by Laken Cane
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Shiv Crew, Rune Alexander series book 1 sample
Unpredictable
By Laken Cane
Copyright © 2017 Laken Cane
All rights reserved
For more information about the author, you can find her online at
www.lakencane.com,
www.facebook.com/laken.cane.3,
www.twitter.com/lakencane,
www.amazon.com/author/lakencane
Dedications
For those who believe that beauty lies within.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Note from the author—
Shiv Crew, Rune Alexander series book 1 sample
About Laken Cane
Chapter One
“If you could see my face,” Abby murmured, tracing the alpha’s lips with her fingertip, “just once, I would stop obsessing about it. I’d be happy.”
“You’re not happy?” He kissed the tip of her finger, then nuzzled her throat before pushing her to her back and sliding on top of her.
“Oh,” she said, breathlessly, “I’m deliriously happy. So happy.”
“That’s what I thought.” He nipped at the tender flesh above her collarbone.
She buried her fingers in his thick hair. “It’s just…”
He kissed his way up her throat, over her chin, then to her lips. He pulled her full bottom lip into his mouth, then released it and ran his tongue over her upper lip. “Open,” he demanded, and when she did, at once, he slipped his tongue between her lips to explore her mouth.
She knew it bothered him that she was so bothered by her face. There wasn’t a thing she could do about it, and he assured her that when he looked at her, he saw what lay behind the false face the demon witch had given her.
But it didn’t matter what he said. It only mattered how she felt about herself. And she did not love the cursed face. Why should she? It was a gift from the demon she hated.
The cursed face was always there, making her just a little sad. A little worried. And so very angry.
Some day she would do her best to kill the demon witch who’d cursed her. Maybe her death would reverse the curse. But first, she had to find the evil hag.
As if. As if she were powerful enough to fight Acadia Desrochers, let alone defeat her.
Eli took her earlobe into his warm mouth, and she shivered.
“Abby,” he said, his breath teasing her ear. “Close your eyes and feel me. I’ll make you forget everything else.”
She smiled at the arrogance in his voice—but he was right. He could always make her forget, at least for a while. There was little room for worry and doubt when the alpha filled up her mind, heart, and body.
“Eli,” she whispered. “I…”
But she couldn’t say the words. She felt them, but she couldn’t say them. Perhaps she was still unsure. Not of how she felt, but of how he did.
So she let the words trail off as he began to slide down her body. There would be time for talk later. There would be time for everything later.
He stopped at her breasts, plucking at the thin fabric of her silky pajama top with his lips until he caught a rapidly stiffening nipple between his teeth.
She gasped, arching her back as he bit down, gently. Before she could remember to breathe again he’d moved to her belly, pushing the edges of her top apart so he could run his tongue over her ribs. He nipped at her soft lower belly, looking up the line of her body so he could watch her watching him.
“Let go,” he said. “Don’t hide from me.”
“I can’t help it, Alpha,” she whispered. “It’s inside me.”
“We’ll kick it the fuck out, Abby. I will kick it out.”
She said nothing.
“Trust me,” he murmured.
“Turn off the light.”
He wagged his head from side to side, slowly. “No.”
She breathed past the rapid beating of her heart and stared up at the ceiling. Each time they had sex, she believed afterward that she was past the fear of how her face would look to him. He did not change—he made love to her with a fierceness that stunned her. He showed her each time that her face would not make him turn away in disgust.
Then he would touch her again and her belly would tighten with desire, and she would think it wouldn’t matter—until it did.
So no matter how good the sex, no matter how much she cared for him, no matter how sure she was that she was past worrying about her horror of a face, he would nudge her legs apart and begin to slide inside her, his stare on hers, and she would flinch.
Every single time.
How could he be inside her and see her face and not lose his desire? His need? How?
Because her face.
So she would flinch and her own enjoyment would dim.
He didn’t want her to hide in darkness like some shameful thing. He thought he could make her see herself as he saw her and he thought he could do it by sheer force of will. He asked her not to wear the mask that might free her from the obsessive, niggling worries of how she would look to him as he made love to her.
He did not want her to hide herself. Not from him.
“Alpha,” she said, her voice thick. “I’m sorry.”
His fingers bit into her thighs, and she doubted he was even aware of it. The intensity in his eyes was as fierce as his grip. “You have nothing to be sorry for. If I ever meet that bitch of a demon, she will regret cursing you. I swear.”
He kissed the perfect skin of her thigh. Perfect body, hideous face. What a horrible combination.
Of course, it could have been worse, and she told herself that every day. It could have been so much worse.
