Kassandra's Wolf (The Dragon Ruby Series Book 3)

by Leilani Love

  Table of Contents

  Kassandra’s Wolf

  Copyright

  Other Books by Leilani Love

  Dedication

  Prologue

  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

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  COPYRIGHT © 2016 Leilani Schweitzer

  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.

  Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).

  Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes.

  No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.

  Inquiries about additional permissions should be directed to: leilanilovebooks@gmail.com

  Cover Design by Scott Carpenter

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to similarly named places or to persons living or deceased is unintentional.

  OTHER BOOKS BY LEILANI LOVE

  Violca’s Dragon

  The King’s Fire

  Violca’s Vow

  Kassandra’s Wolf

  DEDICATION

  It would be impossible to list everyone I need to thank. I really want to thank my family and friends who let me bounce ideas off them and understand when I need a few hours to myself to write.

  A special Thank You to everyone who has taken the time to write a review or message me, your words of encouragement always seem to come at the right time.

  Love you all and hope you guys all enjoy!

  PROLOGUE

  Emily awoke with tears streaming down her cheeks as she reached out to touch her husband, Marcus. Sensing her pain, he pulled her into his arms and held her close in his safe embrace.

  “What’s wrong, my love?” he asked.

  “A dream . . .” Emily said stopping herself from continuing. There were consequences for revealing the future. Good or bad, her mother had always stressed that she must always be careful with what she revealed to others. As much as she wanted to she couldn’t tell him she saw flames dancing over his body as they lay in bed and the sound of their twins crying. Seers like her didn’t often see when someone was expected to die. The closer a person was to them, the harder it was to see their future. If the strongest among her kind couldn’t predict their own death, how could she?

  The look on his face told her he believed otherwise, but he didn’t press further. Years of marriage had taught him that she would always tell him what she could, when she could. Instead he lovingly stroked her back as he held her, promising to chase the bad dreams away.

  Over the next few nights Emily was haunted by the same dream. Each time she awoke it was to find herself being held tightly in Marcus’s arms. She felt as if time was running out. Emily went to the library to write letters to her three-year-old twins, Damien and Hope. The Fates had given her a glimpse of her children’s future, giving her an opportunity to keep them safe. She wasn’t about to waste it. Damien and Hope had a rough road ahead of them. Emily had to make sure that she chose her words carefully.

  She worried about Damien, the oldest of her twins, the most. Emily wished she could give him words of encouragement but had to worry about altering his future. As future pack alpha, his destiny not only affected him but every member of their pack. Hope, younger than him by just a few minutes, would blame herself. Their mates would have to be strong to help heal them.

  “Mom!” she heard Damien scream as he ran down the hall to the living room.

  Emily placed both letters in a small box, locking it before Damien came crashing into the room. With his dark, wavy hair and amber eyes framed by long, thick lashes he looked just like his father. His face scrunched up. “Mom, I didn’t mean to! It was an accident! Tell her to quit crying.”

  Before Emily could question him, Hope entered the room, big tears flowing down her face. Her lower lip quivered as she held up her small hands, showing her the broken pieces of strings and beads of the bracelet she had been working on earlier. “Mom, he broke it. I told him it wasn’t for him and he broke it.”

  “I didn’t mean to, I just wanted to see it,” Damien said, looking distressed at his sister’s tears.

  Unlike her brother, Hope more closely resembled Emily, with her straight honey-blonde hair and pale complexion. The only resemblance between the two siblings was that they both had their father’s eyes. Before Emily could reply, Damien picked up some of the broken pieces. “I’ll fix it, I promise. Please don’t cry.”

  Emily took them both by the hand and led them over to the desk. “Here, let me help you and we’ll have it fixed in no time.”

  As she laid out the pieces she saw Damien trace the intricate design on her box. “Mom, what’s in the box?”

  “It’s for you when you get older.” Damien smiled brightly at the idea of getting a present. She took the box from him and put it in the desk. “Now,” she smiled, “the first thing we need to do is get new string to replace the broken one.”

  CHAPTER 1

  As Damien came to, he glanced down at the two women in his bed. One of them had her arm wrapped around his waist while the other was tucked against his side. He reached up, rubbing his face. For the life of him he couldn’t remember either girls’ name. One of their names started with a J, or was it a C? As he looked down, he tried to think of how to untangle himself without waking either of them. With some careful effort, he removed the arm from his waist before he sat up slowly and crawled off the bed.

