Wolf claimed a werewolf.., p.1
Wolf Claimed: A Werewolf Shifter Romance (Supernatural Sanctuary Book 1), page 1
Wolf Claimed
Supernatural Sanctuary Book 1
Kellie McAllen
Contents
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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
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Also by Kellie McAllen
A Note from the Author
About the Author
Copyright © 2019 Kellie McAllen
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review.
Trademarked names appear throughout this book. Rather than use a trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, names are used in an editorial fashion, with no intention of infringement of the respective owner’s trademark.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
COVER DESIGN BY
Covers by Christian
Chapter 1
Luna
You know how animals can sense when a storm is brewing? They get restless and agitated like they know something is about to happen, but they don’t know what, or when, and there’s nothing they can do to prepare for it. Well, that’s exactly how I felt the day the shit storm hit, and my world came crashing down around me.
When my alarm rang, I woke from a restless doze, tossed off my thin, fleece blanket and kicked myself free of the sheet that was pasted to my legs with sweat. I clawed away the strands of tangled, dark hair that clung to my damp neck. My body always tended to run kind of hot, but that day I felt like a tamale being steamed inside a corn husk. My normally smooth sheets and soft, fuzzy blanket were about as comfortable as sandpaper.
I didn’t feel sick exactly, although my body seemed achy and feverish. I felt a little nauseous, but my belly was growling like my stomach was a rabid dog, eating me alive. I didn’t need to throw up, I needed to eat.
But the bowl of Lucky Charms I usually ate for breakfast didn’t sound the least bit appealing. I wanted meat. Kind of strange for a vegetarian. But maybe not for a half-hearted one like me who thought it was the right thing to do but couldn’t seem to remember why when the scent of bacon wafted from the kitchen like it was doing just then.
I tromped down the hall, my body twitchy, my muscles tense like coiled springs, quivering with pent up energy, ready to burst out of my skin. My fingers clenched with the bizarre urge to claw away my flesh. Sounds crazy now that I try to explain it, but at the time I didn’t think that much of it. I had no way of knowing what it all meant.
I chalked it up to PMS, especially considering how downright ferocious I felt, like I wanted to rip somebody’s head off for no good reason. Zander made a good target, since, as his older sister, it was my duty to keep the cocky, little brat in his place.
“You’re in my way.” I jabbed an elbow into his ribs, shoving him away from the stove where Mom was frying bacon and eggs like the perfectly happy homemaker she was.
Zander jerked aside, and I took his place, snagging a strip of bacon from the frying pan. He shoved me back with a scowl and tried to yank the bacon from my fingers, but I held on tight, even though the sizzling meat was burning my skin.
“Hey, that’s mine! You don’t even eat bacon!”
“Today I do. I’m starving. And you’ve probably already had a dozen pieces.”
“So? Mom was making that for me. Cook your own if you want some. Oh wait, I forgot, you can’t, because you’re a pathetic excuse for a girl.” He rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue like he was five instead of fifteen.
I made an equally juvenile face. “I burnt it one time. You’ve never even tried to make it.”
“Cuz I’m not a girl.”
“Oh really? Then why is your voice higher than mine?”
Mom gave that worried little frown she always made when I fought with my brother then reached for the package of bacon. “Don’t fight, Luna. It’s not ladylike. I can have some more ready in a jif. Or maybe you’d like to try to make it?”
I grimaced and shook my head. Learning how to cook was the last thing I cared about right then. Or any time, really. “I’m too hungry right now. I’d rather eat it raw than wait for it.”
Mom nodded with a concerned look on her face then plated the rest of the cooked bacon and handed it to me. “Okay. Eat this and I’ll cook some more for Zander.”
I felt bad for a millisecond, but I knew she didn’t mind. I didn’t know how she could stand it, doing nothing but cooking and cleaning all day, tending to her family, especially my father, like he was the center of the universe. But she loved it. I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I got out of school, but it certainly wasn’t that. I wanted my own identity.
You’d think in this day and age that my parents would be all for that, but no, they both talked like I’d be just like my mom someday. While other parents were encouraging their daughters to go into science, technology, or medicine, mine thought being a wife and mother was the greatest thing a girl could aspire to. I hadn’t pushed the issue much yet, but I fully intended to make something of myself before I even thought about settling down. But none of us could imagine what fate had in store for me.
I held the plate to my chin and scarfed down several pieces of bacon, ripping off large chunks and gnawing it violently, before the roaring in my stomach settled a little. No one seemed to notice my unusual behavior, but that was normal. My brother and I were too close in age for me to remember those few years before he was born and they started fussing over him like he was the chosen one.
