Charlie knew she needed to leave. She knew she was a danger to the pack but her heart wouldn’t let her go.
My heart was hooked by Kane, Johnny and Levi Duke, and no matter my inner battles, I wanted to stay. I wanted to find the truth. I wanted to be part of the pack.
But to do that, I had to follow their plans—ones that involved me figuring out how to undo what the masters had trained me to do, namely, putting my beast in a cage. The Duke brothers pushed me to let her out, even though I warned them that she wanted their blood.
The crazy three had ideas about melding my beast side with my human side, like some afterschool special. I knew the task was near impossible. My beast was wild, untrainable and full of violence.
When put to the test, she’d proved me right, creating chaos by forcing me to bite my uncle, to make me alpha of his clan. Then she made me bite Johnny and Levi, pushing my instincts to make them mine.
All that left was Kane, and he wanted no part in what my instincts demanded. He wanted to do things his way and only his way. That meant a whole lot of people were going to die, including my best friend, Ruby, unless we figured out what my destiny truly was.
We needed to learn what my bite could really do before all hell broke loose and everyone I cared about fell to the most evil werewolf that ever existed…my stepbrother, Sal.
Reader advisory: This book is best read as book two in a series. It contains a scene of double penetration, and some violence.
General Release Date: 5th March 2024
Charlie
Three a.m. was the witching hour for werewolves. The darkest moments of the day, when predators prowled and prey scurried.
I had no business being out here, stalking like the land belonged to my wolf. But the moon had called to me, loudly, relentless, and I’d been restless, unable to sleep through the nightmares from my past that haunted me—the truths of what my werebeast had cost me.
Again and again.
Her presence in my life had led to murder. It had led to misunderstandings so grave that wolves under my leadership had died.
For me. Because of me.
It had led to my latest mistake, trying to invade the minds of the Duke clan wolves.
Bad judgment was becoming a part of who I was, apparently. That…and following instincts that took me down the wrong path.
“You’re a bad girl, Charlotte.” Kane’s voice ricocheted through my mind. “Careless with your actions.”
I shook off the shame, literally, tossing my fur from nape to tail. My wolf had no time for dwelling on Kane’s words. That was the past. No matter how recent, she didn’t care. She wanted to hunt, to lose ourselves in the smell of grass and bark, dirt, wild furry bunnies and long-legged deer.
I’d melded with her a long time ago, unlike my werebeast—the other side of me who ruled my anger—so I didn’t fear losing myself in her predatory thoughts. I welcomed the distraction.
Movement to my left, a rustling of leaves, not the wind, had me turning on instinct. I lifted my nose in the direction of the sound, narrowed my eyes, piercing through the darkness. There, just in the shadows, was a warm-blooded snack.
I sculked, moving slowly, my belly close to the ground, careful not to snap twigs or disturb leaves. The doe’s long legs trembled as if sensing my approach. I raised my gaze, scanning the slick body, all the way up along its neck to those big, bulbous eyes. It twitched its ears, swiveling in my direction. I was fight. She was flight. One wrong twitch and she’d be gone. I moved stealthily, my breath held, my paw pads barely making a sound. I could be a shadow, silent and looming.
A heartbeat later, the doe bolted, startled by some unknown thing. Didn’t matter… Joy surged and hunger coursed through me, propelling me as I shoved off my hind legs and gave chase.
The doe crashed through thickets and leapt over fallen logs, zigzagging her way through the forest. I got close enough to nip at her hind, my canines barely scratching her skin. I raced to the side, the temptation of blood, of ripping hot meat from her throat, filled me with power. I leapt, ready to take her down, snap her neck and have my meal, soaring toward her, teeth bared, claws ready…and I missed.
The doe swerved left, and I flew right past her, landing in a heap against the thick trunk of a nearby tree. I lay panting, heaving giant breaths of disappointment. It felt good to run, to chase, to get so close. It didn’t feel good to lose my reward.
The doe moved like lightning right at the exact moment it needed to, so my claws and fangs had missed their mark. Lucky deer. Or, more likely, a deer with an accomplice.
The wind shifted, and I got my answer. I’d never mistake that wolfie scent anywhere. Levi’s deep-brown fur and soulful blue eyes came into my line of sight right where the doe had exited.
I huffed out a sigh, letting him know my annoyance. He’d stolen my kill. I shook myself off as I got up, taking the time to stretch my legs and pop the joints along my spine.
He yipped at me, his impatience clear, then, not waiting for a response, he bolted through the bushes, in the opposite direction from where the doe had gone.
I didn’t want to follow him. I wasn’t looking for company or a lecture about how I’d misused my power on the pack. I’d heard enough from Kane. His disappointment carried the weight of all three brothers.
Just as I was about to turn, run in the other direction and reject Levi’s invitation, I caught a whiff of fire and ash and smoke, then of roasted meat. I swiveled my ears, hunting for the sound of Levi. There, not far ahead, was the crackling welcome I couldn’t resist. It called me, one paw forward at a time, until I was pushing through leaves and branches.
