It was Griff, only he looked different. Gone was the luxuriant hair, replaced with a short style that made him look like a human o ce worker. He wore a black suit with a white shirt with only one button loose and a strip of red silk in the top pocket.
He had the same angular brow with startling amber eyes as before, the same high cheekbones, a perfectly straight nose, and gorgeous lips. He had a trim beard that was thicker than a five o’clock shadow that accentuated his masculine charm.All the air left my lungs, leaving me reeling forward.Was this some new brand of torture? It had to be because to his left and right were identical twin women, each with broad smiles, chestnut hair, and white dresses that looked more like bandages.And they looked happy.I stopped breathing. My body went perfectly still. And the only sound filling my ears was the roar of my blood.From the way they pressed their petite bodies against my mate, it looked like he was sleeping with them both. Or the dirty, rotten wolf was building up to it. Where was he? My gaze darted left, right, up, down, taking in the surroundings.The background was the kind of bars I imagined could be in Heaven. Pristine. Minimalist. White. Perspex shelves that displayed an array of liquor bottles spaced out like they wore works of art. Long, dangling lights shaped like tiny globes. It was modern—well beyond the likes of Kirk, Spock, and Uhura.I shook my head, trying to dislodge the vision, but it remained there in glorious technicolor. My lungs started working again as realization trickled through my skull. Demons were sadistic bastards, but they wouldn’t go so far as to fabricate something so elaborate. Not for a woman who died at the age of twenty-one and barely made it as an alpha. This had to be real.“What are you showing me?” I hissed. “Why is he alive and still young when I was executed for his murder?”“Your mate escaped Hell.”My nostrils flared. In the years I’d been stuck in my shit hole of a cell, people had tried to break out. Some old bastard had convinced a bunch of gullible souls to stitch themselves together to create a being of immense power. I think it was called a soul king or something similar.It hadn’t worked.The combined spirits had torn apart a bunch of pit demons, and I had seen my tormentors ripped to shreds and tossed into the lake of lava. But lightning had filled the air and dismantled the soul king, ending that particular escapade.“How did he get out?” I snarled.“If I knew the answer to that question, you would still be in your cell,” Hades said, his voice bitter.For the next few heartbeats, I watched Griff take the twins to a booth, where a bottle of champagne awaited. After settling into their fancy seats, they embarked on a session of public petting.Angry sparks flew off my skin, filling my vision with white. I had to stop this. Griff didn’t get to leave his eternal punishment while I still suffered. But beneath the fury was a despair as deep as the ocean. Seeing him with those women reminded me of everything that I lacked. Beauty. Charm. A personality someone could love.The skin around my eyes grew hot and the edges of my vision turned red. No one ever needed to tell me I was ugly because the truth was plain to see in the mirror. It hadn’t mattered because I had a purpose beyond making myself attractive to men. I was going to carry on Dad’s work as the alpha.Griff popped the champagne cork. Foam spurted across the table, making them all laugh.I ground my molars and snarled. The moment our eyes had locked, my wolf had recognized her mate, even though I’d been reluctant to acknowledge our connection. But Griff had noticed it too, and he’d been determined to make me his.Until he’d gotten what he wanted and rejected me.He filled their flutes with the bubbly liquid, and the trio clinked glasses.“And where is he now?” I snarled.“Franklin Gri ths is safely ensconced in the heart of Shifter City,” Hades replied. “The most magically secure enclosure in the Supernatural World.”If I wasn’t so transfixed by the sight of my mate molesting those beautiful twins, I would have given the Demon King a look as blank as my mind. “I’ve never heard of the place,” I growled, already devising a way to break out of Hell so I could kill him all over again. “Is it in Atlantis?”He sighed. “It’s in Logris.”I finally turned to lock eyes with the Demon King. “What?”He drummed his fingers on his thigh. “Humans found the location of Logris shortly after Yule. We had to separate the city into its smaller villages and scatter our location across parks around London.”My gaze darted back to the screen, where one of the twins had disappeared. Griff lay back on the booth’s leather seat with a lazy grin. I ground my teeth. I didn’t need to have memorized my dog-eared copy of The Joy of Sex to know she was giving him a blowjob.