Prologue
“Luame, our moon goddess, blesses you.”
I knelt exposed on the rock, clad in nothing but a sheer robe that provided neither cover nor warmth.
The whole of wolf nation spread before me, claiming every square inch and trampling every grass blade in the miles’ wide field. This was a momentous occasion. One waited for and held in anticipation for fifty years, and the weight of that hope fell on my shoulders.
“Daciana, high priestess of the Volana Clan.” The officiant, Boanna, marked my forehead with blessed oil. “Rise, hope of our nation, and find your mate.”
Rising to my feet, I stood tall on the natural, rocky platform that was my throne, my stage, my chopping block.
This was it. The moment every wolf in every clan in every country had been waiting for from the day I was born with the moon goddess’s mark on my stomach where a belly button was supposed to be. I wasn’t born of man and wolf, I was born of Luame, and as her chosen, I became the mother wolf.
Within me was the power of a new generation. On this night, my fated mate would reveal himself to me, the clans, and the world. If my mate was strong, the next generation of werewolves would be strong. If they were weak, the next generation would be weak. And if I died before I found my mate and consummated our bond, then the next generation would be nothing at all. Not wolves, not shifters, not powerful. They’d be human, and the wolf nation would die out. Forever.
Slowly, I turned on the spot—scanning the hundreds upon thousands of faces staring back at me. I tensed to see nothing. No glow. Not even the glow of the moon with it hidden behind passing clouds.
What’s going on? What does this mean? Do I not have— There!
There it was. Shining so brightly it blinded, a heavy, ethereal blueish-white glow surrounded a figure in the distance.
The applause was deafening. The wolves hooted, jumped, and roared as that glow parted the crowd, coming for me.
“Wait— Another,” someone shouted. “Another mate has been chosen!”
I spun around, searching for the voice, but finding Luame’s glow instead. It was true. Another mate had been chosen for me.
“Two fated mates? This hasn’t happened for a century,” Boanna cried. “Not since Thema and her fates brought about the golden age of wolves. This is wonderful. This is—” She choked out a strangled cry that cut off the rest of her sentence.
I didn’t know why until I saw the third glow… and the fourth… and the fifth… and the sixth.
Thud.
The officiant hit the rock hard, passing out so I didn’t have to. The elation going through the crowd was contagious. Overwhelming.
I didn’t know what to do other than stand there naked and eyes blown as my fates came for me, and so did my need for them.
“W-Who?” the officiant croaked, kicking free of her tangled robes to shove back onto her feet. “Who are our champions? Our hopes for the future. Name yourself, blessed fates!”
A deep, sonorous voice cast across the divide. “Edric of the Wind Wolves.”
The officiant gasped, clapping her hand over her mouth. The older, redhaired, red-faced woman was taking all the good reactions for herself, but her reaction was warranted. A wind wolf had never mated with a mother moon wolf like myself before. Together we would create something… new.
“Orion of the Fire Wolves,” called another voice, panging my heart painfully in my chest.
The glows around them were so bright, I squinted to look at them—making it impossible to see what they looked like.
My wolf didn’t care.
She purred in my chest, boiling the heat in my body twenty degrees. She twitched my fingers, trying to make them rip off the scant covering I had. Wouldn’t want it getting in the way of the coming mating.
“A wind wolf and a fire wolf.” Boanna squeezed my hand. “They said it, high priestess. It was prophesied the day of your birth that you would bring Wolf Nation higher than it’s ever gone before or ever will be.”
“Paxton of the Water Wolves.”
Three elements?
“Nyx of the Earth Wolves.”
Four?
“Badr of the Sun Wolves.”
Five!? I swayed on my feet. If my next mate was of the Metal Wolves, it would be my turn to faint.
In the beginning, there were only two clan blessed with the gift of the moon goddess, Luame, and her mate, Ola, the sun god. The moon clan were natural men and women who were blessed to turn into wolves under the moonlight. The sun clan were natural wolves given the gift of walking and talking as men during the day. When the first mother moon wolf mated with her fate from the sun clan, the modern-day wolf shifters would born—equally man and wolf. They also birthed the next generation of elemental wolves, the third element—Fire Wolves.
Thousands of years later, my ancestor mother wolves brought forth the water wolves, wind wolves, earth wolves, and metal wolves. Every generation bringing new power, diversity, and strength into Wolf Nation.
Except for Thema who, along with her two fated mates, created the metal wolves, there’d been no new powers or elements among the clans for over a hundred years. Now here I was with six fates of five different elements. I couldn’t begin to guess the power our children would have. The power we would have when we bonded and our abilities became one. One unit. One pack. One soul.
“Castor.”
Warm, soothing light fell over me, turning my head around. Our eyes connected and my wild, thumping out-of-control heart stopped.
Everything stopped.
No one knew until they stepped upon this rock if Luame would exercise her vicious sense of humor. Some fated mates had a massive age difference. Some were married to other people. Some were strong, enduring alphas matched to weak, after-thought omegas. Some were lifelong enemies, and others were simply good friends who couldn’t fathom touching each other sexually even if it’d save the world.
But Luame had no tricks to play on me that night. Castor was gorgeous. As he neared, the glow faded and revealed six-feet worth of hard, ripping muscle; piercing green eyes; sharp freckle-dusted cheekbones; wavy, auburn locks, and full lips tugged into a smirk that quickened my pulse.
“Of the Sun Wolves,” he finished, closing the distance. Castor cupped my cheek and I swear I cracked a rib, my wolf tried so hard to leap out of my chest and tackle him. “Hello, Daze.”
“It’s…” My mouth was as dry as the Sahara. Behind him, the glows were converging on us—making them way up the rock. My mates. My fates. My future. “It’s… Daciana,” I rasped.
Castor smiled and arousal hit me so fierce, my nipples sat back on their haunches and panted, baring their eagerness to all of Wolf Nation. “Even better.”
“Come, Castor of the sun and Daciana of the moon,” Boanna sounded for all to hear. “Take your place before Luame and be joined as one.”
Castor moved back—smile hanging off his lips… while mine never appeared.
“No.”
“Everyone,” Boanna called, “gather together before— Wait. What did you say, high priestess?”
“I said no.” And then I smiled—wide and smirking. “You’ll have to cook up the next batch of super wolves in someone else’s magic womb, because mine is closed for business.”
She gaped at me over the shocked gasps and confused whispers going through the crowd. “Excuse me? What are you saying?”
“Aww.” I turned on Castor. “Let me clear it up for you.”
Aided by the full and shining moon of Luame, my wolf burst from my skin—shifting in the blink of an eye. Before a single person could gasp, scream, cry, or move, I pounced on Castor, and ripped out his throat.