My body still craved something, but my bacon was gone, and I didn’t want any of the eggs, so I stalked off to get ready for school. A lukewarm shower did little to cool my blazing skin. I was tempted to put on shorts, but the icy drizzle pattering against my bedroom window discouraged me. I tugged on some jeans instead. As a concession, I put on a thin tank top then tossed a gauzy shirt over it, letting it hang open, unbuttoned.
I wasn’t the type to fuss over my looks like some girls, but something motivated me to swipe on some wine-colored lipstick and brush out my long hair instead of wrapping it up in a topknot to get it off my neck like I usually did. I took a glance in the mirror then sneered at myself, wondering why I cared. It wasn’t like I wanted to impress any of the guys at my school. None of them were interesting enough to tempt me into turning into my mother. Well, except maybe one, but he was off limits.
When I was ready, I pounded on Zander’s door, yelling, “I’m leaving.”
We both knew I wouldn’t leave without him and risk getting in trouble, but Zander hustled out anyway, well aware that I’d make him regret it if he kept me waiting. I climbed into my ride—Dad’s old, gray pickup that I’d happily claimed when he got a new one because I liked how high up I sat in it. I still felt irritable, so I pulled up my Avril Lavigne playlist, plugged my phone into the aux jack, and cranked up the volume. Zander cringed and reached for the knob, but I batted his hand away.
“What’s wrong with you? You’re bitchier than normal today.”
I scowled at him but answered, glad to have somebody to complain to. “I don’t know. I just feel… fierce.”
He curled his upper lip that was shadowed with dark peach fuzz about as long as his buzzed-off hair. “That time of the month?”
I punched his shoulder. “Shut up, jerk face.”
He winced but resisted the urge to rub the spot even though I knew I’d hit him hard enough to leave a bruise. “You smell weird, too.”
I blew that off as a random insult, but when he looked away, I took a quick sniff of my armpit just to be sure. All I could smell was my vanilla-scented body wash.
Once we got to school, Zander covered his head with his jacket and darted towards the building, but I stalked defiantly across the parking lot, face to the sky, savoring the cold water that pelted my flushed skin. Once inside, I tipped my head back and whipped my hair back and forth, shaking the water from my mane like a dog. The move drew the attention of several people, including Nikko Brisbane and his gang.
I didn’t know then what they were, but maybe my subconscious recognized them instinctually. They reminded me of wild animals, the way they slunk around the school, their dark eyes leering like they were hunting for prey. They were always in a group, with Nikko at the center, communicating with each other with wordless looks and nods, giving off a menacing vibe that warned me to stay away.
My
They’d come face to face over an animal trap in the hunting supply store when I was ten. Dad’s whole body had swelled up and hardened like he was about to turn into the Incredible Hulk. His eyes bulged with a ferocious look, and he bared his teeth before shoving me behind him. Nikko’s father acted the same way, and they both slowly backed away from each other. We left the store without buying what we came for, then Dad hustled me into his truck and peeled out like the building was about to explode. For the next several months, he drove twenty minutes to the next town over whenever he wanted something.
When I got my license, it took months to convince my dad to let me go to town on my own. Once I did, he would question me every time I went out about where I’d been and who I was with. He never said what he was so worried about, but I had a feeling he thought that Nikko and his friends would get to me.
I didn’t understand what my father had against them. While they definitely gave off scary vibes, as far as I knew they’d never done anything to warrant that kind of distrust. But he never gave me an explanation, and my father wasn’t the kind of man you questioned. His word was law, and all he needed was a stone-faced look to enforce it.
But I was as hard-headed as my father, and there was something about Nikko that drew me in. With dark hair, tan skin, and piercing, amber eyes, Nikko caught the attention of most girls in school. But it was the dangerous energy he radiated that attracted me even though it should have repelled. It was only the fact that Nikko treated me with the same aversion my father had for him that kept me away from him. Until then.
When Nikko’s gaze landed on me, tossing my hair, his nostrils flared, and his mouth stretched open with a hiss like he was tasting the air. His followers did the same thing. Nikko’s eyes zeroed in on me, roving slowly up and down my body before boring into mine with an intensity that made me shiver. Fear and attraction coursed through me at the same time, like competing bolts of electricity zigzagging through me that crackled and sparked as they collided, raising my hackles and my libido at the same time.
