A wolf betrayed an mm sh.., p.1
A Wolf Betrayed: An MM Shifter Mpreg Romance, page 1
A WOLF BETRAYED
DESCENDANTS OF DARKNESS SERIES, BOOK 1
MINERVA KNIGHT
Copyright © 2022 Minerva Knight
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
EPILOGUE
JOIN THE MONSTER SQUAD
CHAPTER ONE
Ryker
“Blood?”
The dark, rust-colored fluid soaked the entire bed, making it difficult to differentiate what liquid it was in the twilight between dog and wolf. If I wasn’t so sensitive to smell, it could have been mistaken for oil, and it didn’t help that I was half groggy and disoriented from having just woken up.
“Joshua,” I whispered. Believing my new soon-to-be mate had just come home from his run and dared to bring his kill to soil our bed.
Just who the heck raised him to be this messy?
I tapped at his shoulder, demanding he wake up and get out of bed. When he didn’t respond, I got out of bed, covered in the mess he had left behind.
“This is unacceptable behavior!” I growled as I marched around to his side of the bed and turned on the bedside lamp.
What I saw shook me to my core, causing me to stumble back, landing on the chair behind me.
Joshua laid in bed, lips blue, eyes wide open, and his expression contorted in a mixture of anguish and surprise.
“Joshua!” I ran to him. His skin was cold, and the light of life had vanished from his brown eyes. “Oh, spirits!” I ran to the hallway in a desperate attempt to escape but stopped in my tracks.
Whoever did this could still be in the house. If they are, then they would have heard the commotion in the bedroom.
What do I do? Do I run like hell, hoping to reach the front door? Or take my chances for the window?
Window!
I ran back to the bedroom, locked the door, my hands trembling as I fumbled with the lock, and climbed out the window, jumping and barely sticking the landing. If I was a human, some bones would have broken for sure.
Still covered in blood and dressed in nothing but my pajama pants, I ran across the grounds of the Moon Strider Pack’s neighborhood. They had taken over several blocks’ worth of real estate in Oregon, a neighborhood with plenty of woodland area to run far away from the prying eyes of humans.
My thoughts raced to where I should go for help. I almost ran to my parent’s house until I stopped and hid behind a tree near their property to catch my breath and gather my thoughts.
There was no way I could go to my parent’s first. I had to go to the pack leader, a man named Knut, who I despised, but as much as I disliked him, there was no way he would tolerate a murder within his den.
I darted into the woods, ignoring how the forest debris hurt my feet until I reached the clearing leading to one of the largest houses that resembled an English Manor with its deep red brick, hip roof, and ashlar dressings. It was built as far back as the 17th century and had been the seat of power among the Moon Strider pack for several centuries.
I thought, at one point, I would live here, but that was not in the cards.
I banged frantically on the door, hoping a servant would let me in. My mind lost in dread and clouded by the small ray of hope of getting to safety.
“Please help me!” I cried the moment the doors opened. “Someone murdered my mate!”
The one who answered the door was Knut himself. His brown eyes glaring down at me were enough to freeze my blood on the spot. If only I had known what a terrible mistake I had made that night.
Knut was in his late fifties, tall and broad, with penetrating eyes. His graying hair stood on end like he had been running his hands through it all the time. He carried a permanent scowl, which only seemed to enhance how unhappy everyone found him to be around.
“We know someone murdered your mate, you.” He replied, his eyes appraising me with an icy stare. He didn’t seem all that bothered by the blood. “Are you so unhappy with your new mate that you would come to me looking so beautiful and enticing, half naked and covered in a fresh kill?” He ran his fingers across my cheek, and I almost lost my dinner.
Fear settled over me like a guillotine. I looked up at him and studied his face closely, trying to find out what he knew. He wasn’t at all surprised by my news.
He was the killer!
“By all rights, I should have taken you as my mate the moment I took over the pack,”
His smile horrified me.
He handed me over to the high court for judgment, and the sentence was as swift as a blade striking my throat.
For killing my mate, the sentence was life in prison.
“Line up, you maggots!” The guard ordered, slamming us to the stone wall before removing the silver chains that kept us weakened. My entire body sang with relief while my spine painfully decompressed from the weight of those chains. “Remove your clothes and toss them inside the burner ahead.”
Not all of the guards were wolves. Some were other shifters who had found work here on this prison island. They were dressed in all black with their lower faces covered, making them look even more intimidating. They were decked out in gear and ready to put down any resistance should they meet it.
“What?” I asked before I knew it and paid the price with a baton on the back of my thighs.
“Aren’t we supposed to get our clothes back when we get out?” A young blond-haired man beside me asked, applying just enough spice to his tone to ward off the guard’s anger. We had spoken for a while on the boat heading to this island prison but I didn’t get a name.
