Corbin's Conflict (Spiked Raiders MC

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Corbin’s Con lict
Spiked Raiders MC
Book One

E.C. Land
 Contents

Acknowledgments
Trigger Warning
Playlist
Spiked Raiders MC Members
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Bonus Scene
Also by E.C. Land
Social Media
Shiner’s Light
Bruiser’s Reckoning
Lynch’s Match
C ORBIN’ S C ONFLICT
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any
resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.

Corbin’s Conflict. Copyright © 2024 by E.C. Land. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in articles or reviews. For information, contact E.C. Land.
 Acknowledgments
Cover Design by Clarise Tan, CT Cover Creations
Photography by Golden Czermak
Model Joe Adams
Editing by Jackie Ziegler
Formatting by E.C. Land
Proofreading by Rebecca Vazquez
Any and all IHMC characters are copyrighted and written by Darlene Tallman and used with her permission for the purpose of
this particular story. Within both series, we share a world divided.

**AI RESTRICTION: The author expressly prohibits any entity from using this publication for purposes of training artificial
intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text, including without limitation technologies that are capable of generating works in
the same style or genre as this publication. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training
and development of machine learning language models.
 Trigger Warning

This content is intended for mature audiences only. It contains material that may be viewed as offensive to some readers,
including graphic language, dangerous and sexual situations, murder, rape, and extreme violence.
Proceed with caution. This book does entail several scenes that may very well be a trigger to some.
Also, tissues are a must with other scenes.
Not for the faint at heart.
If you don’t like violence and cannot handle certain subjects, then this is not a book you’ll want to read.
 Check out the music playlist for
Corbin’s Conflict!

Kiss The Mountain – Auri, Johanna Kurkela

I Hope Your World Is Kind – Auri, Johanna Kurkela
City of the Dead – Eurielle
All the King’s Horses – Karmina
I’ll Be Waiting – Eurielle
You Said – Eurielle
Trouble – Josh Ross
Beauty in the Struggle – Bryan Martin, feat. Craig Campbell
Almost There – Kaylee Rose
Raindrops – Eurielle
Become the Beast – Karliene
Meet Me on the Battlefield – SVRCINA
The Wolven Storm (Priscilla’s Song) – The Hound + The Fox
Fireside Bard – Auri, Johanna Kurkela
Spiked Raiders MC Members

Spiked Raiders MC Members

Corbin – President
Justice – VP
Abel – SAA
Dane – Road Captain
Tucker – Enforcer
Zavier – Medic
Coby – Hacker
Jett – Treasurer
Tobias – Member
Quincy – Member
Salem – Member
Big Daddy – Former President
 Chapter One

Karsyn
Running through the woods barefoot, the ground cuts into my feet, and tears spill down my cheeks as fear threatens to consume
me. Dodging past the trees, the limbs snag my hair, and each branch I pass scratches my bare arms and legs. The chill of the
night air whipping around me like icicles. It’s painful, and there’s no avoiding the limbs unless I slow down. That can’t happen.
It’s why I ignore the pain and keep moving.
I can’t take the chance of looking back. Not with what’s at stake. What’s to come if they catch up with me? If the blood
witches get me, it’s all over, not just for me but for others. I heard them talking. I know what they intend to use me for.
Breathing heavily, my heart racing, blood pumping loud enough it roars in my ears, making it harder to hear how close they
are.
By now they know I’m gone. They’ll be on my heels soon enough. It doesn’t matter to me, though, as long as I stay one step
ahead of them. One step ahead of death.
Death is coming and with it more blood will spill. I can’t have it, not again. It’s why I took my chance when I had it and
escaped them all. I won’t allow any more death to stain my hands.
For years, I’ve been held captive. Used for wrong things. Very wrong things. I hate myself for the things they did to me and
what they forced me to do. What I had to do to survive. To finally be able to escape.
Being a hybrid earth witch, I’m all about nature. Taking care of nurturing the ground, seeing Mother Nature’s work, and
helping it thrive. But for the last two years, I’ve been in a horrible place. I’ll never forget the nightmare I finally escaped.
I prayed and prayed to the moon. I prayed and prayed, pleading with the Mother Goddess to help me. To save me from the
blood magic holding me. Keeping me bound.
Never before did I want to do something so hideous, and now, I’m free. I escaped. I intend to run far from this place. Hide
where no one will find me. I hope at least.
All I have to do is get to Redwich.
Growing up, my mother always talked to me about the town. It’s the place where I’m from. She never hid who I was from
me. What I am. I’m not just a witch. I’m also a wolf. However, I’ve never done a shift. I didn’t think it’s possible. I always
thought there was a connection that should be between the two halves of a shifter. For me it’s not the case. Or maybe it’s that I
don’t know how to.
I have the senses of a wolf. My hearing is sharper. So is my sense of smell. I’m not sure about speed or strength. But when I
get angry, my nails grow longer. Still, I’ve not felt a connection to the other half of me. I wish I knew if I could. From what my
mother said, I might only have some of the aspects of my wolf side and never be a true wolf because of being a hybrid.
I didn’t know if it was possible, and I wished I could ask my father the truth, but I couldn’t. Mother explained to me that it
was forbidden for her to be with my father. He didn’t know about me. She left before he could find out, but she said he was her
mate. This confused me until she told me that wolves mated, and when they did, it was for life. From what she said, she never
sealed the bond between them, so he couldn’t find her. If he did, they’d both be in danger.
It was bad enough for her. And for me? I’ve lived my life growing up running from those who want to use me. Only when
my mother was captured and killed were they able to catch me.
 For five years they held me. They kept me locked away, unable to connect with the earth. Unable to do anything but what
they wanted.
If I can just get to Redwich, I can be safe. I know my father’s name. My mother showed me what he looked like. His image
is the locket I’ve worn around my neck since I was sixteen. It’s the one thing they couldn’t take from me.
The locket is protected by a spell my mother put on it right before she was taken from me.
I squeeze my eyes closed and try to get my breathing under control. Behind me I can hear the sounds of someone coming for
me.
They wouldn’t want to let me get away so easily. Not with the powers I have. Something my mother taught me long ago to
control. She used to constantly tell me how imperative it is never to lose that control.
“You must keep them at bay, my sweets. If they find out you are more, they’ll use everything they have to get to you. To
make sure you become a weapon for them. Control and lock them away. Only use the earth’s magic that the Mother Goddess
allows. Listen to the moon when it speaks to you, know that they will see you through. Give to you what you need. Show you
to your fate.”
She said that to me two days before they took her away from me.
I never fully understood what she meant, but I get it now. They proved what she meant. I never let them know all that I hold
within me. That didn’t stop them from forcing me to do their bidding.
How I got away only hours ago is a miracle. Now, I just need to find my way to Redwich. To the one person I hope can
help me. To keep me safe when there’s no one else who can.
Then again, knowing what those witches want, maybe I shouldn’t just go straight to him. I don’t know him, and he doesn’t
even know about me. It’s not unheard of for shifters to have mates not the same as them. What is unheard of, though, is for a
shifter to mate with a witch, vampire, fairy, etcetera.
For all I know, he could hate me at first sight and want me dead.
What I’ll do is get to Redwich and find a place safe for me. Somewhere hidden from the world, then I’ll search him out. Let
him know who I am and see if he’s willing to help me.
But first, I have to get there without getting caught. I won’t allow them to take me back there. I’ll die before doing what they
have planned.
 Chapter Two

Corbin
“Where are we with the run we’ve got coming up?” I demand, looking around the table at each of my brothers.
Most would say we’re an odd combination. I would agree, but no matter what blood we all share, we’re brothers. We’re
all different breeds of shifters. However, we all share one thing in common. We’re predators, one with our other halves sharing
one body.
Some of my brothers are wolves like me. Others are coyotes, lions, tigers, leopards, and panthers. Even a couple of them
are crossbreeds.
For me, I’m a wolf, one of the deadliest around. It’s thanks to the Alpha blood running through my veins. It courses through
me as if it were first nature rather than second. I don’t take shit from anyone. Not human, shifter, or any other creature out there.
“We’ve got everything under control, Prez,” Abel, my Sergeant at Arms and third in command, states, nodding and lifting
his chin to Dane, my Road Captain. “Dane and I have worked out all the details for this run. Nothing should go wrong.”
“That is, long as we don’t have any more spottings of those blood witches we’ve seen in the area.” Dane grunts, eyes
flaring and lip curling in anger.
He’s not one for the witches. His mother was killed by a blood witch, leaving him down to one parent, Daniel. He’d been
my dad’s Road Captain until he stepped down. When my dad handed over the gavel a few years ago, all those who held an
officer patch stepped down with him, leaving it in the hands of those now sitting around this table.
That doesn’t mean those men aren’t around all the time. They’re not that old, not at five hundred. We’re not immortal, but
we don’t live short lives. A thousand years is a pretty damn long life as long as a shifter doesn’t get themselves killed before
then.
“Speaking of witches, last night, while out running, I smelled one,” Tucker announces. “Don’t think it was a blood witch,
didn’t have the same foul scent. It was different, almost blended in with the earth itself.”
“Did you find where it came from?” I ask, rolling my head side to side, my neck popping.
“No, went searching for it, but didn’t find it. Even went into Cyrus’s part of town looking for it. Nothing.”
At the mention of Cyrus’s name, my nostrils flare. He’s my brother. We’re a year apart in age and also rivals. He grew up in
this club and turned his back on us all to go start a club of his own. The Iron Howlers MC. They’re not like us. They have
different beliefs and views on how to do things. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if Cyrus didn’t think his shit didn’t stink or
that this club wasn’t beneath him.
For fuck’s sake, it’s our heritage. One that Big Daddy started for us. He intended for us to run this club together, but we deal
in things he doesn’t want anything to do with. That’s fine with me. I don’t need his ass around here. In fact, the only time I have
to tolerate his ass is when we’re all at our dad’s for cookouts and family dinners. Big Daddy may have stepped down as
President of the Spiked Raiders MC, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t put his foot down in demanding his family’s attendance. I
get why he does this. He’s not choosing sides, which is fine, I wouldn’t ask him to.
He does this shit not to try and keep Cyrus and me somewhat tolerant of each other, but rather for our daughters, Sage and
Jazmine. They are just little girls who don’t need to be affected by the rivalry between my brother and myself. Sage is seven
and Jazmine is six. The two girls are the light of Big Daddy’s life now. During the week, they both end up getting off the bus at
his house after school. With the town being as small as it is, it only has three schools. All on the same grounds. Those who live
in the city district and county district all go to the same school. This works out great for me since Sage can go to her granddad’s
after school, and I get her from there.
Granted, sometimes she’ll get off the bus here at the clubhouse and hang with me when she wants to while I’m doing shit,
though most of the time, she goes to Big Daddy’s.
When it comes to Sage, she’s the best part of me. I fucked up seven years and nine months ago by fucking her biological
mother. She was one of the doxies that we keep around the clubhouse. Doxies are what we call the club girls around here.
Sage’s mom, Hummer, fuck, I didn’t even know the bitch’s real name until it came time to put a name on the birth certificate.
She wanted to trap me, and when that didn’t work, she signed over all rights to my little girl before disappearing. Since the day
she pushed Sage out, I haven’t seen her since, and she best not ever come back around here. I’d probably try and kill her if she
attempted it.
However, my Sage, she looks nothing like Hummer, nor does she act like the bitch. No, she’s pure innocence and light. The
guys around here look at her as the little princess she is.
“Did any of Cyrus’s men see you?” I find myself asking.
“No, I didn’t sense any of them around,” Tucker remarks.
Weird.
“Let’s see if we can’t find where that scent was coming from. If there’s a witch in these parts, I want them gone,” I declare,
banging my fist on the table before flexing my fingers.
With all the problems we’ve had in the past, I don’t need to deal with blood witches or any other that could be out there.
Lately, blood witches have been popping up in our area, and we’ve either killed them or sent them running. I know there are
different types of witches out there, but in my opinion, they’re all the same. I don’t give a fuck what they deal in. A witch is a
fucking witch and needs to be put down if they dare fuck with me and mine.
“Did you check by the river?” Justice, my VP, asks, looking toward Tucker. He’s a coyote and is one cunning bastard. He’s
got no problem killing in a blink of an eye, but he’s also a man who takes no shit, which makes him the perfect second in
command. In this club, it doesn’t matter what type of shifter you are, we’re all family.
“Yeah, VP, checked all up and down the river.” Tucker nods, his jaw ticking. “I checked every damn place I could think.”
“I’m willing to bet the witch has a shield hiding her.” Dane grunts. “Dad told me about one that could hide herself, other
witches, and creatures. Something about earth witches, I think he said.”
“Then we need to find a way to get this bitch out of here sooner rather than later, I don’t like that shit, and I’m not putting up
with it. Fuck that,” I growl. I keep the trouble out of this county . . . out of the town. The bullshit doesn’t come near those I
protect, and everyone knows it. I might be a cold-hearted bastard most of the time, but that’s because I don’t take shit and have
no problem getting bloody. I thrive for the taste of blood in my mouth. Enemy blood is on my hands, on my wolf’s snout . . .
yeah, I thirst for it.
The very thought of enemy blood has my wolf ready to be let out. He’s a beast and bigger than even my dad’s wolf. Solid
black with a small patch of white on the chest, according to Big Daddy. My coloring works in keeping me blended with the
night.
“Dane, why don’t you talk to Daniel and see if there’s a way around this possible shield,” Justice states.
“And while you do that, I think I might go and check out the areas for myself,” I add in.
“Don’t you and Justice have to go meet with Orpheus in a bit?” Abel reminds me.
“Fuck.” I growl, hating that he’s right. “Yeah, we’ve got to go over to Dyrk and meet with the vampire.”
I don’t mind the vampires that much, they stick to themselves and have rules they follow. Ones that, to them, are laws they
all abide by or end up at the hands of one of Orpheus’s men. Orpheus is the king of the vampires and rules with a firm hand.
What I don’t like doing is going to Dyrk, a nightclub where humans go act like they’re some child of the night or some shit like
that. All those B-rated horror movies out there have people thinking they can just be what they can’t.
Everyone in the supernatural world keeps the truth to themselves. We don’t need more shit than what we have. To the
outside world, the Spiked Raiders is just a one percenter club that runs drugs and shit. We do that, but we also do other shit
too. Hence the reason for the meeting with Orpheus tonight. Guess you can say he’s the kingpin similar to a cartel. What we
have to do for him is broker a deal for blood bags. It’s part of the shipment coming in. These bags are important because,
supposedly, they’re not just your regular blood bags. The blood contains something in it that makes it so the vamps can get high
or some shit like that.
It’s interesting and all, but it’s not my thing.
“We’ll go patrol the areas, Prez,” Coby says.
“Yeah, Salem, Quincy, and I will join in. See if we can’t find the witch,” Tobias states.
“If I didn’t have to be at Club Heat, I’d join in. It’s been weeks since I’ve been out,” Jett remarks.
“I can join in after I finish up at Raider’s Hook,” Jackson grumbles.
The two of them handle two of the four establishments the club owns and have yet to hire a manager since they’re both new
businesses. Club Heat is a strip club we finally decided to open. Raider’s Hook is a surf and turf restaurant that’s become a hit
in town. We also have Spiked Customs Rides, the custom-build garage where a few of us work. Then there’s Moonlight Ink,
our tattoo parlor. Both places already have an excellent reputation and bring in a shit load of business. We brought in some of
the best artists for the parlor and a design artist for the garage.
My brothers all help in handling the businesses while Justice and I focus on the other shit. That doesn’t mean we don’t do
our part with each establishment. I get out there a few times a week in the garage and get my hands dirty.
“Good, then while you all are out there, Justice and I can deal with Orpheus, then join in.” I grunt and rotate my neck,
inwardly groaning at how good it feels when my neck pops.
I’m gonna need to shift soon, I can feel it. My wolf isn’t going to wait much longer. So, hopefully, the meeting with Orpheus
won’t go on for long. I want to get out there and look as well, but I also know I have to make sure Sage gets her nighttime story.
It’s one thing that I do with her every night, and she doesn’t want anyone else to.
No matter how much she loves her granddaddy, she’s a daddy’s girl through and through. Just the thought of my little girl
settles the wolf inside me. He loves my girl just as much as I do. I can’t count the times I’ve shifted just to let her ride on my
back. Sage loves to climb up and hold tight while I run through the woods. If it were summer, I’d take her for a run, but it’s still
winter, too cold for her to be outside for long periods of time.
Once the time comes for her to have her first shift, then she can go with me. Until then, her body isn’t ready for it. Shifter
pups don’t start getting their strength until they’re ten. So, for now, Sage is all but a normal human. At ten, she’ll get her sense
of smell and strength, along with becoming faster. Then, at thirteen, she’ll have her first shift. At sixteen, she’ll be able to do a
half shift. It’s always been a question in the back of my mind as to why this is how it is, but Big Daddy explained when I was
growing up that it was a way for shifters to grow accustomed and get used to their new abilities without becoming
overwhelmed.
So, until the time comes, I treat Sage as if she’s a normal human girl, though I know she’s a full-blooded wolf, which is also
a rarity these days. There are a lot of half-breeds and hybrids out there. A lot of times, a shifter will end up mating with a
human. But that’s only if said shifter finds its fated mate.
And here I am, two hundred years old. In all this time, I’ve gone without knocking up a bitch, until Hummer that is, or
finding my mate. I’m also not fucking looking for her either.
 Chapter Three

