Cage Me: A Wolf Shifter Romantasy (Immortal Vices and Virtues: Shadow Shifter Bonds Book 1)

Chapter 1

The sun’s glare is a cruel trick, bright without warmth, while the wind slices through Crossroads with an unforgiving chill this morning. My skin prickles against the cold, a silent nudge from my wolf reminding me that I could shift and find comfort. Yet, considering my irritability brewing this morning, that might just lead to an unwanted snap—a literal one.

Depending on the unsuspecting victim and considering we’re supposed to be in the land of the lawless here, it’s not likely anyone would care, but I’ve already been banished from my pack thanks to my sperm donor being a royal prick. I don’t need another asshole throwing a fit and making me go on the run again.

Hurrying through the busier part of the city, I curl my shoulders forward and keep my head bowed. I’ve called this place home for about four months, but making friends hasn’t been at the top of my to-do list. Trust isn’t a luxury I can afford, yet necessity has forced my hand more than once as of late.

A crowd is starting to form ahead, but I do my best not to give the portal beyond them any attention. I have a witch to see first.

Except my gaze still flicks to the left as I keep ushering along the sidewalk. The newly created portal is why I’m still here a month after the deadline I’d given myself. Well, and because this is the first place I’ve been that has felt…not so desolate.

Power permeates through the air from within the swirling vortex, piquing my wolf’s interest and calling me toward it, but I stay on my path. I have no desire to see for myself what’s on the other side. None whatsoever.

Tartarus, they call it. Where the God Caius rules and shadow shifters roam along with other sinister supernaturals. Well, they might not all be dark and evil, but the world started as a prison. I intend to keep my judgment and my head, instead of assuming otherwise and risking my life.

I take a deep inhale without meaning to, soaking in the wafting energy before I get too far past the portal. The shiver travels down my spine at the same time as my wolf lets out a content grumble from my chest.

Though, her peacefulness is swiftly taken away when the apothecary we’re headed toward comes into view and she’s snarling on the inside. Too bad she’s not in control. I am.

Keeping my eyes forward, I focus on the sign ahead. Spells, Secrets, and Sorcery. The place is owned by a witch named Natalia. Nice enough supernatural, but that’s probably only because I give her something she’s never had before and likely never will again once I finally leave this place behind.

The blood of an Albino Wolf.

It’s something I hide from most people—including my bastard of a father, which is why I’m still banished—but I’ve also learned when to use it to my advantage, always taking precautions when I do.

Thanks to whatever mutated gene I inherited from my parents when I was born, my wolf can act like a chameleon, changing her coat to blend in with our surroundings. Though, we mostly use it to hide who we truly are thanks to the warning my mother gave me when I was just a pup.

Your wolf will get you killed one day if you trust the wrong people.

Okay, maybe my trust issues didn’t start when Daddy Dearest banished me for protecting my little brother from his fists. They might have been embedded in my subconscious since I was old enough to understand my mother’s words.

Still, I have to believe in some people if only enough to get what I need to survive in this fucked-up world. One where magic is power and without it, you’re better off dead.

Arriving at Spells, as I like to shorten it to, I walk through the front glass door and cringe when the songbird above me chirps out a tune, alerting Natalia to her new customer. Why the sound always grates on my nerves, I’m not sure, but I’ve never wanted to kill an innocent animal more than that damned bird.

Inside, the space is dark—the daylight from outside blocked by tinted windows. Candles float in the air a couple feet from the black ceiling, but not many of them. Just enough to create an ominous atmosphere of flickering shadows and lights.

Glass shelves line the walls, filled with herbs, gems, body parts, and anything else a standard potion might require, but the stuff behind the midnight purple curtain just past the counter is what’s truly valuable in this store.

Between the shelves, I pass by the tables of books, empty vials, cauldrons, and more before I get to the front desk.

Natalia pops out from behind the curtain, a smile on her face and a glint of eagerness in her russet eyes. “There she is. My favorite customer.”

I used to think that was something she said to everyone, but after having visited her once a week for the last three months, I’m starting to believe it.

She waves a hand into the air, and I hear the click of the lock on the front door. “I assume you’re here for your weekly trade?” Her fingers brush one side of her slick straight ebony hair behind her ear. “What will you be needing today? A coin or some sort of potion?”

Somehow, I hadn’t thought about what I might want. I typically change it up so as not to draw even more attention to myself, but the stronger the draw toward the portal becomes, the more distracted my mind seems to get.

“Coin,” I tell her, stopping in front of the wood counter.

