Hungry Like the Wolf (Cursed Kin Series Book 1)

by Kyla Riley

  Hungry Like the Wolf

  Kyla Riley

  Contents

  Introduction

  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

  Ordinary World

  Take on Me

  About the Author

  Introduction

  1046 AD

  Once there was a good and just king that ruled Scotland and the various tribes. Eochaid, was a laird (a tribe leader or king) that was treasured and loved by his people. Stories were woven that Eochaid was the most handsome, most fair in the land. His properties were coveted far and wide for an alliance of any kind. What the tales didn’t reveal is that the king had married his soulmate long ago and had a large family who loved him. When Fiona, his beloved bride, had passed away in childbirth, there was an outbreak of war to reunite the tribes once again with the eligible, rich king who was now a widower.

  The oldest son and heir to the throne was named Niall. The stories would go on to call him Niall of the Nine – claiming he had nine hostages. The nine weren’t hostages, they were his siblings: Conn, Fiacha, Brion, Loegaire, Maine, Fergus, Aisling and Nath. All had formed a pact to keep their family together from any that would seek to do them harm.

  Family was the core of their very beliefs.

  But stories and forgotten history have a way of being warped and modified over the years so people could understand and wrap their minds around what actually happened. The horrors and curses that befell the Cael family were terrible to behold and it started with a simple phrase.

  I do.

  The truth of the matter, what actually happened, was that Eochaid was a descendant of the Ulster King and dabbled in magic, creating a coveted land that prospered and grew. The temptation of blending two powerful families together with a timid beautiful woman was too good of an opportunity to pass up for King Eochaid. A young widowed queen was brought forth to bring peace, and rumored to be just as gentle as his recently deceased wife.

  Cairene was a Saxon and much younger than the king, who was already in his prime and twice her age. When she found that her betrothed already had a family and they looked upon her as a threat, a replacement of their own precious mother… Cairene felt that she’d been betrayed and misled. She was still mourning her own beloved husband who’d been killed, and the thought of being surrounded by family that hated her was more than she could bear.

  She would never have her own family, a dynasty to pass down to her own children, nor her husband. Everything would go to Eochaid’s eldest sons – not her own. Those memories and dreams Cairene had of creating a kingdom her son would rule someday were long gone, along with any hope in her heart. The despondent Queen sold her soul and laid a heavy curse on the Cael lineage.

  No one is for sure what happened between the king and his new queen, only that their union was a bitter and angry one. King Eochaid fell sick and died within a week of Cairene’s arrival and their quick marriage. Some claimed it was a broken heart, others said it was poison, and some called it witchcraft.

  The king’s beloved children, Niall and his siblings, were struck down one by one as they mourned their father’s passing. Each of them was cursed horribly, forced to feast on those around them for sustenance. This powerful curse would separate the children, tearing their family asunder, and force them to walk the world alone… just as the betrayed Queen Cairene would until she passed.

  Death would not claim them as it had their father. The siblings didn’t fade away like the king had, but instead, they had become immortal. They were forced to exist in a world that hated them, feared them, with absolutely no hope in sight.

  Not only had Cairene cursed their family lineage- but if the siblings came close to each other, their powers were weakened significantly, leaving them vulnerable to weapons and other spells. They would be separated, forced to be as alone as Cairene felt. Together, they could still perish or be injured, forcing them apart as their own clansman hunted them down with pitchforks and swords in fear.

  Fighting against what was happening to them at Cairene’s hand, two of the older boys stood before the others in an effort to protect the younger children. An example was made out of them, Niall and Conn, before the others scattered in the night to search for cover from their new, nightmarish lives.

  1

  Modern day…

  Nashville, Tennessee

  “Excuse me, is this corral B?”

  Niall felt a strange pull wrenching from deep inside of him. A soft, female voice was heard from nearby behind him; he knew it and could feel her presence. He yanked out his headphone from his ear, annoyed, as someone tapped on his shoulder. Didn’t people realize that running was a solitary sport? He was currently trying to keep from falling flat on his face as he stretched his legs one at a time, pulling his foot up to his butt-cheek in order to prepare for the mini-marathon.

  He realized he was in a bad mood and it probably wasn’t the smartest time to enter a race, but he’d be damned if he would pass up the chance. Running in the cold temps of January and February was so much easier than July or August. At least all he had to worry about in January and February was the urge to mate. He could keep his hands to himself; that would be easy – the rest wasn’t. Not only would he sweat buckets, he’d get a sunburn and cramp horribly in the summer months.

  He’d need blood.

  Niall was a freak of nature with one heck of a pissed off stepmother. Queen Cairene had sold her soul and laid a heavy curse on the Cael family. A nastygram of extraordinary proportions, and she signed the card with a flair for himself and his brother, Conn. She’d destroyed his family in one fell swoop and exacted revenge on the ones that stood up for themselves. Niall was the oldest and had sworn to protect his family. It had been a different time, a different place – but the emotion would remain the same forever. As Cairene had condemned them all to hunt for blood, she’d cursed him and Conn twofold.