  As he searched for his jeans, the sound of the women snoring ensured him that he hadn’t woken either one. Damien grabbed the jeans on the floor as he walked to the bathroom to wash up enough to head home. He wasn’t worried about leaving the girls alone in the room, which was above the bar he owned, The Lone Wolf. Originally the room was meant for him to crash in after a late night, but during the past few months he’d been staying there almost nightly. As a shifter, the animal Damien was aware of both sides of him. It seemed the only thing that settled the wolf inside him was fucking and fighting. Lately not even that was working. It was getting harder and harder to control that part of himself. Damien was beginning to fear that the only thing that could settle his wolf was the one thing he couldn’t do.

  Damien splashed water on his face before grabbing a shirt from the drawer and putting on his boots. Once downstairs he waved to Robert, his best friend and The Lone Wolf’s main bartender, pointing upstairs to let him know that someone was still up there.
Robert shook his head and went back to cleaning up the bar and checking inventory. He had a pregnant wife at home, Alyssa, so mornings were more his style than late nights. Damien often teased him that they better hope the baby looked like its mother. Otherwise it would be born a big pile of dark fur. Robert’s mate Alyssa would laugh and say she hoped their baby ended up with Robert’s dark brown eyes and long lashes. She would be okay if it was born a little hairy.

  Damien put on his leather jacket, motorcycle helmet, and gloves, and headed out to his black Ducati Senna. This particular neighborhood wasn’t the safest, but everyone knew the motorcycle belonged to him. No one was willing to risk his wrath by messing with it.

  Straddling his bike, he headed off down the backroads to his home. The house he’d bought for himself was in a quieter, more respectable neighborhood. His neighbors tolerated him since he left his troubles at the bar; also, his twin sister would often come by. Not one of them was immune once she decided to charm them. With one smile she was able to get almost everyone to do her bidding. The exception was them complaining about his loud motorcycle, they didn’t really say much about him.

  As Damien pulled up to the house, he bit back a groan at seeing Hope’s new Jaguar Convertible in the driveway. He loved her, but still felt a bit of the headache from last night’s drinking, so he wasn’t in the mood for a lecture. Hope didn’t approve of his lifestyle choices and took every opportunity to nag him. As wolf shifters they aged slowly and Hope was quick to point out just because he looked to be in his mid-twenties, didn’t mean he had to act like it. Damien slowly made his way up to the door trying to come up with a way to distract her so he could crawl back in his bed and sleep off the rest of his current hangover.

  Before he could grab the handle to the front door, it flew open. The look on Hope’s face let him know he wouldn’t get his wish. Her normally laughing amber eyes looked to be shooting daggers at him. With her hands on her hips and her foot tapping, she looked much like a mother ready to scold her unruly child.

  “Good morning, sis,” Damien said, giving her his best smile. He stepped in the door and kissed her on the cheek. “I wasn’t expecting you this morning.” He said as he put his hand on her hip maneuvering her so he could wiggle past her, letting her close the door as he put his helmet and gloves on the table next to the door.

  The soft click of the door closing was more ominous than if she would have just slammed it shut. “You reek of alcohol, and cheap perfume.” Hope paused, sniffing the air she gave him a very disappointed look. “The girls you were with last night.”

  He shrugged, wondering what had her in such a foul mood. “If you would have called before you came over, I would have been home to greet you.”

  Her amber eyes narrowed and she picked up her phone, tossing it at him. “I did and you said you would have breakfast with me this morning.”

  Damien frowned, trying to remember what she was talking about, he swore softly under his breath. Hope had messaged him the night before—before he’d gotten distracted when a few girls had approached him, asking if he wanted to do body shots. He glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn’t even eight, he tried to give her his best apologetic smile. “It’s early. Let me take a quick shower and I’ll treat you to brunch.”

  He could see her struggling to stay mad at him, and he gave her his best puppy-dog look. Finally, she gave in and mumbled, “Hurry up and shower. I’m hungry.”

  He teasingly pulled her hair as he walked past knowing that meant she forgave him. “Just give me ten minutes. I promise to be quick.”

  “Just make sure you clean up,” she yelled after him as he jogged up the stairs. “I don’t know what smells worse—stale alcohol or perfume ‘la desperate.’”

  He laughed despite himself. Brunch would partially consist of a lecture of how he should conduct himself. Unlike him, Hope still expected them to go back and take over the pack that was stolen from them. Damien had no such delusions. His dad might’ve been Alpha when he was alive, but his pack did nothing to help him and his sister. Instead when their house went up in flames, they were saved by the Vampire King Lazzaro and hidden away to be kept safe. The fire was set by the greedy wolf, Warrick, Hope’s mate. Hope and Warrick had imprinted on each other making him the next in line after the death of their parents and the assumed death of both him and Hope. Damien wasn’t willing to lose her fighting for a pack of wolves who were too stupid to see what had happened.

  Clean and dressed in black jeans and a white shirt, Damien walked downstairs to see his sister curled up on the couch reading a book. “Ready to go?” he asked as he grabbed his keys.

