Maverick showed me to my room a couple of doors down from his.

“You will sleep here until the mating ceremony.” He stood watching while I took in the room. It was lovely with an airy feel to it. So different to what I had grown up with. I reached out and touched the expensive cotton sheets.

I had grown up wishing for this type of room, and wishing for a family. Each day that passed hardened that little girl into the woman I was today. The one who knew how the world worked. Even what I felt for Maverick didn’t fit in with my cynicism of the world.

What I felt for him was an anomaly, I couldn’t explain.

“How long before the ceremony?” I asked turning to face him.

It was hard not to be this close to him and not want to touch him. And I wanted him to touch me, badly. I have never wanted the opposite sex like I wanted Maverick.

“Two days,” he revealed, rubbing the back of his neck.

I wondered if he felt the same way I did. Ripping clothes to join our bodies in an erotic heat.

“Once the ceremony is complete we will mate.” His eyes held mine, drawing me in. It was magnetic, hard to resist.

I shifted my gaze from him, trying to distract myself from my most basic need.

“Mate,” I murmured to myself, unable to stop the images of the two of us intertwined together in the throes of passion.

At the moment I was debating whether I would last a day, never mind two.

“Lark will take you shopping a little later to get some clothes and whatever else you need.” He was looking everywhere but at me.

I smiled. He felt the same and he was having a hard time trying to distract himself, just like I was.

Whatever I was feeling, I wasn’t alone. Maverick was there with me.

“Lark?” I asked, feeling a pang of jealously. I didn’t like when he spoke of other girls, it didn’t matter in what capacity.

He smiled. A knowing smile, like he knew exactly what was on my mind. “Lark is my sister.”

Relieved, my features relaxed.

He stared into the distance.

“Maverick?” I reached out to touch his arm.

“Sorry. I was talking to Sebastian,” he explained.

“How?” My curiosity was peaked.

He frowned. “We can talk through our minds. It’s like telepathy.”

“Really?” I asked, fascinated.

He nodded.

“Why have I never been able to do it?”

“You need to be a part of a pack to be able to communicate that way.”

“So when will I become a member of the pack?”

“After we mate.”

I frowned. “Is that the only way to join the pack? Um..mating?” I was never one to feel shy or embarrassed but talking about what was going to take place between us made me hot all over.

He shook his head. “I’m the only one that can allow werewolves into the pack.”

“How?”

“We share blood.”

I nodded, then frowned. “How does someone leave?”

“It’s a little more complicated than it is to join. It takes distance and time, eventually the link weakens.”

So once I was in, if I ever decided to leave it wouldn’t be as easy. It made me nervous. I was trusting Maverick with a lot but I still held the fear that things wouldn’t work out and I would need to leave. It was a cycle I had gone through more times than I cared to count. Stability wasn’t my strength, neither was sticking around.

In that moment, standing in front of Maverick, I didn’t want to be anywhere but there with him.

There was a knock at the door and then a guy walked in. The same guy who had held me while Maverick had burned me with the flower. His sidekick.

“Sebastian,” Maverick introduced the man.

Sebastian nodded in my direction stiffly, his body language was telling. He wasn’t exactly friendly but could I blame him under the circumstances we had first met.

“Victoria,” I introduced, trying my best to forget what had happened and start over.

Sebastian shook his head. “That’s not your identity. Whoever you are, you’re lying.”

“That’s enough,” Maverick said, firmly. Looking between Sebastian and I. He glared at Sebastian.

I could feel the power coming off Maverick, his presence strong. It was something I had never experienced before. The hairs on my arms stood up.

Sebastian was right but I wasn’t comfortable talking about it. Victoria was my new name, for my new life. I couldn’t go back to my old name, with the dark memories attached to it. I was wiping the slate and my past clean to be able to start over. Who could begrudge me that?

Besides I didn’t want to ruin this fledgling relationship with Maverick. I didn’t know how he would feel about my past and I didn’t want to take the chance that I would screw this up. I wanted to give us a fighting chance. If Sebastian’s reaction was anything to go by I was not looking forward to how the rest of the pack would react to the news I was the mate to their Alpha.

Maverick glared at Sebastian who rolled his shoulders slightly.

“I need you get the pack together for the announcement.”

Reluctantly, Sebastian left the room leaving the two of us alone.

“He doesn’t like me,” I murmured, not sure if it was something that could be changed.

“He is just over protective,” Maverick explained. “He isn’t wrong.”

And there it was.

He folded his arms as he studied me. “Are you going to tell me who you really are Victoria?”

I bit my bottom lip as I tried to figure a way out of this without giving anything a way.

“I’m supposed to trust you, right?” I asked.

He nodded. “I would never betray you Victoria. You can trust me with your life.” The conviction in his voice left me with no doubt he was serious.

“I need you to trust me. Trust me that I’ll tell you everything you need to know.” I held his intense gaze. “My past wasn’t good.”

He frowned and moved to take my hand in his. I knew he was trying to ease my emotions with his touch but my past wasn’t something I wanted to share with anyone.

I moved my hand out of his reach. He halted, giving me the space I wanted.

“What happened?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

His hands curled into fists, I watched fascinated.

“What if I need to know?” His eyes darkened. “If someone…hurt you Victoria, I need to know.”

I shrugged. “Why? It doesn’t change what happened, nothing can be changed. It’s just a waste of time and energy. And I won’t spend another moment in that dark place.” I had worked so hard to get out of that place and all the bad stuff tied to it. Even talking about it now wasn’t something I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to lock it away forever and never spend another second remembering it.

“What if I need revenge?” His words touched me in a way I couldn’t explain.

“There isn’t enough time to right everything wrong in my life Maverick. I don’t want to waste any of my future chasing the ghosts of my past.”

The struggle between his anger and what I was asking of him played across his tight features. “I don’t like this one bit.”

“The less you know the better. Trust me.” I exhaled a shaky breath. “Victoria James is a name I made up because I don’t want to be tied to my past. That’s all you need to know Maverick.”

He studied me but refused to agree. I needed him to accept that my past wasn’t up to discuss.

“Please Maverick. I won’t talk about it and if you want me to trust you, you have to show me that I can trust you. Can I trust you Maverick?”

If he couldn’t leave it alone, we were done before we even started. I wouldn’t stay if he didn’t agree. No destiny or fate would keep me here. Did he understand that?

“You can trust me with your life Victoria. Even if I don’t like it, I will honor your request.”

His voice was husky and my heart lifted at his words.

We had passed a hurdle and I held so much hope that maybe things would actually work out.