Kinky Wolf

by Aidy Award

  Marked? Claimed? “Sorry, back up. What? Kosta did what now?”

  “Funny that you struggled with that part and not the bit about how I can see the future.” Heli rolled her eyes and took a sip of her wine.

  From what little she trusted of her own memory, Zara understood about wolf shifters mating. Crescent had gone on and on about getting his daughter Taryn mated to a powerful wolf. He’d made it perfectly clear that he wouldn’t allow any of his pack to mate a human. But he didn’t mind the men screwing around with human women. Bastard.

  Was marking and claiming what wolves did when they wanted to dick around with a human? Crap. Was that what Kosta and Max had done to Heli and Gal? She was going to kill all three of the Troika brothers if that was the case.

  The other woman, Violet, watched Zara warily and continued to keep her mouth shut. She understood what Heli was saying though. She had a wariness in her eyes and held her mug against her chest like it was armor. “If you don’t know what any of this means, you might want to switch over to that wine now.”

  Eek. Zara picked up Heli’s glass and downed it in two gulps. “I’m ready.”

  “It’s like this.” Gal had that look she got when she was ready to either teach a master’s level course on some arcane bit of trivia or had really good gossip. Thank goodness she was going to come to Zara’s rescue with the offer of information like the good librarian that she was. “We’d better start at the beginning. When wolf shifters like Max, Kosta, and Niko find their true mate, they are driven by instinct to mark and claim them so other wolves know not to try any funny business. Then under the full moon in a, uhh, ahem, special ritual, the two are mated. When a wolf marks his or her mate with a bite, interesting things happen if that mate isn’t a wolf-shifter. Some mates develop magical or psychic abilities and some develop the ability to shift.”

  Gal exchanged a look with Selena who nodded. They both stood and each whipped off their tops.

  “Whoa. Uh, that was unexpected. Do we all have to get naked for this part of the explanation?” Because that would be weird.

  “They don’t want to ruin their nice clothes. Think about it.” Heli softly prodded, not so angry now.

  Zara didn’t want to think about it. Unbidden, memories of men and women in the Crescent compound walking around naked like it was no biggie popped into her brain. Eww.

  Gal pointed to the place between her shoulder and neck that bore a gorgeous looking tattoo of a blue moon, with what looked like bite marks around the edges, and a black wolf in the center. That kind of ink didn’t really fit Galyna’s cute kids librarian vibe. “This is my mark, from Max. Heli and Violet have them as well. I suspect you do too.”

  Zara squirmed in her seat and it took a lot of effort not to cross her legs, or put her hand over her inner thigh. “I don’t have any tattoos.”

  That wasn’t a lie. Zara had never had a tattoo artist or their needles and ink anywhere near her skin. As far as she knew.

  Heli yanked the collar of her t-shirt to the side and revealed a tattoo similar to the one on Gal’s skin. “Yeah, I don’t either, but this isn’t a tattoo. It’s the mark our mates gave to us when they claimed us as theirs.”

  Zara leaned forward to study the image on her sister’s neck. Heli’s moon was purple and her wolf was gray. Right in front of Zara’s eyes the wolf moved its head and looked right at her with purple glowing eyes.

  Zara jumped back. “That is some freaky Harry Potter level shit, Heli.”

  Her sister touched the spot and gently rubbed over it in a slow circle. “It’s a way that Kosta connects with me when he’s feeling especially emotional about something. I’ll check in with him in a minute.”

  “Huh. I wonder if Max can do that too or if that’s particular to your gift,” Gal said. “See, Zara, this is all new to us too. Max had no idea I’d get a mark or get an ability because it’s been taboo for so long to bite a human. Wolves and humans haven’t been allowed to mate since the dark ages and there isn’t exactly a beginner’s guide to fated mates or anything.”

  Heli nodded. “Maybe you should write one. Although, that kind of sounds like a romance novel title.”

  While Zara had been studying Heli’s mark, Gal and Selena had both stripped all the way down. While Zara wasn’t ashamed of her curves, she didn’t quite have the confidence of these women to stand around naked either. Except they didn’t just stand there, something was happening.

