They saw me for the girl I am and the person I yearn to become one day - a woman who thrives in her freedom and dances away in her rightfully earned independence. The love we shared for each other was probably the only miracle I would be granted in this life, and I knew they felt the same. Or so I thought.  Everything I held dear has been robbed from me, and I’ve been a victim of theft too many times to mention. I will not have them steal my pride. They can keep my heart, for all I care. The day they became my stepbrothers, it stopped working anyway.    

Ten years ago, The Harlequin Boys broke my heart. I thought my life was complete with them at my side, the five of us against the world, having each other’s backs no matter what the cost. I’d fight for them until my dying breath. It’s just a shame they didn’t feel the same. Once upon a time, my imperfect world shone bright with the light of four boys I would have killed for. This is the story of how they destroyed me. 

I rejected my fated mate, and didn’t regret it for a second. Until now. Shipped off to Ravenscroft University, a graduate school for the supernatural elite, I have a lot to live up to. As heir to America’s most powerful pack, I was locked away. Not to be protected, but because I was born broken. A disappointment. A wolf who couldn’t shift. This is supposed to be my fresh start, but my past won’t leave me alone. Not when he’s here.

After the death of my mother and her Bonded, I was relieved to find my own Bonds. I was sure everything would be okay if I had them. It wasn’t. The fate of our people is in my hands, and I know we’re better off if I’m alone. After five years on the run, I’m caught and dragged back to face the men I ran away from. I thought I was doing the right thing. Now, I’m not so sure.

There’s something uglier that has been haunting me for years upon years. So ugly that I have never seen its face. I never had to. I’d hear his whispers through my internal screams, feel his shadow brush against my nightmares. He was my monster that tormented me. And maybe lived under your bed.... When I started Midnight Mayhem, his presence faded. His whispers were silenced. His shadow dissolving without a trace. I wondered why that was.