Karsyn
Walking through the meadow, my feet wet from the dew coating the ground, I sigh in relief. It’s taken me a month to finally
come out of the little cabin I found and turned into a home for myself. It’s nothing special.
The cabin is simple, with a fireplace, a few old rugs, and a small cooking stove and sink in the corner. It’s all I need for
myself and all I could ask for. In fact, it’s more than I’ve had in years. Before I escaped the blood witches, I lived in a small
cell. The bars were charmed, and if I touched them, they burned. As it were, I grew weaker with each day I was in there.
It’s why it’s taken so long for me to heal as much as I have. I was lucky to have enough strength by the time I made it to
Redwich to be able to use my gifts in order to shield myself from the rest of the world. I needed the time to heal, and I feared
someone being able to come across where I’ve decided to hide.
In the time since getting to Redwich, this is all I’ve done . . . hide and heal. I didn’t even go to town for supplies. I stuck to
the cabin, only venturing out for water and food. I didn’t connect with the earth any other way.
Today is the first time I’ve ventured this far. I’m scared and feel as if, at any minute, someone will find me, but I need to get
out. Soon, I’ll need to finally make my way into the town to find my father. I don’t know how I’ll do that, but I’ll find a way.
The other night, I heard the sound of wolves in the area. Fear had threatened to choke me as I prayed my shields stayed
intact. I wasn’t ready to come face-to-face with a wolf.
Sighing heavily, I spread my arms, lift my face to the sky, and twirl around. Now isn’t the time to think about the fear. I need
to finally and officially reconnect with the earth. With Mother Goddess. Tonight, I hope to dance under the full moon as I used
to do long ago.
I smile upward at the sun shining brightly and feel lighter than I have in years. Energy sings and curls around me. My body
lifts off the ground, and I start humming, singing, and chanting the words that will fully connect me once again to nature.
The chirping of birds singing their song mixes with mine, becoming one. The wind swirls around me, and the ground soon
meets my feet again as I lower myself back down. I lie on the cold ground, feeling the earth underneath me warm. The grass
whispers against my skin, wanting to be reborn from the cold winter. Soon, the spring equinox will come, and flowers will
bloom. This meadow will be filled beautifully with wildflowers. So many different kinds, it’ll take my breath away.
I stay where I am, watching the sky, listening to the birds, seeing deer walk by, and a bobcat race through the trees. Only
when it starts to get dark again do I finally move. I still need to go to town, but it won’t be tonight. Maybe tomorrow.
Making my way back to the little cabin, I feel stronger, but I’m not strong enough yet. I keep my ears open, listening for any
sounds that shouldn’t be there. As I close in on the cabin, something feels off. It’s not malevolent, but it’s . . . I don’t know how
to describe it.
I stop on the edge of the tree line just to the side of the cabin. Only then do I smell them. Wolves.
“Come on out. I can smell you,” one of them states, looking in my direction. He’s older but still looks like the man in the
picture of my locket.
“Get out here, witch,” the other man says, sounding infuriated, but he bears a resemblance to the older man.
Ever so slowly, I take a breath and step from around the tree. Meeting the older man’s gaze.
“Karoline?” my father whispers.
 “The hell you talking about? Who’s Karoline?” the other man snaps, nostrils flaring.
“Karoline was my mother’s name,” I utter softly, my voice wavering as I drop my gaze to the ground. If they hadn’t been
shifters, I know they wouldn’t have heard me.
“What’s your name then?” my father demands.
I bite my lower lip and take a step back into the trees.
“Don’t even think about running,” the other man says.
“Dane, stop scaring her,” my father snaps. “She’s your sister.”
“My what?” Dane snarls. “You’re fuckin’ kidding me.”
“Take a moment, push back your anger, and smell the air.”
Dane does as he is told, and his eyes widen before he growls.
My father ignores him and steps forward. “What’s your name?”
“Karsyn,” I whisper tentatively.
“Karsyn,” he repeats, also whispering. “Karoline named you Karsyn.” He says this as if he were talking to himself.
“Motherfucker,” Dane mutters.
My father shakes his head and jerks his chin up. “Come over here, Karsyn. Neither of us will hurt you. I need you to tell me
where your mother is.”
I take a step closer and start fidgeting with my hands. I take a breath to keep the energy that wants to reach out of me trying
to surface. “My mother was killed several years ago by blood witches while trying to protect me.”
My father’s nostrils flare and his eyes change right before he shifts. I scream and back up against a tree, fear overwhelming
me. My magic envelops me.
“What the fuck is that?” I hear Dane snarl.
“Your mother was my mate. My fated mate,” my father says, shifting back, thankfully still with his clothes intact. I thought
that was interesting. I didn’t know shifters could keep their clothes when they shift, but it seems so.
“Your what?” Dane demands.
“My mate,” he confirms and looks at me. “My name’s Daniel Syndey.”
My mouth drops open, and I’m surprised to know this. I never knew his name. Swallowing, I lick my bottom lip. “My full
name is Karsyn Danielle Syndey.”
“She gave you my name,” Daniel murmurs and looks at Dane. “She gave her our name.”
“Still don’t know what the hell is going on here. How the hell did I not know this shit?”
I switch my focus to Dane and watch as he roughly yanks his hands through his hair. Eyes narrowed. Nostrils flaring. He
looks to be trying his best to keep from losing it.
“Because Karoline left before we could complete the bond between us. Evidently, she didn’t want me or anyone else to
know about Karsyn.” Daniel grunts. The gruffness of his tone takes on a whole new sound.
“Um, how did you find me out here? How did you know?” I find myself asking, panic starting to sink in as I think about the
fact that if they were able to find me, then the blood witches or someone else could.
“Your mother and I used to meet here at this cabin,” Daniel announces. “I hid her here after she’d been attacked. I knew
immediately she was my mate. I wasn’t thrilled about her being a witch, but she explained to me she wasn’t like the others.
When she left, she left behind a charm and a letter.” He holds up a glowing charm. “She wrote in the letter that if the charm
glows, she’s returned. Evidently, she didn’t, but her daughter has . . . our daughter.”
“I didn’t know she’d done that. When I saw the cabin, I didn’t think anything of it. It looked abandoned, and I needed a
place to heal.”
“This area is charmed,” Daniel states. “She made it so the only ones who can see this cabin share my blood.”
“Oh, okay.” That’s good.
“So, you’re the one my brother sensed while out running the other night,” Dane mutters. Evidently, he’s still upset, and I’m
sure it’s rightfully so.
“Yes,” I whisper. “I . . . I needed to heal.”
“Why?” Daniel demands.
“It doesn’t matter.” I don’t want to talk about it. I reach up, clutch the locket at my throat, close my eyes, taking a deep
breath. I just met these two men, my family. An overwhelming feeling wants to boil over inside me, for me to let it release
itself. To let it consume me, but I can’t. Not here. Not now. Not ever.
I won’t let the darkness win me over.
“It does matter. It fuckin’ matters a lot,” Dane growls. “Why the fuck did you need to heal? For that matter, what are you
doing here? Hiding?”
“You curse a lot,” I blurt, only to cover my mouth with both hands. “I’m sorry.” The apology comes out muffled, and I stare
at my brother with wide, fearful eyes.
Dane blinks at me, looks at Daniel, looks back at me, and shakes his head. “Fuckin’ A.”
 “Karsyn, you need to talk to us. We can’t help you if you don’t . . .”
“You’d help me?” Again, I find myself blurting. “You don’t know me. I . . . I mean, I intended to eventually come find you,
and I, um, well, I hoped when I did that you’d be willing to help me, but I didn’t think you actually would.”
“Blood helps blood, no matter what.”
I’m surprised when it’s Dane who speaks up.
I hold his gaze for a brief moment and nod before finally answering them. “When my mother was killed, they captured me. I
finally escaped and found my way to Redwich. I’ve been here a month, healing and hiding. Trying to get my strength back.”
“So, blood witches had you?” Daniel growls.
“Yes.” I nod.
“You’re the reason they’re here,” Dane accuses.
In the blink of an eye, he shifts, causing me to scream in utter terror. Swallowing my fear, I turn and run. I think I run, but I
don’t get far. Not because they catch me but because I find myself growing dizzy, and the next thing, everything goes dark.
 Chapter Four

Corbin
“Move out the fuckin’ way,” Dane yells, entering the clubhouse and getting all of our attention. Behind him, Daniel comes in.
Both men have grim looks mixed with rage. I can smell the anger on them both. But there’s another scent that catches my
attention. It’s sweet like honey-suckle mixed with the earth itself. The smell draws my attention, and I wonder what the hell is
the cause of it.
“What’s going on?” Justice asks as several people who’d come to party with us tonight move, and I get the first view of the
woman lying limp in Dane’s arms. Luckily, all that are in attendance tonight are shifters or already know about us.
“We need Zavier here,” Daniel states.
I sniff the arm again and move toward Dane and Daniel, my spine stiffening. “You brought a witch to my clubhouse?” I
snarl, ignoring the sweet scent.
“She’s not just a witch,” Daniel remarks.
“Don’t give a shit, she’s a fuckin’ witch.”
“She’s my fuckin’ sister,” Dane growls, shocking the hell out of me with his announcement.
“What?” Justice beats me to asking. “How the fuck is that possible?”
“Because her mother was my mate,” Daniel explains. “I’ll explain everything later. Please, let’s just get Zavier here to look
her over.” From the pained expression on his face, I know he’s pleading with me to help the witch.
“You better have a damn good reason for not telling me this shit,” I snarl, curling my lip in disgust as I glance back at the
woman, getting a better look at her features. That curly mass of raven-colored hair is just itching for a man to sink his fingers
in.
My wolf stirs, and I feel him moving inside me, peering through my eyes. He growls in my head, demanding I move to her,
that I take her from Dane.
“We’ll explain,” Dane sneers. “Now, where the fuck is Zavier?”
“I’m right here.” Zavier grunts, making his way toward us, doing up his jeans. “Fuck. I was in the middle of something,
well, someones I should say.” He smirks. From the smell rolling off him, we all know what the fuck he was doing. “What’s
going on here?” he asks, stiffening and narrowing his eyes. “Why the fuck are you holding a witch, Dane? What the fuck?”
“Just make sure she’s okay,” I command, gritting my teeth. Something about the sight of this woman is rubbing me the wrong
way. I don’t like it, and it’s pissing me right the fuck off. I want to know what Dane and Daniel were thinking keeping this shit
from me. The two of them have more reason than even I do for hating witches.
Zavier glances back at me and nods. “Right, let’s take her to the clinic.” Spinning on his heel, he heads back the way he
came, Dane and Daniel on his heels.
My wolf demands I also follow, but I can’t, I won’t. There’s something about this whole thing that doesn’t sit well with me.
Pulling my phone out, I find Big Daddy’s number and hit call.
“Sage and I were just about to head that way,” he answers in greeting.
“Sorry, old man, something’s come up, and I want Sage far the fuck away from here for the time being. Can she stay with
you tonight? I’ll get her tomorrow evening from you.” There’s no way in hell I want Sage here or in the nearest vicinity.
 “That bad, huh?”
“Don’t know just yet, but I’m about to find out.” I grunt.
“I’ll keep her here. Cyrus is bringing Jazmine over, so I’ll have both girls,” Big Daddy informs me.
“Means Sage won’t be pissed about not coming home tonight.”
As much as Cyrus and I don’t see eye to eye, both girls love each other and are close. The feud between the brothers
doesn’t affect the relationship, which is good, but the only common place those two get to spend time together is at school and
Big Daddy’s. Sage isn’t allowed over to Cyrus’s, and my brother keeps Jazmine away from here.
I finish the call with my dad and finally give in to my wolf’s needs. He’s itching for me to get closer to the witch.
Making my way down the hall, I step around Big Red and Saddle, two of the doxies. I’m sure they’re the ones Zavier had
been with. I also ignore the inviting looks they both give me.
No matter how many times I’ve been with them, how good I know they are with their mouths, and have no problem getting
fucked however I want to give it to them, their bodies don’t appeal to me.
“She’ll be fine. Probably just fainted.” I make it to the room just in time to hear Zavier say.
“I don’t think it was just her fainting,” Daniel murmurs.
“Why do you say that?” I demand, crossing my arms and leaning against the door’s threshold.
“Because she was glowing when she ran. Then she just fell, passing out,” Dane explains.
“Glowing?” I furrow my brow. I never heard of that happening with a witch before. “What did you mean she’s your sister?”
I demand.
“It’s better if I explain it all myself,” Daniel mutters, sighs, and looks down at the woman. “Can we do this with the door
closed?”
I nod and step deeper into the room. Sealing myself and the other men in the room with that sweet smell coming from the
woman. “Now explain.”
“First off, let me start by saying there is only one other person before today that knew the truth. Big Daddy,” Daniel states,
eyeing each of us.
Already, I don’t have a good feeling about this. Not when this woman is stirring my wolf the way she is with just her
presence.
“Years ago, we’d been hunting the blood witches who were up to no good as only those evil bitches can be. A few of us
were out in the woods, and Big Daddy and I went in a different direction from the others. We came up on a handful of them.
They were attempting some type of spell on another witch. An earth witch. We intervened, and when I got a good look at the
earth witch, our eyes connected, and I knew she was my mate.”
“I didn’t think that was possible,” Zavier utters, eyes sharp.
“None of us knew it was a possibility. But she was. She was my mate. I hid her in a cabin in the woods so she could heal.
We got to know each other. I learned about the differences between the different types of witches. She told me what those
witches were attempting to do. See if they control an earth witch, they have access to the earth itself. Meaning they can control
those of us who wouldn’t be without nature.”
“Fucking hell.” I blow out a harsh breath.
“Anyway, Karoline, she was lucky that day. We were together, and I wanted to bond with her. We agreed, but then she
disappeared on me. Left me alone in that cabin. Though she left behind a letter and a charm. When Dane came to me earlier
today about some witch you all have sensed but couldn’t find . . . I knew. I went to my closet and pulled the charm out of the
box I sealed it in. It was glowing, and I took off without explaining to Dane.”
I watch the way Daniel’s features drop and feel for the other man. For the beast within him.
“I ran after Dad, and we found the cabin. It’s about two miles north of here.”
“We checked the area,” Justice remarks, speaking up for the first time since I closed the door.
“Yeah, I know.” Dane grunts.
“The area holds an enchantment. No one could find the cabin unless they shared my blood. Karsyn was in that cabin. She
told us that Karoline was killed by blood witches when they captured her.”
I stiffen, not liking this one bit. “If she was captured, how did she get away? How do you know it wasn’t a trap?”
“Because the blood witches are looking for her. That’s what they’re doing back in the area,” Dane answers.
“Did she explain about her glow?” Justice growls.
“She passed the fuck out ‘cause I shifted and scared the fuck out of her,” Dane sneers. “Dad shifted, and she freaked. The
glow started, but it was fainter. But utter fear could be smelled off as she ran from me. Like her life depended on it.”
A feminine moan fills the room, and I look in the direction just as Karsyn’s eyes open. She blinks, shoots upright, and stares
around the room. Horror filling her eyes.
But when she looks in my direction, our eyes lock. Fuck me, I realize what the fuck was going on with my wolf, and I don’t
like it one bit. Still, the one word I hate most leaves my lips on a snarl. “Mate.”
 Chapter Five

