by Evans, Holly
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
Other books by Holly Evans
Blood of the Wolf
Forged in Blood 1
By
Holly Evans
Copyright Holly Evans (2018) ©. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are purely from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalised and coincidental.
Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
1
“You are your wolf, Niko.”
The small creases of concern formed around Alasdair’s eyes as he gently caressed my cheek. Not frustration that we’d been going over this for a week, just concern. I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve him, but I was very grateful.
I went to say, ‘But I was a made, it was different.’ He pressed his finger to my lips.
“You are a shifter. Being made is irrelevant. You are the wolf. It is not a separate entity to you.”
Things had been quiet since the big problem with the vanishing teens and new drug created from them. Well, quiet in the fact we hadn’t been out getting into fights. Gray’s parents kept us updated on the fights within the council. The supernal world was splitting between those who wanted to tear the veil down and those who wanted it to stay where it was. Alasdair had decided it was the right time to make me one with my wolf.
“You will be stronger and more balanced once you stop tearing yourself in two,” he whispered as he removed his finger from my lips and leaned in.
He was a distraction and he knew it.
He turned away at the last second and his lips brushed the sensitive skin of my throat. I leaned my head away, giving him easier access as goosebumps formed beneath his touch.
“You are one and the same,” he whispered.
His lips moved a little closer to the hollow.
“The wolf is just your other skin.”
His teeth grazed, and a shiver ran down my spine.
“Let it happen.”
The electric pain and pleasure of his teeth slowly, gently, sinking into my neck made my eyes closed unbidden.
“Has he still not accepted his wolf side?” Grayson asked, shattering the moment.
A wicked smirk formed on Alasdair’s face as I tried not to growl at Gray.
“Not yet.”
We’d given Gray a key to our flat as he was practically living with us, so it saved us a little effort of letting him in.
“I brought some of that jerky dad swears by.” He held up a bag of dried beef.
The warm spices made my mouth water. I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, and I realised I was ravenous. Alasdair had been trying to con me into becoming one with my wolf all morning.
He’d given up on simply telling me, and we’d tried shifting and running, but he was on to seducing me into believing it. I had to admit I was curious just how far he’d go all in the name of making me one with myself.
“You’re still thinking too much. You need to let it happen,” Alasdair took a large piece of jerky from the bag Gray had extended to him.
“Damn, that’s really good.”
I reached out to take a piece.
Nuh-uh, not until you’re all at peace with yourself.” Gray pulled the bag away.
I glared at him. My wolf stepped forward, not liking having food snatched away.
“Those are your instincts, not some foreign entity’s,” Alasdair said as he took another piece of jerky.
I lunged at Gray who stepped back.
“No jerky for unbalanced shifters,” he teased.
I tried again, and he moved away again, keeping the bag just out of reach. We were soon racing around the flat while I tried to get some damn jerky. When I cornered him, he tossed the bag to Alasdair. It slipped through my fingers and Alasdair held it up with a feral grin on his face.
“If you accept your wolf side, you’ll be fast enough to take this from me.”
I sighed. They really weren’t playing fair.
Alasdair put the jerky down and walked over to me, where he put his arms around my waist.
“We’re trying to help you.”
I put my arms around his neck and rested my cheek against his. He was my sanctuary.
“I know.”
Rain streamed down the windows and distorted the view outside. Salt filled the air where the sea was being whipped into a frenzy. I curled up next to Alasdair with his arm around my shoulders. Gray had claimed the armchair and the remote. He flipped through the channels, looking for something that called to him.
They were my pack, and that knowledge made me feel warm and safe inside.
Gray put something with explosions on and frowned at his phone.
“Fuck. Someone damaged the veil up in Scotland. There have been attacks from beings that have gotten through.”
“Are we going to help?” I asked.
“No. They have enough help.”
I curled my lip. We went where the goddess sent us, and in that moment that rankled. I was proud to have been chosen by her, but I could have been helping to save lives. Maybe I could have helped fix the tear in the veil, too. I’d managed to fix the small one the broken shadow worshipper had formed, after all.
Alasdair kissed my temple. “The goddess has her reasons and her plans.”
I didn’t miss the hint of a growl beneath his calm words. He didn’t always get along with the goddess, and I was beginning to think I’d understand why sooner rather than later.
2
I was growing restless. There had been no word from Saoirse or the goddess. Gray kept us updated on the situation in Scotland, though. We should have been there helping.
“The faction who want the veil torn down are growing bolder and more vocal. Apparently, there’s threats of uprising on the fae plane.”
I growled and tried not to pace as Gray gave us the latest news.
