by Bailey, G.
The Dying Wolf
The Familiar Empire Series
G. Bailey
Contents
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Description
1. Bethany
2. Bethany
3. Anastasia
4. Anastasia
5. Liam
6. Anastasia
7. Anastasia
8. Anastasia
9. Anastasia
10. Anastasia
11. Anastasia
12. Anastasia
13. Anastasia
14. Anastasia
15. Anastasia
16. Anastasia
17. Anastasia
18. Anastasia
19. Mason
20. Anastasia
21. Anastasia
22. Anastasia
23. Alex
24. Anastasia
25. Anastasia
Epilogue
Note From The Author.
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Excerpt from Winter’s Guardian…
The Dying Wolf Copyright © 2020 by G. Bailey (Midnight Publishing Limited)
All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
The author acknowledges the trademark owners of various products, brands, and/or stores referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Edited by Polished Perfection.
Cover design by Sylvia Frost.
Created with Vellum
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I’m Anastasia Noble, and after becoming a familiar, I thought I’d found my home.
I was wrong.
The famous Familiar Empire is full of secrets but none as deadly as my own past that is slowly creeping up on me.
Alexander, Liam and Mason made a vow that means they cannot help me now.
No matter what they promised.
But can my angel in the shadows guide my way?
Welcome to the world of the Familiars...where no one has seen the worst yet to come.
18+ RH Romance
Chapter 1
Bethany
The previous autumn…
My freshly painted red nails dig into the soil under my hands as I watch in pure horror as my little sister is picked up and placed into the back of a police van like some criminal. Her blonde hair flows around her in a wave of blonde and purple as her head knocks to the side, and the police officer shoves her to the side of the van. Tears fall down my cheeks as everything happening in the world seems to disappear other than this moment where I lose my sister for good. The large black wolf—no, her wolf—is carried and placed at her side before the police slam the door shut and dozens of locks click into place.
They are scared of her and the wolf. My innocent sister who loves movie nights and Grandma Pop’s cookies is a monster to them.
But not to me. Never to me.
I know I won’t see my sister again, or at least not without one hell of a fight. Luckily, we Noble girls know how to put up a fight. Never in my life have I hated people…humans like me, until right now. Until I can see with my own eyes how clouded they are in their hate and fear. How they didn’t even let me say goodbye to my sister.
The thought makes more tears fall from my eyes as a sob gets caught in my throat, which I refuse to let out. I can’t be weak in front of them. Not now, not ever. I remember the second I gave up screaming at the police when I realised that they didn’t care and that no one here will help us.
Familiars are nothing but a problem to mankind. A joke whispered in the halls of my university.
Familiars are another race which are small and helpless, and why would people fear them and treat them right? People don’t help those in need; they simply admire the rich and those in control.
It’s just like when our parents died, when we needed help the most. Helpless orphans that everyone looked the other way from because our family was struggling, we were at the lowest point of our lives.
No one helps the weak and pitiful.
Today, they saw Ana as a threat, as a familiar, a magical race of people who became more than any science book could ever, ever explain. But Ana would never hurt anyone; I know that in my soul. My sister is good at heart. She is the one who helps the sick and those in need.
And I’m the one who gets angry and threatens to burn the world down.
Phoebe is always stuck in the middle, even when really she should be the little sister and not acting like the middle one.
“Miss…” someone pauses to clear his throat. I briefly eye the police officer who is speaking, and it makes me so mad that my teeth clatter for a second and I see nothing but red. “Today has been traumatic for you, and we have counsellors that can help. How did you know the new familiar?”
“Her name is Anastasia Noble, not just some familiar nobody, and no counsellor is going to make me okay with the fact you stole my sister!” I snap, pushing his hand away and getting myself up. I stare at the van driving my sister away in the distance, the dozen or so police cars surrounding it, and my heart feels like it’s breaking into a million tiny pieces. I’ve waited for over a year to see my sister here at my side, to have her come to university, and for us to have a future as a family. We planned out that we would work hard and get an apartment, and then we could have Phoebe move in with us.
Phoebe. I have to tell her about Ana and then…I don’t know. What do I do next? How will I get to see my sister when she is heading to the famous Familiar Empire, where no one ever sees their relatives again. I know she will be safe…but that’s it.
Happy is another matter entirely.
I’ve never known much about familiars, but now is the best time to learn, it seems. The police officer is still talking, like a dumbass, and I hold a hand up in his face, not caring how disrespectful it is in this moment.
“What is your name?” He pauses in his no doubt rehearsed speech to ask me.
