Alara slept after Nik climbed into bed with her, or at least she thought she did. She remembered the first kiss of sunlight bathing the windows before another wave of exhaustion hit and took her under. She rode the current, flowing smoothly through the darkness until she lay on soft grass. Spring filled the air, the smell of a hundred wildflowers, soil, and—pollen.

Her dream self woke up with a sneeze.

Izzy gave her a sheepish look from beside her. They were in their mother’s garden again. “Sorry,” Izzy said. “I guess I made it a bit too realistic.” She waved her hand in a graceful sweep, and Alara’s nose instantly stopped itching.

“I didn’t know you could have allergies in a dream,” Alara said dryly, propping herself up on her elbows. She looked around, wishing she had something to wipe her nose off on.

Izzy produced a handkerchief.

Alara wasn’t even going to ask. “Thanks,” she murmured, taking it and dabbing at her nose.

“So you made this world?” Alara asked, unsure whether or not to offer back the handkerchief.

Izzy waved her away. “Keep it. And sort of, in a manner of speaking. I created it in your mind based off your memories of the place. I can only take you to somewhere you’ve been before.”

Weird. The whole situation was bizarre. Doppelgängers, amnesia, talking to her dead sister in her dreams…

“So are you here to tell me how evil I am and that I’m going to destroy my pack?” Alara asked, sitting up all the way.

“No.” Izzy turned to face her head on, a serious look about her delicate face. “I’m here to tell you not to give in.”

“Give in to what? Izzy, what are you talking about?”

Izzy shook her head in frustration. It didn’t suit her, not her little sister who was full of smiles and goodwill. “Its presence is messing with your mind, affecting your memory. If you don’t resist, you may lose yourself forever.”

“Lose myself? To what? You’re not making any sense.”

“The doppelgänger,” Izzy said sharply. “Do you remember anything at all? Think, Alara.”

Alara scrunched her face up in concentration but still couldn’t remember anything before she’d gone to their bedroom to lie down. Slowly, bits and pieces of darker memories trickled into her brain: her trying to escape, her clawing the doctor, her seeing Penelope standing in her doorway. They didn’t make sense, but she couldn’t put them in the right order because they were too jumbled and coming in too fast.

She remembered a dark voice whispering seductively inside her head…

Alara stared at her hands, her chest. “The doppelgänger,” she whispered. “It’s inside of me.”

Izzy clasped her hands, her voice desperate. “You need to fight it if you have any hope of surviving this.”

“I don’t want to fight.” It slipped out before Alara could think, a knee-jerk reaction that was as truthful a reply as she could give. “I don’t want to worry anymore. Let someone else be in control. My life feels so chaotic and out of balance. I just want someone else to lead, to take it all away.”

“No, you don’t,” Izzy snapped. “You need to find the strength of will I know is in there and use it to get this thing out of you. Do you hear me? Alara? Alara!”

Alara came to abruptly, startled out of the dream by arguing voices at the door.

A quick survey of the empty bed to her left let her know Nik was already up. He stood at the door, bare chested and in his jeans from last night, growling at someone dressed in a suit whose face she couldn’t quite see.

“Fine,” Nik snapped. “I’ll be right there.” He slammed the door in the person’s face and stalked across the room to their bathroom. He paused when he saw Alara watching him. “Sorry, love,” he said, crossing the room toward her. He rushed to her side as she sat up, helping her. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s fine.” She gave him a quick kiss on the mouth. “What’s going on?”

“It’s the DPI. They said they’ve identified the body in the woods. They want me to come out there, but I don’t know why the fuck they couldn’t just tell me here.”

“You should go,” Alara said, though she hadn’t meant to. The words came out of her mouth without her having to think them. Or, really, without her having to concentrate on saying them.

Chills crept up her arms, but she remained smiling tiredly at her mate.

Nik kissed her forehead and brushed the wisps of dark hair from her face. “I’ll be back soon to check on you.”

