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Part One
Chapter 1
Tori
Audrey’s labored breathing echoed in my ears as the paramedics loaded her onto a gurney, ready to wheel her out to the waiting ambulance whose lights painted the night sky red and blue. The sight of her unconscious body, peppered with bullet wounds and covered in blood, made me sick to my stomach.
Kyle had worked tirelessly to remove every piece of silver from her body so it didn’t poison her system any more than it already had. He’d also given her a witch pill, pushing the bespelled tablet as far down her throat as he could, then massaging the length of her neck to force her to swallow it. While it seemed to have healed the worst of her external injuries immediately, she’d yet to wake up.
When Ridge and I had used the witch pills, we were healed instantly. Perhaps the silver contamination from the fragmented bullets inside a wolf shifter, coupled with the extensive blood loss, was something the pills couldn’t heal. Or perhaps the magic in the pills was waning. I didn’t understand how the pills worked—I’d left the hunters before I’d had reason to use them—but I did know the witches working with the hunters had created the pills.
Panic roiled inside me as the turmoil of the unknown sunk its claws into my psyche. I was to blame for this attack, and that wasa heavy weight on my shoulders. Logically, I knew the hunters were out in droves all over the country, closing in on any shifter packs they could find. Still, that didn’t stop me from thinking it was my fault.
They’d been tracking me, and as a result, I’d led them here, to a town where shifters should feel safe and accepted. Now, because of me—because of my selfishness—the hunters had set their sights on Blackwood Creek. Because of me, Audrey could die.
“Is she going to be okay?” I asked the paramedic, my voice shaking slightly.
The uneasy look on the man’s face terrified me. “She’s a fighter, but only time will tell. You should head over to the hospital. Once the doctors have examined her, they’ll have a better idea of what’s happening and will be able to answer your questions.”
Nodding, I fought the tears. “Thank you.”
They made their final preparations, secured Audrey, and left.
Kyle stood in the middle of the debris, watching as they took Audrey Greenthorne away. A turbulent storm brewed behind his carefully controlled demeanor. Unless you knew him well, you wouldn’t recognize the anger boiling within him as he replayed the hunter’s attack, trying to pinpoint where things had gone wrong, how he’d let Audrey—and ultimately the town—down.
What made my brother such a skilled hunter was the way he cataloged information, replaying every battle he’d fought, scouring his mind’s eye for what had gone well or where a weakness had presented itself. He’d done the same thing with every hunter he’d trained, including me. After every sparring session, he was there on the sidelines, ready to tell me where I’d failed and needed to make improvements. Praise was a rare occurrence from him, but when it came, it held more value.
Until Kyle knew what Audrey’s condition was, he’d replay the hunters’ infiltration until he could pinpoint where he felt he’d fucked up, then go over it again and again. He might have been drained, but he wore his stoicism like armor and hid his pain. I sensed it, recognized it from the tension in his arms, but if I went soft on him in front of others, he’d only toughen his resolve more.
“Kyle,” I called out as the ambulance pulled away down the manor’s drive. Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t respond, so I walked over and placed a hand on his arm. “Kyle.”
Tension radiated through his muscles, and I felt the familiar protective instincts that had driven him throughout our lives.
“You okay?” I asked.
As if awakened out of a fugue state, he finally focused on me, eyes dark with fury, wariness, and the promise of retribution.
“I’m fine, Tori.” I recognized his tone from our youth, one I’d expect in private when he was tired and overly agitated. The more controlled hunter side of him did not approve of it. He’d always calm himself before he let his anger rule. He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a moment to reassess. “Just pissed that this happened on my watch.”
Not knowing what to say, I decided the best thing for me to do was take charge. “You’re hurt. We’re taking you to the hospital.”
With all the blood on him—I couldn’t tell how much was his and how much was Audrey’s—there was no way to gauge the extent of his injuries. He needed to be checked out. No matter how tough of a hunter he was, no matter that he was used to being denied emergency aid, Kyle was out in the world now, with me, and would never again suffer through his injuries while he waited for his augmented hunter body to heal itself.
I wasn’t our father. I wouldn’t allow that.
Kyle’s eyes flickered with annoyance as he turned his gaze toward mine. He didn’t argue, only stilled when Ridge approached us—a perfectly natural fight-or-flight reaction of a warrior readying themselves when someone he was wary of trusting approached. Yet another common training tactic, courtesy of our father. We never knew when somebody from within the faction would jump us. Our father wanted to ensure we were always at the ready and never let our guard down. Flight was not a choice.
I suspected that Kyle, as the faction leader’s son, had withstood thetraining strategieslong after he had been fully trained. I wouldn’t be surprised if it had caused a lifetime of suffering. The effects of it would manifest themselves the longer he lived away from our father and decompressed.
Ridge recognized my brother’s stance and slowed his pace. His gaze swept over me with the intensity of a lover and the protectiveness of an alpha. It sent a shiver down my spine, one not entirely unpleasant. With all that had been destroyed around us, how was it I could still have such a reaction to him? Why did my mind go there so quickly?
“Are you all right, little wolf?” His large hands stroked my arm as he pulled me against him. I melted into his warmth and wanted to bury my face in his neck, to fall asleep with his scent wrapped tightly around me. The need to shut down was a prevalent temptation—there was too much to take in. My wolf craved to be secluded with Ridge and left alone to regroup.
Then,bam—the two words that had dropped so easily from Ridge’s lips earlier echoed in my mind:fated mate. My inner wolf howled at the idea and overheated with its possibilities, but I was completely unprepared. The entire concept was overwhelming, and I wasn’t sure how to fully process it. All I knew about fated mates was what I’d learned from Margo’s romanticized explanation…and that it completely broke aperson when that connection was severed, as it had Ridge’s aunt Lucille. I didn’t know if I could trust the perfect relationship fated mates promised.
How could I believe fate had gifted me a fairytale love story? What had fate ever done for me? Growing up, I’d dreamed of making something out of my artistic abilities, and I’d worked hard in school to earn a scholarship to a prestigious art school. Then, my mother was brutally killed by a shifter—a monster I hadn’t even known existed, but was soon taught to hate. My life was no longer under my control, my dreams of art school shattered, and I was thrust into a supernatural world ruled by my father. Kyle and I were both indoctrinated into the hunter organization, where shifters were our sworn enemies and our father’s authority was absolute.
Then, the world had tilted on its axis again when I’d shifted and become the very thing I’d been taught to fear. I’d locked that part of myself away, and in doing so, I’d lost so much of myself. I’d been harming myself. When I’d arrived in Blackwood Creek, vulnerable, alone, and on the run from my father, I was on the cusp of becoming feral.
