Wolf Wanted

by Marie Harte

  “Who’s the alpha?” he asked.

  “My mate.” At Fenris’ words, she drew abreast of them and put her hand in his brother’s. “Anson, this is Rudra. Alpha of the Great Wolf Clan.”

  A large grizzly rumbled behind the pair.

  “Hush, Jericho.” She smiled at Anson. “I don’t have to ask who you are. It’s so good to finally meet you.”

  “Ah, you too.” Anson looked over Fenris’ shoulder at his uncle, who beamed with pride as he stared at Fenris and Anson standing together. “Alpha, you said?” Dazed, Anson slowly shifted back into his man’s form. The crowd murmured appreciation when his clothing shrank with him.

  Wolves loved magic.

  When Liam shifted into a man’s form and they saw his pointed ears, the noise in the village grew deafening. The wolves pointed at Anson’s small pack while they whispered and questioned all at once.

  “Liam, get dressed,” he said gruffly, not liking the looks of several of the she-wolves eyeing his mate like a tasty treat.

  Malem and the others chuckled.

  “Who are you friends?” Fenris asked. “I’ve never seen their like before.”

  The noise around them ceased, as if someone had thrown a switch.

  Do or die time.

  Anson took a deep breath and exhaled on a sigh. Liam placed an arm around his waist. His new pack surrounded him, and Anson felt their support, their love.

  “Fenris, I’d like you to meet my mate—William Masterson, Prince of the Athmae.”

  Fenris blinked. “Athmae?” He paused, looking confused. “Mate?”

  Rudra explained, “Athmae are demons. What are you?” She studied him. “Incubus, I’d guess.”

  Liam nodded. “And part wolf.”

  Rudra smiled. “Me too. Well, wolf and sorceress. Aren’t our mates lucky to have found such well-rounded partners?”

  Uncle Mike said nothing, and Anson still felt tense, waiting to see what his uncle made of his new relationship.

  He continued to introduce the others. “Malem, Ryder and Zain are all part of my new pack.”

  “I don’t understand.” Fenris eyed Anson’s group with confusion. “We’ve been waiting for you, Anson. So much has changed.”

  Then their uncle joined them. He said nothing, just studied Anson and his pack with interest.

  Fenris cleared his throat. “Uncle Mike passed on the torch. I’m alpha now. And Rudra too. We lead the clan together.” After saying the words, he quieted, searching Anson for something.

  Uncle Mike had passed on the mantle of leadership? No fight to the death, no waiting for Anson to return and take part? Instead of being upset they’d gone on without him, Anson felt nothing but relief. That and shock. Because a female had never been clan leader before, and Rudra didn’t look Silver to him…

  Liam nudged him. “Your brother is waiting for you to either challenge or congratulate him. What are you going to do, pet?”

  Fenris scowled. “Pet?”

  “A term of endearment.” As soon as he said it, he flushed. “Liam’s my mate,” he said again, because they didn’t seem to understand.

  His uncle gaped, Rudra tried to hide a grin, and his pack laughed softly, Liam’s chuckles louder than the others. He squeezed Anson’s waist.

  “I’m happy now, Fenris. I’m not here to challenge you. I’m glad to know the clan is in good hands.” He eyed Rudra with curiosity. Then he took harder note of the grizzly growling under his breath behind her. And there, a few foxes and a red wolf or two. What the hell?

  Fenris followed his gaze and explained. “That same night I took off in the woods, the Wolf in the Forest sent me to the Red Clan, where I met and fell in love with Rudra. She was the alpha there, but now that we’re all one clan, she leads with me. There’s no more us and them, Anson. We’re all sharing the Great Forest now.”

  “Even the cats?” He had to know.

  His uncle let out an aggrieved groan. “Even the damn cats. But I tell you, one thing I never thought to see in all my years were athmae in the village.” His gaze continued to stray to Malem.

  Anson shook his head. “Why am I not surprised you know the athmae, Uncle Mike?”

  “I know everything, pup. Thought you knew that, at least.” His uncle grinned and stepped forward to hug Anson. “I’m glad to see you again. Your aunt missed you.”

  “Oh?”

