Night forgiven, p.1
Night Forgiven, page 1
Night Forgiven
A Night Wolves Novel
Godiva Glenn
Lunar Mischief Press
NIGHT FORGIVEN
Copyright © 2021 by Godiva Glenn
Editing by Wyrmwood Publishing
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Follow Godiva Glenn atGodivaGlenn.com
Created with Vellum
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
About the Author
1
A warm hand touched Sierra’s arm, and she turned to accept the beer offered to her with a smile and obliging tilt of her head. The cool breeze of the coming winter slipped through the light sweater she’d worn, the chill feeling like embodied exhilaration.
She wandered away from the chatter, the calm of the overhead moon more appealing than the drunken revelry surrounding her. The night before a wolf moon was one of celebration, and she was surrounded by her friends accordingly. Her old clan hadn’t been this rowdy, and she could never quite pull away from her old ways. This night should be like any other, and as such she spent it the way she spent most nights—thinking of her place in the pack and how to improve it.
She stared out across the gathered lupine, her gaze landing on the two brothers who held the next generation’s future in their hands: Viktor and Mikos, the Feketes.
Her lip curled in automatic disgust. Her brother had been raised to become alpha. Instead that honor would go to one of them.
The young eligible females of the pack swarmed around the two males like flies on overripe fruit, a sight that amused Sierra only because the bachelors gave none of the preening lupine attention. They were arguing amongst themselves, as usual, and had no time for mate-seeking females.
“Which would you pick?” Katy asked.
Sierra glanced to her left, giving a crooked smirk to her tall, blonde friend who eyed the brothers as if they were rabbits on a spit. “I wouldn’t. I’m not sure either could handle me.”
Katy sighed dreamily. “I’d pick Mikos.”
Sierra shrugged. Neither brother interested her except for the status she would gain if she managed to mate one of them. She’d never spoken directly to either one, but the pack was small, and her circle of friends-slash-admirers overlapped heavily with that of the younger brother, Mikos, as they were the same age.
Of course, Mikos was betrothed. Arranged marriages were a thing of the past, yet their alpha had reached into the vaults of useless antiquated notions with the goal of joining two prodigious bloodlines. Ian’s plan was to strengthen the pack. Perhaps it would have worked, had Mikos’ intended fulfilled her duty.
Sierra looked away, across the rushing water of the nearby river to where a hint of fog escaping the trees gave away the lurker hiding within.
Speak of the eparatos.
Sierra couldn’t smell Kyra, but knew she was watching from the shadows. A threat to everything they stood for, Kyra was a lupine with no wolf. Each wolf moon when the rest of the pack shifted down into their animal forms, Kyra stood and remained a human. She couldn’t summon any evidence of being a lupine, couldn’t even invoke a partial shift. She was everything the pack didn’t need. Weak. Unwanted. Cursed.
The pack tolerated her existing on the fringes of the community only because Mikos had pressured Ian to give Kyra more time to awaken her wolf. Time wasn’t on her side, however.
Soon enough she’d be cast out. Mikos had to have a viable mate, and once that lucky female was chosen, Kyra would be sent to live the rest of her days in the human world.
Sierra almost pitied her.
A lupine who couldn’t shift wasn’t truly lupine, and according to Sierra’s old clan and ancient ways, a being such as Kyra shouldn’t have been allowed to live.
It was a harsh decision, but one that had been the way for a long time. Lupine life wasn’t easy. They were hunted and lived in constant wariness of the humans who outnumbered them. Kyra was dangerous to keep around, but the Sarka pack would rather pretend she didn’t exist than handle the problem. They were willing to send her to the human world, as if she’d simply live her life as a human.
Ridiculous. No lupine would survive as human. At best, Kyra would live an empty existence. At worst she’d lead hunters back to the pack, killing them all.
Long before greed had torn apart Sierra’s old pack—the Edon pack—hunters had done their part. Sierra didn’t entirely feel that this new pack was her family, but she wouldn’t see them destroyed.
She glanced back at the brothers. Once Kyra was gone, it was likely they’d stop feuding, as rumors indicated that most of their disagreements involved the cursed female. Mikos was weakened by ties he was better off cutting. It was just another way Kyra pecked away at the order and health of the pack.
“You seem lost.”
The voice belonged to Nolan, another implant in the Sarka pack. Unlike Sierra’s pack, Nolan’s family had joined willingly, following his sister who’d joined the Sarka pack through marriage.
He stood close, his shoulder brushing hers. “What are you thinking of?”
She blinked away from the brothers and skimmed the area. Her thoughts couldn’t be broadcast. The Lowe bloodline had to survive, yet she and her brother had no prospects.