Karsyn
“Mate.”
Those words vibrate around me. Confusion overwhelms me. Fear threatens to choke me as I hold the gaze of the shifter
who spoke. He’s a man, all man, but his eyes give away to the shifter part of him. The way they lock on me with such intensity,
the sclera of his eyes vanishes, no longer is there any white left in his extremely dark eyes, and the aura surrounding him . . . the
intensity of it is nearly too much. Being in his presence scares me. Just as that one word does.
I don’t know why it does, yet at the same time, a part of me is excited at the thought of this very man being my mate. I don’t
understand it. Not one bit.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” another man sneers. “You’re mated to a witch.”
“VP,” Dane growls.
“Remember, she’s still half-wolf,” Daniel remarks.
“Wh-what happened?” I whisper, swallowing down my fear.
“You don’t remember?” Daniel asks, eyes full of concern.
I shake my head, furrowing my brow as I try to remember what happened.
Closing my eyes, I recall the last thing to come to mind. Daniel telling me about a charm. Me telling them that I escaped the
blood witches. Dane . . .
I suck in harsh breath, open my eyes, and whip my gaze to Dane. “You’re scary. You looked ready to kill me,” I whisper.
“Wasn’t going to kill you, Karsyn,” Dane mutters. “Pissed me off learning what you said.”
“And that would be?”
The deep, rumbling voice of the man who claimed me as his mate sends tremors down my spine when I hear his voice
again, gaining my attention. Though I might admit, the aura surrounding him held my attention from the moment he first said that
one word. It’s terrifying and intriguing all in one.
“Dane already said it, but I’ll say it again,” Daniel growls deeply, his anger apparent. I don’t have to read his energy to
know this. “Karsyn escaped those sick and twisted blood witches and is the reason they’re in the area once again. They’re
looking for her and we can’t let them get her.”
“Of fuckin’ course she is,” the one Dane called VP mutters. His lip curls in disgust. “But what I want to know is why the
hell she came here? Who’s to say she didn’t bring them here and is in on whatever they’re up to?”
“Karsyn, why were you glowing?” Dane asks, evidently ignoring his VP’s comment.
“Glowing?” I swallow past the lump lodging itself in my throat. “That can’t be possible,” I whisper.
“We saw it for ourselves.” Dane grunts, crosses his arms over that massive chest of his, and leans against the wall. “You
said you were going to come looking for Daniel when you were healed enough, but you looked healthy in the woods. You
started glowing and then passed the fuck out.”
“And you brought me here,” I finish for him weakly.
“We weren’t going to leave you out there alone,” Daniel grumbles.
“I’m used to it. I’m always alone.” I find myself whispering.
 “Enough of this shit. If she’s half-wolf, why don’t I sense the wolf inside her?”
“Prez?” Dane grunts.
“She’s got no wolf.”
Evidently, the one who called me his mate is the Prez, whatever that means.
“Is that even possible?” another man says, folding his arms across his beefy chest.
What is it about these men? They’re all massive with muscle.
“I don’t know.” The Prez grunts.
“She shares our scent, though,” Dane mutters.
“True, but there’s no wolf inside her.”
“I know,” I speak up. “I’ve never shifted. I only have ever been able to elongate my fingers, and I can hear very well.
That’s it.”
“Way I see it, she might share blood with Dane and Daniel, but she’s still a witch.”
“Justice.” The name comes out on a growl, but it shocks me since it’s the Prez who it comes from.
“Corbin, Prez, man, you got to agree with me on this. This whole thing feels like a setup,” Justice remarks.
So, his name’s Corbin.
Interesting.
I bite my lower lip, draw my knees up to my chest, and wrap my arms around them, holding them tightly. Wishing I could
disappear from under the scrutiny of these men’s gazes.
So much keeps happening, and it’s overwhelming. Squeezing my eyes shut, everything goes silent in the next moment. I open
them to find I’m no longer in the room full of men. I’m somewhere else altogether. Scrambling to my feet, I twirl around,
looking, fearing that the blood witches have found a way to summon me, only to find myself back in the cabin.
“How did I do this? Bring myself back here?” I’ve never been able to do something so powerful. I’ve heard of it. My
mother was able to vanish and reappear, but she never taught me. She didn’t tell me that something like that was even possible
for me to do.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something shimmering that I hadn’t seen before. Frowning, I move toward it to find
out what it could possibly be. I squat down and reach into the gaping wall, wrapping my hand around a handle and pulling
whatever it is out. I gasp as I realize it’s a mirror. A beautiful one at that. Why on earth would someone hide a mirror?
I run my fingers along the pristine design and sigh. Never have I seen such remarkable work. The mirror glows, and I
release it as if it burned my hand, only to find the mirror floating in the air.
An image of my mother appears in the reflection, causing me to gasp.
“Mom,” I whisper.
“My sweet, sweet baby girl.” My mom’s voice fills the cabin. “I know you’re not born yet as I cast this spell, but I feel you
inside me. Growing. Getting stronger. But what you must know is this world is a dangerous one. By you finding this mirror, you
will have returned home. Home to where you should have always grown up. I wish that were what your life was like.”
I watch the tears on my mother’s face and the way she hitches her breath.
“Our lives won’t be easy, and I’ve no choice but to run and hide. To keep you safe. There’s so much that even I don’t
understand. What I do know is Death wants my child, and I cannot allow that to happen. I won’t let you be used. Our family
holds a grave secret, one that I couldn’t tell your father out of fear that he would convince me he could protect me from. I
couldn’t allow this. I couldn’t let him leave his son behind. See, you are special and need to be protected at all costs. You are
not just an earth witch, as you will be raised to believe. You’re a half-shifter, I’ll never hide this from you, but you will not
have a wolf. Not really. The Mother Goddess and the moon blessed me with you, and you are to be born the night of an eclipse.
I pray they will shield your birth so that no one will be able to know you were born. Not yet, at least. I want you to grow. Learn
and become the beautiful woman I want you to be.
“However, you must know this. Death wants you because of the abilities you’ll have. The ones I intend to teach you to
control . . . to hide. You are more than just earth witch and shifter. You are magic itself. Blessed by Mother Goddess. Our
family comes from the bloodline of the Mother Goddess herself. She can’t protect us as we would like. That would mean
turning her back on all those who worship her. But we cannot ever allow the dark to consume us.”
More tears stream down her face, and she looks away from the mirror.
“I can only hope that when you find this, you won’t be alone any longer. That you’ll have found a mate and that he’ll protect
you. That together, you two can keep Death away. Keep those who are in danger safe. If Death gets his hands on you, my sweet
girl, nothing will stop him from controlling the rest. He has blood witches amass and will stop at nothing. He needs purity.
Innocence. You. If he gets his hands on all three, we’re all doomed.”
The mirror loses its glow as my mother’s image fades. Her words resonate with fear inside me. I already know what Death
is capable of. He’s a monster. Completely terrifying. I know what he wants from me. What he wants me to do. It’s not just about
what my mother said. It’s so much more. Worse.
So, so, so much worse.
 Wrapping my arms around myself, I think about what my mother said about me being from the Mother Goddess herself’s
bloodline. It couldn’t be possible. Could it?
All of this is confusing, and now I have a mate.
Corbin.
How do I handle this?
I know absolutely nothing about shifters other than what my mother taught me.
It’s all strange. What I do know is with the blood witches out there, it’s not safe for me to be here alone. Not anymore, not
when they were able to find me. And on top of that, with this glowing thing, and now I just learned I can vanish, my powers are
unpredictable. It scares me, and I don’t know how to control it.
But if I ask them for help. For them to protect me, I could be putting them in danger.
Moving toward the cabin door, I throw it open and step out into the night air. I barely get one foot out the door before I hear
the growling. Whipping my head around in the direction of the sound, my eyes widen as I come face-to-face with the largest
black wolf I’ve ever seen. One look in his eyes, and I know right away it’s Corbin, and he’s not happy.
The massive wolf approaches me, teeth showing, large sharp teeth that make him look scarier than even the wolf in the
Little Red Riding Hood stories.
Once he’s right in front of me, he shifts, no longer is he the beast, but a very furious man.
“You have got to be the stupidest woman I know for doing something so idiotic,” he snarls.
“What’s that?” I whisper, unable to keep myself from asking or continuing. “And for the record, I’m not stupid or idiotic.”
“You vanishing the way you did, right in front of all of us, fuckin’ stupid, mate,” he sneers that last word like it gives him a
bad taste in his mouth.
“I’m not your mate.” I straighten and narrow my gaze, feeling myself grow bold in his presence. “Also, for the record,” I
breathe, “I didn’t mean to vanish. I didn’t even know I could do that.”
“Bullshit,” he spits.
“Not bullshit,” I mumble. “I’m not a liar. I don’t know how, and I know you can probably smell if I were being deceitful.”
“There’s plenty of ways for a witch to hide her lies,” he sneers, wrapping a beefy hand around my bicep. “Now, let’s get
back to the fuckin’ clubhouse. You’re going to the cells until further notice. Dane and Daniel don’t like it, but too fuckin’ bad.
With you there, I know you can’t pull no shit.”
“The cells?” I whisper, not liking the sound of it. Not in the least. “Please, don’t put me in a cell.”
“You’re going in a cell.” He growls.
“Please,” I whisper, turning into a whimper when he squeezes my arm. “Please, I’ve lived in a cell for the past five years
of my life. I don’t want to go in another one.” Small spaces scare me. They make me feel as if I were an animal.
Corbin stops and twists me so that I’m facing him. “What do you mean you were in a cell for five years?”
“The blood witches.” I sigh, squeezing my eyes shut. “That’s what they kept me in until the day I escaped. The only time I
was let out was when they wanted me to do something for them. Or unless . . .” I shake my head, not wanting to think about it.
“Unless what?” he demands.
Slowly, I lift my head, tears swarming in my eyes, and the energy around me swirls. “Unless Death came for me.”
“The fuck does that mean?” Corbin snarls, tightening his grip.
“Death became my master, did what he pleased with my magic.” I drop my gaze and utter the rest. “With my body. I was his
to toy with.”
“I won’t put you in the cell, but you will not be allowed alone either,” Corbin grinds. “Now, get walking. It’s getting late,
and I’ve got shit to do tomorrow. We’ll deal with you more after that.”
I let out a breath at his words, though I didn’t know what he meant by dealing with me. He at least isn’t going to put me in a
cell. For that, I’m grateful.
 Chapter Six

Corbin
Fuck me. Dragging Karsyn back to the clubhouse has my wolf and me on the outs. All he wants to do is mark her, keep her, and
make her ours. Fuck that. I’m not about to make this witch my mate. I don’t give a damn if fate says she’s mine or not. I refuse,
yet a part of me hates the shit she’s been through. What she told me she endured for five years.
More than that, I hate those last words she said. She was Death’s toy. Whoever the fuck Death is.
Without another word, I keep my hand around her arm, ensuring she can’t vanish once more as we make our way back. I
still can’t believe she could do something like that as it is. None of us could believe it. Dane and Daniel wanted to go after her,
but I ordered them back while I went after her alone. She is, after all, my mate, even if I don’t want to accept the fact. The truth
is still there. She’s mine whether I like it or not. That is unless I reject the mating. Or she does.
I’m not about to let her do it, though. It will make me look weak, and I won’t have that.
The clubhouse comes into view, and I notice the way she shivers. I feel like an ass for making her walk the entire way
barefoot. I saw it earlier in the room as we questioned her. The way she’s dressed, no shoes, the dress . . . sheer, barely enough
fabric to cover her body. Hell, even now, against the cold, I can see her hardened nipples pressing against the material.
Gritting my teeth, I stop, twirl her to me, and scoop her in my arms. With her being only a half-shifter, I can only assume she
doesn’t have the warm blood flowing through her veins like we do. Normal half-shifters have a wolf still, but she doesn’t,
which makes her susceptible to the cold.
Fuck, I don’t think I’ve ever met another half-shifter that doesn’t have a wolf. It’s fucking weird.
“What are you doing?” Karsyn gasps, clinging to me.
“Getting us to the clubhouse faster.” I grunt, trying not to let the scent of her get to me.
“I can walk. I walked this far,” she mutters.
“Yeah, but you look like you’re about to freeze to death.”
“Bet you would just love that.” She doesn’t hide the suspicion from her voice, and I don’t give her an answer.
Right now, all I want to do is get her inside, get her to a room, and plant a guard on her. One that will keep an eye on her for
the remainder of the night. After that, I intend to get the fuck out of here. I need to run. To relieve the tension building inside me.
I already had my hands full with the shit going on in the club. I didn’t need this on top of that.
At the meeting with Orpheus the other night, he requested we up the number of runs we do for him. That’s not something I
was able to agree to. He wants his product to double. I’ve got no problem with vamp, but he’s going to have to look elsewhere
if he wants to do that. I don’t have the time to give him. Not when my club’s also running shit for the humans.
Inside the clubhouse, I shove the thoughts away as I take Karsyn to my room. Why did I take her there? I’ve no fucking clue.
I just do. Once in the room, I set her on her feet. “Here, you’ll stay in here tonight.”
“This is your room,” she utters.
“Yeah, it is.” I grunt. “Take a shower.” I step over to my dresser and pull out a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeve tee for
her. I know it’ll engulf her, but it’ll do. Turning back to her, I toss them to her. “Here, you can change into these,” I say as she
catches them, and I point to the bathroom. “The shower’s through there. Feel free to use my soap and shit. Don’t try to leave the
room. I’ll have someone stationed right outside, and they’ll sense if you up and vanish.”
 “Okay.” She nods and draws her bottom lip between her teeth. Eyes meeting mine. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” Spinning on my heel, I stalk out of the room quickly, not wanting to be anywhere near her right now.
Being too close to her calls to my wolf, and we don’t need that shit. Without looking back or stopping to talk to anyone, other
than to give Tucker orders to watch over my room, I prowl toward the exit, shift, and take off into the night. No way am I
sticking close to this place. Not with my mate in my room, in my bed.

Running through the night did me good. I ran, hunted, fed, and expended much-needed energy. Once I finished, I went to my
house and crashed, only to sleep longer than I meant to.
Now, heading back to the clubhouse with a clear head, I’m ready to deal with business.
And Karsyn.
My wolf growls in my head, more than ready to set eyes on the witch. Figure out what I’m going to do about her.
In the clubhouse, I don’t bother going to my room. I move straight for the bar where Hips, one of the doxies, is working. To
earn their keep, the bitches who serve as doxies also help around the clubhouse. Rotating behind the bar, to cooking and
cleaning. It’s part of the deal in order to stay here at the clubhouse.
“Get me a beer,” I order, not even bothering to check the other woman out.
“You got it, Corbin,” Hips all but purrs. She’s a human but was raised by shifters. How that happened, I don’t know and
don’t give a fuck. She came to the club after her parents were killed and hasn’t left. She’s one of the good ones here, she
doesn’t try to cause bullshit, but we all know she wants to be an ol’ lady. Still, that won’t happen unless she’s either a mate or
one of my brothers decides to say fuck it and make her so.
Hips turns to the cooler lined up along the back wall, pulls out a cold one, pops the cap, and sets it in front of me.
I barely get a sip when Justice joins me. “What are we going to do about the witch?”
“Haven’t made up my mind yet.” I shrug.
“She’s your mate.” He grunts.
“Yeah, she’s also Dane’s sister.”
The whole thing is complicated.
Justice opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted by my daughter.
“Daddy,” Sage screams, coming through the doors. Big Daddy’s right behind her, along with none other than my brother,
Cyrus.
“The fuck is going on here,” I demand, coming off the stool and moving toward my crying daughter as she rushes to me.
“Daddy, she’s gone.” My little girl sobs.
“Who’s gone?”
“Corbin,” Cyrus calls, voice thick, features contorted.
“Who the fuck is gone? And what the fuck are you doing here?” I snarl.
“Jazmine. She’s gone. Someone took her, and I need your help getting her back,” Cyrus says, shocking the hell out of me.
“You want my help getting your daughter back?” I grind out.
“Wouldn’t be here otherwise. My daughter means everything to me.” Cyrus growls. “What if it was Sage who was taken?”
“Cyrus, Corbin. Put the rivalry on the back burner. Our focus between both clubs is getting my granddaughter back,” Big
Daddy snarls.
“Daddy, please, please help Uncle Cyrus,” Sage pleads.
“Do you have any idea as to who took her?” My gut tightens, and I wrap my arm tighter around my little girl.
“At the school, the stench of those blood witches was everywhere. Outside and inside.”
“Why would the witches be at the school? For that matter, take Jazmine?” I demand.
“I know why.”
At the whisper of those words, I release my daughter, putting her behind me as I spin to face Karsyn. “What the fuck are you
doing out here?”
Behind her, I notice both Dane and Daniel. Tucker’s not far from her either.
“What the fuck do you have a witch in your clubhouse for?” Cyrus snarls.
“Quiet,” I command without looking at my brother.
“Daddy,” Sage whimpers, balling her hands into fists and gripping my shirt.
“Why would they take my niece?” I demand, holding Karsyn’s gaze.
“Because they’re pure. Rare. Innocent. They want their blood,” Karsyn says, swallows, and takes a deep breath. As she
steps forward and whispers with tears in her eyes, “Death is coming, and with him, blood will spill. Blood will bring wrath.
He intends to wage a war. Control those who he can.”
“The hell is this shit? Who is Death?” My brother growls. “Who the fuck is this witch?”
 “She’s my mate,” I snarl, not looking away from Karsyn. “Why would he take my niece? There’re other pure-blooded
wolves out there.”
“Maybe so, but Redwich means something to Death. He wants from this county. This town. He’s coming for you all. For all
of us. But I know his secret. I know how to beat him.”
“And how’s that?” Big Daddy’s deep voice booms.
“By using me. I’m the key to destroying him,” Karsyn says, shocking us all. Holding her hand out in front of me, she silently
asks me to take it. I do and go still as she shows me something I never expected. Visions of the past and present. It’s like
looking through her eyes.
This woman, she’s not just an earth witch. She’s much more than that. She’s also my mate, and I’m going to keep her.
She’s the key to the answers we need.
“How are you the key?” Cyrus demands harshly.
“I’m more like half the key. The other half of the key is your mate, Harmony,” she utters before her knees give out under her,
and she collapses.
I catch her in my arms. Her words fill my head. There’s more to this than what she said. I feel it. I saw what she showed
me. I know without a doubt it wasn’t a lie. Karsyn isn’t one to deceive. I don’t think she’d know how. The woman is pure.
Innocence. A complete conflict with all those around her. It’s why I’ll keep her. Make her mine. Mate with her and not let her
go.
With her help, we’ll also find my niece and then go from there to see if my brother and I go back to being rivals or not.
 Chapter Seven

