Unyielding Mates (A Game of Hearts Desire #2)

Prelude

A passage from Alpha Agnus Whitemore’s Journal to Jessica

For centuries, folklore, myths, legends, and fables spread tales of shifters of many different species with supernatural powers, often referred to as Gods, illusionary, diaboli, sages, runi, glamours, vitals, wizards, kahuna, or what I have always referred to as magic wielders.

In my research, not all shifters can harness these gifts.

Very much like our own kind, the white wolves were the only ones among the wolf species blessed with these capabilities to wield magic.

And like our own species, many of these gifted shifters perished at the hands of those who did not possess magic.

Some say it was out of fear and protection against the magic wielders. Other stories say it was greed.

In our situation, it was about greed. Those bastards who called themselves the “Resistance” wanted our land, our power, and our magic.

Somehow, through the deliberate genocide of our kind, I was the only white wolf of the royal bloodline to survive.

When those bastards barged into my home, my father hid me to protect me.

My mother was murdered, her limbs torn from her body because she would not give them what they wanted.

Somehow, despite my father’s injuries, he smuggled me out of the Luna Solar Realm.

He had been badly injured and died during our travel, leaving me in the care of an elderly Japanese woman and a note written by my mother and his journal.

Do not forget who you are.

Do not forget your pack.

Find others like us and bring them back to aid us in this war.

We will need them.

When you return, return ready for war—and take back what is rightfully yours.

I read that sheet of paper over and over until it fell apart in my hands and my father’s journal until the pages were falling from the bindings.

When I was old enough, I searched for the survivors that fled the LS, determined to bring them home.

During that journey, I lost everything: my true mate, my daughter, and even my granddaughter.

I traveled far and wide in search of others like us—other magic wielders. When I found them, they refused to lend me aid in fear of their own lives being exposed or being lost to a war they were not willing to die for.

I always thought that I would be the one to restore what was once lost to our kind.

I was wrong.

I have failed.

These days, I exist only to protect what is left of my pack, our territory, our realm.

Then you were born, and from your first breath, this world showed itself cruel and unjust to our kind. And yet you have survived, resilience burning in your veins.

It was always my destiny to lay the groundwork, to pave the way, to covet secrets that would protect those I care for.

And now, in you, I see the continuation of that purpose—hope forged in fire and determination.

Where I have failed, you will succeed.

You, Jessica, were always meant to be our true Alpha Queen of the Luna Solar Realm.

Find the magic wielders of your generation. Ally with other magical beings around the world to aid you. This war cannot be won alone.

It is time to take down the Resistance once and for all.