Wild Wolf (Darkmore Penitentiary Book 4)

The need to cast magic was turning from an itch to a burn. Even in Darkmore, I’d been able to cast to stop the madness setting in. But the possibility of going day after day like this was twisting my mind into a mess of jagged thoughts. The cuffs on my wrists were now accompanied by a thick metal collar around my throat that Roland had told me was designed to force me to return to him if I moved more than fifty feet away from him.

I paced the cell I’d been placed in in the basement of the building, the sound of screeching animals and the hollow moans and grunts of some unknown beasts calling to me from every direction. It was dark down here, but my keener eyesight picked out the wild horror in the magical animals’ eyes around me.

There were caged kalini birds opposite me that were brightest pink and blue, their feathers shimmering with magic. They were rare creatures thanks to poachers capturing and selling them on for their ability to cause a trance-like high with their bird song. But they weren’t singing now, they were shrieking, their talons scratching at the bars and wings flapping in desperation to take to the sky.

My chest tightened at the sight of their struggle, a murderous rage pooling in my chest at the assholes who were responsible for caging these creatures around me. Our freedom taken and our new purpose decided for us.

My gaze trailed to a cage of ghost hounds beside the kalini birds, their cage electrified to stop them passing through the bars and escaping like their kind were capable of. Each of their many tails swished angrily and they let out mournful yips and howls as they stalked the walls of their prison. There were so many more creatures contained down here, from feathered jaka monkeys to horned whisper mares. All were baying for freedom and a snarl left my lips as I joined them in their yearning, my fist thumping against the cage bars and making the whole structure rattle.

There was no bending these; I’d been placed in a cage of sun steel, the stuff as indestructible as it was rare, and regardless of that, the collar I wore was Roland’s promise of my recapture anyway.

So I was forced to wait for my fate to come for me. As my thoughts turned to the stars, I wondered if they had any mercy left to offer or if they had turned their eyes from me, no longer caring what became of me.

At last, someone came, but the Fae in question only brought a sneer to my lips. Roland walked towards me with a purposeful stride, followed by a muscular blonde man who towered over him.

“Here he is, Benjamin. Take a look,” Roland encouraged as a growl built in my throat. “My prized creature.”

The well built, middle aged asshole scrutinised me closely, stepping into the light and glaring at me in a way that reminded me all too much of the Dragon Shifter who had ensured my imprisonment in Darkmore. The name Benjamin confirmed it. This man was an Acrux. The cousin of my very own villain Lionel Acrux. I’d learned of what this Fae had put Cain through and though I hadn’t wanted to empathise with a prison guard, it had been impossible not to. You didn’t survive an Acrux’s touch without scars.

“So after all the strong Fae I sent you over the years for your experiments, not even one of them made it through the Order replacement?” Benjamin muttered at Roland in irritation.

“Not the Order replacement, no. But you provided me Ian Belor, don’t you recall? My most wonderful monster in the making,” Roland gushed.

“And yet, I hear the Belorian is now dead,” Benjamin questioned and Roland’s scarred eye twitched.

He cleared his throat, seeming emotional as he hurried on. “Yes, well. All greatness faces adversity. This one will be a target too.” He caressed the bars and I lunged, trying to break his fingers, but he yanked them back fast before I could catch them, releasing a nervous chuckle.

“He was really a Lion Shifter?” Benjamin asked, looking me over. “Doesn’t look much like one. Where’s his mane?”

“He isn’t a Lion Shifter anymore,” Roland sniped and my fangs ached to dig into his throat, but I refused to speak to these cretins and give them the satisfaction of my rage. “He is my Nightroary. My Vampire. Made by my hand. No star in the sky chose this. I am akin to them now. A weaver of fate itself.”

“Whatever you wanna believe,” Benjamin shrugged. “I’m just curious about the price he’ll fetch.” He cocked his head to one side.

“You hardly earned your cut with this one,” Roland said tightly and smoke spewed from Benjamin’s nostrils, his eyes turning to reptilian slits and revealing the Dragon within.

