bin

he scent was gone. Neith

Somewhere behind me, my grandfather's heart monitor beeped its steady countdown. I'd spent t

Han

marrying a woman whose name I'd never heard until yesterday. Now I was supposed to be

in that masked stranger. Something primal.

kn

om

d. "Alpha. The initial finan

was

ion dollars. Transferred out of Delpha Hancock's private account yesterday afternoon. The trail is a ma

ng free. The driving. The confrontation with her ex-fiancé at the market.

emissary?

patrol lost the trail on the old forest road

en ambushed. The same road Arla Hancock had driven to escape a Rogue pa

d. "We leave for Hancock

s rose. "You're

or her to come to me. I'll bring her here myself. And I'll find out whe

eave, then paused. "Alpha... th

't change

t argue.

s. It didn't care about conspiracies or suspicious bank transfers or

t s

s. At dawn, you

swer wouldn't matter. Because t

cared ab

a P

mask tucked away in my pack. The emissary was gone. I w

wasn't. N

while he patted her back with the expression of a man counting dow

hest. "Arla, what is the meanin

ailed, her face blotchy. "Giv

nt of the Gilmore estate off me-the antiseptic, the old wood, the faint,

er face a thundercloud. "You will not take

e of them. The weak-willed traitor, the whining brat, and the bitter, hateful

old smile to

e nicer to me from now on," I

"Or what? You think you can threaten us?

tting my gaze drift over each of their stunned fa

had been my prison for so many years. I closed the door, leaning back again

It was the sound of

ient. I c

a bond he couldn't explain. By now, he was putting together pieces of a puzzle I'd designed. And when the sun rose, the most powerful Alph

him

e wai