Chapter One

Rylan

Reality was slow to return. The wall between my wolf and me had collapsed with a single touch. I was trapped inside my head with him while my body did Spirit knows what against my will. Feeling returned first but my vision took longer.

My limbs trembled as awareness returned, the present hitting me like a ton of bricks. My right hand was wrapped around the hilt of a blade—a blade that made my skin burn. It was tempered by the fingers I felt on my wrist.

As my sight returned, I recognized the touch. My lips twitched, knowing my mate had saved me from whatever this was. I couldn’t wait to show her how appreciative I was later on, but right now I had to assess the situation and figure a way out of this.

Beautiful russet eyes met mine, and I’d know them anywhere. Their depths held my heart and soul, everything that I was and everything I hoped to become.

Red was the next color that registered. For a moment, I thought Pearl had changed her dress. Not that it mattered. She would look stunning in any color or fabric. She could be dressed in a burlap sack, and I’d still want her.

The thought made my blood surge and my pants suddenly become tighter.

A sharp inhale made me shake the rest of the fog off; my body trembled against my will. My eyes sharpened as my wolf merged back with my human side, revealing what exactly I was seeing.

Pearl was in front of me, dressed in the white dress I bought for her, but it wasn’t white anymore. It was red. Crimson red bleeding down her front from the blade that was nearly halfway buried in her neck. Right where I was planning my mating bite to go.

Panic gripped my heart, followed swiftly by horror. My hand still held the hilt of the blade that had cut into Pearl’s throat.

My other hand was suddenly gripping her shoulder before I made a conscious command for it to move. Her eyes rolled as her body went limp. I caught her before she could drop an inch. I pulled her against my chest, the panic surrounding my heart about to erupt into full blown fight or flight.

That’s not what happened. Those instincts were pushed to the side as something dark and visceral bubbled up from deep inside. An energy that burned but also felt incredible.

She’s just unconscious from the blood loss.

My jaw clenched as I tried to get a handle on whatever this was, but my wolf stepped in, advising me not to fight it.

Instead, I concentrated on Pearl, on her heartbeat, on her breathing. It didn’t help. Every sense I had was filled with my mate, her blood seeping into the material of my tux.

I just got her.

Rage ignited and joined the burning energy that threatened to consume me.

Fur rippled down my arms as my muscles bulged. My body was trying to shift, but my wolf insisted I stay in control. My gums ached as my teeth elongated, cutting my lips and cheeks, the taste of copper coating my tongue.

My head tilted back, a pressure building in my lungs until I couldn’t hold it back anymore. A power I’d never felt before and the mightiest roar I could muster met and became something I didn’t think I could ever explain.

A sound mixed with so much raw unfiltered anguish and power exploded from every cell in my body. The concussive blast rocked me backward, making me scramble not to drop Pearl since the knife was still lodged in her throat.

“Rylan?” a male voice asked as a presence settled down beside me.

My teeth bared; a warning growl rattled my chest before I realized who it was.

Deacon, my friend.

“I’m here to help,” he said, doing his best not to rile me further.

A buzzing filled my ears like a hornet’s nest had suddenly decided to take up residence. I fought the urge to shake my head until my wolf forced my attention to the crowd around us.

Shifters from every pack were staring at me while I held my blood-covered mate.

“You broke it. Somehow you broke whatever it was that was controlling everyone.”

My attention was on Pearl though. I couldn’t care less what happened to everyone else. My mate was all that mattered in this moment. I was ready to say fuck them all. My mate’s life wasn’t worth this. She deserved so much better than this.

‘Get your shit together, Alpha,’a depthless voice spoke in my mind sternly.

My wolf bit my tongue before I could respond to the thoughts buzzing in my head.

‘She’s not dead. She knew that this wasn’t her time. She trusts you to get her out of this.’

The Moon Spirit was right. I was supposed to unite these people and telling them all to go to hell wasn’t what Pearl wanted. Regardless of my current feelings, I couldn’t. No matter how much I wanted to put her before the packs.

