Chapter 1 WHY HAD LARISSA, HER LOVING SISTER, ENDED UP DEAD—here, of all the godforsaken places in the States? Maybe that was the reason—off the beaten path, surrounded by wilderness, a place to hide from the harsh realities of the forced marriage, safe from Bruin’s retaliation should he ever have located her. But she hadn’t been safe. And now she was dead. Out of the corner of her eye, Lelandi Wildhaven thought she saw her cousin, Ural, slink into the woods in his wolf form, but she had to be mistaken. He wouldn’t be angry enough with her to shapeshift this close to Silver Town and risk alerting the gray lupus garou pack that a couple of reds had slipped into their territory. Ignoring her gut instinct telling her this was a very bad idea, she pushed open the Silver Town Tavern’s heavy door, the squealing of the rusty hinges jarring her taut nerves. Five bearded men sitting at a table turned to stare at her, and at once she feared the worst—they saw straight through her disguise. She shoved the faux eyeglasses back into place, hating the way they kept sliding down the bridge of her nose. The weather-beaten cowboy hat she’d picked up at a resale shop half swallowed her head, making her look like a little kid wearing her dad’s Stetson. Amber glass lights hanging