Kira Thorne by Shia Naawl (book recommendations website txt) 📖

at us. A woman, in particular, looked at me. Her eyes widened and I smelt her fear. Submissive. The woman met my eyes but quickly looked down and bared her neck. I had newfound respect for this unknown woman. A submissive hardly looks at a Dominant when they’re not in your Pack. Looking directly in the eyes was a form of a challenge to any wereanimal and a challenge always ended bloody. For a submissive to look at a dominant, even only for a second, was a bold move. Especially since I was Wolf and she was Rat.

The Rat that was leading us stopped at the door and gestured to go in. The Dominance in the room was so thick, it took effort to hold back my own. I glanced at Erik and judging by his stone face, he was too. You don’t ever push your dominance on any Alpha. It was bad etiquette. It was a sign of a challenge and if either of us pushed our own out, Erik would be so pissed.

The Alpha Rat sat behind a desk that filled with paper work and my best guess was rat business. This Alpha was tall. His skin in a dark shade of brown, his eye black and his tight-curled hair was also. One look and I knew he was Alpha. The unadulterated power and strength was a dead giveaway. His face to a lot of people was scary but I only so fierceness. He wasn’t like the other pretty Rat I saw. His face was harsh, and the scar burns that covered his left cheek only added to that. His jawline was strong and his demeanour just screamed badass. This man had a past of pain and hardship.It wasn’t hard to see that he was absolutely ripped under the black shirt he donned. My thoughts on the Rats changed. Looking at this man, he was absolutely threatening and arrogant that matched any Alpha I have seen. My She-Wolf stood in alert. Her curiosity ran through me but also her wariness. She knew danger when she sees one. She and I were in total agreement.

Both Alaric and I bared our necks and simply waited. I felt his stare but I didn’t look up. I knew when to push and when not to and though it was my every instinct to look up, I didn’t. So my eyes stayed glued to my feet.

“Close the door Raphael.” His voice. Though he was speaking normally, it was so low and rough. Feminine appeal ran through me. His voice matched the badassness he wore like second skin. It was low, rough and scratchy. It held complete authority.

The door closed and the pretty Rat, Raphael walked passed Alaric and me and stood behind the Alpha. A minute passed and I felt his gaze on us. He was waiting.

“Welcome to my home. Sit.” Finally.

We both sat in the two empty chairs that were in front of his desk. Alaric looked up and spoke.

“Alpha Omar, my name is Alaric and this is Kira.” Erik gestured to me. I met Omar’s gaze and nodded. “We’ve come for information.”

Omar looked at Alaric and then at me. “It’s Omar.” He was still looking at me. “I possess a great deal of information, you need to be more specific.”

“We need inform-“

“I wasn’t speaking to you.” Omar cut it. He just kept looking at me.

Shit. I was only here for backup. Alaric was the talker. The one that didn’t have a mouth that would get deep shit. I observed not watched but I’m not gonna skulk away. It wasn’t who I was.

I looked at Omar. “We info on a witch that has entered the City. Katra.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You assume I have the information?”

I shrugged. “Your clan is known for the eyes and ears of this City. Nothing passes by without you knowing.”

“True. That doesn’t mean I’m willing to give information up.”

“Katra is a powerful non-pure witch that could potentially destroy the City for a personal vendetta. It’s in your best interest to share the goods you have on her or on any witch related activity because I can assure you she’s not here for a holiday visit.”

“Her personal vendetta is against your Alpha. Not me.”

I didn’t even blink. Of course he knew. “Then you know that if we don’t have info, Erik would be in danger and you also. You and Erik have a pack agreement by blood. This woman is destructive and since Erik’s the one lapdog that got away, her craving for him worsen. Now add the non-pure witch part that is centuries old which means she’s past batshit crazy and into the land of no return. If we go down all our allies in the City, including you, will damn sure fall.”

“And you are so certain?”

“If we fall, a new Pack stakes claim on our territory. If the new Alpha doesn’t want a pack agreement with you, what will you do? The City cannot function properly without a strong Pack, if we fall, chaos will follow and the vampires will intervene.” One thing any wereanimal had in common was we both shared a certain dislike for vampires.

He and I look at each other. I stared long enough to get my point across before I broke eye contact. I pushed it. I didn’t wanna bulldoze through it.

“Katra has been silent since she’s entered the City. She’s waiting. The witches spoke of something big that’s going to hit the City but they don’t know what.”

“That’s it? Something big is going to hit the City? It already has and her name is Katra.”

“If there was something out there. I would know. The witches blocked us out. Katra’s posse has been tight-lipped and never talks about anything important without being in a secure location where no one would overhear it. Shit is going to hit the fan. But I can tell you were she lives. Madame Angelica.”

Shit. She was the fucking leader of non-pure witches. She’s heavily guarded and the reason why she’s not dead is that she’s an asset to the Mistress of the City and there were no fucking crimes to link her too. If Madame Angelica has taken Katra under her wings then it would be a bitch to get through to her. Madame Angelica was not only a non-pure witch but she specializes in necromancy. Some humans have this ability but with a witch, their power of control tripled. She controls the dead but not the undead. Rumours speculate that her minions were ghosts she collected over centuries. Great. Just great. 

Katra didn't just have a fight to pick with Erik, she fucking wanted total fucking domination along with either Erik's death or Erik becoming a slave. Or both since her ally was a necromancer. Granted he would be a zombie but she’d get what she wanted. A tamed lapdog.

After we took our leave, we had a new problem. Not only are we dealing with Katra, we’re dealing with Madame Angelica. An even bigger problem was how to find her. Since most of the people in the City, humans not included, wanted to kill her, finding her was easier said than done.

I had a bad feeling about this. No one simply finds Madame Angelica unless she wants him or her to. What was she up to? More importantly, why does she need Katra? 

Questions ran through my mind but it made no sense. Katra’s arrival in the City would cause trouble. What type of trouble was something else entirely? If she wanted Erik, she would bid her time to kill Erik but what does that have to do with Madame Angelica? For her to ally with a very powerful necromancer could be an entirely different motive than her wanting to take revenge on Erik. Total control of the City? Revenge on Erik? Allying with someone powerful to live a little longer?

Madame Angelica caused havoc centuries ago, creating mini vampire soldiers as a necromancer could raise the dead and control them. Vampires were already dead so controlling them wasn’t difficult. However, necromancers were generally weak only able to raise one corpse and sustain the corpse for a few minutes. Angelica could not only raise an army full of undead but maintain they’re state for hours. Necromancers like her were rare and since they have the potential to control a vampire, the vampires made it their mission to kill them off. Last I heard on Madame Angelica was that she was one of five alive from the massacre. Which told me three things. She’s powerful. She’s smart. And she’s trouble.

I looked at Alaric. “How the hell are we going to find her?”

Alaric shook his head. “You don’t look for Madame Angelica, she looks for you. We need to grab her attention.”

I saw a glint in his eyes. “What are you thinking?”

“We hunt for her minions.”

I just looked at him. “They’re ghosts Alaric.” It was hard to hunt for something without it’s body or if they’re fucking invisible.

“Exactly.” He continued walking next to me. He didn’t elaborate but he got me curious enough to follow. 

Imprint

Publication Date: 04-08-2011

All Rights Reserved

Dedication:
To those that lean on their alter egos for strength and comfort. WARNING: there may be scenes that could be considered 'sick' and 'disturbed'.