Meredith was utterly beguiled by her visitor, her lips curving into a sly, one-sided smile. Amusement flickered in her eyes—this was the first time she was meeting Lucy in the flesh, rather than glimpsing her through visions. The girl with the cursed mark. The special werewolf.

When Falcon had brought Lucy to her, Meredith’s first words had been to dismiss him so she could “prepare” the young woman for what was to come. In truth, she needed time to study her alone, the way she had examined every other young woman Falcon had dragged before her. But Lucy was different. Apart from the fact that she was brought conscious, her...