  “And maybe I did too. I’m glad you’re not upset Fenris and Rudra are leading the clan. You never seemed to want it.”

  “I don’t. Never did.” Anson shook his head. “I have a new home now. I wanted to come back before, but we had a few things to tie up before I could get away to visit.”

  Liam clarified in a droll voice, “He means he had to help me defeat a sorceress threatening to kill me. Then he routed a few rogue hunters in the area. Anson is our own Master of the Hunt, and our forests have never been freer.”

  “Hot damn, son. I knew you had it in you.” His uncle slapped him so hard on the back, Anson would have stumbled had Liam not been holding him. “And you,” he said to Liam. “You’re athmae, but you’re too light by half. Must be the wolf in you.”

  Anson wanted very badly to make a crass comment, and he could see by Fenris’ smothered grin he knew it as well.

  Anson cleared his throat. “Yes, well. Liam’s a strong wolf, Uncle. Took down a buck with little fuss last week. And you should see what their cooks do with food. I’ve never had better.”

  “Not their cooks, our cooks,” Liam whispered in his ear. Then without turning around, he said, “Malem, don’t stare. It’s not polite.”

  Uncle Mike lingered on Malem with confusion. “Do I know you?”

  Malem stepped forward and eyed Mike from top to bottom. His grin warmed. “Michael Barton. It’s been a few years, but oh yes, I remember you well.” The hungry look he shot Anson’s uncle spoke volumes.

  Uncle Mike muttered something under his breath and hurried from the group.

  Fenris and Anson held up their hands to forestall any comments and said at the same time, “I don’t want to know.”

  The others laughed.

  “Incredible,” Liam said.

  Anson turned to his mate. “What?”

  “You two look so much alike, yet you’re so very different.”

  Strange, because no one had ever thought them very different at all.

  “I was thinking the same thing,” Rudra murmured. “Could I interest any of you in some food and drink? We were just readying for a celebration.” She shared an intimate smile with Fenris. “The wind told us to expect great news.”

  Anson nodded to the others to go, leaving him alone with Fenris. Liam smiled at him over his shoulder, then followed Rudra into the waiting crowd.

  “A lot has changed.” Anson stared at the many wonders around him. Bears and wolves of different colors and sizes, foxes, eagles. His uncle was no longer alpha and hadn’t once questioned Anson’s choice of mate. Would wonders never cease?

  “No kidding.” Fenris clapped Anson on the shoulder. “Rudra’s the one for me, Anson. She’s carrying my child.”

  “Really?”

  “Really.” Fenris paused. “I happened to notice a flash of red in Liam’s pupils.”

  “Orbs of red,” they said together, recalling what Fenris had once told Anson would be his future.

  Anson sighed. “I never thought it would happen, but I’ve found my mate. A male demon, if you can believe that.”

  “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen him and your entourage with my own eyes. They look at you rather possessively, Anson.”

  Anson flushed. “We’re a pack.”

  “A tight one, eh?”

  “Bite me.”

  “I would, but I don’t think that big one would like it much.”

  Anson glanced over to see Malem, a head taller than almost everyone, keeping a steady eye on him.

  “My pack. It feeds the wolf what he needs, and they give the man in me what I need.”
/>
  “And what’s that?” Fenris asked, as if he didn’t know.

  Anson didn’t mind saying it out loud. The more he said it, the more he believed it. “Acceptance, affection, submission sometimes.” Anson smiled. “I’m an alpha too. But my clan is much, much smaller.”

  “A werewolf leading demons.”

  “And an alpha leading wolves, bears and foxes with a female alpha by his side.”

  Fenris grinned. “We’re not conventional, are we?”

  “Not at all.” Anson watched his mate talking and laughing with Rudra. “I came to tell you goodbye. Not forever, but you have to know I’m not staying here.”

  Fenris sighed. “I figured as much. Guess it’s time we grew up, hmm?”

  “I suppose.” Anson slugged his brother in the arm. “But I expect to see your newborn the minute he’s out.”

  “Of course. And I get invites to your palace. What are you, their princess?”

