WOLF'S MARK

  PIPER STONE

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Epilogue

  Afterword

  Books of the Brutal Empire Series

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  Copyright © 2024 by Stormy Night Publications and Piper Stone

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  Published by Stormy Night Publications and Design, LLC.

  www.StormyNightPublications.com

  Stone, Piper

  Wolf’s Mark

  Cover Design by Korey Mae Johnson

  This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults.

  CHAPTER 1

  Sedona

  “We’re doing what?” I demanded as I stumbled from the rough way my best friend Mattie was jerking me onto the sidewalk.

  Great. It would be a perfect birthday if I fell flat on my face. That would be two for two. Two birthdays in a row I spent mostly in the hospital.

  “Come on. It’s going to be fun. An experience. You need to live a little.”

  “Live a little? I’ve been dragged around to several places today. All your ideas.” I jerked my wrist from her death grip and winced. She had sharp yet perfectly shaped nails, scarlet in color to match her personality. I had poor excuses for uneven nails and chunky cuticles, according to the girl who’d given us a manicure.

  A birthday present.

  I wasn’t into girls’ days out, but Mattie had basically kidnapped me.

  “You call having your palm read fun?” I huffed and brushed my hands down my dress. That was new too. So was my way too fluffy hairstyle. Both compliments of my bestie who was a wild child at heart.

  A responsible pediatrician by day. A crazy girl by night.

  “You’re not having your palm read, goofy. It’s tarot card reading.”

  “Same difference. And why today of all days?”

  Her tall heels clipped on the broken sidewalk. I had trouble keeping up with her given her long legs. Her stilettos didn’t bother her, while I was still pretty certain I was going to have a slip and fall accident.

  “Because it’s your birthday, sweetie. Don’t you want to know your fortune?”

  “If we hadn’t just experienced eating an entire cow for lunch, I’d recommend getting Chinese food. That way I could get that happy little fortune.”

  “As long as you add between the sheets to the end.” She laughed in her subtle yet provocative tone. It was the very one that attracted every red-blooded male this side of the Mississippi. She was the resident bad girl that had managed to attach herself to me shortly after my arrival in Cartersville. I was the good girl who kept to herself and liked it that way.

  What was wrong with sobbing over old movies?

  “What?”

  “Yep. You’re supposed to end every fortune with between the sheets afterwards. It would do you some good since you haven’t gotten laid for half your life.”

  “You’re such a bitch.”

  “I know,” Mattie cooed. “Which is why you love me.”

  She was outgoing. I was a wallflower. She was beautiful. I was plain. Although I had to admit today, I’d gotten a few looks from passing men. I chalked it up to the ridiculously tight dress she’d made me buy. The fruffy—her favorite word—material probably made me look like a water buffalo.

  “Not today. Likely never again. I don’t like the occult.”

  “It’s all fun and nothing else. You know that. You keep telling me you’re a scientist and don’t believe in the paranormal.”

  She had a point like she always did, but my grandmother had read the cards much to the chagrin of my mother. I’d begged the woman to read mine when I was ten years old. She hadn’t wanted to, but I was an excellent beggar. She’d stopped midway through, refusing to finish or tell me what she’d seen.

  But I’d seen the card. As a kid, it had terrified me even if I hadn’t known what it meant.

  A wolf.

  I noticed the sign up ahead and groaned. “I don’t like this.”

  “You don’t like anything outside of your comfort zone, which consists of dead bodies, slimy internal organs, draining blood, and cartons of chocolate ice cream topped with hot fudge.”

  For most people, describing the work of a medical examiner wouldn’t be done alongside remarking on a frozen treat. But Mattie wasn’t most people.

  “I’m perfectly comfortable.”

  “Uh-huh. In gray scrubs and nasty tennis shoes. That sounds comfy to me. Humor me and I’ll take you to get some ice cream.” She even had the nerve to use a funny voice at the end like she was bribing a child to be good.

  If I didn’t truly adore the woman, I’d walk home. After changing back into my beloved tennis shoes.

  “We’re here. Suck it up,” she said.

  “Mattie.”

  “Don’t Mattie me.”

  She looked at me and rolled her eyes, which she usually did at least twice whenever we got together. Sadly, our work ethics and long hours prevented us from doing that very often.

  “Fine. But I will get you for this.”

  “There you go,” she cooed. “I love it when you get angry.”

  The woman had no idea just how angry I could get.

  She threw open the glass door and a small bell jingled in the process. The small shop faced a busy downtown street on a bustling Saturday, but there were no other customers inside. Just creepy music and a round table covered in a blue, gauzy-looking tablecloth that had stars on it.

  “This is a joke,” I told her. My teeth were gritted. The place was freezing.

  “Oh, come on. Look around you. It’s quaint.”

  “Quaint? The pink building with pretty little flowers in flower boxes across the street is quaint. This is hokey-pokey fake.” There had to be two dozen candles lit and flickering. My guess was whatever the horrific scent was, it was meant to be soothing.

  “Just don’t embarrass me.”

  “Me with you? I think you mean the other way around, darlin’.”

  My bestie didn’t have a chance to quip her sarcastic response. A draped doorway was suddenly thrown open, a girl with long raven hair walking out with a bit too much flair. She was right out of the stuff I’d seen in the movies.