  Their bodies were changing, contorting, bones cracking, and fur burst through their skin. Their faces elongated, fangs dropped past their lips, and claws sprouted from their hands.

  “Just remember, this is all real. We’re showing you this so you can see it for yourself.” Selena’s voice changed and went quiet as her mouth elongated into the snout of a canine. In the span of a breath, Zara watched wide-eyed as her friend and the mother of her ex-boyfriend transformed into wolves.

  Wolves she recognized.

  Flashes of a battle with these wolves, Heli, Violet, and even Kosta and Niko skittered through her memories. They’d been fighting against Ramsey Crescent. Zara gasped and blinked back tears at the rush of emotions hitting her. Relief, gratitude, determination, fear.

  All in the blink of an eye.

  “I remember. That night. You all saved me. I thought it was all a nightmare, but it was real.” How many times was she going to have to relive moments she’d convinced herself were hallucinations?

  Gal, still as a wolf, carefully walked over and gave Zara’s hand a nuzzle. The end of her nose was wet and tickled, but it wasn’t unpleasant and Zara rubbed her finger along the fur and up to the soft spot between Gal’s ears.

  Heli sat up straight in her chair and looked over at Gal. “Oh. They’re here, or will be in a second.”

  “Who?” Zara asked.

  Max and Kosta walked into the kitchen before Heli could even answer. That would take some getting used to. “You saw that, in a vision just now?”

  “Yup. It comes in handy sometimes. Like in a fight. I’m basically a ninja these days.” She reached over and grabbed a mug out of the air, that Kosta purposefully knocked off the table.

  Max stood in the doorway and took up a whole lot more room than Zara remembered. It wasn’t that he was bigger or broader than the last time she’d seen him. His presence was larger than life, and he hadn’t even said a word yet. It reminded her of the first time she’d seen Niko.

  “Babe, you should shift back. We all need to talk, and I don’t want Zara to feel excluded because she—”

  A voice, Selena’s voice, popped into her head. She’s family, she can hear us just fine.

  “Umm. Please tell me if anyone else here heard that.” Hearing voices was definitely part of her past crazy-pants business. Zara simply couldn’t trust her own brain to know the difference until she had a little more experience sorting out reality.

  Heli leaned over and kept her voice low, even though Zara had a feeling everyone could hear anyway. “That was Selena in your head. It’s a wolf thing. Which proves my point even more that Niko marked you and that’s why you’ve had visions for, what, like eight years, I’m guessing. But I’m also right, aren’t I?”

  “Shush your face.” That was the problem with sisters. They knew too much.

  Now that she understood where the image of a wolf silhouette against the moon came from and what it meant, she knew exactly the moment Niko had marked her. The same night he’d proposed to her. The night before they’d broken up.

  She hadn’t noticed the motif for several days after Niko had left for Russia. She’d scrubbed at it in the bathtub hoping it was just pen and ink. That had been the first time she’d questioned her own sanity, because there was no way she’d purposefully gotten a tattoo on her inner thigh that close to her mons. Then there was the weird fact that she didn’t remember going to a shop or an artist to get it in the first place.

  So many things that she’d chalked up to insanity were making sense now. For about a half a second sh
e wanted to rail at Niko for doing this to her. But for the first time in eight long years, she was thinking clearly and trusted her own thoughts and logic.

  Niko had no idea he had any part in this. He hadn’t done it purposefully, anyway. As much as she had hurt feelings over the way they’d broken up, she would never believe he wouldn’t have told her that he’d changed her life irrevocably. He wouldn’t have left her alone if he’d known they were fated to be mates.

  Apparently fate could go screw itself, because that part hadn’t worked out.

  Could it still? If their lives were connected by all this magical business, they could try again. After she killed Ramsey Crescent.

  For the first time, those plans began to include an escape contingency. Crescent needed to die, but maybe Zara didn’t have to die, too.

