AARYN
Around him, the WildWood still echoed with the howls of mourning that the tribe raised to honor the sadness of their brethren. Whether they knew it or not, they sang for him.
Every goosebumped part of Aaryn shook, trembled. It seemed as if the very dirt under his feet vibrated with his grief.
He couldn't take his eyes off the last spot he'd seen her, that near-white fur flashing between the green of the leaves and the brown of the forest floor.
He was held, captivated, a creeping hope that she would re-emerge. That he'd find out this had all be some kind of elaborate joke. Or that he had gotten through to her and she'd changed her mind and returned to him.
But she didn't turn.
She didn't come back.
She didn't suddenly appear.
Yet he still couldn't move.
Zev prowled towards her, all shining, brutal beauty, his chin low and those incredible, piercing eyes fixed on her. He didn’t stop until they were toe-to-toe and he blocked her view of every other male in the circle.
His eyes dipped to her mouth as he leaned in, his whisper playing on her skin.
“You. Are. Mine.”
His deep voice twanged in her belly as the howls of the wolf pack rose from behind him to echo across the mountains of Thana, while the other Chimera protested his claim.
Fighting the urge to stroke his broad, bare chest with her shaking hands, Sasha forced herself to tilt her head and raise an eyebrow. “So bold for a pup who just found his fangs.”
The other males roared with laughter.
Ignoring their taunts, Zev’s eyes sparked and he leaned even closer, the scruff on his jaw tickling her cheek as he smiled. “So bold for a human who already knows the pleasure of gasping my name.”
She shivered when his teeth grazed her ear.
*****
Just days after Sasha gave herself to her childhood love, he disappeared. Five years later, on a dark city street, Zev came back—with danger on his tail.
Zev is Chimera: Half-human, half-wolf. Made in a secure research lab, his existence is a secret. But when the powerful men who created him try to kill the only woman who ever made his heart sing, Zev snaps their leash and steals her away to the brutal, hidden world of the Chimera clans.
Torn between the magnetic draw of her first love and the painful betrayal of his disappearance, Sasha tries to keep Zev at arms-length. But when they reach this mysterious world, Zev discovers that in his absence the humans took control and stole almost all the females. The Chimera are dying—and Zev isn’t Alpha anymore.
Now, Zev must fight his own people to win the right to mate his only love. Can he prove to her that his long-ago promise to protect her heart, as well as her body, was true? Or will the humans cross worlds to hunt the wolf and tear the lovers apart forever?
[Mature content, no sexual assault]
NOTE: This book is a standalone story and NOT part of the Anima/King of Beasts series (but fans should keep an eye out for Easter Eggs!)
CURRENT MASS RELEASE GOAL: Updates will be five days per week until we reach 500 collections and 10 reader reviews, then will get a mass release and go to daily updates! Add it to your library NOW!
Cover Image by Aenaluck and used by permission with paid copyright. See more gorgeous art and support the artist at www.patreon.com/aenaluck