Corbin
Holding Karsyn’s delicate body in my arms, I adjust her there as Dane steps forward.
“Here, give her to me. I’ll put⁠—”
“No,” I snarl, stopping him before he can say another word, “I’ve got her.”
“She’s my sister.” Dane cocks a brow.
“And she’s my fuckin’ mate, I’ve got her,” I growl, the words more animalistic than I expect them to be.
“How about I take her,” Daniel states, his eyes on his daughter. “I’ll take her and put her back in your room while you take
care of this.”
“I said I’ve got her.” My wolf is more than ready to come out if anyone tries to take her from me.
“I’m not trying to take her from you, Corbin.” Daniel keeps his voice calm and lifts his gaze from Karsyn’s slight form.
“But right now, there’s more to deal with than just my daughter.”
He’s right and I know it, but this is my mate. My responsibility.
“Your daughter?” Big Daddy speaks up. That booming voice of his, for once, sounds surprised. “Since when the fuck do
you have a daughter?”
“Just found her,” Daniel answers, not looking away. “You know you can trust me with her. I’m not going to let anything
happen to her.”
I believe him. I know I can, but after what she showed me, I don’t want to risk her being away from me. Hell, I’m still
reeling from what she showed me.
“Can someone fuckin’ do something with her so we can find my goddamn daughter?” Cyrus snarls, and I shoot him a glare.
“We’ll find her. Give me a minute to go lay Karsyn back down,” I snap, not taking kindly to my brother’s demanding tone.
He’s not the Alpha here, and he sure as hell isn’t a part of this club.
“Daddy.” The trembling in my daughter’s voice is the only thing that cuts through the haze starting to overtake me where my
brother is concerned.
“It’s okay, Sage,” I tell her, calming my voice as I glance at her. “I promise. I’ll help find your cousin. Just let me put
Karsyn in my room, okay?”
“Okay.” Sage nods, her expression one of confusion and fear. She doesn’t understand what’s going on, and she’s scared out
of her mind because she and Jazmine have all but been raised together despite the rivalry between my club and Cyrus’s. Mostly
because of my brother and me, not just the clubs.
Turning away from those in the room, I ignore the scent of question, confusion, anger, and fear, and carry Karsyn back to my
room. My head was still spinning from the vision she shared with me. I didn’t even know that witches could do that. Then
again, as I’ve learned, she’s more than just an earth witch, and I got to admit it’s damn freaky because if what conclusion comes
to mind, it’s more than imperative that Karsyn is protected. Her and my daughter both. And I can only assume this other woman
she mentioned is just as important as my niece.
Karsyn said the other woman was Cyrus’s mate. Ironic as it is it’s still enough to fuck with anyone’s head. Cyrus is a single
dad just as I am. Maybe fate has a funny way of going about things.
 Yeah, right.
What I still don’t understand is what she meant about Death coming. Who the hell are we looking for? I understand from her
vision that whoever he is, he’s powerful.
In my room, I lay Karsyn’s small form in the middle of the unmade bed and pull the covers over her to keep her warm. Last
night, carrying her back here her body is definitely not like a shifter’s. The blood that runs through her veins isn’t warming as
others who are half-shifters. Then again, I didn’t know witches and shifters could mate until yesterday.
Fuck. It’s completely unheard of.
Leaning down, I brace an arm on either side of Karsyn and dip my face down into her neck, smelling the sweet floral scent
that seems to be all her. It’s unique, and already there’s a hint of mine mixing with hers. I haven’t even marked her, yet that
scent is there as if I had begun the process.
Pushing away from her, I shove thoughts of her and this being a mating to the back of my mind. Right now, it needs to be
about finding my niece.
I need to get to the school, making my way back to where everyone is waiting. First thing, I meet Cyrus’s gaze.
“I do this my way. You don’t like it, get fucked, you got me?” I don’t bother waiting for him to answer as I turn toward my
brothers. “Dane, Tucker, Tobias, get to the school, see if you can’t pick up the scent trail.”
“Got it, Prez,” Tobia grumbles.
“We’ll find her,” Tucker growls, his voice taking on the sound of the leopard inside him. He’s not a shifter to fuck with.
He’s one of my best trackers and damn protective when it comes to kids. Secretly, I think he’s Sage’s favorite brother in the
club.
Dane steps forward so that no others could hear him. “Don’t leave my sister unprotected.”
“Not leaving her without someone watching over her.” My wolf wouldn’t let me even if I wanted to. He and I are both in
agreement when it comes to our little Syn.
Syn.
Yeah, it suits her. She’s definitely got a body meant for sinning, that’s for sure.
“I’ll sit with her,” Daniel announces, and without waiting for my agreement, he turns and heads in the direction I’d just left.
I let out a heavy breath and look at my little girl once more. Holding my arms out, I motion for her to come to me. Sage
doesn’t disappoint and rushes to me, throwing herself in my arms. Lifting her into my arms, I inhale the scent that is solely hers.
But it’s not just her scent that I catch. It’s the faint hint of a blood witch, meaning one had been close to her.
“You’re going to save Jazmine, aren’t you, Daddy?” she utters, wrapping those little arms of hers around my neck, her head
laying against my shoulder.
“Yeah, sweetheart, you’re gonna stick close to Big Daddy while I help your uncle find your cousin,” I answer, give her a
squeeze, and set her back on her feet. “Until I get back, you don’t go anywhere, even around here, without Big Daddy right by
your side.”
“I’ll take her back to the house,” Big Daddy states, wrapping an arm around her and tucking her into his side.
“No, keep her here,” I command, not liking the idea of her being away from where I know she’s safe.
“Not with that witch . . .”
The growl that rumbles in my chest, loud enough to halt Big Daddy from speaking further. He might be an Alpha, but he
knows I top him. My strength is unlike any other. It’s another reason Cyrus and I never got along. He and I both are from the
same cloth and would end up killing each other because of it. “Karsyn is more than a fuckin’ witch,” I snarl, leveling my dad
and brother with a glare. “Not only is she my mate, she’s an earth witch blessed by the moon and gifted in ways I can’t even
begin to explain to you all.”
“How the fuck do you know she’s not tricking you?” Cyrus demands. “That she’s not a part of why my daughter is now
being taken?”
“Because I fuckin’ well know. Mates can’t trick the other without it hurting them.”
“It looked like she was hurt when you took her away,” Big Daddy pointed out.
“We don’t have time for this.” I growl, my nostrils flaring, my wolf ready to jump forward and put them both in their place
in order to protect our little Syn. “Karsyn has been through hell and is still recovering from everything she’s damn well
endured over the years. Her passing out the way she did is because her body is too damn exhausted for what she did to prove to
me she wasn’t fuckin’ playing games and knew what she was talking about.”
“I believe you, Daddy,” Sage whispers, her legs crossing, and she leans into her granddad, arms wrapping around his
waist. “I could see.”
Furrowing down at her, I move in close and squat in front of her. “What do you mean you could see?”
“I saw what you saw,” she whispers nervously, glances around, and licks her lips. “I can sometimes see things I shouldn’t.
When you took her hand, I saw what you saw. It was like I was seeing through your eyes. It’s always like that.”
“Can you explain that to me, Sage? You see through my eyes?”
“Yeah.” She nods, almost desperately like she doesn’t believe I’ll believe her. “Last night, you went running. You were
running through the trees, you didn’t seem happy, and you ran faster, harder than you normally do.”
Blinking at her, shock seeping through my veins. “What else have you seen through my eyes?” I ask her, doing my best not to
scare her.
“It’s always been when you’re running. Except when you touched the lady’s hand. Then I saw what you saw.”
“Have you seen through anyone else’s eyes?” I’m not sure what to think of this, but for my daughter to have such a gift is
rare. I’ve only heard of stories around this. It’s a wonder why the blood witches would want her. Her sight could be useful to
them. More than that, it could be a danger to us all if they got a hold of her.
“I haven’t tried.” The honesty in the words is a sweet relief, that is, until she speaks again. “But I don’t know how to do
that. It just usually happens when it wants to.”
“Okay, sweetheart,” I murmur and lean in to kiss her cheek. Rising to my full height, I look to both Cyrus and Big Daddy,
giving them the warning without words that this is to go no further. My brothers here at the club already know that what they
heard stays within these walls.
Big Daddy nods sharply and lifts Sage into his arms. “We’ll stay here.”
“Good,” I grunt and start for the exit. Time is of the essence more now than ever. With the knowledge I now have, knowing
my daughter has a gift of sight, we need to get my niece before it’s too late.
Karsyn and Cyrus’s mate might be the key together, but the two little girls could be used to destroy them all. It’s something I
can’t allow to happen not just because it’s my daughter at stake here. Or because Karsyn is my mate. This Death person wants
to kill us all, or, at the very least, control shifters in general. If that’s even possible.
“Corbin, wait the fuck up,” Cyrus snarls, fury all but rolling off him in waves matching the scent of rage surrounding him.
“What, Cyrus?” Getting to my bike, I throw a leg over and straddle the beast, ready to feel her rumbling beneath me. When
I’m not in my wolf form, this is my other escape, but right now, it’s my way of getting where I need to be.
“What’s the damn plan here?” he demands furiously.
“First, I’m going to the school, catch the fuckin’ scent if Tucker hasn’t already, and go from there. We’re going to find my
niece. That’s the damn plan, and if we get to kill any damn blood witches in the process, then that’s a bonus,” I answer him,
start my bike, lift the kickstand, and hit the throttle, taking off and leaving him in a swirl of dust to follow behind knowing he’ll
catch up.
I’m done talking about it. The time for that is over.
Finding my niece is imperative, just as getting back to my own daughter and Karsyn so I can find out how the hell I’m going
to make sure nothing happens to either of them.
 Chapter Eight

Karsyn
“Where are you, my beauty?”
The voice filters through my dream as I struggle to push it out as I scream. “Go away. Leave me alone.” Using all my
mental strength, I do everything in my power to keep my location from being found. He can’t know where to find me. It’ll put
too many lives in danger. I won’t let anyone be hurt because of me, especially the little girl I saw with the tears in her eyes.
Goddesses of earth and moon, those eyes. Their remarkable coloring shows such vibrance and giftedness. Just as her
cousin, the one now missing, is.
“You belong to me, Karsyn. I own you, and you know I’ll find you. One way or another. I’ll bring you back where you
belong. I will have what I want. The time is almost here. You have until the blood moon peaking to show yourself, my
precious.” Death’s misty form sneers before I can finally get him out of my head. But not before he touches me, hands going to
my throat, squeezing as he disappears.
My eyes pop open, and I jerk upright, gasping for breath. I lift a hand to my throat, feeling completely disoriented.
“You okay?”
Snapping my gaze in the direction of the voice, I find Daniel standing there, staring at me through sorrowful eyes.
“I’m okay,” I answer, not really sure that I am or not. Death coming to me as he did has me more than a little shaken up.
More so, considering he’s giving me a timeline to come back to him.
The blood moon.
If I’m not mistaken, it’s within two weeks. This isn’t good.
Blood moons to those like Death, as well as those who follow him, is when they’re not at their strongest. Supposedly, they
can harness the moon itself with the right ritual. That’s why he needs pure, innocent shifters. It’s why Death took Corbin’s
niece. It’s why he’s done everything else he’s done. He’ll also come for the little girl I saw earlier. If the other girl is anything
like the girl who called Corbin daddy, she needs to be saved and kept safe in every way possible.
Neither of those children would be able to go without protection. Not until they learned to protect themselves and shield
their gifts from others. How they haven’t been found before now is anyone’s guess.
It’s truly remarkable.
“Why don’t we get some food in you,” Daniel suggests, coming closer. “You need to eat. Get your strength back.”
My stomach growls loudly at the mention of food. What I wouldn’t do for a thing of bread and broth. Even better, herbal
tea. I’ve never been much for eating anything else.
How pathetic am I that I would be half-wolf yet I’m not. I don’t eat meat. Not because I don’t like it, but rather due to my
surroundings and never having been given the chance. Growing up, my mother and I were always on the run. It was easier to
have salads . . . to eat from the earth. Sometimes, when we had the breathing room, that’s when she would make bread and
broth.
“That would be nice,” I answer, nodding. Scooting to the edge of the bed, I get to my feet, thankful for the warm socks I’d
taken out of Corbin’s dresser last night. The floors don’t feel as cold to me as they normally do.
Daniel wraps an arm around my shoulders and guides me out of the room. I lean deeper into his side and use his body for
the support I need, causing him to chuckle. “It’s a good thing I’m your pops, otherwise, your mate would not take too kindly to
having another’s scent on you when he gets back.”
“I don’t understand any of this.” Admitting this isn’t easy for me, but it’s the truth. This whole situation I find myself in is
completely strange and not what I’m used to. Then again, what I’m used to is fear and running. Never knowing what to expect
—hiding to keep myself alive.
Here, with Daniel’s arm around me, a sense of warmth and safety surrounds me. This is something I never thought I’d ever
feel. My mother did the best she could do. As amazing as she’d been, it was never like this. The way Daniel keeps me at his
side, his touch is completely different from what I experienced with Corbin. Where Daniel’s is about safety and warmth,
Corbin’s is more so, even with the furious rage surrounding him.
Daniel guides me out to what has to be the main room of the clubhouse. It’s where I’ve noticed they all congregate when not
in the bedrooms. Moving me to one of the tables where the little girl and a man, who not only shares looks with Corbin but also
an aura of fury, sit. I can smell the power that radiates from this man and know he’s not someone to be trifled with. This must
be his father, meaning he’s an Alpha and could easily kill me.
“Big Daddy,” Daniel greets.
“Daniel.” The other man nods, taking his eyes off me long enough to meet Daniel’s. “What are you doing with her out
here?” There’s no missing the contempt in his voice.
“Want you to meet mine and Karoline’s daughter, Karsyn,” Daniel says, sadness filtering in his voice at the mention of my
mother.
“Karoline?” Big Daddy blinks. “The mate who disappeared on you all those years ago?”
“Yes.” Daniel pulls out a chair for me to sit in and looks over to where a couple other men are standing. “Salem, go grab
Karsyn something to eat from the kitchen. A sandwich and chips.”
Baffled by his command, I tilt my head back to look up at him and whisper, “I’ve never had a sandwich or chips. Could I
just have . . .”
Daniel’s eyes flash, and he looks back at Salem. “Change that. Go grab her something from Raider’s Hook. Entire meal.”
“Me too,” the little girl pipes up, eyes shining in excitement. I’m taken aback by the brightness in her eyes as she looks at
me.
Daniel finishes the order and sits down next to me. “I’m guessing you haven’t eaten much of anything. Especially with you
saying you’ve never had a sandwich and chips. We’ll get you situated with something better than that.”
“Raider’s Hook is one of the best damn restaurants in Redwich,” Big Daddy announces, voice filled with pride. “It’s one
of the first businesses the club established when I created it.”
I nod, unsure of what to say.
“Big Daddy used to be President before Daddy took over,” the little girl says beamingly. “He started this club with Daniel.
Uncle Cyrus, though, started his own club too.”
“That he did,” Big Daddy agrees, pulling his granddaughter into his side, sensing what even I sense. The turmoil took hold
of her again. It hurts me that she’s so upset. “Your daddy is going to help Uncle Cyrus, and they’re both going to get your cousin
back, Sage.”
“But what if they can’t?” Sage whispers.
“They’ll get her back,” Daniel remarks. “When have you known them never to get what they want? Both those two are
stubborn as hell.”
Sage looks at me, eyes shimmering. “Do you think they’ll get her back?”
Wanting to appease the little girl’s soul, I close my eyes and connect with the earth itself, searching for the answers she
needs. Darkness surrounds the other little girl, but there’s a light close . . . so close, it is bright enough to keep her from fearing
those taunting her. I can’t see much, but I can feel the energy. Something’s coming. The witches are confident in their strength,
but they don’t have enough power to take on what’s upcoming.
Two Alphas.
Two that share the same blood.
What makes them rivals also strengthens them in ways they couldn’t comprehend.
Exhausted, I slump back in the chair and open my eyes. Daniel wraps an arm around my shoulders, saying something. But I
don’t hear it. My focus is on the little girl across from me.
“They’ll get her back,” I whisper, knowing they’ll get more than just her. They’ll get everything that will mean anything to
Cyrus. To him and maybe even Big Daddy himself. It all depends on which path Corbin takes. He and his brother must put
aside the anger between each other for the right reasons and let go of the past.
For not just the sake of the girls.
But for everyone else who matters to them all.
For two Alphas, brothers who share blood and strength, together will fight and share the key to defeat the evil surrounding
them.
 Chapter Nine

