If her parents knew him so well, why

hadn't they ever introduced her to this intriguing Alpha?

"I do hope Grandmama is right," Annabella said. "I hope I'm accepted and find my mate, I don't want to wait for a long time."

"Most packs consist of an arrogant werewolf and ever so charming fortune hunters. They will find you delightful. With your inheritance, you will be the target of every fortune hunter in most packs. You must be careful, Anna. You must remember my folly and avoid their.tricks."

"I will try to do my best."

They were coming this way! Mother was leading the Alpha her way, while Father was headed for the spiral staircase leading to the minstrels' gallery at the back of the

room. Samantha's heart crept upward in her chest until each beat throbbed at the base of her throat. She couldn't breathe.s

she strived to ignore her wolf voice that rings her mind, but her voice becomes louder

"Sammy, my goodness." Anna touched Samantha's arm

"Will you look at the Alpha coming in this direction with Mama?"

Samantha wasn't merely looking at the Alpha, she was staring. She couldn't help herself.

"He is quite dashing, isn't he?" Anna whispered. "In a dark, formidable way. Still, he's much too fierce looking to be called handsome."

He wasn't handsome, Samantha thought. No, not when male perfection was measured by the soft, petulant, pretty looks

of Alpha Byron. There was nothing soft in the sculpted lines and curves of this man's face. Nothing petulant in the sensual curve of his finely molded mouth. Nothing pretty in the overall effect of towering strength and bold masculinity.

He was compelling. Mesmerizing. Overwhelming.

Samantha had never seen a more blatantly attractive man in her life. Here was a Princess who could easily have stood before her in polished attire awaiting a token from his lady to take with him into the palace.

"Samantha, look who is here!" Audrey said, rushing toward her daughter, clutching the Alpha's arm as though she was afraid he might get away from her. "Isn't it a

marvelous surprise?"

Samantha glanced at her mother, dazed by the presence of this bold Alpha.

"Samantha, darling." Audrey hugged Samantha, then stepped back, pressing her hand to the base of her neck. "I can see

you are overwhelmed."

The tears in her mother's eyes startled Samantha's already confused senses. "Mother, I don't understand..."

Samantha's words dissolved in a gasp as the Alpha gripped her shoulders in his big hands and drew her near. She caught a glimpse of his smile, a glimmer of amusement in his dark eyes as he lowered his head and kissed her. His hard sexy mouth crushed her soft lips, Samantha felt as if the world had stopped for minutes and then rotated again, the spark ran through her body and her breath stopped.

she had been kissed before. A few bold werewolves had presumed overly much in the past, grazing her lips before she could protest. Yet never in her life had she been kissed this way. And never in her life had she been kissed by an Alpha such as this.

He slid his firm lips across hers, slowly, deliberately, as though he had every right to kiss her, as though he had every right to do more. Shock and confusion solidified into

a shimmering excitement within her. This was a kiss straight from her wildest fantasy. This was a bold Alpha

claiming his luna. Not with cold steel and brute strength.

But with the intoxicating elixir of a single kiss.

He wore no cologne. Yet a beguiling aroma of leather and wool mingled with an entirely masculine scent.

A scent that teased her. A scent that made her want to press her face against his neck, filling her senses with his essence. A scent that fills the whole ballroom.

The music and voices in the room dissolved into the distant roar of her pulse pounding in her ears. wolf is excited Although he did not hold her pressed against his chest, she

could feel the heat of him, the strong radiant warmth of his body stroking hers through the emerald silk of her gown.

And for some inconceivable reason, her body sought that warmth.

She felt a shifting within her, a yielding of muscles that made her sway until she could feel the press of his chest against her breasts. Sensation shimmered in the tips of her breasts, spiraling in all directions, like sparks escaping a Raming pinwheel. He tightened his grip on her arms, hold

ing her close. For an instant. Only for an instant. And then he was pulling away, leaving her breathless and hungry for

more.

She stared up into his dark eyes, seeing a flicker of what could have been confusion melding with the heat of a desire

she could recognize even in her innocence.

"I've missed you, Sammy," he said, his lips curving into a smile that sliced a single dimple into his tanned right cheek.

Samantha blinked, stunned by her overwhelming response to this Alpha. For one extraordinary moment, she wondered if

he had indeed stepped straight from her fantasy. "Missed me?"

His eyes sparkled with a bedeviling light. "More than words can say."

The bright notes of the orchestra faded only to erupt in a stunning crescendo. A moment later her father addressed

the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, please give me your at-tension for a moment."

Her father's voice sliced through the fog clouding Samantha's mind. Reality swept through her with a vengeance. Dear

heaven! The rogue had kissed her. What was worse, she had kissed him back, as though she had known him a thousand

years. What would people think of her kissing a stranger in this manner? Especially now, when she was a married

woman.

She glared at the man. "What the devil do you mean..." Her words dissolved in a startled exhale of breath as the tall stranger pressed his fingertip to her lips.

"Hush, sweetheart, your father has an announcement to make."

Samantha frowned as she glanced at her mother, looking for support in her indignation, finding none. The world suddenly seemed to be spinning in the wrong direction. A man had kissed her. Here in the middle of her parents' ballroom.

And her mother all smiled. She glanced around her.

Four hundred people stood in the huge room, staring up at the minstrels' gallery, where her father stood at the black

wrought-iron balustrade, commanding the attention of everyone present.

"As you all know, we are here tonight to celebrate the marriage of my daughter, Samantha, to Alpha Dave Blake,

who is in service to His pack, The red moon pack in northern California."

Johnson paused a moment, staring down at his guests, his lips curved into a smile. "We thought the Alpha was unable to attend tonight, due to a prior engagement in the Peninsula."

Though the Alpha was unable to attend. Samantha stared up at her father, an uneasy shiver skittering up her spine, a sense of impending disaster settling over her like a heavy cloak.

"Through a twist of good fortune," Johnson's smile grew as he looked to where Samantha stood near the back of the room and used his arm in her direction-" he was able to join us tonight. It is my great pleasure to introduce all of you to my new son, Alpha Dave Blake."