Prologue: Silas
Ispit blood on the grass, hopping a step while I adjust my dick in my jeans and zip up. The cut on my lip healed, but the sting of my brother's fist—and his words—stay with me as I storm down the mountain.
Dishonorable. The word twists deeper with each step. Grayson is so fucking self-righteous, he can't see past his own goddamn ego.
I'm not the one who made vows. She didn't have to follow me when I winked and hooked a thumb toward the back of the barn. What's the point of mate-bonding if you're just going to spread your legs for the first alpha who asks?
Guilt lingers like an aftertaste, mixing with the coppery blood in my mouth, the sweetness of the beta's pussy, and her mate's bitter hatred from when he caught us.
A chorus of howls rise through the pines while my clan—Silent Peak—celebrates without me, the memory of my tryst fading from their minds. The taste of whiskey beckons me fromthe town below the mountain, though finding some pretty little human might be more tempting.
Neither will dull the hollow pang of being excluded from the clan's full moon run.
The she-wolf I fucked around with will reconcile with her mate, and I'll be forgiven, because everyone knows what I am—a debauched rake whose word is worth less than his smile. A born disappointment.
Everything would be easier if the alpha power inside me were smaller, the call of responsibility less daunting. It chokes me, and I don't know how Grayson does it. My twin is everything I'll never be. He would never get caught with a mated wolf. He's too good for that.
We're pack, the strongest alphas in our clan, chosen by the Moon Goddess to lead—to be theLuneof our people—but I happily let him take the reins of leadership and maintain the moral high ground because it suits him, and not giving a shit suits me. My father went to his grave knowing what kind of man I am, and there's nobody else whose opinion I give a damn about, so why bother trying to be the good twin?
Silver light paints the ground, glinting off the leaves as I walk deeper through the trees, closing in on the dirt road near the bottom of the mountain. The moon is so bright, maybe that's why it takes me a moment to realize the forest has fallen silent. Like something has stolen all the sounds and scents—I see them, then, but it's too late. My feet freeze in place, and my alpha stirs beneath my skin, hackles raised.
I count as they emerge—seventeen pairs of eyes, like locusts swarming. No time to think, no time to plan or run.
"The fuck is this?" I spit.
A woman steps from the shadows. Deidre, the High Priestess of Northwood. Haven't seen her in decades, and she hasn't aged a day. Long, dark auburn hair, a velvet emerald green dress. Sheseems to float, almost elegantly strolling, like it's tea time, not an ambush.
"What—" I start again, but chaos explodes, cutting me off. They attack, all of them, all at once.
My bones reshape as my wolf emerges through my skin, claws extending from my fingertips in half-form. I swipe, slicing a throat, then two. Blood sprays, but the witches start chanting in unison. The scent of herbs and sulfuric magic crackles in the air.
I can feel the weight of the spell buzzing on my skin, hammering into my skull, but my alpha is strong. He fights against it, and we swing out indiscriminately. But they chant faster.
"You fucking cunt, I'm going to kill you! All of you! You think you can hold me down!?" I roar.
Six more bodies drop at my feet as I slice and snap necks. I laugh, high on adrenaline. But the witches keep coming, chanting.
ta? bind i`? i`?syek ta? bind i`?
ta? bind i`? i`?syek ta? bind i`?
ta? bind i`? i`?syek ta? bind i`?
My limbs feel heavy. Three witches hold out my arm, while I thrash and slice with the other, but it's like anvils hang from each finger and toe. One witch slices my wrist. The high priestess holds a vial beneath my dripping blood.
"That all you got, bitch?" I spit arrogantly through blood-drenched teeth, but my strength is waning. Their magic is weighing on me, searching for an opening, a weakness, any crack in my defenses. It seeps into my skin. I keep fighting. Biting, tearing, killing. Their chants grow louder, faster.
I'm growing weaker.
ta? bind i`? i`?syek ta? bind i`?
ta? bind i`? i`?syek ta? bind i`?
They're going to kill me. They're going to win.
I'll see my parents on the other side. The moon is out. I can feel the Moon Goddess, her magic embracing me. Death is a blessing I don't deserve. But maybe Grayson's life will be easier without me.
I don't stop fighting, but my father's voice echoes in my head as my blood drips into the vial hanging around Deidre's neck.We all have a battle of two wolves inside of us, son. One is good, and the other is evil. The wolf that wins is the one you feed.
