MasukLucas’s POVShe stares at me for a beat. “I did try to do my best by you the first time around, selling you off to another pack where you’d be heir, but now you know too much,” she says, continuing the one-sided conversation. “I guess I can thank you for bringing Oliver home at least.”The sound of my mate’s name on her lips, rips another growl from my chest and I snap at the grating again.“I can’t say I expected you to have already mated him, but we’ll deal with it.” She gives me a cold smile. “Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure Clay takes real good care of him.”Rage explodes in my chest and I throw myself at the cage door again, snarling and snapping until I’ve exhausted myself. I drop to my stomach, sides heaving, and continue growling.She stares at me for a beat, then smirks. “You don’t listen too well, do you? Don’t waste your energy. You won’t be getting out of there.” She laughs to herself. “Even if you could, that collar on your neck won’t let you get far. The ones we use on w
Lucas’s POVMy awareness returns slowly, the world around me fading in bit by bit as my brain comes back online. The first thing I notice is the smell—a heavy antiseptic scent that almost burns my overly sensitive nasal passages. I smack my lips trying to flush out the nasty taste in my mouth and rub my snout over my leg.Wait a second. Snout?My fuzzy mind pulls the situation into focus much too slowly for my liking.I’m in wolf form. But why? How? I don’t remember shifting.I wrack my brain trying to recall how I ended up here—wherever the hell here is. What little light there is doesn’t do much to illuminate my surroundings and the chilly air smells only of chemicals. I sneeze, sending my head spinning again.The dizziness takes ages to go away and I’m left blinking in confusion, still desperately trying to push through the mental fog and figure out what the hell happened to me.There’s a vague memory just at the edge of my consciousness of sitting at a long table, of eating and dr
Ollie’s POVI jolt awake with a gasp and a bolt of pain shoots through my already pounding head. My stomach sloshes uncomfortably and a burp makes its way up my throat, leaving a stale, unpleasant taste in my mouth. Not that my mouth didn’t already taste like something died in there. Yuck.Sitting up in the bed, I raise a hand to my spinning head as I glance around the room in confusion. How did I get here? And, for that matter, where is “here”?Slowly my brain pieces together the events of the last few hours.Our arrival in Rockcastle.Meeting the Alpha.The tour.Sitting down to dinner.And then…? I blink, struggling to pull up a solid recollection of how I got here. My gaze travels the room again, but it’s still completely unfamiliar.Did I fall asleep?I squeeze my eyes shut, rubbing at my temple with one hand as I wrack my brain trying to figure out what’s going on. I kind of remember feeling sleepy, though that’s pretty typical of me lately, so it doesn’t seem all that strange.
Lucas’s POVThe Rockcastle pack’s dinner table couldn’t be more different from the cozy, comfortable atmosphere in Madison. The entire meal feels like a production of a sort, Earl playing the part of benevolent host while practically snarling at every servant—there’s really nothing else to call them, they aren’t treated like pack members at all—who enters the room. He reminds me a lot of Randy in that way.Not that Sweet Water pack has ever had enough money to pay servants—that is, if these ones are even paid at all—but Randy definitely looked down on anyone who didn’t cater to his ego or wasn’t in his little social circle.Which wasn’t actually very large considering what an asshole he was.Another thing Randy and Earl have in common.Earl spent the entire time the two of us were alone trying to convince me to stick around and take my place as his heir. I told him in no uncertain terms that wasn’t an option for me, but considering he not-so-subtly threatened to keep Ollie here if I
Ollie’s POVEarl smirks. “How sweet.” A calculating look enters his eyes. “But you don’t want to insult my hospitality by implying Oliver won’t be perfectly safe in my territory, right?”Lucas looks like he still wants to refuse, but I squeeze his hand. Sure, I don’t want to wander around with Clay as a tour guide either, but this is the perfect opportunity to get information for the triumvirate.And, as much as I hate to say it, Earl is right. If Lucas insults Earl by refusing, that might create more problems than we’re ready to deal with.Earl plasters a wide smile on his face and glances at Wanda. “In fact, why don’t my mate and your beta go along too? That way it’s just us, Alpha to Alpha.”Lucas looks even less likely to agree now, but I squeeze his hand again.Antagonizing Earl won’t do us any favors, and it’s not like anything’s actually going to happen to me just because I’m out of Lucas’s sight. Plus, if it comes down to it, Nancy is perfectly capable of protecting me.“That
Ollie’s POVThe Beta on his knees in front of me—Clay—looks a lot like Lucas, but that’s the only reason any of his features are familiar to me. He clearly knows me, though, and I have no idea who he is beyond Lucas’s half-brother and Wanda’s and Earl’s son.Beside me, Lucas lets out a low growl, and I kind of want to do the same.Despite how thrilled this guy appears to see me, something about his whole demeanor seems off, his reaction too over the top to be real.Lucas’s growl gradually rises in volume, but Clay completely ignores him.He does finally release me though, leaning back to stare into my eyes. He blinks quickly and sniffs, his hand rising to his chest as if he’s overcome by emotion.But, as before, the whole thing seems downright theatrical.Wanda watches the interaction closely, her gaze focused mostly on my face as if looking to see if I’m buying this crap.“Oliver, say something,” says Clay, the words close to pleading. “Aren’t you happy to see me?”I blink at him, un
Keiran's POV Even as I register the flare of Lucas’ nostrils when I pass him, another wolf’s teeth clamp down on my tail and drag me backward, my paws scrabbling at the ground. A high-pitched whine of terror is the only sound I can make as Alpha Randy uses his grip on my tail to slam me onto my
Keiran’s POVTonight is shaping up to be a disaster of epic proportions, nothing at all like how I pictured the day I’d become an official pack member.A pack welcoming ceremony is supposed to be a celebration, but any celebratory feeling is lost in the shadow of last night’s violence and bloodshed
Keiran’s POVThe ground drops out from beneath my feet—well, figuratively at least—as the stability and hope I just fucking got myself to accept is destroyed by a cold wash of betrayal, taking that tiny bit of rebuilt self confidence with it.Was it all bullshit? Of course it was.The frantic touch
Keiran’s POVStill half asleep, I reflexively try to push the hand away from my throat, but the shifter above me only tightens their grip. Panic floods my body and I become a wild thing, struggling and kicking to get away. One of my heels lands a hit against a hard chest and the hand around my thro







