Claim the Wolf King: The Wickedest Witch Prequel: A Post-Apocalyptic Shifter Romance
Page 1
Table of Contents
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
CLAIM THE WOLF KING
The Wickedest Witch – Prequel
Meg Xuemei X
Claim the Wolf King © 2017 by Meg Xuemei X
Example Copyright notice: All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
First Edition
Meg Xuemei X
Cover art by Lou Harper
Edited by Monique Fischer
Formatted by Beth
The novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence. Novel intended for adults only.
Table of Contents
Claim the Wolf King: A Post-Apocalyptic Shifter Romance
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
Author’s Notes
Sneak Peek of The Wicked Witch
Sneak Peek of The Dragonian’s Witch
More Books by Meg Xuemei X
About the Author
Claim the Wolf King: A Post-Apocalyptic Shifter Romance
It's a one in a million chance that the sexy-as-sin and savage wolf king finds his fated mate--me, the curvy warrior--on the most hostile alien planet. But you can't call him one lucky bastard.
I can't be his--I've sworn a blood oath to another. And I haven't the time for mating when I have to lead a gang of the worst criminals to fight off the vampire hordes, cannibals, and Akem's creatures of nightmare to find the veiled portal to go home.
The mating call doesn't care for my difficult situation. It affects me with a fever like no other. Its frenzy bursts in my bloodstream, tormenting me with lust more than I can endure. But if I fail to resist it and break my vow, I'll doom not only myself but everyone I protect, and we'll never escape this inferno.
The ruthless, red-blooded wolf king isn't one to listen to reason. And he has no intention of preserving my virtue and honor. He wants to mate with me more than his life is worth, and keep me as his forever. Nothing and no one can stop him on his way to claim me.
Publisher's Note: Claim the Wolf King is a standalone paranormal romance, also a prequel to The Wickedest Witch series. HFN guaranteed. This book contains explicit love scenes, naughty language, the hottest, dominating shifters, and the wicked witch's darkest secrets.
Chapter 1
A flaming comet shot across the sky.
“Take cover,” I said in a hushed voice from my position behind a boulder.
My team darted away from the shaking buildings, their bodies nearly prone to the shadowy ground to remain unseen.
The sonic blast hit my eardrums. The ground shuddered under my feet. Bricks and shards of concrete dropped from the buildings lined up on the rundown streets. Without turning my head, I knew the Witch Tower miles behind us had trembled, but it would stand. As long as it didn’t tumble down, we would have a place to return. And Fiammetta, the Wickedest Witch whom I’d vowed to protect, would be safe.
“It didn’t touch the tower.” Rocky let out a breath of relief beside me. The axe-wielder, his massive arms covered in green scales, was my second-in-command.
I could picture how fire burst into the sky behind me, followed by trails of smoke. Half of the city was in ruin, partly because of the constant meteorites crashing into the surface, and partly because we—the aliens on Pandemonium—kept hunting each other.
The destruction of this hostile planet was inevitable; it attracted meteor showers like a wanton seductress attracted a lustful lover.
I pushed aside my panic and focused on the battle in the grandiose coliseum. The rusty ancient weapons at the edge of the arena left an undeniable imprint of the old world’s glory and cruelty. The native race who had once ruled City of Nine was long gone—no one knew what had happened to them and their civilization.
The remaining citizens were all exiles and criminals from other planets and galaxies.
And all of us fought for survival every second of the day.
I scanned the rest of the arena. One-third of the spectator seats were covered with moss, which was probably the only green in the city. However, the most shocking sight was the wrecked spaceships and shuttles—hundreds of them—clustered in the square.
Smoke drifted from a spaceship that had just crashed.
That was what the nine clans constantly fought for—the rights to claim the newest fallen ship and everything and everyone in it.
“Today’s fight is bad, Kaara,” Rocky whispered.
“We need this,” I said. “If we don’t get into that ship today, we’ll all starve.”
Whenever a ship fell, I led the witch’s army to the arena. They would fight to death for the limited food source, yet none of them knew I also came looking for hope—the First Seer had said Fiammetta and I would only find a way home when an Angel with black wings fell from the sky.
Today, four of the nine clans had fought here, and only the wolf clan and Kruids were still standing. Nearly all the shifters were in their wolf forms, which were much larger and more intimidating than that of a normal wolf.
The shifters snarled as they tore into the cannibals, and the Kruids sank their fangs into the wolves, trying to get a taste of their flesh.