  Niall was a vampire that turned into a werewolf. The legends were real, but the mythos – not so much. Sure, he turned into a hairy freak that liked it doggy-style, but that is about where things drew the line. He loved roasted garlic, wore a silver chain around his neck just for shits and giggles – and his family still mailed him Puppy Chow or chew toys for his birthday.

  His younger brother, Conn, had been struck down as well but in a different fashion. When Niall had first made the change, he’d expected Conn to do the same, since they had both jumped in front of the younger children to protect them from her. Niall had gazed upon his brother in horror as his own body contorted painfully and his muscles ached- but Conn had apparently borne the brunt of the curse.

  Conn faded away into almost nothingness, disappearing before his very eyes. Niall had howled in pain, thinking his brother had died like his father… only to feel a brush of wind against his face. He knew now that was the only way Conn could reach out and communicate when he turned into an apparition. When he reappeared, he was crazed with bloodlust because the vampire’s hunger had still been there, yet he could not feed in his spectral form. So, every month when the full moon came, Niall’s brother starved and nearly lost his mind. Frenzied feeding brought about guilty feelings for Conn, remorse and hatred for himself…yet as immortals, they couldn’t die –
just suffer unending.

  Since 1066 AD.

  The rest of his family had scattered, running from Cairene’s wrath, and found a way to survive- to grow stronger. The further apart the siblings were, the more resistant they became to magic and witchcraft. Some even developed some powers of their own in time.

  “Just never mind then,” Niall heard the disappointment and disgust in the woman’s voice and almost laughed as she walked around him and moved farther into the crowd. “Your bib says C and your face is telling me to get the heck outta here. Enjoy your race, buddy.”

  Blinking, Niall took a second to glance down at the blonde as she drifted past him. He smelled coffee and something else as he stared at the thick braid plaited tightly on her head. A large pink rubber band at the bottom of her long braid swung like a pendulum as he watched fascinated. She glided through the crowd towards the other corral of runners- away from him.

  Her hot pink spandex pants hugged her form and stuck out brightly from several others in sweatpants or gym shorts. It didn’t matter that it was forty degrees out here in the early morning air – he suddenly felt a rush of heat as his breath escaped from his body. Niall found himself following her trail, entranced as she moved up further and further to the starting line. He hadn’t even seen her face, but couldn’t shake the desire to watch her.

  “Sir, you’ll have to start in corral C – this is A and you have to qualify for this group.” The guard watching the race dared to lay a hand on his Under-Armor pullover and Niall glared at him, causing him to quickly move it back to his side.

  “My woman is up here,” he blurted out and nearly snapped his teeth at the man.

  “She’s apparently much faster than you are. Get to the back, sir,”

  “Find someone else to bother,” Niall said firmly, his eyes focused on the man, and he knew the moment the mind control worked. The guard’s face went slack as he backed away, turned around and walked off. Not ten steps away, he stopped, shook his head and continued on. Niall turned to see if he could see the pink goddess nearby and groaned in frustration. She was gone and the crowd started to move as the race began.

  Putting his earbud back in, Niall started to run. He crossed the start line and smiled with excitement. As a runner, he got joy from competing against himself. Today was a little different. He was chasing the proverbial fox. The woman had a gorgeous svelte body that made his mouth water as she moved. He could only imagine what she would look like running. That tight body- would the curves bounce? Would she flex and move, showing off her definition? If he caught her- would she smile or talk with him… since he’d missed his chance to say hello?

  His heart was racing, but not with anticipation- but with demand as he tried to get closer to the front. If she had been in corral A, that meant she could finish the 13.1 miles in under two hours. He had finished his last one in two hours and forty minutes. It’s not that he couldn’t run faster than that, but while he liked to track his time against other races that he had done in the past – he wanted to enjoy the feeling of the run as well. This race felt like he was doggedly tracking her down, and the pun was not lost on him!

  Racing was something he grew to enjoy over the centuries. As a boy, he remembered running through the moors to the next village. He’d been fast and trustworthy, something that had come in handy over and over again during the French and Indian War or the Revolutionary War. Someone had always needed a way to pass information and Niall could run far without stopping. When he found that people raced for fun or medals – he continued the sport. That was one thing that being immortal gave him: time to learn and savor what made him happy, since he couldn’t share it with his family.

  That was the beauty of this century.

  It used to be they would send letters or packages to each other, but with the development of the telephone, his family had grown closer than they had been in the last several centuries. He’d never forget how he cried when he heard Conn’s voice for the first time as he cradled the bell-shaped telephone handset to his ear. Both grown men were blubbering like children after so many years of being alone. Niall had backed Bell Telephone financially as fast as he could wire funds to the man. The sheer gift of communication had been a miracle- or so he had thought- until he was able to FaceTime his brothers and sisters.