“I’ve backed you for years. Kept your secrets hidden from society, broken plenty of necks to ensure nothing got leaked. And without all the Fae I sent to you, you wouldn’t have achieved what you have with this one,” Benjamin spat and my upper lip peeled back. “If you even think about not delivering me my twenty percent then I’ll-”

“Alright, alright,” Roland said quickly, backing away from Benjamin a step and revealing his fear of him. “Not to worry, I will deliver your cut.”

“Both of you are dead,” I whispered, drawing their attention back to me.

“What’s that, pretty boy?” Benjamin goaded, sneering at me.

“You heard me well and good. Your death is written. You’ve given me fangs and I swear to the stars, I will rip out both of your throats with them.”

Benjamin scoffed. “The problem with that little plan is that you’re in a cage, clad in irons, all dressed up and ready to sell at the market.”

“One chance is all I’ll need. One moment of hesitation, one lapse in concentration and I will have you,” I swore.

“Good luck with that,” Benjamin said, turning his back on me.

Roland smiled creepily at me then swept after his Dragon friend. “The show is about to begin!” he called. “Bring him to the stage.” He snapped his fingers at a man who stepped from the shadows, his shifted form showing that he was a Minotaur. His horns were covered in metal studs and a thick bar was wedged through his bull nose. He made swift work of unlocking the cage then mooed at me to get moving.

I stepped cautiously out of the cage, desperate to run, but knowing I wouldn’t get far while he had magic and I didn’t. The Minotaur attached a chain to my collar then tugged me after him with a sharp pull.

I growled as he guided me down the winding passages between hundreds of stacked cages, the din of distressed animals growing in pitch as they noted my passing. Like they knew I was destined for some terrible fate. Roland and Benjamin had gone ahead, no sight of them now as I was led towards an unknown fate.

My fingers balled into fists as adrenaline pitched through me, my fangs extending in my mouth as the call of bloodlust took over. My head was foggy with it, the need to hunt building and building within me. It was primal, a part of this new Order I couldn’t fight as it coiled through me like a viper. I had to bite and kill and drink.

I lunged at the Minotaur from behind, my gaze homing in on a meaty vein in his neck, calling me to it and demanding I feed. He whirled around, his hand flying out, revealing a stun gun in his grip.

He jabbed it into my side and I roared as agony burst through me, my knees hitting the ground and pain flaring through every nerve ending in my body. He kept jabbing it at me with bruising blows, letting that electricity ignite in me time and again until I was ragged beneath him, gasping for breath. Then he yanked on the chain, forcing me to my feet and continued on like nothing had happened, leaving me nauseous and with an unwavering certainty in my soul that there was no escape.

He guided me through a heavy wooden door and the sound of a crowd filled my ears as we passed down a corridor towards a red curtain ahead. The din of the crowd grew louder and a voice echoed out above them all.

“I have worked for many years on mastering the ways of our kind, learning the intricacies of each Order and their inner composition. My work has made great advancements over the years, but not one of my subjects survived an Order replacement surgery…until now.”

The Minotaur dragged me through the curtain, the chain going taut and making me stumble as I hit a step and staggered up onto a large stage.

Roland stood at the centre of it, his voice amplified by magic as he continued on, declaring me his greatest achievement. I blinked at the too-bright lights aimed my way, finding a leering crowd beyond, taking me in with scrutiny. I spotted Benjamin at the front of the crowd, his chin raised high and a greedy look on his face that said he was here for the payout and nothing else.

“Behold,” Roland gestured at me, the tail of his long coat whipping out behind him as he turned my way. “A Nemean Lion shifter turned into a Vampire.”

He nodded to the Minotaur who immediately unclipped me from the chain. And that was it, the need to hunt took over and I sped towards Roland in a blur of movement, my fangs exposed as I aimed to kill him. I hit an air shield someone had cast around him, crashing back onto the stage with a bang, my head spinning from the impact.

Mutters broke out in the crowd.

“How do we know he wasn’t always a Vampire?” someone hollered.