“After your execution, your beta, Gerrison, took over the pack, and he became the Shifter King,” Hades said. “Unfortunately, he was murdered by another wolf named Mondo, who subsequently lost an alpha challenge to a creature named Beowulf Kenneally.”Somewhere in the back of my mind, I wanted to ask why he’d referred to someone with a wolfish name as a creature, but Griff threw his head back on screen, looking like he was in the throes of ecstasy. A growl reverberated in the back of my throat. That wretched bastard.“Beowulf was challenged by Gerrison’s daughter, Lydia, who lost the position to Fenrisùlfr.”“What?” I turned to look at Hades, whose lips had tightened. “Are you talking about—”“Fenrir, the Norse god?” he asked. “Yes. He’s another one who escaped Hell and now rules Logris. There’s an open invitation to every shifter in the Supernatural World to fill your former city.”“Wait, so Logris is now—”“Shifter City,” Hades said, his words clipped with impatience. “Franklin Griffiths absconded with thousands of wolf shifters, and he continues to steal more. Nobody knows how he did it, why he took so many with him, or what he’s done with my former inmates, but he now resides within the impenetrable walls of what used to be called Logris.”My gaze drifted back to the screen, where Griff was devouring the other twin’s mouth. Each moment was a fresh slice of anguish across my heart, making me feel lonelier than ever. After they’d sentenced me to death, the executioner had severed my soul, cutting me off from my beautiful white wolf.Losing her had been even worse than discovering that Griff had not only rejected me but usurped my position in the pack. His large hand cupped the woman’s tiny breast and kneaded it like it was a round of dough. My insides, which had been empty since I’d refused my last meal, now filled with revulsion.Then the screen went blank.I jerked forward, my mouth falling open. “Where’s the rest of it?”“You’ve seen enough to know that your unfaithful mate is enjoying a life of unbridled luxury in the Living World,” he said.Bitterness coated the back of my tongue, but I managed to swallow back the bile. “Why am I here?” I rasped, my throat feeling like someone had scratched it raw. “Is this part of my torture?”Hades sniffed and smoothed a manicured hand down his lapel. “Hardly.”I stilled, waiting for the man to speak. Maybe if I drew out this meeting and gave him a few vague answers about Griff, then I might get to spend the night in the palace dungeons while he continued the interrogation. It was strange to have lived for years in that gritty cell. Stranger to crave its safety during my torture sessions with the imps. But what was most strange was that I couldn’t face going back to the Punishment Pits.“Part of me found my stay here bearable because I knew Griff was somewhere in those stalagmites, suffering the same torment.” I dropped my gaze to my lap.“He wasn’t.” “What?” I whispered.“Griff, as you so fondly call him, resided in a village within the Asphodel Meadows,” Hades said, his voice filled with regret.“But he was a back-stabbing bastard.” I raised my gaze to meet the Demon King’s.Something in his eyes said he could relate to my anguish, which was bizarre because he was so handsome and looked like he could get the pick of women and keep them endlessly fascinated. Not only that, but Hades didn’t need to trick anyone into going to bed with him.“A bastard who committed minor crimes.” Before I could speak, Hades raised his palm. “Miss Aibek, you need to understand that there’s an ocean of difference between seducing women for fun and profit, and shooting a man in the kneecaps, beating him to an inch of his life before shooting him again in the chest and then setting him alight?”My lips puckered. When he put it that way, he made mesound like the villain. “But—”“No,” he said in a voice sharp enough to cut through my counter argument. “When the enforcers broke down the door of the alpha’s basement, they found you dancing a jig on his charred corpse.”