Wild in the Blood (Wild Born #1)

Prologue

KOLE.

The earth flew under me, my paws pounding the dirt. The scent of my prey filled my nose. A large buck with antlers that could do some serious damage if I wasn’t careful. There was a doe – slower, easier and safer to catch – but my wolf, my ever wilding wolf, wanted the buck.

He leapt and his massive jaws closed on its neck, latching on until the animal sank to the ground almost lifeless. Then he tore out its throat.

My wolf gorged himself fat and when he was done, he moved on from the kill, leaving the rest to our brothers to feast on.

He sat in the rising sun, full but not sated. A constant state for us, a state we had lived for years but had never gotten used to.

From my place in the back of his mind, I gazed out at my land through his eyes. Tens of thousands of acres bordering Yellowstone National Park. Every day, I grew closer to losing it. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to protect my family or my people anymore.

My wolf rumbled, teeth aching in his gums as he yearned for more violence to take the edge off. Our spirit was restless, his growing wilder, more reckless by the day. All over one simple thing, the thing that came so easily to others but had alluded us entirely.

A mate.

It was rare that I wished I was human, but there were moments, in the dark of night, when I did.

If I were human, I would be free of this pain, this deep-rooted need that was pushing my wolf into the wild.

I looked up at the deity that watched over all of us.

The moon made us half-creatures, unable to exist without our mates.

For a regular wolf, being without a mate would drive them to madness and eventually into the black, which was as good as death.

This process took decades, giving them plenty of time.

Alphas didn’t have the luxury of time. For me, the stakes were so much higher.

Without my Luna I was incomplete and the longer I went without her, the closer my wolf came to running mad.

Most wolves found their mates in their twenties or thirties. Alphas had to find theirs sooner. An Alpha without his Luna at twenty-five was already facing the black. I was twenty-eight and hanging on by my fingertips. I was slipping and soon I would fall.

I saw the fear of it in my eyes every time I looked in the mirror. I saw it in the eyes of my brothers, my sister, my parents, my pack. They knew time was running out.

For an Alpha to still be without a mate at my age was unheard of.

More importantly, it was dangerous. A mateless Alpha was an unstable Alpha and an unstable Alpha left his pack vulnerable.

A vulnerable pack brought the jackals sniffing around, waiting to pick us off.

They circled, ever closer, as year after year crept by and my mate continued to evade me.

Where was she? Why was the moon doing this to me? Perhaps my mate was already dead. The thought had occurred to me and yet it didn’t feel true. My wolf shifted his stance, agitated. My brothers whined. I gave them a reassuring grumble. I was still here. I hadn’t gotten lost in my wild yet. Yet.

Each time I shifted into fur it became harder to shift back.

My temper was harder to control, my strength growing to insane proportions.

Reaching infamy. There was no glory in it.

We all knew this was how it would go. I would grow stronger, more potent, my wolf doing everything it could to attract my mate to me, until finally, my mind would snap.

My wolf would take over, turn into a rabid animal that would need to be put down before it killed someone or worse, exposed our kind to the humans.

It was a shameful way to go but a fate I had to consider, a fate I had discussed with my family. They knew the drill and they understood. When it’s time, put me down. Don’t lock me up in the dungeon and let me linger. Let me go.

Even if I did find my mate, there was no guarantee my wolf wouldn’t compel me to claim her immediately, harming her in the process.

I had searched the world for her but she’d escaped me and without a reigning Luna, I had no choice but to watch my pack’s numbers dwindle every year.

Only one female had gone into heat this year.

It was a miracle she had gotten pregnant at all and we all prayed to the moon that her pup would survive.

It would be the first one in years and?—

My train of thought disappeared as my blood began to heat. A smell hit me, full force. It jolted me, like a blast of electricity. I stood, swaying. I felt drunk. High and drunk.

My brother's ears perked up.

Acting purely on instinct, I raced through the woods, following the smell for miles, my brothers at my heels.

I didn’t know what the smell was and yet it was familiar.

A warm, honey scent. I chased it down and tracked it to the chestnut-headed female outside the packhouse.

I slammed into her, pinning her to the ground.

Kara.

My sister.

This didn’t make any sense.

I reigned my wolf in, and he whined in confusion.