My gaze followed the largest shifter, Marrok, who’d stayed in his humanoid form. The alpha cut into a row of Kruids as if entering a no man’s land, his blade leaving a trail of bodies behind. A grey-skinned Kruid snuck up behind him, iron fangs bared. A warning bubbled in my throat and almost burst from my lips, but Marrok had driven his long sword backwards without even looking back and buried it in the Kruid’s chest, his booted foot kicking away another Kruid who swung his trunk-sized arm at Marrok’s skull.
The shifter alpha was an excellent swordsman. My thumb twitched on the hilt of my sword; I was itching to get into the ring jus
t to cross blades with him. I was a top swordswoman in the Lithuaria Empire, on the planet of Nesnurn in the Icearth galaxy. I’d been stringently trained to serve as the Captain of Guards to Athena Faya—the Wickedest Witch who had taken the name Fiammetta for herself on this planet—when I’d been a little girl, before I’d volunteered to come to this alien planet to defend her. She didn’t know she was the crown princess—her memory had been eviscerated. All she carried was the magical imprint on the back of her forefinger marking her as the Wickedest Witch in the universe.
She didn’t remember me.
My eyes tracked Marrok. He’d just beheaded a Kruid with spectacular skill. Would he look as magnificent in his wolf form as he did as a human?
I’d watched him from afar on three occasions, but I’d never met him.
The shifter alpha didn’t come out of the Keep—the wolf clan’s fortified compound—unless it concerned the war with the bloodsuckers. The vampires were the wolves’ immortal enemies.
Why had he come out today? It was rare for him to join a raid. Perhaps the wolves’ supplies and manpower were running low? Perhaps he simply joined out of boredom?
Marrok leapt into the air and impaled a Kruid through the head, his muscles rippling and flexing with every fluid movement. He was faster than anyone had the right to be.
Rocky nodded in appreciation. “We should jump in before he finishes them all.”
“Hold,” I ordered.
When the Kruids were down to less than a dozen, I roared, “Charge!” and led my team into the fray.
The wolves didn’t cease biting and tearing into the Kruids, but the cannibals snarled and some of them veered toward us as we collided with them.
Antonio, a white wolf, sent me a wary glance as he swiped at his opponent’s neck with his large paws. He knew I’d come for a small share.
We’d fought together against other clans, though we were not really friends. According to him, he merely tolerated me.
I flashed him an affectionate smirk as I leapt behind a Kruid, my blade slashing across the cannibal’s throat. That was one of my signature moves—swift and clean.
The weight of a gaze bore down on me, so intense it burned a path through the air before me, leaving me feeling naked.
Marrok stared at me, stunned, as if I’d just thrown bricks at his face. Instead of finding another Kruid to test the sharpness of his blade, he strode toward me. My team had added numbers to his, so he could afford the leisurely strides. I hoped he would appreciate our aid and give us a bigger share.
Despite the battle raging on and the shouts echoing all around, he came straight for me, his gaze never leaving me, even as he cut down a Kruid on his way.
He’d never seen me before. He thought I was new.
A giant Kruid lunged toward me, his yellow eyes glowing with hunger, his sharp fangs dripping with drool. He propelled his long, sharp claws toward my face, not caring that I was the most delicate species on the field.
To him, I was nothing but delicious meat.
A panicked look seared through Marrok’s eyes. He wasn’t close enough to reach my foe.
“Watch out,” he shouted as he sprinted toward the Kruid, snarling at the wolves near me. “Guard her!”
Oh, really? What did he take me for? A painted flower?
The Kruid was my prey.
I flashed Marrok a fierce, diabolical grin before I went down on my knees and dove. When I emerged from between the Kruid’s truck-like legs, I sliced the cannibal into two halves, right though his crotch.
Another signature move, and not an easy one to mimic.
Anyone who wanted to attempt it had to have my speed and strength, and a sword like mine that had been forged on the planet where the Angels originated. The angelblade was a gift from the First Seer. It could cut into anything and anyone.
It was a wicked technique, and not for the faint-hearted.
The kill was meant to impress Marrok so I could negotiate for a better share when the last of the Kruids were slain. I looked down at the fallen Kruid and noticed a dagger buried deep in the split of its head.
It seemed Marrok had thrown his dagger just before I’d cut through the cannibal.
I turned to glare at the alpha as he reached me, a lopsided, relaxed smile playing at the corner of his sensual lips.
“Hello.”
I pointed at the dead Kruid. “You shouldn’t have spoiled my kill.”
“My apologies,” he said in a deep, velvet voice, and his smile grew wider. “And you are?”
He was over a foot taller than me, so I had to look up at him. But I was practiced in the art of staring down those who were larger than me with confidence or disdain.
