Twenty Six year old Blake Hunter is the Alpha of the largest pack in the region. Finding his mate is the last thing on his mind.
But, in the midst of dealing with uninvited relations, aspiring future Lunas and increasing rogue attacks on his easter...
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Around the same time Blake was completing the welcoming rituals with the border guards, Hannah was having problems of her own.
It was really all Victoria's fault, she reflected ruefully as she peered down through the gnarled branches of a huge oak tree. She shifted her position amongst the gnarled branches carefully, listening intently for the tell-tale sound of a wolf's paw on the damp leaves below.
If she hadn't been quite so obnoxious, Hannah would never have stormed out of the house in a huff. She would never have decided to try and re-find the lake Blake had taken her to. She would never have gotten lost... and she certainly would never have been stuck up a tree, hiding from a wolf that may or may not want to kill her.
It had been a tough morning all round and, as she waited for the tell-tale sound of a wolf's paw on the fallen leaves, she allowed herself to reflect on the events that had led to her precarious position...
After escaping from a particularly unpleasant run-in she'd had with Victoria shortly after breakfast, Hannah had made the impulsive decision to seek out the lake. It had provided the backdrop for the moment she'd finally decided to give-in to her complicated feelings for the handsome Alpha, and in his absence, she felt an overwhelming desire to catch sight of it once again.
She vaguely remembered the route they'd originally taken, but the thick, persistent fog had wrapped itself so snuggly around the ancient oak trees that Hannah had been hard pressed to find a clear route through them.
On more than one occasion she'd found herself stumbling back up the hill towards the main house with no idea how she'd managed to turn herself around in the labyrinth of hidden trees. It didn't help that every now and then the memories of Victoria's fake, friendly voice drifted back to her, increasing her frustration.
"I know what you're doing." The sickly-sweet words accompanied an obnoxious percussion of five, long, perfectly shaped nails tapping against the dining room table. "The little act doesn't work on me..."
Hannah grimaced as the damp began to soak through her thick jumper, chilling her to the bone. The tapping in her memory faded away to be replaced by the soft rattle of tiny branches as she pushed her way past a tangle of bushes, reaching out across the barely visible path.
The white river of fog mocked her as it flowed in swirling waves through the gaps in the trees; hiding one path, opening up another and then closing it behind her as though it were never there.
"You'll never be Luna material, you know..." Victoria pointed out in her mind. Like fingernails scraping slowly across a chalkboard; even the memory of her voice set her teeth on edge, mocking her attempts to forget that every word had hit home and shaken her confidence.
Full of idle determination, she persevered - fumbling onward past the identical tree trunks that loomed suddenly out of the murk and through bushes so clogged with fog, that the spindly branches seemed to be decorated with puffs of cotton candy.
