A Den of Howls & Discontent (Lunaria Realms #4)

Prologue

Rynn

“They are your fate.”

My mother’s words echoed through my mind as I stared at the Fae mirror tucked away in the corner of a hidden room beneath a forgotten temple. In the levels above me, my best friend and her mates were dealing with the fallout of their actions.

The Moroi realm, and Lunaria as a whole, had been changed forever. Not one, but two Moroi queens were dead, and the reign of the Blood Sovereign was beginning.

Their first act as the leaders of their people had been to trap the Seelie King and almost a hundred of his wraiths within the temple.

Meanwhile, my first act upon joining the Alpha pack had been to run away.

“What if fate is wrong?” That had been my response to my mother’s declaration. She’d hadn’t had an answer.

One thing was for certain, I couldn’t avoid my future any longer.

Almost ten years ago, my pack, on behalf of the Narchis Order, had made a bargain with the Alpha pack.

I would join the Alpha pack on my twenty-first birthday after finishing my studies at Drudonia.

All the Alphas were originally from the Avala Order, and their stronghold was still in Avala territory.

Any deal with the Alphas meant a deal with the Avala Order.

It had been the Alphas’ way of easing at least some of the tensions in the Velesian realm. I would’ve argued that it hadn’t worked all that well, but nobody asked me.

For years, I had found ways to avoid joining them, and they’d tolerated it, but my time was officially up. If I continued to refuse them, the Alphas would come for me.

My two best friends would have fought them if it came to that. Samara would have rallied the entire Moroi realm against them, and Cali . . . it was best not to think about how Cali might have responded.

The two of them would do anything to protect me.

It was time for me to repay their loyalty, and that meant honoring the deal and using my position within the Alpha pack to better relations between the Velesians and the Moroi, which had been deteriorating rapidly.

Plus, as a lone wolf, the Furie Elders could deny me rights to visit Cali, but they couldn’t refuse a member of the Alpha pack.

“Guess we’ll finally find out if you were right, Mom,” I whispered, although she would never know because she had passed away last year. Now I had to contend with my father and uncle, who were not pleased about how I’d handled everything.

That was fine. I wasn’t particularly pleased with them either.

My reflection peered back at me from the silvered surface of the Fae mirror. I looked defiant with my long, chestnut brown hair falling around me in chaotic waves and my eyes of two different colors practically glowing against my pale skin.

I’d told Samara that I wanted a few minutes alone to collect myself before going back, and she’d reluctantly given it to me. If I didn’t leave soon, she’d march down here and demand I stayed. And I might lose my nerve and agree.

Taking a deep breath, I strode towards the mirror before I could talk myself out of it. Then I reached out and my skin touched the cool surface, which rippled beneath my touch like liquid silver, and I stepped through. Between one blink and the next, I traveled a thousand miles.

“Welcome back, traitor.” Golden-yellow eyes latched onto me as I moved into another small room not unlike the one I’d just vacated. Only, this one was crammed with lost Fae artifacts . . . and four Velesians. I took in the four imposing figures. Their expressions ranged from annoyed to murderous.

Cade, Bastian, Ryker, and my personal favorite, Warrick.

All of them were hotter than sin, and each and every one of them was a massive asshole in their own fun little ways.

Fuck. My. Life.

It took every ounce of my willpower not to take two steps and pass back through the magic mirror that had brought me here. Here. To my new home. Where nobody wanted me, and where I sure as all the hells didn’t want to be.

“Get fucked, Warrick.” I bared my teeth at the eagle shifter, commonly known as an aetanthrope or aetan, even though I knew challenging him was a bad move.

Out of the four Alphas, Warrick was the most unhinged, followed closely by Ryker, and just my luck, they were both obsessed with me, albeit in different ways.

“Warrick.” Cade’s deep voice rumbled throughout the room that was entirely too small for the five of us. “We’ve talked about this. Rynn is a welcome addition to our pack.”

