Chapter 1
Chapter
One
The same feeling that overwhelmed me when I jumped down the rabbit hole of my dream realm for the first time washed over me now. I dove into the supernatural world of Torin’s pack—willing and unprepared for the danger ahead.
Although I marched once again into Torin Adair’s intimidating boardroom in the presence of his Council and the mighty Alpha, two things were very different from five years ago when I stood at the same spot listening to Torin’s rejection.
First, the old wooden table was replaced with a sturdy rectangular one made of metal. Knowing Torin, he didn’t replace furniture unnecessarily, or anything for that matter, so what happened to the old conference table?
Second, the Alpha’s gaze on me was anything but cold and calculating. It was instead so intense that it made my head spin. A shiver traveled down my body, and I fought the urge to arch my back and reach for him. I’d rather him glare at me than give me bedroom eyes.
“We're back where we started,” I muttered with a heavy sigh.
My voice came out steady, and I mentally patted myself on the back for keeping my cool. But I folded my arms across my chest to stop myself from reaching out. I tapped my foot on the hardwood floor. I wasn’t going to run away this time. I would face the Alpha head-on.
What was Torin’s game? He wanted me to be here, knowing too well I would follow my magic book anywhere. But what would Torin gain if I was in his pack?
It doesn’t matter. I’m not the same Breanna. Steal the book and get the heck out of here.
As the first princess, I could have filed an official complaint against the Alpha through the appropriate channels in the kingdom for stealing royal property—my book.
Maybe I should have. But then, I wouldn’t have been able to get my book back because my father, the King, would have taken the book away from me.
Anything uncertain and unknown to my future, such as the consequences of opening a witch book, was deemed dangerous, and I was kept away from it. Dad’s overprotectiveness reminded me of Torin’s.
Both men, Dad and Torin, were currently on my naughty list. Dad for spying on me for seven years while I blissfully lived among the humans. And Torin for stealing my magic book.
The book Torin stole from my apartment in London and used as bait to get me to his territory.
The book that unmistakably belonged to me.
Its daisy wheel symbol matched the birthmark on my thigh.
When I held the magic book, it pulsed in my hands.
I felt with everything in me that the book contained the answers about my human heritage and was my ticket out of becoming the next werewolf Queen.
Restless energy skittered too quickly through me to stand in the same spot in the boardroom I stood in five years ago. After Torin’s rejection, I flew back to London and never returned to his pack or the kingdom.
I began to move towards the large windows when several pairs of eyes bore into me from all directions. Tension hung thick in the air, almost like they dared me to do something.
If I were to knee Torin in his groin, would his Council come to the rescue? I bit the inside of my cheek to stifle the scoff that wanted to escape my throat. Five years ago, his Council was not very helpful. At least to me. The Councilmen didn’t speak last time, and they remained quiet now.
Good. I wasn’t in the mood to do an ice-breaker exercise.
I focused on the view out the window. The green hills and boulder-covered mountaintops took my breath away. I almost wished I had the vital eyesight of werewolves to decipher the crevices in the rough tree bark from here. The massive trees looked huge and ancient, just like Torin.
The darkening sky was clear but for a few puffy clouds randomly wandering as if they were lost. A layer of fallen leaves coated the hills—orange and crimson like the man’s vampire eyes.
Fog formed on the horizon behind the woodland, and I wished I were outside to take in the crisp aroma of pine and earthy scents.
The urge to run out of the boardroom and into the forest surged in my chest, and I placed my hand over it. I imagined I could hear the hum of the wind as it sifted through the leaves, feel the cold and brisk breeze brushing over my forearms.
Goosebumps pricked on my neck. I have to get out of here. But why did Torin lure me in?
The small streets outside, at least around the manor, appeared empty. But here I was surrounded by Torin’s Councilmen. Suspicion rose to the forefront of my mind.
Would he try to rewrite history and turn a wrong into a right? Not that I would fall for that.
I almost scoffed at my thoughts and turned to face my audience.
Torin had to be putting on a show for his men, and he must have ordered them to stay in the room as witnesses. In front of an audience, the humiliation would be like a combo strike of a punch to the face and a kick to the stomach.
I strolled around the conference table, and as I passed by the Alpha, his nostrils flared, and he took a whiff of me. Body tensing, I scowled at him, which he chose to ignore, as usual. With flushed cheeks, I put distance between us and stood at my previous spot.
This time, I could endure whatever came my way.
Glancing over at the Councilmen, I first spotted Torin’s Beta. Alexander raised his eyebrows to his hairline, and his gaze darted between his Alpha and me. Unlike his Alpha, Alexander wore his emotions on his face, and I liked that about him.
A young man with a lip ring and multiple earrings had his hand over his eyes but peered between his fingers, a genuine smile on his face. People who smiled like that seemed nice, unlike his Alpha.