  “So where’s your mark?” Heli cupped her chin in her hand. “It’s got to be someplace you can hide from me. It’s on your butt isn’t it?”

  Oh, my God. Zara would have to ask Niko if his younger brothers were this irritating too. “You’re a butt.”

  Ladies. Let’s save this discussion for later, please. Selena’s voice inside her head had the distinct mom tone to it.

  “Yes, let’s please save it. Zara, I realize you’re still recovering, but we need your help.” Max waved his hand between himself and Kosta with that we-need-a-lawyer look on his face.

  “I’ll do whatever I can. Are you getting sued or something? I have to warn you, I’m better with contracts than criminal investigations.” Hopefully it wasn’t anything big, because she didn’t want to delay her plans to get retribution and then see where things went with Niko.

  “I wish it were as simple as that. I’m afraid it’s much worse, and I’m hoping, because of your connection, you can stop him.”

  Violet stood and Zara recognized the white glowing eyes as if she were looking in a mirror. “One path leads to death and vengeance, the other to the death and the crown. No matter her choice, fate has intervened, the wolf is coming.”

  Oi. Was that what she sounded like? Zara was going to practice her delivery of creepy prophecies so she didn’t sound like Aughra from the Dark Crystal. “What does that mean?”

  Everyone stared at Violet, but when she blinked and looked at them all wide-eyed, it was clear she had no idea what she’d said or seen. Okay then. Zara was the only one who had any experience with this bullshit and she was going to use all her smarts to figure it out. “Max, what were you going to say right before Violet went all crystal ball on us?”

  “I don’t like where this is going. Niko has gone to fight Ramsey Crescent in an alpha challenge and commanded us to let him go.”

  He used his alpha voice on you, didn’t he?

  Max and Kosta’s scowls were all the answers they needed. Zara didn’t know what an alpha voice was, but she could guess.

  Ladies, we need to have some more coffee. Would you please take the coffee into my sitting room so we can discuss what kind of coffee we want to have?

  Heli stood up immediately. “Coffee? Holy crap. Okay. Let’s do this.”

  Kosta frowned at her. “What are you all so excited about over having coffee? I mean, I get that—“

  “I’ll fill you in later, sweetheart. Now, shoo. The girls have to have some coffee talk.”

  Max’s eyes glowed as he glared at the lot of them. “Niko is in danger, this doesn’t seem like the right time for—”

  Gal nipped Max behind the knee and growled at him.

  “Fine. Sorry, kiska. Come find me when you’re done with your caffeine fix.” Max waved to Kosta and they went back out the way they came.

  Once they were out of sight, Selena and Gal shifted back into their human forms. Selena opened a small closet near the refrigerator and pulled out two robes. She handed one to Gal and wrapped the other around herself. “You’ll learn to keep stock in easy on - easy off clothing. Now come with me.”

  “What’s going on?” Zara stood with the rest of them, not understanding why they couldn’t have coffee here in the kitchen.

  Heli grabbed her by the elbow and whispered, “Coffee is wolftress code for going on the attack. I’ll fill you in on more of the food codes later. It’s kind of my favorite part of being a wolf’s mate. Especially since I didn’t get the ability to shift.”

  They all went into Selena’s bedroom and then a tastefully decorated little room off to the side with comfy chairs and a lot of books. Selena waited until they were all seated and then rubbed her hands together. “Ladies, I’m swearing you here and now to complete secrecy about what I’m going to tell you. No wolftress has ever broken this code in thousands of years, and I expect you all to keep that tradition going. Do you agree?”

  They all nodded or said yes.

  “Good. Zara, all alpha wolves have the power to compel members of their packs to their will by using something we call their alpha voice. It can’t be used to make anyone hurt themselves, but it’s pretty much free rein beyond that.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that. Niko has this alpha voice?”

  “Yes and his is more powerful than any other wolf.”

  “Why?”

  “That explanation will have to come at another time, but know it’s because of his time in Russia.”

  “I don’t like it, but okay. What does any of this have to do with me? Do I have something like that too?”

