Danica had gotten all of two steps outside before this shadow lunged out of nowhere and pinned her upside the building.

Skull meet cinder block, she thought as pain exploded along the back of her head.

Disoriented, she scrambled to pull her keychain from her pocket and give this asshole a face full of mace, but he pinned her arms above her head in one massive hand. His elbow drove into her windpipe, threatening to crush it.

God, this guy is super-strong. Can steroids do that?

She struggled to remain calm as her lungs screamed for air.

The man was tall with a dark coat and hat that hid his face.

All but his eyes. They seemed to glow gold, but that was impossible. It had to be the dim lighting and a combination of being a little buzzed and probably having a concussion. She stomped her heel on the man’s foot, but he never so much as flinched. She started to bring her leg up, with the intention of kneeing him in the groin, but he pressed his full body weight against her, stopping her cold.

“Ah, ah, ah,” the man purred in a scratchy voice. “This doesn’t have to be difficult.”

“What… doesn’t?” she gritted out, afraid to ask.

Dumb, Danica.

He grinned, showing the points of fangs. All his teeth looked like they’d been filed to a point, and his gold eyes blazed brighter. “Your death.”

Fear took over, throttling her heart rate.

He chuckled, then ran his hot tongue over her cheek, making her cringe. “You looked lovely tonight, by the way. Thanks for dressing up for me.”

What was he talking about?

The realization hit her with the force of a two-by-four. Oh, my God. He was supposed to be my date!

She’d never actually met the stranger she’d been talking online with for two weeks now. He’d seemed so understanding, so perfect.

Should have known better.

Now, for her stupidity, she was going to die out here in the woods, after he’d done God knows what to her.

“Hmmm,” he purred. She could feel his bulge against her thigh, turning her stomach. “I wish I had more time. Might be fun to fuck a queen.”

Queen? Now, she knew this guy was crazy.

The man licked his lips. “Any last words, sweets?”

Danica trembled, her brain paralyzed by terror. It occurred to her how much more she could have done with her life if she’d only had more time. She felt stupid for taking it all for granted. But most of all, she felt angry. Really, really angry.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to end. It was supposed to end sixty years from now, with her spending the last years of her life with the man she loved.

Now, she’d never get a chance to meet him.

She thrashed, but that only made Crazy drive his elbow harder into her windpipe. Her lungs screamed for oxygen as she tried clawing at his hands, but she might as well have been scraping at cement for all the good it did her.

“Yeah, I have some last words,” a deep voice said from behind the man. “Get your paws off her, Onyx.”

The man didn’t spare a glance over his shoulder. He smiled. “Well, if it isn’t the King of the Moonstruck Pack himself—Gage Johnson.”

Danica peered past Onyx’s shoulder, and her eyes widened. It was the handsome stranger who’d eyed her from the dais like she was a piece of candy he couldn’t wait to eat.

That intense heat spread below her navel, warming her despite the chill Onyx’s death threat had left in her bones.

What the hell was wrong with her? Clearly, she was caught up in the middle of some gang-related violence, and she was horny?

It had to be something they’d done to the beer. So help her, she was never having another drink again.

Gage stepped forward, one deliberate step at a time. “You’re on my soil, Onyx. What’s a Nightshade wolf like you doing all the way out here, I wonder?”

“Just passing by,” Onyx replied smoothly, still not letting up on her throat. Stars started to sparkle at the edge of her vision. Soon, she’d black out altogether. She clawed at Onyx’s hands, but his attention was fully on Gage.

Gage cracked his knuckles. “You must think I’m pretty damn stupid to believe that.”

Onyx’s toothy grin widened. “Almost as stupid as you leaving your mate unprotected.”

Gage’s eyes flicked to her. “What are you talking about? Let’s get real. She’s human.”

Onyx shrugged. “Your loss.” He took advantage of the other man’s surprise. He threw Danica down hard, swinging out with his other hand, fist angled for Gage’s jaw.

Gage’s reflexes were crazy; he ducked and followed up with an uppercut that connected with Onyx’s chin, sending him staggering back.

Onyx wasn’t down for the count for long. He lunged at Gage, snarling, getting in a swipe at the man’s ribcage before Gage blocked his assault and decked Onyx hard across the cheek.

Danica watched in morbid fascination from her lovely view on the ground as she waited for her world to stop spinning. Her temple had connected with someone’s bumper on the way down, making her whole face hurt from the impact.

