Chapter 1

Honor Parkins really hadn’t wanted to be in Indiana. They were in the male mountain lions’ territory while four females from her pride tried to kill two panther males, supposedly the mates of a female who’d once been part of the pride. But there she was, staring into the dark woods on the full moon and wondering when the hell she could get back home to Canada.

Her stomach had been in knots. She couldn’t really explain why, except that she’d felt like something was missing and it made her heart ache. Gretchen and Julia, two of her pride mates, had noticed that Honor had been acting strangely since they’d come back to the States, but since she didn’t even understand what she was feeling, she couldn’t explain it to them.

Her life had been idyllic, once upon a time. She’d lived in King, Pennsylvania, with the males and females in a large pride. When she was twenty, she left King for Canada, along with two dozen other females. The males were always pushing for relationships and families, and while the females were fine with procreating for the next generation, they absolutely didn’t want to play house.

Odessa, one of the older females, had decided she’d had enough of the males always wanting more, and opted to leave. Honor had been quite willing to go along. There wasn’t anything in King for her, anyway. But after all that time away, she was back in the States, in a town a group of males called home. Some of the males had mated humans and other shifters; they’d had children and made a life for their pride. But she didn’t care about any of that. She just wanted to get back home and put the strange, longing feeling away forever.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, Honor had opted to check on the four females. Instead of finding them alive and well, she’d watched in horror as a huge dragon burned them alive. She was so appalled by what she saw that she stayed frozen until she heard a branch snap nearby. That shook her out of the shock of watching four of her own pride members get burned to ash, and she started to run.

She hadn’t gotten far.

She’d been tackled to the ground by Jackson Whitman. When she tried to get free of him, she bit his hand and tasted his blood. That coppery taste in her mouth had done something to her mind that she still couldn’t understand. Her head had ached so terribly that she’d let out a cry, and Jackson had let her go. He wasn’t the sort of male who would hold a female against her will.

In her attempt to flee, she’d practically fallen on top of Jackson’s brother, Holden, and in a fit of what she could only call madness, she kissed him and bit his lip. His blood crested into her mouth and set off another wave of pain, which made her feel like her head was going to explode.

She could have stayed and kissed Holden some more, and Jackson – explored their bodies and asked for help with the strange feelings she was having. But fear for her safety, and the safety of the two females waiting for her in a van by the road had sent her running.

Although it seemed impossible, she knew without a doubt that Jackson and Holden were her mates. Two mates for her – a female who didn’t even believe in matings between males and females of their kind, let alone two males for one female.

Leaving them in the woods had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but she’d still done it. She’d run away like a coward and scurried back to Canada with her females – her mind ever on the Whitman brothers, and what could have been if she’d stayed.

With a sob, she squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that threatened every time she thought of that night, nearly seven months ago. Her cat howled mournfully in her mind, uttering a desperate plea to find those males.

Leaving Ashland had been the toughest and stupidest decision she’d ever made, and now, when all she wanted to do was go there, she couldn’t. Once she was back in Canada, she hadn’t been able to hide that something had changed for her. Before long, Victoria had declared herself the new leader of the pride, and had forbidden Honor from leaving the house. A special lock had been placed on the only window in her bedroom, which would alert the females if she opened or broke it. They locked her bedroom door at night from the outside, and they’d password-protected the computer so she couldn’t use the internet.

She’d been the leader of the pride, but now she was a prisoner.

As the days passed, she’d started to pay close attention to the females and their routines. She had to get free and go to Ashland. Although the males in the pride considered her a criminal, she trusted Holden and Jackson to keep her safe and help her. That’s what mates were supposed to do.

She thought.

She actually didn’t know. It had never crossed her mind that she might someday have mates that she’d want to be with.

Once she got to Ashland and found her mates, she’d ask them to take her to King. When she left King fifteen years ago, she’d left behind not only her father, but also her daughter. She didn’t know if either of them were still alive or even living in King, but she had to find out. She had a lot of amends to make, and she wanted Holden and Jackson with her.

The males who had meant nothing to her before were now her everything. Their time alone in the woods had not been nearly long enough, and she cursed herself every day for not staying.

Once she escaped, she’d go straight for Ashland and find them.

Her cat paced in her mind, grumbling at the ache of being away from them.

Soon, she promised.

Soon.