "I did not volunteer for this.""For what?" Solana asked, looking up from lacing her sneakers."For you," Evelyn said flatly, waving her phone. "The Beta texted me at seven this morning. Seven. After a full moon run. Please show Miss Lim around the grounds today. Thank you, Eve. With a smiley face." She scowled at the screen. "I've been voluntold.""Volun what?" Solana asked, chuckling and shaking her head. "You are a hoot.""To the Beta?" Evelyn snorted, grabbing her leather jacket. "Sure. And then I can volunteer for kitchen duty for the rest of the month. Come on, Rocky. Let's get this over with."The morning air outside the pack house was crisp and bright, and the valley looked different in daylight.Solana had only seen it in pieces before, from the back of an SUV and by torchlight. Now, following Evelyn down a wide paved path, she finally understood the scale of it. Buildings were scattered across the
Solana stepped down from the stone before anyone could stop her and walked calmly back through the crowd to Evelyn's side."Well," Evelyn murmured, without turning her head. "That was fun to watch.""I'm glad someone enjoyed it," Solana replied quietly.On the stone, Alistair reached for the hem of his black shirt and pulled it over his head in one smooth motion.Solana's breath caught before she could stop it.The firelight poured over him like liquid gold. He was broader than she remembered, his shoulders heavier and his chest harder, his skin bronzed by sun and wind. Muscle shifted beneath it as he tossed the shirt aside, and a thin white scar she had never seen before curved along his ribs.The last time she had seen those shoulders bare, she had been nineteen, in the half-dark of a hotel room, with her hands pressed flat against his skin and her heart pounding against his.Heat crawled up her throat.She dragged her eyes away and fixed them firmly on the lake."Oh, wow," Evelyn w
"Just getting started?" Solana repeated warily, as Evelyn towed her back toward the fires. "What else is there? We've done blood, oaths and an entire cow.""The run," Evelyn said, as if it were obvious."The run," Solana echoed flatly."Full moon, new member, whole pack shifts and runs the territory together. Big tradition," Evelyn explained, waving a ringed hand toward the dark line of trees beyond the shore. "Everybody who can shift, shifts. The ones with human mates either run alongside on two legs or stay by the fire and get drunk. Very wholesome. Very bonding."She leaned in closer and lowered her voice conspiratorially."Word of advice, though, roomie," she added. "If you hear any weird noises out in those woods tonight, keep walking. Don't investigate. Mated couples get very enthusiastic during the run."Solana stared at her."You're serious," she said."Deadly," Evelyn said solemnly. "Last spring, a sixteen-year-old went looking for what he thought was a wounded deer. He still
Solana stiffened as though he had slapped her.She locked her knees, straightened her spine and dragged every feeling inside her down into the dark, one by one, the way she had taught herself to do eight years ago, standing on an auction stage under hot white lights. She shoved the warmth down, and the fullness, and the trembling. She slammed a door on all of it.Her face went smooth and blank and polite.Across the stone, Alistair's eyes flickered. Then the soft look slowly drained from his face, and the cold Alpha mask slid back into place. He turned away toward the crowd.Solana let out a slow breath through her nose.He felt that, she thought grimly. He felt every single second of it.That was not how it had worked with Alpha Miller. Miller had never once looked at her as though he could see inside her head. If he had, she would have left the Bloodhounds within a week."Easy," Adrian murmured beside her. His hand was still wrapped around her elbow, steady and warm. "Breathe. It hi
Solange felt a literal snap in the center of her chest as she stared at the heavy oak doors. It wasn’t the metaphoric ache of a breakup. It was a white-hot blade of agony carved through her ribs, twisting around her heart and pulling tight.She tried to scream, but the air in her lungs had turned t
Solange looked at him, her brows furrowing as confusion rose alongside irritation. If he wanted to insult her, he could have done it outright. “What are you talking about?” she bit back. “What smell? I literally just took a bath.” He shook his head; his eyes had a faraway look, like he wasn’t hear
Solange woke slowly, her body aching in all the ways that made her heart flutter and a strange humming in her chest. Her head was foggy, but she felt a calm she had never known, like she was connected to something that had been missing all her life. She felt… claimed, as if the night had somehow gi
The moment the penthouse door shut, Alistair’s restraint evaporated.He pinned her against the door, his large, calloused hand sliding up to grip the back of her neck with a terrifying but delicious pressure, and he slanted his lips over hers again.He was rough, but in a calculated way that made h







