IZZY POV
I surprised her. She wasn’t expecting to find me here, in Seattle, at the club she was frequenting. Honestly, I surprised myself. I knew we would find her, but I didn’t think it would be this quickly. She was predictable, I guess.
She stood for a moment, sizing me up and trying to decide my intentions. I didn’t move, just kept a smile on my face. I didn’t even mind link Reese because I knew she would see that and react.
She gave me a once over and then shrugged, moving into the first stall of the bathroom.
“You got tired of playing the victim and decided to come to the big city?” Katie asked through the stall.
“Nope,” I said. “Heard you were here and wanted to see.” I mind linked Reese to get his butt over here.
“I guess I should be honored that you want to spend time with your sister,” Katie said. 
IZZY POVReese was way more nervous than I was. I heard him arguing with his brothers on the phone after I had gone to bed.“I can’t tell her no,” he was protesting. “The Council gave her permission to deal with Katie and Vanessa as she saw fit. And this is her choice.” Reese was silent but I could hear one of the brothers yelling on the other end. Probably Ethan.“Fine,” Reese snapped. “Then you get over here and tell her you forbid her to do it. I’d like to see that happen, Ethan.”More silence then, “I know. I get it. I am scared, too. But we promised her we would be better mates. Smothering her and controlling her isn’t how we do it, no matter how much we want to. And I have faith in her.”I felt a warm glow after hearing that. Reese finally got off the phone and slid into bed next to me, ga
REESE POV I watched Izzy banter with the warriors, and I felt massive pride swelling in my chest. She was phenomenal, my mate. And I trusted her. But I was so afraid. My mom had literally withered up and died after my father’s death. She couldn’t survive the mate bond breaking. I knew I wouldn’t be strong enough either, and there was no way I would be able to sit and let Katie kill Izzy. This fight wasn’t supposed to be to the death, but it wouldn’t end until one yielded to the other. I was sure that neither woman was going to yield. This was going to be a bloody battle. Izzy straightened up and began walking to the Pavilion where Katie was already waiting. Katie had stamped out a circle in the frost. “We need some ground rules,” she said pompously. I growled a warning at her that she blatantly ignored. “Everyone needs to stay out of this circle. If someone from Izzy’s side enters the circle, it’s an automatic win for me.” “Fine,” Izzy said quickly before I could prot
IZZY POVI crashed to the ground, the wind knocked out of me. Hitting Katie’s wolf was like crashing into a brick wall. I could vaguely hear Reese in the background, shouting at me to get up. I climbed painfully to my feet and shook my head, clearing the cobwebs and then leaped to the side, just in the nick of time.Kya came at Heka fast. We swerved again, skidding on the wet grass. We faced Kya as she spun and then came running at us again. Heka timed it perfectly, leaping into the air and landing on Kya’s back. We bit deep into her neck, but Kya shook us off like a pesky bug and we hit the ground hard for the second time. Heka rolled and then was back on her feet, diving low and using her teeth to slice at Kya’s underbelly. We skidded to a stop and then turned to grab her back leg, breaking it in our jaw. Kya turned to us, snapping violently, and caught our front shoulder with her teeth.&nb
REESE POVI directed all of the warriors except for Tonya to stay and take care of clean up. A council member was on their way to take custody of Vanessa and to get the official statement from everyone involved. My priority was to get Izzy back to the hotel. The council could come there and get her statement. We didn’t need to wait on them.Izzy didn’t seem unduly upset over the recent events. She was strangely calm which almost worried me.“How are you doing, little one?” I asked. She looked up at me with a smile.“At peace, if that makes any sense.”“Explain it to me,” I said, opening the car door. She slid in and I climbed up next to her. I was going to let Tonya drive.“Katie has been behind every bit of sabotage and deceit that I’ve encountered since I came to the pack. Because of some weird sense of family, and becaus
IZZY POVI pressed up against Reese’s naked body, letting the heat of his body warm mine. He took me into his arms, drawing me even closer. I clung to his neck and wrapped my legs around his waist. His lips attached to mine, gently probing, then becoming more intense. I obediently opened my mouth, letting him taste me and I felt him getting even harder beneath me.He carried me over to the bed and put me on to my back. I kept my arms around him, drawing him down on top of me. I widened my legs, maneuvering myself so that he was at my entrance.“Do you want me inside you?” he whispered.Soundlessly, I nodded, arching my back a bit more. He smiled and smoothly thrust himself inside me, stretching me with his girth. I was hot and wet for him, and he slid it deep before he pulled out and slid in again.I wrapped my legs around him tighter as he began to push in and out of me.