I snorted and gave him a side-eyed glance. “You mean I’m a political pawn that the Narchis Order strong-armed you into accepting because you’re desperately trying to keep the three Orders from ripping each other apart, and this way, at least the Narchis and Avala Orders are allied.”

“I was trying to be polite, but yes.” Cade shrugged before grabbing my hand.

“Let go!” I hissed and tried to jerk away.

He easily held onto me, swiping the obsidian ring off my pinky finger before releasing me. The anger I’d been feeling turned into a raging forest fire.

“Give that back!” I demanded. That ring had not only been a gift from Cali, but it allowed me to communicate with both Cali and Samara via shadows.

He was cutting me off from my best friends.

“No.” Cade gave me a humorless smile. “We all have our roles to play. You need to accept yours. Bastian and Ryker will show you to your room. Warrick, with me.”

He turned and strode out, having to duck to pass through the door because this secret Fae room had not been built for six-and-a-half-foot-tall bear shifters. Ursanthropes only came in two sizes: large and extra-large. Cade was the latter.

“Feel free to throw her off the third floor.” Warrick gave me one last hateful look before silently stalking after Cade.

There was only one person I knew who hated me with the same intensity that Warrick did, but that person at least had a reason to. It was a stupid reason, but a reason all the same.

Warrick acted like I had a choice in being here. Like I hadn’t spent the last three years trying to find a loophole in the agreement. Cade and Bastian had blocked my every attempt, making it clear I was joining their pack whether I wanted to or not.

There was no way Warrick didn’t know this, so I didn’t understand why he despised me the way he did, but the feeling was mutual.

“Come along, my darling Rynn.” Bastian raised his hand, curling his fingers in a beckoning motion from where he leaned against the doorframe.

“Don’t call me that,” I said evenly and started for the door that would lead me to the stairs. “And I know where my room is, so the two of you can fuck off.”

Ryker stepped in front of me. In the dimly lit room, his normally light blue eyes were darker, as was his silver hair. “You have a new room.”

“Do I?” I let a little growl slip into my words.

“You’re next to me now, Princess.” He grinned, and the next thing I knew, the world lurched as he tossed me over his shoulder.

“Damn it, Ryker!” I screamed. “Put me down!”

“Not a chance.” He let out a raspy laugh and clamped his arm across the back of my thighs.

I tried to get free, but there was zero give to his hold.

He started jogging up the stairs, and I grunted when his shoulder jutted into my stomach.

I shoved against his back with my hands so I could at least take some of the pressure off, which meant I was looking directly at Bastian, who was following after us with a purely feline smirk on his face.

“Your new room is on the third floor. We’ll help you get settled.”

I rolled my eyes. “Concerned Warrick is going to slit my throat while I sleep? He’s welcome to try it.

” I was a light sleeper, but I suspected if Warrick truly wanted to kill me, there wouldn’t have been much I could do about it.

The only thing keeping me alive was that Cade didn’t want me dead, and I was mostly certain Warrick wouldn’t disobey Cade that directly.

The room I’d been staying in previously, before I’d run away, had been on the second floor, and I’d had the entire wing to myself. It’d been nice being able to pretend the other Alphas weren’t around.

“We’re going to do things a little differently going forward,” Bastian said evenly, as if he were reading my mind. He couldn’t actually do that, but all ailuranthropes had a knack for intuition, and Bastian was particularly gifted. Lying around him would be difficult.

“How so?” I adjusted my position on Ryker as much as I could as he slowed down at the top of the third floor stairs and started down the hallway. His fingers dug into my leg when I continued to squirm, hard enough to hurt a little, and I squeezed my thighs together as heat flushed through me.

It’s just an involuntary reaction because you enjoy a little bit of rough handling and haven’t gotten laid in almost two years, I told myself.

Unfortunately, Ryker chose that moment to take a deep breath, and I felt his entire body stiffen even as he continued down the hallway.

Bastian’s smile widened. “Perhaps you’d like to make some changes too now that you’re back.

