Prologue 1782, St. Augustine, Florida The heat of the October day made Elaine Hawthorn wilt as tears blurred her eyes. She choked back a sob as men shoveled the dirt onto her mother’s and father’s coffins. Never again would she see her mother’s bright smile or her father’s raised brow when she did something he thought was not quite ladylike. Never again would she feel her mother’s and father’s warm embraces, or hear them telling her how much they loved her. A fateful carriage accident had brought them to this. Barely an hour later, her uncles Tobias and Samson pulled her away from the reception to speak with her privately. From their weary expressions—and the way Kelly Rafferty, a pirating wolf himself, had leered at her at the funeral—she was in for more dire news. “Lass, you must have a mate,” Uncle Tobias said, towering over her like an Irishman ready to do battle. He was a seasoned fighter, sailor, and pirate—or as he often reminded her, a privateer, like his twin brother. Tobias never took any guff from his men. He and his brother had been born while their parents were crossing the Irish Sea from Ireland to Scotland so she believed seawater ran in their veins. They were also shape-shifting gray wolves. In her presence, her uncles always seemed uncomfortable, fidgeting and avoiding speaking with her as if she