IZZY POVI tied up my hair into a messy bun and took one last look in the mirror. I looked okay. Nothing spectacular, but really, what are you supposed to look like after you’ve eliminated your arch nemesis?I walked into the sitting room and looked over in surprise. My mom was sitting on one of the chairs that lined the parameter of the room. She gave me a slight shake of her head, warning me not to react, so I ignored her presence and went to shake the hands of the people who sat on the couches that made up the more intimate seating area.“Elder Johan, nice to see you again,” I said, shaking his hand. He returned it and then pointed to the man and woman next to him.“Elder Doran and Elder Nicole,” he said by means of introduction. I shook their hands.“Thank you for coming,” I said. “I’m sorry it’s under these circumstances.”
IZZY POVMom and I had always lived in resort towns. She had lots of clients, many of them men who wanted to be more than clients. I was no stranger to fancy restaurants and shopping malls. I was frequently taken there by the men who wanted to impress my mom by including me in their attentions. I usually just picked at the dishes I couldn’t pronounce and sold the items they bought me at the local pawn shop. The gifts were always impractical and just reminded me of my mom’s self-imposed celibacy and the desperation of these men to get close to her.This was different. Gia and Tonya hurried to change out of the tactical pants they were wearing and into cute skinny jeans, boots and sweaters. At my mom’s urging I threw on some jeans and a flannel shirt. We left the boys lounging in the sitting room with both televisions tuned into the games. A huge room service order was already in the works, and they
IZZY POV“Troi?” I was confused. “What’s a troi?”The waiter gestured to me and, with a questioning look at my mom, I followed him into the back of the restaurant, the three women trailing behind me.“We can’t do this in the restaurant,” the waiter apologized. “Health department rules.”I nodded, acting like I knew what the hell was going on, but I really had no idea. Mom snickered at the look on my face. I’m glad she was amused. I was just confused.The waiter led us down a hall and then held his hand up to me, disappearing into an office and coming back out with a large box. It was about the size of a laundry basket.“Is the troi in there?” I asked, trying to be polite. He gave me an odd look while mom and Gia burst into laughter.“Be nice to her,” Tonya said, sympathetically. “S
EPILOGUE TALIA POV “Coming!” I answered my mom, looking in the mirror and tucking my hair behind my ear. Today was my eighteenth birthday and I was officially going to introduce my wolf to the Pack. I had technically been able to shift since I was a baby, but we had managed to keep that a secret from almost everyone, though it had been a close call a few times. My brothers were coming back from Mongolia with their mate, Zaria, and their friend, Leo, to help celebrate my birthday. They were on some sort of a mission for the Council, but they got permission to come home for this event. They were twelve years older than me and I liked to tease them about being old. They didn’t think I was as funny as I knew I was. They were cool, though, and all my friends loved my brothers. Their mate was also pretty awesome. She was the daughter of our Beta and one heck of a warrior. She went to the same camp my grandmama was accepted to. Only the best warriors are allowed to go. I ran
IZZY POV I rubbed my swollen belly and sat down behind my desk with a sigh. Baby girl was seriously a week overdue, and I was over being pregnant. I wanted to meet my Talia and that moment couldn’t come soon enough. A lot had happened in the three months since the Summer Solstice Celebration. Elder Voltaire had officially asked permission to join our pack and he put in his retirement notice to the Vampire Council. Apparently, serving as head Council Member for three hundred years was enough for him. We gave the Blood Moon Pack to Griz and Destiny. We talked a long time about it and had first asked Leo if he was interested in taking over for his father. He had vehemently turned down our offer, insisting that he never wanted to see the Blood Moon Pack again. When we had gone to visit, I could see why. The pack needed a lot of work and there was a general sense of discourse. Griz and Destiny agreed to take on the Pack with Griz being named the first non-wolf Alpha of a Pack.
