The one-door car shuddered under my hesitant driving.

The city lights of Isle Falls shimmered in the distance. Every fiber of my being screamed to slam the accelerator, to run, to escape. But where? And from whom?

My mind still raced. What would happen if they found out? If Casimir, if Cassius, discovered I wasn't Salome?

Suddenly, two police vehicles materialized from the morning haze. Their sirens cut through the quiet.

My heart leaped. Freedom? Hope foolish thing, bloomed in my chest. I braked, slowly, pulling to the side of the road. Even though they told me to keep driving.

They surrounded us. Four officers, grim-faced, uniformed, their hands resting on their holsters.

"Step out of the vehicle!" a voice barked through a megaphone.

"Stay put, Salome," Casimir's voice rumbled beside me. He looked through the rear mirror. Then he sniffed. "They're pups," he scoffed. "The oldest among you is a twenty-three-year-old wolf."

“All I've seen are pups since I got out,” Cassius said from the back.

Casimir stepped out.

A shiver ran down my spine. How did they know? How could he tell their age, their species, with a single glance? He was a being of a different order.

"Bow!" he roared, a guttural command that ripped through the air, vibrating through the metal of the car, through my very bones.

From the rear-view mirror, I saw it. All four officers, perfectly synchronized, dropped to one knee, their heads bowed, their eyes fixed on the pavement. They whimpered, low, subservient sounds. They were all werewolves. Casimir could sire wolves. He could command them.

I remembered the annals, the forbidden texts hidden in my father's study. The Pack of Seven. The Oldest. The Alpha Primes. They can sire any wolf. All wolves in history trace their lineage to them.

That's why they didn't want them out. My blood ran cold. This wasn't just power. This was absolute, primordial authority. This was why Kane feared them.

Casimir’s voice, a whip-crack, broke the stunned silence. "Get me a house. And a car. Fill it up with food. And rum. And clothes. You have thirty minutes."

“Yes, Alpha!”

The officers scrambled. They melted away, vanishing as quickly as they had appeared, leaving us alone on the deserted road.

Cassius stepped out of the back of the car too.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, I placed my hand on the ignition key. One swift turn, a roar of the engine, and I could be gone. Just for a second.

But then the driver’s door opened.

Cassius.

His hand, quick as lightning, clamped around my wrist, preventing my escape. His touch was cold, firm, and possessive. I looked into his face. His amber eyes, deep and knowing, held mine captive. He didn't speak. He just looked at me.

"Cassius," I called.

"Take a deep breath, Salome," he whispered back.

“What are you doing, Cassius?” His brother spoke.

Then, the world tilted.

Zoom.

I was no longer in the car. No longer on the road. The world blurred into a kaleidoscope of greens and browns, a dizzying rush of wind. I was in the air, carried by an invisible current, a zephyr of sheer power. My stomach lurched. My breath caught in my throat. This was not normal. This was beyond anything I had ever known.

When we stopped, the world solidified around me. We were in a vast, opulent living room. A roaring fireplace sent waves of heat across the room, chasing away the chill that had clung to me since the forest.

The air smelled of aged wood and something else, something wild and ancient. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked a sprawling, manicured lawn. Gleaming, polished surfaces reflected the light. This was no ordinary house. This was a mansion.

"My brother is just putting up where you'll stay," Cassius whispered, his voice resonating from deep within his chest, forced to be audible in the spacious room. He opened his mouth slightly, as if the very act of speaking normally was a strain. "I got this place."

He got this place. In hours.

His grip tightened on my wrist. He pulled me closer, his hand wrapping around my waist, drawing me flush against his hard body. My breath hitched.

He pulled me close, tighter. Groin to groin. Then slowly, he began lowering his head.

A kiss? My mind reeled.

Rosie! My name screamed internally, a desperate, futile rebellion. I had to tell him. Now.

I mustered every ounce of courage. My voice, though trembling, cut through the buzzing tension. "I'm not Salome," I confessed and closed my eyes. The same way I did when I was expecting death in the forest. I braced myself for the inevitable outburst.

He didn't roar. His whisper, however, was a cold blade, slipping into the depths of my soul, silencing every panicked thought. It was so quiet, so profound, it bypassed my ears and resonated directly in my core.

"I know,” he said.

I opened my eyes. “What?”

Not the Salome from 1920," he conceded, his eyes never leaving mine. "But you have her smell. Her blood. Her soul. Her body. Her wolf."

“What?”

His gaze became an unnerving caress, seeing through flesh and bone. "I know what you are," he murmured, his eyes sweeping over me, without looking, yet seeing everything. "Every inch of your body. Your curves. Your texture. The black patch on the small of your back."

My breath hitched. He knew.

"Your pink and protruding nipples."

My face flushed, heat rushing through me. He knew.

"You're her doppelganger. You're her!"

“Oh my God!”

He paused, a flicker of ancient knowledge in his amber eyes. "The Moon Goddess is set to play this game again. I don't know the plan. But I know something," he vowed, his grip tightening, pulling me impossibly closer. "I will win."

“Win what?” I asked.

My eyes widened further at the realization. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I were Rosie. By all that he had listed, by all he had seen, I was Salome. And this guy, this ancient, powerful alpha, had slept with her. Every word he spoke, every detail, was true about my body.

His free hand travelled downwards and raised my simple gown.

“On no!” I whispered.

His fingers grazing my thigh before grasping my ass, pulling me into a fierce, intimate press. His mouth, warm and seeking, moved from my forehead, landing on my jaw, tracing the curve of my cheek, then the bridge of my nose.

My heart pounded. I wanted to run. But I couldn't. Everything he did raised a hunger in me. I wanted him to stop. At the same time, I wanted him to continue.

It felt as though my water broke. My pussy tickled, as though something wanted to break out.

His lips hovered, inches from mine, descending slowly.

BANG! The front door shuddered under a mighty impact.

He broke off. "They're here," Cassius whispered.