Eastern Tennessee, present day

He hated twilight, sitting alone with the haunted memories of the woman who broke his heart.

Cell phone in hand, Nolan perched in his granddaddy’s old rocker on the lodge’s back porch. Before him stretched out the rolling green vista of hills peppered with fir, maple and oak trees. A ridge flanked the right of the lodge, where a full moon hung low in the sky.

Vineyards were hidden by banks of evergreens. Cicadas hummed in the trees as two hummingbirds fought over use of a feeder. The air was redolent with pine, freshly mown grass and fresh air, but he barely noticed.

For the third time he glanced at the text from his distant cousin in Montana. Aiden Mitchell, alpha of the Mitchell Ranch, asked a favor.

He seldom dealt with Aiden. Oh, he’d kept in touch now and then. Sent Aiden and Nia a lovely handmade quilt to celebrate their baby’s birth six months ago. Nia had written him in thanks, inviting him to the ranch, but they both knew he’d never leave here.

Nolan’s chest felt hollow as he contemplated Aiden’s request.

The Silver Wizard’s edict stands firm. Either Jordan Baxter marries you and becomes your permanent mate, or she goes to Shifter Prison.

Jordan. That woman.

Life had taken an abrupt twist six years ago when Jordan, the only woman he’d ever loved, departed his life, leaving only dusty tracks behind and a permanent ache in his chest where he used to have a heart.

Once he’d thought they’d share this special time together, the time of twilight just before the sun’s last rays vanished from the sky. Talk, sip wine, talk some more before heading up to their bedroom overlooking the hills and valleys and then make long, sweet love.

Nolan thought about the request and rocked some more. Shifter prison was serious. What had Jordan done?

I don’t need a mate. I have the magick.

The grapevines in the fields below thrived on twilight magick shimmering through the forests. Fae who lived in these woods protected the land and the pack. They replenished the vines in gratitude for Nolan’s sharing the special vintage he made especially for them. Symbiotic relationship, that.

The rocker creaked back and forth. He sipped herbal tea and cast an appreciative eye around the porch. Most of the pack had already finished eating in the lodge dining hall, and headed to their rooms or their respective cabins.

Aware of their scent even before the door opened, he remained focused on the hills. Charlene and Roy’s daughter inched her way outside, her feet barely making a sound. Good stealth for one so young. Kacey was only seven.

He knew his duty, knew what he must do. Still, he remained silent.

“Ecscue me for disturbing you, alpha, but mommy and daddy said I have to confess what I did wrong.” The little girl approached, stinking of fear.

Best not to prolong her misery. Nolan glanced at her. She touched her forehead in the usual measure of respect, refusing to meet his gaze. Few in the pack did.

“Go on,” he told her in his gentlest voice.

Her lower lip wobbled and she pushed a hand through her strawberry blonde hair, her other hand bunched in her Hello Kitty T-shirt. “I stole Summer Harvest wine and drank some.”

Alarmed, he studied the child. “How much is ‘some?’”

“A sip.”

Relieved, he softened his voice. “Did you like it?”

This was all important. If she did, he’d have to take extra measures for the child to understand the gravity of the situation. Every child in his pack was allowed half a glass, a “tasting” on their thirteenth birthday of the sweetest wine in order to test their palate and at a special coming of age celebration.

But no Lupines were allow to drink that vintage. It was reserved for the Fae.

Her tiny face wrinkled. “No. It was yucky.”

Biting back a smile at the rare vintage called “yucky” by a seven-year-old, he gave her a stern look. “Why did you drink it?”

“Because Bobby is always boating that he can have a taste his next birthday. He thinks ‘cause he’s turning thirteen, he’s special.”

“Boasting,” he corrected. “No excuse. You know the punishment.”

Trembling she braced her hands on the railing. He stood, removed his leather belt, glanced over his shoulder to ensure her parents watched through the window.

Gods, he hated doling out discipline, but this was essential for order. It was tradition for the alpha to punish children’s transgressions.

Tradition he hated, but he carried it on because it was expected.

Nolan folded the belt and gave the girl a gentle smack on the butt. Barely a tap, but she howled.

“Return to your parents and apologize.”

She turned, tears streaming down her face. Suddenly she ran toward him, hugging him tight. Nolan’s heart turned over. Sighing, he went to the rocker with Kacey on his lap.