“Two weeks in a row, huh?” she asks with too much curiosity, watching me closely as I roll up my sleeves. “Planning on going somewhere soon?”

My hardened gaze levels on her. “Planning on still making money off my blood?”

She holds her hands up innocently. “I’m just making friendly conversation, Spencer. No need for threats. I know our deal. One I’ve honored since the first day you stepped into my shop.”

Natalia was the first person I extended a sliver of trust to in Crossroads. Not because I wanted to, but I needed her. Though, I’d made sure she believed it was her who needed me more, while also keeping watch long enough to get information I needed in case things go sideways.

The witch gets a vial of my shifter blood every week for as long as I’m here, and I get whatever I ask for, without question. If she tells a single soul what she’s learned by playing with my blood, then I’ll kill her. No second chances.

And there’s little doubt that I’d know the moment she did because like I’ve learned and witnessed, powerful magic is too damned tempting for most. No matter if I’m in one of the Houses or if I’m in No Man’s Land, supernaturals are greedy. If too many people find out what I am, I’ll be hunted. At least, according to my mother, a wolf shifter with her own unique trait of foresight that has proven accurate on numerous occasions, allowing me to heed her warnings throughout my life without hesitation.

When I withhold my wrist from the witch, she sighs heavily. “Am I not allowed to be curious if this is the last donation you’ll be making? This isn’t about the money or your secrets. I’m making lifesaving spells with your blood.”

This isn’t the first time she’s mentioned that—the families who have benefited from Natalia’s enhanced cloaking potions thanks to my blood—but that’s not my concern. At least, I try to tell myself so.

As much as I’ve tried to become the hardened supernatural I prefer to portray, knowing the difference I’m making by being here has also attributed to my longer-than-planned stay in Crossroads. Still, I like to keep the upper hand and don’t show the witch that.

“No questions, Natalia,” I warn her, then hold out my wrist. “Take the blood, hand over the magic coin, and pretend you never saw me.”

“Right,” she murmurs as her lithe fingers reach for me, wrapping around my forearm. The cool touch of her olive skin sends a shiver through me, the same as always.

The intensity of her power is why I came to her in the first place. From what I sense, the witch could possibly decimate the entirety of Crossroads. Yet, she chooses to run her little shop, helping even those who can’t necessarily pay, only asking them to remember this favor of hers.

With as many favors as she’s collected, the House leaders should be careful. Especially those now poking their noses around our little city that’s supposed to be for those Houseless.

Regardless of all I’ve witnessed, I’ve remained distant, knowing that my life isn’t just about me. I have my own people to save, but I’m not quite ready yet.

In another month or two, I should have enough magic to trade and build a home in the middle of nowhere, and enough cloaking spells to keep it hidden for generations. More importantly, the right kind of power to get my mother and brother the hell away from my abusive, manipulative, and all-around piece-of-shit father without leaving a trace of my temporary return to Fire and Fluorite.

Natalia twists my arm and uses her sharp black nail to cut cleanly across my wrist. When blood starts to pool on top of my fair skin, she uses magic to guide the crimson into the waiting vial.

I watch closely and yank my arm away just as soon as she has enough.

“You know, I could heal that if you’d allow,” she says, corking the container before slipping it into the pocket of her long grey sweater.

“I’ll be fine,” I say gruffly. My wolf shifter genes will take care of the incision soon enough.

“So you keep telling me,” she muses. “Still living in your shed at Kasha’s house?”

Kasha, my would-be roommate. The fae and wolf shifter hybrid offered me a room to stay in when she heard about me from Natalia, but I declined. Sort of.

Knowing that I needed somewhere to stay, I at least showed up at her house and told her I would be fine in the rickety shack in her backyard.

She’d thought I was joking at first, but for nearly three months now, I’ve been sleeping there, perfectly content to maintain my distance.

I don’t answer Natalia’s question. Not even when she reaches into her other pocket and slides the gold coin imbued with magic across the counter, smiling. “Have a good day, Spencer.”

Without returning the gesture or offering my thanks, I grab my trade and head for the front door. My gaze flicks upward, glaring at the red-and-black songbird perched outside her wooden house that hangs above the door.

Moving my attention to the exit, I shove it open and quickly slip out, only catching the annoying tune for the few seconds it takes the door to close behind me.

Without lingering, my steps increase, and I turn left instead of right toward my temporary home. A mistake I realize too late when Corvin Blackwell, the half-fae and half-gargoyle shifter, steps into my path.

