by Ellis Marie
“And it’s been a month. I’m done,“ Taylor says, shaking her head.
Bella sighs, putting a hand on Taylor’s shoulder in a comforting way. “A month after a two-year relationship.“
She looks down, quickly blinking back her tears. “Let’s just change the subject, please.“
I smile at her with a saddened look.
Taylor found out a month ago that Trevor made a bet with his friends to make her fall in love with him. He won, and two years later, the secret came out during a party from a guilty drunk Trevor. She broke up with him immediately after. I wanted to murder him, but when I confronted him about it behind Taylor’s back, he fucking cried, catching me off guard.
“Well, Blake didn’t look away from you for one second, Cat,“ Bella remarks.
Taylor throws me a cheeky grin. “A beast with a mortal. That’s something that doesn’t happen every day,“ she says, wiggling her defined blonde eyebrows at me.
I cover my face with my dark curls. They’re the only ones who know about the real me. I’ve known them ever since I moved into town, and I’m glad they’ve been keeping it a secret up until now.
“Well, it is not going to start with Blake and me,“ I say, lowering my gaze to the bland chicken.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,“ Bella insists, picking at her food.
I exhale, shifting my eyes up to her with a puzzled look before snorting.
“I’m serious,“ she points behind me, “Look, turn around, and just stare at him for five seconds.“
I roll my eyes but listen to her anyway. I turn around and observe Blake. I watch the way the corners of his eyes wrinkle as he laughs at something Trevor said until he tenses up.
With a frown, he turns his focus directly to me. I forget to breathe for a moment there. His expression is unreadable, and I swallow a lump, turning back around to a smirking Bella and Taylor.
“You’re crazy,“ I say, ending our conversation with a laugh.
•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•
“C’mon Heartfilia! I want you to push your limits and run!“ the gym teacher yells as I puff out a breath before running faster around the basketball court.
Not going to lie, I even use some of my inhuman speed. Well, I use it until some douche makes me trip and fall on the floor. The class laughs, of course. Why wouldn’t they? I’d laugh as well.
My face heats up. Lifting my head, I catch Blake looking at me standing a few inches away from the group. I have to be honest, the boy has beautiful blue eyes. We silently stare at each other until a guy pats his back, and he blinks before facing him.
“Heartfilia, run!“ the teacher yells, and I clumsily stand up running once more.
It happens every time. I’m not talking about the “falling on the floor“ part, but the staring between Blake and me. In the beginning, I even had a crush on him for all the stolen glances. Everything changed when he got into a relationship with Megan, and I realized that I could never be with him.
Werewolves belong with werewolves, and I belong to their enemies—werecats.
The following hours pass in a blur, and before I know it, I’m putting everything in my bag and speeding out of the classroom. I double-check inside my bag to make sure I have everything when I bump into a solid mass.
A growl escapes the person I have run into. I lift my head to quickly apologize, and my eyes widen at the person. I take a step back as Blake’s blue eyes look down at me. His hands come up to my upper arms, and my breath gets caught in my throat.
I stare at his puzzled expression. His narrowed eyes are inspecting me as if I were an alien. “Don’t you feel it?“ he asks in a low voice.
“F-Feel what?“ I ask, mentally cursing for the stutter and how powerless my voice sounds.
As if a lightning bolt crashes on him, he instantly lets me go, and I quickly walk away. My eyes dart to him one last time, watching Blake stare at his hands with a confused look on his face.
What was that?
If you enjoyed this sample, look for
The Alpha’s Cat
on Amazon.
Chapter One
My ears swiveled on my head as I ran, keeping track of the members of my clan as we moved swiftly through the forest. The only sound was of our soft paws delicately hitting the decaying leaves and fallen branches; the rest of the world was quiet. The three of us wove through the thick forest, leaping over fallen trees and puddles—which had been left on the ground from the previous rain—and sprinting through the open areas to avoid detection. The threat of being exposed was exhilarating and alarming all at once. It made my heart pound with excitement as my tongue lolled out of my mouth. We were dangerously close to the royal lands, and it gave all of us a rush like no other.
The royals were all-powerful and could do whatever they pleased to a small pack of wolves like myself and my teammates. I could be captured and beaten within an inch of my life every day if they felt so inclined. Or they could just kill us all without even blinking. There was always the possibility that we would never return home after one of our excursions, and though we never talked about it, we all knew it was true. But the royals were physically weak. Years ago, the werewolf kingdom had split from the human realm, struggling to keep both under control with such conflicting interests. But the first queen was a human mated to a half-blood prince, and it had only gotten worse from there. The pair had brought Queen Athena into the world, and the current queen of the werewolves, who had hardly any werewolf blood in her, was married to a human, unable to find a werewolf mate. Now the prince was a useless human—a man who could never shift into a wolf—and he was ruling the kingdom.
It was pathetic, laughable even. And that was all the other werewolves were doing: they were laughing at the dire irony of the situation, while my team was exerting itself to the fullest in an effort to bring order back into our realm.
