by Bailey, G.
The Missing Wolf
The Familiar Empire Series
G. Bailey
Contents
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Description
Prologue
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
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Note From The Author.
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32. Consequence
33. Preview
34. Excerpt of Tales & Time
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The Missing Wolf Copyright © 2019 by G. Bailey
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
I’m Anastasia Noble, and shortly after moving to college, my life changed forever.
I became a familiar, bonded to a wolf for life and arrested simply for existing.
I woke up in the famous Familiar Empire community where I have to learn to bond with my wolf, or I can never leave.
Never again see those whom I love.
Bonding is my only option, if you could even call it an option, but add in familiars going missing every week, plus being stuck in a cabin with three mysterious, attractive, male familiars and their maddening animals...this is not going to be easy.
17+ RH
Anastasia
“This is the oldest part of the university and where most the lessons are. In the welcome packs sent to your old homes were the links to an app which is a map. It will help you find your lessons,” the tour guide explains before opening a door out of the old corridor and into another one which is more modern. There are white-tiled floors, lockers lining the walls, and spotlights in the ceiling that shine so brightly everything gleams. “Every student gets a locker here, which is perfect for storing books and anything you don’t need for every class. Trust me, you will get a lot of books, so the lockers are a godsend.”
We walk down the corridor, listening to the guide explain the history of the university when suddenly there is a burning feeling in my hand that comes out of nowhere. I scream, dropping to my knees as I grab my hand, trying to stop the incredible pain. I rub at my pale skin as it burns hot, yet there is nothing there to see. The pain gets worse until I can’t see or hear anything for a moment, and I fall back. When I blink my eyes open, I’m lying on the cold floor, hearing the chatter of students near me. No one is helping me, oddly enough, and they sound like they are far away. Every part of my body hurts, aches like I’ve been running a marathon.
“She’s a familiar. Has anyone called the police?” one person asks as I stare up at the flickering spotlight right above me.
“We should leave; she could hurt us. Who knows where her creature is!” another man harshly whispers. I lift my hand above my face almost in slow motion. My eyes widen in pure shock at the huge, glowing, purple wolf tattoo covering the back of my hand where it burned. It stops at my wrist, the wolf’s fur extending halfway up my fingers and thumb. The eyes of the wolf tattoo glow the brightest as I realise what this means.
“I’m a familiar.”
Leaving the past behind.
Anastasia
I stand still on the side of the train tracks, letting the cold wind blow my blonde and purple dip-dyed hair across my face. I squeeze the handle of my suitcase tighter, hoping that the train will come soon. It’s freezing today, and my coat is packed away in the suitcase, dammit. I feel like I’ve waited for this day for years, the day I get to leave my foster home and join my sister at college. I look behind me into the parking lot, seeing my younger sister stood watching me go, my foster grandmother holding her hand. Phoebe is only eleven years old, but she is acting strong today, no matter how much she wants me to stay. I smile at her, trying to ignore how difficult it feels to leave her here, but I know she couldn’t be in a better home. I can get through college with our older sister and then get a job in the city, while living all together. That’s the plan anyway.
We lost our mum and dad in a car accident ten years ago, and we were more than lucky to find a foster parent that would take all three of us in. Grandma Pops is a special kind of lady. She is kind and loves to cook, and the money she gets from fostering pays for her house. She lost her two children in a fire years ago, and she tells us regularly that we keep her happy and alive. Even if we do eat a lot for three kids. Luckily, she likes to look after us as I burn everything I attempt to cook. And I don’t even want to remember the time I tried to wash my clothes, which ended in disaster.
“Train four-one-nine to Liverpool is calling at the station in one minute,” the man announces over the loudspeaker, just before I hear the sound of the train coming in from a distance. I turn back to see the grey train speeding towards us, only slowing down when it gets close, but I still have to walk to get to the end carriage. I wait for the two men in front of me to get on before I step onto the carriage, turning to pull my suitcase on. I search through the full seats until I find an empty one near the back, next to a window. I have to make sure it’s facing the way the train is going as it freaks me out to sit the other way. I slide my suitcase under the seat before sitting down, leaving my handbag on the small table in front of me.
I wave goodbye to my sister, who waves back, her head hidden on grandma’s shoulder as she cries. I can only see her waist length, wavy blonde hair before the train pulls away. I’m going to miss her. Urgh, it’s not like we don’t have phones and FaceTime! I’m being silly. I pull my phone out of my bag and quickly send a message to my older sis, letting her know I am on the train. I also send a message to Phoebe, telling her how much I love and miss her already.