“Kole, get off me!” My sister struggled out from under me. I could smell the anger and fear on her. “Are you crazy?”

My wolf busied himself scenting her again, trying to understand where that delicious scent was coming from. It was all over her.

I heard my parents approach, my brothers fast on my heels, but I was too busy trying to separate that intoxicating scent from my sisters.

A weight slammed into me from the side, shoving me away from my sister but not managing to knock me off my feet.

I rounded on it, snarling. I yelled at my wolf to stop, recognising my father in human form.

“Dad, it’s okay!” Kara scrambled to her feet.

“Shift. Now.” My father stood in front of me, blocking me from her, from that scent. My wolf didn’t want to budge, not now he’d found what he’d been searching for.

After several long moments, I managed to tame him into submission.

My brothers flanked my father until I finally returned to my skin.

Each member of my family stood quiet, watching for any sign that I wasn’t in control.

Konnor shifted and disappeared into the packhouse, returning with a pair of sweatpants for each of us.

I pulled them on, but couldn’t take my eyes away from Kara.

“Kole, what’s going on?” My mom approached, the only one that never looked at me with fear in her eyes, even now.

“Kara. She’s covered in my mate’s scent.” My words were stiff, disjointed, the way they always were when I battled with my wolf for power. Everyone turned to my sister for an explanation. She looked confused.

“Where have you been tonight? You were supposed to be back hours ago.” My mom questioned her.

“There was roadwork blocking my usual route home. I had to take a diversion…” She trailed off, leaving the rest unsaid. My mom filled in the blanks and her anger matched mine.

“By the Gulf lands? What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t have a choice! I hoped I would be far enough away that they wouldn’t catch my scent but my car broke down and I didn’t have cell service.

” Her words were tumbling out, propelled by fear of my retribution for such an irresponsible act.

“I didn’t dare shift and run home in case they scented me.

I was stuck wondering what to do when a car pulled over and a woman offered me a ride into town. ”

We all froze.

“A woman...a human?” My heart sank and I couldn’t help but look at my father, seeing the dark memories, the fear of history repeating itself in his eyes.

My mom’s hand rested on my arm. “A human Luna is a blessing.”

“And a curse.” I finished for her, speaking the truth we all knew. The history of human Lunas wasn’t pretty. Not for them or their Alpha counterparts.

“Our numbers are dwindling. It’s no surprise the moon sent you a human mate.” She turned to my sister again. “Who was she? Did you get her name?”

“Her first name, sure.” My sister nodded. “Iona.”

Iona.

The word was new, slipping over my tongue for the first time. Yet it felt old, as if it had been carved into my bones since birth.

“That’s it?” Konnor asked. “No last name? No phone number?”

“No, Kon, I didn’t think to ask,” she snapped. I growled and my father stepped in front of me.

“Calm your wolf, son. We’ll find her.” He turned to Kara. “Did you get her licence plate?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

My fists clenched in frustration. The moon was having a good time with me tonight. My mate could be anywhere by now.

“She said she was here for work, she’s a wildlife photographer,” Kara said, obviously trying to give me as much information as she could. “She wants to get to the Gulf bears.”

I snarled at the thought of her going anywhere near the Gulfs. My mother put a hand on my arm, flowing as much of her Luna power through me as she could.

“She had an accent, too. Irish. There can’t be many Irish visitors in town.”

My mate was from Ireland? The moon had brought her a long way.

A tiny flicker of hope sprang up in my chest, so bright it hurt. I turned to my brothers to instruct them but they were already nodding.

“We’re on it,” Konnor said. “We’ll start checking out motels first. We’ll find her, don’t worry.”

“Kara, go with your brothers and tell them everything you can,” my father instructed, and she turned to follow Kallum and Konnor inside.

“Wait,” I called after her, “what does she look like?” My whole life I had wondered this question. My whole life I had waited to find out how the other half of my heart would look.

Kara smiled at me. “Pretty. Really pretty. Black hair, blue eyes, and massive don’t-fuck-with-me energy.” She laughed. “She’s gonna give you a run for your money, brother.” Still laughing, she headed inside.

My parents turned to me and I let my mother wrap her arms around me, drowning me in her relief.

I’d found her.

Iona.

There was hope.