TO KILL A WOLF
By
Natalie Kristen
Copyright © 2014 Natalie Kristen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to or downloaded from file sharing sites, or distributed in any other way via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author's permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
*****
A pack is only as strong as its weakest wolf.
Curvy, half human and unable to shift, Leah Miller is the weakest link in the Dark Moon pack.
To prove herself, she has to attend the centennial anniversary banquet of the rival Thunderfalls pack.
And kill their Alpha.
But when she is caught by a dark, dangerous Thunderfalls wolf, she finds herself unable and unwilling to run.
*****
CHAPTER ONE
“Has she ever shifted into wolf form?” Mason rubbed his whiskered chin and asked his counselors.
“No, Alpha. Leah Miller isn't a full werewolf. She's half human. She can't shift, she can't fight, she's...weak,” Deadra answered with a gleam in her cold, blue eyes. “We've tried to train her, but she has never succeeded in shifting. We have done all we can for her, Alpha. There is nothing more we can do.” She paused and added in a snide whisper, “There is nothing more she can do. Leah is—weak. The weakest link in the Dark Moon pack.”
Mason leaned back in his leather chair and listened to the assenting voices of his counselors. His expression betrayed nothing. His eyes drifted over the six werewolves seated round the conference table. These were his six strongest wolves, his inner circle. They held all the power and authority in the Dark Moon pack. Mason narrowed his eyes as he considered the plan. A pack was only as strong as its weakest wolf. And right now, their weakest wolf wasn't even a wolf. She was a half human, half werewolf who couldn't even shift. And she wasn't a good fighter. He had watched some of the training sessions, and Leah had never won a single fight. She was always beaten up good and proper during the sparring sessions, and she never fought back.
The other trainees picked on her, and the trainers did nothing to stop them. It was every wolf for himself. If you couldn't even defend yourself within the pack, how could you be counted on to defend the pack?
Mason smirked. Leah Miller deserved to be thrashed. But to her credit, Leah took her beatings in silence. She never cried out, never begged for mercy, and never asked for help from anyone. But of course she would know that no help would be forthcoming. Pleading and grovelling would only earn her more scorn and more bruises.
Mason had plans and ambitions for the Dark Moon pack. To be the strongest wolf pack in North County, he had to make sure that only the strongest wolves remained in the pack.
Deadra was right. Leah Miller was their weakest link.
A culling was necessary. For the good of the pack.
Mason held up his hand to silence his counselors. His counselors instantly ceased their debate and six pairs of wolf eyes turned to stare at him.
“I am in agreement with you, my esteemed counselors. We have done all we can for Leah Miller. And it is clear that there is nothing she can do for us. It's time for Leah to leave us. The only question is—how.”
“She can have an 'accident', Alpha,” Tomas spoke up.
Mason inclined his head at the brash, young werewolf. Tomas wasn't known for his smarts, but he was brutal and ruthless in a fight. The sort of wolf Mason needed for his expansion plans. If he wanted to take over the territories of the other packs, he needed fighters, killing machines who could obliterate the rival packs.
“We've had too many accidents in the last few months. If the body of another Dark Moon wolf is found floating down the river, the other packs would get suspicious. We don't want the Sheriff and his nosy bears to come sniffing around our territory,” Hazlynda countered with a shake of her head.
His counselors nodded. Hazlynda had a point. They had culled quite a number of wolves from the pack, but they didn't need anyone poking their noses into their pack business. If the Sheriff sent his men in to investigate the Dark Moon pack, they'd have to get rid of the investigators before they found all the skeletons in the closet and in the ground. Getting rid of a bunch of external investigators was just too messy and bloody.
They just needed to kill Leah, without getting her blood on their hands.
It was Deadra who came up with a plan.
That she-wolf had a mind that was almost as cunning and devious as his own. He would have to keep a close eye on her.
“The Thunderfalls pack is throwing a banquet to celebrate their pack's centennial anniversary. Every pack is to send a representative to attend this very formal, lavish dinner. The banquet is held at Thunderfalls Manor, their pack's headquarters and the residence of their Alpha, Andrew Clark,” Deadra said with a slow smile. “If an assassination attempt is made...”
Mason read the rest of her plan in her smile.
“You're proposing to let the Thunderfalls pack do the killing for us,” he said, lounging back in his leather chair. He smiled back at his counselor without showing his teeth.
“Yes, Alpha. We won't get our hands dirty. And we'll have a legitimate reason to declare war on the Thunderfalls pack.”
His counselors began murmuring furiously, and he saw Deadra bask in the awed glances of her fellow counselors.
Mason decided he could be generous with his praise. Words cost nothing, but they could accomplish a lot.
“That is fucking brilliant, Deadra. We'll go ahead with your plan. I'll put you in charge of this, Deadra.” He pushed back from the table and stood behind her. “Inform the Thunderfalls pack that the Dark Moon pack is pleased to send Leah Miller as our representative to attend their centennial anniversary banquet.”
