PROLOGUE
The sound of someone pounding on his front door woke Steven Proctor from a sound sleep, and he sat straight up in bed, adrenaline already flooding his veins and making his heart pound faster. Throwing the covers off, he jumped out of bed, stumbling a little as he headed for the stairs, wincing when the pounding didn’t stop, hoping his neighbors didn’t wake up. He threw the door open when he got there, only mildly surprised to see Marcus Reynolds standing on his front porch, then opened it further and stepped back to let the regent and clan council member in, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do in the middle of the night.
“It’s about time,” Marcus said, shoving past him. “I’ve been standing out here for ten minutes trying to wake you up.”
“It’s the middle of the night, most people are asleep right now,” he said, running his fingers through his hair. “Can I assume this isn’t a social visit?”
“I just thought you’d want to know that I’m off to clean up another one of your messes,” Marcus said, glaring at him. “You’re supposed to be keeping an eye on these boys, Steven, but now we’ve got another crisis on our hands.”
He just stared at Marcus for a second, wondering if the older man was slipping, then finally shook his head. “For the hundredth time, I can’t watch them any closer than I am right now. I’m the Dean of the school. I have too many responsibilities, and don’t forget you let that happen. You could have blocked my appointment,” he said. “And let’s not forget the fact that those boys don’t know that I’m one of them; if they did, they might come to me for advice before these situations get out of control. What happened this time?”
“Apparently, one of the Kappas, Thomas someone or the other, decided to try and ruin Walker’s life, including stealing the mother of his child, and when she didn’t cooperate, he kidnapped her,” Marcus said, starting to pace back and forth in the tiny entryway. “He almost had her into Marbury territory, but she managed to escape. Walker found her and took her into our territory and married her. When this Thomas found out, he tried to burn down the cabin where they were spending the night, but it didn’t work very well, and from what I understand, he’s got burns over most of his body and is refusing help.”
“How much longer is this going to go on?” he asked, anger welling up inside him. “This used to be a peaceful place, a place where young people could come to get a good education, but now it’s turned into a war zone. People are starting to ask questions, and I don’t have the answers.”
“Well, you’d better find them; the clan is depending on you. I hope I don’t have to remind you about your duty,” the older man said, his face creased with anger. “You wouldn’t even be here if it wasn’t for the clan. You owe a debt, Steven, and until that debt is paid off, you’d better find a way to smooth this all over. We need these boys. They’re the future of the clan, they all have to graduate, just hold it together for a few more months, and it will all be over.”
“I’m not going to tell you that you’re making a mistake; we’ve had that discussion before as well, but this little plan of yours is already backfiring,” he said. “The Marbury’s aren’t going to stop trying to destroy your dream team. Don’t be surprised if you get another call like the one you got tonight.”
“Just get ready to do damage control,” Marcus snarled at him. “We could still replace you, don’t forget that, play by the rules or you’ll find yourself out of a job.”
He didn’t say anything, because there was nothing he could say. Marcus was right, he could be replaced, ending his entire career. “That’s what I thought,” the older man said, striding past him. “Do your job, Proctor, keep the clan happy, and everything will work out just fine.”
To his complete shock, instead of getting into the big black car parked on the curb, Marcus walked to the middle of the street, then paused for a second to look around. A second later, his dragon form appeared, and the man vanished. Then he spread his wings and, with a swish, took to the air and flew off into the night.
He stood there for a second, then shook his head and slowly closed his front door, hoping that no one had seen Marcus, and then went to the kitchen to make coffee. There would be no more sleep for him, just a string of phone calls that were sure to start in only a few hours, not much time to come up with a reasonable explanation for what happened. Wondering how many more of these emergencies he could handle, he left the kitchen to get dressed, feeling more tired than he’d ever felt in his entire life.
CHAPTER 1
***RYAN***
There was no place colder than the New York mountains in the middle of the winter with several inches of snow on the ground and the stars sparkling like they too were covered in a layer of frost. Ryan had seen plenty of nights just like this one from the warmth and safety of his childhood room, but it was entirely different being out in it, struggling to stay warm even through his layers, and he wished he was anywhere but there.
It wasn’t just the cold; the smell of burned flesh floating to him on the breeze made him want to gag, and he moved away a couple more feet, glad that he’d pulled guard duty instead of having to deal directly with the problem. He glanced back over to the circle of light where Thomas was crying and whining, blaming everything on Walker and Maddie, then turned away, sickened by the sight of the broken man. Trying to put himself in the other man’s shoes, he couldn’t imagine wanting power so desperately that he’d be willing to kill for it, but the Kappas had proven over and over again they were more than happy to do anything it took to gain that power.
Turning away again, he scanned the woods around them, knowing it was a wasted effort; they were miles from civilizationon a dirt road that led to nowhere, the cabin so isolated, it wasn’t even on a map. He didn’t really care, it made his job easy, but as he stood there, he realized the extra-large cup of coffee that he’d downed on the trip over from Elmwood Junction was coming back to haunt him.
Shifting from foot to foot, he considered his options, then looked over his shoulder again, hoping Jackson had gotten Thomas moving, but the jerk was still sitting on the ground bawling like a baby. The last thing he wanted to do was get in the middle of trying to convince the other shifter to heal his own wounds, so that meant the cabin bathroom was out, leaving him only Mother Nature.
Noticing Aaron standing only a few feet away, he got his attention and gestured for him to come closer. “Hey, I’ve got to answer the call of nature,” he said. “Can you take my place for a few minutes?”
“I told you not to get that huge cup of coffee,” Aaron said, a scowl on his face. “I should make you stand here and suffer, but it’s too cold out here for that. Just hurry up. Marcus is supposed to be here any minute.”
The mention of the man who held their future in his hands almost made him change his mind, but his bladder was about to burst. “I’ll hurry,” he said, taking off toward the road. “I’m just going to step into the trees for a second.”
He walked a little way down the road, the thought of being spotted by one of the clan elders in such a position making him extra cautious. After trudging through the ankle-deep snow and winding his way deeper into the trees, he looked around, relieved to see that the lights of the cabin had faded enough that he felt safe.
Getting right down to business, he quickly relieved himself, glancing around the entire time, then quickly stepped away from the tree, feeling immensely better and ready to go back to hisguard duty, promising himself he’d never make that mistake again. He was studying the ground in front of him, following his tracks back to the road, when he heard something crashing through the trees in front of him and froze. Then, he began scanning the woods around him and sniffing the air.
He picked up the scent of sugar cookies and citrus on the breeze, which confused him, until he saw a woman struggling through the snow a few hundred yards from him. She was staring at the cabin as she ran from tree to tree and didn’t see him as he slowly followed along behind her, trying to decide what to do about finding her where she definitely shouldn’t be. The woman finally came to a stop a few thousand feet from the circle of cars that illuminated the scene in front of the cabin, and he winced when he realized what it must look like to her.
“It’s not what it looks like,” he said, trying not to panic. “Our friend is just having a bad night.”
The woman screamed and whirled around, her face white with fear, her eyes like saucers, and he realized that he’d just made a bad situation even worse. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, taking a couple of steps toward her, noticing something strange beginning to happen to him, but ignoring it. “You shouldn’t be here.”
“What happened to him?” the woman asked, her voice shaking, her blue eyes full of fear. “It looks like he needs help; someone should call an ambulance.”
“That’s not necessary,” he said, shaking his head. “I really think you should go, you don’t belong here. Trust me, just go back to where you came from and forget you ever saw this. It will be much safer for you.”
