Chapter 1
Failurehadadistinctacrid scent.
Sienna Teague inhaled it now, identifying with the misery clinging to the walls and polluting the air in Castle Glenkirk.With only three days until the end of the gathering, unmated shifters prowled the edges of the great hall with barely concealed panic—their desperation a reek only her kind would recognize.
Despite Sienna’s initial high hopes, she understood the gnawing fear.Her jaw ached from clenching, yet she refused to blink away the sting in her eyes.
A hand on her shoulder made her jolt despite sensing the looming presence behind her.She turned.“Yes?”
“I hope you know CPR because…” The wolf, who she recognized from the Devon pack, took one look at her and blanched.“Never mind.”He backed up hurriedly and knocked a table, but righted it before drawing attention.
Her cheeks burning, she hitched her handbag higher on her shoulder and strode deeper into the great hall, aware of every gaze on her back.Despite her put-together appearance, no one had approached her.
Gossip.The venomous whispers had already poisoned her family’s standing and now ruined her opportunity for a fresh start.
The knot in her throat grew, and she swallowed.Once.Twice.
She had a mission, and she wasn’t leaving without trying every avenue.
Her family had sacrificed everything to send her to this gathering, their hopes fragile against the malicious whispers about their defective genes.No one, it seemed, wanted monstrous offspring.
Her chances had died before she arrived.
But she had to do something.
Her parents and brothers were depending on her.Surely, she’d catch a smidgen of luck soon.
Sienna drifted to the bar and waited.After pouring beers for three male shifters, the server approached her with a polite smile.She slid onto a barstool, too tired and deflated to return the smile.“A glass of the unoaked chardonnay, please.”The bartender took his cue, not wasting time on chat.
She remembered the dinner where her mother had suggested this plan.No pressure, her mother had promised, but quiet hope.They needed someone to earn money.Someone whose blood might finally break the curse.She’d agreed because she loved them.Everyone saw how dire the situation had become when other shifters kept their distance, afraid the Teague bloodline might taint their own.A lesson she’d learned from Haco, a wolf all charm and no commitment, who’d sparked the horrid gossip in Stoneford and even here.
Sienna sipped her wine, fighting the urge to take a healthy slug, swiftly followed by more glasses to dull the ache in her chest and soothe the tightness in her throat.
Two men approached, sitting on nearby barstools, and she recognized them from the group activities.Scott and Liam, with accents that sounded Australian or New Zealand.
The men were tall and lean with tanned faces, but what caught her attention was their scent—distinctly feline, like her own black leopard.Unlike the crisp tang of wolves, this was earthier, more familiar.
Three women noticed them, preened and tossed their hair, but the two males continued their discussion.The shortest of the three women frowned, her pique at being ignored amusing Sienna.
“Excuse me.”The tallest of the three, a striking brunette, stepped forward.
The men ceased talking.
“Yes?”Liam replied with a touch of caution.A prominent facial scar overshadowed his striking blue-green eyes.
Scott was classically handsome, with intense green eyes and wavy black hair.He frowned and slung his arm around Liam.“Was there something you wanted?”
“You’re withhim?”one demanded, the question an accusation.
“Yes,” Scott said, his gaze unwavering.
Sienna perceived tension, believing it stemmed from some shifters’ rejection of same-sex pairings.These three women appeared shocked to their core.The trio conferred and sashayed purposefully toward another group of men on the far side of the massive room.
“That worked well,” Liam said.“Although rumors had better not fly back to Middlemarch.We’d never hear the end of the teasing.”
Scott chuckled.“Even if they did, Saber and the others wouldn’t believe a word.They know we’re friends and prefer women.”
Sienna listened closely, drawing on her experience of blending into the background since everyone at home treated her entire family like lepers.She barely withheld a derisive snort.Her male relatives, though unconventional in appearance, possessed kindness and empathy.Beauty meant nothing if it hid cruelty or stupidity.
