Antonio nodded.“Inseparable.”
Azure was still trying to figure out how his Shaman had picked up on Lola’s magic, but not Katy’s.It made him question Katy’s abilities.Perhaps she wasn’t powerful and wouldn’t be mated to someone high in the ranking of a kingdom.In which case, she wouldn’t be of any help to his cause in the bayou.Lola, though.She was mated to Callon.By now, they’d no doubt completed the bond.Callon would be a fool to wait.She would possess their combined power.Azure could only imagine how her magic would fuel the spell of Marissa, the voodoo priestess.This could help him push forward in his plan to create his ownanimi.If only Antonio, Slick, and Myron hadn’t screwed up and only gotten their hands on Katy alone.But Lola would come for her friend.He just needed to be patient.
“Lola isss lost to you, Antonio.If you go to her in a bid for her affection, her mate will kill you.Damarianssss are very territorial about what’s oursss, especially our femalesss.Take my mate, for instance.She’ssss currently in our bed asleep, possibly carrying our young.If you were to take one step in her direction, I would instantly strike and fill you with enough poison to kill an army of humans.My advice to you is to forget Lola.Continue with our deal.Bring me girls, and find someone new to make as your mate.”Azure walked back around his desk, picked up his drink, and took a sip.When he raised his gaze to Antonio, he saw raw pain fill the man’s bloodshot eyes, as if a relentless storm raged behind them.His skin was pale, his face hollow and sunken.In the few moments it had taken Azure to explain the situation, Antonio appeared to have aged twenty years.The human looked like someone had scooped out every ounce of life from him.
“She’s all I’ve wanted for the past two years.”Antonio’s voice held a desperate tone.“Lola is a forever kind of woman.I’m just supposed to give her up?”
“Unlesssss you want to be lion food.”Azure smirked.“Yesss, that’s exactly what you’re supposed to do.”Azure didn’t mention that if the human got in the way of his own plans, then he would kill Antonio himself.While the act itself might be satisfying, it would be a pain in the scales to find a new human that could provide him with the supply of women he needed from the Kingdom of Claws.At the moment, he had a good thing going, and Prime Taras knew nothing about it.
“Go home,” Azure told him.“Reassure your father that you’re okay and you had nothing to do with the disappearance of Katy.Return to your normal life so that we can get back to business as usual.”
Antonio stood for several moments, resembling a kicked puppy.Finally, he turned and slowly shuffled to the door.He stopped and looked back at Azure.“Is Katy going to be alright?”
“I have no plansss to hurt her.She will eventually have a mate.But she’ss no longer your concern.Never ask about her again.”Azure’s tone was sharp, making it clear that she was off the table as well.He was done with the topic of Katy Dire.The door opened and closed as the human left.The King took another sip of his drink and thought hard about the newanimus.He needed to get Lola, and any otheranimidestined to be the mate of a royal, in his kingdom and under his …care.He had the distinct feeling they were the key to helping his witch createanimithat would belong solely to the Kingdom of Venom.But how would he find them?Was there a way?
According to his Shaman,Link, the kingdoms were about to release all theanimifemales they’d taken over the last several years.This presented a golden opportunity.He needed to get eyes on those females and find out what kingdoms they went to.Azure’s lips turned up as he realized he knew just the man for the job.He got out his phone and pulled up the contact information for the rogue—Gage—the dire wolf beholden to no one.The beast was a law unto himself and worked for whoever paid the most.Azure respected that.He sent a text to the wolf, asking for an audience ASAP.He included a dollar amount he knew would have the wolf on his doorstep within the day.
Chapter 8
Even I Have Some Boundaries.
“Flying is for the birds.Literally.It’s for birds.Wolves belong on the ground.”~Gage
Gage’s long strides ate up the ground as he made his way up the sidewalk to the mansion that housed the KOV King and Queen and much of their nest of vipers.Granted, they weren’tallvipers.From chameleons to pythons, there were a variety of cold-blooded reptiles that lived in the massive, elegant manor.But in his mind, Gage referred to them as all vipers… or dragons, or komodos, or venomous demons.As he took the steps to the huge wraparound porch two at a time, his wolf shifted inside him, pushing at the seams of his flesh.His beast did not approve of working with the reptiles, even if Gage wasn’t really workingwiththem.They were natural enemies.His first instinct wouldalwaysbe to kill the scaly bastards.Patience, he told his wolf.
Without bothering to knock, he grasped the old-fashioned door handle and pushed it open.A variety of smells hit his superior senses, and he filtered through them quickly.Antonio, the human from New York, had recently walked through the foyer, probably only moments before.Slick and Myron had been here within the last half hour as well.Gage continued walking deeper into the house and came across the scent of Otto, the little lizard Azure treated like a bastard minion.The creature had recently scurried by, carrying a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.As Gage strode down the long hall that would eventually take him to Azure’s office, Gage recognized a few other scents, but most coagulated into a large, unrecognizable blob that was the essence of the Kingdom of Venom mansion.Suddenly, the Dire came to a halt as if he’d hit an invisible wall.
