A Ravenous Pack: Wolf's Hunger 5 Books

by A. K. Michaels

  Zohar’s body was ramrod straight in his seat, anger flowing from him in great waves as Danko growled. “Gwenola, if we had this information earlier, we would never have allowed him to leave.”

  “I know, but Katel is too fragile and I couldn’t have her see any more violence.”

  Danko could barely contain his anger but he conceded her point. “I understand you were only thinking of your child. So, what happened next?”

  Gwenola’s face flushed scarlet, her eyes dropping to her lap. “I was barely eighteen and had led a sheltered life and I’m ashamed to say I did nothing. Well, the first couple of days afterward I was in shock, and then it was too late. He kept me almost under lock and key. He told the Pack I was in mourning and inconsolable at the loss of my father so my absence was easy to pass off. Any other time I was always accompanied by one of his men, usually Marlon, so I had no chance to say anything.”

  Zohar finally joined the conversation. “Typical tactics in the situation. Divide you from the Pack and alienate you so you feel alone and powerless.”

  “Exactly, that’s how I felt, powerless to do anything and things went from bad to worse so fast it was scary. The Pack had several good business ventures, fishing, cabin rentals, jeez, we used to even take city folks on tours of the ‘wild outdoors’ and have them catch glimpses of our Wolves. That went down a storm, but Jermaine had other ideas and put a stop to all of it.”

  “Where did he get his funds from?” Danko asked, confused. “Any Pack needs to eat and from what I saw Marlon and his men were dressed in designer gear and had up to the minute tech.”

  Gwenola looked even more embarrassed as she carried on. “I can’t be certain but I suspect he was running drugs and taking on jobs where ‘muscle’ was required in the human world. Humans can’t stand against a Shifter and Marlon loved being a tough guy. He’d revel is that kind of shit and I’m sure it paid well. I think Jermaine has a safe somewhere, but I can’t tell you where it is. Maybe in the warehouse somewhere but even if we find it, I don’t know the combination.”

  Danko smirked, cocking an eyebrow. “Don’t worry about that. If we find it I can assure you I’ll open the damn thing, either with my expertise or by brute force with the help of some carefully placed explosives.”

  “Won’t that destroy everything inside?” Gwenola looked shocked.

  “No, of course not. It won’t be the first time, and I suspect it won’t be the last,” Zohar answered.

  “I see, or rather, I don’t.” Gwenola shrugged. “But I guess you know what you’re doing.”

  “That we do.” Danko grinned.

  Zohar’s body tensed a moment before a soft voice interrupted them. “Excuse me, but Jacinthe asked me to bring this to you.”

  Danko turned to find Maisy standing, a sheaf of papers in her hand, noting Zohar’s sharp intake of breath. His friend’s muscles bunched tightly as his gaze swung toward the girl whose eyes were trained on Zohar.

  “It’s not complete, yet, but it’s almost done,” Maisy said breathlessly as she stepped forward, holding the papers out in front of her. “There’s also a locked room at the back of the warehouse, with a metal door that we can’t get into. She asked if one of you could come and open it for us?”

  Zohar seemed to be in some kind of trance, his eyes locked on Maisy’s but his hands didn’t move to relieve the girl of the paperwork. Instead he merely stared at her, inhaling deeply, as Gwenola rushed from her seat to take the lists from Maisy.

  “Thank you, Maisy.”

  Maisy didn’t respond, her green eyes widening as her head tilted to stare back at Zohar, confusion and puzzlement sweeping over her face. The seconds ticked by, dragging on until Danko coughed, breaking whatever spell seemed to have bound the two of them together. Zohar’s head snapping away as he shot to his feet.

  “Danko, come, we will go and open this door and see what merited Jermaine locking it within an already inaccessible building. Perhaps it’s where he has this safe Gwenola spoke of.”

  Danko agreed, excited he might get to use his explosives expertise. “Sounds like it, no other reason for there to be another room there that’s sealed up tight. Not unless there’s something in there Jermaine was hiding, even from his own men.”

