Inferno Wolves: The Complete Tale: Werewolf Paranormal Romance

by Lyra Valentine

  Chapter One

  Stella idled outside Tiana Faolin’s apartment building. She didn’t know when she decided to go to the other woman’s home, but she found herself there after an aborted meandering drive through the outskirts of town. Part of her thought she wanted to drive to Xander Dante’s house and make amends with her pack alpha. Part of her wanted to tell him—and all men in her life—to go to hell. The stop-and-go traffic of roadwork delays made her high stress levels shoot through the roof, and she turned back toward the taller buildings that counted as skyscrapers in the small city.

  Wild at heart, and not fond of Stella, Tiana served as Xander’s second in command of the pack. She hid her animosity well, especially in front of Xander. Stella couldn’t point to one specific instance of bad behavior on the Tiana’s part, but the woman made it clear she had no desire to be in the same room unless Xander was also there.

  Stella nodded at the doorman as she entered the brick building. It was one of the nicest apartment buildings in the city, and certainly nicer than her own. She stifled the jealousy before it urged her to turn back to her car.

  The elevator ride to Tiana’s floor felt like an eternity. Stella let out a long breath, and with it some of the tension in her shoulders. Her wolf had calmed its internal pacing, and lay curled in a corner of her mind. It watched through her eyes expectantly. It didn’t trust Tiana, either.

  Stella approached Tiana’s door warily. She wasn’t prepared to see Xander, and knew he had left her apartment to bunk at the other woman’s. She scented the air, but couldn’t pick one scent from another in the jumble of the building. She tried listening, and frustratingly got no further. She needed to work on her wolf senses.

  She knocked on Tiana’s door. The only other choice was to leave, and she refused to tuck her tail between her legs when it came to the other woman.

  Tiana opened the door immediately, almost as if she expected Stella. She probably could pick out her footsteps from a mile away, and in the middle of the city to boot. Stella ground her teeth together in a forced smile.

  “Is Xander around?” She tried to scan the room behind Tiana.

  “No, and I don’t have time for lovesick puppies.” Tiana started to close the door on her.

  “Wait.” Stella put her hand to the door and held it open. “I didn’t come here to see him. I came to speak with you.”

  Tiana pursed her lips. “That’s an interesting development.” She held the door wide to invite Stella inside.

  Stella cautiously entered apartment. She almost expected a trap, and glanced warily around at her surroundings. She’d been there before with Xander, but never alone. They weren’t on good enough terms for house calls.

  The woman loved to make her wolf comfortable. Stella thought a wolf would be more at home than a human. Plush rugs were stacked on one another and hid every inch of the hardwood flooring she knew must exist. Stella hated to admit she wanted to shuck off her shoes to pad on the springy surface. Her wolf rumbled an agreement.

  Throw pillows and warm blankets were within reach almost everywhere, but seemed to come from the low couch stuck almost forgotten against a wall. The only table she could see was low, and intended to be used by those sitting on the ground. Or in wolf form, Stella supposed. What use would a wolf have of regular human furniture?

  “If you’re done gawking, maybe we can get down to business.” Tiana’s words sliced through the air.

  Stella hesitated. Who else could she talk to about everything? Her coworkers from her previous job had faded away before she was fired. Remote work didn’t exactly lend to making friends. The other pack members were just that—pack. It wouldn’t be fair to put them in a position of choosing sides between their alpha and his mate. Even as new as she was to were life, she felt queasy at forcing someone into that position.

  “I don’t know what to do.” She said simply.

  Tiana nodded, then turned and left the room without a word. Confused, Stella followed her. She found her in the kitchen, where she had set two mugs on the counter. Tiana nodded again for Stella to take a seat.

  The smell of coffee filled the air. Tiana poured the dark liquid into the mugs, then added a dash of Irish cream to one.

  “Can I have a shot?” Stella asked.

  Tiana gave her a sidelong look and a small smile. She put a shot of the liqueur into the other mug as well.

