Three werewolves raced with me.

Este and Steinar's white, speckled with silver-gray forms would have been perfect if we had more snow.

Harold's shape, black as night, made him a shadow in any terrain, just like his obstinacy cast a shadow over my mind. His obedience was too sulky, his obsession to kill his former fated mate—too obvious. We, werewolves, were born predators. Our instincts have to be tempered with control and laws, or we degenerate into the mob chasing us.

The way the rogues came after us—as a wild, violent hunt rather than as a harmonious pack—made me grit my teeth, even if it were to our advantage. They were cutting themselves at the knees with their lack of leadership and organization, but by Goddess! Werewolves shouldn't bounce through the woods frothing at the mouth until they jump on their prey by chance. It just wasn't proper.

And if they caught one of us by chance, and if we were defenseless—because unlike the rogues, the remaining three of us would come to the rescue—they would maul and savage without honor. No, not three; two, because Steinar was a mangy rogue.

"They are rabid, completely rabid," I howled in dismay. "Not werewolves, but a travesty."

"Why don't you stop, take charge and teach them the rules, mighty Alpha?" Only one man could suggest something like that, and in this snide tone. Outrageous! "Shut up and run, Steinar."

"Dear Blake, you can call me Dad," the insipid man replied. "It's only proper."

I don't know what I would have done to him, if Harold didn't call out, "Boat!"

In a stormy silence that reflected the state of the sky and the sea, we carried our boat to the water.

Then the three of them shifted to their human shapes, since the boat would sink under four werewolves. I alone remained as one to hold it against the crush of the surf.

As I did so, thrilled that my muscles bulged in a primal fight against the elements, Este picked her way to the bow to drive the boat.

Our vessel rocking on the waves only emphasized the grace of her movements. Her figure appeared fragile fresh after the shift from the powerful werewolf. The white fur, dusted with silver, was far more recognizable in the straight blonde hair, falling across her brow, and the pale skin with the freckles born of the moonlight, not sunlight. Her human also had an advantage of rounder breasts, so sexy above her willowy waist, that I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

Este's blue gaze met mine just before she turned away to start the ignition, and her eyes glittered in amusement. Her smile kaleidoscoped through dreamy, teasing, sultry...

My chest barreled forward with a base realization that in my werewolf shape I was at the moment the biggest, baddest and, therefore, the most desirable male around. Absurd pride, but I couldn't help it. It went straight into my groin, the mating instinct brightening the day.

I grinned like a maniac. If only Este and I were alone in the boat and the baying of the rogues didn't echo through the woods, zeroing on our location! There was bound to be an autopilot on a modern motorboat, right? I'd have rocked and tumbled her on those waves like—

Steinar squirmed on the widest bench in the middle of the boat, which he shared with Harold. "Being unmated has its advantages, eh, Beta? We look like moonstruck fools far, far less often."

Harold grunted something under his breath in reply, and I finally hopped into the boat, shifting into a human as I cleared the gunwale. The motor purred, the bow lifted, and the boat surged over the gray water. The salty spray pelted the windshield, moisture thickening and puffing up Este's hair. Wind tousled them and painted a rosy blush on the one corner of her cheek that I could see. I bet her eyes outshone the sea and the sky.

The alarmed gulls circled above us, screaming at the boat for streaking their ocean with its foaming wake. I almost joined them in screaming my head off in my admiration for my mate.

Steinar squirmed again. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that fatherly instinct made him uncomfortable with my overt desire for his daughter.

"How about we toast my rescued virility tonight, huh?" He fisted Harold's shoulder. "Maybe, let's take it out for a whirl. Two guys out for a night on town? Grauberg is small, I give you that, but there got to be a couple of unmated she-wolves—"

"I'm prohibited from mating for another four years, give or take," Harold said dryly. "But I wish you a splendid night."

They were sitting with their backs to me, so I didn't see the expression on Steinar's face. He sat up straighter, however, and cleared his throat. "Four years? Well, that's just outrageous. What kind of heartless sadist came up with this atrocious—"

"Dad," Este said. I was impressed by how much warning she poured into such a short word, but it was too late.

"I ordered that," I said and watched with a certain satisfaction when Steinar's back straightened even more, like there was a thread attached to the top of his head and someone yanked it.

"For a good and lawful reason," I added, "unlike you, who shot a human today without flinching."

Steinar then bothered to face me, presumably to turn up the charm. His blue eyes crinkled at the corners and he made a motion as if to pat my knee, but wisely changed my mind. He still sounded like he was cajoling a particularly cranky five-years-old. "Tara had bullets for all of them. I sped the inevitable by mere minutes. Don't expect me to apologize for it."

I squeezed the gunwale until my knuckles whitened. Thank Goddess, Este was driving our boat, because I would have stirred us on the rocks if I gripped the wheel like that. "Let me guess, cards told you that?"

"Don't diss the cards, Alpha, or my abilities. They'll come in handy."

"Your abilities?" The image of him spouting the heretical nonsense, insulting the Goddess and the packs, flashed through my mind. I growled in my throat. His abilities! "Your only outstanding ability is to sow confusion and discord, just like Scarlett. We all heard you speak and rouse the mob, planting dangerous ideas in their heads."

"That's the gratitude I get for being deep undercover and wildly successful with it." Steinar sighed with an air of offended innocence. "One might even say I have a special talent for it."

"You can take your talents and shove them where the moon doesn't shine," I gritted through my teeth. "Make no mistake, the moment we make the landfall, you are on your way. The pack doesn't need your kind in Grauberg."