“I, I sorry!”

“I know honey.” He stroked her head as she rested against him and then began to sing to quiet her sobs. The local Fae said he had the best voice in the hills, for a Lupine, anyway.

His thoughts drifted back to the time when another seven-year-old had come to him for comfort. A seven-year-old with tangled red curls, a blush on her cheeks and fire in her eyes, even at such a young age. His father, their alpha, had hit her much harder with his leather belt and she refused to cry.

Only in his arms had she released her tears. He’d been twelve and in love with her even back then.

I wonder where Jordan went?

It hurt too much to contemplate. She’d run away and his heart never recovered from that open, throbbing wound.

After a few minutes, her eyes closed. He stood, Kacey in his arms, and handed her off to her father, who finally came outside with his mate.

“Thank you, Nolan,” Charlene whispered. She looked at her mate. “I wish you had never taken that wine. I should have told you it was a bad idea.”

Nolan gave her a hard stare. “Take your daughter and return to your home.”

As the mother did, he turned to Roy, the father. Nolan seized his throat in a hard grip. Roy gasped.

“What were you thinking, leaving a bottle of our finest, rarest magick vintage out for your daughter to find? I should lash you, not your sweet girl.”

Roy struggled to speak as Nolan squeezed tighter. “I, I, wanted…celebrate with my mate. They say… it enhances lovemaking and gives you a rush… had…only one glass. Left it open…forgot. I’m s-sorry! Charlene had nothing to do with it.”

“That wine is reserved for the Fae. Do you know what could have happened to Kacey if she took more than a few sips? She could have died!” Disgusted he shoved hard, throwing Roy against the wall. The Lupine landed with another gasp.

“You’ll spend the next two months in the vineyard. You’re demoted from working inside. Next time you pull a stunt like that, I’ll tear you apart. Understand?”

Roy nodded, hanging his head. “I’m sorry, alpha.”

“Go home, tend to your daughter.”

He resumed his seat as Roy fled. Tomorrow Charlene and Roy would both work the vines for an hour with their daughter, to teach her the value of work and as discipline for failing to watch over the vintage Kacey had sipped.

The ache in his chest increased. Once he’d imagined he and Jordan would have a passel of young of their own, children clustered around them like the grapes clinging to the vines.

That dream was dead.

He turned over his cell phone. Tomorrow he’d call Aiden and give his answer.

Jordan would have to learn to like prison.

Restlessness claimed him. An itching began between his shoulders, a bad omen that never failed to alert him to danger. Yet nothing was wrong. The Fae’s report last night of a disturbance turned out to be only local boys getting rowdy.

But his guts warned otherwise this time.

Something flickered on the distant ridge. Not a reflection of the dying sun, no, this was a wisp of smoke curling upward, tendrils of blackness inching skyward. All his instincts screamed to full alert. Fires here in this section of eastern Tennessee were taken seriously by both Others and Skins alike. Everyone remembered the devastating Gatlinburg fires that claimed lives and destroyed property. The drought was over, but still, unknown smoke struck fear into the hearts of wolf and man alike.

He ran to the brass bell hanging on the railing and reached for the whistle held in a special container above it. Nolan blew hard and winced.

No sound came forth. None heard by Skin ears. In the distance, a neighbor’s dog howled and trees rustled. Fairy lights blinked like firefly lights in the trees as dozens of sprites flew upward, and hovered near him.

Nolan didn’t waste words. He pointed. Dozens of sprites raced toward the smoke, while others darted back into the trees to warn their more powerful queen.

He could do nothing but watch and wait. That ridge was nearly impassable. Calling the local Skin fire department would waste time. The Fae could extinguish the blaze by the time dispatchers put out the call.

A few minutes later, the smoke turned white, and then vanished, indicating the Fae had succeeded in extinguishing the blaze.

Night began falling in earnest as two sprites flew back to him, their gold and blue lights faded. He sat on his rocker and waited for them to make the first move. They would not until the Fae leader arrived.

She appeared as a shining silver light, faint as a moonbeam. Two attendants materialized before she did, bowing low before their Fae leader.

Nolan’s heart raced as he stood and whistled. One of the younger pack members hurried outside with the silver cup of wine the Fae leader enjoyed.