“Nothing in particular.”
“Lying isn’t one of your strengths,” he teased.
She didn’t reply, and after enough silence he wandered away, to her relief. Nolan liked Sierra. He was one of many flirty males who would hang around her regularly. She couldn’t say she disliked the attention, but she grew weary of how their flirting never went further.
Inhaling, she caught her brother’s scent and her body automatically tensed for the tangible broodiness he always carried with him.
“I believe the saying is that one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar,” Kalle commented.
She turned to face him, offering a smile. “You aren’t hiding tonight?”
“I don’t hide.”
“Of course n—”
“And you don’t usually treat your suitors so coldly,” he interrupted. His brown eyes flickered to Nolan, who now appeared to be pouting to his friends.
“There’s no point in continuing to play that game if he won’t stake a claim,” she said, keeping her tone low and watching the party to make sure no one listened in.
Kalle frowned. “It’s not a game.”
“You know what I mean.” She finished her beer and crushed the cheap aluminum in her fist. “We have no chance until he accepts us.”
Kalle crossed his arms and looked away. Sierra followed his gaze and found it trained on the problem in question: their alpha, Ian.
Ian didn’t like her or Kalle. They hadn’t been singled out; their alpha had a clear dislike of everyone who’d merged into the Sarka pack from the Edon pack. In his eyes, they were mutts. Trash.
Though in Kalle’s case, the dislike ran deeper. It was complicated. Kalle had been raised to be alpha, but that was of their old pack. Here he was a nuisance. Ian didn’t need another assertive, would-be leader, so he kept him in his place by ignoring him and his obvious potential, instead fawning over his precious Feketes.
Pack structure wasn’t written in stone but simply understood. According to them, Sierra belonged on the bottom. But she refused to stay there.
Since joining the Sarka pack, Sierra had done her best to learn the ways of the pack and uphold their tenets. Socially, she was accepted. Being popular among her peers wasn’t the same as being a respected member of the pack, however.
Ian didn’t have to place a stamp of approval on every couple, but there was an unspoken understanding that the lupine formerly of the Edon pack weren’t to court outside their group. That wasn’t a good enough option for Sierra. Most of the Edon pack that had merged alongside her were cousins, or otherwise undesirable matches.
She needed to show Ian that she belonged. She needed to show her loyalty.
“We have to prove ourselves.”
“There’s nothing to prove. We are Sarka now,” Kalle said.
Some of fire died in Sierra’s resolve. She wouldn’t fight with her brother in public. This topic was nothing new to them. While Sierra was ready and willing to do whatever it took to be a part of the pack, Kalle insisted that them being good lupi
His eyes bored into hers and she could hear him pressing at her thoughts. She’d changed too much already, he thought.
She hadn’t changed, though—she’d evolved. She’d gone from ignored trash to the top of the food chain by being aggressive and brazen. She couldn’t change her history, but she’d climbed the ranks socially using smiles, intimidation—whatever it took. One more step and she’d have it all. Acceptance was too within reach for her to back down.
“Leave the Feketes alone,” Kalle said.
“What?”
“You’re always staring at them. Neither would be good for you.”
She swayed and bumped her shoulder against his as she moved to his side. “You always said you wanted the best for your little sister.”
“They aren’t the best. They’re well-bred trouble and nothing more.”
She agreed, but she didn’t say so. Better to let Kalle stew. She had other, more important plans than chasing after a Fekete.
* * *
“Why?” Kalle’s roar tore through their small home as the door slammed behind them.
Sierra flinched, his anger carrying through the walls to her like a fierce wind. She wiped her dripping hands on the towel, staining it pink as she exited the bathroom. “Brother—”
“On the wolf moon, of all nights, of all…” He stopped and growled, his glowing gold eyes igniting. His nostrils flared. “They’ve made you into a monster.”
“I’ve saved the pack. They’ll see,” she said, a tremor in her voice. The heavy emotion resonating from Kalle shook her from the numb state she’d been in half the night and woken with this morning.
A fist pounded on their front door. Kalle rushed forward and took her into his arms, crushing her against his body despite the fact they were both still naked, having run the moon in their wolf forms. Their clothing was still in the woods somewhere.
She pushed him away, cheeks burning at the sentiment in his action. She hated to see him upset and wasn’t in the proper headspace to handle it. “It’s going to be better now, you’ll see.”
“I failed you,” he said, his attention turned to the nearby window.
She looked out. A handful of their pack had gathered outside, but she could see only concern in their expressions. Not anger. They understood.
She threw aside the towel and reached into her room for a robe while Kalle paced.