He clapped his large hand on her shoulder, letting her feel his strength and power over her. The veiled threat was not lost on her. She stiffened, but kept her head bowed in submission. “I'm counting on you, Deadra. Serve me well.”
“Don't I always, Alpha.”
CHAPTER TWO
Leah smoothed her clammy palms down her black gown and adjusted her shawl. As she passed one of the full length mirrors in the hallway, she glanced at her reflection. She looked presentable enough. Her strawberry blond hair was pulled back into a bun and her makeup was artfully applied. Her strapless evening gown showed off her generous cleavage beautifully. It had been bought in a hurry in a second-hand store, but it looked good on her. Under her gown, she wore thigh high boots. And strapped to the inside of her right boot was a silver knife.
Her nice gown and makeup did nothing to hide the panic in her wide, green eyes. Leah blinked rapidly and forced herself to take a steadying breath.
She could do this.
She had to.
It was the only way to prove herself to the Dark Moon pack. She had always been the outcast, the freak, the lowest of the low in the pack. But she was a member of the Dark Moon pack, even if she wasn't a full werewolf. Her mother was human but her father was a Dark Moon wolf. When her mom died, her father had brought her into the pack. He had tried to protect her while he was alive, but he wasn't a very high-ranking wolf. While her father was alive, she was tolerated in the pack, but after his death, she was completely ignored. And when sh
e wasn't being ignored, she was being picked on, laughed at, kicked around. She was bullied and beaten, and the few times she had tried to fight back, she had sustained even more vicious injuries for her trouble. She had learned to keep her head down and just keep mum.
She still trained with the Dark Moon wolves, but she hated and dreaded the sparring sessions with them. The other trainees ganged up on her and used her as a punching bag. And the trainers never stopped them. Some of the trainers even goaded them and egged them on, exhorting them to use more force.
She was allowed to live in the tiny apartment that her father left her. The apartment belonged to the Dark Moon pack. And she was given a job as a lowly kitchen assistant in one of the restaurants owned by the pack. She was still part of the pack, but she was never made to feel like she truly belonged.
But just last week, she had been called in to meet the Alpha. The Alpha! Imagine that. She had seen Mason and his inner circle of wolves on a few occasions, but always from a distance. The Alpha and his counselors had ordered that she present herself before them for a top secret briefing. They had a task for her, a highly dangerous, secret mission. It was a chance for her to prove her worth to the pack. Her success would cement her position and boost her ranking in the pack.
But if she failed...
“You have to prove that you are more useful to us alive than dead,” Mason had said to her. He had smiled as he handed her the silver knife, but the threat was unmistakable.
Kill, or be killed.
Her mission was to attend the banquet as the representative of Dark Moon pack, and bury the silver knife in the heart of the Thunderfalls Alpha before the dinner was over. To stay in the pack, to stay alive, she had to kill the Alpha of the rival Thunderfalls pack.
Leah forced her eyes away from the mirror and stared at the glittering hallways of Thunderfalls Manor. The Thunderfalls pack was hosting a formal dinner for all the wolf packs in North County to celebrate the pack's one hundredth anniversary. The Thunderfalls pack was a relatively young pack, but they had grown swiftly in size and power. Leah had heard Mason say that this dinner was a show of strength for the Thunderfalls pack. By hosting a lavish dinner at their Manor, they were displaying their wealth, influence and power to the older wolf packs.
Each pack was to send a representative. Leah wasn't at all honored to be the representative of Dark Moon pack. Her feet felt like lead as she dragged them down the red carpet. She smiled and shook hands with the long line of Thunderfalls wolves but she didn't hear a word that was spoken to her. Her blood was roaring too loudly in her ears and she kept wondering if her hosts suspected that many of their impeccably dressed and outwardly affable guests came to the banquet armed to the teeth.
Her hosts were all handsomely dressed in long coats and lush gowns, and they welcomed all their guests politely. They didn't refuse to shake her hand because she was half human. Any wolf, any full-blooded shifter, would be able to tell from her scent that she was only half werewolf. She was a lesser werewolf, not pure of blood. She was a half-breed, a mongrel.
But her hosts didn't seem to mind. They welcomed Leah warmly and a handful of Thunderfalls she-wolves complimented Leah on her dress. They were friendly and jovial, and laughed and joked with one another and with all their guests. Leah began to relax a little as a well-mannered young wolf personally ushered Leah to the banquet hall.
As she chatted timidly with the exuberant young man, Leah had a fleeting thought that Mason was wrong. This dinner wasn't a calculated show of might and aggression. It was just a gesture of goodwill on the part of the Thunderfalls wolves. It was their pack's anniversary celebration, and they simply wanted to share the happy occasion with the other packs.
Leah took her seat at the banquet table, and felt the cold silver blade press against her thigh. Silver had no effect on her, and Leah suspected that it was because she was more human than werewolf. Her mother's human genes were probably more dominant than her father's submissive werewolf genes. She was trained to fight, shoot and use a knife like all the other wolves in the pack, but honestly, she didn't enjoy the training at all. The sparring sessions were brutal and bloody, and more often than not, she had to drag herself out of the training room with some part of her broken and bleeding.
