I belonged here.

Knowing every breath I took might be my last, I let my claws dig into the soft, red earth on the banks of Rough River. It was dangerous for me to shift into my wolf this close to the settlement I’d been sent to watch. The Chief Pack shifter patrols could be anywhere. My wolf sent out preternatural signals I couldn’t control. Liam would kill me if he knew what I’d dared. And yet, as I arched my back and settled into my wolf, each pounding drumbeat of my heart made the sensation that I’d finally come home more clear.

Somewhere, deep inside of me, my wolf knew. Though my kind had been driven from this place two generations ago, there could be no other explanation for it. If there ever came a time when the wolves of Mammoth Forest prevailed, if we ever drove out the Chief Alpha for good and could live as we pleased, I would come back here to the banks of Rough River and stake my claim.

My heart lurched at the lure of such a thing. To be free. To allow my Alpha to rise and take back what was mine. God, it was so dangerous to think of it. With each step I took, I risked discovery. If even one member of the Chief Pack caught wind of who I was or what I was thinking, death would be the best case scenario. The wolves of Kentucky enjoyed no such freedom.

Every thought, every step they took was kept under the tight yoke of the Chief Alpha. A man whose name I’d only heard whispered about. I’d never seen him. We all felt him though. His control was ruthless, total, unbreakable.

Until the day it wasn’t.

Two years ago, I’d taken the leap along with my half-brother Liam and his cousin Jagger and run for my life. I didn’t regret it, not for a second. Once I’d tasted a whiff of freedom, I could never go back. I’d rather die than allow the Chief Pack to control my actions the way they had. But now, I was marked; we all were. At first it had just been the three of us. We could debate whether we were bravely stupid or stupidly brave, but we broke free.

Now, our numbers had swelled. Payne and Gunnar joined us from the southern border with Tennessee. Together, we’d found a place to take refuge in the undiscovered labyrinth connected to the Mammoth Caves of Kentucky and the deeper forest. Five men, meant to be Alphas of our own packs. We’d helped other shifters and humans along the way. We all had our own reasons for joining. Now, it was time for me to face mine.

I sank lower to the ground, my keen wolf eyes scanning the horizon. Just beyond the tree line, the soft amber glow of street lamps drew my attention. As my paws carved through the moist dirt, I let my belly scrape the grass.

They were close. I could scent other wolves past the perimeter of this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere. You could drive by it on any section of the interstate and not even know it was here. It wasn’t marked on any maps.

Birch Haven.

The name was meant to be inviting. Quaint. From here, it looked exactly that. Its entrance from the nearest major road was marked with a high, wrought iron gate. Three quarters of the town was bordered by a red brick wall. It was like a gated community on steroids. There were cookie-cutter houses with bright colored siding. Tree-lined streets that were safe even in the middle of the night. It looked like your typical, small college town that no one had ever heard of but everyone would love.

Only I knew what danger lurked here. It seemed to seep through the curb grates and permeate the air.

My breath grew ragged as I drew ever closer. My fur prickled and stood on end. My heart hammered inside my chest and a growl rose from deep inside. I took a last calming breath before settling my wolf and shifting back.

I stood on two legs but crouched, keeping myself hidden among the thick foliage of the woods on the outskirts of town. I couldn’t be seen. I hadn’t come this far, risked this much to have it all end due to my carelessness now.

Lilting laughter drew my attention. I crouched even lower. Heart racing, I stilled my breathing so I could better hear the voices drawing closer.

Through the trees, I saw two young women. God, they were barely more than girls. They stood shoulder to shoulder, walking with long, sure strides. One threw her blonde hair over her shoulder as she laughed. She was tall, thin, wearing a pink tank top with the letters BHC in bright blue on a diagonal across her ample chest. She looked like a Barbie doll with the same cookie-cutter beauty as the bright two-story houses lining the eastern quadrant of Birch Haven.

Her companion was different, more reserved. She seemed more aware of her surroundings, dropping her smile as she looked ahead to the next intersection before turning her attention back to her friend and smiling. They each had denim backpacks slung over their shoulders with the blue and yellow Birch Haven College logo on them.

These were normal girls, happy, carefree. They’d probably just come out of some night class in the massive college building at the center of town. Sociology, Psychology, or some other liberal arts course they’d probably never use in life. God, it all seemed so normal. So harmless.

