Prologue
Rynn
“They are your fate.”
My mother’s words echoed through my mind as I stared at the Fae mirror tucked away in the corner of a hidden room beneath a forgotten temple. In the levels above me, my best friend and her mates were dealing with the fallout of their actions.
The Moroi realm, and Lunaria as a whole, had been changed forever. Not one, but two Moroi queens were dead, and the reign of the Blood Sovereign was beginning.
Their first act as the leaders of their people had been to trap the Seelie King and almost a hundred of his wraiths within the temple.
Meanwhile, my first act upon joining the Alpha pack had been to run away.
“What if fate is wrong?” That had been my response to my mother’s declaration. She’d hadn’t had an answer.
One thing was for certain, I couldn’t avoid my future any longer. Almost ten years ago, my pack, on behalf of the Narchis Order, had made a bargain with the Alpha pack. I would join the Alpha pack on my twenty-first birthday after finishing my studies at Drudonia. All the Alphas were originally from the Avala Order, and their stronghold was still in Avala territory.
Any deal with the Alphas meant a deal with the Avala Order.
It had been the Alphas’ way of easing at least some of the tensions in the Velesian realm. I would’ve argued that it hadn’t worked all that well, but nobody asked me.
For years, I had found ways to avoid joining them, and they’d tolerated it, but my time was officially up. If I continued to refuse them, the Alphas would come for me.
My two best friends would have fought them if it came to that. Samara would have rallied the entire Moroi realm against them, and Cali . . . it was best not to think about how Cali might have responded.
The two of them would do anything to protect me. It was time for me to repay their loyalty, and that meant honoring the deal and using my position within the Alpha pack to better relations between the Velesians and the Moroi, which had been deteriorating rapidly. Plus, as a lone wolf, the Furie Elders could deny me rights to visit Cali, but they couldn’t refuse a member of the Alpha pack.
“Guess we’ll finally find out if you were right, Mom,” I whispered, although she would never know because she had passed away last year. Now I had to contend with my father and uncle, who were not pleased about how I’d handled everything.
That was fine. I wasn’t particularly pleased with them either.
My reflection peered back at me from the silvered surface of the Fae mirror. I looked defiant with my long, chestnut brown hair falling around me in chaotic waves and my eyes of two different colors practically glowing against my pale skin.
I’d told Samara that I wanted a few minutes alone to collect myself before going back, and she’d reluctantly given it to me. If I didn’t leave soon, she’d march down here and demand I stayed. And I might lose my nerve and agree.
Taking a deep breath, I strode towards the mirror before I could talk myself out of it. Then I reached out and my skin touched the cool surface, which rippled beneath my touch like liquid silver, and I stepped through. Between one blink and the next, I traveled a thousand miles.
“Welcome back, traitor.” Golden-yellow eyes latched onto me as I moved into another small room not unlike the one I’d just vacated. Only, this one was crammed with lost Fae artifacts . . . and four Velesians. I took in the four imposing figures. Their expressions ranged from annoyed to murderous.
Cade, Bastian, Ryker, and my personal favorite, Warrick.
All of them were hotter than sin, and each and every one of them was a massive asshole in their own fun little ways.
Fuck. My. Life.
It took every ounce of my willpower not to take two steps and pass back through the magic mirror that had brought me here. Here. To my new home. Where nobody wanted me, and where I sure as all the hells didn’t want to be.
“Get fucked, Warrick.” I bared my teeth at the eagle shifter, commonly known as an aetanthrope or aetan, even though I knew challenging him was a bad move. Out of the four Alphas, Warrick was the most unhinged, followed closely by Ryker, and just my luck, they were both obsessed with me, albeit in different ways.
“Warrick.” Cade’s deep voice rumbled throughout the room that was entirely too small for the five of us. “We’ve talked about this. Rynn is a welcome addition to our pack.”
I snorted and gave him a side-eyed glance. “You mean I’m a political pawn that the Narchis Order strong-armed you into accepting because you’re desperately trying to keep the three Orders from ripping each other apart, and this way, at least the Narchis and Avala Orders are allied.”
“I was trying to be polite, but yes.” Cade shrugged before grabbing my hand.
“Let go!” I hissed and tried to jerk away.
He easily held onto me, swiping the obsidian ring off my pinky finger before releasing me. The anger I’d been feeling turned into a raging forest fire.
