Mate

Serena finds Amanda and Saul having breakfast in the kitchen the next morning. They tease her about Koen, but she swears nothing happened. Later, Koen heads out to handle another Vampyre issue at the border. Serena goes with him so that he can drop her off at Layla’s. Beforehand, they share an intimate conversation. Koen explains that the celibacy covenant is more complicated than she understands: It’s not just about sex. It is meant to prevent Alphas from forming intimate bonds of any kind. He fears breaking it because it would mean the destruction of the pack he worked so hard to reunite. He especially fears the resurgence of Constantine’s cult now. Serena understands but expresses her love for Koen anyway; she promises to head back to the Southwest after her Estrus is over.

At Layla’s, Serena notices that something is off. A group of Weres is there and turns on Serena. They kidnap her, addressing her as Eva and insisting they are taking her home. They give her an injection, and she falls unconscious.

Serena wakes up in an unfamiliar location. A woman appears by her side, delighted that Serena is back in their custody. She is part of the new Constantine cult, the Favored. She introduces herself as Irene and explains that Serena’s Human mother, Fiona, was Constantine’s mate. Serena is shocked that Constantine was her father.

Irene tells her that Fiona was born into the cult, and although she didn’t always agree with Constantine, she tried staying loyal to him. Irene shows Serena photos of herself as a baby with her parents. Serena feels an uncanny connection with Fiona. Irene swears that Fiona loved her, but Serena struggles to make sense of what she’s learning.

Irene goes on to explain that Jess, who was working with Layla, is a member of the Favored. She infiltrated the Weres to learn about Serena’s whereabouts, but then she discovered that she’s in Heat, too. The Favored now plan to use Serena to lure Koen to them. They need to destroy him to destroy the Northwest pack. Irene insists Serena would understand all this if she’d read Fiona’s last letter.

Irene tasks another Favored, Nele, with caring for Serena during her captivity. Serena forms a bond with Nele, learning more about the Harrowing—Constantine’s attack on the Weres. He killed the Northwest Alpha years ago, and the Favored believe that bringing Serena back will give them power and influence. They still hope to become Weres, too. Serena realizes that Nele is brainwashed and takes pity on her.

A few hours later, Irene gives Serena Fiona’s last letter, which is addressed to Irene. The letter details Fiona’s flight from the Favored with Serena. She disagreed with Constantine’s attack on the Weres and broke from the cult. Constantine blamed unfaithful followers like her for their plan’s struggles. Fiona writes that she learned the Northwest might take pity on any Favored “who will turn themselves in” (322). She was hopeful that she and Serena would be spared. Irene informs Serena that Fiona died in the attack shortly thereafter.

Then the Favored bring in Koen. They successfully lured him to them and now have him bound in front of Serena. She suddenly realizes that Koen must have killed both her parents.

Koen explains that he didn’t tell Serena about killing her parents because he wasn’t entirely sure it was true. He killed many Humans during the conflict and couldn’t keep track of his victims. The Weres orphaned and abandoned many of the Favored children. When they heard about hybrids, they contacted “Human Child Services to track down children of the cult” (329). He remembers rescuing a young girl and now understands it must have been Serena. Serena is angry, but she doesn’t know what to do. Irene hands her a knife and urges her to hurt Koen. Instead, Serena cuts the ropes on his wrists.

Serena and Koen fight their captors and escape, rescuing and taking Nele with them. Irene disappears in the scuffle. Outside, Serena starts burning with fever and loses consciousness.

Serena wakes in Koen’s room, surrounded by six people, including Sem, Layla, and Karolina. They update Serena on what happened: They still haven’t found Irene and fear she is rounding up the Favored.

Layla privately evaluates Serena, revealing that it’s too late to prevent Estrus. She recommends that Serena and Koen have sex secretly during her Heat. She guesses that because Serena is Koen’s mate, he won’t be able to avoid pleasuring her to help her through Estrus. She swears to keep Serena’s secret and offers her contraceptive pills to take after Estrus, just in case. She wishes Serena luck.

Serena emerges from the shower to find Koen waiting for her. She tries to cover herself, but Koen wants to keep looking at her. As they draw closer, Serena reminds Koen how complicated their situation is. Constantine killed Koen’s parents, and Koen killed hers. Still, they want to be together.

Koen points out the giant nest of his clothes that Serena made on his bed. She apologizes, but he doesn’t care. They kiss for the first time and start undressing. Koen’s phone rings, interrupting them. Serena falls asleep.

Serena wakes up sweaty and sticky. She realizes that she is aroused and tries slipping out of bed to shower. Koen wakes up and stops her. He refuses to let her clean up and starts touching and kissing her. They have intense, passionate sex. Serena is overwhelmed by Koen’s penis and the knot it makes; she can’t believe the rumors about Weres’ inflatable phalluses are true. Meanwhile, she feels closer to Koen and is thrilled that she can now help him orgasm.