I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath of air as the breeze picked up. The scent of the girls reached my nostrils and my pulse quickened. Snapping my eyes open again, I zoned in on the quiet one. She was blonde too, but it was a natural shade with soft, honey-brown lowlights. Not like her bottle-blonde companion. Her scent was clean and warm. I found myself wanting to see her eyes. Were they dark or light? My fingers itched to touch her soft hair and run along the curve of her shoulder. She wore a tank top too. Black and plain. Her tennis shoes squeaked as she turned on her heel and the pair of them reached the end of the street. They were about to turn left and out of my line of sight.

A shudder went through me as they finally passed. I grew even more daring. Just a few more steps and I’d emerge from the brush. No human could see me from this distance. I stayed in the shadows. A shifter would be able to scent me, but only if they were trying to.

They were out there though. I’d stayed on the southwest edge of Birch Haven. I could tell not many humans ventured this way. This was the wild place beyond the safety of the gates. It’s what they all craved. I knew in my heart, every person in that damn town had been lured there for a reason.

My whole body quaked as I tried to keep my own reasons from dragging me over the edge into madness. My fists curled and I drew blood in the well of my palms. God, that was dangerous too. Blood would make me easier to track.

I quieted my breathing once again and tried to clear my head of the scent of the two women who’d just walked by.

Lena.

I hadn’t allowed myself to speak her name aloud. Was she here? I’d been foolish enough to believe I’d be able to scent her too the instant I got close enough. If I closed my eyes, I could see her as she used to be when we were kids. She hated being left behind. Five years younger than me, she’d tried so hard to keep up.

“You can’t go where I go,” I’d told her, dismissing her as she stomped her foot. Her shoes were untied and the white laces caked with dirt.

“Take me anyway,” she’d said. She was only nine years old, scrawny with scabby knees and tragic hair that she’d tried to cut herself. The same ginger shade as mine, it stuck out in peaks and cones, and people would mistake her for a boy that whole summer, even if she wore a dress.

“You stay home with your mother,” I said. “The woods are no place for you.”

At fourteen, my inner Alpha had already begun to stir. It made me rough and strong, but I was already out of control. And Lena was no shifter. She was just a human girl who didn’t understand why our father wanted nothing to do with her. Her mother lived next door to mine. They’d been friends growing up. Now, they’d shared a husband who left them both for yet another.

“The house is no place for me,” Lena said, tears leaving a track down her grubby cheeks. God. She usually ended up spending more time at my mother’s house than her own. Lena’s mom had taken our father’s abandonment a whole lot harder.

A howl to the west pricked my ears. I had no more time for silly little nine-year-old girls who didn’t understand how the world worked. I thought I did. I thought I’d be strong enough for both of us.

In the end, I hadn’t even come close. Ten years later, the Pack came for Lena and I could do nothing to save her. I’d heard the rumors for years about young girls being taken in the night. Spirited off to mate with powerful members of the Chief Pack whether they wanted to or not. Lena most definitely didn’t. By the time I knew what was happening, she was already gone.

One week later, my choice had been clear. When Jagger and Liam broke free of the Pack, I went with them. I would find my half-sister. I would bring her home. No matter what it took.

Lena.

I knew in my heart Birch Haven held the answer to whatever had happened to her. She’d gone missing two long years ago. Two years. Anything and everything could have happened. God help us both.

Had it been so long that I wouldn’t be able to recognize her scent? So many times over so many months I’d lifted my face to the wind and tried. She could be anywhere. She could be anything. Lena was strong, defiant. But she was still just a human girl. Surely by now she bore the mark of whatever wolf she’d been sold to. Even if I walked right up to her, that mark would burn hot and her wolf could call her back no matter how much she wanted to run. If she still wanted to run. If her wolf was powerful enough, he might have snuffed that light out of her as well.

God.

I scented...something. I couldn’t be sure it was Lena. But, it was there, pulling me forward and stirring my wolf. It had to mean something. Birch Haven couldn’t just be another dead end or false hope. If it was, I would have failed my sister one final time.

Laughter rose on the wind again. A clock in the center of town struck midnight. Each clang speared through my heart. When it stopped, the streets grew quiet. To anyone else, it might seem like peace. But, I knew better. I knew better than all of them. The town had been constructed to make them feel safe, protected. It all looked so normal. It was anything but.

For Lena and every other woman behind those stone walls, Birch Haven was a prison. And yet they slept in their beds, probably suspecting nothing until it was far too late. For now, none of them knew that Birch Haven wasn’t the idyllic setting they thought it was.