A buck stood at a creek with two doesnearby. Wrath and his pack descended on them as one, taking downthe three deer before they even realized they were about to die.With a swift shake of his head to break the neck, Wrath killed thehuge buck then feasted on the warm flesh and blood. When he wasfull, he moved away, letting the ones who waited respectfully fortheir turn to have a go.
He lapped at the creek, the cool watercascading over his lips and tongue, and then he lifted his head andhowled the victory to the heavens.
Yet... he wasn’t satisfied. He stillfelt something within him that was yearning for more.
The only time he ever really felt likethis was when he dreamed about his true mate. A gorgeous brunettewith eyes like sapphires and lips made for pleasure and wickedthings. He was almost positive she was real, but a tiny part of himthought she might be a figment of his imagination. The only thinghe knew for certain was that he had no idea where she was. OnlyCael knew about her, and his second-in-command wasn’t certain shewas real either.
The idea of true mates was somethingunique to wolf shifters, and Blood Wolves would go insane if theydidn’t find theirs. When a true mate couple was near each other forthe first time, a matching mating tattoo would appear on theirskin, usually on the biceps or forearm, where it was visible by anyand all. Wolf true mates had black mating tattoos made up of linesand swirls. It identified them as mated to any otherwolf.
Blood Wolf true mates had redtattoos.
No wolf in Wrath’s pack had found histrue mate. He was the oldest at twenty-eight and could already feelthe edge of madness that would permanently take him over once hehit thirty. He might be able to stave off his wolf going full-blowncrazy for a year or two. The alpha before him had been thirty-oneand a half when he’d gone berserk and Wrath had to put himdown.
He’d hated it, even though it wasnecessary—to break the neck of his mentor and friend to save thepack.
He wondered who would be forced tokill him? Probably Cael.
If only Wrath could find his truemate. Goddess of his dreams.
He was simultaneously certain she wasreal and imaginary. He’d been dreaming about her since hissixteenth birthday. Twelve years was a fucking long time to dreamabout the same person.
Shaking the dark thoughts from hispast to his present, he watched the males finish their meal. Whenthe carcasses were stripped, they were dragged back to the caves sothe bones could be utilized for tools and weapons. The cavern andits system of underground caves had been his home since he’dstumbled upon it after his first shift. He’d taken cover in thefirst cave he came to. The shift had taken so much out of him thathe was afraid he’d be killed if someone found him; he was too weakto defend himself.
That was the first night he’d dreamedof her. That first year the dreams had been infrequent, every fewmonths. It wasn’t until his seventeenth birthday that he discoveredher name—Trinity. Usually the dreams were just glimpses of herlife, and that’s how he was certain she wasn’t anywhere near him.Her world seemed populated entirely by humans, and in his world,humans were not the majority. She couldn’t shift into anything anddidn’t appear to have any powers, although he would consider herbeauty a power all on its own. Her world seemed far beyond his,filled with mechanical wagons and glowing boxes.
Once more he shook his thoughts backto the present then returned to his human form. He directed hismales to prepare the carcasses and stalked deeper into the cavernto the cave he utilized as his personal room. The sleeping palletin the corner was large enough for two. He’d built it that way, soin the event he and Trinity ever crossed paths, there would be roomfor her.
He was exhausted to the core, but hedidn’t drop onto the pallet to sleep.
Detouring to the communal bathingcave, he grabbed a towel and stepped into the pool that was fedfrom a hot spring. The deep, hot water was soothing to weary skinand bones, and the natural pool had ledges for sitting and soaking.He stepped down into the steaming water and stifled a groan. Hegrabbed a soap leaf from a clay pot and dunked himself under thewater. Then he cracked the leaf and scooped the clean-smelling gelfrom inside. After washing his hair and body, he rinsed and thenstretched out on one of the carved ledges, submerged to hischin.
His sensitive hearing picked up thesounds of his pack. The eleven males under him were rankedaccording to their strengths. The weakest—the omega—was a youngmale of seventeen named Creek, and he was tasked with cooking forthe pack. While Wrath expected that the male would eventually fightfor higher rank, he seemed content with his place. Wrath had a softspot for the male, and figured it was most likely because in one ofthe shared dreams, Trinity told him there was a young male needingrescue. Creek had been held captive by the kiss of his vampirefather and drained of blood repeatedly. Only because he was partshifter and had fast healing abilities had he survived the repeatedabuse.
Wrath had found the young male whereTrinity had told him where to find him. The Blood Wolves hadslaughtered the male members of the kiss and freed Creek, who wasRiver’s younger brother. That had been a year ago. The male wasstill twitchy, still frightened at times. Wrath didn’t know howTrinity had known what was happening with Creek, and when he’dpressed her about it, she’d only said she’d seen him in theirdreams. But Wrath had never seen Creek in the dreams, so he didn’tknow what else she’d had privy to that he didn’t.
“You all right?” Cael askedas he