“I’d do it again if you gave me the chance,” I snarled.Hades looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes. “And this is why an incorrigible soul like yours would never leave the Punishment Pits without my assistance or intervention.” “Why?” I spread my arms wide. “Because I broke the law to get justice?”He shook his head. “Fortunately, I would like to offer you an opportunity to escape your deserved punishment and live out your afterlife in the comfort of the Asphodel Meadows.”My heart skipped several beats before rolling like thunder. “You want me to track him down and kill him?”“More or less,” Hades said with a smile, “But your mission is slightly more nuanced.”“I’m listening,” I said.Hades rose to his feet and stalked across his study with the grace of a panther. My throat dried, and I straightened in my seat, my hackles rising. Everyone knew never to make deals with demons, bargains with faeries, or promises to gods. Such arrangements always backfired, and 99.999 percent of the time, it was the god or demon or faerie who won.My heart beat faster than a drumroll, and the room became too hot, too small, too stifling. Hades’ power was overwhelming to the point where I couldn’t breathe.“Miss Aibeck,” he said in a voice older than time. “Will you go into the human world and retrieve your errant mate?”Mate.At that last word, all common sense evaporated into the ether. I blurted, “Yes, as long as I get to kill him.”Hades grinned with a throaty laugh that made the fine hairs on the back of my neck want to skitter to the fireplace and hide. “If you complete this mission to my satisfaction, you’ll have a cottage in the Asphodel Meadows and employment in my Pits, where you will spend the rest of eternity punishing Griffiths.”My breath turned shallow. This was more than I could wish for. A place to stay that didn’t give me constant discomfort, an existence free from torture, and the chance to hurt Griff as much as he had hurt me.Only a fool would refuse such a tempting offer. “When can I start?”The Demon King’s eyes glowed like Hellfire. “How about now?”Hades stepped back and gave me one of those grins that would have been frightening if my blood wasn’t already thirsting for revenge. I gazed up at the Demon King, my eyes steady, my chest rising and falling with excited breaths. Anyone looking at us would think we were a pair of maniacs. Maybe we were. Because of Griff’s calculated betrayal, I had ended up here in Hell instead of leading my pack.“Wonderful,” Hades drawled as he swept his arm toward the other side of the room. “Healer Iaso will fortify your magic and prepare you for an induction to the modern world.”He stepped back to reveal an even larger space with doors leading out on both sides. At the far end of the room were a pair of staircases on each side that led to a mezzanine. My gaze slid to a gold-framed mirror, where a short woman in a hooded cloak beckoned me over. My brows rose. Had she been standing there the entire time Hades and I had been talking?“Come along, Miss Aibek,” she said, sounding brusque.
Healer Iaso gave me a gentle pat on the shoulder. “We women have had a shitty deal when men are in charge. Things have changed a little in Logris. The Witch Queen still rules, and there’s a Mage Queen and a Fire Queen.”I flinched. Back in my day, anyone who practiced fire magic was executed without trial. “They let Fire users live?”She nodded. “Even His Majesty has softened, now that he’s found his wife.”My shoulders sagged. “What a pity I didn’t wait four decades to murder Griff.”“It’s a pity you had to murder him at all,” she said, her voice soft with sympathy. “If it had been up to me, Franklin Gri ths would have gone straight to the Punishment Pits.”It took several minutes for her words to sink in, and I stared at my lap as the other woman bustled around the room. No matter what I thought about, my mind still kept drifting to Griff. If he had wanted my pack, he could have challenged me like a wolf instead of making me fall in love. That had been the worst part of it all. I’d
