The Alpha Twins' Mate

The Blood Moon Solstice was the most sacred, charged night of the lunar cycle across the rugged crags of the Cascade Range.

High upon the plateau of Whispering Pines, a colossal bonfire of seasoned cedar and dry pine logs roared thirty feet into the starry midnight sky. Sparks spiraled upward like crimson fireflies, casting deep scarlet reflections across the faces of four hundred gathered wolves of the Silverpeak Pack. The heavy mountain air smelled of roasting venison, spiced mulled cider, melting pine resin, and the intoxicating, crackling pheromone hum of unmated wolves waiting for the goddess to reveal their destinies.

Freya Campbell stood at the outer perimeter of the celebration, deliberately tucked into the shadowy overhang of the apothecary pavilion.

At twenty-two, Freya was neither a fierce warrior sentinel nor a pampered daughter of the council elders. She was the pack's quiet herbalist and apothecary apprentice, spending her days in the misty mountain meadows gathering wild arnica, silver-moss, and winter wolfsbane to brew healing salves for wounded sentinels. With her soft waves of honey-blonde hair falling over her shoulders, slender curves hidden beneath a modest burgundy wool gown, and luminous violet-gray eyes, she had always preferred the peaceful quiet of dried herbs to the raucous politics of the central clearing.

Tonight, however, a strange, restless heat had been tingling beneath her skin since twilight. Her pulse beat in rapid, erratic rhythms against the hollow of her throat, and her inner wolf paced restlessly inside her mind, whining softly with an unbearable, aching anticipation.

Across the firelit clearing, standing upon the raised granite dais of the Alpha seat, were the twin rulers of the territory: Jaxson and Jaden Sterling.