  Maisy looked between them, still looking bewildered briefly before she pulled herself together. “Follow me, I’ll take you to the warehouse.”

  Gwenola waved the papers around. “I’ll sort through this lot and make a start of getting them typed up.”

  Danko stopped, looking over his shoulder. “Typed?”

  Gwenola chuckled. “Not exactly. We’re not in the dark ages, Danko. I mean I’ll fire up the laptop and input the data.”

  “Aaah, good, for a moment there I had a vision of you sitting over an actual typewriter.”

  Shaking her head, she waggled her eyebrows. “I’m not that old, you cheeky pup. Away with you before you get a sore backside.”

  “I’m going.” He laughed, jogging after Zohar.

  Zohar walked behind Maisy, every one of his enhanced abilities working at their fullest to take in each minute detail of the She-Wolf.

  The sway of her hips called to his beast in a way he had no control over, its yips in his head causing him to shake it several times. Hoping to clear it, but failing when her sweet aroma assaulted his nostrils he had the overwhelming urge to stride forward and snatch her up into his arms. The sensations coursing through him causing the biggest battle he’d encountered before, and he’d fought many a vicious combat . . . and won easily.

  This inner struggle wasn’t being won so effortlessly. He’d never been at odds with his Wolf . . . again something he’d not before encountered. What the fuck was going on?

  At that very second Maisy paused, turning toward him, her green eyes spearing him with a bewildered stare. Zohar commanded his feet to halt but they didn’t heed him, closing the distance between them, they only stopped when there was barely an inch between him and Maisy. Her head tilted backward so she could keep her eyes trained on his.

  “Don’t try and tell me you don’t feel that?” she whispered, her heart thudding in her chest so loud he could hear it and see the resulting throb of the vein in her neck.

  Zohar’s arm moved of its own volition, his finger running down the side of her face, her resulting quiver at his touch triggering a response further south in him, his jeans suddenly uncomfortably tight as his cock hardened. Maisy’s tongue darted out to lick along her bottom lip, a small gasp breaking free and her pupils dilating.

  “I feel it,” Zohar finally admitted. “I don’t know what it is though.”

  “Whatever it is we can’t do this out here.” Maisy leaned into his touch, sighing. “I think we need to talk but not out in the open. Please, I’ve had my share of embarrassing public spectacles. I don’t think I could take anymore, not now, not so soon after . . .”

  “I have work.” Zohar’s words sounded forced and lame, even to him, and when her eyes widened, first in surprise and then filled with . . . hurt, he felt a stabbing pain deep inside him. He wished he could take those three words back just to erase the look on her face but he couldn’t.

  They’d come out of his mouth and now she stepped back, her face blushing red and he wasn’t sure if it was because she was embarrassed or angry. His mouth opened to say . . . what? He wasn’t sure but anything would be better than just standing staring at her as the distance between them widened.

  “I can deal with anything that needs attention,” Danko interrupted, his voice quiet but firm. “You two should talk. No, you two need to talk and I’m not taking no for an answer.”

  Zohar’s head spun to glare at his friend who merely shrugged. “Don’t try your ‘death stare’ on me . . . that stopped working a long time ago. Zohar, you have to listen to me, and your beast, you know what’s going on but you must accept it. If you don’t you know the consequences.”

  Zohar opened his mouth to argue but Danko held his hand up halting him. “St
op, don’t bother fighting with me. It’ll be a waste of your breath and my time. I’ve work to do and you two have a conversation that needs to take place. Sooner rather than later.”

  Maisy looked at Danko as if he’d suddenly grown another head, then back to Zohar. “What’s he talking about?”

  “Nothing,” Zohar ground out, his jaws clenched so tight he wondered why his teeth weren’t shattering to dust.

  “Nothing?” Danko shook his head. “You are fucking delusional, my friend, and if you don’t pull your head out of your ass then I’ll be hauling it back to base in that ‘special’ jewelry we use sometimes. You know, for our more extreme cases . . . get my meaning?”