  He’d laughed when he saw his baby sister’s bright red hair for the first time. Apparently Loegaire was enjoying modern times as well. She’d bleached her ruddy brown hair and colored it a vibrant, fire engine red with orange highlights, making it look like she was a phoenix from fairytales. She admitted that she played with pink, green, blues and purples since she was free to do so. He made it a point to FaceTime each family member every Sunday so they could stay in constant communication. They would text photos to each other and each time his phone dinged, it was a celebration of life and family.

  Something Cairene could never take away from them ever again.

  Glancing up ahead, he saw the hot pink pants stopped on the side of the road. As she bent over to tie her shoelace that had come undone, Niall did something he’d never done before… he tripped. Not just an ungraceful fall or a stumble. He face-planted into the asphalt, giving himself a bloody lip and nose.

  “Geez buddy – are you okay? You want some ice for that?” an older woman handing out water and Gatorade at one of the water stations yelped aloud. The fall had actually knocked his earbud out as he yanked the cord out by mistake clumsily. His phone had skittered several feet away from him and he hoped someone didn’t step on it in their rush to go around him. Getting to his feet, he picked a piece of gravel painfully out of his kneecap. Licking his lips and pinching his nose, he glanced up. He expected to see a flattened iPhone, but instead saw that his pink princess had picked it up.

  “I hate that when it happens to me,” she said bluntly, extending her hand that held the phone. As she looked up at him from under her lashes. He saw her eyes were a pewter color that had him fascinated. Maybe silver did actually make werewolves weak, cause he felt like his knees were jelly right now and it had nothing to do with the fall. “I do treadmill work in the wintertime ‘cause I swear the ice gets me every year- at least a couple of times.”

  “Well this is a first for me,” he said with a smile and saw her wince. He could imagine the horror of his bloodied smile and quickly ran his tongue over his teeth to make sure his fangs weren’t extended.

  “How about a drink,” she said with a wink. “I’ll buy this time and someday you can get me back.” Pertly, she picked up two Gatorades and handed him one, clinking the plastic cup against his. “Drink up and don’t quit. There’s only three miles left.”

  “That’s it?” he asked in surprise, glancing down at his watch. The timer showed that he was pacing for under two hours easily.

  “Yep. I gotta go if I am going to place, and I want my bling,” she said, referring to her finisher’s medal with a wide grin that made him swallow hard. “The medals are gorgeous this year. See ya’ at the finish line. Oh, and get those teeth checked to make sure you didn’t knock something loose– you’ve got a nice smile.” With that, she turned away to sneeze delicately and then took off. It took him a sheer minute standing there to realize that she’d left him behind and he didn’t even know her name.

  “Shit!” he hollered aloud and spiked his plastic cup of Gatorade. Niall launched himself forward, eager to see her again and get her name. He didn’t even care about his race time anymore – he just wanted to see the blonde goddess’ smile again and was simply fascinated with her dark grey eyes.

  2

  “Holly Baines, you had to stop for the gorgeous hottie in the tight running shorts, didn’t you?” she muttered under her breath as she ignored the stitch in her side. She’d been running at a steady pace, constantly aware of the sexy man she’d seen lined up before the starting line. For some reason, she’d felt compelled to try and strike up a conversation – failing miserably. “Hey buddy, what’s your corral? How lame was that come on?�
�

  She was a loner and trying to engage someone in a conversation felt…well, forced and awkward. She was an aggressive runner, indulging in her alpha personality and pushing herself. A true road warrior. Running required only two things: herself and her Adidas. She didn’t have to wait on anyone, schedule anything, or fit it in to her schedule. She ran when she wanted and felt good about it.

  Being a dentist, she didn’t really have to develop a relationship. They were only in her chair long enough for her to examine the teeth or do some work. Her hygienist did most of the dirty work and Holly swooped in to save the day, so to speak. When Holly would enter the room, it was with a single goal in mind – finish the job. She’d say a quick hello, ask if anything had been bothering the patient, and then they had to lay back with instruments in their mouths, preventing any more discussion. She would sit them up, make a bit of small talk that always ended with ‘see you in six months. Bye.’

  Relationships, communication, and stepping outside of her natural boundaries were challenging to say the least – which was why she surprised herself in trying to talk with the tall man. He was beautiful and stood almost a foot higher than the people surrounding him. He was broad shouldered, which surprised her that a man his size could run so fast. She was barely five foot tall and willowy, making it easy to race, as she seemed to be quick-footed and nimble.

  Stopping to tie her shoelace, Holly intended to take off running again in order to beat last year’s personal record, but when she heard the commotion nearby, she glanced over to see the big guy go down like a ton of bricks. She hesitated, seeing him shake his head. She saw his iPhone was still intact but near where she stood. A large group of runners was coming up fast and she was afraid it would get smashed. She scooped it up and met his eyes, feeling her world turn upside down. It was practically sinful to have eyes like his. Her grey eyes were passed down through her family on her mother’s side – but this man’s eyes looked like molten copper- warm, decadent, with a mix of reddish and brown hues.