“Ticket?” the train employee guy asks, making me jump out of my skin, and my phone falls on the floor.
“Sorry! I’m always dropping stuff,” I say, and the man just stares at me with a serious expression, still holding his hand out. His uniform is crisply ironed, and his hair is combed to the left without a single hair out of place. I roll my eyes and pull my bag open, pulling out my ticket and handing it to him. After he checks it for about a minute, he scribbles on it before handing it back to me. I’ve never understood why they bother drawing on the tickets when the machines check the tickets at the other end anyway. I put my ticket back into my bag before sliding it under the seat
just as the train moves, jolting me a little.
I reach for my phone, which is stuck to some paper underneath it. I’ve always been taught to pick up rubbish, so I grab the paper as well as my phone before slipping out from under the table and back to my seat. I put my phone back into my handbag before looking at the leaflet I’ve picked up. It’s one of those warning leaflets about familiars and how it is illegal to hide one. The leaflet has a giant lion symbol at the top and warning signs around the edges. It explains that you have to call the police and report them if you find one.
Familiars account for 0.003 percent of the human race, though many say they are nothing like humans and don’t like to count them as such. Familiars randomly started appearing about fifty years ago, or at least publicly they did. A lot of people believe they just kept themselves hidden before that. The Familiar Empire was soon set up, and it is the only place safe for familiars to live in peace. They have their own laws, an alliance with humans, and their own land in Scotland, Spain and North America.
Unfortunately, anyone could suddenly become a familiar, and you wouldn’t know until one random day. It can be anything from a car crash to simply waking up that sets off the gene, but once a familiar, always a familiar. They have the mark on their hand, a glowing tattoo of whatever animal is bonded to them. The animals are the main reason familiars are so dangerous. They have a bond with one animal who would do anything for them. Even kill. And I heard once that some kid’s animal was a lion as big as an elephant. But those are just the things we know publicly, who knows what is hidden behind the giant walls of the Familiar Empire?
“My uncle is one, you know?” a girl says, and I look up to see a young girl about ten years old hanging over her seat, her head tilted to the side as she stares at the leaflet in my hand. “He has a big rabbit for a familiar.”
“That’s awesome...” I say, smiling as I put the leaflet down. I bet picking up giant rabbit poo isn’t that awesome, but I don’t tell her that.
“I want to be a familiar when I grow up,” she excitedly says. “They have cool powers and pets! Mum won’t even let me get a dog!”
“Sit down, Clara! Stop talking to strangers!” her mum says, tugging the girl’s arm, and she sits down after flashing me a cheeky grin.
I fold the leaflet and slide it into my bag before resting back in the seat, watching the city flash by from the window. I couldn’t think of anything worse than being a familiar. You have to leave your family, your whole life, and live in the woods. Being a familiar seems like nothing but a curse.
Who wears a cloak these days?
“Ana!!” my sister practically screeches as I step off the train, and then throws herself at me before I get a second to really look at her. Even though my sister is only a few inches taller than my five-foot-four self, she nearly knocks me over. I pull her blonde hair away from my face as it tries to suffocate me before she thankfully pulls away. I’m not a hugger, but Bethany always ignores that little fact.
“I missed you too, Bethany,” I mutter, and she grins at me. Bethany was always the beautiful sister, and as we got older, she just got prettier. Seems the year at college has only added to that. Her blonde hair is almost white, falling in perfect waves down her back. Mine is the same, but I dyed the ends a deep purple. Another one of my attempts at sticking out in a crowd when I usually become invisible next to my gorgeous sister. Phoebe is the image of Bethany, and both of them look like photos of our mother. Whereas I look like my dad mostly, I still have the blonde hair. Bethany grins at me, then slowly runs her eyes over my outfit before letting out a long sigh.
“You look so pretty, sis,” she says, and I roll my eyes. Bethany hates jeans and long-sleeved tops, which I happen to be wearing both. I didn’t even look at what I threw on this morning. I shiver as the cold wind blows around me, reminding me that I should have gotten my coat out my suitcase on the train trip. It is autumn.
“You’re such a bad liar,” I reply, arching an eyebrow at her, and she laughs.
“Well, you are eighteen now, and I’ve never seen you in a dress. College is going to change all that.” She waves a hand like she has sorted all the problems out.
“How so? I’m not wearing a dress to classes,” I say, frowning at her. “Leggings are much easier to run around in, I think.”