It wasn't just her body that was broken. Her heart had long been broken into jagged fragments. She'd heard her fellow trainees laughing as she covered her face with her hands and curled into a tight ball to prevent them from kicking and clawing at her face and soft underbelly. Their taunts were cruel. They made fun of her full, curvy figure, her wide hips and generous ass. They dared her to turn wolf and attack them back. Leah tried. She really did, but she just couldn't summon her wolf and shift.
Trembling, Leah tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear and glanced around. She was seated beside a silver-haired gentleman with a goatee and a giggling, tittering young woman who was gulping down her champagne like water. The gentleman and the tipsy young lady beside her were engaged in conversation with some other wolves across the table, and Leah was pretty much left alone. Like always.
She exchanged smiles and nods with her fellow guests, but she didn't try to initiate any conversation. She didn't trust her voice. Taking a sip of her champagne, she turned and glanced over her shoulder. Her darting eyes instantly clashed with those of a tall, dark haired wolf standing guard at one of the doors to the banquet hall.
She started, but she couldn't look away. Those startling amber eyes held hers and she saw them flash golden for an instant. Her lips parted as she stared into his stern, handsome face, her eyes floating slowly past his lips, his strong, angular jaw and down the length of him. His jacket was unbuttoned, and he wore a slim black tie and white shirt. There was a small gold badge on his lapel, identifying him as a Thunderfalls wolf. His shoulders were broad, and she could tell that his physique was muscular and toned. He held himself absolutely still, his stance guarded and alert. His hands were large and rough, the hands of a fighter, a warrior. He was probably one of the guards on security duty. He was protecting his Alpha and his pack, watching all the guests. Watching her.
Leah glanced down and saw that her champagne flute was shaking in her hand. Quickly, she placed the glass on the table and looked away.
She could still feel his eyes on her. Her entire body felt too hot, like her blood was boiling in her veins. Her mind was spinning, and her heart was pounding too hard and too loudly in her chest. It wasn't just the way he looked. Yes, he was impossibly handsome. A fine male specimen, the finest she had ever laid eyes on in her twenty-one years.
It was the way he looked at her. It made her womb clench and her nerves tingle.
Leah knew she was blushing, and bowed her head lower. She'd never even had a boyfriend before, and here she was, getting all giddy and breathless over a stranger from a rival pack. The male wolves in Dark Moon were loud and lewd when they talked about her. They made passes at her and copped a feel now and then. But they didn't really want her. They just wanted to have fun with her, make fun of her and make her feel even worse about herself.
But the way this man looked at her, it was like he wanted to...eat her. His eyes were predatory and hungry, and—shockingly, Leah liked it. Or rather, her treacherous body liked it, a lot. It responded to his gaze, his presence by aching and panting shamelessly.
Leah tried to get a handle on her runaway hormones. She was here to do a job. A horrible, underhanded, dirty job, admittedly. She didn't want to assassinate anyone. What did the Thunderfalls wolves ever do to her? They welcomed her into their Manor, were polite and attentive to her, and treated her with courtesy and respect. They didn't snub her because she was a half-breed. They didn't ignore her or kick her out. They were...kind to her.
But kindness was a weakness, a fatal mistake. That's what the wolves in her pack said. She'd heard Mason belabor this point in his speeches.
If she didn't finish off what she came to do, she would be finished. Weak wolves were exterminated so the pack c
ould grow stronger. She couldn't be the weakest link. She wouldn't.
Gulping painfully, Leah turned to look towards the head of the banquet table. A smiling man with short, blond hair and friendly blue eyes was seated at the head of the table. She had never seen the Alpha of Thunderfalls pack before. She thought he looked pretty young for an Alpha. Was this laughing young man Andrew Clark? He had to be, since he was hosting the banquet. Right?
Leah's breath caught when she saw that stern, handsome guard walk over to the head of the table and bend to speak in low tones to his Alpha.
When the guard straightened up, his eyes found Leah and she had to force herself to breathe. His lips tightened, and she saw his nostrils flare. He could scent her. He could scent her panic and inexplicable arousal. With nothing more than one look, he could scramble her insides and reduce her to a melting, quivering mess. She could feel the heat spiraling down her body to pool between her thighs.
As she crossed her legs and pressed them tightly together to stop the maddening ache, he narrowed his amber eyes at her and his lips moved to form two words silently.
It's you.
With a final glare at her, he turned and strode out of the great hall.
Leah let out a shaky breath. That grim-faced guard seemed to have her in his sights. Did he know what she was planning to do?
She had to act fast. That guard had walked out of the hall, but he might be back soon.
Leah dug her nails painfully into her palms. She shook her head, trying to block out Mason's voice, but his words stabbed into her mind like jagged shards of glass.
Mercy is for the weak, and there are no weak wolves in Dark Moon.
She wished she wasn't here. She wished she didn't have to do this. But even from an early age she knew that wishes didn't come true. They never did.
To Kill a Wolf: BBW Werewolf Erotic Romance (North Wolves Novella Series Book 1) Page 1