“Yeah! Prove it!” a woman yelled then a series of boos rang out.

“You can’t change Orders,” someone laughed. “He’s full of shit.”

The Minotaur gripped my arm, dragging me to my feet and snapping his chain back onto my collar, leaving me snarling at him but knowing there was no point in fighting this. I would only end up on my back again.

“Of course you are sceptical,” Roland mused. “It is only natural. Which is why I brought proof with me.” He twisted around, gesturing to a large screen behind the stage and I scowled as footage from the Darkmore security cameras played on the screen. It showed me walking among the convicts, then changed to a view of me stepping into the Order Yard, stripping off and shifting into my Lion form. A noise of pain left me as I stared at the beast I’d once been, a hollow place inside me echoing with the loss of it.

“Give it back,” I rasped and the Minotaur glanced my way, a frown furrowing his brow. “He took it from me.”

The crowd gasped, looking from me to the screen as the footage replayed, proving what I had once been.

“How?!” someone cried.

“It’s not right,” someone else said in horror then retched, backing away from the stage and turning from me in disgust.

I shuddered, wanting to flee from my own skin, hating this altered form I was trapped in. I wanted my Lion. I wanted to be me again.

Not everyone in the crowd seemed horrified, a mix of gleeful and hungry looks falling my way too, but none looked so hungry as Benjamin, the scent of money on the air making his smile widen. The excited murmurs grew louder, my heightened hearing picking out too many conversations.

“This could change everything,” a woman whispered eagerly.

“No more lesser Orders,” a man beside her added keenly.

The crowd were chattering louder and louder until Roland finally called out for them to hush. “Drav Enterprises will be sharing this technology with the highest bidder here today. And not only that, but you will get to work personally with me! The Fae behind the genius. A man you once knew as the greatest Seer in Solaria and I have been hiding in plain sight all this time.” He turned to the screen and the word Drav rearranged itself to spell out Vard instead. “Roland Vard!” He declared and the crowd fell quiet, confused looks passing between people. “The Vard,” Roland pressed, but people only shrugged. Someone started clapping in the back of the room, but the applause quickly petered off. “As in the Dragon King’s Royal Seer!” he bayed and it suddenly clicked who he was. Leon had told me about him during the war several years ago. He had been Lionel Acrux’s right-hand man, but it was thought that he had died in battle. He was responsible for heinous war crimes and seeing him here now made fury rise in me that he had escaped all along. He deserved worse than death for all he’d done, and I ached to be the one to deliver it to him.

“Vard?” the Minotaur beside me breathed, a tremor to his voice.

“You know him?” I grunted.

“Know him?” he hissed. “He was part of the Order segregation. Him and Lionel Acrux, they were responsible for declaring certain Orders as lesser. The Minotaurs were forced to go into hiding. We were accused of thievery, made out to be enemies of the kingdom, but it was all lies.” He stamped his foot in anger and I stepped closer to him as Vard kept crying out to the crowd to explain who he was, and it appeared people were starting to catch on now. They might not remember his name, but they remembered the rise of the Dragon King alright. Likely plenty of these motherfuckers supported Lionel Acrux.

“How much for access to this science?!” a man hollered and Vard gestured to an auctioneer at the side of the stage.

A bidding process started up and a clamour of noise filled the air as Fae desperately tried to secure the technology from Roland.

“He truly changed your Order?” the Minotaur whispered, horror dawning on his face.

I glanced up at him and nodded. “He’s a monster.”

“Everyone in this place is,” he said darkly. “But Roland Vard has already done the unspeakable, and now he seeks to do even worse.” He shuddered. “What if he targets my kind? My Order? My family?”

“Maybe you should do something about it before it’s too late,” I urged.

He fell silent for a beat then spoke to me in an even lower voice. “I think I know where they’re keeping your Order.” He leaned in closer, slipping a set of keys from his pocket and subtly sliding it into mine. “That’ll deal with the collar and cuffs.”

“Where’s my Lion?” I rasped, my heart thundering with need as he leaned in even closer and breathed the location in my ear.