by Kamryn Hart
Kamryn Hart
Copyright
Copyright © 2018 Kamryn Hart
All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, etc.
This is a work of fiction.
kamrynhartauthor.com
Summary
I’m the Lost Princess of Howling Sky. Only a few days ago, I would have said that was crazy, that I’m just Sorissa. Now I’m living crazy. Everybody wants to use me for their own gain in the Prime War.
Except for Phantom Fangs, my werewolves.
I left with vampires to save their lives. Maybe the vampires intend to kill me, but I’m not that fragile. I'll survive, and I’ll keep my werewolves safe.
Five hearts become one.
The Lost Princess of Howling Sky
Prologue: Phantom Fangs FREE
Book 1: Taken by Werewolves
Book 2: Saving the Werewolves
Book 3: Queen of Werewolves
Marked by the Moon
Book 0: Her True Wolf FREE
Book 1: Her Brave Wolf
Book 2: Her Fierce Wolf
Book 3: Her Wild Wolf
Book 4: Her Noble Owl
Book 5: Her Bad Cat
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Table of Contents
Copyright
Kamryn's Books
Map of Prime
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
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Prime: World Guide
FREE Book
Message from the Author
About the Author
CHAPTER 1
SORISSA
MY HEAD WAS POUNDING fiercely. My vision was blurry. I could hardly think. I knew I was in a vehicle, a beast like the roaders that first took me away from my life in the woods, but it was also like the roader Phantom Fangs used. Phantom Fangs. It was the only thing clear in my mind. Each of the werewolves that made it up consumed me. The thought of them, their features, the memory of their fiery touch, that was all I knew. They were my only clarity in this hazy half-dream state. I knew I was with vampires, and that they did something to me, but that was it. The rest was Phantom Fangs.
My Phantom Fangs.
They weren’t here.
I tried to focus. This vehicle I was trapped inside blocked out all outside light. The windows were tinted so heavily it almost made me feel as if I was wearing a blindfold. I didn’t know if it was day or night, but some big round body of light was peeking out over the horizon. In the east? The sun?
We were heading toward rocky terrain. Land jutted out and sunk low into the ground. I hoped it was land, anyway. It resembled claws, teeth, gaping maws of giant beasts. I shivered, goosebumps pocking my skin as sweat beaded on my brow. My head lolled back and forth as the ride got bumpy. I couldn’t hold my head straight. My stomach was tying itself into knots. I thought I might be sick, but the sickness was jerked out of me when the vehicle came to an abrupt stop right in front of one of the dark, gaping maws. I tried to tell myself those serrated teeth were nothing but jagged rocks, but the quickening of my heartbeat said otherwise. And something was off. A solid slab of metal was blocking its throat. Light was glinting off a very specific point and drilling its way into my brain in the form of a headache.
I groaned when a high-pitched screech pierced my eardrums as the metal slowly sunk into the ground, revealing the depths of the cave it was shielding. Figures in dark crimson cloaks with gilded hems darted and danced around the streams of sunlight as if they were acid. Then the vehicle let out a distinct hum, and it once again moved forward, this time on a downward ramp leading deeper into the cave.
I blinked my heavy eyelids a few times as darkness engulfed me, and the metal moved back into place. Soft orbs of light dotted the outside of the tinted windows, but I couldn’t make out anything now. I might have used my moonlight reserves to better equip my eyes if I hadn’t been empty. I used it all to protect Phantom Fangs. Phantom Fangs. In the end, I still couldn’t protect them. I had to give myself up to vampires. I had to leave them on their own, hoping with everything I had that the vampires were telling the truth about leaving them alive. The sick feeling settled back into my stomach. What if I never saw them again and I was stuck to wander this delirium forever?
I pushed the thought away because it was too much for me to handle. My heart was fluttering inside of my chest, vibrating like a thin bottle of glass reacting to a matching frequency meant to shatter it. All I wanted was to be with Phantom Fangs. They were the light, the stability, I was holding on to since being taken away from my woods. Nothing outside was like it was supposed to be, but they made it bearable. They made it beautiful.
The vehicle came to a complete stop. I thought I could make out some lights from inside of the cave, but my head was pounding worse and my vision was suffering worse for it. Doors opened; I felt the difference in the air more than I heard the sound. Blood-red fingernails dug into my skin hard enough to hurt but not to pierce as I was yanked outside. I fell to my knees and moaned. My skin stung with the impact of hard, unrefined earth. My feet and legs were bare. I was given only a very basic black shift to put over my naked body when the vampires took me.
“Give her the antidote. She’s completely delusional,” the female vampire holding on to my arm instructed. She forced me back onto my feet to stand at her side. One of the other vampires held a glass vile underneath my nose. It was putrid like rotting flesh. I gagged and nearly vomited. Then my vision cleared as if a strong wind blew in and chased the sickness away.
