It wasn’t easy to find a true mate, but if you were mated or in a relationship with a supernatural who found their true mate, you had no choice but to accept that it was over. No fighting, arguing, or even thinking twice about it, it was understood and very little drama occurred.

Which is why I never thought for a second that Mischa would take the whole Maximus and his little mate thing so hard. Firstly, I was pretty sure my sister and the vampire had never really been together, they just had this weird flirtation going on. And secondly, she knew they could never be true mates.

But the whole human part of her clearly felt differently. And now to ease her heartache she’d jumped straight into bed with what was quite possibly the enemy.

I catalogued the twin’s features. They were like Mischa and I, mostly the same but with a few flairs of difference. One was a little finer boned than her sister, and her hair had orange streaks through the blonde. I was going to call her Orange for the hair, and the other one Lemon.

The fruit twins.

Orange was speaking to me. “We have much to discuss with you, Jessa. You’re the fourth of our compass.”

I shook my head. “No thanks, Orange. I have my own set of Compasses, I don’t need to be the fourth of another.”

Jacob cracked up then, he drew the attention of most of the supernaturals in the street.

I snorted. “It wasn’t that funny, Jake.”

He doubled over as he continued laughing. “Shit, yes, it was funny as hell. You named her Orange. I’ll bet the other one is yellow … no, not yellow.” He squinted, his laughter trailing off. “Lemon.”

Our pack had clearly spent too much time together over the past twenty years.

Lemon – ignoring the comedian fey – took over the negotiations. “The dragon king rises in a few days, and you’re important. Don’t you want to fulfill your destiny? You’re chosen.”

“Chosen for what? To murder everyone?”

She shook her head. “Our destiny isn’t to kill anyone–”

“No, but the dragon king will kill the lot of us. I won’t be a part of it.”

“You have no choice. It’s your destiny.”

I sighed, shifting my fingers for a better grip on the knife. Jonathon was standing at my side and I could see the tension radiating off him, his hands were clenched. Most of us around the table were standing now. It was like a high-noon showdown. Mischa was looking more and more miserable from where she lingered between the two groups.