Silence of the Wolves (31 page)

‘I now ask you to bring your wolves forward as one,’ he requested.

Tam concentrated; this was going to be the most difficult part of the ritual. Sapphire and Carl stepped forward, slicing the material on their shoulders and undressing them as they stood there, palm to palm.

Finally, under the moon, the two of them stood naked as the day they were born.

She and Leyth both called to the wolf at their core, their bodies heating up in unison, their bones cracking and reshaping, their skin stretching and reforming, together they sank to their knees, keeping their joint palms in the air and bracing their free hand on the floor. It felt as though it took hours before finally the layers of fur emerged from their skin leaving Tamriel’s black and red wolf sitting on her hind legs, paw to paw with Leyth’s gorgeous black and grey wolf.

‘Your wolves must accept each other beneath the Maker and the moon,’ Julian announced, unwrapping the silk binds.

They stood on all fours; first they rubbed faces, accepting each other’s scent, they then rubbed noses, accepting each other’s love.

Finally, Leyth dipped his head low enough for Tamriel to reach the back of his neck. This was the part she was truly scared of; she didn’t want to hurt him.

She hesitated before finally stepping forward and giving his cheek a little lick before tenderly biting down on the scruff of his neck; his fur sank into her mouth and she pressed her canines down harder, breaking skin as gently as she could until all four canines had made deep holes. His blood filled her mouth, bringing blood lust roaring to the surface, but she resisted. She then removed her teeth and licked his wound before stepping back.

Julian bent down and rubbed salt roughly into the wound to keep it from healing properly. In human form this would leave four dark, perfectly round marks on the back of his neck and the top of his shoulders, the equivalent of a wolf wedding ring.

As Leyth brought his head up, Tamriel dipped hers down, and he edged towards her, rubbing his nose across her face.

Slowly, he gently sank his teeth into her own neck, all four canines sinking through her skin.

It was an odd pain, but she cherished it and everything it meant.

Finally, he removed his teeth, licked her wound clean and stepped back so Julian could rub salt into his bite marks. She winced as the salt hit it, biting back a whimper. She was not going to look like a wuss at her own mating!

Finally they stood nose to nose, as Julian’s voice roared into the night once more.

‘With the Maker’s blessing, beneath the moon, I now unite your wolf souls, to be mated as one until you move onto the Maker’s eternal hunting grounds. Face your pack and be proud, you are now one, mated for life as wolf and man.’

The pack erupted once more, cheering and howling in excitement; one by one, they stripped off, shifting and changing and becoming the wolf half of their soul. Even Sapphire and Carl, the two shifters, became their own variations of wolf. Julian was the last one remaining unshifted, though he’d stripped down so he only wore his skin.

‘Tamriel Chambers, do you accept an invitation unto this pack?’ She sat on her haunches and howled, long and hard, placing a paw in Julian’s hand.

‘Pack members of the White Wolf pack, do you accept this female unto your pack?’ They all howled in response, in unison, long and hard.

Julian bent down and tied a white strip of silk around her neck.

‘Welcome to the pack, Tamriel,’ he said as he began to shift. Julian then brought his paw up to his mouth, clipping it with a sharp canine. He placed the bloody paw on her neck where the white silk had been wrapped, and then on her forehead, leaving his blood on her. It was the most respectful thing an alpha could do.

Tamriel held her own paw up, the cut Raught had made earlier still present, and brought it together with his, uniting them as pack members.

In turn, each and every wolf repeated the process, leaving the white silk at her neck red and her forehead sticky. Tamriel loved every second of it though; here she truly had a home.

When all was done and the ritual was complete, the pack set off at a dead run into the forest, leaving their candles and clothes behind. They ran as a unit, every one of them hunting down animals, playing, chasing one another, some even dived into the lake.

Tamriel and Leyth ran, nipped each other, pounced on each other and generally had a good time until finally slipping back to the house, leaving the rest of the pack.

They reached the porch and shifted back into human form, sitting on the step of their own home.

‘Tam, I really do love you. My mated female.’ Leyth grinned at her.

‘I really do love you too, my mated male.’ Tamriel leant in to kiss him.

