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Spinning away, I strode down the path to the cemetery, walked through it, and out the other side to the field. It backed onto a small, wooded area that we’d often explored as children.

Tonight, the whole area was bathed in moonlight, the wildflowers that grew here sleeping, their petals closed, waiting for the sun to return. I looked up at the night sky, soaking in the mild night air, the peace of this place, and concentrated on breathing through the panic.

How would I ever be able to trust my own judgment again? Brody had destroyed that. He’d been the worst kind of monster, and I’d not seen it.

Goddess, I felt untethered. Disconnected from myself, my family.

My hand lifted to my cheek and ice-cold skin met my palm. The dark magic Brody had used on me had altered me permanently. Half of my right cheek was blackened, his spell manifesting in a star shape of cold, lifeless flesh, the nerves and muscles damaged beyond repair.

They were dead.

Like I was supposed to be.

How many times had I laid in his arms? How many times had we whispered I love yous in the dark? It’d all been a lie, all of it. He’d never meant a single word. He’d used me, and I’d been blind to it.

I froze as something shifted through the trees ahead of me.

I tried to see through the shadows but couldn’t make it out. I should run back to the house, get Warrick and his brothers to come and check it out, but I couldn’t move.

No, that wasn’t it, something compelled me to stay.

The spring breeze grew in momentum, carrying a low growl right to me.

Still, my feet remained rooted to the spot.

A living shadow, as dark as the darkest night, prowled closer, weaving through the ancient oak trees, then to the edge of the clearing.

Huge and black, with glowing green eyes.

A wolf.

I reached out as it watched me, searching for the vibration, trying to hear what it wanted, to learn why it was here. Nothing. I got absolutely nothing.

Not animal. Or at least not only animal.

Shifter.

One of the wolves from the new pack that had recently moved to Roxburgh, I guessed. The pack had all but eradicated the demons in Wolf Hill Woods the last six months, reclaiming territory. We’d yet to meet any of them, though, and given the close relationship witches and the local packs had always had in the past, we’d assumed it was only a matter of time.

He didn’t come closer or try to communicate, though. He waited, like he was expecting some kind of reaction from me.

Maybe for you to stop staring at him like a startled rabbit.

I lifted my hand. “Hi.”

The male bared his teeth.

Well, shit. That couldn’t be good. He wasn’t foaming at the mouth, at least. So he wasn’t feral. But he also wasn’t happy.

“I welcome you,” I said, trying again, making sure he knew we were no threat to him or his pack mates.

He made a low sound, his big, boxy head shaking from side to side, then he suddenly shifted.

I took a startled step back. The male was incredibly tall, his body muscled but lean. Solid thighs, broad shoulders, sculpted chest and abs. His hair was black like his fur, slightly overgrown, and hung around his ruggedly handsome face in messy waves. It did not soften him one bit. And those vibrant green eyes hadn’t left me, not for a moment.

Oh, and he was still baring his teeth.

“You seem upset,” I said stupidly.