  Stella thought she saw approval from the woman for the first time since meeting. She held the hot mug between her hands and breathed in the delicious scent once Tiana brought their drinks to the table and sat down.

  “So. You certainly have our pack leader in a huff,” she said mildly.

  “He’s not the only one upset at me.” Stella thought of Derek’s treatment, and of Tiana’s obvious dislike. Her shoulders hunched under the weight of the whole world against her, and she didn’t care if she was being dramatic.

  “No. The pack doesn’t like it when the alpha and his mate are at odds.”

  Stella scrunched her nose. “I don’t like that word. It sounds so… animalistic.”

  “Well, you are an animal. Half, anyway.” Tiana’s betrayals made her wary of humans, even those who had been brought into the shifter life through a bite.

  Tiana, from everything Stella had gleaned from Xander and the other werewolves, was a poor orphan story without a happy ending. Tiana was a second generation wolf raised in a small pack that was killed by hunters. Her human mother had been chosen to be the alpha’s mate and was bitten to make the pairing complete. When the alpha and his mate were murdered, baby Tiana was sent to live with the only family left alive.

  The distant aunt no one had heard of caged Tiana when she first shifted during puberty, then set her loose on the streets when she was old enough to be a real handful. Tiana found her way back. So the aunt drove her to a different city, and left Tiana there during her change. She was only thirteen at the time.

  Stella felt lucky by comparison, and understood why the woman was at arm’s length with everyone. It was what made her a good second, though. She craved a family, but was tough enough to not let sentimentality get in the way of the good of the pack. Understanding didn’t mean they got along.

  Stella sipped at her spiked coffee. The warmth started to thaw out her mind. “It’s still so new.”

  “We’re wolves at our cores. You can’t be half pack member. It’s seen as weakness and not accepting who you are. We’re wolves, and we won’t tolerate weakness.

  “I don’t want to see Xander hurt.” Surely she and Xander were seen as separate entities. She considered the married couples she knew, and how many of them were a package deal if invited anywhere. It seemed more prevalent among the weres, though Stella couldn’t tell if that was because their social circle ran smaller than normal.

  “Xander is good for the pack. He’s understanding, but tough.” Tiana spread her hands out. “There’s a reason the pack adopted the Inferno Wolves name. We’ve walked through our personal hells to get where we are. Xander Dante has helped more than a few of us slay our demons.”

  Tiana continued. “I don’t want to see him challenged. That’s what’s in the cards if you keep toying with him like this. Lord knows why he puts up with it in you when he won’t tolerate the same behavior in others. He will be challenged.”

  Stella glanced through hooded lids at the other woman. “By you?”

  Tiana shrugged. “You or him, I’m not sure which will need to go. Pack is more than a single individual. We need a strong leader.”

  “And if I wasn’t in the picture?”

  “Oh sure, because you’d be showing up on my doorstep if things with the ex were working out splendidly.” Tiana snorted. “Yes, I know all about it. Pack second, remember?”

  “I guess my problems are more human than animal. Derek was… everything to me for so long. He was a lot of firsts. We went to college together. We even worked for the same company many times. He was my best friend.

  “Then he died. Tha
t’s what it felt like, anyway. He broke things off and cut all contact until he showed up at my door. He’s not the same person he was, and I think that’s the part I’m having trouble accepting. He hasn’t returned from the dead, we’re not going to pick right back up again. It’s hard to let go of something that made up such a huge part of your life.”

  Stella frowned into the bottom of her mug. Her cheeks felt flushed from the alcohol and gut spilling. “You know, he absolutely refused to have sex outside of the bed. This morning was the first time there in the living room. The bastard finished and didn’t even offer to help me out. He was irritated that it happened at all, and I think that was my punishment.”

  Tiana made a face. “Sex should never be about punishment. You kicked him out, right?”