"The pack or you, Alpha, because you don't like anyone else to have an ear of your mate? Because you're the same as all of them, a controlling, possessive tyrant? Like Louis Beaumont, heh? The one who wanted Vesper only for himself, so he forbade her to see me...did you know that, Este?"

I counted to ten, calling for the Goddess to stop me from tossing the wretch to the restless waves.

Generosity of heart had nothing to do with my temperance. One, if I acted on my impulse, I would confirm Steinar's poisonous words to Este. Two, the bastard would swim, not sink. And once he crawled out of the water, he'd manipulate the situation. He'd make Este see the parallels in her situation and her mother's, when there was none.

I stifled the fighting words that broiled in my heart so much that I hacked for a good minute—and didn't mind it. Anything, anything was better than giving this cur more ammunition. He'd done enough to make Este doubt me and my love already. Yet, I couldn't let her suspicions linger and grow. "Unlike you, Steinar, I always put the pack above my selfish interests."

"Tsk, tsk... it doesn't take long for an Alpha to stop making the distinction between these two things. Fascinating."

"The moment we make the landfall, make yourself scarce," I said, driving each word hard. This was my main point. His rhetorical gymnastics didn't change it, so I would be damned if I engaged into any more debate with him. "Now, shut up. I've heard enough of your drivel for one day."

"Blake, please!" Este cried out.

I was sorry for causing her distress, but... "The first thing the scoundrel was talking about after killing a human in cold blood, after we've escaped the rogues—them fired up with his blasphemy by the way—he was blabbing about seducing some unfortunate she-wolf. Do you want him to leave someone in our pack pregnant and alone, like he left your mother?"

"Blake..."

"Thank you, my sweet child, but there is no need for you to argue on my behalf. If I'm not welcome..." Steinar glanced at the approaching shoreline. "Too bad we spent all this time arguing, because now I'd never be able to tell you what I discovered about Scarlett's plans. All my hard work, all my cunning will go to waste!"

He pressed his hand to his heart. I could have sworn that the tears were glistening in his eyes. The old clown!

"All those precious nuggets of information, Este, that I picked up!" Despite addressing my mate, Steinar's gaze was so intent on my face, it was like talons sinking into my flesh. "They could save your pack from a continental...no, not continental. It could save your pack a global embarrassment or even worse—"

He leaned toward me, still holding my gaze and whispered so quietly that Harold and Este couldn't hear him above the motor and the waves. "Subjugation."

Despite my distrust of everything about this man, a chill went down my spine.

Hostile take-overs of one pack by another were no longer a thing in North America, but in the past, it was the part and parcel of packs' lives. The strongest Alpha in the region would lead an attack, and the loser's pack would be reduced to Omegas. A successful takeover boosted the Alpha's prestige. Even now, when most wolves shuddered at the savageness of the past, subjugation raids had a ring of glory...until your pack came under threat. My dread was as instinctive as it was ancient. "We'll talk on the docks."

Steinar wrapped his scarf over the lower half of his face. Between that and his beanie hat, all I could see were his eyes, like on our first meeting. I preferred the beanie to the preposterous beret he was wearing back then. It made him look like a scraggly fisherman.

"In this weather?" he asked.

The gusts of wind tore at the shore, and the drizzle had turned to sleet. "Fair enough. We'll get some food and talk. I'm starving anyway."

We settled in one of the many fish-and-chips joints, restored to the local clientele in the low season. It had a gas fireplace to ward off the seasonal dampness and smelled of greasy comforts. Absolutely perfect after bobbing on the wintry sea. I stretched out my legs with a sigh of contentment, almost grateful to Steinar for the detour. Boats don't have that much more legroom than airplanes...

Unfortunately, we weren't here to relax. "Talk," I told Steinar the moment the server scooted away with our giant order.

Steinar loosened his scarf, but didn't lower it, to shadow his face.

Unlike her father, Este didn't hide her meteoric blood's markings. I guess, humans would ascribe it to her enthusiastic use of glitter for fashion reasons, or because of kids. The cozy atmosphere of the place made children's play a likelier option, and Este with kids nearly lulled me to a happy doze, but the first words out of Steinar's mouth shook me awake.

"Your girl Scarlett isn't happy with how things turned out for her with the packs. The Epsilon Mark and all that jazz." He wiggled his fingers. "But she grew up around Alphas and Lunas, so the rogues' egalitarian system doesn't suit her. She wants more than simply enriching herself with drug trade and being first among the equals."

"She always wants more, no matter what she has," Harold said. "So, now she wants to be an Alpha at our expense."

"You wish," Steinar replied. "You wish..."

Gloomy silence descended on us as we waited out another one of Steinar's dramatic pauses.

"Scarlett Beaumont wants to be a Queen of rogues and lycans, while your pack is reduced to slaves, not Omegas."

I burst out laughing.

"It may sound like a demented fantasy, until you remember that she's already bent the rogues of Seattle to her will and plans to start her conquest by sending her rogues and humans through the Moon Arch." He shook his head. "I am by no means an expert on the Goddess and her mystifying decrees, but I don't think it will lead to anything good...and I don't just mean for your small pack."

The server deposited the F-150 wheel-sized plates piled with golden fries and crispy fish, all of it oozing oil and mouthwatering aroma. My hunger, however, completely disappeared. "Eat up. We need to hurry back to Grauberg."

Steinar cocked his brow so high, it moved his damn beanie.

I sighed. "Yes, yes, you too. Who knows, you might reveal another useful nugget of information that you're hiding from us."

Steinar smiled—all innocence besmirched—and bit into the crunchy batter with his white teeth. Jerk.