Grace Harper has always been unwanted—until fate binds her to the cold, powerful Lycan King. As secrets unravel and danger rises, Grace must face a truth more powerful than love or freedom: she wasn’t born to escape her past… she was born to rewrite it. And the king who never wanted her might be the one who can’t let her go.
I smooth down a wayward curl on her forehead. “Sleep tight, baby.” True to Sara’s prediction, soft snores rise from her little bed of blankets before I’ve even made it five steps away. The rest of the makeshift bedroom settles into comfortable silence-Ron’s already asleep, Jer’s fighting it, and Sara’s watching me leave. I linger…
“Your energy is critically depleted,” I continue, focusing on Grace. “And his-“ I jab a finger toward the now-seething Lycan King, “-is overwhelming. One touch, even a small one, and he’ll pull from you again. He can’t help it.” Grace’s eyes widen. She looks down at her hand like it’s suddenly foreign to her. “I…
“Grace, you have to acknowledge it.” Acknowledge-what? That I’m her mother? But he’s continuing, “She’ll keep repeating herself if you don’t. It’s right there-on her knee.” I twist my head to peer down at the knee pressed against my side. It looks a little red. “Her knee?” “Doomed,” Sara moans from behind her hands. Bun…
“We have to help them.” Jack-Eye steps forward, a hand already reaching for his phone. “I’ll coordinate a team. We can have wolves there within-“ He pauses, sharing a glance with Caine. The Lycan King shakes his head. “The closest are all still in Blue Mountain. It would be hours before they get here.” His…
I add, “he might be a bit… intense when he sees you.” Her smile falters. “Intense how?” “The ‘I’m going to smother you with my overprotective wolf-king energy until you can’t breathe’ kind of intense. After what happened last time-“ I pause, watching comprehension dawn in her eyes. “Oh.” “Yeah, oh. So maybe avoid physical…
“Pah! Pah!” Bun chants, kicking her legs against my ribs as she giggles. The exhaustion hits me in a wave. Between Bun’s shifting frenzy, the bizarre rumors about Caine and me, and just the general chaos of being trapped in a cave with hyperactive shifter children-my body’s tapped out. Done. Dead. My hospital stay seems…
“For all of two seconds,” she says dismissively. I look from Lyre to the Lycan, who now stands with his arms crossed protectively over his chest. “Was it him?” I ask, pointing at Jack-Eye. “No,” he answers quickly. Owen flinches. I trail my finger in my erstwhile kidnapper’s direction, and the beta clears his throat…
The pulsing changes direction slightly, and I make a sharp right turn. “Do you always drive like you’re stealing the car?” he asks, his knuckles white where he grips the seat. Good to know even a wolf fears car accidents. I don’t. But he should. “Only when I’m stuck with backseat drivers.” I tap the…
His transformation happens in a blink-one second he’s a gangly preteen boy with messy hair and eyes too old for his face, the next he’s a young gorilla, his fur glossy black. My jaw drops. “Told you,” Sara says with a shrug. “Ron can turn into anything. Well, with a heart.” Gorilla Ron makes his…
Thom pipes up, though his voice shakes a little. “If you look at the street view data, it’s from almost four years ago.” “There’s an updated map on the city website,” Andrew agrees. Silence falls over the line. “Well, shit,” my beta mutters. “Bruce Street,” I say through gritted teeth. “It used to be Spruce…