But when she was in bed with the alpha, naked, exposed, full of desire…
It was difficult to believe she should feel lucky that it wasn’t worse.
“Turn off the light,” she whispered.
He sighed, but his eyes didn’t waver. “Okay, sweetheart.”
And when the lights went out, she could relax. In the dark, she was Abby the witch, not Abby of the cursed face. In the dark, she let go, and she took what she needed. And she let him have everything he wanted.
Except for her face.
In the dark she became a wild, almost frenzied woman, sent to the edge again and again by his hands, his tongue, his lips, and his voice.
Deep and dark and murmuring, that voi
ce, full of satisfaction and masculine pride that he could bring her to such screaming ecstasy, that he was the first to do so.
“Mine,” he whispered after, when she curled into his arms, exhausted. “You’re mine, Witch.”
As if there were any doubts.
Each day and night for three glorious weeks she fell deeper into the wolf. But life was not all sex and the excitement of blossoming new love.
The threat of the council loomed over them.
It was only a matter of time before they sent for him. They were biding their time, discussing his future, his punishment, his status.
Eli and his pack understood that the council might strip him of his status. They might exile him. They might imprison him.
So the alpha and his pack began to plan for that eventuality. Eli wanted them to vote. If the council cast him out, he wanted them to have a say in their own futures.
Noah Redwood, as one of Eli’s betas, was leading the pack in Eli’s absence. Eli stayed away from the pack, lest they feel pressured or guilty and voted for him out of that guilt. He wanted them to stay with him because they trusted him to lead them, not because they cared for him.
And if they voted to keep him, they would understand that it would be with Abby as his mate.
She stared at her face in the bathroom mirror, and she sent a silent promise to Acadia Desrochers that one day, she would kill her.
Eli slipped up behind her and snaked his arms around her waist. “The pack will be here in five minutes, Abby.”
She turned in his arms and stared up at him, suddenly afraid. “Eli, if they don’t accept me…”
His expression didn’t change. “You’re mine. Whatever they do or do not accept, you are mine, and I am yours. I won’t give you up, not even for my pack.”
So his pack had a choice to make.
If they kept him as alpha, they would be council-less and as such, unprotected by the council. In times of war, famine, or persecution, the council would not come to aid them.
No other packs could be compelled to help them—indeed, they would likely attack the rogue pack in attempts to challenge Eli’s authority and to take command of the pack of Waifwater.
If they wanted to stay with him, he and his betas and his sentinels would protect them. He would take care of them, feed them, and discipline them.
Just as he always had as alpha of the Black Feather Pack.
The crows with whom the pack had allied assured him that he would not lose their support. What did they care about a werewolf council?
As alpha of a rogue pack, Eli could set his own rules and laws within his pack, and he would give them the right to vote on big issues.
And the pack was arriving to tell him the results of their first vote.
If they voted him out as alpha, they would go back to Featherclaw Village and Noah would assume command until one of his challengers defeated him—and they would have the support of the council.
As she stood in the circle of his arms, Abby could feel his worry. Even though he tried to hide it, Eli was afraid of the choices he was allowing his pack to make.
He didn’t want to lose them.
She’d heard once that a rogue wolf could lose his mind if he had no pack, which was why most joined other rogues and formed their own packs. They were landless, but at least they weren’t alone.
The hounds jumped to the porch and sat in front of Abby and Eli and watched the wolves come.
“Should I go back inside and leave them to speak with you alone, Eli?” she asked.
His stare, sharp and fierce as he watched his wolves arrive, softened. “No. You will take your place at my side.”
And he laced his fingers with hers.
“I hope they don’t desert you,” she said. “We’ll all be rogues. Who needs a council, anyway?”
“Well,” he said, dryly, “wolves do. But we can live without them.”
Nervous flutters began in her stomach and she took a deep breath, willing them away. Remy and Noah led the wolves that spilled into her yard, and one by one, they began to shift back to their human forms.
Abby met Remy’s blank stare. Please. Do not hurt your alpha.
But Remy loved her alpha. She wouldn’t hurt him. Not if she could help it.
Remy and Noah stepped to the porch and stared up at Eli, confident but careful. The other wolves hung back a respectful distance, and at the back of the gathered crowd, a fight broke out.
The wolves were restless, nervous, and apparently very angry—as Abby watched, a youngish male broke away from the crowd. He fell to the ground and flipped over, whimpering, as another wolf—surely no older than the submissive one—followed him from the small mob and began to nip savagely at his unkempt body.
In seconds, three other wolves followed the attacking male and joined the seemingly spontaneous fracas. Grunting and snarling, they fell upon the hapless wolf, determined, it seemed, to bite him to death.