Corbin
“You smell it?” Dane meets my gaze as I follow the foul scent that burns my nose.
There’s nothing that smells as disgusting as a blood witch. It’s enough to make me want to turn my nose upward and gag.
“Yeah, I smell it. It’s the same scent that was on Sage.” Thinking on it now, the faintest foulness I’m willing to bet someone
was trying to hide on her.
“They’re going to pay for taking Jazmine,” Cyrus sneers, fury vibrates off him, so much that I would have thought he would
shift, but he holds himself from doing so. Several of the shifters in his club met us here and have stayed close by, ready to jump
in if Cyrus needs them to. I can see the way my brother is with those who follow him and can respect it. We might have
different ways of handling things, but we’re both Alphas and earn the respect of the shifters who follow us. We’re also both
hotheads when shit pisses us off.
“Cyrus, chill the fuck out before you fuck everything up.” The growl that rumbles through my chest can be heard by all those
in the vicinity. “I don’t need your ass losing your shit right now.” Turning to Tucker and Dane, I step closer to them. “The scent
seems to be heading toward the south of town.”
“It’s hard to distinguish with all the other blood witch scents. How can you tell for sure?” Tucker mutters, nostrils flaring,
his eyes flashing to that of the leopard that resides inside him.
“The one who left the scent on Sage is the one that goes south.” Explaining isn’t something I prefer to do, but Tucker and
Dane are two of the best trackers I know of. They need to know which scent to follow, and they’ll be on the trail faster than any
other bastard I know.
Nodding, Tucker glances around, looking for witnesses to what he’s about to do. Redwich might be known for its
paranormal side of things, but it also has those who don’t even know we all exist. Because of them, we have to make damn sure
to keep them from discovering what we are. To those, we’re just two MCs that share the town. “I’ll find the scent better in
this form.”
“I know you will. Now, let’s fuckin’ go,” I command aloud.
Together, we all keep silent, focusing on the foul scent and following it. It would be easier if I shifted as Tucker has, but I
need to keep my brother in check, no matter how much he pisses me off and I want to beat the shit out of him. Jazmine needs to
have her father unharmed and not weakened by anything, including me.
The trail leads us not just south of town but to the wood line at the county’s edge. It is fitting for it to be here as it’s said to
have once been the home of the witches years ago. Before Big Daddy and his father ran them off, killing those who used blood
magic against the shifters. The two of them, with the shifters behind them, made Redwich a safe haven for all shifters, and I, for
one, intend to keep it that way.
“We’re close.” Tucker’s gravelly voice speaks in my mind.
“Jazmine’s scent is getting stronger,” Cyrus grumbles.
Thankfully, he’d stayed silent this far, but I’ve got a feeling that’s about to change. The pit of my stomach burns, and my
instincts are telling me something is not quite right here.
The closer we get, the fainter the smell of the blood witches. There’s another scent that takes its place alongside my
niece’s, and it resembles that of Karsyn’s, yet it’s slightly different.
“I’m shifting,” I snarl and allow my wolf free. The air around us shifts, and a snarl leaves my snout.
“Don’t scare my daughter, Corbin,” Cyrus warns, still in human form.
“Like I’d scare my niece.” That’s not even possible. Both my daughter and niece know my wolf as much as they know my
brother’s. Big Daddy refused to have it any other way.
Moving forward, I silence my steps. I avoid the broken twigs and keep my paws steady on the wet leaves. Another mile
into the woods, we come to the edge of a clearing. On the other side is where we need to be, but I’ve got a feeling this is where
those witches intend to catch us . . . thinking we’re too stupid and will just rush through the meadow to get to Jazmine.
“What do you want us to do?” Dane says, speaking through the mind link we share.
“It’s a trap,” Tucker remarks.
“Agreed, let’s go around. Cyrus’s men can go one way, we’ll go the other. We split, and they’ll have to divide up if
they’re still around.” I highly doubt they are still around, though. Something about all of this feels like a test to me.
I make sure Cyrus agrees with the plan. Once he agrees, my brothers and I start to the left while he and his go to the right.
The very air around us seems to be sucked out of the area, and dread falls on my tongue. Whatever’s about to happen, it’s
coming, and there’s no stopping it. A part of me senses it. From the vision Karsyn shared with me, it’s the very feeling she’s
lived through for years.
“I want my daddy.” The sound of my niece’s voice as she cries for Cyrus pisses me off.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, he’ll come for you. I promise. Everything will be okay. He wouldn’t give up on you.” The hushed
woman’s voice is fragile and shaky.
I don’t know who the woman is and don’t give a damn. All that matters is getting Cyrus’s daughter back.
And finding where the blood witches are hiding. It can’t be as simple as this. It never is.
Closing my eyes, I take in my surroundings, feeling, not just smelling those around me. My brothers. Cyrus and his men
coming toward us. The woman and Jazmine. Nothing else in the area. It’s as if the witches themselves have disappeared . . .
vanished into thin air.
Shaking my snout, I release a growl of frustration and dig my nails into the dirt beneath them.
I’ll allow my brother to handle the rest from here. To get his little girl. While he does that, I’ll watch his back until we get
out of these damn woods. I need to be back at the clubhouse seeing to my mate and own daughter.
Long moments later, Cyrus comes toward me carrying his sobbing daughter in his arms. Behind him is a woman, the one
who must have been with Jazmine. She’s a beautiful woman and the way my brother is standing in front of her speaks volumes.
I’m willing to bet this is the mate Karsyn mentioned.
“I’m heading to my clubhouse to take care of⁠—”
Cyrus doesn’t get to finish as the wind itself starts to laugh. The laughter is grating on my nerves as a man shielded in black
cloth steps from the air itself, just appearing out of nowhere. Never have I seen anything like it in my life.
“I see you found what isn’t for you to take.” That voice . . . I know it. I heard it in Karsyn’s vision. This is the one she
called Death.
“And who the fuck are you to say my daughter is yours?” Cyrus snarls, stepping forward.
“It’s written. It’s nature’s law. A prophecy to take place.” Death waves a hand, and immediately, we’re surrounded by
witches. His gleaming eyes meet mine, though I don’t actually see his. I can feel them beating into me. “It’s not time yet, but it
will be. The blood moon is rising and power is shifting. You have what I want, and I will get them all. Just wait and see. Time
ticks and the moon shifts. I’ll have them all. Wait and see. I’ll have you at my feet when the night comes. You will have no
choice in this. It will happen. Know this now. The blood moon will change it all.”
Still laughing, Death disappears once again as if he were never there. The blood witches following behind, all cackling.
“What the fuck just happened?” one of Cyrus’s men demands.
“The fuck if I know.” Cyrus snarls and looks at me. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“Death is happening.” The woman behind Cyrus whispers, her voice like a melody. “He wants to destroy you all and plans
to do so. But there’s a way to defeat him.”
“Yeah, we’ve heard that already,” Cyrus mutters, glaring. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Snorting, I turn from him and start at a run, ready to get back and find out for myself what exactly is going on. I don’t know
this woman and what she said. She’s Cyrus’s problem. I’ve got my own as it is. He can deal with her.
It doesn’t take hardly any time to get back toward the town. The closer I get, I shift along with my brothers, and head for my
bike. There’s no way I’m about to leave my bike anywhere but at the clubhouse.

Stepping through the doors, the first thing I see is my daughter resting her weary body against Big Daddy’s side while sitting at
a table.
 “You find her?” Big Daddy asks, not moving, though I’m confident he wants to.
“Yeah,” I answer and look to the other side of the table for a split second. A part of me calms at the sight of Karsyn sitting
there, a takeout container in front of her, and it looks like she’s barely touched any. Returning my attention to Big Daddy, I keep
talking. “Cyrus is taking her to his clubhouse and another woman that was found with her.”
“His mate,” Karsyn whispers.
“I don’t know if it was his mate or not, but she went with him after spewing shit like you did about defeating that fucker,
Death.” I don’t mean to growl at her, but the whole situation is pissing me off.
“Big Daddy, you go ahead and head over to Cyrus’s. I know you want to,” I tell my dad and reach over, taking my daughter
in my arms. “We’re good here for now.”
There’s no way I’m telling him about what the hell that bastard said. Hell, I don’t even understand the mumbo-jumbo
bullshit myself. I need to talk to Karsyn and find out what the hell it means and what exactly is coming.
Then I need to do something about this mating thing. Either finally officially accept it or . . . no, there’s no other option. I
know this, Karsyn is mine. She’s my mate and I won’t let her go. If things were any other way, I might have at the very least,
given her time to get to know me. But I need to claim her. Let those in our world know who she belongs to. Without it, she’s
vulnerable.
It means tonight, she’s not only in my bed but under my body. She’ll take me inside her and know who she belongs beneath.
There’s a lot we still have to deal with, but until then, I’m going to take from her and give to her what we both need.
Come tomorrow, I’ll demand the answers to what the fuck is going on around here and what the hell the blood moon has to
do with anything.
 Chapter Ten

Karsyn
“As much as I want to go see Jazmine for myself, I think I’ll stay right here,” Big Daddy remarks, watching Corbin closely.
“You go put that little girl in bed and come back here. We’ve got things to discuss here.” Those dark eyes of his shift to mine,
and it’s all I can do not to whimper or flinch under his stare. The shifter, though he’s been nice enough, spoke to me, I feel his
reluctance about me.
Especially after what I did earlier right in front of him and Sage.
The vision, evidently, I spoke the words as I thought them. It’s not uncommon for a seer or someone with the gift to do so,
but I’ve never done it. Death demanded I tell him what I saw, what I felt. When I refused to give him what he wanted, he’d
inflict pain on me.
“Big Daddy, I don’t have time for whatever it is you want to discuss. It can wait,” Corbin remarks, the gruff, harsh tone in
his voice catches my attention. “Karsyn, go back to my room and wait for me there.” The order causes me to jerk my gaze to
his, and I meet his eerie dark eyes, seeing more there than I ever expected. They are not just the color I’ve seen him to have. I
can feel the wolf inside him looking out. The glow of gold circles the dark orbs, making him much more scary-looking, but it
doesn’t scare me as it should. As it did when I first saw him.
This leaves me rattled because I had only just met him the day before, and yet it seems so much has happened. My heart
races, the blood in my veins heats, and a part of my body that’s never ached before aches with a need I’ve never felt.
“Corbin, we need to talk,” Big Daddy grunts.
“It can fuckin’ wait,” Corbin snaps, not taking his gaze from mine. “Come on.”
I nod at the demand and slowly get to my feet, surprised they don’t collapse beneath me. My stomach tightens as I follow
Corbin, staring at his back as I do so, my body rioting with nerves. I don’t know what’s about to happen. Will he leave me
alone in his room again? Will he join me? The little bit of time I was in there the night before, I could think of nothing else but
him. Visions of him over me, inside me. Oh, God, the thoughts alone are enough to leave me aching, and I don’t know what I’m
doing.
I still hold on to my virtue in a lot of ways. That part of me still remains in tack, but that doesn’t mean Death didn’t take his
pleasure out on me in other ways. I cringe at the very memories wanting to wash over me. Would Corbin be the same? Taking
me . . . hurting me as a monster would as Death would force himself on my body. I’m sure if he could have, he’d have taken my
virtue as well, but he was unable to do so. Any time his . . . his erection came near the entrance to my core, something would
happen that ended with him taking his rage out on me by using my . . . I suck in a breath, unable to finish the thought. I don’t
want to think about that. It’s not pleasant. None of this is pleasant in any way.
I’m not sure if I can handle any of this. The very idea of Corbin and the fact we’re mates scares me. I don’t know what it
means. For me. For him.
My mother used to tell me stories about mates and how they’re supposed to be special. There’s no way that can be true for
me, though. I’m a witch, and I felt Corbin’s distaste for me. His anger that he would have been mated to a witch. No matter the
fact, I’m not a blood witch or evil in any way. It really shouldn’t even matter to me, but it does.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, my hands clasped between my thighs, I wait. Corbin hasn’t come in here, and time has passed.
Maybe he didn’t like the fact I was out of this room earlier. Or Sage could have woken, and he needed to see to her.
When it comes to his little girl, I saw it in him . . . the way he picked the little girl up into his big arms. His warmth
surrounding the beautiful girl was one of pure love. There was no denying the truth in the aura he has when holding Sage to
him.
Never in my life, no matter the knowledge of my mother loving me, did I feel the safety I know without a doubt Sage feels
in her father’s arms. Corbin is a shifter. An Alpha. A man who carries the burden of those around him. He shoulders the weight
and doesn’t let it bother him. If it does, he doesn’t let it show.
Sucking in a breath, I get up, wrap my arms around myself, and start pacing around the room, uncertainty clawing at me.
Earlier, while sitting next to Daniel, I tried to eat. The food tasted amazing, but it wasn’t easy. My hearing picked up the
conversation, I’m sure both Daniel and Big Daddy both heard as well. A couple of the women I saw in the other room, I heard
them talking about me being an abomination and that it wasn’t right for me to be here.
Maybe they’re right. I can’t even shift into a wolf. I only have a few aspects to prove I’m a hybrid.
The door creaks open, and I nearly jump out of my skin, whirling around to face the shifter stepping into the room. As the
door closes behind him, tension thickens, and I know what’s coming. Rejection. It’s in his gaze.
“Um.” It’s all I manage to get out before I find myself captured in his embrace and pulled against his chest.
“You’re mine,” he growls, the words harsh, nostrils flaring.
“I’m not,” I breathe, pressing my hands against his chest, holding myself back with the little bit of space between the two of
us.
“You damn well are, Karsyn.” My eyes widen at the animalistic tone in his voice. It’s as if wolf and man have merged
together while speaking. “You’re my mate. My Syn. Fuckin’ mine.”
My lips part in protest, but Corbin’s mouth presses to mine, silencing me. His tongue slides in and strokes against mine. It’s
a shock to my system, and my heart races. I don’t know what I’m doing. For that matter, what he’s doing. My only guess would
be from the way he spoke, he’s not rejecting me, but rather claiming me.
His hands slide down, curve over my rear, and lift me until I’ve no other choice but to wrap my legs around his waist. I can
feel his thickness through the material of the sweatpants he’d given me last night. Even encased in the denim clenched at his
waist, it’s enough to scare me. Yet there’s a thrill that rushes to my most intimate parts.
My nipples harden, brushing against the shirt I’m wearing, rasping against his chest. Moisture gathers between my legs as
it’s never done before.
Corbin moves without taking his mouth away from mine. He lowers me to the mattress and braces himself over me.
“Mine,” he declares, ripping his lips away from mine. “Say it.”
“What?” I whisper, confused by what he’s saying. My mind is completely a mess with what I’m feeling. It’s not easy to
process anything else.
“Tell me you’re mine, Syn,” The demand in his voice startles me and arouses me at the same time. Something about him
calling me Syn feels good. What I don’t understand is why he wants me to tell him I’m his. “Because you damn well are mine.
Just as you’re my Syn.”
“How?” I breathe not understanding how he could know —
“I don’t understand it either, Syn, but I can hear your thoughts. Almost like shifters of a pack can mind link with each other
when we shift,” he explains, coming to lie on his side and rolling me to face him. His hand stays low on my rear.
“What all did you hear?” I ask nervously, unsure if I can handle any of this.
“Doesn’t matter what all I heard, just that I did, and I know the nerves that are rushing through your mind and body.”
Closing my eyes, I stare up at him in surprise, definitely not understanding him. How could he hear my thoughts? I didn’t
think that it was possible.
“Syn, you gotta stop with the loud thoughts. It’s like you’re projecting them in my head, and the thoughts are starting to piss
me off more than they already have.” He growls, his wolf sharing his eyes.
Only the Goddess herself knows why, but the sight of his eyes is remarkable, especially when man and wolf are together.
The growl that rumbles in Corbin’s chest startles me. It’s different from when he talks, and I don’t know why, but still I like
the sound of it.
“Karsyn,” the rumble in his chest goes with the way he says my name in warning, and I know I need to heed it. Something
deep inside me warns me to listen and submit to him as his mate.
If I do that, though, would he end up hurting me as I’ve been hurt so many times before?
 Chapter Eleven

