The sound of falling anchor chains doesn’t send a shiver of fear through my body anymore, neither does the sting of the cattle prod or the sliding of that barrel bolt lock on my cage.
“One slip-up and Marie will take your place.”
“Fail tonight; Eva looks strong enough to take over from you.”They figured out that using my sisters' lives works better than violence, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop the whippings or physical torture. What makes it even worse is that these are the people who should be taking care of us, the ones who should love us unconditionally. They chose us to fill the void of not having their own children.
I mean, it used to be like that until I accidentally shifted the night I got my wolf. They saw the damage I did to their cattle and decided I owed them… I was only eight years old and forced to fight in illegal dog fights.
Yeah, you read that right. And while my wolf is stronger than any pit bull, it didn’t mean I would come away unscathed. My body is littered with scars, ones I leave uncovered because I am not ashamed of them.
You would think I’d get away after eighteen years, and trust me, I would run if I could. But they have two other girls in their care, two other orphaned shifter girls who have no idea what our adoptive parents are doing to me.
And I intend to keep it that way. I just need a little more time to make enough money to disappear with them. That’s all I think about when I’m in the octagon fighting men twice my size. That’s all I think about when I start the process of slowly healing my body.
The barrel bolt locks slide open and the face of my father appears in the doorway. “Be in the main house in ten minutes,” he says before leaving again.
They know I won’t dare to run away, and yet they still keep me locked up in a room separate from their spacious villa. They received this wealth because of me and yet they give the credit to their farm business.
I suppose it makes sense, since they were farmers when they took me in. It hides the shameful ways they made their wealth; one slip up and their image will shatter.
I’ve decided that when I disappear with my sisters one day, I am sending all my documented footage and photos to the adoption agency, as well as the papers. There’s no way they’re going to get away with what they’ve done and blame me for kidnapping my sisters.
Vengeance will be mine even when I have my freedom.
After throwing my shit in my gym bag, I walk out of there and towards the villa with my mind clear. Now it's my time to act like the loving daughter in front of the other girls, and they’ll play the nauseating parent part well.
The first thing I spot when I walk into the kitchen from the back door is Marie and Eva eating their cereal at the breakfast nook. They’re thirteen-year-old fraternal twins, so they don’t look alike at all - one has auburn hair while the other has dark brunette curls.
Our parents still think it’s odd that they haven’t shifted yet, but I’ve been training them to control their wolves since they got here. They won’t lose control as I did, and I’ll die before either of them take my place.
“Hey, hey,” I say, ruffling their hair but neither of them are talking. Sighing because I know they’re fighting again, I make my way to the fridge to grab some ingredients for my health smoothie.
I can feel my mother’s stare behind me before she even enters the kitchen and by the time I’m placing the mini blender in the dishwasher, my back is covered in a cold sweat. You would think my father is the ruthless one, but no…she’s the devil incarnate.
“Ready to go, Cherie?” she asks me in that sickly sweet voice and I grab my gym bag from the floor before turning around to face her with a fake smile of my own.
With dark hair, cold blue eyes, a head shorter than me, and the bloodlust of a Lycan; Dawn Argento is the worst kind of parent you can get. What makes things even worse is that she’s no supernatural creature…both she and my father are human.
“Yeah, I am,” I say and walk over to give my sisters their goodbye kisses. Then I follow her out to her SUV and get in the passenger seat.
The drive to the gym is quiet, but with the way she’s humming, I can tell she’s excited about something. That can never mean anything good for me. Yeah, I’ve won the last fifty fights I was in and it made them happy for a while, but for her to not even threaten me today is ominous.
“Is there a fight lined up for me soon?” the words come out before I can stop them and her grin grows wider.
“Focus on your workouts today, baby, I have it all covered,” she says with a wide smile, and it sends a sick shiver down my spine. There’s no way this can be a good thing, not with the way she’s smiling at me.
My stomach is coiled tight with anxiety when I make my way to the locker room to get changed, and as I’m winding the wraps around my wrists I can hear chatter around the room. I roll my eyes when I hear the name everyone seems to have a hard-on for.
Creed Volkov. The Alpha who has won every fight since he established this gym a few years ago. Before that, he used to fight in underground rings and kill every opponent he was faced with. Nowadays, he just maims them completely.
I’ve always wondered why he comes here, because it’s definitely not to get stronger. He’s the son of a God, what does he need to exercise for? Once again, I’m glad that I’m a featherweight and won’t be paired against that monster.
“He’s Alpha Kai’s son. What did you expect?” One says, and I chuckle quietly.
