Chapter 1

Ice Storm Stronghold

Otter Cove, Alaska

Eleven Years Ago

"Zion Hale, I challenge you for the right to lead the Baihu Clan," intoned Lucian Hendrix as the sun began its descent beyond the horizon.

"Bastard. I banished you from the clan years ago," snarled Zion.

"You may have banished me, but your thugs failed to kill me. I stayed away, learned, and grew stronger. I'll say it again. I challenge you for the position of alpha."

"And if we fight and you win, will you banish me and my family as well?"

"No. Your wife had the good sense to die giving birth to Zenya. Both Zenya and Zaiden are welcome to stay, but you will not live to be banished." Lucian tossed the ceremonial knife down so that it landed between Zion's feet. "This will be a fight to the death. Prepare to defend yourself or I will slit your throat, and you will die like the coward you are."

Zion looked around. It occurred to Lucian that it was only now that Zion realized he stood alone. There was no one in the clan that would fight for him. The aging tiger looked past Lucian to his own son, Zaiden. "You too?"

Zaiden nodded. "I stand with the man who was always destined to be alpha." Zaiden drove torches into the ground, lighting them, making a circle around the two opponents while the remainder of the clan stood outside the circle—witnesses to what was about to happen.

Zaiden's answer didn't come as a surprise to Lucian. Zaiden had followed his father's men and he and Lucian had fought back-to-back and killed those who had thought to murder Lucian. It would be Zaiden whom Lucian would name as his beta. But first he had a score to settle.

Zion snatched the knife from the rich earth into which Lucian had sent it. Standing, Zion pulled his arm back, charging and making an ineffective swipe at Lucian. As Zion's blade swept toward Lucian, Lucian stepped into his opponent's strike zone, catching Zion off guard. Lucian hit Zion in the solar plexus hard, knocking the wind out of him. Lucian used the momentum and twisted his upper body to hit Zion in the breastbone, using the contact to stun Zion so Lucian could draw his own blade—a SOG SEAL Strike, the combat knife he'd used during his time in the Navy. It wasn't pretty or graceful, but it was deadly and effective.

The two white tiger-shifters engaged in a deadly dance, nothing but grunts and heavy breathing emerging as metal struck metal. Lucian could see the moment Zion realized he'd lost—that he'd never had a chance against his younger, stronger, better trained opponent. Like a housecat with a mouse, Lucian was merely toying with the aging alpha, inflicting superficial, painful cuts.

Their knives glinted menacingly in the dying light. Lucian's movements were fluid and precise, each strike calculated to cause just the right amount of damage. Zion's movements were less graceful and began to hint of desperation. The sharp blades cut through the air as the fighters clashed in a lopsided combat—Lucian's strikes leaving behind trails of blood that trickled to the ground. The metallic scent of copper filled the air, mingling with the pungent aroma of sweat and fear. Every move was fueled by adrenaline in a fight for not only leadership of the clan, but for survival.

The stench of fear and sweat rolled off Zion, overpowering every other smell. The sound of steel meeting steel echoed through the compound. The lethal tango was decidedly one-sided in Lucian's favor. He meant to make an example of Zion and to leave any who thought to avenge the old alpha second-guessing their choice. Each of the rivals' muscles tensed as they prepared to unleash a final attack. Tension filled the air as Zion continued to battle for his life.

Zion made a mad dash at Lucian, which Lucian easily deflected, disarming Zion in a smooth, graceful move. As the aging tiger stumbled, he hissed and called forth his tiger. Lucian waited as the mist surrounded his opponent—icy shards swirled around accompanied by localized thunder and lightning. The clan growled their disapproval, but Lucian waited. He could have called forth his own tiger, but he'd anticipated Zion's last, desperate move. As Zion's white tiger leaped from the mist, Lucian grabbed it by the throat, hauling it up and ripping its midsection open. The beast roared in pain. Before Zion had a chance to shift back, Lucian spun it around and slashed its throat, silencing its scream as death claimed it.