“Hey,” Abby yelled. “Stop that!”
None of the others seemed anything other than annoyed at the interruption.
Eli glanced at them, his eyebrow raised, but crossed his arms and said nothing.
“He’s an omega, Abby,” Remy said.
As if that explained everything.
“Back to the business at hand,” Noah said. “We do not need to drag this out. The pack made a decision based on what is best for us.”
Abby threw her hands up, pulled her wand from her pocket, and leapt off the porch. “Get off him,” she yelled. “Get off that wolf!”
The bullies seemed angrier at the omega because of Abby’s attention, but when she shook her wand at them they slid away from their pack mate and lost themselves in the crowd.
Abby leaned down and ran her fingers over the omega’s coarse fur. She saw no blood. “Are you okay?” She touched one of the scars on his face. “Omega?”
He didn’t look at her. He belly-crawled away, back into the crowd of wolves, some of whom had still not shifted.
“That,” someone yelled. “That is why we don’t want outsiders in our pack, Alpha. They don’t understand. They fight what is not human about us. They deny our ways because they don’t agree with them. We don’t want changed, but they do not care.”
Several wolves mumbled in agreement.
“Those wolves attacked him,” Abby said, calmly. “I won’t stand here and watch as someone is mauled to death in my front yard.”
“They were…” Eli rubbed his face, and sighed. “Abby, you have much to learn about us.” And maybe he was just at that moment realizing it wasn’t going to be easy.
“And you’ll teach me,” she said. “Won’t you?”
“There is a hierarchy,” Noah told her. “We have a system.”
“We do not challenge that system,” Remy said, carefully. “Even though we challenge each other.”
“You voted against your alpha,” Abby said, slowly, disbelieving.
Eli said nothing.
Noah shook his head. “No. We did not vote at all. We do not want to vote. We want to do things as we’ve always done them. Eli.” He lifted his chin and squared his shoulders. “I want to lead the pack.”
“You can’t both lead them.” She glanced from Eli to Noah and back again. “Can you?”
“Abby,” Remy said. “Go inside.”
“What is happening?” Abby asked.
Eli glanced at her. “They’ve made their decision.”
“But they said they don’t want to vote. What decision did they make?”
“For everything to remain the same,” he told her. Then he raised his voice and spoke to the crowd. “I will remain alpha. And Abby will rule with me.”
Noah shrugged. “We’ll see.”
“Abby,” Eli said. “Your first lesson in belonging to a pack is about to begin. When we’re finished, you can decide if you still want to be part of us.”
She felt the shock to her toes. “What if I don’t?” she whispered. “Will I still be
part of you?”
“Yes,” he said.
Remy leapt toward her and grabbed her arm. “They’re going to fight until one of them loses, Abby. You need to go.”
“But…no,” Abby said. “What does it mean for him, Remy?”
“If he defeats Noah, he will remain alpha, we will be rogue, and he will do as he pleases as ruler of this pack—including choosing you to rule with him. Some of us want that to happen.” She shrugged. “Some of us don’t.”
“So it’s just a…a brutal fight? Why not vote?”
“Because fighting, dominating, winning…that’s what alphas do.” She looked at Abby. “That’s what wolves do, Abby.” She sneered, but only a little. “We don’t vote on who gets to rank. We fight for it.”
And perhaps there was a touch of pity in her eyes. Perhaps she didn’t believe—even if her alpha did—that Abby could ever accept pack ways—much as they could not accept her.
“Well I’m not leaving.” Abby crossed her arms, though that was more to hide her shaking hands than to show determination.
“Abby—”
“No, Remy. If I’m to rule with him, I will not shrink away when it gets difficult. What sort of leader would that make me?”
Eli took his stare off Noah and smiled. “Then stand back and watch, Witch.” There was something savage in his eyes and dark in his voice.
Something eager.
And then, he began to shift.
Abby grabbed the hounds by the backs of their necks and ran with them to the porch. She wouldn’t leave, but she would watch from a safe distance.
Even then, she didn’t fully understand what was about to happen.
Eli Dean became someone else.
No, that was wrong.
He became his wolf.
She’d seen his wolf, of course she had. Just not that way.
And she wondered, sometime between the moment he shifted and the moment he ripped out his beta’s throat—the beta who’d been his enforcer, his backup, his friend—just who the hell he was.
Who he really was.
She’d been exposed to magic her entire life, but never to the raw, primal, brutal bloodlust of the wolves. Especially the alpha.
Remy squeezed her arm. “Go inside, Abby. You don’t have to watch this.”
But Abby couldn’t move.