  Zohar’s chest heaved as a growl rumbled up, erupting from him in a warning. Danko ignored it, carrying on. “I’m going to the warehouse to find out if Jermaine’s safe is there, and I’ll finish the inventory. After that I’m going to work with Gwenola on some ideas for the Pack’s future and start putting in place some plans. As for you two, I don’t expect to see either of you anytime soon. Got it?”

  Maisy’s face was a mixture of emotions, scared and confused vying for first place as her eyes switched between Danko and Zohar. Her scent changing as fear took hold. That was what sent Zohar over the edge.

  His arm shot out, snaking around her waist and tugging her close to his side. “You’ve nothing to fear.”

  “It doesn’t feel like that.” Maisy’s body trembled against him. “Why are you two arguing? The tone of his voice is angry and, in my experience, violence soon follows.”

  Danko stepped back, lowering his voice. “I apologize for scaring you. That wasn’t my intention, Maisy. I’m just trying to get Zohar to realize something very important. Life changing important, but he’s as stubborn as a proverbial mule. Zohar and I have been friends for many years and our conversations can sometimes get heated, but I promise you, I would lay my life down for him any damn day of the week. And I would never, not ever, harm an innocent, especially not you.”

  Her eyes squinted up at the Enforcer, questioning. “Why ‘especially not me’?”

  “Because of who you are to someone important to me,” Danko replied before turning and striding away quickly.

  Zohar exhaled loudly, his friend’s words reverberating around inside him, and the consequences of those words seemed . . . immense. He was still unsure of the truth of them but he knew one thing: he and Maisy had to talk.

  “Is there somewhere private we can go?” he asked gruffly, suddenly apprehensive and nervous. Both of which were new to him, his tone reflecting how ill at ease he felt.

  Maisy gave a curt nod. “My place.”

  Zohar kept his arm around her, securing her against him and started toward her cabin. After a few steps, she looked up, asking. “Why does Danko scare me when he talks in the same tone you just used, but you don’t?”

  “I don’t what?” Zohar wasn’t certain what she meant, he was finding it difficult to concentrate when all he wanted to do was lift her into his arms and press his lips against hers. What the living hell was going on?

  “I’m not saying you couldn’t scare me. I’m just saying I don’t feel the same way with you as I do about everyone else. Jeez, most everybody else scares me to some extent. Guess it’s due to living under Jermaine and Marlon for so long. But I’m not blind, or stupid, you are obviously the most dangerous man I’ve ever come across, so why the hell am I not terrified?”

  Zohar stopped at the door of Maisy’s cabin, gazing down into her upturned face, and wondered the same damn thing. “I’m not sure.”

  “Something to add to the list of things we need to discuss,” she said softly as she opened the door. “This is my place, it was mine and Libby’s, she moved in when her parents were killed. I’d been on my own for a while and I’d been struggling, she used to stay over a lot even before her mom and dad . . . well, before her dad stood up to Marlon one day. You can guess how that went, and her mom got in on the fight, so Libby lost them both on the same day. After that she just stayed with me.”

  “This was one fucked up Pack,” Zohar growled as he took in the spick and span cabin. It was small, with an open plan living, dining, and kitchen area, but it was clean and tidy with nothing out of place. “If the Council had been aware of just how desperate things were here, then they would have stepped in sooner. I’m sorry we showed up so late.”

  “Tell me again, why did you? Danko mentioned it was to do with Marissa, is that true?”

  Zohar nodded. “Yes, Shade, her new mate, called me and asked that I come. I owed him a favor, not something that’s usual, and to be honest, I didn’t expect him to ever call it in. So, when he did, I was surprised . . . until he mentioned it had to do with his mate.”

  “And you came straight away?” she asked.

  “Yes.We didn’t have another mission scheduled so I decided it was best to get it over and done with. Although, if I’d been aware of the circumstances the Pack was living under, we would’ve been here a long time ago.”

  “So, you care about Wolves?”

  Zohar paused, considering her words before replying. “I don’t know how to answer that. It’s my job. I protect those not able to do so for themselves. I deal with Alphas who abuse their power, or renegade Shifters who attack Packs. It’s what I do, it’s what I’ve done for so long that I no longer think of the why. I just do my duty as the Council’s Lead Enforcer.”