“Okay.” She smiled as she watched him throw a shirt on, splash some water on his face, and then leave.

Get up. Now, the doppelgänger said in her mind.

It startled her at first; she’d almost forgotten it. There’s something about you that’s making me forget things, she thought, speaking to it. The same thing happened to Penelope.

Alara got up and walked to the bathroom, her body moving of its own accord as she got ready.

My presence isn’t natural, the doppelgänger admitted. Short-term memory tends to be affected first. The longer I stay inside my host, the more I start to impact their long-term memory.

Alara kept moving, directed by the doppelgänger as she went to the closet and pulled on a black T-shirt and some jeans. Her insides felt frozen as she thought of the implications. That’s how you can live out a lifetime in a host. They eventually forget who they are.

More or less, the doppelgänger said carelessly.

Anger surged. I won’t let you do the same to me.

Relax, young wolf. I have no intention of staying in your body forever. Wolves were never to my tastes. It shuddered. I just need to borrow you for a bit, then I’ll find another host.

So you keep telling me.

It doesn’t matter to me if you believe me or not. It is what it is. Hurry up. We must move quickly. Your dawdling is costing us time.

I’m not dawdling. You’re the one controlling me.

But you’re resisting. It’s harder.

Alara didn’t realize she was resisting. Maybe Izzy’s warning had sunk into her subconscious mind and was resisting the doppelgänger for her.

Good. A hidden thought, a whispered victory. She had the sense that the doppelgänger couldn’t see her dreams or hear all of her thoughts. All the better for her. She refused to surrender completely to this thing. She knew she didn’t want to, on some deep, carnal level based off of survival.

Why are you in such a rush? Alara asked as she pulled on some tall boots.

Because there is someone in a town not far from here we need to find. But they won’t be there for long. They have something we need.

What are we getting?

You’ll see.

Alara gritted her teeth. I’m getting tired of your cryptic messages.

That’s your problem. Now, write this down and leave it on your pillow.

Alara fought the doppelgänger’s control, remaining still. Not until you tell me what the hell we’re going after.

She could almost sense the doppelgänger smile. Fine—a warlock. He possesses the dagger used to kill your family. That’s what we’re going after.

Alara gasped out loud. Do you mean we’re going to meet Gerard?

No. He’s been disposed of. We’ll get the dagger from a different warlock.

Her heart pounded. It was too good to be true. The man who’d killed her baby sister… How many times had she imagined curling her fingers around his throat, squeezing until the life left his eyes?

And yet she didn’t feel better. She hadn’t been the one to kill him. Someone else had robbed her of her chance, her privilege.

Which was ludicrous. What made her think she had the exclusive right to take another person’s life? How vain was she? How did he die? Who killed him? she asked.

Another witch. Let’s just say he died a very painful, excruciating death. The doppelgänger practically purred in satisfaction, making Alara shiver.

Why do we need the dagger?

I told you—to stop Mistress Black. It tried making Alara walk to the door, but she dug her heels in. You want your revenge on her? The witch who turned your life upside down? the doppelgänger said. I will give it to you, if you’ll just trust me.

I don’t trust anyone. Well, except Nik. And Gage and Danica. Most royal werewolves tended to have a small list of true allies. It kind of came with the territory.

A wise mantra to live by, the doppelgänger said. But ask yourself this: Would you be able to sleep tonight knowing that the opportunity to destroy Mistress Black, to save your loved ones from meeting the same fate as your family, had been so close and you’d let it slip through your paws?

Alara immediately knew the answer. It came in the form of a sinking sensation at the pit of her stomach.

Grabbing a pen and paper from the elegant writing desk in the corner, Alara scribbled the doppelgänger’s message. Not that she had much of a choice. It seemed to be getting pushier as it grappled with her for full control.

That’s a good wolf. Now, jump out the window and go to the garage. Stay hidden.