“There we go,” the vampire at my side said. “She’s coming to. Her eyes are no longer dilated.”
I blinked a few times and slowly moved my head from side to side, seeing clearly for the first time in hours. The dim lights lining the walls were enough to make out the guts of the cave. Water streamed down rock walls, painting the brown-toned stones with streaks of pink minerals. The musty smell of stagnant moisture permeated the air. There was that distinct tang of iron, too. The area was surprisingly empty aside from some tech contraptions and a whole swarm of humans marching like ants up to large trailers on wheels. The humans didn’t get inside. They simply clustered at their openings. They were dressed like me. They were clean, but most of them had bandages on their necks, many of them bled through. They were jumpy like scared animals, wide-eyed and easily spooked.
“What’s going on?” I asked. My voice came out gravelly, my words more of
a croak, and I wondered if anybody understood me. I cleared my throat to try again, but my designated vampire gripped my arm and forced me deeper into the cave. I had thought that werewolves, the males, had a much greater base strength than I. They did, but these vampires were even stronger. I could feel her fingers slowly leaving bruises on my skin, and she didn’t look like she was straining.
More lights lit up the cave as I stumbled behind the vampire dragging me deeper inside. I was only graced with her back because she wouldn’t allow me at her side now. She wore a crisp crimson cloak and a black uniform underneath. Her auburn hair was cut flat across and reached her chin. Proud shoulders made her look taller than she was, and she wasn’t short; she was a bit taller than me. Something about her was familiar: the blood-red nails, the dark-gray tint to her skin. The last of the haze muddying my brain vanished, and I realized I knew this vampire. She almost killed Caspian.
My whole body tensed at the memory of blood spraying from his throat. My vision went red. I wanted to lash out at the monster in front of me. I wanted to slit her throat the same way she had Caspian’s. I wanted to show her what happened when she hurt those I loved. But I stilled myself. I tried to find a drop of calm waters inside of me, to reach out to Phantom Fangs and the powerful mental connection we had made when I kissed them. My lips buzzed at the thought, little sparks of energy lighting up the sensitive skin. I could hear their thoughts before, feel their emotions, so why couldn’t I hear or feel them now? Where were those strands of silver moonlight tying our hearts together?
I wanted to cry. I just couldn’t find it. Without that connection, I couldn’t know for certain if Phantom Fangs was all right. The vampires retreated and carried me away with them when I had agreed to go with them in exchange for Phantom Fangs’ safety, for all of Wolf Bridge’s safety. Then they threw down fist-sized spherical tech to where all the werewolves were. When the tech hit the ground, they let out tons of dense smoke. I didn’t see anything after that, though I protested. The vampires said something about the gas being nonlethal and ushered me to their vehicle, slick and black, unlike the clunky roaders. They put a glass vial without a scent under my nose that made me woozy and shoved me into darkness. Into the hours of delirium. And now I was here.
Was the smoke harmful at all or was it cover? If the vampires kept their word, Phantom Fangs was safe. Trace and her mother were safe. Koren was safe. Wolf Bridge was safe. The vampires came for me and me alone—so they said.
“Are you going to kill me?” I asked as I tried to match the vampire’s pace. I needed to relieve some of the pressure she was putting on my arm before she tore it clean off. My shoulder was beginning to ache.
“No,” the vampire replied.
What other plans could they possibly have for me? I knew I was valuable to werewolves, but it made sense because, like them, I was a werewolf. This legend, my worth, and my various titles were simply because I was a rare werea, because I held a lot of moonlight. They thought I would bring a new, powerful generation of werewolves. Last night proved just how much power I held. Wouldn’t vampires definitely want to kill me for that? Werewolves and vampires were at war as far as I knew about anything—which was still infuriatingly little.
“What’s your name?” I asked.
The vampire was silent. I thought she wouldn’t answer my question, but then she replied, “Gala.”
My hackles rose. I wanted to tell Gala where she could stick it, to tell her exactly what would happen if she touched what was mine again. I took a deep breath instead. “What are we doing then? What are you going to do with me?”
“I don’t know, Princess Sorissa va Lupin of Howling Sky. I was instructed to take you to my queen. Whatever plan she has in store for you will be made perfectly clear in a few short minutes.”
We reached an area where the cave narrowed down to two bodies in width. Farther ahead, it branched off into multiple tunnels. Gala chose the one on the far right, continuing to drag me with her. I tried wriggling out of her grasp, but it wasn’t happening. If I did anything more drastic, I’d be starting something. I was faced with my least favorite word again: patience. I had to be patient. Wait for an opportunity. Create an opportunity. And get back to Phantom Fangs as soon as possible.