“I’m afraid this is part of our role. We have no choice but to trust that the goddess has another plan for us.” Alasdair stroked my hair. “I hate it as much as you do.”
“People are dying. Ward stones have been broken. We could be helping save lives. I might be able to help fix the veil, too. We don’t know how strong that ability is.”
“We know that the veil you healed was tied to the shadow plane, so it’s likely only tied to shadow.”
I curled my lip. I hated that Alasdair was right. No one knew how the veil had come to be, or how to make the ward stones that kept it up.
“What happens if this is the start of something more?” I asked.
“The veil coming down entirely, you mean?” Gray turned the tv down.
“Yea.”
“War, strife, death, might even be a few other horsemen in there somewhere,” Gray said with a single-shouldered shrug and a good-natured smile.
He sai
d it so casually, but we all knew he was right. The veil coming down would change the world, and not for the better. Humans weren’t ready to be introduced to magic, and certainly not the type of magic that came with the fae and infernal realms.
The supernals weren’t ready for humans either, if we were being honest with ourselves. I had no doubt the humans would apply a ‘nuke first, poke the ashes later’ method. Who knew how many lives would be lost during that disaster?
“The gods are aware of what’s going on,” Alasdair said softly.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“I don’t know their plans and games any better than you do. I am proud of my role as guardian, but you know that I dislike the cage the goddess has put me in. We are pawns to the gods. I believe the moon goddess is one of the good ones who’s trying to do what’s best for this world, but there are many more gods up there.”
I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder. Feeling him close always calmed me and helped clear my head. Every passing moment increased my frustration and the sensation of the flat closing in around me. I’d never been one to sit around and watch daytime tv, and it was eating at me.
“They think there’s a blood witch in Scotland. Someone remarkable has been connected to the ward stones, to healing them.”
Alasdair and I looked at Gray. Blood witches were illegal and thought to have been hunted to extinction a few centuries ago.
“Why would a daughter of the Morrigan heal the ward stone?” Alasdair asked more himself than anyone else.
“Blood witches are the Morrigan’s daughters?” Gray’s ears pricked.
“Yes. That is why they’re drawn to death. They usually start as good people with bold kind intentions, and then they slip into their mother’s ways over time. Some take longer than others, but they all end up as bringers of death and destruction. That is why they’re illegal and were hunted. A powerful blood witch can wipe out an entire country.”
I knew blood witches were dangerous; I hadn’t pictured anything on that scale.
“Dad says they’re not sure if she’s a blood witch or not yet. She has the blood-red hair and some magic, but her men are saying she’s an untrained combat witch.”
“Men? Plural?” I asked.
Alasdair pursed his lips and looked pointedly at me.
I could barely handle him. I definitely didn’t want more than one man in my bed.
“Apparently she has three of them. A full-blooded hellhound, a demon prince halfbreed, and a powerful combat witch.”
“So, she’ll be difficult to stop when she goes dark side,” Alasdair said flatly.
“Can they stop her now? Before she gets too powerful?” I asked.
“Not without proof. Right now, she’s the one that remade the new ward stone and kept the veil up. She’s the damn hero.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. A lot of people thought I must be dangerous or a tool to be used based on my family and heritage. There was a chance she was the same. What if she never went dark side and she was a powerful ally?
“Don’t worry, Niko, no one will hurt her until she starts to follow her mother’s path,” Alasdair stroked my hair.
“The ward stones throughout Europe and America are being attacked right now. Those who want the veil to fall are seeing their opportunity. Apparently, the council in Turkey are leaning towards a public stance of pulling the veil down. This could really be happening.”
“Why the sweet blue fuck do they want the veil pulled? Surely they know it’ll end up with everyone dead?” I asked.
“Power. With the veil down there will be more magic available in the world, and access to the fae and infernal realms will open up. There’s a lot of valuable minerals and such to be taken from the infernal realm. And the fae realm has more magic and potential than you can possibly imagine. The fae and infernals will be for the idea because it will allow them to walk onto the Earth plane and take control. They will be able to use the humans as slaves and expand their territories.”
“There’s no way alchemists and such are stupid enough to think they can just take the magic from the fae plane,” I scoffed.
Alasdair shrugged.
“Some people have grandiose views of their own capabilities.”
I thought back to the lengths the alchemists and others were willing to go to have a taste of magic and power. They had drained and killed numerous teenagers to steal their magic. I supposed a few more deaths would mean nothing to people that desperate.
3
Gray kicked me out of my own flat.
“Go and run! For the love of everything right in this world, if you won’t screw Alasdair go and run!”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to screw Alasdair, the gods knew I wanted to, I just wasn’t ready.