Present Day

Lucian Hendrix raised his coffee mug to his lips, took a sip and looked over the wide expanse of land he could see beyond the French doors in his study. It was good to be alpha of the Baihu Clan. This was the view he'd enjoyed since becoming alpha over a decade ago. He'd returned from a stint in the Navy SEALs to challenge the clan's alpha for the right to leadership. It hadn't been much of a fight.

"I'm never sure what you're thinking when you look out there," said Zaiden, who had come up behind him quietly.

"And you think you know what I'm thinking other times?"

"Sometimes. But mostly I'm clueless. So, tell me, ol' exalted leader, what is it you see?"

Lucian chuckled. "Sometimes I see things from my past; others I try to imagine the future children your sister will give me."

"I hate to remind you of this, but Zenya does not see a future shared with you."

"Zenya is wrong," snorted Lucian dismissively. "She is my fated mate, and she will submit to my authority."

"It never ceases to amaze me, the delusions you continue to keep where my sweet sister is concerned."

"Do you doubt she is my fated mate?" Lucian snarled, then visibly calmed himself. "Apologies." Zenya tended to be a sore subject with him.

Ignoring him, Zaiden shook his head. "No, Alpha. I don't think there's anyone who doubts that, including Zenya herself. She simply has no desire to make a life with you—here or anywhere else. The last time I brought the subject up, she punched me in the nose. Be advised; my little sister throws one hell of a punch."

Lucian regarded him coolly. "She will learn to comport herself properly as my mate and first lady of the clan, and she will do so happily."

Zaiden threw his head back and laughed. "You truly are delusional. I'm not saying you can't force her submission, but even you cannot dictate to someone whether or not they will be happy."

Lucian snorted and returned his attention to the land outside. He could picture them in his mind's eye, lounging on the tundra under a bright sun that glinted on the snow. They were in their white-tiger forms, surrounded by their clan who were either resting or playing, knowing the patrols and the electronic security system kept them safe. He was lying next to Zenya, two of their cubs playing—pouncing on their parents and attacking them with glee, knowing their rambunctiousness would be indulged.

"My hope is that your vision will be fulfilled," said Zaiden, who knew the future his alpha envisioned.

Shaking off his image of the future, Lucian took another sip of the rich, dark coffee. "It is time for your sister to come home. Her graduation is coming up. I would go myself, but I have responsibilities I must attend to here in Alaska."

"The Resistance again?" Lucian nodded. "Maybe we would be better off to join with them."

"I am not yet convinced they can win. I would not make an enemy of the Shadow League."

"Perhaps our commitment would tip the scale in the Resistance's favor."

"That occurred to me, thus the reason I agreed to meet with them. Take some of the warriors with you. Attend your sister's graduation and then bring Zenya back to me."

"What if she respectfully declines your invitation?" chuckled Zaiden.

"Bring her anyway. If you have to nail her with a tranquilizer dart, do it."

Zaiden frowned. "You do know brute force is never going to work…"

He and Zaiden had argued before over this matter. "I am her alpha and her fated mate. She will do as she is told or face the consequences."

"What might those consequences be? Banishment? I don't think she'd be all that upset over that. Physically harming, maiming, or killing her? Nobody, including Zenya, believes that you would go so far for even a nano-second. She has stated repeatedly she has no interest in a life as your mate or as first lady of the clan. She has made it painfully clear that she will not, as she has so scathingly stated to anyone who will listen, become your broodmare."

Lucian did not doubt Zaiden's loyalty in the least, but it occurred to him that he was putting his best friend and beta in a terrible position. Lucian had known from the moment Zenya hit puberty and come into her first heat that she was his fated mate, but she had been far too young to claim. He had been indulgent of both her desires and his beta's feelings and given her permission to leave Alaska and go as far as veterinary medical school at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Zenya was smart and driven; Lucian thought if he allowed her to run the medical staff at the stronghold that she would find it fulfilling.

That hadn't been enough for her. She taken control of her own future and the little minx had managed to get a full-ride scholarship to the University of California at Davis.

It was too far away to suit him, but again, Lucian had indulged her and not stood in her way. He had, however, kept a close eye on her—sending two of his warriors to watch over her from a discreet distance.