“Bethany Noble, and I’m going home. Don’t try to stop me,” I coldly tell him, and he nods, stepping aside. This is a job for him, and he really doesn’t give a shit, and we both know it. I am the strong one of our family; I had to be when we lost our parents, and my sisters needed someone to look up to. Being strong is in my blood, in my soul.
The university is a blur as I run to my room, shoving the door open and trying not to cry when I see wine and the red dress I had left out for Ana. I had this great night planned for us, and now I don’t even know when I’m going to see my sister again, let alone show her the world. Thick tears fall without my permission as I pick the wine bottle up and throw it across the room. It smashes into the wall above my bed, cracking into pieces, and the red wine drips down the white walls.
“Bethany, open up!” Damon’s deep voice shouts as he bangs the door a few times. Fuck, this is the last thing I need. Damon is a one-night stand that somehow turned into my best friend in the space of two weeks, but he is a mystery to me. Cold and collected, attractive and full of secrets…he is every girl’s wet dream. Damon is a teaching assistant, which makes him forbidden, and I love that. It helps that he is good in bed too.
I just don’t want to see him right now with everything that just happened. My head feels like a million thoughts are sw
irling around inside it, and god knows not all of the thoughts are good. I wipe some of the tears away as he continues to bang the door, and I pull it open, glaring at him. His black hair is wavy, strands flickering in every direction like he just rolled out of bed. Wearing his black leather jacket, black denim jeans and a white tee with his sunglasses held in it, he looks like a bad guy from a movie set.
And this is exactly why I ended up in his bed.
“Was that your sister? Did she become a familiar today?” Damon asks, and I nod once. In seconds I’m in his arms, pressed tightly against his chest as I cry some more. Eventually I push him away, and he steps back. “Fuck, it will be okay, Beth.”
“How could it be okay? My sister is a fucking familiar, and I will never see her again. Ana and Phoebe are all I have in this world, and I’ve just lost part of my small family I can’t get back,” I blurt out. “I’m so mad at them! How could they just take her away from me? Why couldn’t I get a chance to say goodbye?”
“Look, get some sleep, and I will call my uncle. He is a familiar and might know how you could see Ana again,” he suggests, brushing some of my hair from my eyes. “I’m going to fix this, trust me.”
For a second, hope bangs in my heart. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
“There isn’t much I wouldn’t do for you, Beth,” he replies with a cheeky grin before he leaves my apartment. I change into joggers and a vest top before cleaning up my room and eventually just sitting on the bed, staring at nothing until someone knocks my door. I go to answer it just as a strange feeling shoots down my arm. Pain hits me like a brick, and I scream as my hand burns and I fall to the floor.
Chapter 2
Bethany
The truth.
The shaking of a car, followed by the drone of an engine, wakes me up, and I blink, feeling my hand sore and burning as I realise I’m in the back of a large van. Above me, bright lights shine down the side of windowless van, and soft music hums from the front where a small window is shut, so I can’t see the driver. My burning hand distracts me, and I lift it up, gazing at the mark on the back. A white wolf with glowing blue eyes fills the back of my hand down to my wrist, the image so vivid it looks real. A huff gets my attention, and I freeze, realising I’m not alone. Very slowly I turn around and come face to face with a white wolf. She is huge, as big as Ana’s familiar but white instead. Before I realise what I’m doing, my hand rests on the middle of the wolf’s forehead, and the name Dawn floats into my mind.
Suddenly I’m anything but frightened of the wolf…instead, I feel like she is my safety net.
“Dawn is your name, huh, sweetie?” I ask as I continue to stroke her. I guess I will see Ana after all, and we can live together in the Familiar Empire. Someone must have found me in my room and reported me to the police. I rest back against the wall and close my eyes for a moment as there is only one part of the human world I want to keep.
Phoebe.
I’m not going to be able to see Phoebe for a long time, and I promised I would always look after her and Ana. I guess I’m keeping my promise to Ana, even when it breaks my promise to Phoebe. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I’m the one stuck in the middle.
The van comes to a screeching halt, knocking me out of my head, and Dawn growls low, curling around me like she wants to fight my battles for me.
“Don’t worry, girl, we can fight together,” I whisper to her. I rush to stand up at her side as the doors are pulled open and the cold night air blasts against my skin. Slowly Damon comes into view, and he grins at me as he holds a hand out for me to take.
“What is going on?” I demand as I take his hand and let him help me down from the van into the empty field. Dawn jumps out after me, staying close to my back as Damon watches her for a second.
“I can’t tell you more, but keep an open mind. I promise we aren’t the bad guys,” he warns me.
“I’m a familiar now. Shouldn’t I be going to the Familiar Empire?” I ask.