The grand black wolf that was sprinting beside me tilted his head back and let out a low yip, snapping my attention to him. I just gave him a wolfish grin. Some would consider his actions brash and ignorant. We were on the brink of crossing into the royal lands, and he was drawing attention to us, alerting the guards who surrounded the area and were always vigilant—or so they pretended to be. But I knew that they were only protecting a frail little human. I knew that they had turned their backs on their true nature for the sake of walking around on two legs and having lavish parties in massive gowns like humans did—it was bizarre. And I knew that they were not prepared to face a true werewolf. They were lucky that we were just having harmless fun—for now.
I willingly followed the midnight-black wolf, who made a sharp turn, breaching the boundary line—a small creek that nearly circled the palace grounds—panting hard with nervous excitement. Now the fun truly began, but so did the work.
Yes, we were infinitely more in touch with our wolves, and we were faster and stronger on four legs than they could ever be on two. Nonetheless, there was always a risk. Fortunately, that was half the entertainment and all of the challenge. I adored pushing my stunning and small wolf to the absolute limit for the simple sake of annoying and inconveniencing the privileged few who were lucky enough to be guards for the king and queen.
I watched my troop as we progressed. Thorn, the black wolf who guided us the majority of the time, had his ears pricked upwards and his eyes focused, watching for any movement. Hunter was on the opposite end of the spectrum, relying on his nose far more than his eyes or ears, trying to gather the scent of any guard who had been here in the last hour. He was the follower, the willing subject, and the easily swayed companion. And my job was to be the mediator between the two and a happy melting pot of all the senses. It was my job to find well-worn trails that would undoubtedly guide us to the palace and gaps between the areas that various rounds of guards covered. And because of my small stature, I was also the distraction if we got into a tangled mess. I was quick and tiny, hard to catch and so easy to lose. But now, all the
playful acting had vanished because we could not go into this blind. If we were going to take down the pathetic human royals who pretended to guide the werewolves, we were going to need the most brilliant plan with as much information as possible to validate it. The king and queen might be weak, and the prince might be as close to human as a half blood could get, but they still had relatively capable guards who greatly outnumbered us.
Each time we dipped into the forbidden lands, we progressed a little further. We had been able to catch glimpses of the grand castle that the prince and his parents lived in. It might be easier to just topple the whole castle instead of hunting down the individuals within it, and we had to be prepared to do that. We had found areas that the guards thoughtlessly patrolled less often because they were further away from the main entrances. We had found smooth trails through the surrounding forest that hadn’t been used in months but would guide us to the palace or its surrounding buildings perfectly. And each time, we grew a little more confident, a little more brazen, seeing if the guards would chase us off their lands by taunting them relentlessly. It was an astounding game, like one played between a cat and a mouse. And so far, the cats saw the mice as nothing more than tedious and annoying. That meant that we won every time, fleeing their lands with more information than we had before. By the time they figured out our scheme, it would be too late.
I did my work with pride, searching for streams and ponds that would act as landmarks. If I were to get tangled with a guard, would I dive behind the heavy bushes or race through the meadow? Judging by scent, no one had been here in weeks, but that didn’t mean that we wouldn’t come across anyone. We always had to be prepared. However, I had been so focused on assessing the world around me, trying to mentally prepare for the worst that could happen and the best possible outcomes, I hadn’t realized that my teammates were no longer by my side. They had vanished. I slowed down, trying to spot them. Then the worst possibility did happen.
“My God.”
The human voice made me freeze mid-stride. The sound gave me chills, and my head jerked towards the voice in panic. I had been so intent on my task, trying to assess possible threats for our massive attack, that I hadn’t been paying attention to possible threats for this exact moment. Because of my negligence, I hadn’t seen the massive bay horse that was only a few paces to my left, jigging anxiously on the spot.
On the noble beast’s back was a human male holding it tightly. He was no guard as he was not wearing the mandatory uniform. I attempted to shift my body around as I examined him, but that was another mistake. His striking blue eyes captured mine, effectively eliminating my ability to turn away.
I was horrified by the position that I had put myself in, and I was being a coward, almost waiting for him to call out to the guards—the only reasonable step after finding a rogue wolf in the royal lands. But I wanted to run. God, I wanted to get away. Yet, it was like there was an invisible tether that extended from the human to me, keeping me attached and unable to move despite the fear that had seeped into my bloodstream. There was a deep draw to this man that made a part of me—the less-than-sane part—want to stay.
“Come here,” the man murmured.
His voice made me want to whimper when I knew I should’ve been snarling ferociously. Never before had I come face to face with a human and not fought or fled. But his brash movements broke the spell. When he adjusted his hold on the reins and moved to dismount, his skittish horse tossed its large head and flashed the whites of its eyes—this prey animal did not fare well against predators.
That was enough for me. When my eyes darted off the man to catch the movement of the animal, whatever vile spell that had fallen over me broke. I shifted my weight to my haunches, spinning away from the pair so quickly that the startled horse reared, swinging its forelegs in the air. I bolted both from the heavy hooves and from the man.