The men moved in blurs. Onyx’s hat flew off, revealing the outline of a pentagram on his neck. A word was scribbled at its center in another language.

Gage yowled as Onyx raked his nails—which had morphed into claws—across his face, leaving behind marks. They healed as fast as they’d been received.

She blinked. That had to be her imagination, something brought on by the terror flooding her veins and the tampered beer.

She had to do something. She couldn’t just lie there, helpless. Getting to her feet, she grabbed her keychain. “Hey, asshole!”

Onyx looked over with a snarl, and she let the pepper spray fly.

It hit him square in the eyes. He howled with fury, clenching his eyes shut while he stumbled about blindly for a few seconds.

Gage wasted no time. He seized the man’s head.

Danica realized with dread what was about to happen. “No!”

As Gage started to twist, Onyx grabbed something from his pocket and threw it at the ground. A pillar of black smoke went up, crackling with purple electricity. Gage cursed, shaking out his hands.

The smoke billowed for a bit, then it was sucked backward into the object Onyx had thrown on the ground. It was a silver locket, which split apart the moment the smoke cleared.

Onyx was gone.

Danica stood there, trembling so badly she thought she might shake herself apart. Holy crap. Did she just see that? A scream slowly built in her throat, but it never came. Her legs gave out, and Gage rushed forward to catch her.

He pulled her to him, tucking her head against his chest. “I’m sorry,” he muttered against her hair.

“What… was that?” she blubbered.

“A cloaking charm,” he said gravely.

She pushed away from him, shaking her head and stumbling about. He reached to steady her, but she stepped out of his grasp. “Cloaking charms, packs, wolves… What the hell are you?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, love,” Gage murmured with a hint of humor.

“So, my date from hell just up and vanished into thin air?”

“Something to that effect, yes,” he said without hesitation.

She laughed, sounding more than a little loony. This whole night had taken a turn toward the insane. She never should have come here.

“Somebody slipped something into my drink,” Danica said. “That’s it. I’m having some kind of hallucination. About creepy dude, my hot rescuer—”

“You think I’m hot?” he said with a smile.

She shrugged. “You can’t be real, so why the hell not? Yes. You’re hot. With a capital H.” She looked around and found her keys lying a few feet away. Falling to her knees, she snagged them, then used a car hood to help pull herself up.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Gage said, following her.

“To the ER,” she said, trying to remember where she’d parked. It shouldn’t be hard. She was one of the few people who’d driven a car. “I need to get a blood test, see what kind of drug this is.”

“Your blood is fine,” Gage said, grabbing her arm.

She jerked free and rounded on him. “Don’t tell me it’s fine! I just freaked out and thought someone tried to kill me!”

“That’s because someone did try to kill you!”

“Oh, right. So says the hallucination. I’m probably standing out here right now talking to myself.”

“This is no dream.”

She stared at him. He looked so serious.

And so delectable.

Damn, my imagination can cook up a stud.

Her eyes dipped to his mouth. She swore she heard him take in a sharp breath, then his eyes darkened and flashed gold.

Her mouth went dry. “I have to get out of here.”

She started to turn again when Gage grabbed her, this time by her bare wrist. “Wait. You’re not safe.”

“No shit? I’m in the middle of nowhere, I’ve clearly been drugged, and I should probably—”

All the warning she had was a strange tingling along the back of her hand before blue light lit up the area, shooting straight out of her.

Danica shrieked. “What’s happening?”

Gage swore, staring at her hand. “It can’t be…”

Danica held her breath, staring at the light, too afraid to move. This couldn’t be happening. Light didn’t just shoot out of people’s skin.

But it sure as hell looked like that was what it was doing. It was gone as quickly as it came, dissolving into a pretty, shimmering crescent moon marking. “What the hell?” she muttered when she’d recovered enough of her senses. She examined her hand, turning it every which way. Licking her thumb, she rubbed it against the mark. “It won’t come off! What the hell is this?” she said, her voice ratcheting up in pitch.

Gage sighed, looking grave and awed at the same time. “That, my dear, would be the Blood Moon Mark.”

“Am I supposed to know what the hell that means?” Danica said, tasting panic.

“It means,” Gage said, pulling her to him and staring down into her eyes, “that you are my mate.”