  Maisy sat on the edge of an armchair next to the fireplace, motioning for him to take the one opposite. She waited until he’d taken his seat before she spoke again. “I have a feeling that it’s taken a heavy toll on you, Zohar. All these years working for the Council, doing what you’ve had to do. I can see it when I look in your eyes.”

  Zohar scowled, doing his best to look his most fearsome as he jutted out his chin. “And what would you know about such things? I assure you that I’m just fine.”

  Maisy didn’t flinch, merely gave him a hint of a smile. “See, there it is again, a look that on any other man would have me cringing in fear, but you don’t scare me, Zohar. Why is that? And what’s going on with my beast? Is the same thing happening with yours?”

  “You should be scared, Maisy.” Zohar pierced her with a withering stare. “I’ve a darkness inside me that definitely should terrify you.”

  “So you say.” Maisy pulled her legs up and tucked them under her, settling herself into a more comfortable position. “But again, I’m saying, I’m not frightened. That’s weird on so many levels, but you didn’t answer me . . . what’s going on with our Wolves? Mine is acting very strange and your scent is, well, it’s calling to my beast and if I didn’t know any better I’d say—”

  Zohar’s hand shot up. “Don’t say it. It’s not possible.”

  “What isn’t? That you have one, or that I do?” Maisy’s face flushed scarlet. “I know I’m not exactly a catch and I’m not strong the way Libby was, but there’s no need to be so damn rude.”

  Zohar saw the change come over her, the tantalizing aroma that clung to the air now tinged with sadness and distress. The effect on him, both man and beast, causing an inner battle like nothing he’d fought before. Words spewing from his mouth before his mind had time to catch up. “That’s not what I meant. Not at all. It’s not you who is not worthy . . . it’s me. The Goddess would never send me this gift and I’m certain this fucking Hunger is a spell that one of my many enemies has inflicted to weaken me.”

  As soon as he’d spoken he saw realization dawn in her eyes. Her emerald green orbs twinkling with excitement as a hand shot to cover her mouth when she gasped. “Holy shit.”

  “Wait, don’t go there, Maisy. This is a mistake. It has to be. I’m telling you, this can’t be. It’s just not possible for this to happen to me. I am not worthy. Not with my dark soul. Not with what I’ve had to do for the Council. All the deaths on my hands. So many that I wonder my skin isn’t dyed blood red permanently. You have no idea of the things I’ve done. The Goddess wouldn�
�t be so stupid as to—”

  “Hold up, Mister!” Maisy’s temper rose, unfurling her legs she sat forward, her hands on her hips. “You have no right to call the Goddess names. In fact, you’re the stupid one for doing so. She could just as easily take this away and then what? I’m supposed to just try and forget how I feel right at this moment? How you make me feel? Not scared, not terrified, in fact, for the first time in a very long time I feel safe. With you, Zohar, you make me feel like that and that is most definitely a gift from the Goddess.”

  Zohar’s blood thundered in his ears as he listened to her, but more importantly as he watched her passion flow across her features, showing him something he’d never thought possible. A woman who appeared to truly care for him, no matter what he’d done. Even with the darkness inside him. Surely she must see it? Or was love truly blind after all?

  “That’s a pretty speech but you’ve only just met me. You have no idea of what I’m capable of and—”

  She did it again, interrupted him, jumping to her feet. “Don’t patronize me, you big lump. I’m not an idiot. I can see how dangerous you are. I was right there when you tore Marlon apart . . . remember? But that’s not all there is to you, Zohar. You do what you do to help people. You protect those that can’t do it for themselves. That’s a good thing. Why can’t you see that?”

  Words slipped out unbidden, ones that slithered around inside his mind when he was alone and the darkness threatened to overwhelm him. “Because all I see in the mirror is my fucking dark soul, Maisy. Every damn time. The darkness inside of me has grown and grown with each life I’ve taken and soon I fear it will swallow me whole.”