Follow three young people as they each experience unique life changing events. Be it a dream or some unique part of reality we have yet to understand, the ideas you find within may help your family be ready for changes that are to come, as each of you develop in your mental and spiritual life.

After my mate rejected me, I wanted to kill him. Instead, I ran away-which nearly killed me... A year ago, everything was different. I had just left my home, joining the infamous Mountainside Pack. The daughter of an omega wolf, I've always been prized-but not as prized as I would be if my new packmates found out my secret. But when my fated mate-Mountainside's Alpha-rejected me in front of his whole pack council and my secret got out, I realized I had one choice. Going lone wolf was the only option I had, and I took it. Now I live in Muncie, hiding in plain sight. If the wolves ever left the mountains surrounding the city, I'd be in big trouble. Good thing that the truce between the vampires and my people is shaky at best and Muncie? It's total vamp territory. Thanks to my new vamp roomie, I get a pass, and I try to forget all about the call of the wolf. It's tough, though. I... I just can't forget my embarrassment-and my anger-from that night. And then he shows up and my chance at forgetting flies out the damn window. Ryker Wolfson. He was supposed to be my fated mate, but he chose his pack over our bond. At least, he did-but now that he knows what I've been hiding, he wants me back. But doesn't he remember? I told him I'll never be his mate, and there isn't a single thing he can do to change my mind. To Ryker, that sounds like a challenge. And if there's one thing I know about wolf shifters, it's that they can never resist a challenge. Just like I'm finding it more difficult than I should to resist him.

They’re called The Dones. After devoting a lifetime to their churches, they’re walking away. Why? Sociologists Josh Packard and Ashleigh Hope reveal the results of a major study about the exodus from the American church. And what they’ve discovered may surprise you... -Church refugees aren’t who you’d expect. Among those scrambling for the exits are the church’s staunchest supporters and leaders. -Leaving the church doesn’t mean abandoning the faith. Some who are done with church report they’ve never felt spiritually stronger. -The door still remains open—a crack. Those who’ve left remain hungry for community and the chance to serve—and they’re finding both. Sifting through hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews, Packard and Hope provide illuminating insights into what has become a major shift in the American landscape. If you’re in the church, discover the major reasons your church may be in danger of losing its strongest members—and what you can do to keep them. If you’re among those done with church, look for your story to be echoed here. You’re not alone—and at last you’re understood. Share your story at TheDones.com

Chrechte wolf shifter Caelis turned his back on his human lover Shona so that he could remain loyal to his pack. Six years later, he thinks she’s dead. He’s wrong... After being rejected by Caelis, Shona was forced to marry an English baron. Now she’s on the run from the deceased baron’s heir. Determined to protect her children, she heads north to Balmoral Island, to the only family she has left. And runs into the one man she never wants to see again—and the only one who might be able to save her. As powerful and charismatic as ever, Caelis has been charged with saving his pack from the corrupt laird ruling them. This time, however, he refuses to abandon his sacred mate. He lost Shona once and swears he will never be separated from her again. Passion and love urge Shona to join him. But she has to wonder if she truly comes before the pack, or if nothing has changed at all…

From handshakes and toasts to chant and genuflection, ritual pervades our social interactions and religious practices. Still, few of us could identify all of our daily and festal ritual behaviors, much less explain them to an outsider. Similarly, because of the variety of activities that qualify as ritual and their many contradictory yet, in many ways, equally legitimate interpretations, ritual seems to elude any systematic historical and comparative scrutiny. In this book, Catherine Bell offers a practical introduction to ritual practice and its study; she surveys the most influential theories of religion and ritual, the major categories of ritual activity, and the key debates that have shaped our understanding of ritualism. Bell refuses to nail down ritual with any one definition or understanding. Instead, her purpose is to reveal how definitions emerge and evolve and to help us become more familiar with the interplay of tradition, exigency, and self-expression that goes into constructing this complex social medium.

Years have past since the night Sophia Brair encountered her Mate. The man she thought was her future walked away from her without an explanation. Before she has the courage to tell her parents of his rejection tragedy strikes. Leaving her alone with far too many unanswered questions. Isolated from others of her kind she finds herself a wolf among sheep. Moving from one foster home to the next her transition into adulthood has been hard to say the least. Now at nineteen she ready for a new start in a new town. College seems like everything she could hope for. For years she's kept the secret of her true identity from everyone around her, how long will her anonymity last? It's been five years. Masen Black always planned on finding his Mate, just not when she was still a child. Walking away was the hardest thing he'd ever done. After three long years he returned to collect his Luna and her family only to find them gone without any trace. He's been searching ever since. When he finally finds her nothing will stop him from claiming what's his!

For years, wolf shifter Jaime Farrow has harbored a not-so-secret crush on gorgeous Dante Garcea. But the time has come for Jaime to face facts: despite her best efforts, Dante just isn't interested. And that's probably for the best. The last thing Jaime needs is for anyone--particularly Dante--to find out about her little "problem"--The one that haunts her past and threatens to destroy her and everyone she loves ... As the pack Beta, workaholic Dante Garcea is responsible for the protection and safety of his entire pack and doesn't have time for distractions--especially the kind promised by Jaime Farrow. It's all he can do to keep her at arm's length and his own desire at bay. Yet when her flirtations abruptly end, Dante becomes suspicious. If a wolf is hiding something that could endanger the others, it's his business to know about it. And she is hiding something, something big, and unless he can convince her to trust him, their entire pack could be in danger. But after years of keeping her--and his desire--at arm's length, he is forced to confront the danger she poses to their pack ... and the passion smoldering between them. He knows hot-headed Jaime will resist him ... but Dante never takes no for an answer.--