Chapter 1

Chapter

One

The wedding went off without a hitch—well, other than the "getting hitched" part.

I'd never attended a werewolf pack wedding before. In fact, I'd never attended any kind of wedding, so I didn't really have a frame of reference to know whether a pack wedding was different. This one certainly qualified as both joyful and bittersweet.

At Nan and Daniel's request, Sean, who I'd recently promoted from honey bunny to fiancé, officiated the sunset ceremony in the backyard of our home. Conducting marriage ceremonies was certainly one of the most joyous duties of an alpha—especially when the couple had survived so much hardship and found love unexpectedly later in life, as was the case with this particular bride and groom.

The entire pack had gathered for the event, including our three newest members. Two of them, twin infants Charlotte and Emily, slept in their parents' arms in the second row of folding chairs. Our most recent addition, Matthias Albrecht, a man-shaped mountain with dark hair and eyes, sat at the far end of the third row, with two empty chairs between him and the nearest fellow pack member. And though we'd all come together to celebrate Nan and Daniel's marriage, nothing could banish the tension caused by Matthias's presence.

From my seat in the first row, I caught Sean's golden gaze. His wolf lurked just beneath his skin all the time these days. He felt the tension in the air more than any of us. But when he smiled at me and the corners of his eyes crinkled, I could believe everything would be okay.

Sean turned his smile back to the couple standing in front of him with hands clasped. Not that they'd noticed when his attention wandered. Nan Lowell and my father only had eyes for each other. I wiped my eyes with a tissue.

Baby Daisy, our wolf pup, had exhausted herself playing before the ceremony and spent most of it snoozing on my lap. When I sniffled, the little black wolf with streaks of white on her shoulders and tail wiggled free of my arm so she could lick my chin. I kissed the top of her head and nuzzled her fur. She smelled like freshly washed puppy, vanilla, and sunshine.

"Before these witnesses, you have promised to share your lives in a marriage and partnership founded on love and honor," Sean told Nan and Daniel. "You've sealed your promises with your vows, symbolized by your hand-forged wedding rings made by a werewolf craftsman. So, by the authority vested in me by the Tomb Mountain Pack, the Were Ruling Council, and the State of California, I pronounce you husband and wife."

We cheered as Nan and Daniel kissed. He surprised her by dipping her backward. When the kiss ended and he set her back on her feet, they both burst out laughing. We all laughed too and gave them a standing ovation.

Ben Cooper, our pack's third, whooped. That set off a chorus of yells from other jubilant pack members. My own happiness bubbled up and over and turned into a yell of "Yay Nan and Daniel!"

Baby Daisy raised her head and added to the joyous celebration with her own little " Aroooooo! " before jumping from my arms to run in circles around our chairs. Apparently her nap and our exuberance had replenished her energy.

Another voice that joined in belonged to my ghost bestie Malcolm, who'd floated to Sean's right during the wedding. For the occasion he'd traded in his trademark button-up shirt and jeans for a tux, though everyone else was dressed in backyard wedding casual and only I could see him. He caught my eye and gave me two thumbs up.

When I had a chance, I stole a glance over my shoulder. Matthias had risen along with the group and applauded, but the way he went through the motions of expressing happiness without really feeling any popped my bubbles of joy like a pin.

Daniel's smile faltered when he caught sight of Matthias. Nan noticed his change in demeanor immediately. She touched his face and drew his attention for another kiss. My father's new mate had graying hair and a kindly, nurturing nature, but she was as fierce as just about any werewolf I'd ever known. She'd earned her place as our beta—the only female beta west of the Mississippi.

Ben had put himself and his new mate Casey in charge of the after-party. As Nan and Daniel accepted the hugs and congratulations of the rest of the pack, Casey turned on the music and the multicolored lights we'd strung up around the yard. Both Nan and Daniel loved classic rock, so the playlist leaned heavily into many of the bands whose records I had in my own collection. Some of my pack mates sang along and a few danced playfully while waiting for their food, which warmed my heart. Music brought us all together almost as well as food.

Finding out I shared the same musical preferences as the biological father I hadn't met until just months ago had been one of the best parts of our growing relationship. Daniel and I had enjoyed many evenings listening to records and talking. We were still figuring out how to be parent and adult daughter, but every day I loved him more.

Meanwhile, Ben and his helpers orchestrated the enormous amount of food required for an event that involved more than twenty perpetually hungry werewolves. When the smell of meat cooking on the grill wafted over, my stomach growled loudly.

"I heard that, Miss Magic." Sean came up behind me and gave my butt a playful smack. "I told you that little salad you had for lunch wasn't enough food."

