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chosen one!
    And the woman standing so close. Talia! Rafael’s cousin and healer. She had been kidnapped by Lucien and forced to stay in his compound just as Falon was being forced! Would Talia become her ally or her foe? Wide-eyed, Falon looked around the room and absorbed her surroundings.
    If she didn’t instinctively know where she was, she would know by the heavy dark furniture and the rich earthy scent swirling around her like a possessive cloak. She was chin deep in Lucien’s lair. The room was larger than the one she shared with Rafa. Deep blood colors mixed with the earth tones of the rich textured fabrics. Brocade, satin, smooth linen. Despite the richness of the adornments, the room was distinctly male. Distinctly sensual. Distinctly—dangerous.
    A gnarled black oak armoire and dresser unit that took up an entire wall faced the bed next to the door. Two distressed pale leather chairs sat opposite each other with a table made of the same leather between them. On the wall above the grouping was a wicked ebony-handled sword, the metal polished to a high shine. It appeared well used. On the other side of the room, a large gnarled wood desk dominated with several computers and neat stacks of paper piled atop. Above the desk on the wall a large red, black, and gold painting of a fire-breathing dragon with a wolf head. Lucien bore the same dragon tattoo on his chest, back, and abdomen.
    Instead of lamps, groupings of thick beeswax candles with rivulets of wax running down them and pooling onto the nightstands flanking the huge four-poster bed she lay upon appeared to be the only source of light with the exception of one window in the corner adjacent to the bed. The computers were the only modern amenity. If she didn’t know better, she’d think she was locked in a Gothic castle.
    Falon looked directly at Talia’s stormy face. The Lycan healer was pretty. No, more than pretty. Talia’s earthy sensuality punctuated by large, vibrant violet-colored eyes was no less than stunning. Rafael spoke of his cousin often and with love.
    “I will not stay here as Lucien’s slave.”
    Talia snorted and moved from the edge of the bed. She was petite to Falon’s statuesque. The sultry Lycan tossed her long, sable-colored hair over her shoulders and said, “I didn’t peg you for a drama queen, Falon,” Talia said.
    Falon stiffened.
    “If you renege on your sworn oath to abide by the council’s verdict, that you accept Lucien as your true mate and he you, you will create such chaos among the packs they will not survive the rising.”
    “Don’t try to lay that on me! What if I weren’t here? What if I had never met Rafael?”
    “Fate intended you to meet Rafael. You were meant to break this insufferable sixteen-year stalemate!” Talia moved closer. “You have powers no Lycan possesses. You are at the middle of something that is bigger than all of us. Bigger than your wants and desires. Bigger than your heart, your life, and your soul!”
    Falon shook her head. She was not the key to anything!
    “It doesn’t matter whether you understand or not. I don’t know that I understand what our future holds. What I do know in my heart is what matters now: you must exchange marks with Lucien. Become his true mate in every sense. United, the two of you will have more power than ten packs! And we need all the power we can muster for the rising.”
    “My destiny is not with Lucien.”
    “Your destiny is to listen to your calling, Falon.”
    “My calling and my heart belong to Rafael.”
    Talia contemplated Falon’s answer, then said, “Our hearts have the capacity to love many.”
    How could she love another when her heart was so filled with love for Rafael? How could anyone love Lucien? He was dark, moody, and unpredictable. He was her beloved’s sworn enemy! It would kill Rafa if she loved Lucien. She would never hurt him that way.
    Vigorously, Falon shook her head. “I could never love Lucien.” Falon leapt from the bed