Prologue

Razl looked at the house at the corner of the street and the warm red colour of the door, which looked like the leaves of maple in autumn just before they were going to fall. The rest of the house was also coloured in warm earthy tones which reminded him of her bright cheerful smile and he could smell her womanly innocence all over again.

Even though he did not feel comfortable in the city, he had come here searching for her. He knew that he had to at least try or he was going to miss her all over again. And Dark wolves like him rarely got a chance to mate and when they did, they definitely fought for it.

He took a deep breath and rang the bell.

Tourmaline opened the door. There was a smidgen of flour over her cheek and Razl smiled at her.

“What are you doing here?” she asked without even bothering to ask him how he was. It had been three months that he had last seen her and it still felt like it was an eternity.

“I am here to get you back,” said Razl without even bothering to pretend that it was about something else at all.

“Come inside. I don’t want all my neighbours hearing this and then becoming the object of ridicule of the entire neighbourhood,” said Tourmaline as she opened the door and Razl stepped inside. The whole place was filled with her smell.

And her sister’s smell was there as well. But he did not want to talk about that now. As soon as she closed the door he whirled around and caught hold of her waist and brought her closer to him and kissed her lips hungrily.

And she kissed him back with the same fervor. There was no hesitation at all in her.

“What happened to finding a wolf from the rival pack to seal the bond so that you guys remain friends forever?” asked Tourmaline with a dazed look on her face. Razl had this effect on her, when he kissed it felt like she was on drugs. And her blood reached such a high which would not let her come down from.

“You’re the only woman I want, Tourmaline.”

“How can you say that, Razl? You remember that we did not part under these terms….this ….this fire that we have in both of us….it is going to consume us whole inside out,” said Tourmaline.

“I don’t care about what happens when we are together. I care about what happens when we are not together darling…..and that pain….that unbearable pain of staying away from you. I am not ready to face that at all. They might tell me that I am the bravest killer of the pack, the Alpha who is scared of nothing but I am scared of losing you Tourmaline.”

“When I started falling in love with you,” she told him, “it felt like dying.”

“And now?” he asked, his hands settling on her hips.

“Now I finally know how it feels to be alive. Not just parts of me, but all of them.” Her long hair streamed over her shoulders as she shook her head.

“I don’t know to explain it. It’s like you woke me up. Made me open my eyes.”

The instant she whispered, “Make me yours, Razl,” his fangs burst into his mouth so hard that it hurt.

His wolf prowled beneath his skin, brimming with instinct and the need for possession, but he had to make sure this was what she wanted, because once done, there was no going back. “Are you sure this is

what you want, Tourmaline?”

“I’m sure,” she said a little breathlessly….