  “Been waiting on you, old man.”

  Damien raised an eyebrow at the word old, “You know I’m minutes older than you, right?”

  Hope flashed him an amused smile. “Still older. I’m driving since you made me wait.”

  Not really caring who drove, Damien set the alarm before following her out. He got in the passenger side of her new Jaguar and whistled. “Explain to me again how a woman your age affords a car like this without having a job?”

  He noticed a slight blush on her cheeks as she backed out of the driveway. “I work.”

  “Errands for Lazzaro don’t count. You know he’s just keeping you close until he can use us.” Damien said, still trying to figure out what Lazzaro could have possibly gotten out of rescuing two young wolf shifters all those years ago.

  “He’s not using me Damien. Besides, he raised us and kept us safe. It’s been more than forty years, Damien. Time to let go of your anger and fight for what’s ours. By not fighting, you’re letting them win.”

  Damien snorted, dismissing her argument. They’d had this fight so many times he could recite it in his sleep. They did owe Lazzaro for saving them, but he knew that his motives weren’t totally pure. The Vampire King rarely did anything out of the goodness of his heart. Damien wasn’t sure what he got out of rescuing two small kids, but he had a feeling whatever it was, he’d be finding out soon.

  CHAPTER 2

  Kassandra ordered a Jack and Coke and leaned against the bar in The Lone Wolf. Before she left the hotel she’d used her ability to conceal the scent of her dragon. The supernatural population tended to stick to their own kind. Wolves had been known to work for the vampires, a paid relationship that benefited both parties, but had caused a great deal of mistrust between the dragons and wolves. Recently Lazzaro and her King, Viktor, had formed a tentative truce hoping to end the feud between dragons and vampires while strengthening Lazzaro’s position amongst his people. Lazzaro was a pain in the ass, but the older vampires wishing to replace him as king would cause an all-out war.

  Kassandra was there on a mission. They had received computer alerts that Dmitri had been spotted in the area. After a few hours of research, Kassandra discovered that he had been contacting a wolf shifter named Damien. She had been surprised to find out that it was the same Damien that Lazzaro had rescued. Viktor had sent her down to find out why the two were meeting and if it had any impact on the recent truce.

  Since the discovery of the Earth Witches, it had become increasingly important to find out what the Dragon Prince Dmitri was up to. Dmitri had caused a rift among the dragons after his parents had been killed by the Orion Hunters. In his grief he went searching for the Fates, hoping that they would help him find The Dragon Ruby. This ruby was believed to house all the powers that the gods had taken from them. After the dragons had killed the Titans for the gods, they were to be killed. They were too big and strong to be left to wander the Earth. The pleas of a young farm girl who had fallen in love with a dragon she’d rescued had saved them, turning them into the shifters they were now. In order to live, they’d surrendered a large part of their strength and magical abilities, which now lay hidden away in The Dragon Ruby. Thanks to the cryptic message of the Fates, Dmitri was determined to find the stone. For that task he would need the five Witch sisters, and he had already proven he would stop at nothing to find them a
nd make them do his bidding, regardless of the possible consequences.

  Kassandra had driven up on her bike and was wearing a pair of black leather pants and a green scoop neck blouse. She had expected it to be more of a dive bar and was surprised that there was a coat check, but having noticed the amount of motorcycles out front, she wasn’t surprised to see a large amount of leather jackets and helmets when she handed hers over.

  The bartender handed her the Jack and Coke she had ordered and Kassandra took a moment to look him over. He wore a plain black shirt with the logo of the bar on it. His hair was black and wavy and hung just past the collar of his shirt. His eyes however stood out, a shade lighter than his hair and were warm and friendly as he handed her the drink, “Would you like to keep a tab or pay as you go?”

  “Pay as I go thanks.” She replied easily. She could smell a female on him and smiled noticing the simple gold band on his ring as she paid him for the drink.

  “I haven’t seen you in here before. “He commented as he gave her back the change, nodding at her in thanks when she left him a tip.

  “Just passing through and heard some girls at the hotel recommend this place.”

  The bartender chuckled shaking his head and she wondered if he knew that the girl at the hotel recommended she come and check out the bar owner, “I’m Robert. If you need anything let me know.”

  “Thanks, my friends call me Kat.” Kassandra replied. Robert smiled at her name, his eyebrow going up. She could actually see him thinking about the fact that her nickname was Kat and she was in a bar full of wolves cleverly named The Lone Wolf. Before he could reply, someone called out for him down the bar and he gave her one last grin before walking away.

  Kassandra eased away from the bar and found herself eavesdropping on a conversation between two girls. Her interest piqued when she heard the word “Damien,” so she found an empty table close to the girls.