Every scent and sound faded away as his wolf honed in on a smell that grabbed his attention like nothing else ever had.Gage closed his eyes and leaned his head back, lifting his nose higher in the air and taking in a deep breath.His lungs expanded until they were so full they nearly hurt.He held the air inside of him.That scent—it was a part of him, or it wassupposedto be a part of him.He let out the breath and tilted his head, turning it slightly, searching for the direction from which the smell came.
“Gage?”
A voice he recognized interrupted his thoughts.More importantly, it interrupted hishunt.So he ignored it.Gage took another deep breath then stepped forward.His eyes remained closed as he let his wolf take over.That smell.The beast growled into his mind.Gage agreed.It was the best thing he’d ever smelled in his long life.
“Gage,” the voice said again, this time more firmly.
The Dire nearly laughed.This voice wasn’t his Alpha; he had no authority to stop him.Actually, his Alpha didn’t even have that authority.I am a dire wolf,his beast growled.Who are they to command me?He fought the urge to turn and gut the imbecile who dared to attempt what even Nox didn’t try.Gage reminded himself that Azure would take it as quite an insult if Gage ate any of his reptiles.Kings tended to frown upon such things, even if the offending idiot deserved it.
“Would you stop sniffing the air like there’s a fresh kill lying around and focus?”
And that was it.His wolf was done.He whipped around and, in the same breath, shifted.One second, he was a six-foot-six-inch man, and the next, he was a massive dire wolf.He was twice the size of a normal Damarian wolf, which meant that in his beastwalker form, he was well over seven feet, even on all fours.He pulled back his muzzle and snarled as he lunged toward the fool that would dare to not only interfere with his hunt but command him.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!”Slick threw his hands up and scurried backward, his skin flashing back and forth from scales to flesh.“Dammit, it’s me.You know me.”
Why is he still alive?Gage’s beast snapped its massive jaws millimeters from the fool’s neck.No imbecile named Slick should have lived as long as this one has.The fool was quick.Gage would give him that, which he pointed out to his beast.His wolf responded with a massive paw across Slicks’s face, knocking the snake across the hall so hard that he put a hole in the plaster of the old wall.
“What in hellssss name issss all the racket?”Azure’s voice bellowed from behind Gage.
“He attacked me for no reassson.”
Slick’s snake tongue interfered with his words the way Azure’s beast’s always did.Gage didn’t know why the King of Venom always spoke with the strong S, while others in his kingdom didn’t.But no one dared point it out.I think I will today,Gage’s beast growled into his mind.Oh, his wolf was in a mood.I want whatever belongs to that smell.Or should I say, whom?Because they both knew that’s exactly what the scent was—a female.A delicious-smelling female.
“Gage,” Azure called out, though his tone wasn’t quite as sharp as it had been.The King wasn’t as dumb as Slick.
“I didn’t mean any disrespect, Gage.”Slick seemed to read the wolf’s mind.He held up his hands in surrender.“I was just messing around.You were acting strange.”
Gage backed up, using every ounce of his centuries of self-control to keep from acting on his instincts, and shifted back into his human form.Black cargos, black boots, and his long black duster all returned to their place as if they’d never disappeared.He shook out his hair and rolled his shoulders.The man looked at Slick’s snake-slit eyes and narrowed his own wolf orbs.“Don’t ever give me a command again.”Then he turned on his heel and headed straight for Azure.He’d have to deal with the king before he could continue his hunt.It worked out nicely that the snake king had contacted him when he’d already been on his way to New Orleans.He let Azure believe he was there to take on whatever job he was offering, instead of to steal what he’d already stolen.The Little Wolf—the thought hit him like two tons of bricks, and he paused only slightly before continuing on.The Little Wolf,his beast practically purred.That’s the smell.Holy hell.Gage mentally said every cuss word and invented new ones as he realized what was happening.Mightbe happening.IS happening,his beast corrected.It’s not set in stone.Gage challenged the dire wolf.Wedon’t know for sure.The wolf stretched inside of him.Wewill very soon.
As soon as he entered Azure’s office, he walked over to the cabinet that held the King’s liquor and poured himself a glass of whiskey.He looked at the glass and then poured more.Was it rude?Yes.Did he give a snake’s fang?Not even one.That smell, the stolen female with the wolf’s tattoo, destined to be the mate of a Kingdom of Fangs male.Now he just happened to walk in, and for the first time in his entire existence, he wanted to hunt down a female and bed down with her?Wait, what?He poured another glass.When had he drunk the first one?
