*Isla*

It’s a beautiful, clear night. Waves brush against the rocky shore of the private island in the Teal Isles, a small group of islands roughly forty miles south of Maatua. The moon is full and bright, casting a long silver beam across the practically still ocean. 

On a night like this, Maddox and I normally would have shifted and gone for a nice long run through the tropical forest surrounding Maatua. 

But now I’m standing by a window in a snug, wood paneled bedroom in the massive vacation home of the Alpha and Luna of Maatua wondering how we got to this point. 

I turn my head to look...