Chapter 1 – A New Realm

RHETT

3 Years Later

MacTire held my heart, but I couldn’t help visiting the borough I grew up in when out in the field.

Recruiting new Enforcers for the INE.

I found myself missing the familiarity of the streets. The people – half human, half shifter. Most without a spirit animal.

A town us half breeds built, grew, and protected. Hunters as Lamia called us but what was a hunter?

The town wasn’t big, but it was a place where half-breeds gathered – safety in numbers - we had become a close-knit community. Even still, we were constantly heckled and subject to the packs that surrounded us. Always trying to strong-arm our community or take what they thought belonged to them.

Hybrids – Where one parent is a shifter the other human or no spirit animal – were born one of three ways. Either they were purely human or gained a counterpart that was weaker in comparison to full-blooded shifters, or there was us. The ones like me. Neither human nor shifter. A being that had enhanced physical attributes yet no spirit animal.

My little sister was fully human, even though we shared the same parents. Our mother was a werewolf, father was human.

More than a handful possessed the same gifts I did. The enhanced speed. Healing faster than the average human. Our heightened senses. Yet we possessed no spirit animal and even with our abilities, we paled in comparison to shifters with rank and a good majority of warriors. However, my abilities were like none I had ever encountered, I had the mark of the Queen's knight, and it only made me stronger in every way.

There were probably more half-breeds in the small town of Briarshire, where my sister Ria and I grew up than anywhere else in the realm. And there were only a handful at best here.

At least that’s what most believed until King Kellen returned with a new queen and laid claim that there had been many in Bhakhil.

Each half-breed I knew of that possessed enhanced gifts also had a sixth sense of sorts.

Mine – I could detect a lie a mile away. And I also had a knack for pulling the truth from the most difficult of prisoners. Usually, those who were weak-minded or had a lesser spirit animal.

Alpha Travis says it’s because I have a trusting face and a strong aura. His Beta and one of my best friends, Josiah, a bear shifter, believe it’s because of the spirit animal I was never given.

Personally, I don’t give a fuck. It’s a handy trick. An ace up my sleeve so to say.

If a person feels compelled to tell me the truth, all the better for it. Only those with low ranking will spill the beans freely. Shifters of higher ranking take a lot more effort. Even then it's not a guarantee.

Detecting the lie makes it easier to draw the truth out.

It had been three years since Lamia and Kellen crossed into another realm.

Our realm had changed drastically with Aodh's army crossing through. Bringing with it, creatures that stalked the night and prayed on victims wild and not. To make matters worse Senko’s demonic dogs ran freely through the continent. Thousands of them and changelings were on the loose along with the monsters Aodh brought with him, plaguing the towns and villages.

Even larger packs like New Moon were regularly attacked by Aodh and Senko's leftovers.

Aodh had kept himself hidden, sending his army to do his dirty work. None of us were spared. Reports had even come in from the western continent that they had been attacked and smaller kingdoms had been overrun by Aodh in his search for a way to bring his promised bride back. Lamia.

For three years we have fought the shadows and what lurks in the darkness.

I hardly saw anything of MacTire and knew Travis was looking for a new Gamma and still needed a Delta.

This didn’t bother me. I was numb to pack life.

After the battle on the Cambiador border and losing Jonda, my allegiances and cause had shifted.

I had dedicated myself to the INE, to hunting down the foreign and unholy creatures that now stalked this realm and had become the basis of things that go bump in the night.

I was gone for weeks. Sometimes months.

Sending Angelica to the Sea Dog pack would have been the right thing to do. But selfishly, I couldn’t let go of my daughter.

Yet here I was. Standing outside a brothel. Hundreds of miles from her yet again. This time I had left my daughter in the Kodiak Kingdom with my sister.

Other times she stays in New Moon.

Most of the time, MacTire is her home and Mrs. Brown raises Angelica.

Some father figure I am. Jonda would have been disappointed. I catch myself with the thought. I honestly don’t know what Jonda would have thought.

I didn’t know her that well. Just that there was a deep connection I felt towards her.

I often wonder – in her right mind, what Jonda would have said if she was looking down at me. Watching the way I raise – or lack of – our daughter.

Angelica was the light of my life. I just didn’t know how to show it. Her deep red hair reminded me of her mother. But she had my soft green eyes.

No matter how much I knew Jonda had lost her mind during her last moments. That it was no longer her behind the wheel in her head – I could never unhear the words she spoke to Mike.

‘It was always you.’

I could never forget the way she looked when she thought my mark was his.

‘Mike is my mate. He is the father.’

No matter how many times I push the thoughts away, they still plague me. Especially at night when it’s the quietest.

I look up at the full moon, squinting my eyes at its brightness. On a night like tonight, wolves would be howling and werecats would be dancing. The Clans would hold a feast. All to celebrate the rising of a full moon.

But all was quiet, and doors were locked in fear of demonic monsters raiding the village.

Even with the presence of Enforcers, the people still feared the creatures that came straight from hell. Enormous horses with horns that could gut and impale you in seconds with blood-red eyes that burn straight into your soul. Giant dog-like creatures with fur around their necks, feet, and the tips of their tails. Their skin was hard like armor making it difficult to pierce through with a weapon. And the worst of all, the birds that resembled something ancient and prehistoric. Black and scaly with a beak full of jagged sharp teeth.