Alara deftly leaped off the balcony after checking to make sure the guards had left to rotate their shifts. Slinking through the bushes, she crept along the side of the manor until she came to the garage. She ducked behind a tree and peered around the trunk. There’s someone there. A guard.

Don’t worry about him. Just go toward the Subaru on the corner there, bottom level.

The parking garage was multilevel and large enough to hold fifty vehicles. Attached to the main house, it was easily half the size of the manor.

The security guard stood at his station at the front, which was a cozy little office that held all the keys. Alara approached it, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one saw her go inside.

The man, a friendly wolf in his sixties named Wayne, looked up from his security footage. At least someone was doing their job. He smiled at Alara and stood, looking puzzled as the door clicked shut behind her. “Your Majesty,” he said, making a fist over his heart and bowing. “I’m honored, but I thought you were incapacitated at the moment?”

The doppelgänger seized complete control of her body before Alara could stop it. “You thought wrong,” she said in a low voice, her eyes flashing silver.

Wayne’s eyes widened as she shot forward, bringing the edges of both her hands down hard on either side of his neck. There was a stunned choking noise, and then his eyes rolled back in his head as he collapsed. The doppelgänger, still in control of Alara’s body, caught him and eased him to the ground.

Shock briefly gave Alara back her control over her body. She gaped at the guard, at her hands, then back again. “What the—how did I just—?”

Irritated, the doppelgänger yanked back its control. Keep quiet, and trust that I know what I’m doing! I won’t let any harm come to your body.

Alara placed two fingers to Wayne’s neck, checking his pulse, and then ducked her ear next to his nose to make sure he was still breathing. Words in a strange language she didn’t recognize whispered from her lips. Faint blue sparkles popped over the guard’s head before evaporating. Alara jerked her hand back. What was that? What did you do?

Relax. It’s a simple memory spell—

A memory spell?

To make him forget only that he saw you, the doppelgänger quickly amended before Alara had a complete meltdown. She seized Alara’s hand and waved it over the DVR and televisions of the security system. Sparks shot out of the equipment, followed by puffs of smoke. A single white spark bolted up the power line and across the garage. To kill the other cameras and equipment that might have seen us, the doppelgänger said.

Hey! Alara said indignantly. That was state of the art! I expect you to replace it.

She imagined the doppelgänger rolling its eyes as it forced her to stand up. I think saving the world is payment enough.

Alara grumbled her response, which wasn’t quite audible.

She scanned the wall of car keys, checking each label until she found the key fob for the blue 2014 Subaru BRZ she was looking for.

Snatching it off the wall, she started toward the door, but Alara cried out, Wait! Will he be all right?

Growling, the doppelgänger forced her through the door. She briskly walked toward the Subaru parked at the far front corner of the lowest level of the garage. He’ll be fine. We only knocked him out. He’ll have a headache when he wakes up, which, by the way, should be soon. Now move.

With a push of a button, Alara unlocked the car and got inside. The garage staff loved their jobs, fixing and detailing pretty cars. The sleek black interior gleamed from fresh Armor All, and the smell of pine-scented air fresheners filled the cabin.

Alara pressed the start/stop button, and the engine purred to life.

Let me drive, the doppelgänger said, taking control as Alara switched into reverse.

Alara hovered below the surface of her consciousness, just in case the doppelgänger decided to pull a Fast and the Furious and get them both—or someone else—killed. You’re really impatient, she said. You know that?

To her surprise, the doppelgänger’s driving was calm—much calmer than Alara’s probably would have been. They drove out of the garage at a considerate pace, easing onto the paved driveway and toward the highway.

The doppelgänger fed the engine more gas once they hit the highway. No one’s ever told me that before, it grumbled.

Once Alara saw the doppelgänger wasn’t going to wreck the car, she relaxed a little.

Only a little.

So where are you taking me?

You’ll see.

Alara sighed. Why am I not surprised?