"You would have told me I didn't eat enough lunch if I'd eaten a buffalo," I shot back, but he did have a point. Not that I'd admit it, of course.

Chuckling, Sean slipped his arm around my waist as Nan and Daniel made their way over. Most of the pack had descended on the food and drinks, leaving us nearly alone near the arbor we'd set up for the wedding. The string lights transformed our backyard into a nighttime twinkly dream. Hmm. Maybe we should keep them up after tonight. Anything that made us all smile needed to stay.

As the volume of the celebration grew and the stacks of burgers and hot dogs shrank, Matthias remained near the chairs, an island of silence and solitude. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, probably waiting for permission to leave.

Sean nuzzled my hair before shaking Daniel's hand and hugging Nan. I hugged both of them, reveling in Nan's signature rib-crushing squeeze and Daniel's loving warmth. Then the three of us shared one big hug for good measure.

I'd recently spent a week in wolf form, courtesy of a gift from a fae who owed me a big favor. That time had brought Sean and I even closer…and forged a stronger bond with my father and Nan. Though our time together had been interrupted by a violent attack, we'd run, played, and hunted as a group before curling up together in wolf form to rest and sleep under the stars. Those joyous memories lived in my heart now.

The only people who knew I was Daniel's biological daughter—and thus Nan's new stepdaughter—were Sean, Daniel, Nan, Ben, and myself. I had two step-siblings, Nan's grown son and daughter, who were also in the pack, but they didn't know my real relationship to Daniel and probably never would. My true identity was a closely guarded secret, even from many people I loved. I simply had no choice in the matter. That pain chewed at my insides particularly on days like these.

The best I could do was share extra-long hugs with my father and stepmother and keep the truth of our family ties locked away inside with the rest of my secrets.

"Congratulations again." Sean drew me closer, kissed my temple, and smiled at Nan and Daniel, who hadn't let go of each other's hands for more than a moment since the ceremony began. "We don't want to hold you back from the food."

"Not much can keep Daniel away from food," Nan teased, patting Daniel's flat stomach with her free hand and then ruffling his thick, dark brown hair. "He stays well-fed."

"I know how well you cook, so I don't doubt it." I gave them each another quick hug. "When do you think you'll be hitting the road for Utah?" Their honeymoon would be a two-week camping trip where they could run as wolves for the majority of their time away. They'd rented a swanky camper and hitched it to the back of Nan's truck for the trip.

"We'll stick around for at least an hour or so," Daniel said, squeezing my hand again. "No sense running off right away. Utah's not going anywhere."

As Sean made a joke about Daniel not wanting to start their honeymoon immediately, I glanced at Matthias again. He hadn't moved and he remained as expressionless as ever.

My stomach knotted. Has he forgotten how to be happy? What can I do to ease his pain and help him learn to live again?

Matthias no longer served the Vampire Court, but anyone seeing his utter lack of expression now might think he'd come here as their representative instead of as a member of our pack. His misery made me ache.

Daniel's gaze followed mine. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, flexing the fingers of his free hand. I grabbed that hand and squeezed as hard as I could.

"We'll take care of him," Sean told Daniel, his voice quiet—but not so quiet that Matthias couldn't hear him. Of course he wanted to reassure them both. "You focus on Nan and your time together."

"Thank you," Daniel said, and traded his moment of grimness for a smile as Nan tucked herself under his arm. "I plan to do exactly that."

My father had to be the happiest werewolf in the world today, but the situation would surely weigh heavily on his mind even in Utah. Daniel had unintentionally infected Matthias with the shifter virus during a fight. And now for better or worse—and I'd be the first to admit, for mostly worse so far—Matthias belonged to our pack.

This was Daniel and Nan's wedding day. I shouldn't compound his guilt with a long face. Sean was right: we'd take care of Matthias.

That thought allowed me to set my worries aside for now so I could smile. "Let's all get some food. I'm starving."

While Nan and Daniel went on ahead to join the others, Sean took a moment to kiss my left hand. My vintage alexandrite engagement ring sparkled in the overhead twinkly lights. "I love you," he said.

Alone with my werewolf, I let myself be weary—both mentally and physically. I rested my head against his shoulder. "I love you too."

He wrapped his arms around me. Our usual pattern involved one of us expressing our love and the other saying "I know," in the storied tradition of Han and Leia. Because he knew me so well, and we shared a nascent mate bond that allowed us to sense each other's emotions, he knew my heart was heavier than it should be on such a happy day.

"I'm at your side through it all, Miss Magic," he said, resting his chin on top of my head. "There's nothing that comes our way that we can't beat together."

I tried to say I know , but the words stuck in my throat .

