Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Georgia       I knocked on the door uneasily.   “Enter,” the commanding voice behind the door said. I took a deep breath and turned the knob.   “You wanted to see me, Uncle Callum?” I asked.   Uncle Callum was a big man. Even sitting behind his desk, he seemed to take up half the room. His muscles rippled beneath his shirt, and every step he took screamed “power.” His brown hair was graying, and his face was wrinkled, but his dark eyes were as sharp and intelligent as ever. He regarded me with a cool indifference that I pretended didn’t make my hair stand on end. Something about the situation spelled “danger,” but I wasn’t sure why.   “How are you doing, Georgia?” he asked. It was perfunctory. I knew he didn’t really care.   “I’m fine,” I said. “And yourself?”   “Not good.” He stood up and stalked over to the window, looking out at the town square below, where people ambled about, enjoying the warmth of early summer. But his next words drew my attention back to him. “I’ve gotten word that there’s a group of ferals nearby. A large one.”   My stomach clenched. Ferals were dangerous shifters who were wild and erratic, unable to even shift back into human forms. They were usually loners and easy to take out. But when a pack got together, they were dangerous and would destroy everything that got in their way, including an entire village.   But confusion pierced through the cloud of horror even as I absorbed the information he had just given me.   “That’s terrible,” I said slowly. “But…I’m sorry…why are you telling me this? I’m not exactly…” I trailed off. But I

didn’t need to finish the sentence. Uncle Callum already knew what I’d been about to say.   “No,” he said. “You’re not important. You’re about as low in the hierarchy as you can get, save maybe your child.” He sniffed derisively. “Normally, I wouldn’t tell you anything. I’d tell your father out of courtesy and loyalty to blood, but that’s it.”   I shifted uncomfortably, looking down at the wooden floorboards. He was only telling the truth, but the blunt nature of his statements still stung, and the jab at Elle made me bristle. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. But I swallowed the temptation to snap back at him, knowing it would only get me in trouble, and I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had gotten to me. Besides, there were more important things to deal with at the moment. I looked back up at him.   “Then why are you telling me?” I asked.   He came up to me, towering a good foot over my head. “There’s a small pack that moved into the mansion by the lake, up in the hills. Do you know the place?”   I nodded. I’d gone swimming there before and had always admired the grand house standing above the lake, with a path from the back leading down the slope to the water’s edge. I still had no idea where this was going, though. “I think I heard something about a pack moving in. What about them?”   “Their alpha introduced himself when they moved to the area,” he said. “I was able to size him up: young, strong, dangerous-looking, and he seemed the type of man who could keep his wits about him. He said they didn’t want to cause trouble or friction and would keep out of our way.”   “So?”   “So that is no longer an option,” Uncle Callum said. “If we’re to kill the ferals before they get to us, we’re going to need their help.”   “I still don’t underst—”

“Are you really this dense?” he snapped. I flinched backward. “You know who the alpha is, don’t you?”   I shook my head.   “His name is Jameson Redding.”   I recoiled without meaning to, taking a step away from my uncle. An image flashed before me: a handsome man, tall and muscular, with sandy hair and piercing green eyes. We were sitting in a clearing in the woods, one streaked with moonlight. He was grinning as he leaned toward me, our lips moving closer as he wrapped a strong arm about me.   I shook my head, trying to clear the memory, but it did nothing to stop my pounding heart or the thought of his touch. Finally, I managed to ask, “Jameson Redding? He’s here?”   If Uncle Callum had any idea what had just passed through my head, he gave no indication. He stepped away and strolled back to his desk.   “I’m surprised you didn’t know.” He paused. “No, I’m not surprised. It’s no wonder your parents kept it from you. They probably didn’t want you getting hysterical or trying to see him. Normally I would agree, but times have changed.”   “You’re not telling me you want me to go talk to him?” I asked. A knot formed in my stomach and tightened.   “That’s exactly what I’m saying,” he said. “You know the man. I’m sure he’ll be more amicable to helping us if someone he knows is negotiating rather than a complete stranger or myself.”   Jameson and I had grown up together in a different pack that was maybe a hundred miles away. Well, I say “together,” but I had never really fit in. My family was even more of an outcast there than we were here. And Jameson had held that knowledge over my head for nearly my entire childhood. He and his friends had tormented me for years. That was, until we were about seventeen.

I opened my mouth, about to ask Uncle Callum exactly how much of our history he knew, then closed it. If he didn’t know who Jameson really was to me, that was probably for the best.   “I don’t want to talk to him,” I said. “We didn’t part on the best of terms. I’m actually surprised my parents thought it was a good idea for me to talk to him. They hate Jameson.”   “They made that very clear,” he said. “But given your…intimate history with him, I thought you might have a better chance of convincing him than anyone else in the pack.”   So he did know the whole story. I shouldn’t have been surprised. We had to explain why we left our last pack in such a hurry and came here. My parents hadn’t wanted anyone there to find out about the pregnancy, let alone Jameson himself.   “He bullied me for years. We don’t get along, and when we finally did become…” I coughed, not wanting to think about that night. “Well, that didn’t work out, either. There’s no guarantee that he’ll talk to me.” In fact, based on our last conversation nearly ten years ago, I didn’t think he would want to see me. Or if he did, it was only to use me, like he had last time. “Truthfully, I’d rather never see him again.”   Uncle Callum glared at me. “I wasn’t asking for your opinion,” he said. “You’re acting under the assumption that I’m giving you a choice.” His voice was a low growl, and I knew I was in trouble. Still, I raised my head and looked him in the eye.   “I don’t think this is a good idea,” I said.   “I don’t care what you think,” he said. “You’re already an outcast in the pack. Don’t make it worse for yourself or your family by being this stubborn. You’re not in a position to bargain.”   I wanted to argue. I wanted to say no. I wanted to laugh in his face and storm out.   But he was the alpha, and I was an outcast in the pack. There was really only one thing I could say.

“Okay.”   As I stepped out of his office, still shaking violently from what Uncle Callum had told me, I turned left to take the long route home, hoping the summer air would clear my head. But it didn’t. All it did was leave me thinking about the things Jameson had done when we were kids.