The Night Calling

I’ve fallen for the alpha’s son … and he left me to die.

I’m the underdog in my own pack, an outcast of the worst kind, and Shane, the cocky alpha heir, doesn’t hide just how much he despises me. Well, the feeling is mutual.

But fate tricks the both of us. Shane and I share a mating bond, and there’s no denying temptation.

That is, until everything changes and our pack is left to ruin. Now I’m held captive, enslaved to another wolf while my mate is nowhere to be found.

I’m told Shane fled and left us behind—left me. All I can think of is getting revenge.

There might be a way to save my pack, but it won’t be easy. Despite once rejecting my love, Shane is coming to claim me.

Heaven help any wolf, witch, or vampire who stands in his way.

***

The Night Calling is an enemies-to-lovers fated mates romance that is a part of Juliana Haygert’s Rite World saga. Wolf shifters go to war as two cursed lovers fight a common enemy and come together to unite their pack. This steamy, action-packed paranormal romance will leave readers smoldering and howling for more.

Chapter One

I lived in a gilded prison.

There were fleeting moments, a few seconds here and there, when I forgot. And all I had to do to be reminded of my prison was glance over my shoulder. A demon was always a few feet back, watching me.

Making sure I didn’t try to escape.

Again.

I sighed and rinsed my mug in the sink, my eyes across the marble counter, where Minsi was seated finishing her cereal.

For her, I tried my best to make this house—her house—not look like a prison, despite a second demon in the corner of the room watching her. Worse than these two was the other half-wolf, half-demon who lived in this house as if he were the king.

Well, in a way he was. Conri was the damn alpha, and we could do nothing about it.

I glanced across the family room to the left, where the foyer was located. Around a corner was the home office. Conri was in there and I knew that because of the two demons stationed outside the door.

Demons infested this gilded prison.

A door opened. I dropped the mug in the sink and went to Minsi. I pulled her chair back and helped her stand.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and finish getting ready?”

She pointed to her unfinished cereal.

I grabbed the bowl and handed it to her. “You can finish it in your bedroom.”

Heavy footsteps echoed through the house.

“Just … go.”

Her hazel eyes widened, understanding dawning on her. With trembling hands, she took the bowl from me. The metal shackle on her wrist clinked mine, but we pretended we didn't hear it or feel it. I had decorated mine with leather straps and metal spikes and Minsi’s with pink yarn and bedazzle. Better to pretend these were pretty bracelets than shackles.

I clenched my teeth, watching as the ten-year-old girl disappeared from the kitchen as if it was on fire, going for the second set of stairs in the mudroom, the demon Dixon following her.

Heavy footsteps grew closer, and knowing I couldn’t avoid the devil, I turned toward him. 

A wide smile spread across his lips as he entered the kitchen—the two demons stayed back.

To me, Conri looked like an MMA fighter with his cropped dark hair, trimmed beard, and stocky body. He wasn’t the tallest wolf, but he was muscular. He wasn’t one bit attractive and yet he had an imposing air around him, as if everything about him, even his movements, yelled he was the supreme predator here.

“Good morning, Raika,” he said, his deep voice with its usual chipper tone. It made me sick.

I crossed my arms. “What do you want?”

Conri gave me a once-over, as usual. I wanted to duck behind the island or run and hide in a hole every time he did that, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing he bothered me.

I did my best not to squirm as he took in my appearance. I had been dressing in the same style for years now—cropped tank, shorts, fishnet tights, long boots, and sometimes a leather jacket if the weather called for it. All black, of course.

“Come talk to me,” he finally said, settling his eyes on mine. He gestured behind him.

This mansion didn’t look like a prison with its wide spaces and fancy country decorations. There was a formal living room, a family room, an entertainment room, a dining room, a breakfast room, and a sunroom with another long table to seat ten, two kitchens—one inside, another outside on the porch—and eight suites on the second and third floors with en suite bathrooms. The few times I had seen this house when I had been a child, a pang of jealousy had cut through me. The chic, white contemporary farmhouse style with medium wood accents had always been my favorite, and now I lived in it.

I hated it with all my body and soul.

“I’m good here.”