CHAPTER 2
CASPIAN
THE CRIMSON CAVES WERE in view. The kingdom itself was buried deep inside, but everyone just called this vast expanse of underground networks Crimson Caves because vampires owned every inch of it. They barricaded each entrance with airtight metal doors and loads of tech. The jagged pieces of rock jutting out of the ground and scattered everywhere were perfect mounts for their gun turrets. Each one housed multiple guns and heavy-duty cannons. When it came to tech, vampires were truly terrifying. That was how they had single-handedly destroyed Howling Sky. If anyone could rival Todd, it was them.
We stopped a safe distance away from the caves and the gun turrets, behind a few large boulders that were inside the grassy field near the sparse trees outside of the vampires’ territory. Todd was camped out in a spot littered with little white flower eagerly welcoming spring. He had his ground-penetrating radar set up and stationary, a metal stick in the ground. It was supposed to be able to detect and map out the ground many feet below and in a wide radius, writing it all in as data on Todd’s pactputer. While it did, in fact, do that, I wasn’t sure it could reach far enough. It hadn’t last time, and Todd had been busy with other things since then.
Based on what we could see above ground, there was no way to get inside of the caves without getting blasted to bits—like last time. That was why Todd was trying to get eyes underground. We had first attempted something like this when Phantom Fangs was born, before we had been officially named phantoms. We were tasked with scouting out Crimson Caves, a nameless squad meant for gathering intelligence and covert operations. Todd was just testing his tech at the time. We weren’t really expected to come back with anything helpful or even concrete. If we did, that was a bonus, and it would help Wolf Bridge to infiltrate the vampires in coming days. We did one better. Todd’s test led us to the last male vampire.
It was a fluke, or it was Lureine’s will. We weren’t any closer last time, and Todd was getting no information about the caves themselves because of it, but he did find something else, a structure similar to the caves. It was constructed rather than natural, something the vampires had created and isolated. The last vampyre was alone, camouflaged, without gun turrets or weapons of any sort to draw eyes to him. The vampires kept their last male like a caged animal with only cameras to observe him. We would have never found him if we hadn’t had eyes underground. Apparently, the vampires hadn’t considered someone with Todd’s know-how or expected them to come snooping around their territory. They also hadn’t counted on our efficiency. We were in and out before the vampires could retaliate.
The remnants of that underground cage couldn’t be seen now, just over two months later, unless you knew where to look, but I knew the location. I remembered it vividly, a perfectly concealed hatch covered in dirt and snow. Now it was covered up with grass and wildflowers. Dense wildflowers. It was almost like someone had planted them there in remembrance, to mark the place he died. I wondered if that was true. I wondered if the flowers fed well on his filthy blood.
I shuddered at the thought, his curses and screams echoing endlessly in my ears. His last words weren’t just for us. They were for his own kind, too. So much hatred for his own kind.
My stomach twisted painfully.
Snap out of it.
Todd stared at his pactputer screen, brow furrowed in concentration. His eyebrows were ruddy but dark, passable as a shade of brown, unlike the fire-red hair he always insisted on hiding underneath that black beanie of his.
I sighed.
This time, unfortunately, we didn’t have the dumb luck. We needed to get inside of the real caves because the vampires likely learned from their last mistake. We were certain Sorissa was inside, physically with them and
behind lots of firepower. I didn’t know how we were going to manage this, but I hoped we would be able to save her and somehow avoid getting mowed down by guns, cannonballs, or bombs in the process.
Sorissa. You better not give up on us. We aren’t giving up on you.
I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I also couldn’t stop thinking about that electric sensation of her lips on mine. I had to consciously keep my hand down at my side so I wouldn’t keep touching my lips like some weirdo in a love-struck daze. But when she kissed me—Gods, when she kissed me—I never wanted to stop. I had to literally pry myself away from her, focus on the place Prince Charles had bitten her, and stare in amazement as his claim was wiped away in blazing moonlight all because she kissed Phantom Fangs. It was hard to ignore the need inside of me even still; I wanted to explore her entire mouth with my tongue, to claim her, to keep her. It was worse now that I knew how sweet she tasted.
But Sorissa was the one doing the claiming and the keeping. She brought us all together in a way I was never able to as a squad leader, as an alpha. I could feel Sorissa, Aerre, Todd, and Rodrick like we were one entity after she kissed us. I had no idea what kind of power that was, but it was bigger than anything I knew. Thinking back on it, it was kind of overwhelming and terrifying. It was the closest I ever felt to being… whole. It made it that much more painful when Sorissa was ripped away from us though, like a piece of my heart was torn away with her and left bleeding open. The wound wouldn’t close until we had her back.
I was cautiously optimistic. The ability to hear and feel the thoughts and emotions of the others slowly died out, but there was still a warmth in my chest. It was growing warmer. Sorissa had to be close. Maybe. But that would also mean Sorissa was a prisoner like we feared. She had been taken before the full moon was aligned. We had hoped she’d be able to gather more moonlight and get away on her own because of that. But if she had accomplished that, we would’ve found her already. I was convinced there was no way we could have missed her. We would’ve felt her.
