The Wolfskin Series Book 3
Auteur
A. Makkelie
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Hoofdstukken
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In a world where werewolves and ancient magic collide, Killian and his pack face a relentless enemy, Zachary, who has captured and tortured Mera, Killian's mate. As they struggle to rescue her, they uncover deep-seated secrets and powerful allies, including the enigmatic wolf Thyra and the goddess Freyja. With the midwinter solstice approaching, Mera must merge with Thyra to unlock her full powers and confront Zachary in a battle that will determine the fate of their kind. Will they succeed, or will Zachary's dark plans come to fruition?
Prologue
Book 3: Wolvenskin
Prologue
MERA
My touch has turned to stone; there is no fire left in my bones.
The whispers of a liar cursing me run through my mind and set my thoughts on fire.
The panic that rewinds with every sleepless night intensifies.
I’m holding tight to the ever after.
I’m living for a sign to survive the raging storm beyond the boundaries of my mind.
The body in which I’m living is a prison as the scheme of my life became deranged.
I need to break loose from my chains and rise above the waves that are trying to drown me.
I am fighting the darkness in my mind while I try to find the light.
I need to break out of my cage, but I am drowning in the river of life.
Can we fight the darkness we’ve all been trying to hide inside our minds?
Can we find the light that shines inside our souls?
I’m trying to hold on to my sanity before the darkness takes me from this place, but I am suffocating in this world.
My spirit has left with the tears I have shed.
Can I justify the demons in my mind while they show no mercy?
I defy the laws of humankind as they will make me keep on dreaming.
I need to keep my mind clear and grasp my purpose for this torture with both hands.
Yet, I can’t shake this feeling that I have to die to feel alive…
***
KILLIAN
“Alpha.”
Killian looked up from his files as he heard Edvin’s voice through the link. “Report, Edvin,” he ordered.
“We have met with Reidar as scheduled, but there is no way we can do anything right now.”
“Zachary has eyes on her at all times, and sneaking in unnoticed will not work. Not even Reidar will be able to get her out of there with his life,” Edvin reported.
Killian dropped the files he was holding and ran his hands over his face as he sighed.
Of course they couldn’t…
“Thank you, Edvin. Stay there and observe. I will discuss our next move,” he commanded through the link.
“I will, Alpha,” Edvin responded.
Killian got up from his chair, walked to the window, and looked at the white world outside.
Three months had passed, and they were no closer to getting Mera out of there.
He’d sent Edvin, Lars, and Sven to meet Reidar, to see the compound for themselves, and to discuss their options to get Mera out, but they were no closer than they had been three months ago.
Killian leaned his hands on the windowsill and looked at the pups that were playing with the snow in the backyard of the pack house.
A week after he’d heard her voice in his head, he had to take on the responsibilities of the alpha, and his days consisted of pack business, training, planning, eating, and sleeping.
He’d matured a lot, and he’d become a lot stronger.
He was ready to take on Zachary, but there was no way to do that yet as he’d had no chance to get to him.
Or her…
Mera was still being tortured, but it wasn’t just rape anymore. He hadn’t felt that pain coming from her more than three times in the last month and a half.
He was glad they’d stopped hurting her like that, but that didn’t take away the electric pain and pain that came from cuts and dislocated limbs.
She doesn’t deserve this, and I will make those fuckers pay for hurting her.
He didn’t care about the pain he felt; he only cared about the pain she felt.
The urge to hold her in his arms and make sure that no one would ever hurt her again was becoming stronger and stronger.
I need to let Kil out more often to make sure I don’t run to that fucking compound and charge in without a plan.
It would be suicide if I did.
He sighed as he closed his eyes and dropped his head.
I miss her so much…
“You will get her back, Lian.”
He looked over his shoulder as he heard her walk in.
“You will hold her in your arms again, and soon you’ll be looking at your own pups playing with the snow in the backyard,” Revna said as she laid a hand on his shoulder and looked at the pups outside.
“That is a dream I can only hope will come true,” Killian said grimly.
Not because I’m not sure we will get her back.
No, because of everything she’s gone through…
A pup was one thing he’d always wanted with his mate, but Mera had been raped several times, and he wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to be close to a male again.
All the more reason to kill those assholes.
Revna sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder.
“I don’t know Mera like you guys do, but I do know she is one of the strongest females that exist. You two will find your way back to each other—I know you will,” she said as she kept looking at the pups.
“Thank you, Revna,” Killian said as he laid his head on hers.
