Novels by MERICA

I wake to the weight of a mountain on my chest. Kael is still asleep. His arm is a heavy bar of muscle across my ribs. His face is buried in the crook of my neck. I can feel the steady. hot puff of his breath against my skin. It makes my wolf hum with a terrifying contentment. I lie perfectly still. I do not want to wake the beast. I do not want to see the rejection in his eyes when he realizes he held me all night.I stare at the ceiling. The dark beams of the oak roof are carved with ancient runes. They look like teeth. Everything in this fortress looks like it was made to bite. I try to slide out from under his arm. I move an inch.Kael grunts. His grip tightens. He pulls me closer. He is not awake. but his body knows I am his. His nose nuzzles the sensitive skin behind my ear. A low. involuntary purr vibrates in his chest. It is a sound of pure. primal ownership."Kael." I whisper.He doesn't move. I try again. louder."Kael. let go."His eyes snap open. They are not silver yet. T

The silver burn on my shoulder is gone .It is replaced by a faint red mark. It isn't a claim. But it is a start. I look at the door Kael ripped from the wall. The metal is twisted like paper. It is a reminder of what he is. He is a force of nature. He is a king who takes what he wants."Move. Rogue."Vane is standing in the doorway. He looks at the wreckage with a bored expression. He does not seem surprised that his Alpha destroyed a reinforced iron door. He looks at me. He gestures for me to follow him. I step over the debris. My chains clink against the stone. The sound echoes in the empty hallway.We walk past the other cells. They are dark. They smell like misery. We reach a spiral staircase made of black granite. It leads up. Away from the damp and the mold. I feel the air change. It gets warmer. It smells like woodsmoke and expensive leather."The Alpha’s quarters are at the very top." Vane says. He does not look back at me. "Do not touch anything. Do not speak to the guards. D

The morning brings no light but it brings a different kind of noise. Boots crunch on the gravel outside my cell. The heavy iron bar slides back with a screech that sets my teeth on edge. I do not get up from the straw. I stay curled in a ball. My ribs ache where the guard kicked me in the woods. Every breath is a reminder that I am still trapped."Get up. Rogue."It is the same guard from the night before. He has a tray in his hands. He kicks my foot to make me move. I sit up slowly. My joints feel like they are filled with glass. I look at the tray. It holds a heel of stale bread and a bowl of gray mash. It looks like paste. It smells like nothing."Where is Kael?" I ask.The guard snorts. He sets the tray on the floor. "The Alpha has better things to do than watch a stray eat. He is at the border. There are sightings of Shadow Claw scouts.""Shadow Claw?" I whisper.I know that name. They are the pack to the north. They are scavengers. They wait for a pack to show weakness before th

The dungeon floor is a sheet of ice. I hit the ground with a dull thud. The impact sends a jolt through my spine. I lie there. I do not move. I breathe in the dust. It smells like wet minerals and old copper. The guard above me chuckles. He is a shadow against the dim light of the hallway. He reaches down. He grabs the chain between my wrists. He yanks me up.“Get up”. Rogue. He says.I scramble to my feet. My knees are raw. They sting with every step. The iron around my wrists is heavy. It pulls at my shoulders. It makes me feel small. We walk deeper into the dark. The walls are narrow. They are made of black stone that seems to swallow the torchlight. I hear the sound of dripping water. It is slow. Steady. Like a ticking clock.Where are you taking me. I ask. My voice is a dry rasp.To the black cells. The guard replies. The Alpha wants you where the sun never reaches.He pushes me again. I stumble into a heavy iron door. It is solid. It has a small slot at the eye level. The guard

Run. Lyra. Run. The voice in my head is a scream. My feet hit the dirt. I do not feel the rocks. I do not feel the thorns. I only feel the pulse in my neck. It is too fast. It is the sound of a trapped animal. Behind me. The woods are alive. I hear the snapping of branches. I hear the heavy. rhythmic thud of paws. They are gaining. They are always gaining.Keep moving. I tell myself. Do not look back.I leap over a fallen log. My hip clips the wood. I stumble. I catch myself with one hand. The dirt is cold. It gets under my nails. I scramble up. My breath is a ragged blade in my chest. I can hear them laughing now. Not the wolves. The men. The Red Fang guards stay in their skins when they want to play. They want me to feel the humanness of my fear. They want to hear my gasps.There. To the left. A guard shouts.I veer right. I dive through a thicket of brambles. They tear at my tunic. They tear at my skin. I do not stop. Red light filters through the trees. The Blood Moon. It is a cur