“No. Clothing will be provided upon release.”
“What about personal items?”
“You can keep them with you.”
It wasn’t just the walls that were cold; this whole place was freezing cold, although it was early fall and the only warmth came from the large oven ahead. I wasn’t married to the pants, but this worn white T-shirt with the crusted designs of a wolf howling at the moon belonged to Killian, my best friend and former betrothed before Joshua. He had given it to me when he accidentally ripped my shirt during a wrestling match.
I gripped the fabric longer than I should and was almost met with another hit to the thighs when I tossed it in the incinerator and watched as it burned away.
“Underwear too, omega.” The guard who hit me before grinned at me, his single eye grazing over my body. Then I realized that the other prisoners were naked. I did as I was told and joined the others.
“Do not be alarmed, maggots!” Another guard bellowed. “These wristbands will not burn your flesh, but will keep you as weak as pathetic humans.”
A man clamped the silver band around my right wrist. It was plain and harmless looking, but I could already feel its weakening effects.
“Is this how humans feel?” The blond muttered. “Sucks for them.”
“Turn around!” The one-eyed guard grinned as he leaned far too close to me. “This is my favorite part, Omega. Spread your cheeks.”
I reluctantly did as he asked, along with the others, much to the guard’s amusement.
“Don’t be afraid,” the one-eyed asshole chuckled, his breath hot and nasty on my cheek. “You’ll be doing a lot of that here.”
A blast of icy water shot at us from the wall as another guard tossed a soap powder at us.
“Wash yourselves.”
The one-eyed jerk gripped my ass, pulling me to him, and when I tried to push him off, I realized how weak I was. His chest was like hitting against an immovable wall. He slipped his finger past my cheeks. “Don’t forget to wash here.”
“Philip, give the Omega a break and let him wash. You’ll have plenty of time to taste him when he joins Dane’s pleasure club.”
The asshole laughed. “I’ll be the first to have a go. You hear me, you fucks!” He roared and finally gave me some space.
Like hell I was going to whore myself out.
The water stopped, and they tossed us large towels to dry ourselves, then handed us packs with an orange jumpsuit and soft shoes.
Once we were dressed, they escorted us further down the concrete walkway to a set of massive doors that looked like the gates of Mordor.
“This is it.” The blond sighed. “Once we pass those doors, we’re in prison. The name’s Pen. I’ll try to find you if they split us up. We omegas gotta stick together, ya know?”
“Yeah...” My teeth clattered from the rough show
The gates opened, revealing, to my shock, a massive dense night city aglow with neon light.
The one-eyed bastard guard followed behind. “Welcome to Wunderland Penitentiary. I’ll be seeing you later, Omega.”
CHAPTER TWO
Killian
Before Dane, the leader of the self-made Shadow pack, entered Wunderland, crime bosses saturated the district with competing brothels. Young beta males were the prime commodity sold, and the strongest alphas running these establishments went to war over the few omegas scattered about.
It wasn’t uncommon for spontaneous skirmishes to break out in the streets or for break-ins to occur to kidnap the most prized omegas.
Dane was a large, muscled man, as most alpha wolves were, and he was damned intimidating. But it took more than intimidation to run your own pack, much less start one. It took a level of charm and charisma as well. Something Dane didn’t mind using when he needed to. But ultimately, he grew the Shadow Pack from nothing because he was powerful, and the weak clung to the strong.
When he entered Wunderland four years ago, he built his Shadow Pack and wreaked havoc on the brothels within the entertainment district. It took them a year to destroy the top ones, and the others backed out of the war, sticking to their beta servants. Dane had taken all the omegas, and his pleasure club emerged as the only brothel in the town that had them.
After the dust settled, he chose only the most beautiful of betas and rounded up every omega hiding within the city walls for his pleasure den.
It wasn’t long before the Pleasure Den became the best brothel in the city and the only place to go if one wished to taste omega flesh. Even the guards enjoyed the services of the business and the other benefits of being in Dane’s back pocket.
None of that mattered to me. I just wanted to lie low and live the rest of my life in peace, far away from the crime and politics of this place. Dane spent months pestered me about joining his pack. I simply told him no and moved on.
I even found an abandoned church on the city’s outskirts and fixed it up just enough to make it livable. The only times I ventured to the densely packed city with its winding streets, dark alleyways full of shady businesses, and flashing neon lights was to get groceries, visit the only friends I made here, and stop by one of the food vendors for a quick meal.
Now I had no choice but to come to the club and surround myself with the muck of this underground metropolis to save a life.
I wore a hoodie to hide my black hair, but there was no doubt I still stood out among the wolves because of my height and pale skin. Not that other alpha wolves were small; most alphas are much larger than their beta counterparts.