“Anytime, Alpha,” she said as she chuckled a little.
Revna had become a good friend to him, Edvin, and Ken. Not just because she was Aksel’s mate but because she was an exact copy of him.
She had comforted him more times than he could count, and he was thankful to have her here.
Besides Mera and his mother, there hadn’t been good female energy in the house, and Revna brought plenty of that now that Mera was held captive and his mother was still trying to work through the pain of Adrien’s death.
Killian’s chest ached as he thought about his father, but it wasn’t for the obvious reasons; he hadn’t been able to go see him in the morgue.
Killian had tried multiple times to go to his father as he needed to make the arrangements for his cremation, but every time he tried to go in, his wolf would force the shift and run as far away as he could.
He didn’t understand why it happened, and that wasn’t even the weirdest part…
Adrien’s body hadn’t started to decay at all.
He still looked the same as he did when he had just been killed by Dag.
No one understood why, and soon Synne stopped coming out of the morgue as she had developed the hope that Adrien would wake up as his body didn’t allow him to decay.
Everyone had tried to talk to her, but she just couldn’t leave him alone.
It hurt his heart to see her like this, to see her not getting the closure she needed, to see her still hoping for a miracle that was not possible…
“Killian?” Revna asked and lifted her head as she noticed him getting tenser by the second.
Killian was pulled out of his thoughts by the redhead and looked at her. “Sorry,” he said before he turned away from the window and sat on his chair again.
“Mera?” Revna asked as she walked to the other side of the desk and sat down on the chair, already knowing that he was thinking about someone.
“Mom,” he said as he slouched in his chair and looked at the files on his desk.
Revna nodded. “Pia and Elsa have been trying to help her get out of the morgue, but they haven’t had success yet. I’m sorry, Killian,” she said.
Revna was the beta female now that she had completed the bond with Aksel.
She was a credit to her name as she was one of the best he had met.
She was the only female he had ever met who was actually trained to become the beta of a pack. She was the only child of the beta of the Halvmåne Pack, headed by Alpha Arne and Luna Astrid.
They were happy when they found out that Aksel was her mate, but it also meant that when Arne and Astrid’s pup was born, he would have to choose a new beta line.
“I know, Revna. Just keep me updated,” he said as he looked at her.
She gave him a small smile. “You know I will,” she said before the door opened.
“Why is it that when I can’t find you, you are always with our alpha?”
They both looked at Aksel and Ken, who had walked in.
Revna chuckled as Aksel winked at her and gave her a deep kiss.
Killian smiled at them. He truly was happy for them, but he couldn’t help but feel the pain in his chest as he missed his mate beside him.
“How’s the pack doing?” Killian asked as he looked at his gamma after he’d swallowed the lump in his throat.
“There will be three new pups born in the next four months, and five teenagers will turn fifteen in the next two months.
“We will have to make arrangements for them to be taken to Trøndelag and monitored during their first shift,” Ken said.
Killian nodded. “Make sure to have five warriors monitor the teens.”
Ever since the attack, the teenagers that were taken there to shift were monitored and, if need be, corrected by warriors.
They would make sure that nothing like what happened with them would happen again.
His dad had made the arrangements, and Killian enforced them now as well.
“I will. Other than that, the pack is as content as it can be right now.
“Everything that is happening weighs on the pack, and it’s noticeable as they aren’t as unbothered as they were before the fest,” Ken said.
The pack missed their luna.
That much had already been clear to Killian as he could feel the worry for her through the bond as he was the alpha.
“Thank you, Ken,” Killian said before he ran his hands over his face again.
“Any word of Edvin?” Aksel asked as he rested his hand on Revna’s shoulder and looked at Killian.
“Yeah, they met with Reidar, but there is nothing they can do right now. We need to discuss what the next course of action is before we can do anything else,” Killian said as he looked at his beta.
“You want me to arrange a meeting with the other alphas?” Aksel asked.
Killian nodded.
“Tonight. The longer we do nothing, the more she will suffer, and I will not be able to hold back my wolf for much longer if Mera continues to be tortured,” he said before a growl escaped his chest.
He took a deep breath to calm himself and his wolf.
“I will make the calls,” Aksel said.
Killian knew Mera had become a sister to Ken, Aksel, and Edvin, and knowing what those hunters were doing to her was not something they were handling well, either.
“Thank you,” Killian said. “To all of you,” he added as he looked at the three of them.
“We’re here for you, brother,” Aksel said with a small smile.
