The Roar of the Bond

ROMAN

The mating bond roared through my veins with such ferocity that for a moment, the world around me disappeared entirely.

Gone was the garden, the reception, the watching eyes of our pack members. Instead, I was thrown violently back six years in time, to the day that changed everything. The day I first caught her scent.

I had been patrolling the outer reaches of the roguelands, a broken leader still reeling from my father's death and Seraphina's abandonment. My wolf had been savage, untamed, looking for blood to spill to ease the pain of loss.

That day, I'd picked up the scent of rogue wolves—young ones, by the smell of them. I'd followed it with deadly intent, tracking them to a clearing where several females huddled together, Bianca Hayes among them. I'd been ready to attack, to show no mercy as my father had taught me.

Then her scent hit me.