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"They won't accept you," he panted. "They'll tear you apart."

"Why are you helping me?" Maya asked as they splashed through a creek.

He didn't answer. He just kept pulling her deeper into the forest.

They reached another clearing where he pulled her against his chest, one arm around her waist, the other tilting her chin up. His eyes glowed brighter now, his breath hot against her lips.

"I shouldn't want you," he growled, the sound more wolf than man.

"But you do." Maya's dream-self pressed closer, feeling the solid warmth of him.

His mouth claimed hers just as the howls grew deafening. Maya jolted awake, gasping, her body flushed and her heart racing. The dark interior of her van slowly came into focus as reality reasserted itself.

"That was..." She touched her lips, the dream kiss feeling impossibly real. "That was certainly not part of my intended research grant proposal."

TWO

KIERAN

Kieran stood by the window in his father's study, watching the morning light filter through the ancient pines surrounding the Silvercrest estate. His broad shoulders tensed as his father Alpha Alaric paced behind him, each footfall landing with deliberate force on the hardwood floor. The familiar scent of old leather, wood smoke, and his father's distinct cedar-and-iron aroma filled the room.

"I think I was spotted." Kieran turned, squaring his shoulders as he faced his father. "Three nights ago. During the full moon."

Alpha Alaric halted mid-stride. His dark hair with silvered temples caught the morning light, giving him an almost ethereal appearance that belied the ferocity lurking beneath. "Explain."

"I was camping near the eastern ridge in Granite Ridge territory," Kieran said, his deep voice steady despite the storm building in his father's eyes. "Went for a run under the moon when I needed to clear my head. I was already shifting when I caught a flash of red light from the trees."

"A light?" his father's voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "What kind of light?"

"A camera. Motion-activated, from what I could tell." Kieran ran his hand through his black hair that rested just above his shoulders, pushing it back from his face. The scar on his jaw pulled tight as he clenched his teeth. "I didn't think anyone would be out there. Hell, I've never seen cameras in those woods before."

Alpha Alaric slammed his fist against his desk, sending a stack of papers fluttering to the floor. "Your carelessness could've exposed our entire kind! Centuries of secrecy destroyed because you needed to 'clear your head'?"

"It was an accident." Kieran's silver-blue eyes flashed, his wolf stirring beneath his skin at the challenge in his father's tone. He tamped down the urge to growl—that would only escalate things. "I've run those woods a hundred times without incident. There's no reason for cameras to be out there."

"And yet they were." Alpha Alaric stalked closer, standing toe-to-toe with his son. Though Kieran matched his height, there was an undeniable power to the older wolf shifter that came from three decades as Alpha.

Kieran met his father's gaze without flinching. "The cameras must be new."

"New cameras mean new interest in our territory." Alpha Alaric turned away, his rigid movements betraying his agitation. "Human hunters, perhaps. Or worse—human scientists."

"Who would put cameras in Granite Ridge territory? It's protected land with no development plans." Kieran crossed his arms over his chest, the muscles of his forearms flexing. "It doesn't make sense."

"Nothing humans do makes sense," Alpha Alaric growled. "That's what makes them dangerous. They're unpredictable and chaotic." He paused, his eyes narrowing. "How much did the camera capture?"

Kieran considered lying but thought better of it. His father would sense the deception. "I'd already begun the shift. Face elongating, fur starting to emerge. If the footage is clear enough?—"

"Then we're exposed." Alpha Alaric closed his eyes briefly, a rare display of vulnerability. When he opened them, they were cold as winter ice. "The High Council must be informed immediately. This requires an emergency session. This incident of yours endangers the four major packs of the Pacific Northwest's Cascade Territory."

"The Council won't be pleased to be disturbed," Kieran noted, feeling a twinge of guilt for creating this situation.

"The Council's pleasure is irrelevant when our entire kind faces exposure." Alpha Alaric retrieved his phone. "You'll accompany me to Moon Hollow. The session will be called for noon."

Kieran nodded, already calculating the quickest route to the neutral meeting grounds. His wolf paced restlessly beneath his skin, sensing the gravity of what was coming. Whoever had placed those cameras had unknowingly triggered what could become the most significant crisis their shifter kind had faced in generations.

Alpha Alaric paused, his finger hovering over his phone. "The Council will ultimately decide our course of action."

The air in Moon Hollow hung thick with tension as Kieran stood before the High Council at noon that day. Seven pairs of ancient eyes bore into him from their elevated semicircular table. Each elder represented one of the four major packs, along with three esteemed elders from their Silvercrest pack. Sunlight filtered through the canopy of trees surrounding the open-air meeting pavilion, dappling the stone floor with shifting patterns that seemed to mirror the restless energy of the wolf shifters gathered there.