Feral Devotion (Blood Mated to Monsters #1)

Prologue

The human’s screams tore through the clearing in ragged bursts.

I stood with my arms folded, fury simmering beneath my skin.

My brother impulsively turned a human without permission.

We didn’t need this risk to our hive. We already walked a thin line without a blood mate to anchor us.

The last thing we needed was an out of control vampire whose beast was more dominant than mine.

My wolf paced under my ribs, claws scraping bone.

‘Kill him. Protect the hive.’

I should. It would be the safest thing. The smart thing. As alpha, the responsibility fell on my shoulders.

The human’s gaze snapped to mine—wild, desperate.

“Help me,” he rasped, fingers clawing into the dirt as if he could rip the beast out of himself.

There was no stopping this. But Rafael could ease the sharp edges of the Change. I gave the bear a short nod.

He moved instantly, dropping beside the man and hauling him upright against a pine.

His long dark hair fell forward over his shoulders, and he quickly dragged it back, twisting it into a low knot at the nape of his neck to keep it out of the way.

Then, he reached for his go bag—old habits from his EMT days never quite leaving him.

He cracked open a water bottle, tipped some to the human’s lips.

Rafael wet a rag, pressing it to his forehead before placing his palm firmly against the man’s shoulder.

The human’s spine arched violently, a strangled cry tearing from his throat.

Rafael shushed him softly, fingers smoothing through the short strands of his hair as he absorbed the worst of it.

I saw the toll in Rafe’s posture—the tightness in his jaw, the tremor in his breath as he pulled the pain into himself.

The human’s struggling eased almost immediately .

Knowing my bondmate was taking agony for a stranger made something vicious rise in my chest. An instinctual urge to protect him from his own gifts.

I hiked up my slacks slightly as I crouched in front of him and gripped his jaw so he couldn’t look away.

“What is your name?”

“Kiron,” he breathed. “Wh-what’s happening to me?”

“You’re becoming a vampire. If you don’t stop fighting the Change, I’ll kill you myself.” I tightened my grip on his face. “Every second you resist is agony for Rafael."

The wolf inside me snarled, echoing my threat.

We could feel it now—the scale of the beast forming under Kiron’s skin. Powerful. Too powerful. We didn't have a blood mate to anchor something of that magnitude. Rafe’s empathy would not be enough if this went feral.

‘Kill him,’ my wolf snarled again.

But I couldn’t. And that fact pissed me the hell off.

I slowly stood, loosening my tie just enough to breathe, and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose before turning my full attention to the one who had caused this shitshow.

My fucking brother.

“What the hell were you thinking, Harlow?”

My brother leaned against a tree like this was prime-time entertainment. He shrugged lazily. “Look at him. He’s huge. Bigger than Rafe. Bet his beast’s massive.”

“Kiron is not a science experiment.”

The silver gauges in his ears caught the moonlight as he tilted his head. His eyes flicked to me.

“No. He’s leverage . ”

My wolf went still. Harlow had been pushing us to find a blood mate for years.

Was this just another fucking tactic to manipulate my hand?

Rafe sucked in a sharp breath behind me as another wave of pain rolled through him.

“You risked exposure. Our hive. And all of Ash Harbor. For what?”

Harlow pushed off the tree and stepped closer, boots crunching over pine needles. “You’re already risking us Nik. Every year without a blood mate makes us more feral. Bloodthirsty. Harder to control.”

“I am in control.”

“Are you?” His gaze slid to Kiron as the man convulsed again on the forest floor.

Rafael groaned slightly as he absorbed another surge of agony. My jaw clenched.

“What if Rafael can’t soothe his beast, Low? What if he tears through Ash Harbor killing people? You changed someone without really thinking this through.”

Harlow’s gaze met mine and he smiled faintly. “You won’t let the humans suffer, will you, Nik? Not your precious Ash Harbor.”

My skin hummed with the need to shift. To run. I balled my hands at my sides, shoulders hunching, fabric pulling tight across them.

“You can’t even touch someone without going feral, Low,” I snapped, gesturing toward his covered hands. “How do you expect to have a mate at all?” His gloved fingers flexed once. “You never go anywhere without those. And you want to lecture me about a mate?”

For a fraction of a second, something ugly flashed in his eyes. “I changed him because you're too afraid to do what needs to be done.”

The air went tight .

“This same tired fight, Low? You would gamble innocent lives to win an argument?” My tone was razor-thin.

He simply shrugged.

Motherfucker.

My wolf surged forward, teeth bared. I swear if Harlow weren’t my brother, I’d have killed him years ago.

“So what? You think forcing instability in our hive will make me choose a mate? That's a low blow. Even for you.”

Harlow’s expression didn’t change, but his scent did. Hesitation. The faintest edge of doubt. He smoothed a gloved hand over his wild mohawk and watched as Kiron suffered.

“I was trying to force you to protect us properly. Regardless of the risk.”

Kiron let out a roar of pain that didn’t sound entirely human anymore.

Rafe’s breath hitched. “I can’t hold him much longer, Nik. You need to decide.”

Harlow’s voice dropped lower.

“You’re the alpha. Act like it. Choose a blood mate before one of us loses control and you have to take us out...” Silence stretched between us, thick and dangerous. “It stops being a fight when you stop being stubborn.”

“I could just kill this little indiscretion,” I said coldly. “With Rafe’s abilities, we don’t need a mate.”

“ You? Kill an innocent?” Harlow’s smile sharpened. “No, brother. I don’t think you will.”

Another tremor seized Kiron’s body, and my wolf went still.

“Low, if this ends badly, it’s your fucking fault.”

“Relax, Nik. It’ll be fine.”

I bit back my retort. Arguing with him now was pointless.

Kiron dropped to all fours, fingers digging into the earth as his bones cracked in rapid succession. His shoulder blades expanded grotesquely, stretching the skin and tearing fabric as whatever lived beneath it finally surged forward.

The Change was taking hold.

Rafe’s body shuddered harder as he absorbed what he could. His gaze met mine, and his irises were swallowed by black. He was reaching his limit.

I stepped closer, forcing my dominance into the air between us.

“ Shift ,” I compelled the part of him still clinging to humanity. “ Finish this. Accept what you have become ."

For a split second, the world seemed to hold its breath.

Then Kiron’s scream transformed into a massive roar that shook through the trees.

“God damn it, Harlow,” I growled.

Harlow whistled low. “Well… looks like we got something bigger than Rafe’s bear.”