Mac was waiting just outside the apartment block, his wide shoulders propping up a wall and face turned to the sky.

“I’m going to hang back here for a bit,” I informed him. We crossed the street and drifted into the shadows, taking up position across from the building.

He shrugged, going back to propping up a wall. “To see if Khain comes back?”

As good a reason as any. “Yep.”

“Not because you want to meet your mate?”

My mouth dropped open, catching flies.

Angling his eyes my way, he took one look at my face and broke into a shit-eating grin that was more reminiscent of the alternate version of Mac, that left me having to double check which world I was standing in. Which reminded me, I’d already met the woman I wanted as my mate, so why did every cell in my body demand that I find this woman? The one who smelled of apples, crisp and mouthwateringly juicy. It was as if her scent had been made for me. It was intoxicating and perfect, slipping through my body and tightening everything in all the right places. Seductive. My body reacted on an instinctual level, the scent plucking at the strings of control that I’d wrapped around the wolf inside of me, demanding that I shed the humanity and react as the beast I really was.

“It’s pretty intense, right?”

Once again, I double checked where I was.

Slowly, I shook my head, shoving my hands into my pockets and forced myself to lean back against the wall. “I’m not sure I know what you mean.”

Mac sucked air in through his teeth, the sound mocking. “Khain’s been here, or one of his minion foxen has. The woman who lives in that apartment had a scent I can’t smell, but is clearly sending you crazy.” He paused, not carrying on.

“And?”

“And something weird is going on.”

“Like what?” Mac had been doing this longer than me, he’d fought Khain, had traveled to Pravus—The demon’s home world—and returned, something unheard of before. He was a warrior and despite the fact that, up until this moment, I’d pretty much labeled the guy an asshole inside my head, I needed him. Whatever was going on, from the second I’d scented her, I knew that I’d die before letting Khain get his demon claws on her.

“Why didn’t he take her?”

“She isn’t there.”

His face screwed up into a scowl, before flattening into intense concentration. “She was there, then she wasn’t.”

“Cat?” I offered his previous explanation, even though I knew it was bullshit. I’d felt the same thing.

“I don’t know how much you know, but one true mates are special.”

Duh, of course they were. Every shiften breathing must have heard the stories by now. I hadn’t met a single male who didn’t know the prophecy by heart.

In twenty-five years, half-angel, half-human mates will be discovered living among you.

This is how you will rebuild.

Warriors, all, with names like flora.

Save them from themselves, for they will not know their foreordination.

They will not be bound by shiften law, but their destinies entwine so strongly with their fated mates, that any not mated by their 30th year will be moonstruck. Those who are lost may be dangerous.

A pledged female will have free will that shiften know not. Never forget this or it will cause grave trouble.

Her body may respond to any, until she is mated in a ceremony of her choosing, then she will acknowledge only one male, as he becomes her one true mate, and she, his one true mate. He shall be sworn to her in her life’s purpose, to rebuild the shiften race, so that they may fight the evil Matchitehew and protect the humans from him, until the day he draws his last breath.

So yeah, those women were special. And they weren’t for the likes of me. “What makes you think she’s a one true mate?” Talk about shattering a male’s dreams.

Stretching his arms out, he folded them behind his head and braced them against the wall as a pillow, a smug smile stretching his lips. “They have these … powers, passed on from their father, I suppose.”

“The angel?”

“Yup, that’s the one.”

“You think she used her power to disappear?” My eyes hadn’t drifted from the window that I knew was hers. Light peeped through the thick drapes, giving credence to Mac’s theory.

“Maybe. We’ll know when we meet her.”

I couldn’t keep the sarcasm from my voice, “Because she’ll be twenty-five years old with no father?”

“Right.” His eyes slid to me, as if trying to tell me something, but he stayed silent.

“How did you guys know?” Six of the KSRT had already found their half-human, half-angel mates, a fact that had given the shiften population something we hadn’t had in a long time. Hope. That we might find our own mate, a woman to adore and worship, a family to raise and love. It was all a shiften wanted in life, and exactly what Khain had tried to take away from us when he’d destroyed our females twenty-five years ago.

“Crew read Ella.” He referred to Trevor’s mate, the first of the one true mates to be found. “The rest of us, we just … knew.”