“Luna,” Zander whispered tersely. Dad’s admonitions were not restricted to me. Zander had been warned against Nikko and his group, too.
From the corner of my eye, I could see my brother tense and flick his eyes back and forth between us as Nikko took a step closer. I sucked in a deep breath as he neared, drawing in a musky scent too intense to be his natural aroma but better than any cologne I’d ever smelled. I desperately wanted to take another sniff, but I was too overwhelmed to breathe. I’d never been that close to him before. He’d always stayed clear of me, like his father had given him the same warning about me as mine had about him.
But for some reason, today was different.
I dared to take another breath as Nikko stepped in front of me and his pack encircled us, fencing me in.
Chapter 2
Nikko
It had been drilled into me my whole life—stay away from the Ammon pack. So why was my body moving towards Luna like a scrap of metal being pulled in by a powerful magnet?
And why were my pack mates following behind me like they had no more control of themselves than I did? I wasn’t alpha yet; they didn’t have to obey me, even though they’d been practicing for it my whole life. They stayed back some, out of deference to me, but I could tell they were as drawn to her as I was.
It was her scent that drew me towards her, and probably them, too. One whiff of it curled through my body like poison gas, intoxicating me. I’d never smelled anything quite like it. She smelled like a wolf.
Which was no surprise considering who her family was. As much as I avoided any contact with them, I knew exactly what they smelled like. I’d been trained to sniff out the slightest hint of the enemy pack.
But it wasn’t the lingering scent of them I smelled on her. She smelled like a different wolf, altogether. She couldn’t be, of course. There were no female wolves, hadn’t been for generations.
Had she been hanging out with some other wolf who didn’t belong to either of our packs? Doubtful. Pacts stuck to their own territory. Even if they weren’t enemies with other packs, they didn’t mingle. But even if she had been with another wolf, that wouldn’t explain the irresistible pull I felt towards her all of a sudden.
My body moved closer, her scent reeling me in, till I was close enough to touch her. I’d never gotten that close to her before, never been near enough to see the gray flecks in her blue eyes or the pink flush on the porcelain skin that stood out against her damp, dark hair. Striking. I’d always thought she was pretty, but I’d never been so attracted to her.
Desire coursed through my veins like acid, burning me alive. She was the only thing that would quench the fire. I had to have her. My hand lifted to stroke her cheek, but I forced it down. She wouldn’t want me to touch her, and I didn’t want to scare her away.
Her chest heaved as she took in deep, rapid breaths, tempting me to look at her breasts that were pushing against her tight tank top. I focused my gaze on her beautiful eyes instead, which widened in fear. No doubt, she’d been warned to stay away from me and my pack, though whatever reason she’d been given wasn’t the real one. Women weren’t privy to the truth about werewolves, not even if they were an alpha’s daughter, like Luna.
I stood there, staring at her for a long moment, not sure what to say to her. There was nothing to say. I couldn’t very well ask her why she smelled like a wolf or tell her that I had a sudden, irresistible desire to touch her, kiss her, claim her. She’d think I was crazy.
Her breath hitched, and her heart sped up, both signs of fear, but there was another emotion on her face. One that could cause the same reaction. I knew because I felt its effects on my own body. Was she as attracted to me as I was to her?
“Hey Luna. You look really nice today.” The words tumbled out of my mouth, and I instantly regretted them. I sounded like a tongue-tied idiot.
She stared back at me for a moment, dumbstruck, but then her wine-stained lips curled up in a smile that sent bolts of pleasure shooting through my body. Oh yeah, she definitely wanted me, too.
“Thank you,” she whispered, and the husky sound of her voice vibrated through me.
I didn’t know what to say next, but it didn’t matter, because her brother worked up the nerve to approach us then—confronting five enemy wolves in an attempt to protect his sister. Pretty impressive for a pup who’d probably turned for the first time less than a year ago. But, like me, Zander was in line to be the next alpha of his pack, so he didn’t dare show any weakness.
“Luna, you should get to class,” he said, but he kept his eyes on me, staring me down without flinching, only the smallest quiver bristling the hair on his neck.
She frowned at him and opened her mouth to argue, but then the first bell rang. “So should you,” she said to him, then slipped between the wolves that surrounded her and walked off.
“Stay away from my sister,” Zander growled when she was out of earshot then backed away a few steps before turning and hurrying off.
“What the heck was that?” Roane, my best friend and most likely my future beta glanced back and forth between Luna and me, his bushy, bronze eyebrows yanked up to his hairline and his big mouth gaping open.
