The huge crowd was unexpected. Tamara had no idea how significant the Blue Moon was until she saw the turnout. As her eyes roamed over her surroundings from her seat on a fallen carved out tree, she spotted more wolves than she had ever seen gathered in her life. They mingled at the opening in the forest where the events were to be held, both in human and wolf form.

Elisa, who sat beside her, grabbed her hand. “Not all Caedmon live in the village. Some have gone on to enjoy life outside of these woods among the humans. There could be other reasons for leaving, too.”

“Like what?” Tamara asked.

“To start their own pack. To leave and join others…usually the women to follow their mate.”

Tamara searched the area for Devin. It didn’t take long to find him, as he’d been the main attraction throughout the evening. She thought back to his conversation the night before. No matter what the consequences were, he seemed content on being with her.

“That’s Darius,” Elisa whispered.

Tamara followed her gaze on the other side of the field where another crowd formed a semi-circle around a man. He was built, tall, and exceedingly handsome. Long brown hair hung to his bare broad shoulders. Nothing in his appearance said evil, but then looks were mightily deceiving. A woman stood beside him. She was just as tall and fair, with short ice blonde hair. “Who’s the woman standing next to Darius?”

“His mate. Yeah, even evil wolves can be mated. I don’t know much about her. She was brought over from another pack.”

A hush fell over the crowd as two old men stepped onto a large wooden podium and took a seat at a long table.

“They’re about to get started,” Elisa said, as Dawson joined them.

Several moments passed as the two old men, Devin, and Dawson began their meeting at the round table. Tamara wasn’t close enough to the front to hear anything that was discussed but from the serious look on each of their faces, she figured they’d started with the issue at hand.

“This will be the third Blue Moon that I’ve seen,” Elisa said, interrupting her train of thought. “It’s beautiful. A special one.”

“What’s going to happen?” Tamara asked, slowly, not taking her eyes from Devin as he took a pen offered to him by one of the men at the table. It appeared that he’d signed some papers.

“Be careful, Tamara.”

Tamara swallowed. The blunt answer was indication that the young, wise little girl knew more than she was letting on. Be careful. What did that mean? What did it imply?

“I am Roman.” One of the old men stood up from the table at the end of the podium. “Executor of the estate of Daniel Caedmon, the third. This evening marks my fiftieth blue moon.” He thrust a rolled paper up toward the sky, holding it tight in his fist. “On this evening, I live to honor the Caedmon legacy. Herewith, I inform you of the last will and testament of Daniel Caedmon, the third. All properties, buildings, lands, debts, monies…anything bearing the Caedmon name shall now revert to his first born son…Devin Caedmon.”

The crowd broke out into a choir of whispers.

“No opposition?” Tamara whispered.

“No one is crazy enough to argue with the written will of Daniel Caedmon…or with Roman, for that matter.”

Roman placed the will into a small chest and slid it across the table to stop in front of Devin. “There are other pressing matters at hand,” he said. “Our pack is without a leader. An Alpha who is strong enough to man and protect the pack. Not another night shall go by without such guidance. Shortly after the death of Daniel, only one has come forward to lead…”

The front of the crowd shifted away from the podium as Darius and his crew stepped up to be noticed.

“In Caedmon culture, direct descendants of previous leaders have fair claim to the position. Among us Caedmon, it is well known that the eldest son rose when the father passed on by default...”

Elisa squeezed her hand, hard.

“…unless there is a challenge.” Roman’s cold stare fell on the crowd. He seemed to gaze at nothing in particular, as he paused. “Darius Caedmon, the son of the brother of Daniel has stepped forward to lead.”

Darius made a great show of himself, allowing his mate to take his coat as he stepped onto the podium. He wore a necklace with a stone pendant, but it was made of white diamond versus the emerald that Devin had gifted to her.

Tamara clutched the pendant against her breastbone, and turned her gaze to Devin. He seemed to stare in her direction, his eyes glowing intensely in the darkness. She wanted to tell him to be careful, and even wished that he wore the protection amulet instead of her.

“Good evening,” Darius drawled, his grin could have charmed the most doubtful of men. “I would be honored to lead us into the future.”

“There will be no easy victory,” Roman told Darius.

“What…?” Darius looked back at him, annoyed.

Devin stood up then, his look turning from indifferent to stern. “There is no way I will stand by and let you lead and destroy.”

Darius’ laugh was loud and menacing. “Let? Did you say let?”