Before I could press him for more information, the front door to the apartment building cracked open and a small figure slipped out, scurrying along the sidewalk. Dressed all in black, the person blended with the shadows, head down and on a mission. Without changing pace, the person cut across the street, heading for the park. A light breeze lifted the leaves on the trees lining the park, caressing the branches to sway back and forth, tugging at the hood covering the person’s head. A hand whipped up to secure it, tiny and fragile and most definitely female.

The breeze also carried her scent to my nose. A low growl escaped my lips as I breathed deeper, my lungs expanding until I couldn’t suck in any more air. Tasting her on my tongue, I closed my eyes, reveling in the amazing smell. Granny Smiths—an apple from my home country, known for their sharpness. But they were also sweet in the most addictive way, the sharpness fading until you took another bite, and before you knew it, you’d finished the whole fruit and was licking juice from your fingers.

My legs were moving before my brain caught up, the need to taste her, to smell her, to know her driving me forward.

“And there you go.” Mac’s words registered, then were dismissed by the single minded purpose that hummed through me.

The gap was closing between myself and the woman. What am I going to say to her? The thought would have slowed any sane male down, but my legs were still moving, showing no sign of restraint. If she was a one true mate, then she was in danger. I could offer her protection. As a cop, of course. Convince her to come into the station and… My mind stuttered at the thought of other males in her vicinity, irrational rage firing up inside me and heating my blood. Unmated males. Scenting her. Wanting to be close to her. Wanting to—

“Why are you following me?” Her voice drifted on the air from where she stood on the winding path ahead of me. She hadn’t turned around, hadn’t glanced back.

I stopped, words failing me. A heavy silence had descended over the park, creating a tiny world within a world. I felt Mac move behind me and held up a hand, silently warning him to stay back. Fumbling for the right words, and feeling more like a pup than a fully grown male wolfen, I opened my mouth. “Because you smell like apples.”

What … the … fuck?

Her head tilted, her back stiffening, but she still didn’t turn around.

Probably didn’t want to face the weirdo sniffo stalker.

A snort came from behind me, the strangled sound of laughter being muffled.

Dragging a hand over my face, I tried again, “We’re cops.”

This time, it was the woman who snorted, her head shaking back and forth, twisting the fabric of her hood. “Seriously? That’s—” She broke off at the sound of a low growl.

Silently cursing, I glared back at my colleague who was about to get his ass handed to him.

He raised his hands in a wasn’t me gesture, and the smell of sulfur and smoke filled my nose. Khain! I spun in the direction of the imminent attack.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her turn. She’d smelled him, too, which meant it was true. Human’s couldn’t smell Pravus, but half-angel, half-humans definitely could.

Relief collided with despair, smashing it into tiny pieces as I realized what this confirmed. A one true mate could have any male they desired, she could choose another. Should choose another. Any of the shiften would be more than happy to take her as their mate. Surely she was destined for a great warrior, not a wolfen with no future? But that meant that I could find the woman of my dreams, my Blue. But I wanted this woman in front of me, every instinct I possessed demanding that she was the one for me. Fuck! None of it made sense.

“Head in the game, Oddballs,” Mac snarled, readying himself for a fight.

A large foxen materialized to the right of the woman, over by a patch of straggly looking bushes. His eyes locked on myself and Mac for a brief moment, then he was moving, the woman his obvious target.

On a growl, I made to intercept, Mac hot on my heels, our growls ripping through the air.

She stood there, frozen in shock. Then she stumbled back, throwing out her hand as if that would do a damn thing.

The world slowed, until it was almost as if time was standing still. We were still moving, but the foxen had slowed to a crawl, his face contorted and sweat streaking his face, his arms and legs grinding through the air as if they were being pushed back. Muscles bulged and the sound of a bone snapping fired out like a gunshot.

I was close enough to her to see the tiny strain lines grip her mouth, to pinpoint the exact moment when her stomach revolted and she spun around, clutching her stomach as she almost emptied it.

My world lurched, teetering on its axis. Smooth ivory skin, smattering of freckles, large brown eyes, curved cheeks, and full bottom lip. It was her! “Blue?”

She looked up at the sound of my voice, disbelief shining out of her eyes. Red curls spiraled out of her hood, and I already knew how they’d feel in my hands, twisting between my fingers as she writhed beneath me.

On a snarl, the foxen reached for her.