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Prologue
Colt
He is the Alpha.
He’s found his mate.
I should obey his every word.
But I won’t.
I can’t.
Wyatt has every fucking thing in the world, and here I am with nothing but shit in my hand.
I lean against the railing on the deck, staring at the acres of woods behind my cabin. I’m holding onto my coffee mug a little too tightly and I have to force myself to loosen my grip, for fear of shattering the ceramic.
I am tense, every bone in my body threatening to break, my wolf wanting to shift.
Staying in my animal form sounds like a good retreat, a safe haven from my torrential emotions.
I’m pissed. Really fucking angry if I am being honest. The shit with Wyatt only intensifies those emotions, bringing out the worst in me.
But our past isn’t an easy one.
I push away from the railing and head back inside. My gaze instantly lands on the framed photo I have sitting on the mantle. I don’t know why I keep the damn thing out, maybe a memory of everything I’ve lost.
I find myself walking up to that picture, taking hold of it and looking down at the four people smiling back at me.
It’s an image of Wyatt and me when we were children, our fathers standing on either side of us, their hands on our shoulders. We’re all smiling, brothers by bond, family by choice. Our fathers were best friends, his father the Alpha of the pack, mine next in line. We were training to take over, deciding to rule the pack together, as a team.
It was always the plan.
But everything changes with time, I suppose.
And right before Wyatt’s father passed, he elevated Wyatt to Alpha, totally disregarding my father’s rightful place in line. Then he passed away, and Wyatt became Alpha. There was a pull of power between him and my dad. It was one I never anticipated, but one that happened nonetheless.
It put a strain between us, this wedge that stripped friends apart, almost making us enemies. And then, when my father passed things got worse. There was no talk of us rolling together, the bitterness that had festered in both of us too much to smooth over, too deep to even repair.
And that is why I am thinking of leaving Unforgiven, just packing up my shit and starting over somewhere else. I am a lone wolf by nature anyway, so maybe this is what fate has always had in store for me.
1
Jasinda
The thought of starting over scares the shit out of me, but with where I’m at in my life, it is exactly what needs to be done.
The few boxes I have in the trunk of my car, the two suitcases in my backseat, and a wallet filled with not nearly enough money, is all I have.
So, on a whim, I closed my eyes and pointed to a map.
It brought me to Unforgiven Country, a mountain town. I’d researched and found out it is mainly shifters living in the middle of nowhere.
Good. That’s exactly what I need.
Being out in the middle of nowhere is exactly what a wolf shifting runaway desires.
My cell vibrates and I know who it is without even looking at it.
My father.
The Alpha of our pack.
The person who promised me to another member of our pack, the next Alpha in line.
And although any female would have loved to be mated to Stark, a male with power and strength, good looks and status, he is not for me. He is not my mate.
And that’s why I fled. That’s why I am running away from my family, from my pack.
2
Colt
I’m too keyed up. Too much anger, too much frustration and, if I’m honest, too much damn loneliness boiling inside of me. I strip out of my clothes as I make my way to my back door, letting the change, the shift, overtake me. Tonight of all nights my wolf needs to run free. I need the calming effect of the moon, to feel the wind ruffle my fur and center myself with nature. I barely throw my shirt over my shoulder to join the rest of my clothes when my paws hit the hard ground and I take off running.
I let the beast take over, let him howl as my human side retreats. I’m conscious of what’s going on, but definitely letting my inner animal dominate. He runs for miles; when we began the moon was just starting to rise. Now it’s high in the middle of the sky, shining its light down upon us. My wolf is breathing hard and makes his way to a small stream and drinks. The wind picks that moment to kick up and I can feel it drifting through my fur.
As a wolf, my senses are more alert, more precise and each breath of wind feels like a caress. I can scent the evening dew, the crush of leaves, the freshness of air with just a hint of coming rain. It all runs through me and soothes my anger, my wild energy. Still, even with the anger gone there is an emptiness, a sadness that I can’t quite let go of. I’m beginning to fear it’s become a part of me, a piece that has woven so deep inside that it will forever color who I am, how I react. It’ll poison me with time.