“It’s an unfair advantage; he’s the son of a God! Anyone pitted against him will die!”“Agreed; maybe we should bring it up with the fight committee. Creed Volkov shouldn’t be here. He doesn’t belong here.”I roll my eyes as I do my wrist wraps. “Uh, you assholes are forgetting that whoever fights Creed is doing so willingly. It’s not like he’s out here holding a silver fucking dagger to their throats and forcing them. They’re all here to try to win the five million on his head.”
They both look my way and grin. “Is that why you’re here, sweet cherry? You want to claim the milli for yourself?” they ask, and I can’t help but laugh at the stupidity of that question. Even if I need the money, I’d never fight that guy.
“Are you insane? I’m a featherweight compared to that beast. There are still many years left in this body and I do not have a fucking death wish,” I say, scoffing, then walk towards the one who spoke and punch him in the gut. “And it's Cherie, assholes.”
Fuck, five million would make all my problems disappear, but I’m desperate, not dumb. When I round the corner to head into the gym, my heart nearly jumps into my throat, but I keep walking.
Because sitting on the opposite side of the room is the guy we were just talking about. I’ve never actually seen him in person, but looking at him now, I’m thankful for being a featherweight again.
The guy is fucking MASSIVE. Thick tattooed biceps, legs the size of tree trunks, fingers that could snap a neck if he wanted to. Not to mention his chest and abdomen - he looks like Alpha Kai in his prime with his blonde hair braided down his back.
He doesn’t look up when I walk past and I am thankful for it, but his scent nearly knocks me out. Heady bergamot and vanilla with a base note of bloodlust to give it a kick.
I would find him attractive if he didn’t scare the absolute bejeezus out of me.
When I walk into the gym, I feel like I can finally breathe and get to what I came here to do. I get lost in the workout, but every now and then, my eyes scan the gym for the blonde God I saw earlier. He’s nowhere to be seen the entire day and I breathe out again.
Before I leave, I head to the fixtures for the fights in two weeks. I know my mother said not to worry, but I can’t help but worry when it comes to them.
Scanning for my name in the fixtures, I eventually find it and grit my teeth…only for my heart to completely drop to my knees when I see who I’m up against in three weeks’ time.
“Guess you do have a death wish, sweet cherry,” one of the guys from the locker room taunts and I can do nothing but stare at the fixtures in front of me.
Cherie Argento v Creed Volkov.
**BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ VIKTOR: A BRATVA WOLVES NOVELLA**
The flames lick the side of the funeral shroud, igniting the cedar twigs and leaves and sending the scent of fresh Spring rain into the Autumn air.The familiar scent I’ve known since birth - my mother’s scent.I’ve done nothing but stare at the white shroud since my father brought her body onto the pyre, I’ve felt nothing since her passing three days ago. Just a deep void of nothing, a chasm of numbness as the realization sets in deep.This woman was my peace, she was my rock and the glue which held the pack together. I wanted to become a better man and Alpha for her, but now that will never happen. She’ll never watch me meet my mate, she’ll never see how her spirit will live on in my heirs.I wanted to make her proud of me, I wanted to feel that pride radiating from her. Now all I feel coming from her is the heat of the funeral pyre.This body is nothing but an empty vessel now, I know this. Her spirit has ascended since she was the reincarnation of the Moon Goddess and others need
My knuckles are bloody, but I continue to hit the punching bag in front of me. The sting of the wolfsbane-laced fabric always serves to make me hit harder; I need to be stronger than the pain. I need to get used to it so it can no longer hurt me. “Creed,” I hear my cousin, Luka, calling behind me. He’s my closest friend right now as well as my Beta and Brigadier, but lately, I’ve been pulling away from him and everyone else around me. What I like about Luka is the fact that he doesn’t pry, but when you eventually open up then he’s a good shoulder. “I haven’t seen you here in ages,” I say as he walks up to fist-bump me. He shakes his head. “I hardly ever see you lately and I’m supposed to be your second in command,” he says while trying to sound nonchalant. “So I thought I should rather come to you and see what’s up.” I shrug. “It’s been three weeks, and the pack is still in mourning at the loss of their Luna,” I say when I see him wrapping his fists as well. “Did Viktor send yo
My heart feels like a barbed wire has strangled it to the point of being unable to breathe. It’s the night of the fight and it feels like it will be my last night alive.I still don’t understand who okayed this fight because it doesn’t make sense at all. I am 5'6 and weigh 145 pounds while Creed is 6’4 and 240 pounds of raw muscle. He’s a fucking heavyweight and by all counts, this fight should be illegal! I’m a pipsqueak compared to him, a featherweight for God’s sake; I am going to die at his hands!But I couldn’t say a damn thing to my mother because I know she had something to do with this. Not only that, but she forbade me from going to the gym to fight, instead she kept me locked up in our home gym to train.The director of the fight committee and owner of this gym is Creed’s Delta and known to be heartless when it comes to placing fights. But that isn’t even what hurts me the most…it hurts knowing that even if I die, my family will get one million from my death. That’s the mos