  “You’re such a dick.” They both laughed. “I’m officially the prince’s consort. And when, not if, you visit, don’t be alarmed if you feel the need to get laid, a lot. I live with lust demons. It’s pretty much something we deal with all the time there.”

  “So, ah…”

  “Yes?” Anson knew Fenris well enough to know his brother had to ask.

  “Liam. He’s a guy.”

  “So are my guards.”

  Fenris’ eyes widened. “All of them, huh? What’s it like?” he asked in a lower voice.

  “It’s different, that’s for sure. But holy shit, Fenris. You wouldn’t believe how good it is.”

  “Oh.” Fenris blinked, then laughed. “You don’t even want to know what I imagined. Anson, I just want you to be happy. It’s pretty obvious your prince loves you. I could feel it just looking at the pair of you.”

  “Back at you.” He nodded to Rudra. “I look forward to being an uncle.”

  “So can you stay for a few days?” Fenris asked as they rejoined the others. The clan was making merry in a big way, wolves, bears, men and women mingling and laughing as they celebrated life. Rudra, Liam and the athmae welcomed them back with wide smiles.

  “A few days, then we have to get back. Liam crafted a spell for you. You only need to say it and I’ll hear you. Then he can teleport you to us.”

  “Handy.”

  “Yeah, he’s a handy guy.” Anson grinned at his mate.

  “You love him, don’t you?”

  “I do,” Anson said loud enough for Liam to hear.

  His mate smiled back at him before turning to Rudra.

  “We’ve both been blessed, haven’t we?” Fenris asked.

  Liam and Rudra made their way back to their mates’ sides. Fenris clasped Rudra’s hand in his and, not to be outdone, Anson slung an arm around Liam’s shoulders.

  At that moment, a cool wind whispered words of praise, and a beam of moonlight lit the night sky.

  The figure of a large wolf appeared, a ghostly image with sparkling green eyes. “I’m pleased with you, sons of Lycos.”

  Next to her shimmered a dark shadow that obliterated the night. It took the guise of a giant male, but no one seeing him could mistake the form as anything but godlike. “I’m pleased with you as well, young wolf.” He nodded to Liam and the athmae gaping at the spirits. “Greetings, Prince. My children.”

  “Who the hell is that?” Fenris rasped.

  “Our god, Banathmae.” Liam wrapped his arms around Anson’s waist. The support made Anson feel ten feet tall, especially with the rest of his pack surrounding him.

  “God?” Fenris shook his head. “Damn, Anson. You went big, didn’t you?”

  Banathmae grinned at Anson and winked before he and the Wolf in the Forest faded away. Liam tried to bury his chuckle, no doubt remembering tales of how large Banathmae had been when dealing with Anson at the harvest celebration.

  “Big? You have no idea.” Anson groaned when his pack laughed, joined together by the recent past and the promise of a bright future. “But I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

  Coming Soon from Pride Publishing:

  Mark of Lycos: Jericho Junction

  Marie Harte

  Released 3rd May 2016

  Excerpt

  Chapter One

  He just didn’t think he could do it anymore. A fight he could handle. Spurting blood, broken bones, hell, even a three-way with the Loren sisters. But this…watching the wolves, foxes and bears play soccer together. It was unnatural.

  “Where are the fucking cats when you need them?” Jericho muttered, not surprised no one answered, engrossed in the game.

  Not even a year ago, he’d been part of the outcast Red Wolf Clan. Before the Great Forest had been united, clan wars had ripped the shifter alliance apart. Anyone not a silver wolf had been forced to leave. Jericho’s alpha, Rudra, had rallied the red wolves and accepted anyone into her clan who’d wanted revenge. Bears, foxes, wolves—it hadn’t mattered. She’d intended to bring them all back to where they belonged. And then the fool woman had gone and mated Fenris—nephew to their enemy’s alpha. Prior alpha, he corrected himself, now that Fenris and Rudra ruled the clan.

  And Jericho’s life had gone straight to hell.

  When he’d envisioned peace, he’d never thought about how boring it might be. Getting along offered everyone the easy life in the Great Forest. It meant fresh honey, trees to scratch, and a plenitude of women from which he might find a mate.

