The humid air hung heavy around Nadine, thick with the scent of pine and an underlying tension that mirrored her own.

She closed her eyes, relaxing her shoulders, the rhythmic hum of the taxi a fading memory. Ten kilometers, the driver had said, from the nearest border of the Dark Forest Pack. The words echoed in her mind, a mantra she had lived by for years.

This was it. The moment she had waited for her entire life. The pack that rightfully belonged to her family, stolen by the Trevinos under the pretense of friendship, seized with the murder of her grandfather.

Nadine was not yet born then, but the story was etched into her very being, a legacy of betrayal and a burning desire for retribution.

Tonight was critical. The full moon peaked, and with it, her first heat. Without her mate, Xander Trevino, things could go terribly wrong. A calculated risk, but one she was willing to take. This heat, she hoped, would be enough to entice him to claim her, to open the door to the pack she intended to reclaim.

She watched the taxi disappear, its tail lights swallowed by the deepening twilight. A figure emerged from the shadows of the border fence, approaching her with a silent purpose. After a brief exchange, she was told to wait. Thirty minutes for Xander to arrive from the packhouse.

Thirty minutes. A blink of an eye compared to a lifetime of waiting.

Finally, a car approached, its headlights cutting through the growing darkness. The driver's door opened, and the scent hit her first—rich mahogany, raspberries, and sandalwood. Exhilarating. She almost moaned as he stepped out, tall and broad, his sandy brown hair framing a ruggedly handsome face. Xander. Her mate. Worth swooning, despite being a Trevino.

But then the other door opened, and Alpha Maddox emerged. The ruthless Alpha. Xander's half-brother. Nadine swallowed, forcing a smile to mask the surge of questions and emotions. This was going to be more complicated than she thought.