The problem had even spilled over from werewolf society and trickled down into the human world. Every now and then news headlines told of a madman or killer who’d committed some unspeakable crime. In some cases, it was just a random crazy human. But in others it was a latent who’d lost his or her grip on reality, and the local Alpha would dispatch a group of wolves to quietly take care of the problem.
In the morning the human police would find the defendant hanged in his cell. Was it murder? Yes, but it was too risky to allow those wolves to live.
The human word lunatic was a lot closer to the truth than most people realized.
At first Haley’s guardians thought she might simply be a late bloomer. But when puberty came and went and she still hadn’t Turned, they were desperate. So they sent her to Lizette, hoping some time with another female around her own age might relieve some of the Haley’s anxieties. What if she never Turned? Latents often lived a sort of half-life. Cut off from the werewolf community, many committed suicide.
To everyone’s delight, Haley Turned for the first time during her stay at Lizette’s place. She and Lizette had danced around the apartment blasting One Direction and Taylor Swift until Lizette got a migraine and the downstairs neighbor pounded on the ceiling to shut them up.
Lizette squeezed Haley’s bicep. “I’m impressed. You have Madonna arms.”
Haley laughed, her pretty face lit up with joy. It made Lizette’s heart happy to see her like this. In a way she felt protective of her, and not just because Lizette was there the first time Haley Turned. Like Lizette, Haley lost her parents as a child. Although Haley was raised in a werewolf community, they’d both been foster kids of a sort. Haley knew what it felt like to be an outsider.
Haley’s expression grew abruptly serious. “Have you seen him yet?”
Lizette swallowed. Of course Haley knew why Lizette was here. There was only one thing—or rather one person—who could have compelled her to return. “Not yet. Soon.”
“Oh.”
They stared at each other. Even at seventeen, Haley understood that being summoned to appear before the Alpha was serious business. Everyone did. In Lizette’s case, however, it held a special significance.
“I should go.”
“You should go.”
They both laughed.
Lizette took a reluctant step toward the foyer. “I’m sure I’ll see you later. We have a ton of things to catch up on.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Like boys.” Although goodness knew Lizette had little advice to offer in that area. Aside from one brief—and that was generous—relationship as a teen, her love life was DOA.
“Definitely,” Haley said. “And I want to run together before you go.”
Lizette gave Haley a little wave and tried to ignore the way her stomach lurched as she headed back the way she’d come. She stopped in front of a set of big double doors and wiped her palms on her jeans. She angled her chin down and took in her sweater and mint green Chucks. Was Aiden right? Maybe she should have changed.
This is ridiculous. She was twenty-four years old, not fifteen…so why did she feel like a teenager reporting to the principal’s office?
Or a woman on a first date.
Not going there. She’d see what he wanted and then go home. Simple as that. She took a deep breath and knocked.
“Come,” said a low voice from behind the door.
The sound ripped through her like a thunderclap, and her knees almost gave out. She clenched her fists and pressed her fingernails into her palms—a trick she learned from Dom. The pain steadied her. She pushed the door open……and locked gazes with the Alpha. Her Alpha. Maxime Alexandre Simard.He sat behind his desk, his posture relaxed. A lord in command of his domain.And in the werewolf world, that’s exactly what he was.The first time she saw him was in the back of a Los Angeles County courtroom. Her caseworker had called her foster parents the day before, breathless, saying a relative had come forward—a distant cousin of Lizette’s mother. He was flying in from New York and would be there the next day to file the paperwork.In court he wore a charcoal gray suit and a dark blue tie. His jacket sleeves rode up when he shook her foster father’s hand, exposing his shirt cuffs and the strange metal jewelry he wore there instead of buttons. When she slid past him to climb into the limo,
Was he displaying his on purpose to intimidate her? But no, displays weren’t really Max’s style. He was far too subtle for that.“How are your headaches?” he asked without turning around.She closed her eyes. “Fine.”“I can smell your lie from here.”It was impossible to reply without telling the truth—or getting caught in another lie—so she clamped her mouth shut. She had a feeling he was going to say whatever he wanted to say anyway.“You’ve lost weight.”She gritted her teeth. “In the human world, that’s generally considered a good thing. Women are always trying to lose weight.”“You’re not a human.” He rolled his neck on his shoulders, the movement drawing her gaze. She’d forgotten how big he was. Even if he wasn’t an Alpha, he’d still command any room he entered, and not just because of his physical size. The fabric of his shirt stretched tight over powerful shoulders and a broad back that tapered to lean hips. Her stare sank lower…until she realized where it was headed and tore