“Parties, of course,” she tuts, laughing like it should be obvious. Bethany grabs hold of my suitcase before walking down the now empty sidewalk to the parking lot at the end.
“I need to study. There is no way I’m going to ace my nursing classes without a lot of studying,” I tell her. Bethany took drama, and I wasn’t the least bit surprised when she was offered a job at the end of her course, depending on her grades. Though she was an A-star student throughout high school, so there is no way she could fail.
“I love that you will have the same job mum did,” she eventually tells me, and I glance over at her as she smiles sadly at me before focusing back on where she is walking. I remember my mum and dad, whereas Bethany is just over one year older than me and remembers a lot more. Phoebe doesn’t remember them at all; she only has our photos and the things we can tell her. It was difficult for Bethany to leave us both to come to college, but grandma and I told her she had to find a future.
“I doubt I will do it as well as her...but I like to help people. I know this is the right thing for me to do,” I reply, and I see her nod in the corner of my eye. I quickly walk forward and hold the metal gate to the car park open for Bethany to walk through before catching up with her as we walk past cars.
“You’ve always been the nice one. I remember when you were twelve, and the boy down the road broke up with you because some other girl asked him out. The next day, that boy fell off his bike, cutting all his leg just outside our home. You helped him into the house, put plasters on his leg, and then walked his bike back to his house for him,” she remarks. “Most people wouldn’t have done that. I would have just laughed at him before leaving him on the sidewalk.”
“I also called him a dumbass,” I say, laughing at the memory of his shocked face. “So I wasn’t all that nice.”
“That’s why you are so amazing, sis,” she laughs, and I chuckle as we get to Bethany’s car. It’s a run down, black Ford Fiesta, but I know Bethany adores the old thing. Even if there are scratches and bumps all over the poor car from Bethany’s terrible driving.
“Get in, I can put the suitcase in the boot,” she says, and I pull the passenger door open before sliding inside. I do my seatbelt up before resting back, watching out of the passenger window at the train pulling out of the station. There is a man in a black cloak stood still in the middle of the path, the wind pushing his cloak around his legs, but his hood is up, covering his face. I just stare, feeling stranger and more freaked out by the second as the man lifts his head. I see a flash of yellow under his hood for a brief moment, and I sit forward, trying to see more of the strange man I can’t pull my eyes from. I almost jump out of my skin when Bethany gets in the car, slamming her door shut behind her, and I look over at her.
“Are you okay? You look pale,” she asks, reaching over to put her hand on my head to check my temperature before pulling it away. I look back towards the man, seeing that he and the train are gone. Everything is quiet, still and creepy. Time to go.
“Yeah, everything is fine. I’m just nervous about my first day,” I tell her, which is sort of honest, but I’m missing the little fact about the weird hooded man. I mean, who walks around in cloaks like friggin’ Darth Vader? She frowns at me, seeing through my lies easily, but after I don’t say a word for a while, she drops it.
“It will be fine. Don’t worry!” she says, reaching over to squeeze my hand before starting the car. I keep my eyes on the spot the man was in until I can’t see it anymore. I close my eyes and shake my head, knowing it was just a creepy guy, and I need to forget it. This is my first day of my new life, and nothing is going to ruin that.
One moment can change everything.
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“Anastasia Noble?” I hear someone shout out as I wait in the middle of the crowd of new students. Bethany left me here about half an hour ago, and she is going to find me later once I have my room sorted. First, I have to get through a tour of the university, even though I had a tour here when I visited two months ago. I also spent days studying the map they gave me, so I know where I am going. Putting my hand in the air, I move through the crowd, pulling my suitcase behind me with my arm starting to ache from lugging the giant purple suitcase everywhere.
I get to the front of the crowd, where an older man waves me over. I quickly make my way to him and the three other students waiting at his side. Two of them are girls, both blonde and whispering between themselves with their pink suitcases. The other is a guy who is too interested in ogling the blondes to notice me coming over. Story of my life right there. I stop right in front of the older man who stinks of too much cologne, and I shake his slightly sweaty hand before stepping back.
“Welcome to Liverpool University. We are the smallest, but fiercest, university in northern England. Now, I am going to show you around the basic area before taking you to your rooms. You all will share a corridor and living area, so look around at your new friends and maybe say hello!” the man says, clapping his hands together before quickly turning to walk away. We all jog to catch up with him as he walks us across the grass towards one of the buildings on either side of the clearing.
