TOR POVI knew the second something had happened to Selene. Standing abruptly from the table, I knocked my chair to the floor. Cassius stood, the look of concern on his face was immediate. "Alpha, what is it?" he asked me. The eyes of the war council were on me as I stalked to the balcony doors."It's Selene," I growled. "Gather the team, now!" With that, I stalked out the doors and leaped off the balcony edge. I hit the ground running in my wolf form. Ripping through the village I tracked her scent to the trail that led to Ellwood's cottage. Except the trail didn't take me to Ellwood's cottage. The scent veered off into the depths of the forest and away from the village. She had clearly gotten lost and had fallen off the trail. To my despair, I could smell that she wasn't alone. My worst fears were known when I realized that Selene had been kidnapped. The world tilted for a moment and it took all of my self-control to keep my composure. I pushed myself harder, kicking up

SELENE POVA triumphant smile appeared across my face at the sound of the battle that raged somewhere in the distance. "Is that fear I see in your eyes?" I asked scornfully. Damion shot me a vicious glare. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you, witch," he cautioned. Damion turned back to the man at the door and barked, "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out there and stop them!"The man turned and scurried off and Damion slammed the door. I watched as he stalked back and forth, sensing the tension in his shoulders. He was scared. If he was this nervous at the wolf pack's arrival, he must not have what he needed to use me as this wolf charmer. Or else he would implement it now. I listened quietly to the chaos going on outside. The thought of Tor fighting to rescue me at this moment filled my heart with hope. If what Damion said was true and I was truly a half-shifter, did that mean that… did that mean that Tor and I were mates? The thought felt right. In fact, it felt like a

TOR POVI had been cooped up in my room for three days now healing from the silver arrow injury. Cassius had put his foot down and refused to even let me out of the room. In all that time I hadn't been able to see Selene and it was driving me mad. The last time I'd seen her she was tear stricken and covered in my blood. While I was not happy with being told what to do by my Beta, I knew that he was right. They still had not been able to find a way to remove the collar from Selene's neck. So she had also been sequestered in her own room, unable to leave at risk of injuring someone else. The thought of her being isolated in her room for this long was not helping my restlessness. After going through the torturous thoughts of losing her the night I was kidnapped, the need to be close to her was stronger than ever. Standing, I walked to the door of my bedroom. It sounded quiet on the other side, so I opened the door and slipped out into the hallway. I didn't want to be caught by Ava

SELENE POVChloe led me over to a chaise across from the hearth whose embers were close to burning out. I laid back on the pillows and lifted my chin so that Chloe had access to my neck. Tor stood in front of me at my feet watching closely. The elder witch sat on a stool next to the chaise, in her hands were a small ceramic pot and a paintbrush. "The silver has been enchanted," Chloe said as she dipped the brush into the pot. "We will need to break the enchantment before we can remove the collar." Tor's arms were crossed over his chest as he watched, his silver eyes following every movement Chloe made. She brought the loaded paintbrush to my throat and added a few brushstrokes. As she worked, the temperature of the collar began to rise. I shifted uncomfortably and Tor seemed to notice because he took a step closer. "Calm down wolf," Chloe said without looking up. "She is going to be fine." With one final stroke of the brush, Chloe sat up. "What did you do?" I asked, unab

SELENE POVI was running for my life through thick, black clouds of smoke. Ash suffocated my lungs and there was the taste of blood in my mouth. With every step I took, I felt like I was being pulled backward instead of moving forward. I could feel hot tears streaming down my face as I tried to navigate through the wall of smoke and ash. Screams echoed through the blackness, deafening me. There seemed to be no refuge from this god-awful place. Just when I thought I would go mad with fear, I saw a silhouette in the distance. I would recognize that stance anywhere - it was Tor! With a sob of relief, I ran to him and threw myself into his arms. He wrapped me in a comforting embrace and I cried into his chest. "It's all right, little witch," he said soothingly and stroked my hair. But something was wrong. It wasn't Tor's voice. His grip grew stronger around me to the point of pain. My eyes flew open and I looked at the man who held me in his brutal grip. Damion's amber eyes looked b