“My father doesn’t have as long as we thought,” Roman announced darkly as he strode into the dining room the next morning. Robert and Josephine were the only ones gathered for breakfast. She felt her stomach knot as Robert began asking for instructions.

Roman pulled a chair out for himself and plopped down into it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and pressed his eyes together as if lost in a jumble of chaotic thoughts.

“Josephine and I will research the symbol while you, Robert, check in on my father,” he announced and then turned bloodshot eyes on Josephine. “He’s in a secret clinic with a military doctor who has a certain discretion concerning our kind.”

Robert nodded and headed off, pulling out his cellphone to bark some commands to someone. She watched as Roman’s gaze bore into hers and felt the tension rise between them.

“I think I know where the other symbol is,” he said with a sigh. “Back at the main house, my mother’s private wing was roped off after she passed. I believe the statue we found last night is part of a pair. There’s the woman, a symbol representing the mate, and a bear. If I’ve remembered correctly, it’s in her bedroom.”

Josephine rose from the dining table and offered a small smile.

“I’ll go get my bag,”

Roman simply nodded.

The car ride was silent. Even Leo seemed out of his usual humor as he kept his gaze solely on the road. Only when Roman asked him to take shortcuts did he answer with a short agreement.

She simmered with worry in the seat beside Roman as they drove. Would they actually find the statue that he was desperately searching for?

Josephine found Roman’s father’s insistence that his wife’s quarters, at the townhome, country home and the main house, be closed off, oddly romantic. It was as if he’d wanted to preserve any and all remnants of her presence for eternity.

She also worried about their upcoming search. Chances were good that nothing had been moved or touched, but they couldn’t be certain until they got there. They had no idea what was in his mother’s wing or if the statue truly did bear the mark as Roman recalled.

Barely an hour later, they found themselves batting away cobwebs as they made their way to his mother’s room. Josephine watched Roman’s broad shoulders as he led them down long passageways. She split her focus between his muscular backside and the sheer size of the house.

Finally, they came upon a magnificent set of towering French doors. The crimson paint covering the fancy panels peeled in the corners, but it was clear that this had been a queen’s domain.

Roman paused with his hands resting on the doorknobs of two large oak doors. She glanced at him and quickly noted the heavy look marring his face.

“We’ll find it,” she told him. “Even if it isn’t in there.”

It had to be, she reassured herself. Roman’s father didn’t have much time.

She placed her hand over one of his and together they opened the doors.

A rush of dust and stale air greeted them, but Roman pushed through without noticing. The statue was there, just as Roman remembered; standing proudly in the far corner.

Extending his hand, he approached the enormous bear and Josephine’s eyes zeroed in on the same crescent moon symbol they’d found on the statue back at the country home. She smiled as she realized that Roman’s mother had left such a clear trail of clues.

When Roman’s hand came in contact with the statue, a secret panel slid open just to the right of the sculpture. The panel had concealed a passage way that lead to a rather large collection of bookshelves.

Like Roman’s private study at the country home, his mother had stashed away an extensive library that they soon discovered contained rare magical tomes and documents.

Together, they began searching and it wasn’t long before they found the scroll they’d been looking for.

Josephine knew the moment she laid her hand on it that it was the one. Warmth blossomed in her fingers and quickly spread to envelope the majority of her body.

“You found it,” Roman breathed in awe. Tearing her eyes from the brittle document, she found his and smiled.

“What do we do now?” she asked.

“We get that to the doctor as quickly as possible,” Roman answered and took Josephine by the arm.

They rushed back through the labyrinth of hallways and corridors and then outside to where Leo still had the town car waiting.

“Get us to my father,” Roman barked and Leo wasted no time in getting them on their way.

Josephine tucked the scroll into her messenger bag. The historian in her wanted to take the document and study it inside and out, but she repressed the urge. Maybe after they used it to save Roman’s father, he would allow her to continue her research and study the Den.

Then again, she was officially a part of it now, it wouldn’t be much of a hardship to embrace her new lease on life and stay on with Roman as his mate.

Inhaling sharply at her sudden self-revelation, Josephine missed the way Roman’s entire body tensed, and suddenly she found herself sprawled on asphalt, pain slicing through every atom.

“Josephine,” Roman frantically called for her from somewhere in the distance. She heard what sounded like gunshots and then a bear’s angry roar. Panic filled her chest and she tried to catch her breath in order to call back to him. She didn’t know whether the emotions rolling around inside of her were her own or her mate’s. But before she could so much as move, her world went black.

