Chapter One

Witchcraft burned through Ashe’s veins.

Her Pack feared her for what she could do and hurt her to try to draw out the shifter she could have been, and yet, here she was, caring for a man who’d once demanded that none of his sons speak to her.

She tiptoed around the room, her head down. Sampson Vancourt didn’t stir on his bed. He didn’t even cough. She let out a breath of relief and dropped a bundle of herbs into a pot of hot water, an old family remedy for a rough cough. It would help him breathe a bit better.

Since forcing himself down the stairs to tell his middle son to chase after Joanna Bart, Sampson had lost a lot of his vitality. The coughs racked his body with spasms and pushed him to sleep more often than not. He hadn’t even had the chance to meet Gage’s mate, a firebrand of a coyote shifter. As Ashe poured the cup of tea, she thought Sampson would like Kaylee. She was headstrong and kept Gage mostly on a straight and narrow path.

Mostly.

She looked at the sleeping man. He would not want her for one of his sons. She was the enemy despite her being a part of the Pack, and despite her helping ease his final years in this world. Ashe would always be the enemy for something she could not control. The mug warmed her fingers until it was too hot to bear. Eventually, she set it down on the mug warmer, so that it would still be hot when he woke.

The door creaked open and Ashe jumped. Without turning around, she knew who was there. The change in the air prickled across her skin. It was charged with power, potential. With magic. She ducked her head, veiling her face with a wall of black hair, and slipped around the end of Sampson’s bed. If she didn’t look at him, he might ignore her altogether.

At least, that was her hope. It hadn’t worked yet, so she wasn’t sure why she thought it would work now. A force rose inside her, bearing a pair of wide eyes that spun toward Cohen. The force begged Ashe to turn to him, to look at him.

She shoved it back down and felt claws rake against her mind in return. Grimacing, a shudder raced down her spine. She would not listen to a voice that hadn’t listened to her for most of their life.

Cohen reached out and touched her arm, silently asking her to stay. As much as she wanted to recoil from his touch, she didn’t. It warmed her skin and reached her cheeks. She was thankful he couldn’t see. He paused, most likely regarding his fallen father, before quietly asking her to follow him.

She’d seen Cohen in her cards.

And, she wondered what she’d done to deserve such a fate.

“Oh, uh, alright,” she mumbled, following him into the hall outside.

Sampson stirred, but didn’t wake. She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if the man pretended to sleep as a smirk touched the corner of his mouth.

In the hall, Cohen tugged her chin up so that she would look at him. Still, her eyes stayed on the floor. Her heart thumped heavily inside her chest. She felt less like a cornered rabbit and more like the love interest in a racy movie. It was an unusual sensation.

“You called us here.” Cohen’s voice was low and gruff, a sign that his temper was on the rise. The cursed bear inside him was close to the surface. What happened to tick him off, she wondered? “Tell me why we needed to return.”

Ashe shut her eyes against him. She pressed her lips together. She wished she’d never called him. While it was nice having Gage and Archer home, she could barely stand being in Cohen’s presence. He terrified her.

His hands slammed into the wall on either side of her head. She tried not to flinch, but failed. Cohen made a pained sound. His arms fell away, and she felt him back up.

“I came here to help Archer, not to become the Alpha of my own Pack. That was never the future I wanted, but here I am. Because of you.”

What could she tell him? That he was blind and dumb? The words rolled around her mouth but eventually fell back down her throat to land like a stone in her stomach. Ever since Gage and Kaylee pledged themselves to Cohen as his Pack, his bear had been easier to manage. It liked looking after the two idiots.

So, what happened to set him off this time?

Summoning whatever courage she might have inside herself, Ashe gradually opened her eyes. She met Cohen’s gaze. His eyes burned with a dark fire; it was the slumbering presence of his bear that was always ready to be released. She knew she should have felt fear looking into his shadows, but she didn’t. Instead, there was a kind of peace that scared her.

As if they both felt it, Cohen’s shoulders dropped. He took a step toward her.

“I called you back to Stonefall because this is your home.” Ashe ducked and ran. She slipped down the stairs before Cohen could think to recover.

His voice was a distant whisper as she slammed the front door behind her.

Damn this house and all who live beneath it’s roof. Damn this town and its shifters. Ashe wanted to hate all of them. She knew she had every right to for the way she’d been treated all her life. They pushed and teased her, trying to pull the animal out of her as if it was possible. They pushed her to the edge, hurt her and acted like it was her fault that she was weak.

But, she didn’t hate them. She’d found it in her to forgive them and moved on with her life. She’d moved out of her father’s house and left the horrid memories locked behind it’s doors. She’d found her own place, a small apartment above a library. Her life was her own and the pain she endured was over.

She told herself she didn’t care if her body would not bend to an animal’s shape. She told herself the life she would lead was fine. Then, the cards spoke a different story and she wanted to curse them, too. They told her of freedom and the spark of love. For a moment, her heart had soared.

Then, Cohen appeared. The cards told her he was bound to her, the Emperor to her Empress. Hadn’t she lived through enough? Hadn’t she earned the freedom she so desperately wanted? To be bound to the cursed bear…

“I need a break,” Joanna groaned as she appeared.

Kaylee, her hair now a deep shade of purple, stepped into the yard beside her. There was a slight, still healing hickey on Kaylee’s neck. When she saw Ashe staring, her face darkened, and she moved to cover it with her hand. Ashe looked away.

Joanna and Archer found a kind of sanctuary within each other, using each other to remain standing. Kaylee and Gage were always a bundle of laughter. No matter where one was, the other could find them with the brightness of their aura.

It made Ashe bitterly jealous. Her jaw clenched, her mouth grew dry.

“How about we head out for a girl’s day? Sushi, maybe?” Joanna’s voice was hopeful, tentative even. Had she seen the emotion that had slammed into Ashe?

The back of her neck prickled, and she looked back. Cohen smoldered as he threw open the door. He wanted more answers, but she didn’t have them. She did what she thought was necessary to help her friend and her Pack.

Ever since, he’d stalked her like prey.

“Yeah,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face. She looked back to the house, searching the windows for a face she told herself she didn’t want to see. “That sounds like fun.”