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  This one seemed more important somehow.

  And they’d invited—more like demanded—Gina to attend.

  At twenty-six, she knew she was the youngest wolf in the room by far. Most of the wolves were around her father’s age, somewhere in the hundreds. The dark-eyed wolf might have been slightly younger than that, but only slightly if the power radiating off of him was any indication.

  Wolves lived a long, long time. She’d heard stories of her people living into their thousands, but she’d never met any of the wolves who had. The oldest wolf she’d met was a friend of the family, Emeline, who was over five hundred. That number boggled her mind even though she’d grown up knowing the things that went bump in the night were real.

  Actually, she was one of the things that went bump in the night.

  “Are we ready to begin?” Gideon, the Talon Alpha, asked, his voice low. It held that dangerous edge that spoke of power and authority.

  Her wolf didn’t react the way most wolves would, head and eyes down, shoulders dropped. Maybe if she’d been a weaker wolf, she’d have bowed to his power, but as it was, her wolf was firmly entrenched within the Redwoods. Plus, it wasn’t as if Gideon was trying to make her bow just then. No, those words had simply been spoken in his own voice.

  Commanding without even trying.

  Then again, he was an Alpha.

  Kade, her father, looked around the room at each of his wolves and nodded. “Yes. It is time.”

  Their formality intrigued her. Yes, they were two Alphas who held a treaty and worked together in times of war, but she had thought they were also friends.

  Maybe today was even more important than she’d realized.

  Gideon released a sigh that spoke of years of angst and worries. She didn’t know the history of the Talons as well as she probably should have, so she didn’t know exactly why there was always an air of sadness and pain around the Alpha.

  Maybe after this meeting, she’d be able to find out more.

  Of course, in doing so, she’d have to not look at a certain wolf in the corner. His gaze was so intense she was sure he was studying her. She felt it down in her bones, like a fiery caress that promised something more.

  Or maybe she was just going crazy and needed to find a wolf to scratch the itch.

  She might not be looking for a mate, but she wouldn’t say no to something else. Wolves were tactile creatures after all.

  “Gina?”

  She blinked at the sound of Kade’s voice and turned to him.

  She was the only one standing other than the two wolves in charge of security—her uncle Adam, the Enforcer, and the dark-eyed wolf.

  Well, that was embarrassing.

  On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,

  Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~

  Steve Berry

  Doug Scofield

  Kim Guidroz

  Jillian Stein

  InkSlinger PR

  Dan Slater

  Asha Hossain

  Chris Graham

  Pamela Jamison

  Jessica Johns

  Dylan Stockton

  Richard Blake

  BookTrib After Dark

  The Dinner Party Show

  and Simon Lipskar

  Table of Contents

  Book Description

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Epilogue