Chapter One

Sophia read over an e-mail from one of her hunter acquaintances for the fourth time. It had been several months since she and other pack members had initially met the hunters and in that time working out all the problems they had with each other occupied much of Sophia's time. Unfortunately, she still had to manage the rest of the pack. Not only did that include the normal things such as keeping in touch with the other alphas in the area and doing budgets, but she also had several other things going on, some good and some definitely not.

On the good side of things, the Mile High Pack had recently welcomed its newest member and Sophia's niece, Izabelle Luna Colton. Sophia hadn't had the heart to tell her brother or his mate how much she hated her niece's name, and now that their decision was made, she saw no point in saying anything about it. Of course, Sophia was still glad that the baby was healthy and Melanie was recovering well.

The bad part about Izabelle's birth had been that Sophia was out of an assistant for a while. When she had discovered that Melanie was excellent with numbers, she had immediately offered her a position working as her assistant. Sophia had loved being able to let Melanie take care of all the budgets and anything else that involved numbers. But Melanie hadn't had the easiest of pregnancies and was very limited during the last few months of her pregnancy and she definitely didn't have time after her baby arrived.

It left Sophia with a difficult decision. She could either find a new assistant temporarily, which she didn't want to do since she'd never liked any of her previous assistants, or she could simply go back to handling everything on her own. But there had been a third option – have Melanie come back as soon as she felt she was ready, but with the baby. Sophia really didn't want a crying infant anywhere around her, but she also wanted Melanie back enough that she eventually broke down and told Melanie she could come back to work with Izabelle.

Being without her assistant and then having to put up with the baby really was the least of Sophia's worries. Even the hunters weren't a threat anymore. The real problem was in the newest threat to the pack – the lions. Sophia still hadn't learned much about them. All she knew was that they were taking their time doing whatever it was they had set out to do.

She knew they had attacked groups of feral wolves several years ago. One wolf had escaped from them and was now living with the Mile High Pack. But the lions had grown bold and attacked a pack of nearly fifty wolves. Of course, Sophia wasn't too upset over the loss of the Pueblo pack given that they'd been hostile and had a spy in her pack. But what worried her was the fact that the lions seemed to be attacking wolf packs and she couldn't figure out why, no matter how much effort she put into it.

Sophia growled as she started pacing around her office, her mind once again on the lion problem. The more she thought about it, the more she missed the Pueblo Pack. At least then she had known who her enemy was. And she had some assurance that they wouldn't attack her pack without warning. But the lions were a different story. She knew next to nothing about lion shifters until they started attacking wolves.

Her computer screen caught her eye as she paced, and she realized she hadn't responded to the e-mail yet. Sometimes, it was just too hard to concentrate when there was a wailing infant in the house. Izabelle was silent at the moment, however, and Sophia knew she had no more excuse. Still standing, she typed out a quick reply to the hunter and sent it off, refocusing her mind on the issue with the lions.

She didn't have much time to think about it, because a knock on the door interrupted her. She growled low, and then told the person to come in. She knew that privacy was a rare thing as a member of a pack, and even more rare for the alpha.

"I've finished the report," Melanie said, walking in with Izabelle in her arms. "Is there anything else you need me to do? Talon won't be by to pick me up for another hour or so."

"I think that's everything for today," Sophia said. "Might as well take it easy until Talon gets here. You holding up okay?"

"Yeah," Melanie said. "It's a little more exhausting than I thought to have a baby, but we're managing."

"Do you need more time off?" Sophia asked, hoping like hell she wouldn't take her up on the offer. But she wasn't going to be an alpha who demanded too much of her pack members. If Melanie wanted more time at home to focus on her new child, then Sophia was going to make sure she got it.

"No," Melanie said. "It's actually kinda nice to be working a little. Especially since Izzy just sleeps most of the day. I don't want to just sit around at home waiting for her to need something when I can just as easily sit around here and get something done at the same time."

"Why can't all the pack members be like you?" Sophia asked, feeling relieved that Melanie wasn't going to take more time off. She opened her mouth to say something else, but then the doorbell rang and she shot an angry look towards the door. "Who the hell's ringing the doorbell?" she grumbled as she stomped over that way.

She pulled the door open, ready to yell at the salesperson on the other side, but when she looked at the man, he didn't look like he was selling anything. He looked frightened and his clothes were disheveled and dirty, and his dark blonde hair looked just as aggravated as the rest of him.

"Can I help you?" Sophia asked, hoping he'd just go away.

"I'm looking for… are you a wolf?" the man asked.

"Another crazy," Sophia said as she started to close the door. She knew better than to even react to him. She didn't know if he was simply a mad man, or someone trying to find werewolves in a terrible way. Either way, Sophia wasn't about to give him the time of day, but the man moved quickly, getting his leg in the door before Sophia could close it.

"Wait," he said. "You have to be the wolf."

"Get out of here or I'm calling the cops," Sophia threatened, doing her best not to growl. She usually dealt with other wolves and didn't have to hold back. Now that she had to maintain her secret, she found it difficult to not growl. She opened the door a bit then slammed it hard on the man's leg.

The man cried out in pain, but he didn't move his leg. Sophia knew she really needed to call the police, but she didn't want to bring herself to their attention. But she also knew better than to beat up a human, who might go to the cops on his own. She knew she could take care of the man easily on her own, and she hated to have someone else take care of the problem.

"Go away," she said again, stomping on his toes. Finally, he withdrew his leg and Sophia was able to close the door. She watched as he limped away, and was dismayed to see he didn't go far. She watched as he sat down on her porch. For a moment, she considered going out there and physically making him leave, but she decided to let him sit there for a while. If he was still there in a little while, then she'd call the police.

She tried to return to her work, but she kept thinking about the man on her porch. She felt bad for the man, and she had no idea why. She knew she shouldn't – he was the one who had tried to force his way into her house. But she kept seeing the image of him sitting on her porch, lonely and hurt. She regretted slamming the door on his leg and stomping on his toes, and when she couldn't stop thinking about it, she decided she should at least apologize to him.

Walking outside, she saw the man remained right where she left him, sitting on her porch. When the door opened, he looked up at her, and then back at the ground.

"I was hoping the rumors weren't true," he said. "And I still hope they're not."

"I have no idea what the hell you're talking about," Sophia said. "I just came out here to apologize."

"As long as you're not trying to kill me," he said.

"Why the hell would I kill you? You might be crazy, but I suppose you just need help."

"You can drop the act," he said. "I know you're a wolf. And that's what I always heard. Wolves are cruel, violent people who want to kill anyone who's not in their packs. Always figured that had to be a lie."

"If you're so damn convinced I'm a wolf and I'm going to kill you, what the hell are you even doing here?"

"I thought you'd at least keep me alive long enough for me to tell you what I wanted to tell you. And I suppose I'd rather die by your hands than my father's."

"Okay…" Sophia said, not sure what to think about the man. She was starting to wonder if she really should call the police, but he did somehow know she was a wolf. "So what'd you want to tell me?"

"The lions are planning to attack your pack just like down south," he said. "They've got someone in your pack feeding information. Or at least they did. From what I've heard, it sounded like you kicked him out. His name's Shane, if he's still around. Kid from Kansas."

Sophia didn't know what to say. Whoever he was, he was definitely someone who already knew about wolves and other shifters. He knew far too much specific information for him to simply be making guesses. In fact, he knew too much to be anything except a shifter himself. A lion.

"Come on," Sophia said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him up. "You'd better come inside."