* * *

She came to, and her body instantly tuned into her surroundings. She was somewhere underground, blindfolded with hands and feet tied together. The drip, drip, drip of water echoed throughout the room and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t determine where she was other than a large, dank, moldy space.

She moved her bound hands around behind her back and determined that she sat upon some sort of concrete. The sound of traffic was present, if a bit muted. So, she felt she was still in the city, but where exactly, she couldn’t tell.

Panic seized her chest and her breath wheezed in and out in small, panting gasps.

“Roman,” she called and coughed when her voice came out raspy and hoarse. A light, shimmering weight dusted across the skin of her bare arms and she suddenly felt Roman’s presence.

“Where are you?” she asked softly and waited for him to respond.

“He isn’t here, Princess,” an unfamiliar voice announced and she jerked her head blindly to her left. A low, guttural growl rumbled from the area.

“Where is he?” she demanded. “Where am I? Who are you? What do you want?”

A chuckle wafted into her face, its malevolence echoing in the space surrounding them.

“One problem at a time, eh?” the voice mocked.

“Don’t say a word, Marty,” another voice broke in. “We’re only supposed to hold her until Rafe gets here.”

“Shut up,” Marty growled. “Rafe isn’t here yet so I’m still the one in charge.”

“What does this Rafe want with me?” Josephine asked. She basically understood the fact that she’d been kidnapped because of her association with Roman, now she wanted to know who they were and what, exactly, they wanted.

“Curious little girl, aren’t you?” Marty spoke directly into her ear and she jerked her head aside to keep him from touching her. She felt Roman’s rage and wished she could convey her thoughts to him as easily as he received hers.

Suddenly howls, whistles and barks heralded the arrival of others, but what frightened Josephine most was the fact that they didn’t sound human. It was then she understood the trouble she faced.

“Wolves,” she murmured. “You’re the werewolves that Roman mentioned.”

“Very intuitive, Princess,” a third voice praised. “Take her blindfold off Marty.”

Once the mask was removed from her eyes, Josephine slowly opened them and inhaled sharply when she saw the sheer size of the group of men surrounding her.

Although their bodies weren’t as large as the bears, these men were still massive. Sinewy muscle and unusually long limbs replaced the bears’ hulking frames. Letting her eyes adjust to the lingering shadows, she realized they were in an abandoned, underground parking garage.

The wolves all looked unkempt and dirty, much like the city’s homeless population appeared. She remembered how Robert had explained the wolves and their chosen targets of homeless and degenerates.

So, that was how they cloaked their existence; by hiding themselves among their food source.

“Why am I here?” she repeated.

“You’re here,” the tallest of the group stepped toward her. “Because you found the Scroll,” he finished and squatted before her. His yellow eyes narrowed to slits and she inhaled sharply when he brought his face to within an inch of hers.

“You’re here because I can’t have old man Williams being cured,” his voice deepened. “My kind is starving because antiquated rules were made without our consent. With the elder Williams dead, the heir will have no choice but negotiate a new treaty, especially if he wants to see his mate alive again,” his voice trailed off and he smiled when the others snickered and laughed behind him.

Josephine’s heart plummeted when she realized how much trouble she was in. She’d noticed that her messenger bag was missing and she didn’t know if that was because the wolves had already gone through it or because Roman had it.

She hoped it was the latter. With that being the case, he could, at least, still save his father.

“Where is it?” she asked, and noticed Rafe’s body stiffen.

“We don’t have it,” he answered gruffly. “Why do you think we need you?” he challenged.

“I don’t understand,” Josephine admitted. “I’m of no use to you, Roman probably took the Scroll directly to his father and Mr. Williams is alive and well as we speak…” She trailed off when she realized what she’d just done. With the Scroll out of their reach, what could the wolves possibly want with her? She was no longer of any use to them. She’d just signed her own death warrant.

“That’s where you’re wrong little butterfly,” Rafe said and peered over his shoulder. He exchanged glares with another man and then turned back to her.

“Marty sent a nice little message to Roman Williams,” he explained. “If he uses the Scroll to cure his father, we will kill you. The only way he’ll see you alive again is to return the Scroll to us and let his father die.”

Josephine’s breath hitched and tears formed in her eyes. Robert had been right, the wolves were shady. They were also downright evil. Roman faced a decision he would regret the rest of his life, however long it may be. If he turned the Scroll over to the wolves, saving Josephine, his father would die. If he used the Scroll to save his father, Josephine would die.

Either way, Roman would lose someone.