Or are you sticking with your, ‘Not even if you were the last Velesians in all of Lunaria’ declaration? ”

A few days before I’d run off, I might have had a little too much honey ale that might have led to me yelling at the top of my lungs that I would never fuck any of them. I didn’t remember exactly what I’d said, but Bastian probably had it memorized.

I glared at him. “Nothing has changed.”

Bastian shrugged like it didn’t bother him one way or the other. I imagined slamming his too perfect face into the wall several times and smiled brightly back at him.

Ryker turned a corner, and we passed two doors before stopping at the end of the hallway.

The air was thick with the scents of both Ryker and Bastian, so I assumed the first two doors had been their rooms. That meant every single day, I’d have to deal with walking through a cloud of their rich scents.

Fantastic.

“This one is yours.” Ryker set me on my feet and leaned forward so his chest almost brushed mine as he opened the door.

I immediately stepped away from him into the room, but before I could shut the door, he and Bastian followed me in. Because of course they did.

A familiar cloak hung on a hook next to the door. They’d moved my things from my old room. Couldn’t decide if I was annoyed they’d touched my stuff or happy I didn’t have to do it myself. I settled on both because I was good at multitasking.

The two of them stood by the door and watched me slowly peruse the room.

There wasn’t a speck of dust or dirt in sight, but that wasn’t unusual.

This was an old Fae castle, and whatever magic they’d woven into it kept it clean, even so long after they’d abandoned it.

My previous room had been big, but this one was easily twice its size.

A bed with a ridiculous amount of pillows was against the wall to my left, and a couple of settees with matching chairs had been arranged in front of the fireplace to my right.

Two arched doors led to what I guessed was a balcony. I had to admit I did really like the room. It was spacious but still had a cozy feeling to it, and I knew I’d be spending a lot of time on that balcony.

I’d just have to make sure Warrick wasn’t around to shove me off it.

“There’s another change you should be aware of,” Bastian said lightly, drawing my attention away from the balcony. “Cade has decided we will do nightly dinners to help you adjust to your life here. Dinner will be in two hours. Just follow your nose and I’m sure you’ll find us.”

“Not really in the mood to be social any time soon.” I glanced at the bed I wanted to crawl into with a book for the rest of the night.

“Either walk on your own two feet”—Bastian headed for the door—“or I’ll send Ryker back up here to carry you.” He looked at me over his shoulder. “I’m sure you’d hate that, right?”

Now I understood why Samara always had daggers on her. I wished I’d had something to throw. Ideally something pointy.

Bastian slipped out the door, but instead of following him, Ryker closed the distance between us. I held my ground, raising my chin as he halted in front of me and plucked at my tunic. “You reek of the Moroi. Bathe before you come to dinner.”

“You don’t give me orders.” I smacked his hand away.

Something wild danced through Ryker’s eyes before he leaned in, and I went completely still as he whispered in my ear, “Come to dinner smelling of them, and I’ll tear your clothes off with my claws.”

I started to shove him away, but he danced back out of my reach and strode towards the door. “Also, I left some of my shirts in your wardrobe, since we both know you enjoy my scent.”

My hands curled into fists as he left.

One time. I’d worn one of Ryker’s shirts one damned time. Claws punched through my fingertips as fury raced through me. I stalked over to the wardrobe and flung it open. Sure enough, a stack of light blue shirts, which smelled of pine and rain-soaked spring days, rested on the top shelf. Ryker.

I grabbed the shirts, stomped over to the bedroom door, and flung them out into the hallway before slamming it shut.

Taking several deep breaths, I tried to settle myself. Cade had been right earlier. This was my life now and I needed to accept that. The first few days would be the worst, but surely we could figure out some way to coexist without driving each other insane.

Or killing each other.

I thought about the way Warrick stared at me with hatred. How Cade dismissed me as a necessary inconvenience. How Bastian fluttered between not giving a shit about my existence and saying things to needle me. And Ryker . . . I didn’t want to think about the lycan anymore.

My head thumped against the door. I was so fucked.