Flora’s P.O.VI slept with my head on Clay’s shoulders, the soft picnic blanket under me and a light cover thrown over our naked bodies. Clay was staring up at the evening sky quietly while his hand traced lines on my sides, the gesture almost unmindful. My palm was spread over his heart as I listened to the steady beat, happy to be engulfed in the warmth of his body, but even I could feel the strain in his shoulders, the stiffness of his muscles.“What’s wrong?” I asked, patting him on the chest lightly. “You’re unusually quiet.”Clay turned to me with a small smile and kissed my forehead lightly. “It’s nothing, just thinking.”“Your birthday is in a week,” I said quietly, sinking deeper into him to feel his warmth. I don’t know if it was the night air or the chilling realization that we were almost out of time that had me feeling numb all over, but my be

Flora’s P.O.V“Mate…”They were the words I’d feared the most. But what I hadn’t even anticipated was happening in front of my eyes.I hadn’t known true fear until I saw the person who had spoken those earth-shattering words…Dorothy. Dorothy Summers. Ruth…My best friend…Ruth was Clay’s mate…It felt like the ground had moved from underneath my feet and I was falling down an endless black hole with no way out and nowhere to escape to.“He isn’t your mate.”“Do you even know if you guys are mates?”“You slept with him…you should be able to tell the connection.”“There’s not much time left…get out while you still can.”All the warnings, all the omens that were given to me, they now echoed inside my h

Flora’s P.O.V I felt dead inside, like there was no meaning left to my life anymore. If this had been anyone else then I could’ve questioned the mating bond; could’ve fought with the gods itself to claim my Clay. After all, how could a bond make complete strangers fall in love with each other? But these weren’t strangers. This was Dorothy, my best friend; the woman I considered my sister. And Clay, the man I had given my heart to. I knew now that breaking up with him before his birthday had been the correct decision. It had been a doomed relationship from the start. Let’s break-up…until twelve. I wanted to laugh at how delusional we had been. There was no way around a mating bond and once it sets in place, there was no way to reject it. Clay had told me several times that he would reject his mate for me, but I had left as soon as Dorothy had uttered the words I had never thought I would hear her say about Clay

Flora’s P.O.V “This way.” I followed the guards in silence as they led me down another corridor, another long hallway. The wolf capital of Lindersay was a spiralling maze and I had a suspicion that it was same for most of the shifter towers that made up the sprawling city. However, I had no doubt in my mind that each tower would be different, their planning made in such a fashion that one race couldn’t intrude on the other, couldn’t spy on them through any angle. And with all the hallways? I was sure that only the permanent residents of the tower ever came close to remembering them. We turned another corner and followed another hallway, and instantly I could tell that these were residential quarters. There were several rooms on either side of the hallway but the space didn’t feel as distant as the rest of the hallways I’d travelled. There was a brightness here that I hadn’t felt elsewhere, even though I couldn’t tell the difference on the sur

Clay’s P.O.VWhen I arrived at the town square, I found almost every wolf in our pack present there.Alpha Nicolas and Luna Maria were both standing at the centre and as soon as they saw Dorothy with me, smiles broke out on their faces in misunderstanding.“Finally!” Alpha Nicolas came to place his hands on my shoulders. “You’ve come to your senses.”“I’m sorry to disappoint you, uncle.” I removed his hands and turned to Dorothy. “Dorothy has something to say. It’s important.”Everyone looked at Dorothy expectantly, waiting for her to be the bearer of good news, but Dorothy shook her head with a sad smile. “The mating bond is gone. I stopped feeling it this morning.”Several gasps sounded from all directions as whispers began to rise.“How is this possible?”“Is she lying?”“They must have fa