Holy. Shit.

Werewolves. Mating. Stalkers.

Her horoscope had not forecasted this. More importantly, what the hell was wrong with her? She’d gone from freaking out over seeing him literally turn into the biggest wolf she’d ever seen, to taking one glimpse of his sex and wanting to mount him right there. It was like PMS on crack.

Gage held her close the rest of the way to his room. Being held by him felt right—a sense of rightness that was growing by the minute—but she couldn’t help looking all around her, expecting Onyx to leap from the shadows like a bogeyman.

Two guards stood outside a large, ornate golden door. They looked like they just stepped out of Howl, wearing torn jeans, sleeveless shirts that showed off their muscular arms, and a leer to make most people think twice about crossing their paths. They bowed as Gage approached, opening the doors for him.

The room was huge, with a California King-sized bed on one wall and another gigantic, walk-in fireplace opposite it. A large fur rug lay before the fire, and a window seat sat beneath a window that took up a good portion of one wall, providing a spectacular view of the distant lake and the star-spackled sky.

“Wow,” she said. “You wolves spare no expense on interior decorating, do you?”

He chuckled slightly. She felt some of the tension drain out of him as he wrapped his arms around her. She instinctively leaned into him, liking the way he held her. She imagined falling asleep in his arms every night, staring out at the sky, feeling safe in the warmth of his embrace.

And how safe had you felt in Seth’s arms, hmmm?

Shaking her head, she stepped away and he reluctantly let go. He didn’t move to stop her as she walked around, exploring. Her face heated. “Earlier… in my room… that…”

“Was amazing?” he said with a sly smile. “You scandalize me, my lady. What will this do to my sterling reputation?”

Now her face was on fire. “I just don’t want you to think I’m some nympho looking for a quick fix.”

His face turned serious. “I would never think that of you. Your reaction is entirely normal, actually.”

She looked again at her hand, at the dark blue ink that seemed to catch the moonlight. “The Change, you mean.”

“And the Fever.”

“What’s the Fever?”

He cleared his throat, staring at the rug. “When a wolf reaches his or her prime, they go through the mating season—their Blood Moon. That’s when the mating Fever takes hold.”

“Oh.” Awkward. “When does it go away?”

His eyes met hers, burning as brightly as the fire. “When we mate.”

“As in… have sex?”

He nodded.

Had the rational side of her brain been working, the idea of having sex with a total stranger would definitely not have been down her alley. If anything, now, it made her wetter. Who knew soft-spoken, “good girl” Danica could be such a total slut?

“What happens if we don’t have sex?” she asked.

His eyes grew troubled, and a shadow seemed to fall over his face. “We both remain unmated forever.” It looked like he wanted to tell her something more, but he remained silent.

“That sounds lonely,” she said, shoulders falling.

“Yes.”

Silence.

She shook her head, going to sit on the bed. Patting the bedspread beside her, she said, “Tell me about the Change.”

He blinked, then sat down beside her. “The first one is out of your control. I’m also sorry to say it will be the most painful.”

“Great. Like a second period.”

He laughed. “I’ve never heard of it put that way before, but I suppose you could compare the two. You’re in wolf form for the entire night, changing back at dawn. From then on, you can control it, shifting at will.”

“So the whole thing about shifting during a full moon…?”

“Nonsense. Humans mixed up our Blood Moon with the ‘Curse of the Werewolf’ that’s so popular in modern culture. It’s completely ridiculous.”

“I see.”

“You’re taking all of this surprisingly well,” he said warily.

She laughed. “Aside from my initial freak-out? Yeah, I suppose.” She shrugged. “When I was little, I wanted to be a superhero. Somebody special, who was strong enough to make a difference in the circumstances around me.”

He waited patiently for her to continue.

“My folks were always fighting while I was growing up. We didn’t have much. When my dad nearly broke my mom’s jaw one night, she grabbed me and we ran away.”

“Where’s your father?”

“In jail, most likely. He was in and out so much, I think they just keep a cell prepared for him.”

“And your mom?”

Her throat nearly closed up. “Dead.”

Gage took her hand and squeezed. For once, the gesture actually was comforting. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Blinking away tears, she said, “It was a long time ago, a car accident. I lived with my aunt, whom we were staying with until she left me one day, too, for her boyfriend. They eloped.” She smiled. “I’m happy for her. I hear they had a kid.”

“But she still left you.”

“I was eighteen.”