  “No. For generations, matriarchs of packs have had a complementary power, and we’ve kept it a secret so as to amplify its usefulness. The voice does not work on an alpha’s mate. You’re the only person in the world who he can not use his alpha voice on. You are the only person who can save him.”

  Zara looked around the room at each of the women. Violet looked at her and said. “Choose wisely.”

  New Moon Prison

  Niko stared at the big house in the middle of the Crescent Bay compound on Cape Cod. Getting onto their property had been too easy. He shouldn’t have even made it within a mile of their pack’s borders without being met by a whole contingency of enforcers.

  If Ramsey was plotting to take over the world, maybe his minions had more important duties than watching for a non-threat like him. Either that, or they knew exactly where he was and were waiting to make their move. Either way, they’d made a mistake in letting him scout out the area and watch their movements.

  He may not have the ability to shift into a wolf anymore and use his supernatural senses, but he had trained as an elite warrior with the Volkovs for almost eight years. The Tzar’s elite guard made Navy SEALs look like Boy Scouts.

  Even that hadn’t been enough to save Mik.

  It likely wouldn’t save Niko either.

  He sat in a tree watching the comings and goings, looking for any weaknesses. He’d probably missed half a dozen already. His head just wasn’t in the game and that was dangerous. He simply couldn’t stop his mind from wandering to thoughts of Zara.

  What was she doing now? Had she woken to find him gone and been mad, or maybe glad? Had Max and Kosta broken the news to her that he’d left? Again.

  His skin literally itched with the need to touch her, hold her. He was such a dumbass for not staying with her. They could be curled up together in his bed now, her soft curves against his hard lines. He could lose himself in her body and...

  Fuck, his imagination was getting the best of him. He could swear he smelled her soft scent of caramel and old books. If he wasn’t careful he was going to walk into the Crescent compound with a giant tent in his pants.

  “Niko?”

  Great, he was missing Zara so much, now he was hearing her voice in his head.

  “Seriously? You’re in a tree? I thought you were a wolf-shifter not a squirrel-shifter.”

  Shit. That wasn’t in his head. Zara was here, in enemy territory. He searched the ground below him and didn’t see her at first. Her eyes were what gave her away. She was dressed all in black, even covering her pretty long hair with a dark beanie. She was so adorable i
n her little spy get up, he almost hated to ruin her night.

  That’s exactly what he was going to do though, because she was not staying. Dammit, he’d asked his brothers to take care of her. Her showing up a stone’s throw from the man who’d kidnapped her was not what he’d meant. Fucktards.

  He dropped down out of the tree and landed right in front of her. “What do you think you’re doing here, Zara? Go home, right now.”

  Not nice, not friendly, not welcoming. If he was going to keep her out of trouble, he needed to keep a gruff coolness around her from here on out. He could never ever let her see any of the feelings he had for her.

  “Don’t even try to use your alpha voice on me, buster. I’m a lawyer, I can twist anything you say to benefit my side. Trust me.”

  So even after all these years, Max and Kosta were still stinking tattle tales. He should have known. “I see. You must have used your powers of persuasion on them if they let you out of their sight. I specifically told them to keep an eye on you.”

  “I believe the words you used were to take care of me. They’re doing exactly that by helping me find you. You’re not taking down Ramsey Crescent without me.”

  He really, really shouldn’t find this whole scenario sexy as hell. The fact that she’d manipulated his family and figured out how to not only find him, but also wanted to make sure a bad man came to justice had him looking at her in a whole new light.

  She wasn’t entirely the fragile, innocent crusader whose tears had broken his damn heart all those years ago. She was so much more. All the more reason to make sure she was as far away from the one-blood assholes who would use her for their own gain.

  There was a new clarity to her eyes and a fire in them. Calm distance wouldn’t convince her to leave him to the responsibility of destroying Ramsey Crescent alone. Niko wrapped a hand around the back of Zara’s neck and pushed his fingers into her hair. He gave her head the slightest tug, tipping her head back and exposing her neck to him.