Fated for Her Wolves - Tara West Page 0,1
“It was a witch wolf who closed the portal and banished Katarina to hell.” He nodded to the pretty human. “I wonder if she was the same.”
She wondered about the human’s story. She had to have been foul to be sent to hell. “Ebony skin, four protective Aryan mates.”
The woman stumbled to her feet, howling as her eyes shifted to glowing silver orbs and her front teeth lengthened into sharp canines. She punched the air. “That human scum! Those are my mates!”
A wolf shifter in hell? Remarkable!
Sitri flinched as if he’d been slapped. “But you care nothing for them now, Katarina, because you have a new lover.” He glared at the wolf named Katarina.
“Of course,” she said, looking away.
This bitch still cared for her mates. Good. Balban could use it against her.
There was no mistaking the flash of heartache in Sitri’s eyes. Could her demon lover have fallen for this wolf shifter? She understood the allure, for the shifter race was one of mystery and ancient magic. She’d have to work extra hard to get him to forget the mongrel bitch.
Sitri let out a low growl that made Balban ache with desire. “Tell us more of this witch wolf,” he demanded.
“I have told you all I know,” she answered.
Sitri gave her a long assessing look. He didn’t believe her.
He took Katarina’s hand in his, his mistress hissing when blood welled around his talons as he dug them into her wrist. “I’m sorry our reunion will be cut short. You arrived as Katarina and I were about to resurface.”
He flashed the wolf bitch a fanged smile. She answered with a low growl, nuzzling his shoulder.
It took all of her willpower not to jump into the nest and rip out Katarina’s heart, but she had more pressing concerns. “You found a way out? How?” She licked cracked lips with her forked tongue and rubbed her hands together.
He shrugged indifferently. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
She fell to her knees, crying out when the scorching stones cut through her scales. “Take me with you.” She tried to position her paws in a begging pose, hating her useless demon appendages.
The wolf bitch had the nerve to laugh, looking down her nose at her as if she carried the plague.
“I’m sorry.” Sitri turned his gaze on the wolf, stroking her pale hair as if she was his pet. “Katarina doesn’t like to share her lovers.”
“But I can help you take down the wolves.”
He let out an indignant snort. “You’ve already failed to take them down.”
Icy fear flowed through her veins. She couldn’t lose her lover and her one chance at escape. I know their weakness, she projected to him through thought, a power, as far as she knew, only available to succubi demons. The wolf bitch’s expression remained unchanged. Good. She couldn’t hear Balban.
Sitri’s eyes narrowed. They don’t have a weakness.
So his lover hadn’t told him? Interesting. She still cared about the shifters, which meant she was only using Sitri to resurface. She’d probably try to kill him when she no longer had use for him. But they do, a powerful stone that prevents them from shifting.
He turned a sharp look on Katarina, who blinked at him like an innocent lamb. She didn’t tell me of such a stone.
She knows. Balban’s hiss seared the stagnant air between them. She’s hiding the truth from you. How do you think I was able to capture the shadow wolves’ spawn?
His brow furrowed. What is this stone?
“Why do you continually stare at that creature?” Katarina pouted. “Let us be off, Sitri.”
He raised a fist, twin halos expanding around his red orbs. “Silence!”
She flinched and backed away.
I will tell you after we surface, Balban answered.
The halos around his eyes contracted, like twin black holes blotting out their suns. I could force it out of you.
She laughed. She was winning! Good. I enjoy torture.
Eyeing her coolly, he tapped his chin. Very well, I will take you with us, but if you are lying, you shall pay.
And her? She nodded at the wolf bitch. What will you do to her when I prove she betrayed you?
A wide grin split his face. I will defile and slaughter every last wolf and make her watch.
THEIR JOURNEY THROUGH hell was not without peril. Demons of every shape and size tried to bring them down as they flew across the hostile landscape, dodging spouting geysers of fire and debris from above that pelted their wings. Balban seethed with jealousy when Sitri carried the wolf bitch like