I’ve made an utter mess of this, I think, as I finish washing the last of the dinner dishes. Edon was right to have left. I haven’t been honest with him and to let him marry me without knowing the danger I’m putting him and his pack in would be the worst thing I could do.

When Ronnie told me that Edon took care of his family, I didn’t realize that meant they all lived on the same property. I didn’t realize that they would all be targets for Cody. I don’t deserve to spend even one night here, let alone marry a man as good as Edon.

Sure, he comes on a little strong physically, but I don’t actually mind that. Cody always found it embarrassing to even hold my hand in public. Edon’s like that. It’s not so much that Edon gets off on PDA, but rather he doesn’t care how anyone else views him.

He’s got an innate sense of self and confidence that Cody only had when he had his gun in his hand. Cody would probably piss himself if he came face to face with Edon.

When I decided to run away and hide here on the Rule property, I wasn’t really thinking about how I might bring danger to Edon or his family. And while I was selfishly making plans to make myself safe, the Rules were creating the perfect sanctuary for me.

In the reading room, there is a gorgeous Steinway upright. The entire room is surrounded by floor-to-ceiling oak bookshelves stained a dark brown. My books are already on the shelves. A set of sheets and blankets sit on the sofa with a note that indicates that if I ever need to get away from Edon, the sofa pulls out to a bed.

Off the reading room is a bathroom that could rival any ritzy hotel. It’s tiled all in white with a light blue vanity that is intentionally weathered to look like an antique. A small furry stool sits in front of a makeup vanity. I pull out the stool and have a seat. I’ve never had a makeup vanity before. My bathroom has never been big enough.

As with the bookshelves, the vanity is full of my stuff. They not only carted all my belongings across the country, but they unpacked everything into the walk-in closet adjacent to the bathroom. When I opened the drawers, I found little heart-shaped sachets smelling of vanilla in my underwear drawer.

Edon and his family had thought of everything. And how do I repay them? By lying. I press my hands against my face. I have to make this right.

Outside, a wolf fills the air with a mournful, lonely howl. I feel like howling back. Maybe yelling would make me feel better.

No. Being truthful with Edon will make me feel better. The problem is that he hasn’t come home. Finally, after waiting for two hours, I go to my reading room and pull out the sofa to make a bed for myself.

Once under the covers, I give Anne a call.

"Cassie, how are you? I’ve been worried," she says.

"Oh, Annie, these people are so nice,” I lament.

“How is that a bad thing and what do you mean by ‘these people?’”

"Edon lives here with his extended family. Everyone has been so good to me. He paid for me to fly first class. The movers were part of his family. He even built two rooms onto his house, just for me." I lift the sheet over my head, embarrassed at how little I brought to this business deal. "They even offered me an accounting job with the company."

"That’s so great. Why do you sound like someone shot your dog?"

"Because it is all so great. Edon has gone out of his way to make this perfect for me and all I’ve done is bring him a bad attitude and a lot of baggage." Why did I bring Cody up during dinner? I could see that distressed Edon.

"So what are you going to do?"

"Confess."

"Do you really think that’s a good idea? What if they start asking questions to verify your story? Won’t that tip Cody off?"

"I have to risk it."

Anne falls silent. "Be careful then."

"I will." Out in the main room, I hear a door latch click and then the sound of boots on the floorboards. "Hey, Anne, I have to go. Edon’s back."

"Are you really going to tell him tonight? Why not wait a while? Let them get to know you first and then explain what happened."

"We’re supposed to get married in nine days. It’s better if I tell him now." The footsteps pause outside my door. I cup my hand around the phone and whisper. "I’m going now."

"Good luck," she says.

I cross my fingers and wish for the same. "Edon, is that you?" I call.

"Yes. Go back to sleep. I’m sorry I disturbed you."

I scramble out of bed and snatch my robe off the floor. I stuff my arms into the silky pink sleeves and hustle for the door.

"Edon, wait. I wasn’t asleep."

He half turns toward me, keeping his face averted.

"Please, shouldn’t we talk?" I say.

He hesitates and then nods tersely. "Put some clothes on. I’ll meet you in the kitchen."

I look down. My robe is floor length. Not even my toes are showing.

"If you come out in that, I’ll need to leave again. I can’t control myself around you." He casts a fierce glance in my direction and then disappears down the hall.

I close the door and wilt against it. The heat in that gaze is enough to set my entire body on fire. It’s probably wrong to feel this way, but I can’t help but be thrilled that Edon is so attracted to me. I’ve never been the object of desire for any man—certainly not Cody, who often told me that my body looked more like a sack of potatoes and that I should exercise more than my mouth.