  Stella shook her head. “I was too shocked. I left and drove around for a little while before ending up here. But you’re right. I need to kick him out. I just don’t know how.”

  “‘Get out’ seems pretty simple to me.” A wicked smile lifted Tiana’s lips. “How is Xander?”

  Stella’s cheeks flushed redder. “Xander is just amazing. I have never been so thoroughly fucked.”

  Tiana waved a hand. “There you have it. Kick out the ex, accept your wolf, and claim your alpha. Simple.”

  Chapter Two

  Stella felt uneasy as she entered her apartment building. The feeling grew as she walked up the stairs to her floor. No one else was on the stairwell, and she heard no noise from the surrounding units. It was almost as if they had all quieted themselves like birds startled to silence by a predator.

  The jangle of her keys sounded loud in the quiet hall. She glanced up and down the hall. Not even nosy Mr. Tucker had opened his door to peek a glare at the noisy intrusion. Stella inserted the keys into the lock and froze. Her wolf held her captive.

  The animal stretched itself inside. She felt on the cusp of a shift. The wolf was inserting itself into her limbs and preparing to transform them into furry legs and large paws. Her ears buzzed with the hidden noises of the building. Though quiet, the residents were still there. They were tiptoeing around their units and watching television at low volumes. Stella could hear water rushing through pipes and air conditioning units kicking on.

  She imagined triangular wolf ears turning to focus on a single voice. The voice of Derek. The wolf’s hackles rose.

  Stella stopped fighting her wolf’s restraints. In that instant, she accepted it wanted to best for her, for them. It didn’t trust Derek, and Stella agreed. He shouldn’t even be at the apartment. He should have left for work right after she ran away.

  Derek whined, “This isn’t what I expected, Colin.”

  Stella’s forehead wrinkled. She couldn’t think of any Colin that Derek knew, but couldn’t rule out the possibility he met someone with that name during his time away. Then a thought hit her. Colin? Could he be speaking to Colin Ross? But Derek hadn’t spoken to him since they graduated from their university.

  “I don’t care how Greg and Travis took it! They aren’t here, they aren’t dealing with this!”

  Greg Carson and Travis Johns were also part of the same college crowd. The names were fitting together in a way that didn’t diminish her unease.

  The men were all good friends in college. Stella mostly avoided their bottle-blonde and fake-tanned girlfriends—who always seemed too eager to please the men and too willing to tear each other down. Could the weekend trips and late night study groups have been made with sinister intentions?

  Her understanding ended with their identification. She didn’t know what would link them together, especially after no communication for years. Just how far did Derek’s deceit go?

  “I’m not going to send her off to fuck that mangy wolf. She was supposed to be my mate!” Derek shouted.

  The crudeness of the words shocked her thoughts to stillness. Their meaning chilled her to the bone. Derek was behind her attack.

  “She was so sweet that night. But you forced me away. You allowed the chance she’d find him. You wanted this to happen, to use me to get information on them.”

  It became clearer to Stella the more Derek raved to Colin. She felt sick. Derek was a werewolf, too. Derek bit her. He turned her into a werewolf. He was going to make her his mate.

  It would have been so easy for him. They knew each other’s habits. He knew when she worked late, and what streets she frequently took on the way home. It wouldn’t have taken much effort to find her that night.

  “…I don’t care what they call themselves! Let them burn in their inferno for all I care. I will not let my rightful mate near that bastard Xander Dante again!”

  Somehow, Xander was an unwilling participant in this game. Stella listened closely to try puzzling out Xander and the Inferno Wolves’ involvement.

  The call must have ended. Her wolf unwound and slowly released her. Stella focused her hearing on Derek’s steps inside the apartment. He was approaching the door. He lacked a wolf’s soundless padding. She imagined he braced his hands against the frame and sniffed at the wood. Was he connected enough to his wolf to smell her?

  She didn’t wait to find out. She sprinted silently back to the stairwell as soon as she regained control of her limbs.