“By law, there are only four of us left to lay down the law. We’ve exercised our vote to remove you from stepping into the vacancy.”

“No one stands against me,” Darius said, holding out his arms for emphasis. “Show me the law that says you can stop someone from guiding our pack. If there is no leader, there is no pack. It is the oldest law in the book.”

“Our aim is to stop you from guiding our pack, Darius. There have been too many charges against you. Too many speculations, and not to mention the foolish notions about how you plan to dictate and rule our people. We need a leader, not a ruler. There are other suitable leaders.”

“Like whom? Dawson is too young to lead. He has one more year. No one will wait that long.” Darius stared Devin down in disgust. “And you are no more than the bastard son of your father. I’m surprised he left anything to you. Why would anyone want you to lead?”

Devin growled, and threw himself toward Darius. It took three men to hold Devin back as he struggled to release their hold on him.

Tamara’s heart jumped to her throat. It seemed to beat rapidly there and her blood heated. This time, it was she who strengthened her grip on Elisa hand.

“You will not lead us,” Devin snarled between clenched teeth. “I challenge you, Darius Caedmon.”

“I came prepared for this,” Darius leered. “I’ve been watching for days as you practically ignored the most respected law of our pack. No humans allowed within our haven.”

The crowd gasped and Tamara swallowed, holding her breath.

“It is no worse than the murder committed to steal this title.”

The crowd erupted in a frenzy of chattering. Murderer. Bastard. Human. Those words rung over and over around her. She kept her line of sight on Devin, but she knew many pairs of eyes bored into her. Being called out was not something she’d planned for tonight. She knew it would have happened eventually, and that there’d be consequences if she’d stayed here with Devin, but she hadn’t set herself up for the embarrassment she now felt.

“How dare you?” Darius hissed. “Nothing about which you imply has been proven. You, on the other hand, bring the human into our communities with no shame in your game.” He pointed toward Tamara to make his point.

“What am I to be ashamed of? I will not hide away the woman I love.”

Darius laughed. “The woman you love is a human.”

“She is my mate.” Devin’s words sliced through the crowd like a knife and echoed throughout the trees.

“No.” Darius shook his head. “You won’t fool us as your father did. He was a liar. He faked a true union in order to rise as Alpha, calling your trifling mother his mate. Just like that bitch, your human is a whore.”

There was a flash of green, and a wolf emerged where Devin once stood. It leaped into the air, hurling itself viciously toward Darius.

Tamara thought she heard flesh tearing as the paws of the wolf lashed Darius across the face. Darius fell back a bit, and when he moved his hand away from his cheek, it came away with blood. Three ugly claw marks ran across the side of it.

“You will pay for that…” was all Darius said before Tamara saw two wolves clash together and tumble off the side of the podium in one violent brown and black fur ball.

Tamara couldn’t stand to look. Pain seized her body as if she were the one doing the fighting. She wanted the hurt to go away, so she closed her eyes. Ripping her hand free from Elisa’s grip, she drew her palms to cover her ears. Her efforts to block out the violence were futile.

A vision of Brad flashed in her mind. She’d been stuck in traffic on the way from a class lecture. Dinner would have been late if she didn’t stop for pizza. It had begun raining heavily before she made it to the apartment. Their parking spaces were on the other side of the lot. She’d grabbed what she could to keep herself from becoming drenched. He was angry even before she entered their apartment. He hadn’t hit her because dinner was late that night. He’d hit her because she’d used his letterman jacket like a raincoat. The side of her face stung, as if she’d been thrown back in time.

She wanted to forget…

Just before Tamara opened her eyes, freezing rain began to fall softly. Sheets of it came down, accompanied by a gust of cold winter wind. The full blue moon still beamed in on the wolf fight. Not a soul seemed to care as the dirty gray clouds loomed overhead, soaking them all.

Her lips began to quiver as she strained her eyes, trying to focus on the fight.

Suddenly Tamara heard a yelp, and her eyes shot toward the two wolves. Devin had his muzzle around Darius neck. Devin’s growl rumbled and his sharp teeth could be seen as he gripped the other wolf’s neck.

“Fight to kill,” the crowd chanted. “Fight to kill.”

Tamara’s chest burned, and she realized that she’d been holding her breath. Fear was her reality. Rain tasted like salt. It took her only seconds to realize she was crying. The horrific sight of the wolves battling terrified her. Her body obeyed what her mind was telling it to do.

She ran.