I heard something fall to the ground, but I didn’t bother to look back to see what had happened. I had adjusted my path so I was facing my escape, and I didn’t allow myself to think about anything else. I just had to get back to my pack of misfits, and all would be well. We would probably even laugh about this someday.
My sleek grey wolf raced through the woods that I was coming to know so well. I dodged and darted around stumps and logs, and avoided ponds and creeks that would’ve slowed me down and made an excess of noise. But I was running so quickly, exerting myself so aggressively, that I was panting madly. I was probably loud enough to be heard from a kilometre away. My ears were constantly moving upon my head, listening desperately for the sounds of guards chasing me or the man crying out for help, but I didn’t hear a single thing. I didn’t know if it was puzzling or comforting, but I forced myself to ignore the oddity and press on.
I ran hard for a long time. After about an hour, I slowed my pace to a calm lope, baffled by the fact that I hadn’t gotten caught. I had been in the royal lands, damn near offering myself on a platter, but still, no guards had managed to detain me. I didn’t know what to make of it. I decided I would have to speak to my teammates about it before we attempted to go back for more scouting. But when I arrived home, in a tiny clearing in the middle of a dense forest, I stiffened with all the tension that was in the air. Thorn had been waiting for me, standing in human form, only wearing stolen trousers.
“That was a grand performance. I’m sure the prince enjoyed spotting you while he was out on his afternoon ride.”
I ducked my head and let out a soft whimper.
“We can’t stay here,” he continued. “The guards will come looking for us since you made such a public appearance. We need to find a new place to set up camp for the time being. Pack your things. I don’t want to be here when the guards finally decide to do their job. God knows what humans like them would do to rogues like us.”
If you enjoyed this sample, look for
Queen of the Beasts
on Amazon.
Prologue
The gods anxiously looked down at their creation—who had lost control of himself for decades, and now that he had changed, he was becoming nothing but trouble. He was no longer known as the “Messenger of the gods” but a god, and had won the title fair and square. He showed those who stood against him that he was not one to shy away from bloodshed for those accused of disloyalty.
He was vicious. The gods watched him as he slaughtered his victims who were nothing to him but a bunch of toys to play with, making sure to leave a horrible mess even for those foul enough to appreciate a killing spree.
He was seductive. His appearance far from ugly, as was expected in light of his reputation, equaled those of the male gods in the room. And he knew it so well.
He was ruthless. As they kept watching him, they became horrified at the rate his power grew each day, so much so that his power was becoming too much even for the gods to handle. They feared he would use it against them.
It wasn’t a secret that they couldn’t have been more neglectful and devious to him as a boy. They took him from his home when they saw he was useful, and turned him into what he had become. The gods sat in silence around the glass-like table with distant eyes. Finally, one spoke—Alstha, the goddess of war and knowledge.
“Something must be done immediately! He is murdering hundreds of innocent lives by the minute!” she exclaimed outraged.
“We cannot do a thing. We made sure of that when we made him indestructible,” Eccasto, the god of intelligence and instinct, spoke regretfully.
“And whose bright idea was that?! We’ve all seen what the boy can do. I swear, something terrible will happen to us if we do not find a way to stop him,” Fate spoke.
The gods froze as the latter rarely spoke. His words were like the law and if he was threatened for their future, then this could mean far worse than they thought.
The boy trained with Alstha for war and knowledge; Eccasto, for discernment; Fate, for intelligence and preparedness.
He had been trained by the gods, except for one
who they thought he would not need in his missions—Luna, or as people called her, Mother Luna. All eyes turned to her as she cocked her brow in question.
“What?” Her melodic voice echoed through the vast room.
“You’re the only one with powers he wasn’t trained with,” Fate spoke with caution yet mirth.
“And?” she questioned. The gods looked at Fate curiously.
“Mother Luna, what is the one thing you give your children that none of us can give?” he asked, standing from his chair and making his way to her.
“A mate,” she answered proudly.
The other gods gasped in surprise at what Fate was planning of. Fate tsk-tsked, took her hand, and kissed it softly.
“I can give a lover and take one away,” Fate said.
She snatched her hand back forcefully and her beautiful features were marred by an animalistic expression. Her lips parted, her teeth bared, and her angry eyes narrowed in warning.
“Be calm, Mother Moon. I will not harm any of your . . . innocent children.” She calmed herself slowly, but the wild look in her eyes remained.
“Hope. You give your children hope. Hope for having someone to cherish, to trust, and to love.”
“Yes I do. But what of it?” She sounded exasperated, echoing the thoughts of every other god in the room.
“The boy has nobody to love. No family and no one to call his own. Look at him. He comes and goes as he pleases. He’s free, too free.”
It finally dawned on them and they agreed, but they didn’t fully grasp the end game yet.
“Send him a warrior! She will tame his heart!” Alstha yelled with glee.
“No, send him a heartless girl. He will pin for her affection, and his instincts will let him do nothing more dangerous!” Eccasto said.