A Wolf Scorned by Taylor Spratt
Amira
My eyes popped open and a gentle light hit my pupils. Good, so I wasn’t dead. But where in the world was I? I laid on a soft couch in the middle of a warm and cozy room with wooden walls. A cabin, I think?
My breath caught in my throat the moment I saw Syrus. He sat at a round table on the other end of the room. He was reading a book and casually flipping the pages.
Another man sat at the table opposite Syrus. With a screwdriver in hand, he tinkered with an old clock that rested on the table. This man had long lily-white hair that flowed down his shoulders and back like fine silk.
His features were sharp and beautifully masculine, with a square jaw and mysterious eyes, black as the night sky. His build was similar to Syrus, ridiculously tall, broad shoulders and bulky. Way too big for me to take down.
Wait a minute? Was that one with the clock a vampire? Shit! He sure looked like it. Was I in a vampire den?
The scent of savory meats wafted into my nose as I glanced to the other end of the room where a third man stood in front of a stove. He flipped pancakes with a spatula while whistling a happy tune.
His strawberry blond hair was the next thing I noticed about this one. He was the guy I saw riding the unicorn when Syrus kidnapped me. He was one of Syrus’s wolves and now he was happily cooking breakfast with his kidnap victim sleeping on the sofa?
You couldn't make up something this crazy. I glanced about the rest of the room, seeing if I could find a door.
Eureka! There was a wide open door only a few feet to the left of the stove, where the smoke blew right through. And with all three of them distracted, now was time the to get the fuck out of here.
“She sure has been sleeping for a long time. Are you sure you didn’t overdo it with that chloroform, Syrus?” The strawberry blond left the stove, frying pan in hand to wander over to where I laid.
I shut my eyes tight but felt a slight nudge to the sofa letting me know he was hovering over me.
“Wowza, she’s even more gorgeous than I thought. Just look at that fiery red hair,” the strawberry blond said.
“Stop ogling the half-breed, that's not what's she here for. You want a woman? Go find one in the square,” a deep voice with a bite of arrogance to it growled. Must have been the vampire.
Half-breed? First they kidnap me then they insult me?
“Jeez, no need to be so rude, Callum. I was just saying she’s a looker,” the redhead continued. “And, oh wait. I think she’s awake.”
Crap! Did I flinch just now?
The frantic scrapping of chairs flooded the room with sound and suddenly my nose was filled with the scent of three males hovering over me like flies to a picnic.
Unable to resist the urge, I cracked one of my eyes open to see what wickedness they were going to do with me now.
All three of my kidnappers towered over me, staring at me with the wide eyed intensity like a hungry wolf would to a scrumptious deer.
I screamed and scrambled off the couch, vaulting over the arm and flying for the open door as fast as my legs would take me.
A hand gripped my ankle and I fell hard to the ground, a few feet from the door. Two large pancakes went sailing before going splat, right on the wall next to the door.
“Hey take it easy. There’s no need to run.” The strawberry blond used his grip on my ankle to pull me toward him like my leg was a rope.
I threw a kick at his face and he caught my foot before it could land.
“Hey now, that wasn’t nice,” he pouted like I’d hurt his feelings.
“Nice? Was it nice to kidnap someone after she’s finally escaped a life of slavery? What the hell is wrong with you three? Why did you bring me here?”
The strawberry blond helped me to my feet, and the vampire folded his arms, giving me the up and down, looking most disapprovingly at me.
“How rude! Do you know who you are addressing, girl? You are in the presence of the great and honourable Alphas of the Blood Moon Shifter’s pack. You should be happy to be here. Now show some respect and quiet down.” Callum flashed his long white hair back and frowned in annoyance.
“Okay, so this vampire really needs to back off or we’re going to have a problem here.” I pointed right between his eyes and took a step back at my outburst. “I don’t care what you guys are. All I see are three kidnappers.”
“Vampire? Did this half-breed mutt just call me a vampire? How dare you.” Callum took two heated steps toward me and Syrus grabbed his arm before he could take a third.
“He’s not a vampire, little wolf. Callum is very much a wolf. He and I are alphas.” Syrus placed a hand to his chest and to Callum’s. He then pointed to the strawberry blond. “He’s Miles and he’s an Alpha in training, but you could just call him a Beta for the moment.”
Miles waved at me and gave me a cute little smile and a wink.
“Thank you for the introduction, Syrus. But I am far more interested in knowing why you drugged me. May Goddess Selene smite you for your deception and taking me here.”
