Prologue
The crisp winter air smelled and tasted like death. Nik and the other unchanged wolves gathered around his older brother, Pavel. His brother, in human form, arrived in the Siberian forest a week earlier than intended to initiate the change. He gave them the sad news of their pack’s massacre, the day after Glasnost. It hadn’t mattered some were in wolf form and others in human form. Pavel explained the directive called for the murder of all werewolves, regardless of form.
The pack snarled and demanded revenge followed by mournful howls. Nik, the alpha, growled. “Why kill us?”
“There’s no time to mourn. Follow me.” Pavel shifted to wolf form and led the pack deeper into the forest.
Nik cocked his head. Soldiers and tracking dogs hunted them. He ran through the snow with the rest of the young wolves.
A helicopter rose from the edge of the forest and flew above them, lethal wolfsbane-laced silver bullets rained down on the pack. The yelps of his brethren as they died tormented Nik as he hid behind a fallen tree. He trembled with fury and released a guttural growl. Kill them all.
Pavel snarled. “This way!”
He followed Pavel up a steep mountain. He shoved Nik into a den and then shifted to human form. “Hide. I’ll lead them away.”
Nik yowled, “No. You will be shot.”
“Forgive me, brother.” Pavel bore his fangs and bit Nik’s shoulder.
Nik yelped. “Too soon.” Pavel’s bite would initiate the change. Rebirth into a human with the ability to shift into a werewolf. Yet, the bite should have taken place in five days. Not now.
“Wait for me. I’ll return before the change.”
“And if you don’t?”
“There is a cabin three miles from here. You might find clothes there.”
The soldiers drew closer and his brother shifted to wolf form. Nik shook his head. “I can help you kill them!”
Pavel snapped, “Survive or I will come back from the grave and rip off your ear.” He leapt out of the den and drew them away.
Nik huddled in silence. Even if he disobeyed his brother, the change would happen and leave him incapacitated.
Once the transformation from wolf to human overtook him, the change would be so painful Nik might die, alone. No pack to nurse him back to health and help him transition into his new human form.
The distant yelps of the hunting dogs meant his brother had killed them. Had Pavel gotten away? His ears pricked up at a barrage of rifle fire. Then silence. The men had left. He remained hidden. The only sound came from the cold howl of the winter Siberian winds.
The next morning, Nik crawled out of the den. Thankfully, he hadn’t started to change. Perhaps, it was too early or his brother had not bit him hard enough. Yet his wound continued to bleed. He followed his brother’s scent. Blood with the tinge of silver’s lethal scent stained the snow. The men had killed and taken Pavel. Nik ran down to where the rest of the pack had been murdered. Their bodies were gone as well. Falling snow had covered their tracks and blood.
Nik mourned their deaths with a lonely howl.
Hungry but with no desire to hunt, Nik plodded through the heavy snow toward the cabin his brother had mentioned. If a human occupied it, he’d take his revenge. Not that blaming an innocent human for his pack’s death would bring them back, but it would satisfy his lust to kill. He stopped in his tracks. Huh?
Nik scanned the area and flared his nostrils. Debris from the helicopter littered the forest as if it had rained scrap metal. The burned-to-ashes remains of men and the bodies of his pack added to the gruesome scene. He smelled the rubble. Odd. A powerful weapon had brought down the helicopter. Who would have such weaponry? Did their kind have allies? He stared at the cabin.
The burning fireplace meant someone was there. As he drew closer, a wave of pain overtook him. The beginning of the change. He must kill the human fast before he got weaker.
The door opened and a man covered in fur stood at the entrance, rifle in hand.
A fur trapper. Unless, the man had a werewolf rifle, Nik would not die. Despite his pain, Nik charged. The snap of a bear trap on his left leg stopped him and before he could gnaw off his paw, the pain of the change overwhelmed him into dark unconsciousness.
I’m alive. Nik threw off the blankets and looked at his wounded leg. Thanks to his alpha blood it had completely healed. He stared at the man, who looked like a hermit from the old Russian fairy tales; his face bore a long, thick gray beard matching his long graying hair. Vague memories of the man helping him during the painful change suppressed his instinct to lash out.
“I’m Oleg Sokolov.” He offered him water in a mug that had a residual vodka smell.
“Nicolay.” Nik took the water and drank every drop. “How long did it take me to…shift?” The man had witnessed something no human should ever see. Nik could use his mind control to erase the kind man’s memory of meeting him. An alpha werewolf had the uncanny ability to mind control just about any human and compel them to follow their commands. Better than killing him.
“You became human four hours after I brought you in, but then you were feverish and delirious for two days.”
“Thank you for saving my life.”
“I’m sorry I was too late to help your pack, but it’s good I found you, alpha son of Dima.”
“You knew my father?” Is that why he protected him? That must have been the reason Pavel directed him to the cabin.
“Yes, like me, your father, Dima was a former KGB agent. My comrade.”
Nik knew his father worked with humans, but exactly how or what had remained a mystery. “Who killed my pack?”
“A directi
ve from a rogue government official. At first, they wanted to capture all werewolves and experiment on them. Instead, and for reasons I don’t know, your deaths were ordered.” He poured some vodka and drained it, then wiped his mouth. “I probably would have been killed next for working with your father.” He smiled. “A werewolf.”
“I will find and kill that official.”
“He is dead.”
“How do you know?”
“I shot a grenade at the helicopter as it landed on my land.”
“And he was on it?”
“Yes, I greeted him as he stepped out. Actually, I said dasvidanya before I launched the missile.”
“I’m a lone wolf.”
“I owe Dima my life. You will be my son.”
Chapter One
Emma York, code name Cloak, took Rylee’s warning about an assassination attempt seriously enough to scratch from the dressage competition. Capriccio, her big bay Dutch Warmblood, was too valuable to risk. She wanted to ride, but not if it meant hurting or possibly killing Capriccio. Project Sabertooth murdered her father and they must have found out she was his daughter. Besides family ties, the reason her father, and now she, had been targeted was they were both CIA agents and human agents for the Lycan Intelligence Agency. Rylee, the head of the LIA, got word from Tomlin, the new director of Project Sabertooth, that Emma had been targeted for assassination. He didn’t know who put out the hit.
Her trainer and part owner of her horse, Holden Porter, a semi-retired CIA agent, stopped her as she led Capriccio out for exercise. “Are you sure about not competing?”
“Trust me.” She winked and whispered, “I’m off.”
Holden narrowed his eyes. “Problem back home?”
“It’s raining real hard.” Code for she was in danger. Rylee had warned her someone might try to play mind tricks with her horse, enough to cause him to throw and trample her to death. Project Sabertooth hired a woman named Gaby, who could command animals, to cause Emma’s horse to crush her. Fortunately, the woman known as a wolf charmer, now worked for the LIA. The danger had to have passed. No point in bringing her in, but no one questioned Rylee’s orders.