"If you'd rather, I can send someone else. The men I have had watching her should be able to handle the capture and transport without you…"

"No," Zaiden said, shaking his head, "I think she'll go down easier if I'm there and she knows it's you who is kidnapping her."

"I am not kidnapping her; I am claiming what is mine."

"Yeah. She's not going to see it like that. But putting that aside, we've been able to get a lead on Stephen." Two days prior, one of their people had gone missing after going out for an evening run. "We have a report of him being spotted over on Kodiak. A small place called Wolf Creek."

"Wolf Creek? I've never heard of it."

"Technically it's not a town, or even a village, it's a census-designated encampment that boasts a bar and the barest trappings of civilization. Population is mostly human, but some shifters in the area go to have a drink or get laid. The guy who reported it said Stephen seemed off or different. He said he didn't carry the scent of a tiger-shifter."

"What did he mean?"

"He sounded spooked, but he thought there was something other-worldly about him."

"Other-worldly? Like what?"

"The guy seemed to think the old stories about ghost towns being populated by nests of vampires might not be so far-fetched."

"Do you believe that?"

"I don't know enough to believe anything. I just know the guy was terrified and was headed to the Lower Forty-Eight. I think we need to go see for ourselves."

Troubled, Lucian said, "Let's keep this between us. How about you and I go see what's what and if we can find Stephen."

"And if Stephen has been turned?"

Shifters could generally be turned one time—by a superior species into that hybrid species. Vampirism held the one trump card that all shifters feared; in that they held the ability to turn any creature they bit—human, shifter, witch, et cetera—into one of their own: a vampire with no trace of their former selves remaining.

And no living creature in their right mind wanted to live like that.

Lucian put down his coffee mug. "We end him and any other vamps we find."

Wolf Creek, Alaska

The village was little more than a collection of tents with floors and their lower halves made of wood and steel. Lucian couldn't even imagine how primitive the living conditions must be. How the canvas could stand up to the brutal winter conditions of Alaska was anyone's guess. As Stephen had been spotted at the tent that was Wolf Creek's designated watering hole, he and Zaiden waited in the alley where they could see the exit used by sex-workers with their clients as well as the front of the building.

They didn't have long to wait before their worst fears were realized. Stephen stumbled out with a woman who had seen better days. Lucian supposed without the backing of his clan, Stephen had little money, and she was probably all he could afford.

Lucian scented the night air. The man who had told them of Stephen's whereabouts had not been wrong. Stephen was no longer a tiger-shifter. In fact, he wasn't a shifter at all. His distinctive metallic, coppery smell identified him as vampire. Glancing at Zaiden, Lucian knew he smelled it too.

Stephen spun the girl around him so that she had her back against the wall. He stepped in close to her, pressing her against the building, his hand encircling her neck as he lifted her chin, baring her throat. Two men shimmered out of the shadows. Only two creatures could do that: hellhounds and vampires. The girl realized too late the danger she was in. Stephen muffled her screams with his hand as he bit down into her throat and his companions each grabbed a wrist beginning to feed. They meant to drain her, leaving only a dry husk behind.

Like wraiths in the night, Lucian and Zaiden moved in. They had come prepared for the worst, and each carried a wooden stake. In a coordinated attack, they each staked one of the vamps from the back, carefully ensuring they were able to drive the stakes deep enough to pierce the hearts of the two vampires who had joined Stephen. They knew they were successful when each of the vamps turned to ashes and dust and drifted to the ground.

Stephen turned, hissing, his fangs extended and dripping with the girl's lifeblood. Without regard for what his clan member had once been and thinking only of what he had become, Lucian staked Stephen and watched him turn to ash before his eyes. The woman dropped dead at their feet.

"We need to find the nest," said Zaiden. "They need to pay for what they did to him."

Lucian nodded. "We will, but first we need to see her buried properly."

"Shouldn't we burn her so she can't rise?"

"That's what I meant. Let's take her down to the beach where we won't be easily observed. Have three of our warriors join us as soon as they can. Tonight, you and I will lay her to rest. Tomorrow, the Baihu Clan will begin the hunt."