Corbin
Never in my life have I ever heard of a witch being able to project their thoughts as Karsyn’s thoughts came at me. It was like
an open vortex between the two of us, and I could hear every bit of turmoil going through her. Even more, while I was tucking
Sage in her bed, and all I could hear in my head was Karsyn’s fears. It was all I could do to block it out long enough to spend
time with my little girl.
Then ,there was no blocking out the memories washing through her and flowing into my head. It was enough for my wolf to
want to come out. He demanded I go to her and claim her. It’s nothing less than I want to do already, but knowing what she’s
endured, it kills me. She’s my mate, and the pain of her past cuts right through me. Is it a mating thing? Is that why I can hear her
thoughts so clearly? I haven’t even fucked her yet to be able to officially claim her the way I need to.
The whole thing with hearing her thoughts is something I don’t understand and the look in her eyes means she doesn’t either.
That and the thoughts she projects my way confirm it. This woman, no matter her being a witch, has got to be the most innocent
woman I’ve ever met. I don’t think she has any part of her that could be used as a trickster.
She even thought I was going to come in here and reject her. There’s no way in hell that was going to happen. Mates . . .
fated as they are . . . there’s no second chances, not for ones like this. Shifters can mate with others, but those are by choice and
not given by the moon. Those lucky enough to find such a mate know better than to turn away from such a gift.
“You’re mine, Karsyn,” I declare, the wolf inside me merging with me, sharing my voice for her to listen . . . to know
whether she understands it or not. She belongs to both man and wolf. “I don’t give a shit you’re a damn witch or not. I saw
what you showed me. I’ve heard the thoughts running through your head just now. Ever since I got back. We’re going to figure
shit out, but first, you’re going to tell me who you belong to.”
“I don’t understand all of this,” Karsyn whispers, her confliction and confusion not just heard in her voice but also in her
scent. She’s scared.
“You don’t have to, Syn.” Stroking her cheek, my wolf reaches out through my senses to hers, searching for the wolf inside
her. Its spirit is there. Marking her as a shifter. No matter the fact she’s a halfling. “All you have to do is accept that you’re
mine. I’ll handle the rest. It’s what mates are supposed to do,” I tell her, though I don’t even fucking know what I’m doing.
What I do know is what Big Daddy taught Cyrus and me growing up. “I’m not going to hurt you. Hurting you means killing me.
I’d never intentionally hurt you. If I do, it’ll never be without reason. Your safety is all that matters to me. Yours and my
daughter’s.”
Long moments pass without her speaking, but those damn thoughts, shit, they gut me, yet somehow humble me as I watch the
way she slowly nods.
“I . . . I . . . I think, I mean, I’m yours,” she utters with a breath.
“Good, now it’s time to get some sleep,” I state, wanting to do more than sleep. There’s a lot I want to do to her, but I’m not
a total dick. Karsyn’s exhausted and needs to rest in order to regain her strength. Once morning comes, we’ll talk, and I’ll find
out what the hell it is I need to know about the fucker who pulled the pop in and out of the air show for us tonight.
“I’m not ready to go to sleep, yet.” Panic has her eyes widening and her body stiffening.
“Why’s that?” I ask cautiously, for the first time since getting in, not hearing her thoughts, just feeling her emotions.
 “I . . . I’m just not tired,” Karsyn answers and attempts to shove away from me.
I smell the lie easily, and it pisses me off.
“You can either go to sleep or tell me the fuckin’ truth,” I demand. “I won’t tolerate lies, Syn. You lie to me, and you can
deal with the consequences.”
“I’m not lying.” The protest leaves her lips.
Narrowing my gaze, I lift off the bed, roll her to her back, and come over her, settling between her legs. “Why don’t you
want to sleep, Karsyn?” I let her feel me between her legs. “What’s got you freaking the fuck out about sleeping?” There’s no
way in hell I’m going to drop this and let her be. “And don’t lie again.”
“Get off me.”
Karsyn presses against my chest in an attempt to get me to move, only to learn I’m not going to budge. Only then does she
start glowing as she did before, and I shift, feeling what she’s about to do, and I’m not about to let her. She’s going to disappear
again, and I refuse to let it happen.
Dipping my head down, I claim her lips, distracting her from anything else. Karsyn stiffens for all of a second. The tension
washes away, and she relaxes. The scent of her arousal, sweet and intoxicating, fills the air. To keep her from disappearing,
vanishing into thin air, I’ll take it even if I can’t do anything about it. But who’s to say I can’t? I can show her the pleasures of
being with her mate. Let her know what it’s actually supposed to be like. Liking the idea, I rip my lips from hers. I trail my
tongue down the side of her jaw, kissing and nipping my way along the side of her neck to where it meets her shoulder. All the
while, Karsyn’s moans fill the room.
I can feel the way her body is overtaking her mind, overtaking all other thoughts for her. It’s like all she can do is feel and
feel she will. It’s weird as fuck having her thoughts or whatever it is I’m getting from her right now. Just as it was, in general,
something I’ve never heard of, but fuck if it doesn’t entice me to keep going . . . make it that much better for her.
 Chapter Twelve

Karsyn
Sensations unlike I’ve never felt before flow through me with each touch of Corbin’s lips. My body hums with need. It’s
foreign in so many ways, and it makes me crave for more.
I want his lips on mine, but the feel of his teeth scraping across my shoulder sends tendrils sparking throughout the rest of
my body. The more he touches me, the more I want . . . no, it’s more of a need. I want nothing more than for him to bite down
and mark me as his. A jolt of surprise hits me at the thought of him biting me. Never has such an idea enthralled me so much.
Corbin scraps his canines across my skin, moving his way farther down, ripping my shirt open, exposing my breasts to the
cool air.
“What are you doing to me?” I breathe out, gripping his shoulders and upper biceps, digging my nails into his skin.
Lifting his head, Corbin meets my gaze, and it’s all I can do to keep breathing due to the intensity. “I’m claiming you, Syn.
My sweet little Syn. All mine and you aren’t leaving me . . .” Dipping his head down, he runs his tongue between my breasts,
making my body jump at the feeling. “You’re not disappearing on me. I won’t let you.”
I open my mouth to say something . . . anything, only to gasp as his lips surround one nipple while his hand cups the other.
Fingers rolling the tip.
Everything in that moment explodes around me. The world goes off kilter. Color becomes that much brighter, and between
my legs grows slicker. I don’t know how to explain it any other way. My mind and body seem to become one with each other in
a way they never done before.
Corbin switches breasts, his fingers toy with the one his mouth left and flicks his tongue across the tip of the other. His free
hand moves farther down, going under the waistband of the sweatpants he’d given me to wear. My back arches, and a moan
slips past my lips when he finds my slick slit.
Ripping his lips away from my breast, he lifts. “Fuck, Syn, you’re drenched for me. I want inside you, baby. You okay with
that?”
Am I okay with that? He would actually ask me if I were okay with him being inside me. It might scare me, but something
inside me tells me I need to do just that. Trust him. I feel it deep to my core. He’s my mate, as I’m his. The goddess of the moon
gave us to each other.
“Yes,” I whisper, licking my lips, “please. I want you inside me.”
“I’m not going to hurt you, Syn,” he swears, dipping a finger inside me. “Trust me, baby, to make it good for you.”
“I trust you.” The way he calls me Syn feels good. I also like the way he touches me.
Corbin’s eyes darken further, and he comes up, claiming my mouth, his tongue duels with mine. Hands move, and pants are
pushed down. Soon I feel his thick shaft pressing at my entrance. Keeping his lips sealed to mine, he slides inside me inch by
inch. The pleasure mixes with pain as he fills me. His thickness stretches me, and I rip my lips away, crying out at the
sensations flowing over me.
“Just feel me, Syn, feel my cock stretching your pussy,” Corbin states gruffly. His cock thrusts past the barrier, taking my
virginity, and he lowers his head to where my neck and shoulder meet, teeth scraping there once again. I’d seen the marks on
my mom, the one marking her as a mate.
 Cocking my head slightly, giving him better access, I brace for the pain, but there isn’t any. Laving his tongue along my skin,
he sinks his teeth into my neck and thrusts fully inside me. A cry of pleasure leaves my lips, and I wrap myself around Corbin
to hold him to me, not wanting to lose any of what he’s giving me. With his teeth still holding me still, Corbin takes me,
thrusting inside me in wild abandon. My body heats, and moisture seeps from my entrance, coating him.
Heat, unlike any other, flows through my veins, and suddenly, the two of us are consumed in the flames of it as my orgasm
washes over me. Corbin growls into my neck, lifts his teeth, and laps at the spot, sealing the wound. The flames brighten, and a
cry of pleasure leaves my lips as Corbin picks up pace and lifts ,meeting my gaze. I thought he’d say something, but he doesn’t.
He’s enjoying what’s happening as much as I am. I can sense it just as I can see it in his gaze.
Corbin powers inside me, hands gripping my waist, and his body looms over my own. The fires lick at our skin with their
warmth but not burning him or me. I’ve never experienced anything like this, but it’s a beautiful feeling, one I never want to
lose. Growling, Corbin’s movements become erratic as he comes, his cock doing something I didn’t think possible as he
thickens further, making it impossible for him to pull out of me.
From the look in Corbin’s eyes as he locks gazes with me, I don’t think he knows what’s happened either. Or maybe he
does. I’m not sure, and honestly, I don’t care.
Long moments pass before the fires dim around us. Not once does Corbin stop watching me with that heated look. I want to
say something, but all thoughts leave me altogether. I’m not sure what I should say.
“You’re going to have to explain to me the fire thing, Syn,” he finally states, rolling us until I’m straddling him while he
lays underneath me. How he was able to do something as such without leaving me has me baffled. Then again, he’s kind of
stuck inside me at the moment.
“Maybe you should explain yourself,” I whisper, lying against his chest.
“It’s called a knot, baby, and it only comes out from a wolf shifter after a mating,” he answers without me asking what I
wanted him to explain.
“Is that why you bit me?”
“Yeah.” Grunting he shifts under me, his cock moving inside me, drawing a moan from my lips. “A male shifter bites his
mate, and the mark heals, except where the canines embedded. It’ll look like puncture marks, but it’s the marking of my scent
that will now permeate your essence that’s the important part of it all. It lets others know you belong to me. My mate.”
I nod, suck in breath, letting those details sink in.
“You gonna tell me about the fire thing?” he demands, his fingers stroking along my spine.
“I’m not sure exactly, but I guess it has something to do with you and me being mates.” Honestly, I don’t know exactly why
we were consumed by fire, but I’m not going to apologize for it either. It was magnificent to experience.
“That is because you two are fated mates.”
I jerk up at the woman’s voice. The musical voice is one I’d not heard but a few times in my life. Looking to the side of the
bed, I see the shimmering sight of not just one but two women glowing in misty forms.
“Goddesses,” I greet them in a hushed whisper, knowing immediately who they are.
“Karsyn.” Corbin’s body stiffens under mine, and he flattens a hand on my back, holding me to him. “What are you looking
at?”
“He can’t see us,” one of the two women says, watching him with a sweet smile. Like one a mother would give to their
child.
“Why can’t he?” I blurt out before lowering my gaze. “I mean no disrespect, my goddess.”
“None taken, Karsyn, and to answer your question, it’s because he doesn’t know the truth yet. Just as his father never
knew.”
“What truth doesn’t he know?”
“Who are you talking to, Karsyn?” Corbin demands, seeming frustrated. “What the hell is going on here?”
“Such a temper on him.” The Moon Goddess sighs. “He’s a stubborn one but fierce. An Alpha who will protect you and
his daughter both. He’ll keep you safe.”
“It is why we’re here, my sweet child,” the other woman announces. I knew immediately she was the Earth Goddess. She’s
beautiful, and you can see the earthy aura surrounding her even in the misty glow. “Now that you two have found each other,
the battle is only beginning. You must warn Corbin.”
“Warn Corbin of what?” I ask, not understanding. “What battle? Do you mean what’s coming from Death?”
“Yes,” the Moon Goddess answers. “Death is out for vengeance as well as power. He’s not happy to have lost you so
easily, but he also wants something more.”
“What does he want?” None of this makes sense.
“Death’s name was once that of a man’s. He once went by Victor, Victor Wulfsige. Tell Corbin the name, and he’ll
understand more of what’s going on. He won’t be in the dark then,” the Earth Goddess states.
“Victor Wulfsige,” I whisper, my lip trembling.
“The fuck.” Corbin snarls.
 “Yes.” The Moon Goddess nods. “Corbin will take care of it. It is up to him to handle this part as it is his brother’s to
take on his own fate. The future changes constantly with choices made. You know this well, Karsyn, but what you don’t know
is with each change, the past always has a way of coming to the present. Remember that. The past never dies. Not truly.
Yours and Corbin’s paths has changed as has that of Cyrus and his mate’s. You must take on Death as they have their own
journey.”
“But I don’t understand . . . what of the key?”
The Earth Goddess smiles brightly and steps forward, cupping my cheeks in both hands. “The key has been placed in the
keeper’s hands. Both you and Harmony are where you need to be. The fire . . . my child, that was the seal that bonds you to
your wolf. You not only mated with Corbin, but you’ve also merged with the one within you. You will never be able to truly
shift, but you are no longer two halves but whole.”
“With the fire, you have made it so that nothing can harm Corbin. He’s protected as you are. That is unless you’re hurt.
When you die, he too, will die. It’s in the bond that you two now share as you now share one soul.” The Moon Goddess
finishes and looks back to Corbin. “You were destined for Corbin. Not just fated. He needs you as you need him. Take care of
my grandson, and know that we’ll both be watching over you both.”
Once those words leave her lips, both women disappear, leaving me shell-shocked.
“Talk to me, for fuck’s sake.” Corbin snarls, rolling us until I’m pinned beneath him.
Blinking, I stare into the raging eyes of my mate’s. Licking my lips nervously, I manage to find words. “You’re the grandson
of the Moon Goddess.”
 Chapter Thirteen

Corbin
“Come again?” I bite out, not hearing her right. There’s no way in hell she’d have said something so asinine.
“You’re the Moon Goddess’s grandson. You and Cyrus.”
“That’s bullshit.” I think I’d fucking know who my grandmother was. Big Daddy would have told us. “Who the fuck told
you that?”
“The Moon Goddess herself,” Karsyn answers. “She and the Earth Goddess were both just here.”
A chill races down my spine. How the fuck is that possible? I can’t deny that she’d been talking to someone. I witnessed it
myself. I felt the presence as she spoke. Her voice was so quiet, and the confusion I sensed inside her . . . fuck me. My mate
wouldn’t lie to me. She couldn’t. Even if she did, I’d smell the lie.
The only scent coming from Karsyn is that of mine and of innocence.
This is my mate right here.
“What else did they tell you?” She mentioned the name of a man I hadn’t heard in a long damn time. One Big Daddy told me
didn’t exist anymore. He was a halfling shifter who killed my mother when she refused to mate with him rather than my father.
Victor Wulfsige, at one time, was a close friend to Big Daddy, but he was never a true friend. He’d only wanted to get
close to my mother. Unfortunately for him, my mother had better taste in shifters. She and Big Daddy loved each other until she
took her last breath. I remember that. It’s vague. Cyrus and I had been young when it happened, but I remember it tearing Big
Daddy up. Leaving him raging for a long time . . . years after she was taken from him. He was never able to finish off the
bastard who killed his mate. He told my brother and me the one who killed her simply vanished.
Big Daddy gave up the search in order to see to his sons, but he never forgot. Hell, he never looked for another mate, either,
and I don’t blame him. The stories he used to tell us about our mother made her out to be one of a kind and irreplaceable.
Karsyn licks her lips nervously and presses her hands into my chest. “Let me up, Corbin, and I will explain everything. I
don’t want to talk about it like this.”
Feeling her unease, I pull away, climb off the bed, grab the jeans I’d shoved off in my need to be inside her, and pull them
over my waist, leaving them unbuttoned. Moving to the dresser, I snag a shirt from the top drawer, and step back to where
Karsyn is sitting up, clutching the sheet to her chest. Shifters aren’t one for modesty, but she wasn’t raised in our world. For
that matter, she wasn’t exactly raised in the world of humans, either. Her life has been on the run or held captive by the enemy.
“Drop the sheet, Syn,” I order calmly while unfolding the shirt and balling it up in my hands to expose the opening for her
head to go through. I quickly help her put arms through the sleeves before sitting on the edge of the bed, turning to face her.
“Now, tell me what the hell just happened.”
Karsyn nods, sucks in a breath, and starts fidgeting with her fingers in front of her while she explains. “The fire, it was me
bonding to you. They explained it was our souls merging. The Goddesses said that it now meant you were protected from harm
so long as I was not hurt. Our lives are now one. So, as long as I live, you live. My magic protects you through the bond we
share.” She goes on to describe the way they both looked, how the Moon Goddess had looked at me with loving eyes. Then she
informs me of the warning about Victor and how the past never stays in the past but comes to the present. Karsyn also tells me
about the future changing and that with Cyrus and me finding our mates, things have changed. Where Death is concerned, it’s no
longer Cyrus’s problem but mine. “The Earth Goddess also told me I was no longer two halves but whole. I don’t understand it
completely, but she said I would never truly shift. However, I’ve fully merged with the wolf inside me when your wolf mated
with me.”
I take in all that she’s shared, my mind turning over it all. Soaking in all the information, calculating what needs to happen
next.
“Death came to me in my dreams. That’s why I don’t want to sleep,” she whispers long moments later, breaking the silence
and surprising me further.
“What happened?” I growl, not liking the fear that I can smell pouring from her.
“He said I had until the blood moon to come to him otherwise⁠—”
“The blood moon,” I growl, interrupting her. “What the hell does the blood moon have to do with anything?” I remember
the bastard mentioning the moon before, as well.
“With the blood moon coming, it’s not just any blood moon. Normally, the blood moon heightens a blood witch’s power,
but this one is different. There’s an alignment which will give Death the power he needs, but he needs the blood of pure,
innocent wolves and witches that are of the earth.”
“But you’re not of just the earth, so why would he want you?” I cock a brow, dread knotting my stomach. I saw what she
showed me of her past and what’s to come, but has that changed?
“I’m to be the offering to the blood moon,” she answers, no more than a breath. “It’s why he wants me so much. During the
offering, he’ll absorb my magic, and my blood will soak the earth under the moon.”
“The hell it will happen,” I snarl. I’m not about to let something like that happen to Karsyn. No fucking way. I won’t let it.
“If he gets his hands on me, it will happen. He’s strong, and I can’t fight him.”
“You don’t have to fuckin’ fight him, Syn. That’s my job. I’ll kill the bastard and make him wish he never fucked with you,”
I state, my anger growing. “I’ll be damn if I let you be taken from me. You’re my goddamn mate. Fuckin’ mine.”
Without giving her a chance to speak further, I snatch her into my arms and slam my lips to hers, not taking time to prepare
her as I should or think of her being sensitive after taking her. Pulling her over me, thighs spread on either side of mine.
Reaching between us, I yank the zipper down, my cock springs free, jutting upward, throbbing at the ready to be inside her
again. I line her pussy up with the tip and slam upward as I jerk her down.
Karsyn wrenches her lips from mine and cries out as I repeat the motion, her body doing as it did before, welcoming me
inside her. The walls of her pussy convulse around me, tightening, taking what I have to give. But more, she burns for me. Her
body combusts into flames, surrounding us in its heated fury. Knowing what I know now, I don’t let it fuck with my head.
Twisting, I lie her on her back, jerk the shirt over her ample tits, seeing the sweet tips I’d sucked on early and rip the shirt
over her head. As much as I want to suck those nipples again, I intend to mark her again. And again.
She doesn’t want to sleep. Fine with me. I’ll fuck my mate until she’s too exhausted to think of anything or dream.
This woman is mine. No matter her being a witch or a halfling. She’s my mate. Mine, and I’ll be damn if I let anything
happen to her. Not some bastard who will sacrifice her to gain her power or to anyone else. I’ll do what it takes to protect her
and keep her safe. Same as I would do for my daughter.
Let Death come, I’ll make sure he regrets it.
First things first, find out what else I can find on this Victor Wulfsige. Find him, and I’ll take the fight to their door. They
won’t be expecting it, or if they are, they won’t be able to handle what’s coming.
No one gets between a shifter and his mate without conflict, let alone vengeance. I’ll rip the throats out of those who dare
attempt it.
 Chapter Fourteen

