Prologue

Lance Hendricks and Aaron Beaumont stood together on the porch of the large Victorian manor house that they and some of the other pack members called home. Lance was Alpha of the Lonepine Wolf Pack in Lone Pine, Montana. Aaron was Lance's Beta and best friend since childhood.

Lance leaned on the ornate railing that encompassed the large porch and took a deep breath of the crisp mountain air while Aaron sat on one of the benches. At six feet three inches tall and around two hundred pounds of muscle, Lance cut an intimidating figure. At nearly the same height and weight, Aaron gave the pack confidence and security in their leadership's ability to keep them safe.

The Lonepine Pack had been growing and prospering since Lance's grandfather first took over the pack nearly one hundred years ago. He worked to bring the Pack into the mainstream while keeping their existence secret from human society. They owned the town of Lonepine along with several thousands of acres of land surrounding it.

Although they allowed a handful of humans to reside there, most of those humans were blissfully unaware that a wolf pack ran their town. Only the humans mated to Pack members were aware they existed. Those people were sworn to secrecy and bound to their mate and the Pack.

Other packs tended to seclude themselves and looked like some sort of cult or paramilitary group, which caused unwanted interest and suspicion. The Lonepine Pack looked like a nice little mountain town, open and inviting, just the way Lance's grandfather had designed it. Lance was Mayor of Lonepine, and his enforcers made up the majority of the police department alongside other qualified Pack members. Aaron owned and operated an auto repair shop in town; he liked the stress relief that tinkering with cars gave him.

"I hear you spoke with Katherine the other night," Lance stated, although it came out as more of a question. Aaron nodded, stretched out his legs, and leaned his back against the house wall. Lance continued. "I know you've been yearning for a mate. Was that the question you had for her?" Katherine was the seer of the pack. She lived alone in the mountains and was always correct in her warnings and predictions.

"I asked her when you and I would meet our mates. We're not getting any younger; Lance and I want a mate to share my life with, and I know that you do too. I just wanted to know if Fate was going to bless us or not." Both Lance and Aaron were in their early thirties, which was well past the age that most of their kind mated, and still, they were alone.

Aaron sat up a little straighter as he related an incident that had happened earlier. "Johnny Duncan, twenty-three years old, came to me yesterday and told me that he had found his mate on Monday. I didn't know whether to congratulate him or choke the living shit out of him. I was so jealous I couldn't see straight."

Lance laughed at his friend, but he too felt the need and the emptiness that went along with not having a mate. Friends were close and loyal, families were loved and cherished, but mates were a bond to your soul. It was said that a life spent without a mate was a life half lived.

Lance had been enduring years of having to meet with every unattached eligible male or female in the pack. Every mother wanted their offspring to be the Alpha mate, but so far, he had not found his mate, and the constant parade of applicants was beginning to get on his nerves.

Aaron hadn't felt it as much, considering he could more easily turn them down when they ask for an audience. Lance, as Alpha, had to show patience and consideration to all pack members. Therefore, he could not deny a mother who asked for him to meet with her child. Some of the men who were dragged in front of him weren't even gay, which was uncomfortable for everyone.

"I think you have a better chance of finding a mate than I do. Not too many gay wolves find their mates." That brought sadness to his expression, and he took another deep breath to steady himself as he glanced out at the mountains in the distance.

"Don't be so sure, my friend." That statement and the big smile on Aaron's face had Lance turning to give him his full attention. His sadness disappeared as his hopes began to rise.

"What did she tell you?"

"She said that we will meet our mates before the end of the summer, and they will be related; a brother and sister, one for you and one for me." Aaron was all smiles now and exploding with expectation.

Lance just sat there staring at Aaron. "Really?"

"I wouldn't joke about something as serious as this, Lance. She also said that they would have trouble surrounding them, and they would need our patience and protection."

"Are they wolves?" Aaron shook his head.

"They're human, and they'll come from the east. Your mate will need acceptance and healing, and mine will need comfort and support." Aaron let his thoughts wander to his mate and what it was she had been forced to endure.

Lance continued to stare incredulously, trying to process everything Aaron was telling him. He had a mate, a male mate, and he would meet him before the end of summer. Then Aaron's words sunk in, and he was gripped with concern for his unknown mate.

"Healing? What has happened to him?"

"She didn't elaborate on that, just that he has been hurt. From what I could discern from her prediction, it sounds like they're on the run." Aaron again sported a huge smile. "Once they get here, they can stop running." Lance agreed as they both stood and headed back inside, both lost in the thoughts of their soon-to-be mates.