Miles and Syrus began laughing, and Callum retained his same miserable scowl.
“Oh, your precious Goddess holds no powers over us,” Syrus chuckled, shaking his head.
“What are you talking about? Goddess Selene is the Goddess of all wolves. She is our creator. She gives us the power to shift and she decides our mates."
“That's only the case for Blue Moon shifters, like the hole shifters, and most other wolf packs. But we are blood moon shifters, we worship the God of the blood moon, Erebus. We do not have mates like you do either,” Syrus explained.
“Our God has five times the destructive power of yours, and as his children we are far superior to you weak, Blue Moon shifters.” Callum pointed his nose upward in a show of pride. Miles sighed and his shoulders fell.
“Well, you can take your superiority and shove it. I’m leaving.” I made for the door.
“Stop. You have no idea where in Dominion you even are. Where will you go?” Syrus took hold of my arm and I shook it off.
“It doesn't matter where I go. I want to live life free under the stars. I will not be caged ever again. And just what is Dominion anyway?”
All three men went silent and exchanged looks as if they were mystified by my question.
“Don’t you know the name of the world you live in, half-breed?” Callum huffed.
“Well, excuse me but the last time I checked the world was called Earth.”
“Wait, what? The planet hasn’t been called that for sixty years.” Miles took a curious step closer to me, his head tilted to the side and his brows furrowed. “Haven't you ever heard of the great reveal? Does that not ring any bells?”
“I’ve never heard of any of that. They don’t tell us much about the surface world where I come from. They only teach us how to do one thing and that’s surrender our power to service your cities.” I shot a pointed glare at the three men.
“Hey, I understand this is all new and confusing to you but you need to sit down and let us explain things for you. Because if you walk out that door, not understanding a thing about the world you're in, you're more likely to end up dead than anything else,” Syrus warned.
“Oh yeah, and just why is that?” I drew back, offended that he’d think I was too helpless to take care of myself.
“There is a whole world of magical creatures out there you know nothing about. For starters there are goblins, gargoyles, succubi, and every sort of animal shifter ranging from panther to hawk and more....” Syrus paced the floor as he explained,"…not to mention the vampires you seem so scared of. Magical beings of every sort rule the surface world. If you don’t know how to handle yourself and you come across a flock of harpies or unfriendly gnomes on the open streets, just what will you do then, huh?”
“I’ve been told shifters can pass for humans.” I held my hands at my sides and stared down Syrus. “They are harmless and powerless beings. Maybe I’ll just go live amongst them.”
Syrus slapped his face and groaned. “You see this is what I mean about you not understanding. You can’t live among the humans. After the existence of magical beings was revealed to them fifty years ago they declared war on us. They hate Magicals and FYI, that includes shifters.”
“He’s right,” Callum added. “When Magicals won the war, the humans hid themselves away in their own colonies, refusing to assimilate with our world. That's why Magicals inhabit all the cities of the world now instead of humans.”
My head was spinning. It was like the entire world was turned upside down. There was so much I’d never been told about the world outside of the hole. But even that didn’t matter right now.
“None of that explains why you’d bring me here. And even if there are all sorts of Magical beings out there I’ve never seen, none of them tricked me or lied to me. So the way I see it, I’m better off with them than you!”
I made for the exit once again only to freeze when Syrus dropped the bomb, “I am afraid we cannot allow you to leave, Amira.”
Syrus’s eyes went dark, and his shoulders rolled back in warning that he would catch me if I tried to run again.
“Oh yeah? And why is that?”
“Because we need your help.” Callum’s voice was soft, bearing the unmistakable marker of desperation. “We need your magical expertise.”
“Magical expertise?” I cracked up at the sheer silliness of what he’d said. “What magical expertise? You mean my shifter power?”
“No,” Callum snapped with growing impatience. “I mean ‘Magical’ Magic. Like what witches possess.”
“Ha! That’s why you kidnapped me? Well you're in for a world of disappointment, boys, because I’ve got none of that.”
“Not that you are aware of yet,” Syrus corrected.
“You mean her powers haven’t even awakened yet? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Callum drove his heavy foot into the ground and tightened his fist. “I knew we were just wasting time with this half-breed.”
“Hey, will you stop calling me that? I am so sick of being called half-breed all the time. I am a wolf! Just a wolf. Say it with me Woo--ool-fah!” I threw my arms in the air and rolled eyes at the white haired prick.