Used to my retorts, Conri’s smile didn’t lessen. “Suit yourself.”

He walked into the high-ceiling family room and hovered before the large stone fireplace. Two leather armchairs faced the fireplace, and Conri could often be found seated in one of them, drinking whiskey.

This time, though, he didn’t sit down. He stood there, his back to the fireplace. “For a while now, my gang and I have been gathering during the full moon to celebrate, and I think it’s time we did something bigger.”

Despite myself, I walked to the edge of the kitchen, where I could hear him better. Of course, the demon who watched me, Phell, moved with me.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“In less than two weeks, it’ll be my anniversary as the pack’s alpha, and I thought it would be a good idea to have a celebration in the main square with the entire pack.”

I blinked. Holy shit, was he insane? Yes, yes, he was. “No one in the pack will want to celebrate that with you. There’s nothing to celebrate.” In fact, if we did something on that date, it would be to mourn everything we lost—our loved ones and our freedom.

His smile faded. “I’m giving them an opportunity. If they want to be in my pack—“

“They don’t want to be your pack.” Conri stilled, his eyes rounded, and a vein on his neck popped. I crossed my arms and lifted my chin. “I don’t either, for that matter. I’m here because you force me to be.”

Conri’s eyes turned yellow and he advanced two steps. My insides tightened, but I held my ground. Hell would freeze over before I showed him fear.

“You will convince them to—“

“I don’t think you heard me,” I cut him off again. I was treading in dangerous waters. I knew it was stupid, but sometimes I couldn’t help it. I loathed this wolf-demon with all I had, and since there was no one else to talk to, to scream at, he served the bill. “The pack won’t come to your event, no matter what you want me to tell them. And I won’t come eit—“

Conri’s hand closed around my throat, yanking me upward. My toes barely touched the ground and I struggled to breathe. He leaned into me and bared his sharp, canine teeth in my face.

“You don’t get to choose,” he snarled. “You will do as I tell you, little wolf, or you know what will happen.” He dropped his hand and retreated a step. I gasped for air, my knees wobbling for having to bear my weight again so suddenly.

I slipped my hand inside my shorts pocket and gripped the long, metal nails I had there. It would be so easy to slip them in and swipe at his face. To hurt him.

But I had done that before, more than once actually, and all I got was a slap so hard that I went careening across the room. Minsi also suffered—he had left her locked in her bedroom for two days without food.

The bastard.

I let out a long, steadying breath.

As much as I wanted to beat him, certain battles weren’t worth the fight.

“Oh,” Conri started, his voice back to normal. “Next week is Minsi’s birthday, isn’t it? One year since everything changed. We should celebrate that too, even if only the three of us. Please, dress her up in something nice and—“

I lost it. I slipped two of the metal nails into my fingertips and swiped at him.

Conri didn’t seem startled as he stepped back, avoiding my swing by half an inch. A second later, the two demons were on me, holding me back.

Conri smiled at me, but this time, it was a predator’s grin. “You naughty little wolf. When will you learn there’s nothing you can do? You lost. Your mother is gone. Your friends are gone. Your weak alpha is gone. There’s no escape from this, and the sooner you accept it, the better.”

Still worked up, I jerked against the demons’ hold. Why me? Why did he single me out? Lucille was prettier and nastier. She would have fit his style much more. But … this wasn’t romantic, or for desire. Conri had never attempted to kiss me, to sleep with me. But since the attack, since he took over and became the alpha, he had ordered his demons to keep me safe while he slaughtered everyone else. Then he brought me to live with him at the alpha’s house, but never explained why.

“You know I’ll never behave,” I gritted out.

With a snarl, Conri let his hand fly. My head snapped to the side with the strike, pain spreading through my cheek and jaw.

“The next one will be on Minsi,” he barked. “Take her out of my sight!”

The demons holding me dragged me back and into Phell’s hand. He grabbed my wrist and forcefully pulled me back into the kitchen and toward the mudroom. I watched Conri as he turned his back on me and walked back to the fireplace, muttering things not even my wolf ears could hear.

I could have fought, but I didn’t because I knew Conri would hurt Minsi … and I would never let that happen.