“That doesn’t make it okay.”

She looked at him. “No, I guess it doesn’t. But it still happened.”

“You’ve been alone for a while, haven’t you?”

“Yeah,” she said flippantly, picking at a pearl sewn into the comforter design.

Gage stared into the fire. “My dad couldn’t hold down a job to save his life. He moved me, my mom, and my brothers all over the place. I think that’s part of what drove Mom away. When we got old enough to work, we all pitched in and helped pay bills. But it wasn’t enough. My father owed a lot of bad people money—one of them was the were who marked him as punishment. He marked us the same day.”

She listened intently, frozen by the sadness in his eyes.

“More than anything, I think the Mark was what tore our family apart. Dad couldn’t handle it. He killed himself after the first Change, and eventually, my eldest brother drifted off to a different walk of life—but Nik stayed. I was a lot scrawnier than my brothers for a long time, since it took me a while to hit my growing spurt. Nik looked after me, protecting me at school and at home. He took a lot of shit from Dad.”

Danica could see the regret written on his face, making his handsome face seem much older as he spoke about his past.

“Nik and I set out on our own, moving from pack to pack until we found one that more or less fit. It wasn’t easy. Packs are supposed to be like your family, but there was a lot of in-fighting and warring with other packs when we first joined the Moonstruck Pack.”

Danica was silent for a moment, digesting this. Gage had to be incredibly tough to endure something like that. “You’re the Alpha, aren’t you?”

“Why would you say that?”

“Well, the guards and the fact everyone keeps calling you ‘sire’ or ‘your highness’ kind of gave it away.”

He gave her a small smile. “Does that bother you?”

She blinked. “No! I think it’s great. You’ve fought your way to the top. You’ve earned it.”

That troubled look returned. “If I could spare you from the Underworld, I would.”

“Underworld?”

“The supernatural world most humans don’t know about.”

Pause. “You mean, there are other creatures? Like vampires?”

“And succubi, incubi, demons, angels, witches, warlocks, faeries.”

Her face lit up. For the first time in a while, she felt like a kid again. “That’s awesome!”

His brows rose.

“I, er, read a lot of fantasy books to escape while growing up.” And still did, but she didn’t want to look any more like a dork. “Anyplace was better than home, you know?”

He smiled, seeming amused. “I see.”

Her mind spun with questions. Who knew there was a whole other world out there, one she’d only dreamed of?

Maybe life was more magical than she thought. Maybe there was more to look forward to than working for “the man,” always owing on taxes, and never being able to pay rent on time. She started to open her mouth, another question on her tongue, when a yawn escaped instead. “Jeez,” she said, blushing, “sorry. I didn’t realize I was so worn out.”

Gage shifted his weight. “You should rest. You’ve had a tiring day. I’ll sleep on the rug.”

She wanted to talk to him more, but she couldn’t argue that sleep sounded fantastic. She caught his hand as he started to stand. “Stay with me?”

It was nearly inaudible, but he sucked in a tiny breath. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. With that psychopath still on the loose, she wanted to be as close to Gage as possible.

She wanted to feel safe, plus she was too tired to fight the urge to be near him. She couldn’t begin to understand it. Nothing about the whole situation made sense. Hell, up until he’d literally shifted in front of her, she’d been ready to tie the bed sheets together and scale the side of the building in hopes of escaping. But there was one thing she’d noticed ever since he’d marked her—she craved his touch, to be as close to him as possible.

Starting with right now.

To her disappointment, he pulled on some pants before they pulled back the covers. She climbed in, then waited for him. And waited. “What are you doing?”

“I was going to sleep on top of the covers.”

She suppressed a giggle. “After what we did earlier, you’re going to be shy now?”

That look of arousal spread through his eyes. Without a word, he crawled under the sheets with her and wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest. They lay there, staring at the fire. It was so cozy, nothing at all like her rundown apartment.

Home sweet mansion.

“What do you think is going to happen?”

“I don’t know,” he said after a while. He held her tighter, reminding her of his earlier promise, that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

She intended for that promise to work both ways.

She snuggled closer to him, spreading her fingers over the taut muscles in his chest. Exhaustion began overtaking her, turning the world blurry and her thoughts to mush.

“If this is what forever would look like with you, I can’t say I’d mind.”

She was asleep before she could hear his response, a smile on her face. For the first time in a while, she was content. Maybe she would have tried to savor it a little bit longer if she’d known it would all come crashing down the next day.