Chapter One

Sitting on the crystalized shores of the green sand beach, I stretched out my long limbs and basked in the warming sun. My golden-brown hair draped over my shoulder, waving in the breeze skittering over the open ocean.

 If anyone were to ask themselves, “Where is Skylar?” The answer would be here with a book or two as my only companions. The Solace Shifter Pack didn’t have the most extensive library, but new collections ventured in from the southern human kingdom often enough to keep me intrigued.

Today's waves were calm and relaxing, gently rolling and shifting the olivine sand along the isolated alcove. The tall cliffs surrounding this secluded beach were the remnants of an ancient volcano's caldera.

I loved my hideaway and the solitude it often brought me when I needed a break from my shifter pack life. Don’t get me wrong, I care deeply for my people and would do anything to defend them. I wouldn’t hesitate to die protecting my people—we all would. That was the shifter charm for ya, right there. And even though I wasn’t a full-blooded shifter, they were my pack.

A splash caught my attention, and out along the outer corner of the caldera, I could see a group of young shifters diving off the cliff side. I smiled, closed one of my favorite romance books, and sat up to watch the daring teens test their bravery among their friends. This was an old tradition among the Solace pack—a test of their nerves and to see who among them was aware of their animal awakening within.

As shifters, we shared the spirit of an animal that gifted us with heightened abilities and allowed us to change into another form at will. In our early teenage years, tied with puberty, our animal presence awakened, and we became aware of their presence. It wasn’t until early adulthood, however, that we manifested the ability and harnessed enough control over our magic to shift into our animal form, which was unique to each individual shifter.

“I’m surprised you haven’t joined them already,” a familiar voice called out behind me.

 I couldn’t help the girlish grin from spreading across my face or the blushing in my cheeks, no matter how hard I tried to stop it. I could feel his power pulsing and vibrating over my skin, delicately caressing my senses with the mere sound of him.

“Gilen.” I fixed my gaze on the teens jumping into the open water. I wouldn’t be the first to turn and look, happily continuing to play the dance of dominance with him.

“Skylar,” he whispered, saying my name slowly and announcing each letter syllable in an inquisitive tone, moving to stand behind me.

The warmth of his body seeped into my own, and I couldn’t help leaning back into him. I tilted my head up and flashed him a large, playful grin with far too many of my teeth showing. “And how are you doing today?” I asked, knowing exactly why he had come. “I see you found me in my hideout.”

“It wasn’t had to guess where you were.” His warm honey-colored hazel eyes softened as a smirk teased the corner of his mouth, complimenting his comely expression. “Why didn’t you show up for training today?”

“Oh, did the alpha call us?” I asked, trying to avoid getting into trouble. “I had no idea. I’m sorry. I guess I didn’t hear it. Human interference, yet again.”

Gilen sighed heavily and ran a hand through his luscious dark golden scuffled hair. “Come on, Sky. Don’t play the pretty, clueless damsel role with me… It's beneath you. I know you're smarter than that.”

“Whatever do you mean?” I exaggerated with a heavy sigh, flinging my arms outward and folding them over my chest as I slumped back into the sand. “Wait,” I said, arching my brow and turning to give him a playful half smile. “Did you just call me pretty?” I added a playful wink just to seal everything in.

Gilen rolled his thick shoulders and sank down next to me in the green sand. “You're telling me you didn’t hear our alpha’s call? Again?” His hardened rule-following stare bore into mine, and I had to bite my lip to stop from confessing the truth.

“Sky, come on. It’s me. Tell me why you didn’t come to training today." He paused, furrowing his brow. “Are the others picking on you again?”

“No,” I snapped. “That hasn’t happened in a long time.” I absently rubbed my arms, recalling the taunting and bullying I took from the other shifters our age when we were kids…all because I was half-human. My station in the pack improved when my animal’s presence emerged, but I still was far from a favorite.

“What is it then?” 

Oh no. I was cornered.

The truth was that I had heard the alpha’s command earlier today, but I chose to ignore it. That was the secret I was deathly afraid to tell Gilen. It was the fact that I could ignore our alpha’s command, not that I simply didn’t hear it. Even though Gilen was one of my closest friends, no one besides my family knew about this special ability. I was afraid of what others would think if they knew.

Well, first, I know they would be pissed off that I had lied to them all these years. Blaming my human side was an all too easily convincing lie, but after that, I had no idea. Would they be scared? Would they call me a freak and shun me like some of the members of our pack? Would our alpha see it as a threat to our safety and force me to leave? I think that last question scared me the most, but it also gave me a thrill imagining what other kind of life I could have outside the pack.

Just to add some trouble, over the past few weeks, my animal has been sending random pulses of strong magic through me, making me extremely anxious. All my senses were on high alert, but I had no fucking clue what it was. All I knew was that it was giving me the worst headaches in the world, and I needed space. That was why I ignored the alpha’s call and came here to my green sand beach today.

“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said as I rolled over onto my stomach to break his piercing gaze. “I didn’t hear the alpha’s call. Must be my human side running interference again.”