I leaned forward, my brows furrowing, and stared at the screen. Everything we’d learned at the academyhad indicated that Fenrir was a wolf, not a shifter. He was the offspring of Loki, the Norse god of mischief, and Angrboda, a giantess also known as the mother of monsters. The only non-animal child they’d had was a daughter called Hel, a goddess who was beautiful down one side of her body but a withered corpse on the other.The man standing with Griff was more like an angel than a god. He had a mop of golden curls that framed a classically beautiful face of high cheekbones, full lips, a darker stubble, and eyes like vibrant turquoise. Men like that didn’t exist. At least not in our pack.“How did Fenrir gain a human form?” I asked.Hades folded his arms across his chest. “According to his sister, Fenrir performed a heinous act of magic to end the world.”My brows drew together. Something in his tone suggested that he thought the explanation was bullshit.“How did Griff convince a go
Hades folded his arms across his chest. “You’ll be working in pairs. Those who produce the information that leads to the capture of Gri ths and his accomplices will spend their afterlife in comfort. If you fail, you will return to the Punishment Pit.”“That hardly seems fair,” mumbled the redhead.He swept his arm toward the door. “One of my imps will escort you to your cell if you no longer wish to participate. I will arrange daily punishments to make up for the magic you received under false pretenses.”“I’ll stay.” Her voice shook.“Good.” Hades raised a hand, and a familiar ache formed in my heart. I placed a hand over my chest and gasped. The last time I’d felt this way was when they had severed my wolf.The other women cried out.I spun around in my seat and found Healer Iaso standing in a doorway, flanked by four wolves. My gaze locked with the most beautiful one of them all, the arctic wolf with cerulean blue eyes and a pristine, white coat, and my heart melted.“Beki.” Before
I ignored those three and focused my gaze on Beki. She was all that mattered. Her, and finding Griff. Hades hadn’t said it directly, but it looked like we would be able to stay together if I satisfied the Demon King’s demands. Not that I needed any incentive to cut down the mangy wolf who had broken my heart and stolen my pack, but it now meant that I couldn’t let my hatred for him compromise the mission.“Everybody, take a deep breath in.” The healer raised both hands, which each held glowing wands.I filled my lungs with air, wondering if she meant for us to inhale our wolves.“And exhale.” Bright light filled my eyes, making them water.Letting out all the air from my lungs, I blinked away the tears, only to feel a slam against my solar plexus that hit harder than any fist. I staggered back, my lips parting in a moan. The other women’s cries echoed across the room, with one of them shrieking as though someone had punched her through the ribcage.As the glare faded, I raised my hands t
Beki nuzzled against our bond. She loved me unconditionally and wasn’t the type of wolf who wanted a better-looking human half, but even she had to admit that life was a thousand times easier with the advantage of beauty.“Wait a minute.” Marianna strode into the room, her hands clenched into fists. “Why does that behemoth get the beautiful amazon and we have to make do with average- looking Neutrals?”“Miss Aibek requires a body that can handle her immense power.”Marianna’s mouth dropped open. “She’s nothing special.”A growl reverberated in the back of my throat, and it wasn’t coming from Beki. Every time Marianna opened her mouth, it was a challenge. Now that Hades wasn’t around to protect her, I was going to show her who was the superior wolf. Squaring my shoulders, I stepped up to the black- haired woman and glared down into her ebony eyes.“Do you have something to say to me, bitch?”She raised her chin, her eyes shining with defiance. “You heard me.”My
Beki gave me an admonishing bark.“All right,” I snapped. “On occasion, one or two people have referred to me as pig-headed.”“Hmm.” Her lips tightened.“What’s happened?” I shoved my palms onto the cot and raised myself onto my elbows. The moment my gaze dropped down to boobs the size of watermelons, I got my answer. “Shit.”“Indeed.” She folded her arms across her chest. “It would seem that the body has bent to your will and created an almost replica of your soul.”“Can I see?” I asked with a gulp.She reached into her cloak and pulled out a mirror. “We can’t have you leaving Hell looking like the person who murdered Franklin Griffiths. However, I can make a few amendments to your physical form so you resemble something else.”I took the proffered mirror, my stomach sinking to the marble floor, and watched her sweep out of the room. As the door clicked behind her, Beki placed her front paws on our bond, urging me to take a look.“Didn’t you hear her?” I asked, my eyes squeezing shut.
