Chapter 1

His hands worked like magic. Everywhere he touched, my skin burnt and sparks flew. He touched parts of me that no other living being had ever touched before. His silver eyes which were holding mine had that glimpse of possessiveness as he watched me slowly sinking into that sensual trance his touch never failed to render. “Tonight I’m yours,” he said huskily, his lips were against the soft skin below my ear. 

And I could feel his hand with long, lean brown fingers that knew how to be cruel if the moment presented itself slid underneath my t-shirt and moved their way up my back. With his skillful hand, he unhooked my bra. “I need you,” he whispered again as both of his hands explored my skin, caressing, squeezing, and sending fire straight to my core. 

“I can tell,” I sighed out pleasurably. He was very aroused, it was as clear as the sky above and I could feel it against my lower abdomen. It was only a few hours since our last sex and yet it already felt like a long time for the two of us. “Show me how much,” I groaned. 

He quickly responded. His mouth hungrily covered mine with an ambitious force that had my head thrown back while his arms crushed mine tightly to him. He was alive and wanting, his mouth urgent now as it kissed and sucked and licked and tasted its way across my cheek and jaw while his hand moved lower again. One was cupping my thigh while the other raced its way up to my breast. This was precisely what I needed, what we both needed after all that had happened recently. A release. An epic release. 

I was ready to take off and throw away my t-shirt and bra when he suddenly made his way down my body, seemingly having a different plan. His lips kissed my stomach then trailed down my lower abdomen as his hands unbuttoned then pushed my jeans and panties down my thighs all the way to my ankles until they were dropped on the floor. He tilted his head and looked up at me as he leaned forward and kissed the inside of my thigh. “Put your foot on my shoulder,” he said and I quickly did what he asked. He planted another kiss on the other thigh and muttered against my sensitive skin, “I’ve been dreaming about doing this to you for weeks.” He parted my flesh with hand and took me into his hot mouth. 

His tongue slid across my slick flesh and he gave me the most incredible oral sex of my entire life. He clearly knew exactly what he was doing because whatever he did, it felt good. So good. His tongue teased, caressed, and kissed like he’d been in the desert for a long time being hot and thirsty, and I was a river. He kept at it until the first wave of hot orgasm started shaking my entire body, sending shock from the top of my head to the top of my toes. I was so close, so close to a release. I closed my eyes and cried out his name in desperation, grasping for that climax that I’d longed for. “I need you, Ry! I’m so close!” 

Then everything was black and when I reopened my eyes, I was staring at the empty, dark ceiling. I blinked a few times, my mind was still in a haze and my body was a hot and sweaty mess. I briefly closed my eyes and let my other senses feel everything. My skin was taut — almost as if he’d truly been here and touching me, and I didn’t have to slide my hand down my pants to know that I’d creamed myself. Gosh, all of that over a dream. A fucking dream. Albeit a good one, it was still a dream nonetheless. Not the real thing. “Where are you, Ry?” I muttered to no one as my grip on his blanket tightened. 

It had only been two weeks since my mate, Ryker Cromwell — the Alpha of one of the strongest packs, The Ethereal, had rejected me as his mate and left his pack to his Beta, Dmitry Vashkov. I’d later found out that during the last battle with neighboring pack, The Night Walkers, he’d been wounded by an ancient sword which caused him to be infected by ‘Mad Wolf’. A rare, mythical disease that would drive wolves mad to the point where they would drink their mate’s blood dry and eat their heart and die upon the realization of what they’d done. 

I knew it was a scary thing and he’d left in order to protect me but I didn’t appreciate his action at all. No, I was pissed off. How could he run away? Did he think that I wouldn’t be able to handle his condition? That I wouldn’t be able to protect myself from him? I was a freaking sorceress for goodness sake! I’d done the impossible like bringing my best friend, Eros’s memory back after he was being hexed by an evil witch, Adelina, and making people tell the truth by messing with their heads. I could even manage to lock away his evil ex-girlfriend’s conscience so that her wolf could take over the body. So yes, I found his action to be condescending and cowardly. Instead of finding the cure together, he’d chosen to run. Not only that, he’d spent a passionate night with me then left me to wake up alone and find out about his rejection through a piece of paper that he’d given to his Beta. 

If I could find him, I’d be sure to give him a piece of mind while holding him upside down in the air for all the things he’d put me through. The last two weeks had been horrible, I’d been a pity case for all people I knew including his beta and my best friend. It didn’t help that when I walked around our territory, the North, everyone gave me a sad look as if telling me about how pathetic I was being the unwanted human mate, the one that their Alpha had to run away from. It was humiliating and the only reason I hadn’t turned them to frogs or pumpkins was because I didn’t want to reveal my power. Some of them who’d fought the Night Walkers with me knew about it but even they kept it a secret. It was best not to draw attention especially when our pack had no alpha. 

Despite Ryker’s request to have his beta as the new Alpha, Dmitry had declined and gone so far as not letting anyone call him Alpha Dmitry. He still went by Beta Vashkov although he’d pretty much taken over all of Ryker’s duties. 

Taking a deep breath, I reopened my eyes and sat on the bed. With a flick of one hand, I summoned a ball of red smoke that grabbed the book from a table a few feet away from me and brought it to my lap. I flipped through the pages until I found one page that contained a little piece of information on Mad Wolf. The tip of my finger traced the picture of the sword as I read the same three paragraphs that I’d been reading for more than five dozen times. 

Without looking up, I used my free hand to summon another ball of smoke that brought the Book of the Damned from inside the cupboard where I’d hidden it to the spot next to my right thigh. “How do one cure Mad Wolf?” I whispered as I touched the book’s spine, hoping that the book would open without its lost key and yet again, it was merely wishful thinking. The book wouldn’t budge. Nothing happened. Everything was quiet and still for a moment. 

Just a split moment before a knock from the door jolted me, causing my leg to kick the book off the bed and to the floor. The Book of the Damned flickered for a moment and I swore I could see the front cover flip opened a tiniest bit, enough to fuel my hope back up.