  Chapter Three

  Stella rushed back to Tiana’s apartment building. The pack needed to be told about Derek and his… What? She couldn’t quite say what his intentions were. He wanted to keep her away from Xander, that was certain. Derek had never showed more than casual jealousy, but the rage she heard when speaking of Xander scared her.

  The mating bond between wolves was strong, though able to be broken as with any other relationship. She hesitated officially becoming Xander’s mate because of the responsibilities attached. She didn’t know if she was prepared to help lead the pack and to help mother the wolves. Xander tried to understand, but she knew it was ripping him apart and opening him to challengers from his own pack members.

  She pounded on Tiana’s door and prayed the other woman was still inside. Stella took a step back when Xander opened the door. She expected Tiana, not Xander.

  A dark look passed over his face before he registered her expression. Then, he hurried her inside. “What happened? Did he hurt you?”

  “Yes. No. Not physically.” Stella tumbled over her words. “He’s a werewolf, Xander. He’s the one that bit me.”

  The dark look returned to Xander’s chiseled face. His jawline tightened together. “He broke our laws.”

  Only turn those who are willing, that was the pack rule. Xander enforced the rule strongly. Rogue wolves existed, and many would bite and turn anyone they came across. Civilized packs recognized the bad publicity that could bring, and wouldn’t allow their members to create others in such a way.

  The threat of hunters also served as a deterrent. It was more of a stick than a carrot to get the pack leaders to follow the rules. Hunters were as secretive as werewolves. They worked outside of the laws of man, and did as they were named. Most had the goal of exterminating all shapeshifters.

  “It wasn’t just him. I went home, and he should have been at work. My wolf stopped me going inside and I heard him on the phone. It sounded like there was a plan, and Derek isn’t fond of you.”

  Noise stopped further in the apartment, and Stella registered it as a sink shutting off.

  “Did you kick the asshole out yet?” Tiana called from the kitchen. She appeared in the living room, and stopped when she saw Xander’s look. Every inch of her tightened into readiness. She looked ready to pounce and tear into whatever threatened them.

  “It seems the challenger is from outside the pack, T,” Xander said. He ushered Stella to perch on the low couch. He sat on the ground near her, and their heads were nearly level. “Stella, please tell us everything you know.”

  Tiana paced as Stella repeated what she’d heard. She repeated it a second time, then a third. They anted to make sure they understood the relationships between the men, and that she had heard
correctly. Finally, Xander nodded.

  “We don’t know enough.”

  “What do you mean? It’s pretty cut and dry. This Derek broke our laws and must pay.” Tiana clenched her fists at her side.

  Xander held up a hand and Tiana relaxed marginally. “Stella, would you be willing to go back? We need to know if it was Derek acting on his own, or if he was deeply influenced by these cohorts of his.”

  Stella took a deep breath. Her wolf rumbled protectively. Stella couldn’t tell if it was for her own safety, or for the safety of the pack.

  “Yes. As long as I know you won’t be far. I don’t know what he’s capable of anymore.” The thought hurt to admit, but this wasn’t the Derek she mourned for months ago.

  Xander focused again on Tiana. The tall redhead stood at attention with her hands clasped behind her back. “T, you gather the pack and meet back at Stella’s building. The fighters will be needed. Keep the children safe.”

  Tiana nodded curtly. She spun on her heel and left the apartment.

  “That’s all she needs to know?” Stella asked.

  Xander glanced at her, then nodded. “She’s the second. This is her role in the pack. Part of me thinks she’s been waiting for something like this to happen for a while.”

  “What do I do?” Stella stood, then let her hands fall to the side. She felt useless.

  “I’m going to follow you back to your building. You’re going to go inside and try to get more information out of that man.” He grunted in disgust. “The pack will be waiting if anything goes wrong.”

  Stella put a hand to her dizzy head. “If anything goes wrong. I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “He doesn’t seem stable, and he’s clearly obsessed with you. I don’t want to take chances.”