Her eyesight was excellent even in the dim light of the half moon. She patrolled the borders daily, varying the hours to avoid creating a pattern. Her parents’ sham of a marriage may have been her personal hell, but it was a political coup. Their combined land and doubled population gave her clans a stronger voice in the Clans Council. More soldiers enhanced their power as other packs angled to expand their territory. When Talia was born, her dual shifting abilities had ensured the endurance of the eagle-wolf alliance and had shaken up the shifter-human world. At first. With the fae emerging from the shadows, new clan mergers were now in negotiations. And vampires, once shunned as failed fae experiments, were being sought out for their mastery of genetics. Her councilors had started parlays with the Urban Council for the first time in decades. For the safety of her people, she’d willingly pay any price. If she had to marry, she would, no matter the personal cost; though on this matter, she disagreed with her advisors—better no marriage, than a bad or political one.
