1. Prologue - Grace

- Take on me— A-Ha-

The hurried steps of Griffin and Ethan get me to lift my head and turn to look at them just as my wolf rips free of my body. Landing on four paws, I finally turn to face the mystery man.

He’s tall and older than my mates, evidenced by the gray in his temples. His hair is longer than my other mates’ and his eyes are a vibrant green. He smells like lavender on a spring afternoon. “She’s amazing.” His tone has softened, and it’s now that I notice the other alphas are gathering around us.

I do the only logical thing I can think of.

I run.

The woods are a dangerous place with the rogue threat on the horizon. The bigger threat is the new mate that appeared at my back. He’s ours … My wolf says as I force her to run in the opposite direction of everyone else. I take off along the river’s edge, looking for a chance to leap to the other side.

Grace come back …Griffin yells through the bond.

It’s not safe out there alone …Conrad’s concern almost stops me.

Barrett’s wolf’s whine slows my pace until I leap to a rock in the middle of the narrowest point of the river. Turning to look back was a mistake. Barrett is curled against Conrad, cowering. The urge to protect my omega overrides my urge to run away from mate number five. Ethan is standing off to the side, speaking to the mate in question. They seem to be deep in conversation. But, by the way Ethan has his body angled, I know he can see where I am. Barrett whines again and I leap back over to the shore and run right to him.

A sizeable crowd has gathered, but is keeping their distance from everyone. Barrett … Look at me. I speak to him through the bond as I slowly approach. He raises his head, then bolts over towards me and scoots under me, placing his head under my neck.

“She’s amazing.” Another new male says.

The growl that escapes me almost shocks me. We’ve got this … My wolf’s confidence makes me change my stance and I raise my head, staring at this new male defiantly. The one whose scent sent me running is being held back by Ethan. This other new male is bold, and he’s pissing me off.

“Get her to shift back.” The same male tries to circle me.

Moving with the males movements, my anger is building exponentially. I’m a growling mess and I can see I’m setting Ethan off.

“James, I’d back off. You’re about to have Ethan and Grace go into a rage.” Griffin places himself between James and me. “I can stop one, the other one. Good fucking luck. She’s a juggernaut.” Griffin reaches back and rests his hand on my head. I can only assume to keep track of where I am without turning to look at me.

The man named James looks from me to Ethan, then scoots back. “How is this possible? Females are submissive.”

No sooner did the words leave his lips than I leap from around Griffin and take the man named James to the ground. Snarling in his face, I have my teeth bared inches from his throat.

“Moon wolf. She will never be submissive.” Ethan’s voice soothes the savage beast within me, but I don’t relent. “Darlin, will you please come here? I have someone I want to introduce you to.” His tone softens and out of the corner of my eye, I see him take a knee not too far from me.

I snap one more time in the James’ face then trot over to Ethan and bare my throat to him. Choosing to submit to my most primal mate has changed the power dynamic. Griffin may be the head alpha in our pack, but Ethan is my creator, my sire. The man that saved my life and granted me my wolf. He nuzzles my neck and tells me I’m a good girl. Laughing to myself, I lick his cheek then sit next to him, waiting to see what he is going to do.

“That was incredible. I thought we were going to have a dead alpha on our hands for a few moments.” The man whose scent calls to me says. There’s a genuine tone of awe in his voice and it rings with truth.

“Almost did. I’m amazed she listened to me.” Ethan chuckles and waves his mother forward with one of his tee-shirts. He slips it over my head and I know what he wants. The one thing I don’t want to do, shift. I raise my paws as he slides them into the sleeves. Once the shirt is situated, he stands and smiles down at me. “Please shift darling, I’d love to introduce my mate and bride to some old friends of mine.”

The only downside of the mate bond so far is the urge to please my mate and grant his requests. I turn my head away and pin my ears. Shifting is not high on my list of things to do at this very moment. My earlier escape plan is looking better and better every moment I sit here. The only thing that may wreck my plans is this damn shirt. It will definitely get caught on everything.

Griffin crouches down before me and smiles. “Grace, please shift for us. I know the idea of a new mate is not thrilling to you. But we need to make introductions. It’s the proper thing for a Luna to do.”

Blasted Griffin making sense. I growl low, then turn and lean on Ethan before shifting back. Wrapping my arms around his waistline, I don’t shift my eyes back. The others haven’t earned seeing my eye color. “Greetings gentlemen.” Keeping my tone soft differs vastly from how I am feeling. The one named James is on my shit list. The urge to tear him apart is rather strong.

“She’s more stubborn than Ethan, that’s saying something,” Ambrose says and smiles at me. “It’s great seeing you holding your own Grace. I’m proud of you.” He bows his head slightly, and that draws the attention of the other alphas.

Ethan hugs me tighter to him than slowly spins us so that I face the man that I know is my other mate. “Nic, I’d like to introduce you to Grace. Grace this is Nicolai Volkov, alpha of the Volkov pack that shares land with us to our southern border. They are the third largest pack in the region.” Ethan’s body is tense, and as much as he’s trying to play peacemaker between my future mate and me, it’s making him uncomfortable.

“Pleasure to meet you.” I slightly nod my head, refusing to move from Ethan’s side.

“The pleasure is all mine. Whatever you wish from me is yours. All you have to do is say the word.” Nicolai bows his head to me, then bares his throat to me.

Hesitantly, I reach out and touch his neck. “Thank you for understanding. I appreciate your offer.” Drawing in a deep breath, I step away from Ethan. I glance over at Griffin and smile. “If everyone will follow Griffin, we shall reconvene in the reception hall after I am properly dressed.”

Extending a hand out, I reach for Ruby, and loop arms with her and Andrea and head into the pack house we were using as our base of command for today. “Girrrrrl…” Andrea races ahead and stops me shortly after getting into the suite. “You have all of those alphas wrapped around your finger. Save some for me.” She smiles playfully as she pulls out one of my favorite pairs of apple bottom jeans and a fitted tee-shirt that says rabid on it.

Laughing, I take the selection from her and dart into the bathroom. “Ruby, tell me about Nicolai if you can.” My curiosity is piqued about mystery mate number five.

“His father and my mate were best friends for a very long time. They both fought in the rogue wars thirty years ago. Nicolai was present for my son’s christening. I believe he was eight years old at the time.” Ruby’s tone takes on that dreamy quality to it, and I know she’s reliving a memory.

“I found him.” Andrea shouts, and as I open the bathroom door, she shoves her phone in my face. His social media page has him holding a little girl about the same age as my daughter. The little girl’s name is Nina, apparently. Several posts back, it has an announcement of her birth and the death of the mother. Part of me is angry he left his daughter behind. And the other part understands.

“Let’s get this shit show on the road.” I walk into the other room and take my daughter back from the babysitter. If he’s interested in me, he needs to know about Ashina.