chapter 1

Prologue

Anna

They came without warning. As I glanced out the window, lightning streaked across the dark, furious sky revealing half a dozen silhouettes just a few feet from the window. Before the sky darkened again, they were in the hut.

My father grabbed me and hurled me toward them like a bowling ball before shifting into his wolf form and breaking through the back door. Two bodies went down under me. Shock turned to immobilizing fear.

Something pulled me back up. “Hold her.”

Those were the only two words spoken, but the sound of his voice caught my attention.

Confused, I snapped my head around, but he was already a wolf. Melting into the darkness, he was just a blur as he went after my father.

They dragged me outside. Rain pelted the ground, and I slipped on the mud. It wasn’t a move to escape, but I was punished for it. Claws pushed me to my back and raked down my shoulder before resting against my neck. I stared into the dark eyes of the wolf and understood that this was the end. Fear melted away into nothingness. These weren’t allies. There was nothing to fear.

They were the enemy, and maybe now, it would finally be over.

The blow never came. I was pulled back to my feet as the other shifters started to turn. Two wolves tumbled back into the clearing. The large bloody gray wolf was my father. The slightly smaller black wolf was a stranger but packing an immense amount of power.

For the first time in a long time, the wolf inside me stirred with interest. Hesitantly, she rose inside me.

Gritting my teeth, I shoved her back down. Now was not the time to let her take over.

A ring formed around my father and his opponent. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that these would be the last few moments I saw my father alive.

He was a skilled fighter. Strength and intelligence were both on his side, not to mention a ruthless nature. It was how he’d survived for so long.

The black wolf was an alpha. He had the kind of natural power my father had killed again and again trying to obtain.

The black wolf also had rage on his side.

The fight was over in less than ten minutes. A victorious roar rose above the thunder from my captors as my father fell dead to the ground.

Thunder boomed as the storm blew even closer. The alpha shifted and dragged my father’s corpse in front of me. I immediately averted my eyes, not to avoid looking at my father, but to avoid looking at the alpha.

“I am Jax Bishop, alpha of the Black Diamond Wolves. Confirm that the dead wolf is Dirk Kipling.”

I didn’t raise my head. “It is.”

There wasn’t a single note of sadness in my voice. I didn’t expect there to be. There was no joy either. Or relief. I hadn’t felt those emotions in years, and my father’s death was only a small victory. It wouldn’t erase the years of torture I had endured.

Or the memories of what I’d done.

“You’re not his mate.”

It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t answer it. That only seemed to infuriate him more. “Who are you?”

“Anna. I am…I was his daughter.”

He grunted. “How old are you?”

“Twenty.”

“The only wolves I see at this camp are mine. Who else is here?”

I kept my gaze to the ground. My clothes clung to my skin and water dripped from my hair.

There was a chill in the forest, and I shivered. “There’s a small wooden container buried behind the hut. Fifteen feet back. Between the two small poles sticking up from the ground, you’ll find a trap door hidden under some forest debris. There are three female juveniles inside.”

The man holding me jerked, and I forced down a hiss of pain. “Find them,” Jax roared.

“Now.”

His wrath focused on me. “Anyone else?”

“No.”

“Look at me,” he snarled. “Your father has kidnapped and murdered countless wolves. Did you help him?”

It took some effort, and I had to fight my wolf every second, but I lifted my gaze to his.

Lightning streaked the sky again, and he took one step back in surprise. Inside me, my wolf howled in joy as something seemed to snap in place.

Fuck. Me.

Warmth rushed over my skin, and my thoughts emptied of everything but him.

Well over six feet tall, he towered over me, Dark hair tousled along his shoulders and intense dark eyes stared at me in shock. I’d never given much thought to heroes. As a child, I’d daydream that someone would come save me, but I quickly learned that daydreams and false hopes were just different forms of torture. A way of breaking your own heart.

But here he was. My hero, and according to my wolf, my mate.

The long-dead feelings of hope resurrected, and I actually smiled.

Smiled.

“Shit,” the man holding me growled. Belatedly, I realized that all the wolves had felt their alpha’s mating bond.

They were stepping back in horror.

“Answer the question,” Jax demanded hoarsely.

Reality slammed back in place. Inside me, my wolf wailed. She was innocent. Always had been. I gave everything to protect her. For the first time in years, tears pricked my eyes.

Furiously, I hoped the rain would hide them, just as I tried to hide the way my heart shattered.

“Yes,” I answered honestly. “I’ve killed.”

The guard behind me shoved me to my knees, but I didn’t look away. I needed to see his eyes.

Needed to know if there would be forgiveness.

There was only disgust.

“I would rather kill my wolf than accept this mating bond,” he hissed angrily.

“You will get nothing from me except the promise that if those children are dead, you will join them. Tonight. I, Jax Bishop, alpha of the Black Diamond Wolves, reject you.”