Mated in Mist (Talon Pack #3)

Mated in Mist (Talon Pack #3)

Carrie Ann Ryan




Dedication


To my readers.

You’re the reason I do this.





Acknowledgements


Another book, another team that I adore. I so enjoyed diving deep into Ryder and Leah’s story and I know I couldn’t have done it without a few people. Thank you Chelle for not only editing my book, but also plotting with me. You totally helped me break through a Leah’s inner shields. I feel like Leah has a little part of each of us and that makes me so happy.

Thank you to the rest of me team—Charity, Stephanie, and Dr. Hubby. Y’all help me with so many things with each book. I know I couldn’t do it without any of you.

I love my wolves. The Redwood Pack was the first series I ever wrote and now I get to write the next generation with the Talon Pack. I am truly blessed. Thank you dear readers for loving my books. Thank you for sharing my posts, buying my books, and telling your friends.

You guys are amazing!





Mated in Mist


As Heir to the Talon Pack, Ryder Brentwood carries the responsibility of not only protecting his Pack, but ensuring its future. Only no one knows that as he does this, he must also shield his people from their past. When a witch with no ties bursts into his life, he must decide if he can overcome the depravity of his secrets and trust the one person who could break the fragile hold on his control.

Grieving over the loss of her twin and on the run from the unknown, Leah Helm knows she is far more alone than she thought possible. Her coven shunned her before she was born and the wolves she sought protection with are in a war of their own. When a wolf with a whisper of secrets is forced to work with her in order to protect their people, she finds she might not be so alone after all.

The world knows more than they ever have before about those shrouded in darkness, while Ryder and Leah are thrust into the center of a conflict they never should have been part of to begin with. On their journey they must not only fight those against them, but the burning temptation that is flaring between them. Fate might have paved their path, but that doesn’t mean they have to follow.





Chapter One


Death followed them, hunted them, craved them. It would not win. It couldn’t.

Leah Helm pushed her body to the limit, her chest heaving as she ran. She could hear the others following her, trying to catch her and Roland. Only the goddess knew why. She might not have the extrasensory abilities of the wolves that lived nearby, but the monsters that had her and her brother on the run weren’t even bothering to be quiet.

Apparently, their pursuers thought there was no need to be silent on their hunt. They thought they’d catch her and Roland easily. Catch or kill, she wasn’t sure. Either way, it wasn’t something Leah could deal with right then. Or deal with ever.

Her lungs burned and she desperately needed water. She was a reasonably strong water witch, but even she couldn’t suck the water from the air to drink or use. Her twin couldn’t either, though they each had their own strengths when it came to their powers. Leah didn’t want to have to find out if each of them had enough within themselves to defeat those following them.

She was too afraid it wouldn’t be enough.

Roland gripped her hand and tugged her toward a group of trees. The branches were full, creating a sort of cover with their leaves, though she knew it wouldn’t be enough. She followed him, her legs all but giving out from the exertion. When she spotted a cave, she could have wept. It was off the beaten path, and if they were careful covering their tracks, they could rest there for a few moments. At least, that’s what she hoped her twin was thinking. As they usually thought along the same lines, there was a good chance of that.

He pulled her toward the opening and ducked beneath the lower rocks. She followed, her heart beating erratically and her tongue so dry she knew she wouldn’t be able to spell a single thing until she got some water in her system. Roland turned and pushed her through before following and using what had to be the last of his magic to cover their tracks. He practically slumped over after the effort, yet he pushed her hands away when she tried to help him.

Her body shook and she took a good look at herself before continuing on, praying there was another way out of the cave. If not, they might be trapped.

Dirt and blood covered her jeans from where she’d fallen and scraped her knees. It hadn’t stung until she looked down and noticed. Now it throbbed, along with every other ache and pain in her body. She felt like she was an old woman with the joints to match, rather than the twenty-nine-year-old she was.

Of course, with the way she’d been forced to live her life thus far, she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt her age.

“Come on,” Roland whispered once they were far enough inside the cave that she couldn’t hear their pursuers anymore. That could be a good thing—or a very, very bad one. “I sense a pond or a decent body of water within the cave. Don’t you?”

She didn’t sense anything, but that was because she couldn’t see past the fear. And that was deadly. She was smarter than this—she’d had to be in order to survive this long.

Leah took a deep breath and her eyes widened as the scent of pure water touched her tongue. Her body almost shivered in pure delight. While most witches didn’t need their actual element around them to be able to practice, being cut off from it for so long made it almost impossible to spell or protect oneself. As a water witch, she needed water to feel whole. Earth witches didn’t like to be parted from nature for too long, and fire witches liked warmth. Though, with fire witches, their element was connected to their emotions a little more tightly, and they used their powers differently. Air witches had it a little easier when it came to finding their element, but they had their own issues when it came to their powers. And spirit witches…well, she wasn’t sure what they needed. And she honestly didn’t want to know. Most of them scared her.