I'd chosen to help Matthias during his Change and asked Sean to accept him into our pack. After careful consideration, Sean had taken my recommendation, but most of the pack had resisted welcoming Matthias. Some were downright hostile.

Sean said everyone needed time to adjust. That was certainly true, but a hundred years might not be enough time for the pack to forgive Matthias for his role in kidnapping Daniel and me on New Year's Eve, much less accept him as a pack mate. While he hadn't been the person who'd shot me, he'd led the team, and he'd pointed a gun filled with silver bullets at Sean's head—and that was after his people had shot us full of tranquilizer darts.

I understood how they felt, and I'd fully intended to kill Matthias myself for everything he'd done. But when Daniel infected him, everything changed.

While I'd helped Matthias shift for the first time, I'd seen the brutal truth: Valas had broken him. She'd turned him into little more than a puppet in service to the Court, to the point her will became his own. Once I understood that, my fury turned to sympathy and empathy.

I too had been broken, once upon a time. I understood what it meant to not know who I was, and have no idea where to go or what to do.

I'd done the right thing helping Matthias and encouraging Sean to accept him into the pack. But as I witnessed the tension Matthias's presence caused, guilt gnawed at me as well, and I had no idea how to reconcile those conflicting emotions.

I squeezed Sean's hand. "Go put on your apron and take over at the grill, Wolf. I'll be okay."

He gave me a baleful look and headed for the deck, where the apron I'd gotten him waited, draped over the railing. It read CAUTION: HOT CHEF and everyone thought it was hilarious except Sean. But he wore it anyway. If that wasn't love, I didn't know what was.

While Sean took the tongs from Ben, I made my way to Matthias. He watched me without expression, but I'd gotten a lot better at deciphering his body language and reading his eyes. Discomfort lurked just behind that stoic fa?ade.

I'd hoped once he became part of the pack that he'd feel less lost and grief-stricken and angry, but instead he remained withdrawn and distant in every possible way. He lived with us, but he tended to cook for himself and rarely joined us for meals, or anything else, unless Sean or I specifically requested it. Since we respected his privacy and boundaries, we didn't push.

I wondered, not for the first time, if he resented me for talking him into living as a werewolf instead of letting him die in the wake of Valas's death.

"A beautiful ceremony," he said as I approached. "Please congratulate Daniel and Nan on my behalf."

I'd seldom heard such a lack of emotion in a human's voice. He sounded flat and devoid of feeling, very much like an old vampire. But unlike those vampires, he did have feelings. He'd learned to hide them—because vampires used our emotions against us, and because with vamps, lack of emotion signaled age and thus demanded respect. The humans around them tended to emulate that coldness, sometimes on purpose, but often subconsciously.

My grandfather's cruelty had forced me to bury my emotions too. And even after I'd escaped his clutches, it took me years to learn how to simply feel again—and I still struggled mightily to process feelings. Matthias and I were the only members of our pack who understood how deep those kinds of wounds went. And it was difficult, or nearly impossible, to explain that to the others.

"You should tell them yourself," I said, my voice gentle. I rested my hand on his arm. His muscles felt like steel cables, taut and hard. He didn't move away, but he didn't relax at my touch like the other pack wolves did. "They'd be glad to hear it from you."

"Would they?" He smiled without humor. "I think they all prefer I keep my distance."

"Some might, for the time being," I admitted. "But not everyone. These are good people, Matthias. You didn't come to us in the way anyone would have preferred, but you're here and that's not going to change. Come with me and eat with the others. We can sit at our own table if you want to."

He studied me. "Is that an order?"

"No." I kept my voice even so he couldn't tell how much my heart ached. "It's a request from a pack mate."

For a moment, I thought he might do as I'd asked. My hopes were dashed when he shook his head. "Then I would prefer to return to the house," he told me. "This is a happy occasion for your pack— our pack," he corrected when I started to speak. "I don't want to interfere with that."

I might have protested if I didn't remember my own reluctance to interact with Sean's pack, especially all at once, in the early days of our relationship. They'd been more than ready to meet me long before I had the courage to meet them. It took time for me to get there. Matthias needed time too.

Daniel had vacated our guest room and moved into Nan's house just in time for Matthias to join our household. He lived under our protection for now, until he could find a place of his own and figure out what he was going to do now that he no longer worked for the Court.

"You don't need my permission to go back into the house," I reminded him when he didn't move. "You're free to do whatever you want at any time."

"I would…prefer directives," he said. The way his eyes tightened and the subtle shift of weight from one foot to the other were the only signs of his feelings of loss and uncertainty, before he regained that expressionless look the vamps liked so much. "You have great authority in this pack. Why not give me orders?"