“Did the humans put a man on the moon? I died before the rocket launched.”“So they say,” I muttered as I remembered the footage on television. “But the footage looked like the work of a light mage.”Larissa barked a laugh. “Stupid humans.”I chose a selection of outfits, from work clothes—because who knew what the mission would entail—to tight-fitting dresses that resembled what the twins had worn during their date with Griff. I paused, waiting for the surge of hot rage to burn through my insides the way it usually did whenever I thought about the flea-ridden wolf. Instead, my heart filled with the warmth of my connection with Beki.As we loaded the last of our choices and zipped our cases shut, a curvaceous woman about my body’s height sauntered into the room, looking like a 1950s secretary with her red hair swept up in a chignon. Everyone had been talking about a movie called Grease around the time of my execution, and I wondered if she was dressed like that because she’d gotten swept
Hades was a persistent bastard who continued to attack Shifter City. He sent assassins, spies, and other Trojan horses, but Fenrir was always prepared. With the help of Loki, Ophois, and a few other lupine gods we had encountered during the past fifteen years, Midgard remained the afterlife of choice for all wolves.Our system was simple: the berserkers in the Hellfire Pack would collect the souls of those who died within Shifter City or within the Norse pack’s protected wards. Griff and I would venture out to reap any wolves who died within the Supernatural World.We didn’t even need to hide in the trunk of an Überwald to exit Shifter City. The Hellhounds we rode moved us faster than any speeding vehicle, and the magic protecting our physical forms was powerful enough to shield us from Hades and his enforcers.Griff and I stood within a white room in the Shifter Ward of Atlantis Hospital, waiting for an old she-wolf to take her last breath. We could barely see her through the crowd o
Guests filled white seats in a large reception hall decorated to resemble a Greek temple. At its very end, Hades stood beneath an archway of mauve calla lilies and pomegranate flowers. He wore an ostentatious oxblood red frock coat with plum-colored embroidery.To his right stood a dark-haired male in a morning suit of the same color, wearing a five o’clock stubble that he probably thought made him look cool.Griff gave me a nudge. “His best man is Lucifer, King of the Seventh Faction.”My brows rose, and I scanned the groom’s side of the room. The entire Supernatural Council sat in the front seats with Captain Caria, who wore a dress for a change and sat beside a dark-haired woman whose features were equally as stern. Azriel perched on his seat behind them, looking like he’d been blackmailed into attending.Among the powerful VIPs, I recognized a dark-skinned couple in Egyptian attire who had to be Isis and Osiris, the aunt and uncle of Ophois and the rulers of the First Faction. Lok
Several days ago, Fenrir had suggested we raid the Fifth Faction on the night of the Strawberry Moon. Now we had retrieved the wolf souls, we no longer needed to perform the heist, but my idea would be the perfect revenge.Fenrir sat behind his desk and folded his arms across his chest. He glanced from me to Griff and said, “This is completely unnecessary. After everything you’ve endured, there’s no need for you to face Hades.”Griff spoke first. “This is the least that bastard deserves. He has to learn that striking at Midgard has consequences.”“Agreed,” Fenrir said. “But I don’t want to put either of you at risk.”“It’ll be worth it to teach him not to embed curses in people’s souls,” I said. “And I also can’t wait to melt the smirk off his face when I interrupt him with his mate.”Griff snarled, remembering how Hades had infiltrated our hotel room just as we had planned to become intimate. It was time to return his gesture with one of our own.Fenrir snickered. “Fine, but doing th
My breath turned quick and shallow, and my gaze remained fixed on what was looking to be a terrible earthquake. “Were the others too late to save the wards?”“It’s Fenrir.” Griff slung an arm around my shoulder and tucked me into his side.The distant hill split into several pieces, and the ground that comprised it tumbled away in an avalanche, revealing a mass of white that took up the landscape. My pulse quickened, but Beki made excited barks as though she was meeting an old friend.“Don’t tell me Fenrir’s the size of a blue whale,” I whispered.Griff rubbed his chin. “He once told me he couldn’t shift without destroying the village, but I didn’t completely understand what he meant until now.”Chunks of land rolled off the massive wolf as it rose onto four legs and raised his head toward the pale sky. Despite having remained underground for goodness knows how long, his fur was as pristine as Beki’s. The only difference between them apart from size was that Fenrir’s wolf had turquois