“Right.” Gilen huffed in annoyance, shaking his head.

I could hear the disappointment in his voice as guilt ripped through my heart. Gilen and I had grown up together. From day one, we were inseparable friends, and I trusted him. If I were to open up and be my true self with anyone, I believed it could be him.

Gilen knew I was hiding something. But he would never push me to tell him, and that was one of the biggest downfalls in our friendship. He didn’t challenge me and expected me to fall in line with formalities and the pecking order of the pack. The difference was that I liked to push those set rules he loved and create my own.

The problem wasn’t him, though; it was me. I knew that I was different.

A piercing scream erupted from the cliffs as one of the young girls in a group of teenage shifters leaped into the ocean.

“Come on now…that’s not how it's done,” I scolded, making Gilen laugh. “You can’t expect the boys to give you any respect if you squeal like a pig while jumping off the edge. They’ll assume that’s what your animal is, and then no one will ever respect you.”

“Oh, really?” Gilen asked. His carefree laughter set me at ease for the moment. “Do you even remember what sounds came out of your mouth the first time you jumped?”

“I sure as hell didn’t squeal.” I kicked some sand at Gilen, but he reacted in time to block it from hitting his face. Darn, those quick shifter reflexes, it was hard to get anything past him.

He casually brushed the sand off his shoulders and gave me a gentle smile that had me curling my toes. “Care to test out your memory and show me what you can do?”

“Is that a challenge?” A faint growl sounded at the back of my throat. Shifters were competitive by nature, and my instinct was always to win.

“You bet your lazy ass it’s a challenge.” My eyes grew wide with excitement. This was a new twist to how these situations typically went. “How else am I going to assess your potential for our pack? You need to start showing up to the group sessions. I can’t keep training you privately and playing catch-up.” Gilen arose from the sand and grabbed the bottom of his tan tunic, pulling it over his head before dropping it onto the beach, readying himself for a sparring match.

As shifters, we grew accustomed to nudity at an early age, but I couldn’t help the warmth in my middle from spreading whenever I looked at Gilen. Strong muscular arms framed a chiseled chest and stomach that could only come from years of training and fighting to protect our people and lands. I couldn’t stop myself from admiring his physique for a moment longer, but I quickly adverted my gaze when Gilen’s half smile hinted that he caught me lingering longer than I probably should have.

“Come on, Sky,” he taunted in a sing-song voice.

 After surviving through our teenage years, he filled his tall frame with a taut muscular build. His thick, dark blond hair swayed loosely around his face, brushing against dark brows that framed honey-hazel eyes. His tanned skin was kissed by the weathering sun, defining his high cheekbones and remarkably unscathed facial features. He was the epitome of handsome, a golden boy, and the constant trail of willing females buying for their chance to become his mate only grew with each passing year.

“Challenge accepted,” I answered as I jumped up from the sand and tried to wrestle him to the ground. “It’ll be fun showing you what a real female can do.”

Gilen was stronger than me, but I was faster.

I jumped at him and tried to wrap my legs around his torso, but he anticipated my move and threw me back against the ground. I recovered, spinning around to strike at him with a punch, which he dodged, but wasn’t quite fast enough to evade my kick that followed. I collided with his shin, and he back up a step, giving me a small opening that I wouldn’t let go to waste. We continued back and forth, exchanging blows, testing each other's weak points, and pushing one another until both of us had sweat dripping from our brows. I cursed under my breath as a coy smile curved at the side of Gilen’s mouth—the bastard was toying with me.

“If you only came to our lesson today…”

We’ll see about that.

I lunged for him at a blistering speed I knew he would have difficulty matching. I made a connection with my fist on his jaw, but sadly, that was only the bait to lure me in. Gilen took the hit– losing the battle only to earn his victory in the war. He followed the momentum of my punch, moving backward as he ducked under me and grabbed my wrist, bending it behind my back and twisting my arm.

Ouch. “Dammit,” I cursed. With one move, he could dislocate my arm from its socket. I was stubborn… But I also had enough sense to know when to bow out. “I yield,” I said as I hung my head and gritted my teeth. I did not like to lose.

“Good… Now, next time come to the training session.” His dark brow arched with a cunning half-smirk that made me want to turn around and punch him in his smug, handsome face. My animal sent a pulsing wave of power agreeing with me, even though I knew it was pointless.

Losing was one thing, but I refused to be a sore loser.

Gilen released me, and I moved away, stripping off my now sweat-soaked loose shirt and pants. My black undergarments were all I kept on my body, enjoying the sea breeze on this warm, late summer day. The winds suddenly shifted, lifting my hair off my shoulders, and gently cooling my neck. It encircled my nearly six-foot frame before dancing off in the other direction, where Gilen stood in the shallow rolling waves.

Suddenly, Gilen’s entire body stiffen. His eyes darkened and locked onto my gaze as I threw my clothes on the sand next to his. The intensity of his stare made my hands tremble, and my body shake. Danger. My animal stirred inside my chest, acutely aware of him, but she didn’t encourage me to run away.