If we can manage to get past my ugly past, maybe there’s hope for this marriage. I hurry to the closet and throw on a baggy sweatshirt from my college days and a pair of Ravenclaw sleep pants Anne gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago.

Edon is already in the kitchen, heating something on the stove. I take a deep breath and get a whiff of that same scent from earlier—a sharp, crisp breeze. I’d make a fortune if I could bottle that up.

"Do you want a cup of hot chocolate?" he asks, his back still turned on me.

"Sure." I bypass the kitchen table and take a seat at the granite counter. I don’t know that I’ll be able to eat at the table without remembering Edon devouring my breasts.

He sets a steaming mug in front of me, takes a look at my baggy clothes and scowls. "Don’t you have anything less revealing?"

"This is revealing?" I pull the sweatshirt away from my stomach. "I could fit another person in here."

"Your shoulder is showing." He points his mug at my right shoulder.

I glance over to see a sliver of skin peeking out of the collar. Affronted, I pull the fabric up and glare back. "What about you? I can see the outline of your package in your jeans. Maybe you shouldn’t walk around screaming I have a huge dick in my pants."

"The outline of my what?" His eyes fall to the front of his jeans. "This is how my jeans always look. I’m not screaming at anyone," he protests, but moves adroitly to stand close enough to the counter so I can’t see anything from the waist down.

"Neither am I," I reply, hiding a smile behind a sip of the cocoa.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Any humor that was percolating from that last exchange is killed. I rub a finger across my chin. "From the way you were surprised by the contract, I’m guessing you didn’t know much about it before I arrived."

"That’s true, but once I saw you, I knew Ronnie had made the right call. But you want to back out now, don’t you?" He sounds unhappy, but once he finds out about my past, he’ll be singing a different tune.

"No, but you might." I set my mug aside, lace my fingers together and face up to my consequences. I’m done with running. "Three years ago, I was stopped for failure to signal on a right-hand turn. The cop told me that if I met him for coffee, he’d rip up the ticket. I should’ve known right then and there he was a dirty cop, but, instead, I thought he was cute and I didn’t have the money for a ticket. I was just out of college and hadn’t found a job yet." I gloss over the dating stuff. I know Edon doesn’t want to hear that. I can already see him tensing up over the mention of my ex and I haven’t even said Cody’s name.

"He gave me a tip about an opening for a job at a payroll processing company. I worked at home and helped to issue paychecks for seven companies. A little over six months ago, I was called in by supervisor who said that over a half million dollars had been stolen from these companies. Apparently, my ex was logging into my computer and diverting all the retirement matching funds to some off-shore bank account."

"But you got blamed because it was your computer," Edon concludes. "You weren’t charged with any embezzlement or Ronnie would have found out."

"No. The company let me go quietly because they didn’t want the negative publicity, but they warned me that if I ever tried to get another job in accounting or finance, they’d call the police."

"Was that the end of it?" He gestures to my chin. "You keep touching your scar. I sense there’s more to your story."

I drop my hand from my scar. I hadn’t realized I’d been touching it. "Yeah. You see, I took precautions. I don’t know why, but whenever someone logs into my computer, I have my camera take a picture. I was able to match up the webcam shots to the login times when the money was transferred. The company said that they would investigate. The next thing I know, I wake up to find my ex on top of me, holding a knife under my chin."

There’s a cracking sound and I look up to see the granite counter under Edon’s hand crumbling. He waves his granite-covered hand as if nothing out of the ordinary has happened and gestures for me to continue.

"I tried finding a new job, but everywhere I turned, someone wanted a reference. I was running out of money when Ronnie approached me outside a restaurant that had just told me that they weren’t hiring despite the ‘help wanted’ sign in the window. It appeared to be the perfect solution to all of my problems. I’d get away from Cody. I’d get a job somewhere and I’d have a family, but after learning that you have your entire family here, it doesn’t seem right to bring that kind of trouble to your doorstep." I set my mug on the counter and get to my feet. "I can’t pay you the ten grand back right away, but if you give me time, I’ll pay off my debt."

"Sit down," he snaps. "Please." He comes around the counter to take my elbow. "I have my own secrets. The entire Rule clan does, and that’s why Ronnie didn’t ask many questions about your past."

"What kind of secrets?" They can’t be as terrible as mine. I let him lead me into the great room. The big stone fireplace still has a few embers glowing. Edon throws a log in and stokes the fire a bit. There’s a crackle and then a flash of light as the fire takes hold.

