Mirage X Bloodhound Novels & Stories

I walked forward like I always did and I let my attention drift while every instinct locked onto the space just beyond the treeline to my left. There was something there. A shift that didn’t match the wind and a presence that didn’t belong. I took two more steps like I hadn’t noticed and then I moved fast. I crossed the distance in the blink of an eye and drove my body into the nearest tree. My blade came up under their jaw before they could react. “Move and you lose your throat.” I said while keeping my voice calm as I held them there. They didn’t fight and that felt wrong. Then the smell hit me. It wasn’t a vampire or a pack wolf. It was a fucking rogue.

I find a high ridge and lift my snout to the wind, pulling in every scent. Damp moss. Tree bark. Wild berries. And then… Blood. Fresh…and something else.. Fear. My lips curl back in a snarl before I even know why. I leap down the ridge, paws kicking dirt behind me. The scent gets stronger. I move faster. Then, I hear it. A low, desperate howl. Not mine. Not Eryna’s. It’s a rogue cry. Panicked and wounded. My body locks for a moment. “Kira?”

He dropped her back onto the sheets and stepped away while Mira worked fast and the woman’s screams turned into one long continuous cry. The pup came out fast and Mira wrapped it in a clean cloth before anyone could see clearly, but the scent hit us all at once and it was wrong because it carried no trace of Kael’s bloodline and no trace of any living wolf at all. Mira’s hands started shaking and she looked up at Kael with horror on her face. “This pup is not real,” she whispered and pulled the cloth back to reveal a small, lifeless shape made of woven roots and wolf hair held together with silver thread and dark blood.

KAI Sweeping the bright beam of my tactical flashlight across the red snow, my chest tightened. Three of our best bloodhound trackers were down on their hands and knees, sniffing the frozen ground around the oak tree. They looked completely baffled. "Talk to me," I ordered, my voice cutting through the freezing wind. "There has to be something. A print. A drop of rogue blood. Anything."

Complained Nadine. "I could be able to help you with that. When you spot your first lycanthrope, I need you to get some drops of blood from it. I'll use that to prepare a charm that will warn you when lycanthropes are nearby. But to get your first lycanthrope, you have to trust your instincts." Madam Yvonne said. "Most hunters die from fights with lycanthropes. We have to counter that. You'll need a gun with silver bullets, a silver sword, a huge vial of mercury and silver armor." Madam Yvonne checked the items off on her fingers.

“Pull them back to the inner perimeter. If they stay out here, they’ll all die.” Liam nodded and took off, his voice booming as he relayed my orders. I turned back to the battlefield, my wolf howling with rage at the sight of my packmates falling one by one. Suddenly, a deafening roar shook the ground, and I turned just in time to see a massive Bloodhound tearing through our ranks. Its red eyes locked on me, and it charged, its fangs bared. I braced myself, shifting halfway into my wolf form as it lunged. We collided with a force that rattled my bones, and I sank my claws into its side, feeling its hot blood coat my hands.

I’d sooner turn myself over to the cloaked woman. I reached down the bond and mind-linked Azrael and Draco. “The mirrors! We need to go through one of the mirrors.” Draco scooped me into his arms just as the third hellhound, now almost fully formed, lunged our way. It was slow, likely because it was missing a leg, but it allowed us to make it to Orion and Azrael’s side. Both were using their magic to hold the hound back, blasting it with moonlight and the elements themselves. I could tell their strength was waning from the sweat that slicked their foreheads, and from the brittle rage within their eyes.

“Not like romantically. But he was my friend, and I will miss him. So much, Miranda.” “He should have left you what he left me,” Mirage said. “You were more his granddaughter than I ever was.” “Nah,” Vixen was struggling to speak. “No, he wanted to leave you something. It was what he wanted. He looked after me, don’t worry. But, when you go through his possessions, when the police release them, there is a photo of him as a young man on his bedside, and his walking stick with the wolf’s head. If I could, I would like to have those to remember him by.”

The wind howled violently, scratching at my throat until I felt an itch that seemed to make me want to cough. "Enough talking. Choose, or I'll let them both go." At Amber's signal, the men next to us hoisted both me and Tara up. The salty sea breeze hit me in the face, and the sharp smell of ocean water churned my stomach. However, nothing compared to the screaming in my ears. Before I could even draw a breath, Ethan had already made his choice. At that moment, everything went silent. Amber instinctively turned to look at me. My vision flickered and spots of black clouded my sight, but I did not know why.

Puzzled, I asked, “What do you mean?” Maggie sighed and took another drink of her water. I had the feeling she wished it was something stronger. “Well, I’ve heard of fated-matches having dreams about their mate years before they met, usually two wolves. It’s sometimes one of the ways that they can recognize one another as soon as they see each other. But… I’ve never heard of a wolf dreaming about a mage, especially one that isn’t his fated match. I mean, you did imprint on Ben, right? You’re certain he’s your mate?”