In the distance a child cried, the sound cutting through the bleak night, as the moon shone down on quiet streets.

I made my way across town to Sapiens, an old tavern that still operated on the outskirts of Briarshire. An establishment that had been passed down through generations and had even withstood the great Lycan wars from two and a half centuries ago.

With my enhanced hearing I could make out the lowly chatter of patrons and the giggles coming from the women who worked there. It was a bar, but it also doubled as a bordello house.

Opening the heavy door, the sounds from inside pour out. The door slams behind me and then for a few seconds, the main parlor falls in silence as multiple pairs of eyes land on me and take me in.

Once they establish who I am and am no threat, they carry on about their business.

“Whisky. Neat.” I tell the bartender, crossing the room and perching at the open space at the end of the hard wooden topped bar, which had seen better days.

I slide a note over the wooden top when my drink is sat down before of me. “Leave the bottle.” The bartender nods and walks away, taking the generous amount I gave him.

I turn to face the room, taking a sip and watching the patrons who are here to have a good time.

“Been a long time Rhett.” I recognize the voice and turn to see Suzie flip her honey-colored hair over her shoulder, batting her eyelashes at me when she has my attention. “You’re looking good.” She says, tongue darting out to lick her lips as her eyes drag up and down my body.

I offer her a coy smile, equally checking her out. The years had been kind to her even with her profession. Her eyes were still a bright and cheerful brown. Not a single strand of her hair was out of place. The red lipstick she wore only served to make her lips look more luscious and juicier.

Once upon a time, I would have never entertained screwing a girl who was my sister's friend and her age. Now though, as I look at Suzie and feel a stirring in my pants, I realize she is no longer the little girl I remember and is all woman with curves for days. That and she’s just another means to take my mind off the shit storm our realm has been through for the past three years.

For a fleeting moment, Jonda’s face fills my head. The image quickly evaporates just as fast as it was conjured. Jonda is dead and even if she hadn’t thrown herself off the roof of the New Moon palace, I didn’t know if there would have ever been an us.

“You’re looking exceptionally cute these days Suzie. The years have been good to you.” I say lifting my glass to my lips and averting my eyes from the younger girl.

“Did you come to drink or play Rhett?” The words dripped from her tongue in a sultry tone. Her small hand casually stroked my bicep. Her innuendo was not lost on me.

“Both,” I state knocking the drink back and heavily placing it on the bar behind me. She weaves her hand into mine and I grab the bottle before she can lead me through the bar and upstairs to one of the private rooms.

I looked around once in Suzie’s room. And noted the scent of multiple men and the stagnant smell of sex that lingered in the air. My senses had only become stronger in the past three years, and I could distinctly decipher how many men she’d had just this evening.

Pulling the cork with my teeth from the bottle still in my hand, I spit the stopper on the floor and gulp down the harsh brown liquid. The burn down my throat makes me feel alive yet also serves to numb the mind.

I undo my pants as Suzie peels her pink dress from her shoulders, trying to make it look sexy. I don’t really care as it does nothing for me. I’m already hard at the thought of working out my frustrations. Her pretty face helps, but I’m not interested in anything else. Just the sex. I'm paying to use her, for my own satisfaction. Not hers. 

“Get on the bed,” I command, letting my pants fall to my knees.

Suzie obeys, her dress pulled down below her breasts. She scoots backward hitching up the bottom of the dress and spreads her legs to reveal her pussy. “I’m not ready, Rhett.” She stammers. “I need a little more or there is lube over there…” She points to the bedside table next to the single bed.

I set the bottle down after another swig, look at the tube of lube but leave it where it sits.

I shake my head, grab my cock and give it a few pumps.

I don’t use the lube, Instead, I spit on my fingers and roughly shove two of them into her channel. The female whimpers at the rough contact so I do it once more.

She feels wet enough, so I don’t give it any more thought before shoving my cock inside her and begin fucking her harshly.

I’m not gentle. There’s nothing romantic about what I’m doing or how I’m treating her. I’m using her.

I close my eyes as I pound into the tiny girl, images of Jonda conjuring behind those tightly shut eyes once more. I latch onto Jonda's image and pretend it's her I’m inside. Mentally replaying the only night I ever had with her until I’m spent.

I pull out of Suzie and silently come all over the sheets. The last thing I want is another child.

Suzie lay breathless, chest heaving, and hands still tightly wound in the sheets. I pull my pants up, take out my wallet, and place a handful of notes on the bedside table. Leaving her the bottle of whisky too.

“You could go again if you wanted Rhett.”

I hear Suzie's hopeful voice as I reach for the door handle and pause, not bothering to turn around. “Maybe next time.” I sigh before exiting.

The night is warm with a slight breeze. I keep my eyes and ears open as I leave the tavern and make my way back to the motel. Noting the bell that still sits atop the old church.

Though no one attends the church anymore and the bell is used to warn the town when Packs would attack. Or nowadays new monsters.

I think back to the last time I heard that bell ring. It must have been five years ago now. I remember that night clearly. It was before I had fully come into my gifts when Ria was only eighteen and the Alpha Arshard had come for the females of this village. He would have taken my sister if Lamia hadn’t turned up and ripped his heart out.

I thought they were dark days back then. Not anymore. Not with how fucked up things had become with the absence of Queen Lamia and King Kellen.