I take a seat on the sofa. There are a few dog hairs on the cushion. I pick one up and hold it to the light. It glimmers, almost as if there’s a metallic sheen to it. I wonder what kind of dog this is and why I haven’t seen it.

I open my mouth to ask, but the sight before me is so astonishing that I forget I even know how to talk. A big, silver wolf sits in front of the fireplace where Edon once was. The same glimmer that emanated from the single strand of hair surrounds the wolf like a halo.

"Ahh!" I squeak, scrambling into the corner of the sofa. "Edon. Edon," I say a little louder. "Edon, there’s a wolf in your living room."

The wolf gets up and trots over to me. I cower and hold my hands up, but the wolf doesn’t attack. Instead, he lays his nose a few inches away from my foot and stares at me through silvery-gray eyes. Familiar silver-gray eyes. Really familiar.

I twist around and search for Edon, but find only empty rooms. I swing back to the wolf at my feet. "No." I shake my head. Edon must’ve spiked the hot chocolate. Alcohol and exhaustion equals crazy thoughts. Get it together, Cassie.

The wolf creeps closer. This time he nuzzles his head under my hand. His fur is thick and soft. There’s no sign he’s going to hurt me. He seems content to sit next to the sofa while I pet him. Maybe he’s a tame wolf. Or maybe he’s just a really, really big dog. It’s not like I’m a dog expert and I know every breed that exists.

I relax and sink my fingers into his pelt. "You’re a good doggie, aren’t you?"

He dips his head, as if he’s nodding his agreement.

"Smart, too?"

I swear he understands me. I scratch the big boy under his chin. "Where’s your owner? Where’s Edon?"

The wolf backs away and then his form begins to shimmer and glow. The light bursts and my eyesight is obscured for a second. I blink to clear my vision and when I do, the wolf is gone and a naked Edon sits in his place.

If I were a fainting girl, I’d be out cold. As it is, I’m super grateful I’m sitting down.

"When you said you had a secret, you weren’t kidding," I say when I find my voice. "Aunt Steph told me the Rules were different."

"We are." He pulls a blanket off the back of the sofa and wraps it around his waist.

I avert my eyes. "All of you?"

"All twenty-four of us, yes."

"Is it just wolves? Like if I find a squirrel on the property, is that a Rule, too?" My mind is in overdrive. Are all the animals I’ve ever come in contact with shifters? What about flies? Or spiders? I cover my mouth in horror. How many people have I squashed underneath the heel of my shoe?

The corner of his mouth lifts. "No squirrels. Not as far as I know of. The only shifters that exist are those that are, uh, well, wolves, big cats, bears." He pauses and scratches the back of his head.

"Predators?" I make an educated guess.

"And humans are the biggest predators of us all." He reaches over and swipes a finger across my chin.

I shiver. Yes, humans are filled with some of the worst ideas and instincts. If I were a shifter, I wouldn’t be afraid of Cody. I’d turn into a giant wolf and claw his heart out. Wouldn’t that be a sick surprise? He’d be like Red Riding Hood and I’d be the Big Bad Wolf who ate his heart. "Can anyone be a shifter?" I ask.

"No. Not that I know of. It’s hereditary."

"Besides the whole shifting thing, do you get anything else? Like do you live forever? Are you tied to the moon?" My eyes shoot to my hairline as a thought occurs to me. "Was that you out there in the woods howling?"

A slight pink tinge at the top of his cheeks are a dead giveaway, but he answers in a cool tone. "I am stronger than a human, but no, we do not live longer. Our life span is generally the same. We can heal some wounds by shifting, but not all." He points to his eyes. "In the fire that killed my parents, my eyes were singed by the smoke and never recovered." He turns slightly and I see a web of scars on his back. "I received these from fights with my packmates."

I clap a hand against my mouth and gasp. "Holy shit. Those look painful."

"Scars are marks of a victory. You got hurt but you survived." He looks pointedly at my chin.

A victory? I’d never seen it that way. I’ve always felt like I’d been a sucker—falling for Cody, letting him use me, and then reducing me to a penniless beggar who had to agree to a marriage with a stranger. I reach toward him. "May I?" I ask, gesturing toward his back.

He lowers himself onto the sofa and sits quietly while I trace a finger over a set of three claw marks on his lower back. His muscles bunch under his skin and goosebumps dot the surface. I can hear his breath catch and then release in a harsh rush. I curl my fingers into my palm, full of amazement.