“The city waits for you, not the town in Scotland. You are the Dawn, and you don’t belong there,” he tells me, and my face falls. Either, Damon the hottie is crazy or telling the truth, which means I won’t get to see Ana anytime soon.
The heavy sound of a helicopter fills my ears, and I look up to see an army type helicopter flying around us in a circle. After a while, it lands on the other side of the field, the air harshly blowing our way. As the helicopter dies down, the doors slide open, and I hold my hand over my eyes until the helicopter stops, so I can’t see who is walking across the field. When I eventually do see, I pause in shock.
Phoebe, with her hair in one plait over her left shoulder and wearing a pink dress with a swan on it and bright purple leggings underneath, skips happily over to me while holding the hand of a woman I don’t know. How is she here? Deciding to push that thought to the back of my head for now, I focus on the woman. She must be in her thirties, with long blonde hair that is held up high in a ponytail, yet the end still falls to her knees. She is stern on approach, but her dark blue eyes seem so familiar.
Phoebe lets the woman’s hand go and runs to me, wrapping her arms around my neck as I squeeze her tight.
“Are you okay?” I whisper to her, breathing in how she smells of strawberries and vanilla. If they have hurt one hair on her head, I will burn the helicopter down with this woman inside it.
And Damon too for good measure.
“I’m so happy!” Phoebe shouts at me, hurting my ears a tad. She sees Dawn behind me, and rather than being scared, she scoots out of my arms and steps closer to her. She starts to stroke her fur, and she purrs at her touch.
“Bethany Noble, I’ve waited what seems a long time to meet you,” the woman says, but her eyes are running over me a mile a minute, looking like she is searching for something.
“How do you have my sister, and who are you?” I demand. “Where is our foster parent, Grandma Pops?”
“My name is Courtney Violeta, and I am the current leader of the royal house of familiars. It’s time you came home with me,” she answers, and completely ignores my question.
Crossing my arms, I tilt my head to the side. “Why?”
“I’m your aunt, Bethany Noble. My younger sister was and is missed dearly. I promise every answer you seek is with me. With your family,” she replies, and I all but shake at the shock. I have other family? An aunt?
I glance back at Damon, who winks.
“I have family who stayed with me when my parents died. I.e. my sisters!” I all but shout. “Where were you when we needed an aunt?”
She smiles and takes another step closer. “Continuing our heritage that will make sure no one has to run away and die as your parents did. Come and help me win, Bethany Noble and your Dawn.”
She holds out her small hand, and I look back at Phoebe, knowing I can’t defend her like this. I can’t help Ana if I’m dead. Closing my eyes, I take my aunt’s hand in mine, and for a second, I close my eyes.
I’m going to save you, Anastasia, because you are my family.
Chapter 3
Anastasia
My dreams have nothing on this reality…
I watch a woman in a light, almost glowing, purple dress dance around with a little girl. The girl must only be three, if that, and stumbles on every step in the heavy dark purple dress she has on. Her little silver shoes glitter in the lights of the ballroom, and laughter fills the air.
Everyone is so happy.
And when that little girl suddenly stops, turning her head to me, I freeze.
Her light blue eyes, soft features, and pouty lips only belong to one person that I know.
Bethany.
I wake up with a gasp, jolting myself as my dry throat makes me gulp in cold air. My lips are cracked as I run my tongue over them and sit up off the light silver tiles I’m sat on. The room is cold, the kind of cold that fills a place when there is no one living here for a long time, or at least no one has been in here. I can’t help but freeze as I realise I
’ve seen this room before in my dreams, everything about it is so familiar. The tall stained purple glass walls, the silver tiles on the floor, and the massive crystal and glass chandelier that hangs in the middle of the room. It’s all too familiar, too haunting, and fear crawls into my chest, making itself at home. I mentally search for Shadow, relieved to feel him close to me and calm. He must be sleeping or knocked out to be this calm. I remember all the events before I passed out. The white wolf called Dawn fighting with Shadow.
I remember Bethany, my sister, who looked nothing like my sister at all. Her features were cold, drawn back, and she was a familiar.
Bethany is a familiar...like me.
And she hurt me.
Likely kidnapped me…and my guys don’t know where I am. How could they? I need to get to Alex, Liam and Mason. They can make sense of all this and what exactly we do next.
“Don’t be afraid. It is not in our blood to fear anything.” I sharply turn my head to see a woman walk down the steps from a glass door. Every step gives me a second to actually look at her. High cheekbones, taut, tight lips, ridiculously long blonde hair, and she is stick-thin, almost in a sickly way. Her purple dress fits her like a glove, stopping at her knees, and the long sleeves cover most of her up.
