Prologue

Prologue - Lily, 19 Years Old

Given to the Russian mafia; my brother truly had no respect for me.

How can I consciously describe the anger that I am feeling right now? Sitting on a million-dollar private jet and heading for New York, I feel like nothing more than a slave sold off to appease an Alpha, even if that Alpha looked like he had zero interest in me.

How could my brother do this to me? After everything I have done to show him that I am worthy of being his Beta! After all the training I went through, the beatings, the abuse! He promised me that he would consider me for the role if I completed my training, but what did I expect from a beast who has murdered three of his wives?

I clench my jaw, then look at the two men in front of me; both imposing and tall with the air of Russian royalty about them. Kai Volkov was everything the rumours said and more; tall, built like a panzer tank, and no emotion evident in his blue eyes.

The intimidation in his scent is enough to keep me submissive because, truth be told, he scared the Hell out of me. The other one, Viktor, not so much. He seems more like the bookish type, not a warrior, but I wouldn’t fuck with him either way. The Blood Crest pack didn’t have a terrible reputation for nothing.

The pilot lets us know that we will be landing soon, and I am unsure whether to breathe out a sigh of relief or start panicking. This pack had a reputation for eating hearts; would I be next? Why did my fucking brother have to do this to me?! Am I that much of an embarrassment to him being a scentless half human-wolf?! The humiliation burns my throat, but I swallow it down quickly when I hear Kai speaking.

“I don’t know. Take her to Kon; he might know what to do with her,” he says in a slight Russian accent that I would have found sexy were it not for his overwhelming presence. The one named Viktor lets out a sigh and then looks at me with an apologetic smile. “Kon it is then,” he says, then shakes his head.

Kon? Wait, are they discussing what to do with me? I was under the impression that this Alpha would keep me as a sex slave, given his reputation. But now it looked like he didn’t know what to do with me. “I’m a fighter,” I speak up and watch them turn to face me. “If you have wolf fighting rings, I can be your fighter.”

The one named Viktor looks at me with wide eyes, and Kai shakes his head. “This isn’t Las Vegas, Lilith. We don’t do that here.” He says with a bored expression as the plane descends. “He told you my name,” I say, surprised that Fenriz even bothered to reveal it. “Yes, he did. There is more to your brother than meets the eye; you would do well to remember that.” He says, then gets up to leave the jet.

I blink, not believing his words, but then Viktor’s voice causes me to snap back. “Come,” he says, gesturing towards the front of the jet and allowing me to get out first. These wolves were trustworthy, but then again, why would I embarrass my brother by making a run for it? He taught me loyalty in the absence of my birth parents, and I will forever be thankful to him, but with him giving me away like this, I wondered why I owed him loyalty.

He will always be a beast, nothing more.

After a long drive, we pull up in front of an upmarket bar and get out. “Where are we going?” I manage to choke out, feeling scared for the first time in ages. Viktor opens the door to the bar and smiles. “Konstantin Volkov, my older brother and Kai’s Beta,” he says when I follow him inside.

If I was worried before, now I am petrified. I have heard of Konstantin Volkov; he kills first and asks questions later. Now I will be given to the man known as The Heartless Beta.

We walk into what looks like a gentleman’s club of some sort, but a rather fancy looking one. They don’t have these back home - the Las Vegas strip is coated in sleaze. I can actually picture myself having a drink in here without feeling uncomfortable; I have to give them props for interior decorating.

Footsteps to my right, and I turn my head to see the most gorgeous man I have ever laid my eyes on. I have to admit that the Volkov genes yielded a lot of beautiful men, even if they were all scary as hell. He’s tall, with long dark hair and eyes coated with thick eyelashes, built the same as Kai and with the same scent of intimidation on him. I wouldn’t mess with this wolf even if you dared me. Not with the things I’ve heard about him.

“What the fuck, are you guys back?” He asks, slapping Viktor on the shoulder and chuckling. Viktor shrugs and lets out a long sigh.

“It was insane being around those Vega Lycans, but I’ll let Kai fill you in on that later. For now, he wanted me to bring this to you.” He says, then gestures to me.

As soon as the other wolf narrows his eyes at me, I feel something strange pulling at my core. His dark eyes, blacker than sin, boring into mine and made me feel dizzy. He frowns when he sees me, then walks over to me and tilts my chin to look into his eyes.

“And who might you be?” he says in a low voice dripping with honey.

“Lil… Lilith,” I stutter, feeling angry at myself for faltering over my words, but the other wolf only smiles.

“Konstantin; pleasure to meet you, Lilith,” he says, then takes my hand in his and kisses the back of it before facing Viktor again.

“What is this all about?” he asks, letting go of my hand.

Viktor sighs then pinches the bridge of his nose.

“This is Fenriz’s half-sister; he gave her to us as a show of goodwill with our accords,” he says, rolling his eyes. I hear a low growl in Konstantin’s throat before he glances at me again.

“Those fucking Lycans,” he says, shaking his head.

I get why most people hate that breed of wolf because they only rely on their basic instincts. Luckily, my father mated with an ordinary wolf woman, and thus I was conceived, but instead of being a wolf or Lycan, my fucking body took to my mother’s human genes. My father was unaware that his mate was cursed with a bite and not a pure bloodline.

I’ve been a laughing stock ever since.

“Well, Fenriz must have kept you alive for a reason. What are your talents?” He asks, arms crossed and circling me, making me feel more flustered.

“He taught me how to fight; I’m a cage fighter,” I answer proudly as I remember all my titles back home. I hear the rumble coming from Konstantin, and he shakes his head.

“Hm and anything else besides that? What are your education levels? College levels?” He asks.

I must admit that this question confuses me because no one has ever asked about my intelligence level before. Every wolf in Las Vegas only cared about your kill count, not your GPA.“Uh, I obtained a B.S.B.A at UNLV,” I answer him, confused at his question, but I can see that he is impressed by my degree, not that I ever had to make use of it.

Before I can ask him what he wanted from me, he rears his fist back and aims a punch straight at my face. Luckily, I see it in time and dodge him. What the hell?! Then as I do a double-take, he comes at me again, jabbing me and landing potshots at my sides. I dodge some of them, but those that land hurt like a motherfucker.

Damn! He wasn’t even aiming for hard punches! Deciding that I have had enough of this, I strike and jab as well, not only defending myself but hoping to at least land one hit. I might be small, but I’m lithe and quick on my feet.

But then Konstantin swipes my feet from under me, and I land on my ass.

I go down in a huff and pull a face when my head hits the tiled floor. He leans over me and grins, then holds out his hand for me to take.

“Welcome to the Blood Crest pack, Lily. Today is your first day as my Assistant and Second In Command, and I expect nothing but loyalty from you from this day forward.” He says, pulling me to my feet.

I am so blown away by what he has just said that I barely notice the pull in my core again when he looks at me. It’s faint, but it’s there, and I can’t help but wonder if this is what the mate bond pull felt like. Laughing at the preposterous thought, I offer Konstantin a smile and whisper ‘thank you’ as he leads me over to the bar for a welcome drink.

“To my new Second In Command!” He says, holding a whiskey glass high and giving me a wink before downing the entire thing.

As if a scentless, half human wolf like me could ever have a mate, and especially a mate like Konstantin Volkov.