The silver light grew stronger and then shimmered into the form of a petite adult woman clad all in silver, her long hair burnished with silver, her eyes glowing blue.

He gestured for her to sit and handed her the cup. She drank deeply, then handed it back to him.

Nolan motioned for two additional cups for the attendants. Risa and Elaine were loyal to their queen and always refused to drink before she did.

They politely thanked him for the offer and drank as they stood by Selene’s chair.

“You are too kind to us, Nolan,” Risa told him, her green gaze filled with admiration.

“And so handsome as well,” Elaine giggled.

Uncomfortable, he nodded at them. The two Fae were Selene’s favored assistants, but they had a crush on him that made things… awkward.

Selene frowned. “Ladies, I need a private word with the alpha. Go attend to your chores.”

The pair sighed. “Yes, your Majesty.”

They turned into glowing bubbles of light and vanished.

“This is the second fire this week. They are growing stronger.” The Fae leader studied him quietly.

He nodded.

“It took ten of us to extinguish the fire. Our magick is depleted.”

Nolan whipped out his cell phone and made a call. “Ten cases to the forest drop point tonight.”

The wine would, as always, refresh the Fae and help them rest to regain their stores of magick powers.

The Fae glanced at him as he hung up. “You are a strong alpha, Nolan. They do as you bid. They always do. You could use a challenge.”

Nolan retreated to his rocking chair. “I’m challenged enough by the Harlow pack and their threats and arson attempts.”

“If you had more females in your pack, it would help.”

He said nothing. Selene’s band of Fae were all female, and their strength came from the earth and the moon.

“You need a good female. A mate.” Selene gestured to the full moon. “You’ve been alone too long, Nolan. A good mate can tend the grapes, help you with fighting those infiltrators. All we can do is put out the fires. Not end the blood feud with the Harlows.”

Nolan remained silent. Words were wasted on the Fae leader when she got a notion into her mind. The blood feud, started more than sixty years ago as a boundary war, had flared up now like a dying fire. His father had poured gasoline on that fire during a fight with Brandon Harlow three decades ago. Brandon’s mate Trixie had tried to stop them from attacking each other and in the chaos, Brandon slashed her with his claws. Frail Trixie died in her mate’s arms.

“My people grow tired of this. They say the vines need a female presence, a strong female.” Selene leaned forward, her silver hair curtaining her face. “You have none in your pack. You need an alpha female at your side to teach the females.”

Frustrated, he clutched the arms of the rocker so hard the wood cracked. The Fae queen was right. What happened with Roy and Charlene was a good example of it. Had Charlene stood up to her mate, Roy would have thought twice before helping himself to the magick vintage.

“What do you want from me? I don’t want a mate. A woman can’t help me run the pack.”

The queen frowned. “Do not become like your father, Nolan. He was a just, but hard Lupine with little regard for the females in his pack.”

Before he could voice a protest, the queen shapeshifted. Nolan’s heart raced as his father suddenly sat before him, with the same gray threaded through his brown hair, the same severe scowl. He’d forgotten about the Fae’s ability to glamour themselves as other beings.

“You are not me, Nolan. You are the leader now, and I know you have regard for females,” the queen said in his father’s voice.

“I do,” he snapped in a rough voice, spooked by the living vision of the man he’d admired and detested all at once. “Now change back.”

She shifted back to her regular form and he rubbed his chest. “You have an odd sense of humor, Selene. I’ll forgive you that little trick because I like you and we need each other. But I don’t need a mate, no matter what you say.”

“But you do.” Selene’s gaze softened. “Have not you yearned to fall in love and make a female Lupine your own?”

He thought about Jordan, the only woman he ever did love.

“No.”

The terse answer made her frown. “No matter, Nolan. Love or not, you will have a mate. Take one by the next full moon or we shall no longer aid you in growing the vines and fighting your enemies.”

Dread kicked him in the chest. He knew what she meant. Without the Fae to lovingly tend the vines and infuse them with magick, they would wither and die. Fires started by the rival pack who wanted his territory would burn fierce and harm all living things.

He might end up dying in the very lodge he vowed to never let go, to protect with life and limb.

The only answer was to find a mate worthy enough to kick ass when warranted. He only knew of one suitable female.

Jordan, the one who had broken his heart six years ago…

Unless she preferred prison over marriage to him.