Vampires. The very thought unravelled something inside me. I had lived believing I was the only werewolf hidden in the human world—isolated, cursed, alone. But now I realized the truth had been veiled from me all along. There were others. Entire species I’d never known existed.

Xavier didn’t give me time to recover from my shock. He faced the women nearby and said with firm certainty, “This is my bride.”

Their gazes pierced me, as if I were some foreign creature dropped into their ...