Karsyn
A pounding noise jerks me awake in a panic. I try to sit up, but the arm holding me down keeps me from doing so.
“Easy, baby.” Corbin grunts, pulling me tighter into him. “It’s just Dane.”
That doesn’t make it any better.
“I need to get up. What if he comes in here?” The panic doesn’t ease, and my tender body screams at me for jolting it.
Throughout the night, Corbin took me repeatedly, showing me pleasure unlike I’d ever felt before until exhaustion overtook me.
Even then, he kept me warm with his body alone, though he covered my body with a sheet and blanket.
“He’s not going to come in here, Syn. He knows better than to enter a room of mine without my permission.” His voice
takes on a hint of humor, like something was funny. Nothing at this moment is funny. The man on the other side of that door is my
brother, and he’s banging on the door like he wanted it to come down.
“What’s so funny?” I mumble, giving up on fighting his hold on me.
“Prez,” Dane calls through the door.
“You’re what’s funny,” Corbin answers me before yelling out. “What?”
“Need you out here, Prez. Justice sent me to get you, figured you wouldn’t kill me as badly as anyone else since my sister is
in there with you,” Dane calls out through the door. “Also, Sage is up and eating breakfast with Dad and Big Daddy.”
“Fuck me, that kid never wants to sleep in,” Corbin grumbles releasing me to roll to his back. “Give us a few minutes, and
we’ll be out.”
“Right,” Dane mutters, not as loudly, but I hear him regardless, which is strange as I realize I can also hear him walking
away.
“Your wolf is fully merged within you,” Corbin announces, climbing out of the bed and reaching for me. “You said last
night that you wouldn’t truly shift, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have the other aspects of your wolf. I can feel her within you,
Syn. She’s there.”
“I’ve always been able to do certain things,” I admit, letting him draw me from the bed, taking the sheet with me to shield
my body.
Corbin yanks the sheet from my hand and grips my waist. “Don’t hide from me, Syn. Never hide your body from me.”
Dipping his head down, he kisses first my lips and then where my neck and shoulder meet over the spot he’d bitten me
repeatedly while inside me. “As for you being able to do certain things before, you’ll have to wait and see what you’re now
capable of. For right now, don’t stress about it. We’ve got enough other shit to deal with, and I don’t need you stressing out.
Alright?”
I’m not sure if I can, but I nod in agreement all the same.
“Good, now let’s get you some clothes on so I can get out there and find out what the fuck is going on.”
“I don’t have any clothes,” I murmur, taking yet another shirt from him. I refuse to feel ashamed, but I can’t help that the
shame still seeps through.
“We’ll get that taken care of soon enough, Syn.” Corbin pulls his jeans over his impression shaft, and I can’t help
wondering how it ever fit inside me. It’s monstrous. “I’ll send one of the doxies to get you some things.”
 “Doxies?” Who is that?
“They’re what we call the women around here who aren’t ol’ ladies to the members of the club or a mate.”
“You mean the women I saw around the clubhouse yesterday?” There’s no way I want them to get me clothes. Not of any
kind. They’d probably dress me in nothing more than what they did, and that’s just something I could not wear.
“Yeah, baby, the women you saw, they are called doxies here and are for the brothers of this club,” he answers and pulls a
shirt on over his very impressive chest.
“Can someone else get my clothes? Maybe even just take me to get them? I don’t have money, but I . . . I can work to pay
for them.” The very fact that I don’t have any means to support myself has me feeling hopeless. Completely helpless.
“You don’t have to work to pay for anything, Karsyn.” I find myself drawn into his arms, and he holds me close. “You’ve
been through hell, baby, and you need time to figure things out for yourself. As my mate, my ol’ lady, you’ll have your hands full
around here as it is because I’ll do what it takes to keep you close. Close means you’re with me. You’re near, and I can keep
you safe.”
I nod, still not fully understanding him, but I sense this isn’t just important to him, it’s imperative to him. “I still prefer to get
my clothes myself.”
“I’ll take you later today. You and Sage both. She loves that type of shit,” he grumbles, clearly not enthused by the idea of
going out for clothes. “Let me just get some other shit handled first.”
“Okay.” I nod and search the floor for the sweatpants he’d given me the other day. His shirts might cover me, but I’d prefer
to shield my entire body not just from those who would see me, but from the elements. I’ve always gotten cold easily and don’t
want to risk it when I can stop it. It’s nice for once to have something warm rather than the dresses without shoes. Though I
love the feel of the earth beneath me, it does leave me chilled.
“Here, Syn,” Corbin calls out, holding out another pair of sweatpants, stopping me from putting the ones I’d worn
previously back on. “Do you want socks again?”
“Please.” The ones he’d given me before were so warm, I enjoyed wearing them.
“Alright.”
Grabbing a pair from another drawer, he watches me closely while I finish dressing.
“Thank you.” I meet his gaze once again after I finish.
“No reason to think me, baby,” he remarks, pulling me in his arms. “Your thoughts are clearly still readable to me.”
I blink at his admission and blush, wondering what else he’s heard in my thoughts. Does he know how handsome I find
him? By the way, he grins down at me, it answers my own question. I’m going to have to work at shielding my thoughts. He
doesn’t need my thoughts in his head mixing with his own. It could become a distraction to him, and with the issues going on
right now, he doesn’t need that.
“You’ll learn, Syn, that wolves have what is a mind link to those in their pack or in this club. I have a link to each member
within these walls.”
“But I’m not a part of your pack or club,” I whisper before he can continue.
“You’re my mate, Karsyn,” he states as if that explains it all.
Sucking in a heavy breath, I try to step away from him, but he doesn’t allow me to do so.
“We’ll discuss all of this later. Right now, I’m needed out there, and I’m not letting you be far from me. Once I find out
what’s going on, then I’ll take you and Sage out. Maybe take time to go eat at the restaurant you had food from yesterday.”
A smile forms on my lips at the suggestion. “The food was really good.” Granted, I didn’t eat much, but what I did consume
was delicious.
“Good to hear, but you’re gonna have to eat more than what I saw when I got back here last night,” he states firmly and
guides me out of the room. “For now, though, I’ll get some breakfast to hold you over. One of the jobs of the doxies is to
prepare breakfast for everyone. Is there anything you don’t eat?”
I’m not sure I want some other woman fixing me food, but I refuse to let him know that, and I hope he doesn’t hear me.
Those women . . . they scare me, and I know they definitely don’t like me. I’m willing to bet they’d have me out on my rear
before saying anything nice to me.
Corbin stops us in the middle of the hall, turns me toward him, and grips my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. “One thing
you need to know about the way of our world, Karsyn, nothing gets by me . . . not in this clubhouse. I’m the President of this
club, the Alpha to those who are here. Those women, the doxies, they’re no more than whores. They aren’t even allowed to
talk to you without permission. They sure as fuck won’t have you on your ass without repercussions. Around here, Syn, there’s
an order, and the doxies are at the bottom of the totem pole. Mates and ol’ ladies are at the top. We protect them at all costs. Do
you understand?”
I draw my bottom lip in, Corbin’s eyes watching as I do so, and nod, sensing it best to do. I guess I really do have to work
at shielding my thoughts if I want to have any thoughts just for me.
Corbin yanks me into his body and dips his head to claim my lips. It’s not a forceful kiss, yet it’s not tender, either. He
keeps it short and takes me into the main room. Immediately, I spot Sage sitting with Big Daddy and Daniel. She smiles brightly
and waves while using her other hand, holding a fork to lift what looks like a piece of sausage to her mouth.
“Hips, why don’t you get Syn and me a plate?” Corbin commands while ushering me to the table his daughter is at.
“You got it.” I don’t know if anyone else could feel it, but I could sense her dislike for the order. I’m sure she wouldn’t
have an issue doing it for Corbin, but she definitely didn’t like the idea of serving me.
Corbin gives me a side eye, squeezes my waist, and helps me into a chair. Once I’m seated, he moves to Sage, bends down,
and kisses the top of her head. “You sleep good, sweetheart?”
“Yep,” Sage remarks with a bright smile and cocks her head back to meet her dad’s. “Can we go see Jazmine today?”
“Not today.” The answer is clearly not what Sage wants to hear from the look on her face. Corbin straightens and moves to
take a seat next to me, his arm stretching across the back of my chair while still talking to his daughter. “In a little while, we’re
taking Karsyn shopping.”
“We are?” Sage perks up, smiling brightly. “You and me?”
“Yeah,” Corbin confirms. “First, I need to talk to Justice and handle some things.”
“Okay, Daddy.” The little girl nods, seeming ecstatic to be going shopping. I’ve no clue what the hype is all about, but I
suppose I’ll find out.
“You think it wise to take her out?” Big Daddy asks, eyes swirling with questions. I don’t have to read his aura to know he
doesn’t like this idea.
“Karsyn needs clothes, and I’m taking my mate to get what she needs.” Corbin’s words are terse and leave no room for
argument as he leans toward his father, narrowing his eyes. “But later, you and I, we need to have a talk,” he mutters and looks
over at me, then back to Big Daddy. “It seems there are some things you never mentioned to me.”
“Like what?” Big Daddy demands, nostrils flaring.
Corbin leans even deeper and snarls harshly. “That my mother was the daughter of Artemis.”
“The hell she was,” Big Daddy shouts, jumping from his seat and pointing at me. “This witch tell you that?”
Corbin also gets to his feet, and Daniel pulls me out of the way while Sage is pulled back by Dane. The tension in the room
intensifies and grows in magnitude. This isn’t good.
“She did, but only after I witnessed her in a moment translucent speaking with the Goddess herself.”
“Lies,” Big Daddy snarls, his features transforming to that of his wolf. “This witch is a liar, just as they all are.”
“Then how did she know the name Victor Wulfsige?” Corbin demands, his voice laced with such fury I could easily taste it.
“Do you think I’m a fool? That I don’t know how to scent that of deceit or a lie? She spoke the truth, and the Moon Goddess,
Artemis, came to her as a warning to me. To this club. Something is coming.” He points to the doors and continues, “That
fucker I helped Cyrus with yesterday . . . the one who took my niece . . . he’s coming for us all. He’s that fucker, Victor
Wulfsige.”
You could hear a pin drop with how the room grew silent at Corbin’s harsh words. Or maybe it is quiet due to the
vibrations coming from Corbin. Could it be that of the Alpha demanding submission? A part of me wants to whimper and lower
my gaze, but I find I’m transfixed by the very man who is my mate. I never believed I’d see something so beautiful as he is. His
handsome body is nothing compared to the unseen as he takes control and proves himself. No challenges were needed to prove
he could take on anything that was to come at him.
 Chapter Fifteen

Corbin
Fighting my wolf back, I focus on my mate’s scent to calm me down. I don’t understand how it can do this so easily, and it just
does as I face off with Big Daddy. The very fact that he’d dare state my mate would be a liar pisses me the fuck off. His
disrespect enrages my wolf, who’s demanding he show his submission.
“Corbin,” Karsyn whispers. The uncertainty in her voice is the only thing that pulls me back from the edge.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Big Daddy glowers, shaking his head while taking a step back. Good choice
for him to do, this is my club now. My pack. I won’t tolerate anyone challenging me. Not even my old man who stepped down.
I still work hard to earn my place to be respected as I have, and my brothers know exactly why I’m not one to be fucked with.
“This is why I was going to discuss it with you later, but you just had to blow the fuck up instead of listening to me,” I bite
out and turn from him. I’ll deal with him later. I glance at Dane, holding my wide-eyed daughter. Jerking my chin, I motion for
him to hand her to me. Dane does this without a word, and I take Sage from him. “Why don’t you go play in your room for a
while? I’ll come get you when we’re ready to go.” She doesn’t need to be out here for the rest of this.
“Okay, Daddy.” Sage’s bottom lip trembles. The sight of it guts me and fucks with my wolf. She’s ours, and I’ve scared her.
It’s not often I lose my temper, and rarely have I done it around her.
Setting her on her feet, she instantly darts off, running in the direction of her room, which is setup across from mine and
between Dane’s and Justice’s. Being who she is, she’s protected here at the clubhouse when she’s here, just as she’s protected
when I have her at home where it’s just the two of us.
Turning my attention to my VP, I lift my chin. “What did you need to talk to me about?”
Justice looks between Big Daddy and me, then to Karsyn. “Got a call from Orpheus. He wants a meeting with us. Says it’s
imperative,” he grunts, bringing his gaze back to mine.
Reading between the lines, I want to slam my fist into something. Whatever it is that’s imperative won’t be a good thing,
and it’s something I’ll need to handle first thing. Meaning, I’m not taking Karsyn anywhere. It’ll have to wait, or I send a doxy
and my mate will just have to get the fuck over it. Karsyn can deal with it for the time being. I’ve got shit to do for my club. She
might be my mate and is important to me, very damn important, but my club, my brothers are also fucking important.
Glancing around, I spot Saddle and Big Red. “You two, I want you to go shopping and get something for Karsyn,” I order,
not waiting for them to respond as I turn my attention to Big Daddy. “You got Sage. Tell her I’ll be back.” Returning my
attention to Justice, I jerk my chin. “Let’s go see Orpheus and find out what the fuck he needs to talk to us about.”
I don’t bother looking at Karsyn, I can feel her emotions. I hear her thoughts and know I’ve hurt her. I’ll have to deal with
her later. Until then, she can get over the hurt. My life isn’t just about her. It never will be. That’s a damn lie, and I know it.
Finding my mate will not ever change who the fuck I am. I’m the of the Spiked Raiders MC. The Alpha of my pack. A shifter. A
man. A father to my daughter. This is something the woman will have to understand. Just as any other would have to. She won’t
be able to hack this life if she doesn’t.
Stalking out of the clubhouse, I let out a heavy breath and breathe in the fresh air. My wolf is pissed with me and wants me
to go back inside, but I’m not about to give in to him. It fucking sucks, but he’ll get over it. My head needs to be clear for
dealing with Orpheus.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Handbuch der
Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst. Erster Teil
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Handbuch der Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst. Erster

Teil

Author: Carl Berendt Lorck

Release date: June 24, 2022 [eBook #68395]

Language: German

Original publication: Germany: Verlag von J. J. Weber, 1882

Credits: Peter Becker, Franz L Kuhlmann and the Online

Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
(This file was produced from images generously made
available by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANDBUCH

DER GESCHICHTE DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST. ERSTER TEIL
***
 Anmerkungen zur Transkription

Das Deckblatt wurde vom Einband des Originals übernommen und geht damit in
die "public domain".

Offensichtliche typografische und Fehler bei der Zeichensetzung sind

stillschweigend bereinigt.

Zum schnelleren Auffinden eines Eintrags in dem umfangreichen Register ist

diesem eine alphabetische Sprungtabelle vorangestellt.
 CARL B. LORCK

HANDBUCH DER GESCHICHTE

DER

BUCHDRUCKERKUNST
 HANDBUCH DER GESCHICHTE

DER

BUCHDRUCKERKUNST
VON

CARL B. LORCK.

ERSTER TEIL

ERFINDUNG. VERBREITUNG. BLÜTE. VERFALL.

1450-1750.

LEIPZIG

VERLAG VON J. J. WEBER

MDCCCLXXXII.
 VORWORT.