My father has let us know he’s not coming back anytime soon, if at all. The worst part? He told Viktor to tell me, he didn’t even bother to tell me this himself. Just like that, he won’t even come home and he won’t tell us why. I’m starting to think it’s because of me, but then again, he never rejected the pack./“He will soon,”/ Haze chuckles. /“Alpha Kai is a coward without his Luna.”//“Shut the fuck up!”/ I growl, not understanding why I’m defending my father right now when he’s clearly running away. /“My father is no coward.”/I know what Haze is doing and I am powerless to do anything about it. He takes advantage when I am angry and I am helpless to stop him…just like now.The second I walk the path to the octagon, my self-control slips and Haze takes over. I don’t even know who I’m fighting, all I know is that I need to feel this person’s blood on my fists, his bones crushing beneath my grip, and listen as his last breath is taken.I never let Haze lead in my fights anymore, bu
I’m used to this. I’m used to this. I’m used to this.No matter how many times the whip lands on my back, that little voice tells me I am not used to this. I will never get used to being strung up in silver chains and whipped within an inch of my life with my mother screaming about how useless I am.“All you had to do was DIE!” she screams, landing another lash. “Just lay down and die like a good little bitch, but no! You just had to fight back!”“It’s…what you trained me for…” comes out of my mouth before I can blink and this time a silver bar lands across my ribs, cracking them.I cry out at the viciousness of the blow and she laughs as if she finds some sick joy in this abuse. Then again, it’s definitely not an ‘if’ because she does find pleasure in inflicting pain. I think it’s the biggest reason my father is terrified of her.“How did you do it?” whip. “Tell me how you won against a beast like Creed Volkov!”But I can’t bring myself to say the words. I can’t tell her that my wolf
“Why am I here, Pappa?” I ask for the thousandth time as we walk through the forests of the Taiga. When I saw my father in the mansion after my fight with Cherie, he didn’t have much to say. Only that I need to follow him because it’s a matter of life and death and it includes my Lycan. He’s been cryptic about it ever since, and from the way he looks now, you would have sworn my father has gone off the rails.His hair is completely silver now, as well as his beard and his blue eyes which used to sparkle with purpose, are now dimmed with what I can only assume is madness. It seems like my father has completely lost it after my mother’s passing.Responding to my question with a grunt, he continues further and I can do nothing but sigh and follow him. “We’re almost there, then I will explain everything,” he says again.Gritting my teeth, I push forward because even if my father has lost his mind, I trust him with my heart. He felt comfortable enough to come to me and seek me out this ti
Rebecca dragged me towards the gym cafeteria and now I’m sitting in front of her not knowing what to believe.“Wait…so you’re a-” she nods because I can’t believe I was about to say the word. “And he held an auction that sold off your kind?”She nods with a pissed-off look on her face. “Last Spring. He didn’t care what he had done, either! No matter how many times I have tried to arrange a meeting with him, he blatantly ignores me!” Woah, okay I know the Volkov family is part of the Russian Mafia but I didn’t know they dealt in the slave trade. “Does Creed know about this? Is he aware that his cousin is selling off supernatural creatures?”She looks at me as if I’ve lost my mind. “You’re aware of Creed’s position in their pack, right? He’s the goshdarn Alpha, nothing happens without his say-so!” she exclaims, then lowers her voice and moves closer to me. “Sorry about that, just talking about it gets my back up.”I reach out and touch her arm while managing a sympathetic smile. “I’m s
“So, I wouldn’t have thought a fairy- whoops, a Seelie Princess would become an MMA fighter. What led you here?” I ask Rebecca while she spots me on the bench press. She shrugs. “It seemed like the logical choice since this is where Sage works from, but now it’s become more of an addiction,” she says with a grin. “You know what I mean.”I do. As much as I hate doing this for my mother, I love being in here training my body. Getting stronger physically seems to hide the fact that I am not strong emotionally. Wolf shifters are naturally strong, but I don’t want to rely on Zhen and what she can do for me. Doing it on my own feels better.Except for the other night…A shiver runs up my spine and Rebecca’s eyes widen when I nearly drop the bar on my chest, but she’s not the one who catches it.Bergamot and vanilla send my head in a tailspin and I don’t realize just who exactly is holding the bar until I look up…straight into a pair of amused blue eyes. My breath hitches in my throat when