Flying scorpions hovered above us, breathing plumes of fire over our heads whilst trying to re-form. The other wolf shifters tossed wet stones at the swarm, making them break into further pieces. Roars of triumph mingled with the skin-tightening clicks of armored wings, but none of that mattered. Not while Griff was standing before me and declaring he’d made a mistake.The cacophony of sounds faded into the background, and I gazed into his amber eyes. Amber eyes that shone with love and sorrow and regret. Amber eyes that I could have lost myself in for an eternity. Beki pushed herself against our bond and swooned with joy.I wasn’t quite so hopeful.How many times had I gone through this before? I needed to know that the bond wouldn’t bring up something else that would turn Griff away.“Why?” I asked. “Why did you return if it wasn’t for Fenrir?”The muscles in his handsome face tightened, and his gaze jerked to the side. “I didn’t want you to leave the island,” he said, his voice tig
Mum rushed to our side with a bucket of water and set it on the floor. “I’ll get more.”Some of the other wolves had gathered a pile of rocks around the clearing, only to disappear and fetch more, while a few of them remained to hurl them at Snorri. Each stone that landed dented his huge scorpion body, but it did nothing to break him apart.An idea hit me upside the head. “Dad.” I gave him a nudge in the side. “Let’s try getting these stones wet.”Without another word, he walked to the pile of rocks, gathered up a pair, and dipped them in the water. I left the attackers to join him and took one from his hand.I was no expert on arthropods or any other type of shelled creature, but Dad had once told me on a hunting trip that the protective coverings around their bellies were softer than the ones at their backs.“This way.” I flicked my head toward the obelisk.The other wolf shifters continued their attacks on Snorri, making him lash out at them with his tail, but more importantly, the
By now, the air was thick with smoke, but it was nothing compared to the brimstone of Hell. I’d lost track of the flying scorpions and continued through the trees toward the clearing.The swarm had formed the shape of a centaur-like creature, but with a scorpion body replacing that of an equine. Ten feet tall, it stood on six clawed legs with a tail as long as its spine. Hellfire glowed from its bulbous stinger, forming a line of crimson flames down its back.Its back was turned to me, but the same black carapace covered its human side, ending with a round head peppered with bristles. The creature placed a hand on the surface of the obelisk and drummed its fingers.“Urus, teimas, mannaz, othala,” said the voice of an old man. “What a clever combination. Especially when crossed with wunjo and era. Yes... yes… Fine work.”My lips tightened, and I stormed around to look the scorpion man full in the face. It was the only part of his body not covered in the black shell, and he had the sall
Cold shock barreled through my system, even as my chest exploded with streams of burning scorpions. The last week flashed across my mind, filling me with a painful realization. Hades had attached the curse to the bargain Griff had made with the faeries. He’d given us days five before it took control of Griff’s body and destroyed Shifter City.We’d spent the last five days scrambling around trying to break the curse and transfer it to someone else. We had spent all that time worrying about what was inside Griff and hadn’t given a thought to what Hades might have placed in me.Fuck. Griff and I were mates. Rumpel Kracknuts had even hinted that curses could go deeper than the soul of the afflicted. I’d been too concerned with his murder of the healer to even think that he was hinting that I carried the curse.Bloody Hades had turned me into his Trojan horse, and if I couldn’t find a way to stop the swarm, it wouldn’t just mean the destruction of Midgard. It could mean the end of Shifter
The chief enforcer snorted. “I was a few years younger, but I remember you from the academy. Even back then, I knew you were destined for greatness.”My lips formed a tight line. I didn’t need to read his mind to catch his meaning. Randel couldn’t believe that a man like Griff was capable of achieving all those things without my intervention. As a member of Fenrir’s inner circle, he would have heard about our progress, but I couldn’t let him walk away believing I had done all the work.“Franklin Griffiths is more capable than any wolf. It was his knowledge and strength that got us through our trials, not just mine.”Randel nodded and continued toward the driveway.With a sigh, I pushed open the door and walked through the empty hallway. At this time of the night everyone had gone to bed, and my footsteps echoed in the silence. Damp air filled my nostrils as I descended the darkened stairwell that led to the basement, and I pushed the door open to find Fenrir standing beside the fighti