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Jayden knew she was being unreasonable. It wasn’t Ella’s fault and she shouldn’t take it out on her friend, but she felt out of control and just wanted to be left alone. The problem with being stuck in the compound was there was no place to disappear.

She knew part of the reason she was feeling on edge was because of the two men standing in the shadows on the other side of the firepit. The last month had been a wild dance of avoidance. From the time she woke until she retreated to the cabin that she shared with her parents, she felt that she was walking along the edge of a crumbling cliff.

It was impossible to ignore the challenge in the two men’s eyes whenever they came within spitting distance anywhere inside the compound. That was another reason she wanted to escape. It was getting harder and harder not to throw herself into their paths.

“You don’t mean that,” Ella chided.

Jayden adverted her eyes. She hadn’t missed the healthy flush or the love shining in Ella’s eyes when she looked at her shifter. Everything about her friend screamed that she was happy—including the very obvious roundness of her stomach. She looked back at the group, desperate to turn the topic to something else.

“Is that the leader of the shifters?” she asked.

Ella partially turned and nodded. “Yes, that’s Michaela. She’s really very nice. She is the President of the United Species of North America and Ty’s aunt. She is a powerful person,” Ella explained.

“She looks pretty pleased with herself. I guess she got what the Others always wanted, a cage full of humans,” Jayden muttered, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

“It has been a lot of work convincing the other shifters to create a home for us. There were some who—well, not everyone feels the same,” Ella acknowledged before she looked down at her clasped hands. “Ty and his family are doing everything they can to make it easier for us.”

Jayden shook her head. “What power does he have over you? What power does Tracy have over Mitchell that he would turn his back and agree to this? How can I?—?”

She bit off her last desperate question. She didn’t want Ella—or anyone else—to know that she felt a strange attraction to the two wolf-shifters. She knew she was acting crazy. There was a small part of her that wanted to push Ella—and everyone else—away. If they hated her, it would be easier to be alone.

That realization hit her hard, and her gaze flickered over Ella’s shoulder to the men. They were still staring in the two women’s direction. Panic coursed through her.

Can they smell my desire? Do they know that I want them?

The thought sent a wave of dismay through her even as a shiver of awareness ran down her spine. The choking feeling of being hunted swept through her. What horrified her the most was the sense of excitement at what it would be like to be caught and held by the men.

“Love.”

She blinked, frowning at Ella. “What?”

“You asked what power Ty has over me. It’s love. I love him so much and I know he loves me just as much in return,” Ella said.

Jayden studied Ella’s expression. Her friend believed what she was saying. Was it possible to love a shifter and not just desire them? She looked over at Mitchell. He was talking to Michaela. Tracy was sitting next to him and they were holding hands.

Mitchell smiled at the woman and nodded. A chorus of agreement rose among the two dozen human members of her clan. They had voted—again. They would allow the shifters to take them away to the place far from here.

The piercing pain of betrayal hit her again. She bowed her head and breathed deeply. Her worst fear had become a reality. Once again, she knew she had no one else to blame for what was happening but herself.

Acceptance flowed through her along with a sense of serenity with her clan’s final decision to accept what the shifters were offering. She could not change the past. The only thing she could do was accept the present. The future would always be filled with uncertainty, but she was used to that.

She reached out and touched Ella’s cheek. A sad smile curved her lips as memories of them running wild and free through the forest flashed through her mind. Time had moved on… and so had they.

“I wish you… happiness, Ella,” she murmured.

“Jayden?” Ella’s voice held a hint of confusion. “Everything will be alright. You’ll see. Ty won’t let anything happen to the clan. He’ll protect them.”

She dipped her head in agreement and lowered her eyelids to shield the emotion in them. She gave Ella a strained smile and nodded toward the group. Ella’s shifter husband had risen and was heading towards them.

“Your… husband is looking for you,” she said.

Ella turned when she mentioned Ty. Jayden took advantage of Ella’s distraction to slip further into the darkness. The wolf-shifters were walking toward them along with Ella’s husband. The last thing Jayden wanted was to give the two shifters a chance to work any more of their magic on her.

She slipped into the shadows between two of the cabins. Striding toward the back, she turned near the tall fence and followed it around until she came to the back of the cabin that she shared with her parents.

She paused along the back, worried that the two wolf-shifters would follow her. A wry smile curved her lips. If they did, they were in for a surprise. She walked around to the edge of the small, covered porch. Hopping up on the railing, she used the notches in the natural wood pillar to climb up onto the roof.

Once she was on the roof, she twisted and sat down. Drawing her knees up, she wound her arms around her legs and rested her chin between her knees… and waited. The moon hadn’t risen yet, so the sky was dark. The lights around the compound were shielded, limiting the amount of ambient light. Between the artificial lights, the campfires, and the stars, there was more than enough light to navigate. Lucky for her, it was all aimed downward or low to the ground and her grandparents’ cabin was on the outer rim.