How romantic, Alison thought as she wandered through the woods. She was still in human form; she hadn’t the strength to shift. With her soul bound and unattached from her body, she wasn’t even sure she
could
shift. Her wolf had gone so far into hiding that she could barely even feel her.

As the rest of the pack were running in the woods, she kept out of their way, not wanting to bring anyone down with her illness.

Memories of what the Circle had done to her rose like bile, sending fear wrapping its way up her spine. Even though he was now dead, the High Lord’s voice still rung through her mind like acid, scolding her.
You are mine. I can rip your soul from your body and you will spend eternity walking the grey plane. Unable to move on.

The night chilled her to her core, but that was nothing in comparison to how she felt without the heat of her wolf. Her soul was restricted in a way no one would understand.

The High Lord had taken control of her body, and though it was hers for the time being, they could possess her at any point. And even though the bastard who
tuhrned
her was dead, she had no doubt that the Circle could tap into that magic. Could tap into her soul. And it terrified her.

She just had to hope that no one realised she was alive and bound. Her bones ached, her skin felt like ice and she hated herself for being so weak.

Sighing, she pushed the memories away, thinking instead of Tamriel and Leyth. Those two had truly been made for each other. Leyth was a wolf of honour and she’d never seen that male so happy.

Tamriel was possibly the strongest female she’d ever met, and she would be eternally grateful for what she’d done. She was so glad to have her by her side, in the pack, and as part of her life.

She was truly happy for them. Maybe one day she would find happiness like that. No, she thought, not with a body that’s slowly dying and a soul held captive by the Circle.

The bushes behind her rustled, making her jump. ‘Oh, you scared me! Who’s there?’ she asked, laughing. It was probably one of the cousins, Reylix or Taevyn. Those two didn’t know when to give up a joke.

There was another rustle and Alison made her way around them, trying desperately to see who was there.

‘Hello, little wolf,’ a voice came from next to the tree. ‘Thought we wouldn’t find you here?’

Alison opened her mouth to scream as two shaven-haired tombs appeared in front of her.

All she managed was a squeak that got cut off as a leather-clad hand clamped around her mouth. Holding a knife to her throat, the tuhrned held her tightly enough to bruise, as the second tomb bent down, binding her ankles with silver.

She whimpered as the metal bit into her skin, but fought as hard as she could, thrashing against the two half-dead men, but she couldn’t get free…

‘We’ve got your soul, little wolf, and the new High Lord wants to meet you.’

Coming Soon….

Song of the Soul

Call of the Wilderness Book Two

In the depths of England, a Kingdom lurks beneath the confines of normality.

A hierarchy of supernaturals run by the strict Council fight daily to keep their world a secret from the humans. With the Council’s structure changing, and the Kingdom struggling to keep up, the rest of the community must keep their heads down and do their duty. Or face the ultimate penalty.

Shifters and vampires have the hardest task of all, fighting in the war against the Circle, a deadly band of rebels who practise blood magic and capture souls in their wake. With the new High Lord in control, life has never been more dangerous.

Alison was born into one of the Council’s leading frontline packs. She’s lived a life of glitz and glamour and has loved every second of it. Until the deadly Circle kidnapped her and bound her soul against her will.

Now she faces a fate worse than death. With her body rotting and her soul held captive, she faces the gravest of choices: does she give up her afterlife to save this one? Or die early and let her soul walk the grey plane alone for the rest of eternity?

When Dax, the White Wolf pack’s resident moody genius realises Alison has been kidnapped, he gives up everything he has to find her; nearly killing himself in the process. He is a lone wolf by nature, and when he finds himself falling in love with a female who not only is the sister of his alpha, but seems to be slowly dying with no hope of salvation, he finds himself changing the very fibre of his being and his morals. Dax will use every available resource to try and help her, even if it means making an alliance with the very darkest of the walking dead. Can death truly be the only way to save her?

CARINA™

ISBN:
978 1 472 01711 6

Silence of the Wolves

Copyright © Hannah Pole 2013

All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher, Harlequin (UK) Limited, Eton House, 18-24 Paradise Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1SR.

All the characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same name or names. They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Enterprises II B.V./S.à.r.l.

CARINA™ is a trademark of Harlequin Enterprises Limited, used under licence.

www.CarinaUK.com