J eder denkende Mensch, mag er nun als Buchdrucker,

Buchhändler oder Schriftsteller der weltumgestaltenden
Erfindung Gutenbergs näher stehen oder auch nur als Laie die
Segnungen, derselben schätzen gelernt haben, fühlte gewiss den
Trieb, etwas Zusammenhängendes über die Entstehung, die
allmähliche Verbreitung und die technische Vervollkommnung der
Buchdruckerkunst zu erfahren, und hegte den Wunsch Näheres über
das Leben des Erfinders und seiner bedeutenderen Nachfolger, die
bis auf die Jetztzeit für oder durch diese Kunst wirkten, zu hören.

Verlangte jedoch ein solcher Wissbegieriger nach einem leicht

verständlichen, übersichtlich geordneten Handbuch der Geschichte
der Buchdruckerkunst, das ihm als Führer durch die mehr als
vierhundert Jahre dienen konnte, in welchen das von der Presse
ausströmende Licht bereits die Welt erleuchtet, so wird er die
Erfahrung gemacht haben, dass sein Suchen ein vergebliches war.
 Wir besitzen gelehrte, höchst wertvolle Prachtwerke über die
vorgutenbergischen Drucke und die Zeit der Inkunabeln; es
existieren hunderte von Parteischriften über Gutenberg und die ihm
gegenübergestellten, zu Erfindern heraufgeschraubten, mythischen
Persönlichkeiten; wir haben eine Reihe von zumteil erschöpfenden
Schilderungen einzelner berühmter Drucker oder Druckerfamilien;
ferner zahlreiche Jubelschriften, welche von dem Gange der Kunst
in einzelnen Städten erzählen; auch ist kein Mangel an fachlichen
Lehrbüchern oder an Berichten über die verschiedenen mit der
Typographie in Verbindung stehenden Erfindungen.

Es steht uns somit ein reiches, mitunter fast durch seine Fülle
erdrückendes Material für eine allgemeine Geschichte der
Buchdruckerkunst zu Gebote. An einem Handbuch jedoch, welches
dieses Material in natürliche Perioden systematisch einzuordnen,
nach Ländern und nach mit einander verwandten Gruppen zu
gliedern versuchte, um in einer einigermassen gleichmässigen
Durchführung jeder Zeit, jedem Lande sein Recht zu gewähren,
ohne dass der Verfasser dabei vergässe, dass er für die
Angehörigen einer bestimmten Nationalität schreibt, fehlt es noch
heute, wie in meiner Jugendzeit, wo ich vergeblich nach einem
solchen Leitfaden auf dem typographisch-geschichtlichen Gebiet
mich umsah und schliesslich darauf angewiesen war, aus den
verschiedenen Quellen die mir erwünschten Belehrungen selbst zu
sammeln.

Somit wurzeln die Anfänge dieses Handbuches in dem eigenen

wirklich und lebhaft gefühlten Bedürfnis nach einem solchen. In
späteren Jahren fing ich an in den von mir herausgegebenen
„Annalen der Typographie“ das Gesammelte in einer Reihe von
Artikeln, die jedoch nur die älteren Perioden der Kunst behandelten,
zu veröffentlichen. Das Vorhaben, diese Artikel bis auf die neueste
Zeit zu vervollständigen und sie dann zu einem Gesamtbild
zusammenzufügen, wurde durch Berufsarbeiten für lange in den
Hintergrund gedrängt, die Arbeit jedoch nach Zeit und Gelegenheit
immer wieder aufgenommen.

So entstand das jetzt vorliegende Buch als ein Ergebnis

längerer Vorarbeiten ohne den bestimmten Entschluss einer
Veröffentlichung. Als jedoch die jetzigen Inhaber der
Verlagshandlung J. J. Weber zu Anfang des Jahres 1880 den
Wunsch äusserten, dass eine Veröffentlichung und zwar in ihrem
Verlag stattfinden möchte, bin ich unter Benutzung der inzwischen
erschlossenen, teilweise wichtigen Quellen ernstlich an eine
nochmalige Durcharbeitung des Manuskripts gegangen.

Bei meinen Verlegern war inzwischen der, ihrerseits gewiss

vollständig berechtigte Wunsch rege geworden, das Buch in einer
„illustrierten Prachtausgabe“ erscheinen zu lassen, und sie hatten
mir bereits zu Ostern 1881 ihre desfallsigen Ansichten in der Form
eines gedruckten Prospektus für das Publikum unterbreitet.

So viel Verlockendes es auch für jeden haben mag, sein Buch

in ein prächtiges Gewand kleiden zu lassen, so konnte ich, das ganz
bestimmte Ziel vor Augen, ein knappes und einfaches Handbuch für
den praktischen Bedarf, wie es mir als wünschenswert vorschwebte,
zu liefern, mich doch meinerseits mit dieser Ansicht zu jener Zeit
nicht befreunden. Ich würde mich damit der unvermeidlichen Gefahr
ausgesetzt haben, der Illustration zuliebe von dem mir
vorgezeichneten Weg abgedrängt zu werden.

Obgleich nicht allein der persönlichen Neigung, sondern auch

dem pekuniären Interesse meiner Verleger durch eine illustrierte
Prachtausgabe wohl am besten entsprochen worden wäre, liessen
diese doch bereitwilligst meinem Standpunkt Gerechtigkeit
widerfahren.

Sowohl das über die Entstehung und den Zweck der

vorliegenden Arbeit oben gesagte, als auch mein Lebensberuf
schliessen schon von allem Anfang die Erwartung aus, als habe man
es hier mit einem gelehrten Werk zu thun, bestimmt, die Ergebnisse
tiefer Forschung ans Tageslicht zu fördern. Weder sollte meine
Aufgabe noch konnte dieselbe eine höhere sein, als meinen
Berufsgenossen oder denjenigen, die sonst Drang nach einer
leichteren Orientierung in dem Gewirr der Geschichte der
Buchdruckerkunst empfinden, nützlich zu sein, indem ich den
Versuch machte, das aufgespeicherte Material nach bestem Wissen
und Gewissen zu sichten, zu ordnen, und indem ich mich, die
geschäftliche Praxis zurhand, bestrebte, einige von der
Gelehrsamkeit im Dunkel gelassene Punkte klar zu stellen. Was die
neue Zeit betrifft, so gab ein Geschäftsleben, das sich fast über die
ganze Periode der neuen Blüte der Typographie und der verwandten
Künste und Gewerbe seit den dreissiger Jahren erstreckt, wohl auch
manchmal Gelegenheit, das vorhandene Material durch die eigene
Erfahrung zu vervollständigen.

Es konnte nicht in meinem Plan liegen, mit der Geschichte der

Buchdruckerkunst die des Buchhandels zu verbinden. Beide
Berufszweige sind jedoch derart eng mit einander verknüpft und so
viele der auftretenden Persönlichkeiten wirkten zu gleicher Zeit als
Drucker und als Verleger, dass es nicht zu umgehen war, auch
Ausflüge auf das Gebiet des Buchhandels zu unternehmen. Sehr
nahe lag ebenfalls die Versuchung, die Geschichte der übrigen
graphischen Künste und Gewerbe, welche zur Herstellung eines
Buches mitwirken, ausführlicher zu behandeln. Um jedoch die
Übersichtlichkeit nicht zu stören und den Umfang des Buches nicht
gar zu sehr über die gesteckten mässigen Grenzen hinaus zu
vermehren, war es geboten, dieser Versuchung nur in so weit
nachzugeben, als es zum Verständnis der gestellten Aufgabe
notwendig war.

Die Geschichte der Buchdruckerkunst zerfällt in zwei natürliche

Hauptabschnitte. Der erste, welcher die Erfindung, Verbreitung,
Blüte und den allmählichen Verfall behandelt, und sich über einen
Zeitraum von über dreihundert Jahren erstreckt, findet seinen
Abschluss in der letzten Hälfte des XVIII. Säculums. Der zweite
Hauptabschnitt führt uns durch die Periode des Wiederaufwachens
der Typographie und deren Schwesterkünste in die Zeit der zweiten,
mittels der enormen technischen Fortschritte und der neuen
Vervielfältigungsarten im Verein mit der freiheitlichen Entwickelung
der Presse hervorgerufenen Blüte, deren wir uns heute erfreuen.

Jeder dieser beiden Hauptteile, die sich wieder in mehrere

Abteilungen verzweigen, ist in seinem Wesen so eigenartig und
verlangt eine so verschiedene Art der Darstellung, dass auch eine
äusserliche Trennung in zwei vollständig abgeschlossene Hälften
geboten schien.

Zur Beurteilung der Grundsätze für die Behandlung der

verschiedenen Abschnitte verweise ich auf die, jedem der Bücher
vorangeschickte „Einführung“, in welcher ich mich sowohl über den
jedesmal leitenden Gesichtspunkt als auch über die jedesmaligen
Quellen und deren Benutzung ausgesprochen habe. Dass mir nur
sehr wenige der letzteren unbekannt geblieben sind, habe ich vor
allem der Fachbibliothek des Börsen-Vereins der deutschen
Buchhändler, der Liberalität des Vorstandes derselben und der
unermüdlichen Gefälligkeit der Bibliothek-Verwaltung zu verdanken.

Dass trotz aller angewendeten Sorgfalt noch Vieles für die mir
Nachfolgenden (denen ich jedoch das Arbeiten in mancher
Beziehung leichter gemacht haben dürfte, als es mir geworden ist)
zu thun übrig geblieben, und dass selbst die grösste Mühe und der
redlichste Wille, etwas Brauchbares zu liefern, fehlende
Eigenschaften nicht immer ersetzen können, fühlt vielleicht niemand
mehr als der unterzeichnete

Carl B. Lorck.
 GESCHICHTE
DER

BUCHDRUCKERKUNST

1450—1750.
 INHALTS-VERZEICHNIS.

ERSTES BUCH.
ERFINDUNG UND VERBREITUNG DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST
1450—1500.

Seite
EINFÜHRUNG IN DAS ERSTE BUCH (3-10).
I. KAPITEL.
ZUR VORGESCHICHTE DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST.
Älteste Spuren der Vervielfältigung. Die Manuskripte.
Der Metall- und Holzschnitt. Die Kunstschulen. Die
xylographischen Werke. Die Vorbedingungen für die
Erfindung der Buchdruckerkunst. 11-22
II. KAPITEL.
DIE ERFINDUNG.
Johannes Gutenberg. Herkunft. Aufenthalt in 23-36
Strassburg. Gutenberg in Mainz. Verbindung mit
 Johann Fust. Peter Schöffer. Gutenbergs Unglück.
Sein Tod. Sein Andenken.
III. KAPITEL.
DIE VERBREITUNG DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST IN
DEUTSCHLAND.
Schnelle Verbreitung der Kunst. Die Nachfolger
Gutenbergs in Mainz. Peter Schöffer und seine
Nachkommen. Ulm. Beromünster. Basel. Bamberg.
Albrecht Pfister. Augsburg. Nürnberg. Wien. Der
Norden: Köln, Münster, Magdeburg, Leipzig. 37-54
IV. KAPITEL.
DIE VERBREITUNG DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST IM
AUSLANDE.
Italien: Subiaco und Rom. Venedig. Foligno. Mailand.
Florenz. Spanien und Portugal. Frankreich:
Paris. Lyon. Die Niederlande: Die Histoires. Colard
Mansion. England: William Caxton. Skandinavien:
Dänemark. Schweden. Die slawischen Länder.
Ungarn. Die Türkei. 55-76
V. KAPITEL.
DIE TECHNIK DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST UND DIE
LITTERARISCHE PRODUKTION.
Die Technik: Schriftgiesserei. Satz. Druck. Korrektur.
Die Pressen. Die Farbe. Die Ausschmückung der
Bücher. Das Pergament und das Papier. Die
Buchbinderkunst. Die Litterarische Produktion:
Der Buchhandel. Die Zensur. 77-96

ZWEITES BUCH.
GLANZPERIODE UND VERFALL DER BUCHDRUCKERKUNST
1500—1750.
 Seite
EINFÜHRUNG IN DAS ZWEITE BUCH (98-104).
VI. KAPITEL.
DIE ILLUSTRIERENDE KUNST IN DEUTSCHLAND.
Die deutschen Malerschulen. Der Kupferstich und der
Holzschnitt. Michel Wolgemut. Albrecht Dürer, seine
Zeitgenossen und Nachfolger: Hans Burgkmair,
Hans Schaeuffelein, die „Kleinmeister“. Hans
Holbein d. j. Lucas Cranach d. ä. Die Schweizer und
Elsasser Künstler. Über die „eigenhändigen“
Holzschnitte der Zeichner. 105-126
VII. KAPITEL.
DIE TYPOGRAPHIE IN DEUTSCHLAND UND IN DEN
SKANDINAVISCHEN LÄNDERN.
Nürnberg: Der Theuerdank. Die deutschen Schriften.
Augsburg: Hans Schönsperger d. ä. Frankfurt
am Main: Chr. Egenolff, Sigism. Feyerabend, die
Merians. Mainz: Die Nachfolger Schöffers.
Tübingen: Der slawische Druck. Cotta.
Strassburg: Illustrierter Druck. Basel: Joh.
Froben, die Familie Petri, Joh. Oporinus. Zürich:
Chr. Froschauer. St. Gallen: Leon. Straub. Wien:
Johan Sigriener, Hans Kohl, Joh. v. Gehlen. Leipzig:
Melch. Lotter, Valentin Bapst. Gute und schwere
Zeiten. Wittenberg. Der Norden. Berlin.
DIE SKANDINAVISCHEN LÄNDER. Dänemark,
Norwegen und Island, Schweden und Finnland. 127-158
VIII. KAPITEL.
DER DRUCKBETRIEB UND DAS BUCHGEWERBE IN
DEUTSCHLAND.
Die Schriftgiesserei und die Druckschriften. Die 159-174
Technik des Setzens und Druckens: Der
 Satzapparat, die Korrektur, die Presse, die Farbe.
Prinzipal, Geselle und Lehrling. Die
Buchbinderkunst. Der Buchhandel: Die
litterarische Produktion, das Verhältnis zwischen
Autor und Verleger.
IX. KAPITEL.
ITALIEN, SPANIEN, PORTUGAL UND DAS SÜDLICHE
AMERIKA.
Venedig. Die Familie Aldus: Aldus Pius Manutius,
Paul Manutius, Aldus ii. Dan. Bomberg. Mechitar.
Rom: Die Buchdruckerei der „Propaganda“. Genua.
Florenz: Die Giunta. Padua. Die Xylographie:
Ces. Vecellius, der Clair-obscur-Druck. Ugo da
Carpi, Graf Ant. Zanetti, John Jackson.
Spanien und Portugal. Brocario und die
complutinsche Polyglotte. Madrid. Ant. Bortazar. —
Mexico. Joh. Kromberger, Juan Pablos. Lima.
Peru. St. Domingo u. a. 175-192
X. KAPITEL.
FRANKREICH.
Die Lage des Buchdruckers. Der Staat und die Presse.
Die Xylographie, die livres d'heures. Anton Verard.
Geofroy Tory. Jodocus Badius. Conrad Néobar.
Berühmte Druckerfamilien. Die Stephane: Heinrich
i., Robert i., Heinrich ii., Ende der Familie. Die
Gründung der königlichen Buchdruckerei. Ant. Vitré.
Savary de Brèves. Lyon: Seb. Gryphius, Jean de
Tournes, Steph. Dolet. Die Schriftgiesserei. Die
Buchbinderkunst. 193-216
XI. KAPITEL.
DIE NIEDERLANDE.
Die Illustration. Christoph Plantin, seine Nachkommen, 217-
das Plantinsche Museum. Die Familie Blaeu. Die 254
 Elzeviere: Ludwig i., Matthias und Bonaventura,
Isaack, Bonaventura und Abraham i. Johann und
Daniel. Ludwig und Daniel, das Ende des Hauses.
Die Nachahmer der Elzeviere. Die Familie
Enschedé und die Schriftgiesserei.
XII. KAPITEL.
ENGLAND. NORDAMERIKA.
Das allmähliche Wachstum der englischen Presse.
Wynkyn de Worde, Richard Pynson, Reynold Wolfe,
John Day, Th. Vautrollier, Th. Roycrofft, Sam.
Palmer, Sam. Richardson. Oxford, Cambridge.
Die schottische und die irische Presse. Die
Stereotypie und Will. Ged. Das Zeitungswesen. Die
Schriftgiesserei.
NORDAMERIKA. Kleine Anfänge der Presse. John
Glover, James Franklin, Benjamin Franklin. Die
deutschen Einwanderer und ihre Presse. Christoph
Sauer und seine Nachkommen. 255-276
XIII. KAPITEL.
DIE SLAWISCHEN LÄNDER. DIE TÜRKEI. DIE
OSTASIATISCHEN LÄNDER.
Polen. Russland: Moskau, St. Petersburg. Die
Türkei: Konstantinopel, Ibrahim und Said Efendi.
Syrien. Das östliche Asien, China, das
chinesische Tafeldruckverfahren und die
Papierfabrikation. Europäischer Druck in Asien.
Afrika. 277-288
Register.
A. Namen- und Sachregister 289-300
B. Nachweis der angeführten Quellenschriften 301-304