Prologue
My mother lifts three floorboards in my bedroom and shoves me into the crawl space. Her hands tremble as she grips my shoulders. “Listen to me, Willow. Te quiero more than you could ever know. No matter what happens, do not come out. No matter what you hear.” Before I can respond, she lowers the boards back into place, sealing me in darkness.
For a moment, the thunder of my heartbeat drowns out everything else. Then the cabin door creaks open. Footsteps. Heavy. Intentional.
My mother says something—too soft for me to catch—and voices answer her. Then I hear it: the sickening crack of bones as she shifts into her wolf form.
The cabin erupts.
Furniture splinters. Glass shatters. Snarls rip through the air. The walls shake so violently dust rains down on me.
And then—
A wolf’s whimper. A sharp snap. Silence.
My mother is dead.
A scream claws up my throat, but I crush it behind my hand. My entire body trembles uncontrollably.
Footsteps echo through the cabin, slow and certain. “Little pup,” a deep voice growls, “I know you’re hiding. I can smell you.” He enters my room.
My closet door bangs open.
Fabric rustles as he searches.
He drops to one knee, checking under my bed.
Then—tap. Tap. Tap.
A shoe strikes the floorboards directly above me.
The boards groan.
A nail pops.
Light spills in as the floor opens.
A face appears—strikingly handsome, with piercing pale-blue eyes and a mane of wild, blonde curls. A wicked smile curls across his lips.
“Found you,” he smiles.
My heart slams against my ribs.
I scream.
