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Prologue
When our parents were young, our world looked a lot different than it does now. Their shifter packs kept to their own territories, but at least they were able to live freely among the human world.
Not anymore.
Somehow, the secret of our kind's existence got out, and now we're being hunted.
My friends and I are the alphas of our packs. It's our job to keep our alliance's territory safe, and in order to do that, we have to take precautions. Stay hidden, or risk being discovered and wiped out.
We're heirs to an empire, living in the shadows.
1
Ten Years Ago
Orange flames lick around the thick logs in the bonfire pit, curling upwards toward the darkened sky. Inside the steel ring, the wood crackles and burns, reducing to embers as more logs are hauled onto the pile to feed the ravenous fire. Sparks scatter as more wood is placed, the flames brightening to illuminate the faces of everyone gathered around the pit.
My family’s here. My friends, too. All of the alphas and lunas of the six-pack alliance, as well as members of their inner circle and their teenage children. About thirty of us, in total.
I don’t look at them when the light of the fire brightens, though.
I turn to look ather.
My best friend, aside from my twin sister. The girl I grew up playing tag with and teaching to skip rocks in the creek. The girl I’ve always thought of as my own, but now we’re almost sixteen and the meaning behind that possessiveness has started to evolve… and I’m not quite sure what to do about it.
Sloane’s tanned skin looks golden in the glow of firelight as my eyes map out the delicate features of her face. My gaze traces her high cheekbones, the gentle curve of her dainty nose. Her thick, dark eyelashes flutter as she blinks, staring into the fire with a glazed look in her moss green eyes.
A shiver runs through her, and I’m not sure if it’s from the chill in the air tonight or because she feels me watching her, her inner wolf sensing a predator in their midst. Either way, she snuggles in closer like it’s an instinct, and I relish the feeling of her soft, warm body against mine. Even through the thick layers of clothing we’re both wearing, I can feel her heat- and between that and her proximity, my blood’s running hotter than the flames dancing in the pit in front of us.
We’re seated together on an old wooden bench, my arm slung around Sloane’s shoulders and her body tucked snugly into my side, her knees pulled up to her chest for added warmth. She’s a tiny waif of a thing, so fragile in comparison to my own hulking form. I’m growing every day- in both height and muscle mass. Most guys my age are right about now, thanks to puberty and our wolves coming in, but since I’ve got Alpha blood I’m already ahead of the curve in size and strength.
I wonder if she’s noticed that; if she likes it. If it’s enough for her to stop looking at me as the kid she grew up with and start seeing me as somethingmore.
She’s changed over the last year, too. It’s impossible not to notice the way her boobs have grown, filling out her tops until the fabric strains against them. Her ass is plumper, the curve of her waist more well-defined. She’s fuckin’sexy, and it seems wrong to feel that way about my best friend. But here we are.
Sloane tilts her head back to look up at me, a smile breaking across her face when our eyes meet. Those cute-as-fuck dimples sink into her cheeks on either side of her smile, a riot beating in my chest.
“What?” she asks coyly, searching my eyes like she’ll find the answer there to why I’m staring at her like I’ve never seen a woman before.
But I haven’t. Not one likeher.
She’s magnificent.
“Nothing,” I sputter, diverting my gaze back to the fire.
“Aw, c’mon,” she coaxes, reaching up for the hand that’s dangling over her shoulder. She threads her nimble fingers through mine, giving my hand a little squeeze. “What’s on your mind?”
I glance down to meet her eyes again, my heart slamming against my ribs.
How do I tell her what I’m really feeling? Do I just fucking go for it and hope for the best?
I immediately shove that idea aside. There’s no way she feels the same way about me as I do about her. My inner wolf and raging hormones may be blurring my own lines lately, but Sloane has never let on that she wants to be anything more than friends.
And why would she? She’s already got me wrapped around her dainty little finger, and she fucking knows it. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for that girl.
Even if she chooses someone else.
Because that’s bound to happen, right? Every dude in our school wants her. She seems oblivious to their attention, but I see the way they look at Sloane. My wolf goes crazy with jealousy every time, and I have to fight like hell to keep him contained. Learning to integrate my wolf has been a struggle, but nowhere near as taxing as hiding my true feelings for the girl I grew up with.