His steel-blue eyes glance down at me as he smiles. “Spencer.”

“Corvin.”

I shove past him, but he’s quick to jump back into my path, blocking me once again.

My responding snarl has him at least stepping back. Guilt gnaws at me for being such a bitch, but what he’s been offering me these few weeks…it’s not the life I can ever have.

Yet, he hasn’t given up on me. Though, I don’t know why. Even my warning growl doesn’t stop him from asking the question I’ve already heard many times before. “Have you given any more thought to joining me?”

With a sigh, I give him my full attention, taking in his black hair, tanned skin, and muscular build. Attractive, but not my type. Especially when our interactions have had more of a familial vibe than anything else. Plus, I’ve met his mate. Styx isn’t someone I’d want to piss off.

“It’s the same as every other time,” I tell him, doing my best not to grumble. He might be driving me mad with his friendly persistence, but I’m not too stubborn to admit it’s because he seems to truly care. “What is it going to take for you to leave me alone?”

His responding smirk doesn’t bode well for me. “You finally saying yes to becoming part of my pack.”

“Your pack that barely even exists?” I toss out crudely since packs in No Man”s Land aren”t recognized by the Houses. “No, thanks. Again.”

Giving him my back, I continue walking in the wrong direction, but that doesn’t stop him from chuckling and calling out. “You’ll change your mind eventually.”

I might want to, but there isn’t a chance in hell that I will.

He lets me pass, and I brush off the interaction. No sense in wasting time thinking about things I’ll never have, like another pack.

Before I know it, I find myself standing just two hundred feet from the new portal. The crowd I spotted earlier has doubled in size, plenty of people curious as to who might come through today and if they’re anyone we need to worry about.

It seems whoever is guarding the other side only lets limited amounts of supernaturals in a couple times a week and so far, most have gone back to where they came from, and none that I know have caused any real trouble, but that doesn’t mean all newcomers will be the same.

The desire to see what’s on the other side still pulses within me as the intoxicating energy thrums through the air. Almost as if it’s summoning me forward, to be consumed by what lies within.

With a lofty shake of my head, I clear my thoughts and step further back from the portal. I’m not weak enough to give in to that feeling, but clearly, I’m curious enough to allow my subconscious to keep bringing me back here.

Gods have come through this thing. I can’t be faulted for my interest.

I catch sight of Tori, moving quickly past the portal to Tartarus. A fae who seems to avoid others possibly more than I do. Our interactions have been friendly enough, but I’ve really only chatted with her in passing, typically coming and going from Spells. Though, not lately. I briefly wonder if something’s going on with her, but then realize it’s none of my business. This is all temporary for me. So I keep telling myself.

The guards in front of the portal move into formation and I take a seat on the bench, refusing to move forward even as others within Crossroads get closer.

“I wonder who it will be today,” someone mutters walking by.

“Who knows, but nothing has been as exciting as Caius,” the woman with them says with a purr. “Who would have thought that gravedigger Raegan would be so lucky?”

The crowd has grown, and I can no longer see what’s going on or how many beings are coming through, but one of them roars loudly and makes my brows raise. Hopefully that one goes right the fuck back to where he came from.

Those watching begin to part as I hear a rumbly voice shout. “Move.”

Grouchy much? I stand and turn to leave. Drama doesn’t interest me. Power does.

With my back to the portal, I start walking in the direction of my shed until an energy begins to wrap around me. One filled with warmth and longing.

No.

My head shakes, and I force myself to keep moving, quicker than before. My body obeys right until I hear him.

“Mate.”

My eyes briefly flick toward the sky. Why? Why now?

When I turn around, hellbent on rejecting whoever this man is who’s coming closer by the second, I find myself speechless.

As soon as my gaze locks on to his nearly black eyes, there’s a tightening around my heart. A need so intense that all air leaves my lungs.

This…man, he’s on his knees, chest heaving and only looking at me. The ebony strands of hair sweep across his forehead as he bows his head. “Mine.”

Can he only speak one word at a time? For his sake, I hope not. Good looks will only get him so far.

His nearly black eyes flick up to meet my confused stare. There’s a tugging sensation in my chest as I take in his tight jawline and taut muscles peeking out from underneath his shirt, and I itch to smooth the crease between his brows.

But I only let that feeling last briefly.

My hand waves nonchalantly. “Sorry, you’ve got the wrong woman.”

Even as the words make me feel like vomiting, I turn away from him and head in the opposite direction.

A mate isn’t in my plan. Especially not one with a fury vibrating off him in waves that could very well consume me.