“I already hunted,” Levi said from his seat across the fire, knowing I was there before I’d even decided to show myself.
He didn’t look up as I stepped through the underbrush, still in my wolf form.
“Felt like some wild meat cooked over a fire. Comfort food.” He moved some logs with a stick, shifting them under the grate that held the steaming meat. “Wouldn’t mind the company if you decide to stay.”
I tilted my head, taking in the smells, the sounds, the way the fire moved, snapping up and reaching for the stars, licking the edges of the meat, sending smoke drifting toward the moon.
To my wolf, cooked meat was a poor substitute for a fresh, blood-soaked kill, but to my human side, Levi was right. This was comfort, not only the smell of food being cooked on an open fire but the memories it conjured—me with my uncle’s ferals, a group of wolves I’d trained, sitting by a similar fire, cooking, drinking, laughing, bonding…sharing the wonders of the night.
A pang of regret, yearning for time long past, made me want to turn, walk away, find my own meal, but Levi made a sound, a low growl that rumbled from his chest. “You can’t keep hiding from your truths, Charlie.”
My truths? I was alone. Without family. Sold to the highest bidder. Destined to become a queen and hopelessly, forever trapped by my beast and my inability to control her actions.
“What happened wasn’t your fault.”
I shifted from wolf to human before his last word could fall, knowing that he was taking the stance I’d come to know him for…compassion, understanding.
“Like hell it wasn’t.” Like all werewolves, when I shifted, my clothes came with me, so I stepped out from the trees and into the clearing wearing yoga pants and a loose T-shirt. “I played with their minds. Can’t take that truth away with your version of events.”
Levi looked at me with patience in his eyes and a wry grin. “Yeah but at least I got you talking to me.” He motioned to a log next to him. “Now that you’re here, let’s eat.”
I shook my head, rolled my eyes, but did as he’d said. I was hungry, my stomach rumbling. As much as I wanted to atone for my sins against the Duke pack, I wouldn’t do it with a food strike. That would for sure incite my beast’s rage.
Sitting next to Levi, taking in the scent of his musk, knowing that hours ago we’d breached a boundary and kissed, only made me want to move closer when I should have wanted to move away. My armor was cracking. These men, these wolves? They’d captured a part of me that I’d locked up after my father had died.
He leaned forward, his arm brushing against my thigh, and I shivered. I wanted his comfort. I wanted to know that someone forgave me. Why? I’d never craved that kind of thing before. I was a lone wolf…strong, independent.
Lonely and alone.
“I…” Words crammed themselves in my throat. Apologetic, vulnerable words that wouldn’t come out.
“First, we eat,” Levi said as he handed me a hunk of meat on the tip of his knife. It dripped grease and blood, and the smell of herbs hit my nose and pulled a loud rumble from my belly. “Then we talk.”
I met his eyes, nodded then took the offering.
Like everything I’d eaten made by Levi, the meat was soul-filling delicious. Even if I wanted to speak, I couldn’t. My mouth was too busy. So, we ate in silence, staring at the fire, stealing glances at one another, satiating at least one of our needs. As my belly filled, longing took its place. I ached for Levi to move closer, to press himself against my arm, my thigh, to feel his touch, his heat. I tossed the remaining gristle and fat into the fire then wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, too unsure of where I stood with Levi to make a move, too self-conscious to open my mouth. I didn’t really know how to apologize for what I’d done.
“You have some grease, right here,” Levi said, his voice a rumbled whisper as he gently tilted my chin in his direction, rubbing his thumb along my cheek and the side of my lips. Our eyes met, and I saw a mirror of my own longing reflected back at me.
“Levi…I—”
He leaned in then kissed me, a take two of our first kiss, which had been interrupted by Kane in the library. This one went deeper, our tongues probing longer, harder, stroking the fire within my soul until my beast rattled her cage, and I was unsure if she wanted out to eat him or love him.
His hands were in my hair, tangled, digging his fingers into my scalp, pulling me closer, forcing me onto his lap where I fit so perfectly that I never wanted to leave. With my legs around his waist, my breasts teasing his chest, I slipped my hands around his back and rocked against the bulge in his pants.
He moaned, breaking our kiss to nuzzle into my throat, nipping teasingly as he pulled my head back, exposing the most vulnerable part of my body. My beast railed against her cage, but I shoved her into her pit, forcing her into the darkness so I could focus on what I wanted, what was right in front of me.
“Let me in.”
Levi’s voice echoed into my mind, against my conscious thoughts, knocking on the door of my barriers, the very ones holding my beast in place. I startled, tried to pull away from him, but he doubled down, increasing the pressure in my hair, holding me to him as he kissed me into oblivion.
“Charlie, call me to you.” His voice vibrated against my walls, slithering past my armor.
I wanted to push him away…to fight against his intrusion.
But that was what had gotten me into a mess to begin with.
Quit fighting it, my traitorous mind whispered urgently.
Levi’s chuckle against my lips told me he’d heard my inner thoughts, too.
I breathed out, sighing against his lips, letting my body go limp, the fight sliding out of me.
“Come to me, Levi.”
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