Hungry Wolf - Aidy Award Page 0,46

of his life loving Helena. He'd fought hard not to believe this was it. But unless something pretty fucking huge changed, or someone came to rescue his ass, there was no way he could make that happen.

Floating here in the darkness, blacker than the night both in his soul and all around him, Aleksei retreated back to the place he'd exiled himself to, before he'd met Helena. The cold embrace of defeat wrapped its arms around him once more. He'd known it before and if he let it take over again, it would insulate his mind in a numbness that would protect the tiniest flicker of hope.

He closed his eyes, not because it blocked out any light, but from sheer exhaustion. Mentally, physically, to his soul, his energy was gone. It was too easy to slip into the oblivion without his wolf inside to spur him on. On one last long breath, Alkesei gave up.

The room stayed eerily quiet for a thousand years while he floated in pain and despair.

Or maybe it was only a thousand seconds.

Taryn's voice broke through the darkness. “Ah, there it is. That's what I've been waiting for.”

He almost asked what she meant, what she wanted, but he simply didn't care.

“You've given up. It took you longer than the other wolves under my rule, but it didn’t take as long as I thought it would for an all-powerful Troika.” A spark of ugly black magic filtered into the room and wrapped itself around Aleksei's soul.

Under her rule. Not a demon, not Rasputin. Taryn Crescent, the one who'd lost everything.

His new mistress. The one to rule wolfkind. The one to have her revenge.

“I knew you were the right choice. Although you almost slipped through my fingers when that meddling wolftress found you a mate. That's okay. It makes your wolf all the stronger for having experienced a taste of what it can never feel again. You'll be the perfect vessel to bring my consort out of the underworld.”

Yes, her consort.

Taryn's...

Consort...

From the Underworld....

That didn't make any sense. Aleksei scraped and clawed his way back to consciousness, back to caring about what happened. He would be no other woman's consort. He and his soul belonged to Helena, and her alone.

He opened his eyes, and this time saw the light of fire and lava. Heat replaced the chill around his heart. The voice of Taryn receded and became something as old as death itself. He stared into the eyes, not of the wolftress he knew, but of a crone, a black witch.

“What have you done with Taryn?”

“She is of no consequence to you anymore.”

Taryn was of no consequence to him anymore. The cares he had about her...and another woman that he couldn't quite bring to mind, even though he somehow knew she was important, all melted away like his brain was nothing more than liquified Jell-O.

“Yes, that's right. Let go of it all. Make room for his chaos to come in. He will so enjoy running wild as your wolf.”

Yes, chaos. His soul was already in turmoil. Where was the calming peace he'd found?

Gone. Gone. Gone.

Two words filtered through his mind as a great force, turbulent and strong, crushed its way into his body, taking over his heart, mind, and soul.

Zhin moya. My life.

He wasn't begging for his own existence. His plea to the universe, or the Goddess, or whoever might listen and hear his cry, was only to be soothed by his mate once again.

But she was lost to him. They could never be together ever again.

Amazeballs Change the World

Nooooooope.

No way, no how. Aleksei was not dead. Helena didn't know how she knew, but she was one-thousand million trillion kabillion percent sure.

And just for making her doubt it for a half second, she punched Harley square on the jaw. Boom. “Don't ever say anything like that ever again, asshole, or I’ll knock your block off.”

Harley cupped his jaw and opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Are you sure you aren't at least part wolf? That's one hell of a right hook you've got.”

“Don't make me come at you again.” She held up her other hand and made the come-at-me finger motion.

Harley grinned, like he had mad respect for her going all Uma Thurman in Kill Bill on his ass. The Troikas were weird, and she liked it.

Niko held up a hand between them. “Harley, maybe you'd better tell us where you got this intel.

“From me.” A pretty young woman walked into the dining room, but she was