"Because that's not how this works, most of the time. We're pretty sparing with the orders around here." I smiled at him, but he just waited for me to finish my explanation. "Authority takes many forms. The vamps are dictatorial. We lead by example and guide with kindness, not threats or commands."

He didn't say so, but the flash of skepticism in his eyes let me know he didn't think our way of running things was necessarily the best way. It might be one of the most jarring differences between the vamps and us—and probably a major cause of Matthias's ongoing struggle to find a foothold.

Maybe I could turn the moment into a way of connecting with him. I gestured at our pack sitting at the tables and on the deck, eating and laughing, united in camaraderie and happiness for Nan and Daniel. "What conflicts have you seen since you've joined us, other than between yourself and others? What disrespect have you seen for Sean or me or anyone else?"

He tilted his head as he considered my question. "None," he said finally, with a little nod in acknowledgement of my point being made.

"I've told you before that strength comes in many forms," I said. "At the end of the day, a group united by love and mutual respect will outlast and outfight any group brought together by threats or intimidation. We're proof of that." I touched his hand, which was as much physical contact as he generally preferred to have—at least, so far. "Go where you feel most comfortable. We'll be here when you're ready."

I didn't say it like an order, but maybe he interpreted my words that way because that was what he'd been accustomed to hearing. He turned and headed for the front door, rather than walk through the party to the back door.

Once he was out of sight, I joined the party. Members of our pack had claimed almost every seat on our deck and at the tables we'd set up in the yard. The only close friends conspicuously missing were my business partner Arkady Woodall and her current flame Ronan, a fallen angel now living as a human. Arkady was on a stakeout for a case she hoped to wrap up tonight, and Ronan had gone out of state on mysterious bounty hunter business .

Sean had already made me a plate piled high and sagging under the weight of a fully loaded burger, a baseball-sized helping of potato salad, four barbecue meatballs, and extra beans. The smell was heavenly but that was three or four times more food than I could possibly eat. Priority number one for any shifter was to ensure their mate was safe and had enough food—and "enough" was defined by shifter standards, not human. The more worried I was by the troubles in our lives, the more worried Sean's wolf became, and the more worried the wolf became, the more food ended up on my plate. At this rate soon he'd end up serving me half of a grocery store at every meal.

I thanked him with a kiss and found an empty seat at a table occupied by Ben, his fiancée and new mate Casey, and Fiona, a paramedic who happened to be dating my ex-girlfriend Jane. I'd set them up on a kind of blind date around Christmastime. I had high hopes it would work out.

With Matthias out of sight in the house, the mood lightened considerably, which left me simultaneously relieved and saddened. Our guest room where Matthias lived overlooked the backyard, but the windows were dark. Either he was sitting in there with the lights off or he'd gone to the workout room to punch the heavy bag.

My growly tummy demanded I eat. As the others talked and joked, I devoured half my burger, some potato salad, and a meatball. Sean's smile widened with every bite I took. I rolled my eyes at his goofy grin, but I didn't stop eating.

After I chatted with Ben, Casey, and Fiona, I took my plate with me and made my rounds of the other tables, checking on the rest of the pack. Plans for werewolf-style full-contact backyard football were well underway for after Nan and Daniel left, while the rest of the pack who didn't want to play would either cheer on the sidelines or relax on the deck with drinks. Every smile and hug eased the ache in my heart caused by Matthias's situation.

All too soon—at least, for me—Daniel and Nan announced their departure. We accompanied them to the front of the house for another round of hugs and congratulations and some good-natured teasing about the honeymoon.

Daniel drew me away from the others to the other side of several vehicles so we had some privacy. Werewolf ears were sharp.

"I love you." He gave me a long hug. His signature scent of warm grass and sunshine wrapped around me too and washed away the lingering tension in my shoulders.

When he let go, his eyes shimmered with unshed tears that mirrored mine. He kissed my forehead. "Remember what I said about not leaving you behind or leaving you out. We're a family now, even more than before. Nan loves you like a daughter. She has for a very long time. Even if you can't call her your stepmom, you know she is."

"I know. And she's way more than that to me." I squeezed his hand. "I'm so happy for you both and for all of us. I love to see our pack growing bigger and stronger."

Some other emotion crossed his features, then disappeared. Had I imagined that flash of regret? "If you need us, call me," he said. "We'll race back as fast as we can."

"Don't worry about anything except enjoying your trip." I spotted Nan climbing into the cab of the pickup and nudged Daniel. "You'd better get going before she leaves without you."

Chuckling, we returned to the front of the house. Daniel shook Sean's hand once more, murmured something in his ear, and got into the passenger seat.

They waved as they drove off down our long driveway and turned onto the road that led to the interstate. Nan honked before they disappeared behind the trees and into the night.