Prologue
Mason Miller stood at the top of the foot bridge looking over Lake Haven and the lodge he called home. Bad things were coming. Hard things. And he could only hope he was doing the right thing now while there was still time.
The same Elders that guided the wolf shifters had been speaking to him. Why him, he didn’t know. Maybe because he was known for being the rational one of his clan. Maybe because no one else was listening. Whatever the reason, they’d dumped a shitload of responsibility on his head that he didn’t want.
Danger was coming for the Ouachita clan. It was a warning repeated often, with no suggestion on ways to prevent it. Only reason for that was if it was unpreventable.
Hands gripping the wooden rail of the bridge, he relished the way it bit into his palm.
The holidays were over and business at the lodge would be slower until spring. This was a good time to push the rest of his plan. He needed to get his clan mated ASAP. As many of them as possible. Mating would make them each stronger. Mating could heal a multitude of wounds. Both emotional and physical. So when trouble came for them, they’d be solid in the head and resilient in body.
He was like fucking Cupid or something, the way he’d been shooting arrows to push people together. Of course none of his tinkering behind the scenes would’ve mattered if fate wasn’t involved. He’d just helped speed the process along.
Layna and Ryan had been the fucking worst. The two were stubborn as a shitcicle in hell.
Ryan’s talk of leaving before Christmas had put the panic in Mason. The human was a part of them, and his absence would’ve ripped a hole through them impossible to fix. It would’ve left the clan vulnerable. Mason had done the only thing he could think of at the time.
Marked him.
Sort of.
He belonged there, with the cats. He was theirs. So Mason had ripped into his flesh leaving a scar that would prove it. Temporary of course. Just until Layna could come to her senses and prove it in a more permanent way by mating him. Because that female thought she was fooling people with her tough mouth and aloof attitude, but the truth was she was soft as putty inside. And she’d come through, finally letting that sappy bastard—and Mason could say that because the guy was as close as a brother to him—into her heart.
He’d gambled and came up a winner. Or maybe, as Renner liked to say, it was a Christmas miracle. Whatever the case, another mating to mark off his list.
But maybe his efforts were backfiring. Already two of the clan’s mates, Bethany and Josie, were with young. Young would make the clan weaker. Young could be used as weapons by their enemies.
He knew. From experience.
The wooden planks under his feet vibrated, alerting him someone approached. Mason didn’t bother looking over his shoulder to see who. He already knew, and he’d been waiting.
It was time to come clean. Time to let someone else in on what was coming.
Footsteps stopped beside him and another set of large hands gripped the rail. Several beats of silence joined the silence of the lake below them before gruff words broke the peace of the early morning.
“Tell me what you know. How you know it. And why the fuck you marked a man you knew belonged to Layna.”
Mason let out a humorless laugh as he turned to stare at this glaring leader. Magic was typically grouchy at any given time, no reason necessary. His mate, Josie, had given him the nickname Grumpy Cat. But this time, his hissing was deserved.
Their peaceful existence by the lake had been compromised when members of a shadow clan—the most lawless of shifter clans—had set a steel claw trap on their property in an attempt to get revenge on Gash, an ex-member who’d gone clean and joined the Ouachita clan.
But they didn’t grab Gash. They’d gotten Layna instead and damn near ripped her tail off. Layna who was like a sister to Magic. Layna who’s mate had left town to sort out his feeeeeelings and needed him to help heal. Ryan had come through though, in a big way. The guy was good as gold.
And now the truth about Gash’s past was revealed, the threat identified. Now they could defend themselves.
It had turned out okay.
Mason squeezed his eyes closed.
No. Okay wasn’t good enough. It was scary as fuck is what it was. They had to be better than this.
Mason drew in a deep breath before letting the answers fly.
“The clan is in trouble,” he said. “There’s a target on our heads for giving sanctuary to the shadow clan’s enemy. I know because the Elders told me. And to answer your last question, I marked Ryan so he wouldn’t leave. Didn’t work but I hoped it would serve as a warning to other clans that he was ours, or at the very least the mark would bring him back here.”