I closed my amber-colored eyes and lifted my chin, detecting a faint change in the air from Gilen’s scent. My eyes snapped to meet his as my breath caught in my chest.

I swallowed nervously. “Gilen?”

Bravely or stupidly—I was not quite sure which one yet—I stepped toward him to try and help, but it seemed to do the opposite. His nostrils flared, and his fists clenched so hard at his side that his knuckles turned white.

“Skylar…Back. The. Fuck. Up. Now!” Gilen was visibly shaking, but he remained frozen where he stood. His eyes looked more feral than human right now, and I could feel his power, his magic, rising around him.

Oh, no. His animal was trying to break free. Questions danced inside my mind. What caused this sudden change? Why was Gilen holding back? Why was his animal trying to break free now?

“Gilen. Come back. Come back to me…” I don’t know where my commanding voice came from. Some spark inside of me was pushing my instincts into overdrive. It wasn’t the time for his animal to emerge—not yet. 

Gilen shook his head and forced himself to turn away from me. His blond hair fell in front of his face as his shoulders hunched forward. Every muscle in his body flexed, trying to fight the urge to shift.

“Gilen!” I didn’t yell, but my voice deepened. My power pulsed, begging to break free. Without thinking, I moved in front of Gilen and flung my arms around his neck. I pulled him in close and pushed my body up against his. I could feel his resistance as I tightened my hold on him. He was a solid wall of muscle, and I was naively asking him to soften and bend to my hold. If his animal broke free right now, he would be in grave danger. There was no full moon. No one was here to guide him through his first shift. Gilen could lose himself forever to his animal form.

Desperation pulled at me, and I released my own power from its internal cage. “Do not shift. Release him.” My words thrummed with my animal's magic, my eyes glowing. But I had no choice. I would not lose him.

Gilen turned his head and inhaled a deep breath against the nape of my neck, sending chills of excitement down each vertebra of my spine into my toes. He was marking my scent, putting the smell and feel of my power into memory. Strong arms wrapped around my waist as he picked me up and held me closer to him. He rubbed his nose along my collarbone, and his lips hovered over my skin, daring to make contact.

Deep, slow breaths countered my own racing heart. Gilen slowly released me back onto the shore, his hands moving down my lower back, his touch lighter, but still a burning presence. A low growl emerged from deep within his chest that made the hairs on my neck stand at attention. Gilen’s scent surrounded my senses, causing my stomach to flip.

I dared to pull myself away and release my arms from around his shoulders, allowing my hands to trace the bulging muscles on his biceps and shoulders. I couldn’t bring myself to pull away from him just yet, though… I didn’t have the courage to look at him. What would he think of me now that he felt a taste of the true power I have tried to keep hidden?

“Look at me.” Gilen’s voice was deep and raspy. Almost like the claws of his animal had scrapped at his insides, trying to break free. I hesitated…afraid of how he would react or what he would say. “Now.”

My head turned, and my eyes snapped open to meet his.

Fire.

I knew he would see the fire glowing in my eyes from the well of magic I kept caged inside my soul. My amber eyes were rare, even among the High Fae and human races. When I allowed my power to break through the surface, my eyes danced to the freedom of the ignited blaze contained within.

Neither one of us moved…or uttered a sound. It felt like days, even months, in those few seconds together on the shifting sand. Gilen’s right hand reached up to cup the nape of my neck. His fingers laced through my long, wild hair, gently pulling it to his nose as his cheek brushed against mine. He inhaled a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before snapping them open once more.

The fire, the hunger, I saw lingering in his golden depths took my breath away. Gilen had never looked at me like that before.

I didn’t know what to do, and I don’t think he knew either. This gesture of memorizing another’s scent was only reserved for mating among shifters. To allow another’s presence to mold into our memory so they were an extension of ourselves.

Gilen bent to whisper in my ear, “Your fire does not scare me, Skylar. I always knew it was there. It just needed to come out and find its match to help tame it.”

Holy…shit. If only he knew this was just a taste of what I fought to contain. What my animal held. Shifters respected power. It was irrefutable, undeniable, with our alpha always holding the deepest wells of it. But to reveal how much I truly had…as a half-breed. Well, I wasn’t brave enough to test how that theory would pan out with the our pack.

A rush of heat danced across the surface of my skin where our half-naked bodies were still entangled together. I could sense his desire rise in turn with my own, causing a deep pulsing sensation to build between the apex of my legs. The thought of being with Gilen had crossed my mind more than a few times, but this reality held little to no comparison. I shifted in his arms to press my brow to his and felt myself sink deeper into his hold.

“I’m not a helpless, dainty female that you can easily claim,” I challenged as my amber eyes snapped open to meet his. “You’ll have to fight for me.” Gilen’s lips curled into a smile, mere breaths away from my own. I huffed a laugh and easily slithered out of his grasp. If he wanted to, I knew he could keep me there, but he allowed me to slip away. “Race you to the cliffs,” I yelled as I took off at a sprint, knowing he was not far behind me.