My eyes locked onto Marrok’s, shooting daggers, but no sooner had our gazes connected than I found it was a mistake. His sapphire eyes drew me in with some kind of magnetic power and my breath caught in my parched throat.
His enticing male scent held hints of sandalwood and ocean breeze, and not even the malodor of blood and sweat in the battlefield could counteract its potent effect on my senses. For a second, my mind went fuzzy.
I gave myself a mental shake to clear my head and breathed through my mouth so as not to inhale his intoxicating scent.
But I discovered it wasn’t just his scent—his mere presence exuded pure male power, eliciting a reaction from my body I had never experienced before.
I was aroused.
Heat pooled in my belly, my core quivering with need, and I could feel my mound becoming slick with desire.
What the fuck?
I had had countless lovers, but I’d never lost control like this. Though I hadn’t indulged in any lustful practices since I’d come to this cursed planet, I shouldn’t have been this turned on in a goddamned arena, in the middle of the bloody battle no less.
This was beyond embarrassing. It was humiliating. Not only could wolves smell their prey’s fear, they could also smell arousal.
Damn this Pandemonium hell!
Marrok sniffed, his nostrils flaring, his sapphire eyes turning a few shades darker. Golden rings formed around his irises. His desire, even stronger than mine, whipped alive.
Damn it all! I had just switched on his animalistic lust with my arousal.
We stared at each other like two beasts in heat, ready to pounce or mate. Except he was an animal, and I wasn’t.
I cursed in the Lithuarian tongue, and Marrok’s ear twitched to listen attentively.
Collateral damage, I told myself. This is an unfortunate accident.
I needed to fix it.
I wheeled my gaze toward Antonio to indicate my interest was for him. The beta wolf was manly and good looking in his humanoid form.
Marrok growled aggressively and swaggered in front of me to block my sight of his second.
I blinked in pretense and returned my gaze to him, my features morphing to show my displeasure. “I know Antonio,” I said, the name rolling off my tongue with a seductive note.
He growled again, almost baring his teeth, dark jealousy hardening his alluring eyes.
I ignored his snarl, and my voice turned husky. “But I don’t know you. Who are you?”
“You won’t deal with Antonio from now on or ever again,” Marrok said. “You want anything, you come to me. Or you get nothing.”
I arched an eyebrow, showing the alpha I wasn’t impressed as I wiped the dark blood from my angelblade on a Kruid’s corpse.
“I’m Marrok.”
“I don’t remember anyone ever mentioning you,” I said, glancing around the battlefield. Two Kruids were still standing, trying their best to keep fighting. “I’m Kaara Nightshades, from the witch’s coven. We aided you today as we did before.”
“You want a cut.” His heated eyes roved from my face to my breasts, and my nipples pricked against my blouse in response. A teasing smile formed on his lips.
My body’s reaction to his unashamed examination of my breasts annoyed me, so I cleared my throat to remind
him we were still on the battlefield, surrounded by fighters and corpses. But my treacherous body urged me to throw myself into his arms. It liked his caressing gaze and I felt a pull to sway my hips.
“I expect a share,” I said. “We fought with you.”
“Kaara Nightshades from the Wickedest Witch’s coven,” he said, as if savoring the name.
My name sounded intimate on his tongue, and I wondered what else it could do.
Get your shit together, I commanded myself.
He licked his lips, as if echoing my dirty thought, and my face burned hot under his gaze.
“You’re the new girl,” he said. “You rose to power quickly.”
“You’re mistaking me for someone else. I’ve been around for nearly three years.”
He frowned, then anger flashed into his eyes. “How come I’ve never met you?” He cut a glare at the white wolf Antonio.
“Maybe if you came out more often and mingled, you would have,” I offered.
“I would if I knew you were here,” he said, and the words seemed to caress my body.
I wanted to purr, but I held myself in check.
The battle ended. My team stood by, awaiting my orders.
The wolves remained in their animal forms, glaring sinisterly at my people.
Antonio shifted back to his humanoid form and treaded toward us. “Hey, Kaara,” he said. “Always arrive at the perfect time, don’t you?”
I gave him a half smile. “Wouldn’t want to steal your thunder.” My eyes drifted over his naked body, but before I could finish evaluating it, Marrok stepped in front of his beta, once again blocking my view.
“Antonio,” he growled, “put on some fucking clothes!”
“It’s never been a requirement before,” Antonio murmured.
Marrok scowled at him. “There’s an innocent girl in front of us.”
“Kaara has seen me like this many times,” Antonio said. At Marrok’s dark look, he immediately lowered his head and sent his alpha a strange glance. “Fine, I’ll put on my bloody and filthy shirt.” He stalked toward his discarded clothing.