To my shock, Rhys takes off his shirt, revealing his muscular torso and well-defined shoulders. I can’t help admiring him, and lust stirs somewhere deep inside me as my body remembers the touch of his skin. The heat throbs within me, but it’s held in check by my fear, and I have to wonder if he’s actually going to fuck me and then kill me right here.
When he opens his pants and slides them down his legs, I almost pass out from the conflicting crash of sensations warringwithin me. Holding my breath, I try to count my heartbeats in an attempt to get myself under control.
What the fuck is he going to do to me?
“Okay,” Rhys says. “Watch. It will happen quickly, and your eyes will deny it—sometimes it can even make mortals very sick when they see it for the first time. Your entire being will reject it. But watch.”
Rhys takes a deep breath and straightens up. I keep my eyes locked on him, and his form shimmers as if a veil has been thrown over my eyes. I tilt my head, blinking to bring him back into focus, but the shimmering only gets worse.
I blink a few more times, and suddenly, a massive black wolf is standing in front of me. Its piercing gaze stays right on my face as it cocks its head, studying me.
It has Rhys’s eyes… oh, God, it has his gold eyes.
The wolf takes a step towards me, and I scream at the top of my lungs, struggling against the ropes. He stops, licking his chops a little as he stares at me.
This thing is bigger than a pony… almost the size of a bull. He could chop me in two with one bite.
The wolf blinks its great big gold eyes, then shakes itself, and suddenly, Rhys is standing in front of me again.
“Do you understand now?” he asks.
I shake my head, tears pouring down my cheeks.
Rhys sighs, going to collect his clothes. He gets dressed quickly and comes back over to me.
“I had to come and find you. I really had no choice. I’m sorry, I truly am, but my pack is dying. My friends, my family, they’re all dying. Finding the true mates of the alphas is the onlyidea we have to stop it. Whether you accept it or not, this is your destiny… and apparently it’s mine, too.”
I want to scream at him, to deny everything, but as he talks, memories flit through my mind. The strangeness I feel right now, witnessing him shift, I’ve felt before, lots of times.
I’ve seen Cassie’s eyes glow. I’ve seen her tracking things as if by scent. She dreams of running through the woods, talks about how strong the sensations were, the soil under her feet, the crisp scent of pine all around her…
I shake my head a little, and Rhys sighs.
“I’m going to untie you now,” he says. With a brief touch of his fingers, the magic rope comes undone, and he takes my hand. “This is just a gesture of good faith. Don’t make me regret it,” he warns.
I nod as he leads me out the front door and back to his car. The shape of it and the gleaming, midnight-blue paint trigger a memory from that night all those years ago.
It’s the fucking car he couldn’t shut up about. He finally got it on the road.
I want to dismiss this tiny fact, but instead, it sticks with me as a sign of perseverance and loyalty—that when he really wants something, he doesn’t let go of it.
“Are you okay, Mommy?” Cassie asks as we approach the car.
“Sure, baby,” I answer. “Rhys is going to untie you now, so we can go to his house and settle in. We’re going to stay for a while.”
Cassie keeps her eyes on me while Rhys undoes her ropes and then glares at him.
“Did my friends take good care of you?” he asks her.
Cassie shrugs.
“Don’t worry, baby,” I say, getting into the back seat to hug her. “It’s all going to be okay. This will be a wild adventure, I promise.”
“Are we going home?” she asks.
“Yes,” Rhys answers. “My home, which is now your home, too.”
Cassie looks up at him, and her pale brown eyes glow, just like the other wolves’. In that moment, I realize my daughter was never going to survive in the human world.
