Finding Shadow BOOK ONE

Colette heard it the moment she shifted into her russet-colored wolf. The mighty howl pulled her in, and before she knew it, she was answering his call with one of her own. Her mate was here!

Any thoughts of Mikhail fled as Colette searched for the owner of the compelling howl, picking up itś pace now that he’d heard her wolfś answering call. Wolves from different packs began disengaging from the masses, trotting to the front, making it easier to find their fated mate.

Colette saw a couple of her friends run off into the woods, with wolves from different packs on their tails, and she felt the excitement of knowing that she wouldn't be far behind. As her wolf searched the crowd, her mate's howl seemed to be causing a path to form towards her, wolves were hurriedly getting out of the way, as a raging power pushed through, and then he was there, her mate, in all his glory. The Royal Prince of werewolves, Tibarn Marcello.

Colette's face morphed in sheer horror as he set eyes on her, a suffocating presence invading her mind immediately ¨MINE!¨ a cruel voice stated.

¨NO!¨

Her wolf Demelza took off at a dead run as if her paws themselves were on fire; they just had to make it through the woods! Walking out alone means no claim was made, and Colette could disappear; maybe Mikhail would come with her, thatś it Mikhail would help her!

¨Mikhail, help me! I don't want to be his mate, but Iḿ not strong enough to reject him; HELP!!!¨Demelza screamed through the pack mind link, sending him images of where she was running, praying to the Moon Goddess that where ever he was, Mikhail would reach her in time.

The angry howl of the royal Prince thundered through the forest, his wolf still linked to her bellowing DO NOT RUN FROM ME! but Colette felt Demelza pin back her ears, using her petite size to dart through the forest she knew so well. The determined wolf closed the link to the Alpha Lycan, running as if her life depended on it.

TIBARNS POV

She ran.

That ordinary little pack wolf ran from him.

Him!

She took one look at Wrath, his wolf, and hightailed it into the forest as if she honestly believed she could hide from him; in different circumstances, it would be amusing, but not when hundreds of eyes were on him, waiting for a reaction.

Wrath howled in anger, a clear warning to the little wolf to stop, but moments later, she closed the mind link between them, a feat that was baffling to the Prince considering he could sense that she didn't come from any noble bloodlines. She would be a healer at best, nowhere near his level.

She would be punished for her disobedience when he hunted her down. Once he marked her as his, Tibarn would set about reeducating the ordinary wolf on what it meant to have a royal Lycan as a mate.

With his mindset and Wrath in agreement, he leaped after his wayward mate, and the hunt was on.

MIKHAIL

¨HELP!¨

Mikhail scrambled off the hospital bed, causing his sister Raeann to jump back in surprise as Coletteś desperate voice called out through the pack link.

Narelle quickly got to her feet too, knowing from his body language that Mikhail had heard something important enough that the pain from the thorn extraction was instantly forgotten, her intuition proving correct as the young Beta phased without preamble and bolted out the door, paws eating up the distance and he raced off.

Sensing that he was acting on emotion instead of instinct, she phased into her own grey wolf and took off in pursuit, her Alpha blood quickly catching the Beta as he galloped towards the pack forest, where the Howling was currently underway.

¨WHERE ARE YOU!¨ Mikhail growled through the link, his adrenaline causing his heart to race faster as he wondered who could possibly cause Colette to flee rather than accept her fated mate?

An image was sent through of an area of bush, hiding the entrance to an underground spring. It was a little-known spot on pack land, not marked on any map, and a special place where he and Colette had spent the summer frolicking in the water and having sex on the mossy bank.

Changing direction, Mikhail increased his pace taking the shortcut that would get him there in half the time, Narelle stayed at his flank, her grey wolf larger than his, announcing her Alpha blood clearly, and he hid his surprise at her deference to him; it was uncommon for an Alpha born to willingly hand over the reins to anyone of lesser blood, but Mikhail was learning fast than Narelle Cortez was anything but ordinary.

As they matched their pace, both wolves could hear the howls of the Royal Prince Tibarn, angry and filled with rage in the distance.

Tibarn was a legend in the Lycan world. He was rumored to be entirely without mercy, some even going so far as to say the Moon Goddess had forsaken him, deliberately leaving him mateless as punishment for his brutal ways.

In unspoken agreement, neither wolves wanted to go up against the Royal family. Prince Tibarn was a titan among wolves, and it would be foolish to cross him or his sister Princess Karfei, and both were in attendance at the Howling tonight.

Mikhail could only hope that whoever Colette was running from was no relation to any of them.

COLETTE

She tried to calm her breathing down, worried that he would hear her heartbeat, and follow it straight to her; Colette hoped Mikhail was on his way and bringing reinforcements with him.

How could the Moon Goddess have got it so wrong? If she wasn't still in wolf form, Colette would be weeping right now. She wasn't equipped for this. Prince Tibarn scared the living daylights out of her and was right this second hunting her down, no doubt intent on dragging Colette back to the Royal dungeons.

This secret quarry was her happy place, where a handsome young man had asked her to be exclusive, and she finally felt beautiful.

He had a reputation in the pack for being a bit of a lad, but with her, Mikhail was kind and generous, always bringing her flowers and asking about her day. She'd even worked up the courage to ask him if he would consider being her chosen when he turned eighteen next year, not that Tibarn would ever allow her to be with anyone other than him now.

Colette froze as a shadow fell across the entrance to her hiding place, and her heart threatened to beat right out of her chest as she prayed that it was Mikhail...

¨I can smell your fear MATE.¨

And in strode the enormous black wolf with the royal mark displayed prominently, Tibarn had found her.