The very idea made me sick to my stomach, but I pushed it all aside. Right now, I needed to get my head straight, and I needed to keep skin-to-skin contact with Pearl. Otherwise, I would be susceptible to whatever control Tamra was using.

This posed a different problem. I couldn’t fight and maintain contact with Pearl. What I needed to do was get us out of this situation and regroup. We’d fight another day.

“Look out!” Deacon yelled, moving to put himself between me and the assailant.

A snarling growl ripped through the silence, followed by a scream of pain.

“Holy shit!” Deacon exclaimed, watching the scene with wide eyes.

I turned my head as far as I could without dislodging Pearl. A white wolf was growling and shaking my aunt Tamra’s arm. She screamed as blood dripped from the wound, staining the muzzle of the wolf crimson.

Confused, I glanced around and found the Moon Spirit sitting beside me watching the commotion with dark blue eyes that saw more than I ever could.

‘She’s been waiting for this for a long time,’the Moon Spirit whispered in my thoughts, eyes flicking to mine quickly. ‘I couldn’t tell her no.’

I nodded, pretending that I understood.

“Enough!” my aunt roared, drawing my attention back to the fight.

Tamra had managed to shake off the wolf and was now cradling her mangled arm. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the red stained wolf, her face going pale. The two stared at each other for several heartbeats, the kind of look that held a whole conversation.

The wolf’s hackles rose, revealing fangs covered in sticky blood and saliva. This seemed to shake my aunt out of a daze. She looked around the room like she forgot what she had been doing until her eyes landed on me and the Moon Spirit sitting by me.

“Ah, I remember now.” My aunt smiled, and in that moment, I realized that she wasn’t my aunt at all. She was something different. I felt the presence of enormous power coming from her. A darkness that called to me seductively.

It felt familiar, like I’d felt this before. My wolf moved my hand, so my skin was pressed against Pearl’s. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but my mind remained clear and sharp as long as I stayed in physical contact with her.

A surge of energy rocked me, followed by a blast that I felt more than heard. The Moon Spirit’s chest began to rumble with a growl as the blanket of force settled over everyone in the room.

Together, in perfect synchronization, every shifter took a step forward and spoke like they were all one collective being.

“You have no power here.”

‘I think that’s our cue. We need to regroup.’Deacon’s hand was on my shoulder, and I realized his mind was clear. I guess contact with me had the same effect that Pearl had on me.

“We can’t stay here,” I spoke quietly. The wolf beside me nodded minutely while the hand on my shoulder squeezed, letting me know I’d been heard.

“I know a place,” he replied just as softly. “A safe house.”

‘I’ll cause a distraction. Estella will join you,’the Moon Spirit said, moving to a standing position.

I looked toward the head of the room to the alpha table. My uncle and cousin stood amongst the others, looking dazed, and I knew that whatever had happened to me was now happening to them. They were trapped inside themselves, and I didn’t think I had the strength or knew how to break the enchantment again.

“Keep your hand on me at all times,” I told Deacon, hoping he realized just how lucky he was not to be trapped like so many others.

“Got it.” Deacon squeezed my shoulder again.

The bloody wolf backed up until it was next to the Moon Spirit.

A sharp and shrill whistling split the air before part of the building exploded. I covered Pearl as best as I could while avoiding pieces of the roof raining down on the gathered crowd.

“Keep moving,” Deacon advised, pushing bystander statues aside. I prayed that they regained control of themselves.

‘They will, eventually,’the Moon Spirit spoke in my mind, sadness clear in its voice.

“What was that thing?” I asked, not expecting an answer but needing to say it out loud.

“No idea, but it was big,” Deacon answered, clearly fighting back the shock.

‘It was a heavenly body.’

What the fuck is that?

The Moon Spirit chuckled, the answer sounded eerie as it echoed in my thoughts, sending a chill down my spine. ‘A meteor.