“Open the door,” she hissed.
“You don’t understand.” His words rumbled through her.
All lupine males were intimidating, but especially Kalle. They were predators and protectors rolled into one, confined only by their muscular bodies, but he had always stood taller than the rest. Their former alpha had appreciated that about him. His wildness. His feral strength. Their ancestors had blessed him with something extra: innate power and the ability to command.
Even as his sister, Sierra wasn’t immune to the force in his voice. Her wolf bowed to him easier than it bowed to their current alpha, truth be told, and for a moment she wondered at her actions.
Had she made a mistake?
No. She shook her head just as she forcefully shook back the flicker of doubt and concern. She’d just solidified her place in the pack. Their place in the pack. A year from now, Kalle would be settled with a mate, possibly with a pup on the way, and he would thank her for opening their lives to the opportunity.
She placed one palm flat to his heaving chest. “Brother, I did this for us and for the pack. Let them in.”
“Lowe,” Ian called.
Sierra spun to the window to see him standing amidst the gathered crowd. She pushed past her big brother and opened the door.
“It seems we’ve a matter to settle,” he murmured. Subtly he jerked his head to one side, summoning two males to enter the house behind Sierra.
They began speaking to Kalle, and she knew he’d likely turn things into an unnecessary fight. But her eyes remained solely on Ian.
He looked proud.
2
Ten months later
The shop bell dinged behind Sierra, accompanied by a whoosh of fresh air and the chatter of young women flowing into the small space.
Sierra stepped to the side, her attention remaining on the small necklace hanging from a display on the counter. She didn’t own any jewelry of her own, but her mother had once worn a simple gold heart on a long chain much like the one hanging on the display.
The polished surface winked in the light, hypnotizing Sierra. Some days she barely remembered her mother. Sentimentality was for fools, and yet the necklace called to something buried deep within her.
Memories flooded her: her mother brushing her hair; Kalle sparring with their father.
“Trash,” a low, feminine voice murmured.
Muffled giggling followed, along with a sharp whisper. “I can’t believe you said that!”
Sierra straightened, her jaw in a firm set. She’d been called far worse, and she’d heard many more creative insults. She turned to exit the now-stifling shop, but the door opened once more. This time the ding preceded a tall figure blocking the sun. A golden halo blurred Sierra’s vision for a moment, impeding her forward movement. She stopped short of colliding with the young man. A quick upward glance revealed him to be handsome and smiling down at her.
“Sorry,” he said earnestly.
His ease took her back for a moment. She smiled. “No worries.”
As she brushed past him, one of the young women snapped, “Ugh, why do you smile at every whore you see? Especially one of them.”
Sierra pushed forward, nudging the tall male with her shoulder as she escaped the shop.
Her foot cleared the doorway, the freedom of the open walkway calling to her, but something snagged her elbow, holding her at the threshold.
“Are you going to pay for that?” the elderly shopkeeper asked, his grip light on her arm.
“What?”
“The necklace.”
“I’ve got nothing,” she said, her voice growing shrill. Anger rose like a hot flare from her belly. Her wolf growled, and she barely kept the sound from escaping her throat. “I didn’t steal.”
“We saw her,” one of the young women chimed from just within the shop. Her blue eyes glittered with mischief as she tucked a long strand of platinum-blonde hair behind her ear.
Sierra glanced around, catching stares from across the walkway. She couldn’t make a scene. There were others of her pack nearby, watching. She couldn’t afford to make a wrong move, not when her last brilliant decision had put her on the pack’s watchlist.
Her current rising fury pushed away those memories before they could come into full bloom. Nolan stood by, his expression cautious. She gave him a weak smile, aware that beggars couldn’t be choosers, even though he’d now moved on. He gave her only pity, having mated with Katy not four months back.
Sierra was on the outs, but she could still earn her way back into pack favor if she behaved. Trouble with humans was the opposite of behaving, and she only had two months left on her year-long punishment.
She shoved her frustration down and put a light, sweet tone to her words, though they were forced through clenched teeth. “I’ll pull out my pockets. I promise I didn’t take a thing. I’d never steal.”
The shopkeeper looked her over, and after a moment released her arm, but he also moved outside to block her escape route. “Fine, then.”
She reached into the pockets of her worn faux-leather jacket and pulled them inside out, revealing white bits of lint and nothing else. She patted the front pockets of her jeans, revealing them to be sewn, decorative outlines that couldn’t hold a thing. Then she turned partially to reveal the single back pocket and pulled a small clip from it. The clip held a few folded, wrinkled bills. Nothing else. “See?”