Cody could barely suffer my hand on his arm. He told me once I was too fat and ugly for him to be turned on, but Edon is aroused by the slightest touch.

The encounter with Ronnie was random, the decision to accept a marriage proposal with a stranger was a risk, but sitting here in the middle of the night with the big man at my side seems completely right.

"What now?" I ask softly.

"Now I’ll go and kill Cody and you can return to your regular life."

I grab his wrist. "I don’t want you to kill Cody! You’ll go to prison."

Edon gives me a look that says I shouldn’t say such nonsensical things. As a wolf, he’d be able to disguise the killing. Still, I don’t want Edon to take someone’s life on my behalf or put himself in danger.

I am comforted by the fact that every one of Edon’s people would be able to fight Cody with ease—even the women like Aunt Steph and Ronnie. But…can wolves stop bullets?

"Cody would have a gun," I add.

"He wouldn’t be able to hit us. We would be too fast for him. His throat would be open before he could chamber a bullet," Edon says bluntly.

"That’s good." And it is.

"Let me take care of Cody. I don’t like that you’re here with me because I was the only option you have in life."

I wince. "When you put it like that, it sounds terrible."

"But isn’t it the truth? You wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the threat on your life."

"Yes, but marriage can be between two people who respect each other. There doesn’t need to be love. Love complicates things. And frankly, business contracts last longer than most marriages. What’s wrong with a marriage deal like this? You agreed to it." A concern pops into my head. "But I’m not a shifter. Is that a problem? Aren’t we biologically different? How can we—" I gesture between us. "How can a human and a shifter be a couple?"

"In human form, there is no problem having sex, if that’s what you’re asking."

Now I’m the one blushing. "I was asking," I admit. From what I saw by the light of the fire before Edon covered himself with a blanket, his body is completely human. Even his thick penis looked the same—albeit longer and larger than I’d ever encountered either in real life or in pictures. "So you and I could sleep together and it would be the same as with any other person?"

He hesitates, clearly weighing his words. "No," he says finally. "When a shifter finds his true mate, there’s a…mechanism that locks them together. It’s to help the mate bond solidify and impregnate the female."

I have so many questions. Mechanism? True mate? Mate bond? I ask the most important one. "Does any of this hurt?"

"When your parents passed, did you feel pain? When you discovered you were betrayed by this other man, did you hurt?"

"Yes." I press a hand against my heart, remembering the way it ached when I was twenty and lost both my parents, just like Edon. "But I was angrier when I learned what Cody did. I guess I didn’t love him." I blink at Edon in surprise at this revelation. Losing a loved one is agonizing. Cody’s actions filled me with turmoil, but of a different kind—a certain self-loathing that I could be taken in like I was.

"It’s like that for us, too. If we lose a true mate, the pain is often too great to overcome. My mother chose to die with my father rather than live apart. I would make the same choice." He looks me in the eye, his silver-gray eyes serious and grave. "I won’t have a marriage without love."

A lump forms in my stomach. "You’re saying I should leave."

"You don’t believe in love,” is his simple reply.

His unemotional response irks me. Doesn’t he want me to stay? Doesn’t he care? It’s suddenly vitally important that he cares.

"I didn’t believe in shapeshifters a half an hour ago either. Give a girl time to adjust," I retort angrily.

He cocks his head, trying to read me. “How long will you need?”

“I don’t know. A week?” A few days? I feel like I’m halfway there already. This special place has caught hold of me. I like Edon’s people. I like Edon’s home. Most of all, I like Edon.

“Let’s sleep on it and we’ll discuss the matter in the morning.”

I swallow a lump of disappointment. It’s not the unequivocal "yes, you should stay" I was hoping for, but neither is it, "here’s the suitcase, don’t let the door hit your ass on your way out."

After a quiet "goodnight," he leaves for his bedroom. I remain seated, the dying firelight flickering before my eyes. Edon’s clothes are in a pile before the hearth. My head reels with everything I’ve learned. Shifters exist. This gorgeous man believes in true love. Cody won’t be a problem anymore, which means I can leave if I want. Sure, I won’t be able to go back into the financial field, but I can still make a living.

Like Edon said, my options aren’t limited to running away to a commune in upstate New York. I should be jubilant, but instead, I feel sort of hollow. It’s becoming increasingly important that Edon doesn’t let me leave. Not for safety reasons, but because…I can’t imagine not being with him. He’s the burst of light in my dark corner. I feel like if I lost him, I’d be wandering around in the dark for the rest of my life.