Alasdair put his arm around my waist. I’d been driving everyone mad pacing and bitching about the fact that we were cooped up when we were supposed to be saving the world. The three of us went for a long run along the beach every morning, but it wasn’t enough.
Alasdair kissed my temple. “We’ll go there when you’re ready. We have all the time in the world.”
I couldn’t express how grateful I was for his patience and the complete lack of pressure he put on me. It wasn’t as though I was inexperienced, either. I used to screw strangers without so much as their name, but that was the point. There were no feelings. With Alasdair, there were far more feelings than I could comprehend.
“We’ll head into the forest and have a good run.”
I took up my usual spot in the passenger seat of his very expensive black car and gazed out into the darkness. The wolf had already begun to push forward, eager to be set loose to run.
“It’s not separate from you. It’s another part of you,” Alasdair said.
Had he been reading my mind?
“You’re my partner, Niko, I can read you like a book.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that in that exact moment. I was already feeling a little fragile over Gray’s comment about my not screwing Alasdair.
He squeezed my hand, and the fragility faded. He was my rock, my other half.
Sighing, I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to wander over the sensation of the wolf. When I shifted and ran, I was still entirely myself. Logically, I knew that it was a part of me, but I couldn’t shake the idea that I was made and therefore it was something that had been sewn into my essence. That had been the prevailing theory for a little while, and it had stuck in my psyche. Now people believed the ritual simply brought out hidden parts of the person.
No one knew for sure what happened, but that sounded better than having something supernatural sewn into the very fibres of your being.
The drive continued in a comfortable silence while I allowed the wolf forward and felt the beginning of the shift. It was natural, much like walking or breathing.
Alasdair pulled up in a small dirt carpark and smiled at me.
“You’re getting closer.”
I could feel it. The wolf felt a little more like pulling on a fur coat rather than giving myself over to a separate entity.
We got out of the car, and the cool damp breeze whipped fallen leaves around the patch of dirt next to the car. There wasn’t another soul within hearing or sight. I quickly stripped down to my boxers and allowed the shift to take me. Alasdair bent into a play bow, and I bounded at him.
We raced through the trees with the cool earth beneath our paws. The moon had been covered by a thick layer of clouds, but I could see perfectly fine as I leapt over a fallen log. Alasdair was bigger than me, but I didn’t feel threatened by him. He grinned at me and playfully nipped my ear before he took off again, and I followed hot on his heels.
The air temperature dropped suddenly. We turned a corner and stopped dead in our tracks. The Fear Dorcha stood next to a small creek, his pristine shadow-black suit entirely out of place in the rugged woods around us.
His mouth split into a predatory smile, and he looked me right in the
eye.
“Soon, Little Wolf. Soon. The world is changing, and the queen wishes to have her pet at her side when it happens.”
With that, he vanished.
I sniffed the air, trying to get his trail so I could find him and sink my teeth into him. Alasdair nuzzled my face, and I calmed some. My anger was masking the fear he had instilled in me. Everyone knew the Fear Dorcha was unbeatable, one of the sidhe queens’ primary assassins and an all-around terrifying being.
Alasdair shifted, and I followed suit, trying not to shiver in just my boxers. He held me close.
“I will not let him take you.”
“I will fight with everything I have. If I have to tear his smug face off, then I will,” I growled.
He ran his thumb over my cheekbone and smiled. “If anyone can do it, I believe you can.”
Love shone in his beautiful silver eyes, and I leaned in to kiss him. Together, we could do anything we set our minds to. If that meant killing an immortal fae, then so be it.
4
Saoirse rang just as I was falling asleep for a nap. It seemed far more productive than pacing and fretting over the Fear Dorcha and the sidhe queen.
“We’re leaving for Marrakech in an hour,” Alasdair said.
Everything about him relaxed as he said that. We were finally off doing some good in the world again. I stood and stretched.
“Who’re we saving this time?”
“A set of bones.”
I must have misheard him.
“Sorry, what?”
“We’re guarding the bones of a dark elven god from necromancers who want to raise the god again.”
I groaned.
“Tunis is beautiful this time of year. It’ll make a nice change from dreary grey.”
I curled my lip and followed him into the bedroom to pack. The suits he’d insisted I get fitted did not make it into my bag.
“We’re seriously protecting some bones from a bunch of necromancers? Don’t the elves have people for that?”
“They’re concerned that the necromancers have some outside help and fear they’re not enough.” He carefully folded a crisp ice-blue shirt and placed it in his bag. “So, we’re going to keep the world safe from a vengeful elven god.”