“I promised you five years,” he said, staring down at her without a shred of compassion. “You’ve had them.”“I have a job and a career. I have a life—”“Your life is here.”“That wasn’t my decision.”His gaze hardened. He slid his fingers through her hair, brushing past her ear to trace a heavy coil that had fallen onto her shoulder. He twirled the thick bundle of strands around his finger, his arm grazing her breast. His arm around her waist tightened.She stood still, her breaths shallow. The predator in her recognized the bigger, more powerful predator in him. Her wolf waited, wondering what his would do—knowing they had no choice, no matter what he decided. None at all.“Your place is here,” he said finally.She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. “That wasn’t part of the bargain.” Deep inside, her wolf stirred. Her teeth throbbed in sync with her heartbeat—the first stage of the Turn. “You lied to me.”Without warning, the Alpha was back. His wolf slammed into his
Max waited until Lizette’s footsteps faded before he sagged against his desk. The paper he’d pretended to read slipped from his hand and floated to the polished walnut. Sweat trickled down his back.If her senses had been sharper, she would have smelled his panic…and his regret. But she’d been dulled by the human world—all the fire that made her who she was reduced to a simmer.And it scared the hell out of him.Dominic and Remy had given him monthly reports ever since she left the Lodge five years ago, and they were careful to document how much she ate. How often she Turned. How many times a month she ran. Lizette would have been furious if she ever discovered how thoroughly he had her watched—especially if she knew his wolves investigated every human she befriended.But she’d been raised to believe she was human, and her brain was still wired to think like one. Werewolves were hunters. Humans had evolved out of that mindset millennia ago. As a species, they were unwary…trusting.It
Her expression went flat. “All right. But I don’t want the bank account. I can work or—”“This is how things will be.” His voice came out harsher than he intended, but he wanted her to leave before he begged her to stay. “I’ve made my decision.”She left without saying goodbye.Max stared at the sprawling forest. He controlled everything he could see, but he’d never been able to control himself around Lizette—not since he touched her that first time in the forest. He should have known tonight would be no different. His fate was sealed in that clearing five years ago. So was hers.She just didn’t know it yet.“I took no vow.” She raised that between them like a shield tonight. No matter. He was Alpha. Even a single link in the chain was enough to bind them together. He’d claimed her, all right. Her hot little body knew that well enough.He’d have her vow, too. His cocked twitched. Hell, he’d hear her moan it in his ear while he buried his teeth in her neck and pounded her hot passage.
6Lizette walked without knowing exactly where she was going.Scratch that. She sure as hell wasn’t going to Max’s suite. She stopped in the middle of a long hallway and turned in a slow circle, getting her bearings. To her right, a narrow staircase beckoned. It led to the second floor and her old bedroom.What she really needed was a place to think. The longer she stood in the hallway, the greater the likelihood of someone spotting her, and right now she wasn’t in any shape to answer questions about school or her return to the Lodge.And she definitely wasn’t ready to talk about Max.She nodded and headed for the stairs. As she climbed, a sense of unreality descended over her. Everything in the Lodge looked the same, but she was different. As she approached her old room, a bolt of unease shot through her. What if it wasn’t her room anymore? The Lodge was huge, but there were hundreds of wolves in the pack. No one would have faulted Max for assigning it to someone else or turning it
Her memories of that night were like a dream—as if she’d watched events unfold from the edge of the clearing. It was as if she and Max had been caught up in a spell. Still gripping her arms, he finally looked over her head at Nathan’s unconscious body as two Hunters in human form crossed the clearing, gathered Nathan in their arms, and carried him away. The rest of the Hunters fell into step behind them, and the group disappeared into the trees.Help. Heal. Whispered thoughts had built in her mind. Her chest had ached with the urge to do…something. She’d twisted against Max’s hold. “Let me go to him—”“Not yet.”The command overrode the instinct pushing her to follow the Hunters. Max’s voice—just two little words—seized her attention and forced it to his face. Her heart pounded.Possession.He looked at her like she belonged to him. No, that wasn’t right. He looked like she belonged to him and someone had tried to take her away. His attention dropped to her sex.Her nipples tightened
He grinned around the sucker and stuck his hands in the pockets of his black Under Armour running pants, his eyes twinkling. He wore an old sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off, the black “Syracuse” on the front almost completely worn away by a thousand trips through the washer. He spoke around his sucker. “Considering you met with Max, I have a feeling I know who you meant.”“He has that effect on people.”Remy raised an eyebrow. “Want to tell me how it went?”She glanced down the hall. In a building teeming with wolves with hypersensitive hearing, no conversation would be private, no matter how deserted the hall looked. “Is there someplace we can talk?”He jerked his head toward the great room. “Come on.”Remy kept up a steady stream of chatter as they wound their way through the Lodge’s maze of corridors and rooms. Lizette saw a few familiar faces and stopped a couple of times to hug old friends and distant relatives. She could tell people wanted to ask questions about her return, b