The third man with messy hair and short stubble looked like he’d just returned from a vacation, the last two buttons of his flower-patterned shirt opened. His elbows rested on the table, hands on his face. I wanted to ask him if he wished for popcorn with the show.
The blonde woman, the only other woman in the room, leaned back, staring at the white ceiling. Sighing, she crossed her arms over her chest. Did my presence annoy her that much, or was I the annoyed one?
I’d escaped Torin’s men who kept me “safe” in a townhouse in London. I’d fled from Hayden, betraying him. Strange, ninja-looking people chased after me at the LA airport. I did all that to end up trapped here.
Extra adrenaline circulated in my veins, fueling my anger. I ended up at Torin’s pack, where I would only have visited when the earth stopped moving around the sun.
I let out a heavy sigh. No matter how much I ran away from my destiny, I ended up sucked right back into the supernatural world. But this time, I would carve my own path, even if surrounded by werewolves and a half vampire.
At the screeching of a chair, I twisted my head toward the noise. Torin stood from his usual place at the head of the table. I gulped as I drifted my gaze over his captivating physique. I had a weakness for defined and inked biceps that flexed and weakened a girl’s knees.
His broad shoulders formed an indestructible wall, leading down to arms that rippled with muscle. The veins on his forearms hinted at the immense power his arms possessed.
I averted my gaze only to gape at Torin’s thick thighs straining against black jeans.
As he thrust one long leg in front of the other, I reminded myself there was nothing wrong with ogling a man.
After all, it was an evolutionary instinct for females to watch for the healthiest and most attractive male to ensure successful reproduction.
I gawked at the Alpha in the name of evolution, but when my gaze fell on his face, I didn’t like the heated glimmer in his eyes. My face overheated. Torin didn’t have to answer the evolutionary call.
Without disconnecting his gaze from mine, he walked slowly and sensually, like a predator stalking his prey with delight. He was a mix of beast, human, and bloodthirsty creature, embodying the worst of each.
His strained muscles rippled like a wavy rope across his chest and down his arms as he moved, reminding me of how a hungry lion trotted toward a wounded antelope. The bloodlust rolled off the beast in waves as if everything around him hung on his next move.
My mind chose this moment to bring up an image of the vampire Alpha biting me on the neck, marking me as he claimed me as his. I shook my head slightly to wield off these insane thoughts.
Torin isn’t healthy for me.
When he got to me, he loomed over, not in a threatening way but rather as a shield. He removed his leather gloves, the ones he never took off. What did he think he was going to do?
He clenched and unclenched his free hand while the other held the gloves. I raised my eyebrows and put extra intensity in my glare, but he chose to ignore my warning.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I asked.
He answered with a deep, rough humming sound that came from his throat and sent hot waves down my spine.
His hand moved swiftly and grasped mine. I gasped at the touch, and as soon as his smile appeared on his full lips, I pressed mine together in a firm line.
“I wouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t like, Princess,” he said sensually.
And that was the problem.
My heart raced with our physical contact, a surge of warmth flushing under my skin. Sparks exploded at the spot in a similar way to Hayden’s touch but much more intense.
The explosion of sensations from Torin’s fiery touch lit up something inside me, turning it into flames.
The hot waves traveled up my arm like wildfire and settled deep in my chest, roaring like an inferno.
The electricity that had built up between the Alpha and me over all these years threatened to burn me, but I wouldn’t let that happen.
My book. I am here for my book. Ignore his touch.
My heart and my mind fought a dreadful battle. Torin wanted me to know how the touch of a mate felt. But how could I dismiss it?
The corners of his lips lifted higher, and his eyes searched mine for answers and my reaction.
I refused to swoon before him. Although I didn’t know my bodyguard was my mate at the time, Hayden’s touch felt similar.
And Torin knew I’d been intimate with Hayden years ago, but he had no idea Hayden was my other mate.
If Torin knew, he wouldn’t have been so arrogant. And someone would have ended up hurt. The mention of another mate would send this Alpha into transformation mode, and I didn’t want to greet his vampire today.
I bit the inside of my cheek. I turned my head to the side, averting my gaze. “Where’s my book, Torin?”
Why was it so hard to meet his heated eyes?
“Anna…” His voice sounded low but rough.
“The book,” I insisted, mimicking my dad's authoritative voice in the kingdom.
I’d heard it long enough to replicate the loud and snappy tone.
The Alpha’s hand brushed over my cheek, and fingers wrapped around my neck, jolting my body.
Instead of squeezing the delicate flesh, his thumb made torturous circles at my throat.
Tingling sensations traveled down to my stomach, threatening to go farther down.
I gulped, loud enough for extra sensitive ears.
I needed to get out of this suffocating room. I needed to think. Breathe. But Torin’s touch had planted my legs into the ground like the roots of a hundred-year-old oak tree. The last thing my body wanted to do was separate from him.
Mate. The word thundered in my mind over and over again.