But with my cursed blood, it gave me a few extra inches above the average alpha wolf in human form and wolf form, and my skin was paler. It didn’t help that I enjoyed the color black to where that was all I wore. Black boots, pants, a shirt, and sometimes, when it was chilly, a long black coat.
I pushed through the crowd outside the neon pink and purple bathed club that looked like one of those old historic theaters. With the decadent interior, thumping club music, half-naked dancing whores, and drunken horny men spraying their pheromones all over the place, I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.
“C’mon, Killian, my little sister was only playing with you.” Dane leaned forward on his throne, perched on the elegant stage. He knew why I had come here, and it wasn’t for the services his den offered. His young sister Marian had sent herself to Wunderland about a year ago, and I became the prime target of harassment. “She’s only seventeen and in love.”
“She took something very special to me. I could have killed her, but let her return to her people unharmed.” I stopped short of the stage. I hated looking up at Dane as if I was approaching a King. “Don’t mistake kindness for weakness.”
“But it was a weakness, Killian. Though I thank you for it.” Dane gripped one of his omegas, an indignant punk with blue hair and purple lipstick, and sat him on his lap. The omega blushed and grazed his hand across Dane’s tattooed chest. “Mar! Get out here.” Dane bellowed to the back.
“Ugh, what?!” Marian was a wild child, her turquoise hair shaved at the sides like a Viking cut. She dressed in black fishnet stockings that were a little torn, and I couldn’t tell if that was the style or if they were just simply torn. And she seemed to love leather, as everything she wore was made of it. “Oh, it’s you again.” She smiled once she noticed me. “The so-called most dangerous inmate. Don’t look so tough to me.”
The pack laughed.
“See, Killian, this is what you get for choosing to be alone.” Dane shook his head as if he was speaking to someone who just didn’t understand how this world worked. “You should have joined my pack when I asked you to. You know it ain’t too late to change your mind—”
Faster than the wolves could register the movement, I glided across the floor, snatching the girl up by her neck but only applying enough pressure to make my point clear. I heard the squeak and smelled the one I had come for. The life I wished to save.
“Let me go! Asshole!” The girl beat helplessly against my iron fist. Her gray eyes were wide with fear as she tried to look at her brother and the other pack members for aid.
“I can kill every one of you, silver band or not. There’s a reason vampires can’t be detained in these prisons, don’t make me remind you of that.” I growled menacingly. They all knew what I was, not precisely a vampire, not precisely a wolf either, a rare species, a mixture of Vampire and Wolf, a Vaewulf. Bringing up my cursed blood made me wince, but it was the only thing that brought me peace here.
“Let my sister go while we’re still on good terms, Killian.” Dane stood, his muscles tensed to attack. The whores had scurried to the back rooms, and some patrons took their leave, horny or not.
“We will remain on good terms when your people, all of them, leave me in peace.” I snatched the small, white furry creature from her pouch and released the girl, causing her to cough and sputter on the floor. The little guy’s name was Romeo because of the brown tuft of hair on his chest that formed a heart.
“You’ve made a terrible mistake,” Dane warned.
“So have you, and you’re still here,” I said, referring to his war with the other bosses of the entertainment district.
“Just remember that you have a lot of enemies here and few friends! Do you hear me?”
I waved goodbye without turning. I had gotten what I came there for. I stroked the tiny mouse and placed him on my shoulder after checking him for any injuries. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt, or I would’ve gone back to that den and done more than choke Marian out.
My stomach growled. ‘May as well grab a quick bite.’
My favorite vendor was a meat bowl place run by an old beta wolf serving a life sentence. His stand was circular and big enough for stools surrounding the bar. He served a customer a drink before turning to me when I sat down. He was a rough man about the face, he had gotten into a lot of fights in his youth.
“What can I get you?” He asked, wiping the bar.
“Let me have your extra-large spicy beef bowl and noodles.”
“Coming right up.”
I slapped the money on the table. Like all cities, Wunderland ran on commerce. We even had a small financial district where wealthier inmates still traded stocks with the outside world. The urban area also had casinos and other vices. Then we had the industrial center where most of the prisoners worked. This island was no different than living in a place like New York or any other major city. We just couldn’t leave whenever we wanted.
A big burly man stood on the podium in the square to make an announcement. He was an obvious Bear shifter, and judging by the scars on his body, he was probably a Berserker.
“Hear ye! Hear ye! You bunch of rat bastards and evil scoundrels!” The Bear bellowed to the quieting crowd. “We’ve got some new arrivals; two of’em are omegas.”
The crowd loved hearing that news, and I lost interest immediately.
“Now we all know omegas are rare here, so we share them. They belong to Dane’s pleasure den, where we can all get a taste! We will deal with anyone caught laying a finger on them outside the club. Keep your horny paws off them until they are within the club’s walls!”