“No, little wolf. On the day we met I told you that you are so much more than that and I wasn’t lying. You are part witch, heiress to a magnificent power passed down from your maternal grandmother,” Syrus said with a straight face. I’d expected him to start laughing but he didn’t even chuckle.
This was ridiculous. I think I would have known if I were part witch.
“Okay, buddy. If you're going to stand there and lie to me, you could have come up with a better lie than that. My mother would have told me if her own mother were a witch.”
“Just think about it,” Miles brushed his hair back and gently rested a hand on my shoulder. “Wouldn’t that explain why all your life people called you ‘half-breed’?”
He was right, that would make sense. Could my Mom have lied about our heritage to protect me in the hole?
“Okay fine. Let’s say I did have secret powers. What do you even want them for?” My eyes shifted from Miles’s to land on the ringleader, Syrus.
“Well,” Syrus hesitated, gazing through the open door and seeming to think of just what he was going to say next. "Remember when I said I couldn't shift? It’s because our pack is cursed.”
Syrus averted his gaze and his eyes squinted as if his every word brought him pain. “Every time we shift, our wolves go feral, lose control and go on a killing spree. Most of us can’t even shift back without being knocked unconscious first.”
“Look, I’m sympathetic but like I said, I have no powers. Even if I did, that still doesn’t excuse all the lies you told me, or for dragging me here against my will. Plus, if there’s one thing our encounters so far have taught me, it’s that I can’t trust a word that comes out of your mouth, Syrus.”
I poked Syrus three times in his chest, and he shot me a look that said I’d better not do it a fourth, if I knew what was good for me.
Callum walked over to the door, turned to face me with his large body completely eclipsing the doorway.
“Well that’s that then,” Callum declared, dropping his arms at his side. “She already knows too much. We will just have to kill her and be done with it.”
“Did you just say kill?” I took a hard swallow stumbling over my own feet.
“We aren’t murderers, Callum. If she refuses to help us then we will simply send her back to her pack,” Syrus rebutted, ignoring my question.
“No fucking way. I’d rather die than go back to that shit head, asshole, Logan.” I sprinted for the frying pan that had been laying on the floor. I swung the pan about, daring one of them to even try to come near me.
“A measly frying pan cannot save you from me, half-breed,” Callum laughed.
“Amira, please put the pan down and let’s talk this out,” Miles pleaded, taking a few steps closer to me with both arms stretched out in front of him.
“Not one step closer.” I pointed the pan at his face. “This isn’t even fair. How can you threaten to send me home for not being able to break a curse when I don’t even have powers.”
“I agree, we should just kill you instead.” Callum shifted his attention to my neck and took a murderous leap closer to me.
“No more of that.” Syrus raised a hand to Callum and Callum hissed at Syrus. “The Oracle will be back from her vacation soon. She is the one who helped us find Amira. She will tell us how to awaken her powers.”
“So, it’s this Oracle I have to blame for this mess, is it?” I muttered under my breath, imagining how I’d get my revenge on her.
“Well then, now that that’s all settled, would you care for some breakfast, little wolf?” Syrus sent me a sugary sweet smile and clasped his hands together angelically.
“I’ll go make some more pancakes, just give me a few minutes.” Miles rushed over to the kitchen and pulled a new frying pan from the cupboard and set it on the stove. Then, incredibly, he started pouring pancake batter into the pan as if I was a house guest or something. All tension in the room vanished as the men unilaterally decided that I was staying and everything was fine.
Syrus went over to the fridge and took out a pitcher of apple juice. He started filling four glasses with the juice, setting them on the table.
Fed up, Callum grumpily marched his way toward the exit that led deeper into the cabin. He paused at the exit to glance over his shoulder at me then to Syrus.
“I told you a hundred times that the half-breed was not the answer to our problems. We can break the curse ourselves. My training sessions with the Sentinels have shown great results of late.”
“You’ve been trying and failing for almost twenty years now. It’s time to try something new.” Syrus continued to pour juice into the glasses, not even bothering to look at Callum.
Callum, cheeks now red from being brushed aside, turned around and left the room. “If your half-breed wanders into my room, I will end her.”
What kind of circus had I gotten myself mixed up in? And what if this Oracle of theirs tells them I have no powers? These three nut jobs would send me on a one-way train back to the hole and Alpha Logan.
If these bozos really thought I'll be taking this sitting down then they'd clearly never met a she-wolf like Amira Bennett.