  The horror of it all made him sick to his stomach.

  “Score!” Someone kicked a goal, and the clan went wild.

  Apparently it was too much to ask half the clan to grow incensed at the loss and beat the shit out of the winners. Instead, they smiled and laughed as they took the defeat with good-natured cheer.

  It was enough to drive Jericho to drink.

  He left the cheering idiots behind before they broke into a round of Kumbaya and headed out to replace the guards patrolling the outer edge of the clan’s keep. For the most part, things had remained quiet since peace had settled over the Great Forest. Rudra and Fenris ruled together, in harmony. But his alphas weren’t counting on the calm lasting forever.

  “Gibson, take a break. I’ve got this.”

  The brown fox smiled and raced away after rendering a half-hearted salute.

  Jericho waited until the fox had left before venturing deeper into the forest. He couldn’t say why, but lately he’d been waking unable to remember his dreams, an odd sense of foreboding hanging around his neck like a curse.

  No doubt thanks to his inherited visions, his ability to foretell the future came into question whenever he had a dream he couldn’t shake. If his visions had been clearer, he’d thank the Bear in the Cave for granting them. But the stubborn spirit toyed with his shaman, expecting Jericho to figure out his blasted messages.

  Annoyed all over again, he stomped deeper into the shadows and used his night vision to better see through the darkening daylight. The sun poked out from between a few clouds and made short work of the shadows. Better for him all around to make use of this form’s stronger sense—eyesight. As a human, he had the same advantages and drawbacks as normal people, except that Jericho stood much taller. At six foot six, he dwarfed most men, and his brawn lent to his ability to shift into a huge-ass grizzly.

  A noise ahead alerted him to be cautious, and he slowed his movements to minimize sound. The closer he drew, the more the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The odd taint of dark magic layered over the air, mixing with the coppery tang of blood he could all but taste.

  Alarmed, Jericho pressed forward until he came to a sight he could have done without. For all that he’d wanted some excitement, this hadn’t been what he’d had in mind. Before him, a family of cats lay dead, their guts and throats ripped out, their innards pulverized, as if crushed then chewed up and spat out. The scent of wrongness pervaded the place, and he knew no normal shifter had done this.

  But who? Only the sorcerers were capable of hurt
ing shifters to such a degree. From what he knew, most sorcerers hadn’t come near here in centuries. Only two sorcerers spent time around Shifters. One such sorceress was Rudra, Jericho’s alpha, though to be fair, she was only half sorceress. The other would be her father, and Rurik would rather cut off his own arm than harm those he considered his friends and family.

  Jericho’s mind raced as he considered his options.

  The athmae might be responsible. Demons who lived with Fenris’ brother, they’d visited the Great Forest a time or two. But those dark beings lived peaceably half a world away. The incubi wanted nothing more than to have sex, not kill indiscriminately.

  Yet the blood and bodies didn’t lie. Something magical had done this. No mere shifter or creature out to mark territory would leave this behind, except as a message.

  Scowling, Jericho stripped off his clothes and shifted into his bear. Then he ran like hell back to the clan, needing to warn his alphas before something more dire happened.

  * * * *

  A month later Jericho rose from a crouch and turned to Fenris, the male alpha and a golden wolf he’d follow to his grave. “That makes a dozen now.” He leaned in to close the open eyelids of a dead wolf caught mid-change. “I can’t track our enemy except to see the footprints. They’re human, or at least in human form when they do this. And those look like dog prints. I don’t understand it. There’s no smell other than the hint of evil lingering over everything.”

  “I still don’t scent it.” Fenris looked bleak. “But it feels wrong. We both know humans didn’t do this.” He swore. “I have no choice. We need help from a magical source, and not from our resident sorcerer.” His mate, Rudra.

  Jericho sighed. “You’re talking about bringing in Anson’s new pack?”

  Fenris nodded. His brother had mated an athmae prince. The wolf had found love and happiness with demons after a terrible trial defeating an evil sorceress. Jericho knew his alpha hadn’t wanted to pull his brother back into danger, but with a new pup in hand and so much carnage among the Great Forest, Fenris had no other choice.