WARNING-the content of this book is VERY graphic and VERY dark. Do NOT read if you cannot stomach graphic violence or explicit intimacy.HYACINTH (AGE 15)"Daddy!" I sputtered and coughed in the upstairs hallway, lungs already dangerously full of smoke.The fire crackled all around us-my childhood home going up in flames.My father gripped my shoulders tightly, painfully, giving me a little shake. The eyes of his Wolf glowed with fury and hate. Not at me. But for the Alpha who had come to destroy him. The monster intent on cutting us all down and wreaking havoc...until not a person or a possession remained.My father yelled to be heard over the roar and crackling of wood around us, "Get back, Hycinth! Go to Luca at the safe house! Go now! Run!""No, Daddy!" I wailed again, tears streaming down my face. I didn't want to leave him. He was hurt. I could smell it. Blood from several deep claw and bite wounds wafted into the air. The scent of iron oxide, a byproduct of his leaking life-flu

LEANDER'S POV"Why?!!!" I roared out my frustration and prowled across the room like a caged animal, then back again, stopping only to hurl a bottle of hundred-year-old Scotch across the room at a bookcase. I watched the glass break, amber liquid saturating the books and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Why her?! Why couldn't it be anybody but her?!" Clearly, the Moon had it out for me, the sly bitch. Because there was no more hilarious mistake than making that female my mate!My father sat reclined in a comfortable chair, utterly unaffected by my foul mood. When he could get a word in edgewise, he asked evenly, "Are you ready to tell me why you're having a temper tantrum like a two-year-old and destroying the study?"I growled and flashed fang.Instantly, he was on his feet and in my face, a sustained growl reverberating in his chest. Even in his fifties, the man was cut with rugged bulk and muscle, hewn and cultivated over thirty years as Alpha of Adamant Moon. He was respected, and

I motioned toward one of my enforcers. "Get her down and do as I promised. Prepare her body. Find out if she has any family who wants her remains. If not, we'll include her in our mourning ceremony." Not a ceremony I was looking forward to. Many of our wolves also perished in the battle. I hated losing any Wolf, but the events of today needed to happen.I waited until they removed her body from the room. And then focused on the remaining two men. The taller one had dirty blonde hair and glared at me in the same fashion as the female had. But he didn't have that rare special spark of loyalty she had. Still, he would be the more difficult one between the two to break.Getting right in his face, I made sure he paid attention and fully understood my words. "I'll give you one chance-and one chance only-to tell me what I want to know. How can I find her? Where would she go? She couldn't have just disappeared. I have wolves combing through the woods, and there's no trace of her. Surely, a ju

Careful attention was required today. Both tattoos we were working on today were complex with a lot of intricate shading. Complete focus was required for the quality of work we'd become known for.It was the reason we were able to afford our tattoo shop and the loft we lived in above it. After doing a sleeve and chest work for the President of the Grimm Motorcycle Club a year ago, word had spread quickly, and bikers from several states made appointments for custom artwork.I'd always loved to draw. My first job after we'd fled was with a local tattoo parlor. With an ID in hand that said I was eighteen, I certainly hadn't looked it, not with the fresh face and innocence of my true fifteen-year-old self at the time. The owner had been suspicious, but after some trial sketches, he liked my work enough to hire me anyway. I smiled at the irony-I wasn't legally old enough to get a tattoo, but there I was, madly writing in permanent ink on the flesh of every type of client under the sun.Of

LEANDER'S POVTEXT: We got her. ETA 4hrs.When the text came in almost fours hours ago, I'd stared down at my phone in disbelief. Three long years of searching had gone by, and I was beginning to think I'd never find her. My little mouse had been clever in hiding herself, indeed.But not clever enough.Now she was mine.My brain spun, anticipation lighting up every cell in my body. She would be there any minute. Finally!I wondered what she looked like now. I'd only had one fleeting glimpse of her as she hid behind her father in the middle of the chaos, fire, and hatred burning in equal measures. Heart shaped face and pert nose, strawberry blonde hair whipping about, caught up in the rushing wind of the flames. And those eyes-deep blue with iridescent flecks like a mountain lake whispering the reflection of the moon.That one glance had been seared into my brain.So innocent.So young.But she wasn't a juvenile anymore. By now, she'd shifted, and was a fully matured shewolf.No longer