Reluctant Princess “Syd,” I say. “If I were to step down as heir, would there be a place for me here?” She reaches out and takes my hand again. “Without question,” she says. “Any time, come as you are, you betcha. And hell no. Yes, because I miss you and love you and it’s not the same without you. The kids adore you, life is better when you’re here.” She looks away from me, up at the star-filled sky. Her sorrow is a living thing between us, my wolf snuffling at it and whining. “And no, because you are so much more than a servant to anyone. And if you came back, I’d worry it was for the wrong reasons.” Seven years have passed since Charlotte took her place as heir to the werenation. Still unmated and resisting her position, she longs for freedom she will never have, and life with a mortal man she loves. When a powerful new pack appears, Charlotte is instantly suspicious. Cicero Caine and his weres aren’t exactly what they seem. But the arrival of old enemies and a rising threat to all werewolves throws the wereprincess into the middle of a vast conspiracy, challenging the very foundations of what she’s been taught to believe.

California Bound “Where are you going?” Sage wants to follow me, but I have to do this alone. “We need passports,” I say, heading for the door. “Money and other papers. I know someone in the city who can get them for us.” Sage’s scent turns to fear. “You’re talking about the Mafia.” I smile back at him, one hand on the rusting door knob. “I am,” I say. “But who do you think should be afraid—them or me?” Charlotte and Sage flee across Europe, heading for America and the cure she hopes will save him from devolving into a soulless animal. But escape is much more complicated than she thought. Tracked and hunted by those with magic and driven by her refusal to quit, Charlotte’s past and the laws of her people push her to put them both at risk on a long shot that might end up hurrying Sage’s transformation into a revenant.

Seeking Syd This was a bad idea. Syd’s not here. And I won’t put the rest of the family at risk without her around to protect them. The back door opens, the motion-sensitive light coming on. I duck quickly to the side, hiding in the shadows with Sage shaking beside me, while a dark figure steps out into the yard. She looks worried, one hand clutching the door, the other clenched at her side. Dark, straight hair shivers around her as she takes another half-step onto the patio stones, the light reflecting from her dusky skin. “Charlotte?” Sashenka Hensley’s whisper carries into the night, backed by a thread of power, seeking me. She’s dressed for bed, feet bare, but she looks wide awake. “Charlotte, is that you?” Sage has completed his transformation, but their troubles aren’t over yet. While trying to convince the powers that be he is no threat to the werenation, Charlotte must face her past head on and survive to reinvent herself, all while saving her grandfather from the clutches of a power-hungry sorcerer and the werewolf who would be king.