IZZY POV“So what do you do, Elias?” Reese asked. I could see his nostrils flaring a little to see if he was a wolf. I didn’t sense a wolf in him, but I wasn’t going to ask. It was kind of like asking someone’s religion or income. If they offer the information, we could talk about it. But only if they offer it.“I’m a bounty hunter,” he said. Kat was clinging to his arm.“A supernatural bounty hunter,” she corrected. “He works for the Council, believe it or not.”Elias smiled. “Kind of. They hire me on occasion. I work for myself,” he corrected her gently.“Sorry,” she said, smiling. He leaned down and gently kissed her on the lips. I grinned. I was so happy for my friend.“Tell us about one of your captures,” Destiny asked. She was next to Griz,
IZZY POV“How are you doing?” I asked Destiny. We were busy hanging decorations around the backyard, and it was the first time I had a moment alone with her in a week. I knew she was feeling really guilty about Kat leaving.She shrugged. “I’m okay. I just feel awful every time I look at Griz. I never intended for her to leave. I just wanted her to be more careful.”I dropped the streamer I was holding and put my arm around her. “I know. And so does everyone else, including Kat. She just needed a change. She spent so much time and effort making sure every part of Cornelius was destroyed that she doesn’t know what to do now. She’s just trying to find her place.”Destiny sighed. “Tell Griz that. He is worried about her.”“She’s moving around pretty quickly,” I offered. “I think sh
IZZY POVThey say a Luna’s work is never done. They’re right.I got back and had my bath and some alone time with my mates, but the pack business didn’t slow down. I was involved in the planning of the half-way house we were building as well as another youth center. I approved budgets and began working on the nursery upstairs, a room we hadn’t used in eight years. And then I began to plan the summer solstice celebration, a tradition that we had upheld since we first started it thirteen years ago.“Black and white this year?” Destiny asked. “I hate black and white,” Lucy said. “It makes everything look so formal and this should be fun.”“Okay. Black and gold?” Destiny was relentless. Lucy threw a wadded up napkin at her.“You only want black because you love it,” Lucy accused her.Destiny shrugged.&
IZZY POVThe gavel dropped and the room exploded. I turned and Kat flew into my arms, hugging me. She wasn’t normally demonstrative, and I was pleased. I needed someone to hug right now, and Kat was perfect.She was also a great bodyguard. She pulled me through the reporters at the door and only got tripped up by one of the fae reporters who used projection to try to block us. Kat pushed him over and got me out of there and into a taxi without further incident.“Keystone Airport,” she told the taxi driver, naming a private airport. I was guessing that my mates had communicated with her.“I can’t wait to get back to the pack,” I said, leaning against the back seat. “I’m exhausted. I just want a bath and an uninterrupted night of sleep.”“I’m not going back with you,” Kat said suddenly. I sat up.“Why?
IZZY POVThe twenty-four members of the Councils filed out, leaving me standing at my table, still in the handcuffs. Thanks to Johan, the handcuffs were the normal ones that they used in the human world which meant I could break them if I needed to, but I wasn’t going to. I wanted the shifter world to see what was going on.After the council members left, Kat walked over to me bringing a couple of chairs. She plopped them down and I gratefully sat. “Did you have a vision earlier?” she asked.I nodded, rubbing my forehead. “Was it obvious?”“To me,” she answered. “I know you. I was about ready to create a diversion.”I chuckled. “You’re a good friend,” I said. A look crossed her face for a second but then disappeared. I had said something that bothered her. Curious.Her phone chirped and she looked at it.&n
REESE POVThere was an outburst from the spectators in the viewing area. The main werewolf and main vampire council members were banging their gavel, telling people to be quiet. We all exchanged grins.“We are not the ones on trial here, Luna,” the main vampire council member said fiercely.“No. You’re not. I am. And I am telling you why I had to do what I did,” Izzy said. She turned to the werewolf council again.“Who among you believed that the prophecy from Nehum thirteen years ago was about me?” She kept eye contact until all twelve members had their hands raised. “And who among you thought that the prophecy was also about my sons?” The same twelve hands were raised.“And the same on the vampire side?” she asked, turning. Reluctantly, some of their heads nodded. The others resolutely ignored her, keeping thei
REESE POV“This session will now come to order.” We were watching the trial on television. The Council, in their infinite wisdom, had decided at the last minute to broadcast the trial on a special encrypted channel that Packs would have access to. We had turned it on first thing this morning when we woke up, looking at an empty room somewhere in Salt Lake. We were watching when the members from both Councils filed in, twenty-four in total. Johan was part of the werewolf council. Alessia had gasped when she saw him take his seat.They had brought Izzy in with handcuffs on. I had roared, losing control of my wolf, but Alessia had wrestled me down. “It’s for show,” she had soothed me. “They’re not silver. Just look. She’s fine. She can break them in a second.” Vin was not convinced but at least he gave me control back.“Isadora Killian, Luna of the Moonstone Pack, you were called before the Council today to answer to an entire list of charges. But you were not the only one