  “How may I help you?” She had a lovely voice and she was so young it threw me. At least she wasn’t dressed like a gypsy, wearing jeans and a flowered top like a teenager would. Wait a minute. I was going to have my future read by a girl who was much younger than me?

  “I don’t think so,” I said as I tried to turn around to flee. There was something about the moment and even the thought of going through the experience that troubled me tremendously. Maybe it was about the warning my grandmother had given me after ceasing her session.

  “The cards are evil for you, my child.”

  Evil.

  I’d never thought I’d hear my grandmother say something like that.

  “Oh, no, you don’t,” Mattie barked like a drill sergeant.

  She jerked my arm again and I just knew I was going to have bruises come tomorrow
. “Ouch.”

  “I’ll bop you in the face next time. We’re here for a reading. It’s my friend’s birthday. I’m paying for it,” my bestie announced, like it was something important.

  And the girl couldn’t care less. She simply motioned me to the table while speaking to Mattie. “That will be thirty-four fifty.”

  “Ouch,” I said again. I gingerly sat down on the chair. I don’t know what I was afraid of, but my teeth were definitely chattering. Maybe it was because the air conditioning unit was on full blast.

  Mattie glared at me and pulled out her wallet.

  When we were all paid up, the girl pulled a set of cards from behind the small counter. I could tell she was bored with her work and wasn’t taking the reading any more seriously than I was. Still, with the gothic music and the stench in the shop, I half expected to see mist coming from the shadowed corners of the walls.

  “What is your name?” she asked.

  “Sedona.”

  “Powerful yet innocent.”

  “And yours?” I could almost feel Mattie breathing down my neck. She was way too excited with this while I was ready for a nap.

  “Lucia.”

  “Beautiful name.”

  Her eyes flicked up to mine and it felt as if she was able to look straight into my soul.

  As she selected one card, Strength, explaining something about kindness and tolerance being needed to guide my chariot, I almost nodded off. I must have reacted badly because Mattie punched me in the arm.

  The second card was a little happier. Lovers. Yeah. Maybe Mattie would get her wish after all. She’d been bugging me for weeks to find a hunky older man and have sweaty, rough, and filthy sex.

  Not in this girl’s lifetime.

  The next one was Justice and Lucia seemed perplexed. She even used the term retribution more than once. I slowly glanced over my shoulder at Mattie who shrugged.

  When the Devil card was followed by Mr. Death himself, I’d had enough. “Oh, come on. This is fixed.”

  The girl shook her head and I could swear she was shaking.

  “Not fixed. True.”

  I started to get up and Mattie’s hard shove almost made me show her that anger she said she adored via my middle finger.

  “Stay,” she hissed.

  “I do not think we should go on,” Lucia said.

  “Oh, go for it,” I chided her. I wasn’t irritated with her, just with my soon to be ex best friend for dragging me into this shit.

  Lucia was clearly out of sorts, her entire mouth twisting like she was an extra in a horror movie, the one where the victims always suffered a horrible death.

  My, wasn’t my imagination working overtime?

  Lucia finally swallowed and pulled another card. She was clearly despondent now. While she was a damn good facial actress in showing fake horror, there was also confusion in her eyes.

  “What is it?” Mattie asked.

  “The Wolf.”

  “O-kay. What does Wolfie boy mean?”

  Lucia continuously shook her head and she was pale as sin. Was the girl going to pass out too?

  “It’s not supposed to be here. Not this deck.”

  “They were accidentally mixed together.” Mattie’s suggestion was decent enough, but the girl wasn’t buying it.

  “A dangerous man is going to change your future. Be careful. Be very careful.” She gathered the cards and immediately jerked up from the table.

  She walked off, which was a clear indication we were finished.

  “Was it something I said?” I asked.

  “Clearly it was. But you were a good girl.”

  Now I gave her my middle finger, which sent her off into hysterics.

  Meanwhile, the reading stuck in the darkest part of my mind.

  And I didn’t like it one bit.

  CHAPTER 2

  Jax

  “Can you believe this bullshit?” Chase asked as soon as he jumped off his Harley. My younger brother’s outrage was understandable, but his histrionics continuously frayed my nerves.

  “It was a mandate from the Council of Wolves. Actually, I’m surprised you bothered to show up.” Riker had his arms crossed over his barrel-like chest. His deep voice was laced with the same animosity I felt.

  While Chase looked like he was attending a photoshoot, a highly paid model preparing a spread in some fashion magazine, my older brother’s appearance made him appear like the dangerous man I knew him to be.

  He wore dirty, well-worn jeans with holes in the knees, a dark tee shirt covered in spots of red paint, and a flannel shirt that had seen better days. Along with his shit-kicking boots and the scruffy beard he’d grown while on vacation, his masculine look was more reflective of our ancestry.

  There were already three or four dozen wolves who’d arrived, all considered Alpha in the pack order. More had been told to attend. The Wolfen rules were very strict, punishment harsh, which included banishment from the pack and more pain-filled methods as well.

  “I wonder why Mom didn’t give us a heads up,” I said casually. I stood in my typical business suit and dark shades, my attire just as questionable as Riker’s. I had a damn good excuse. I was the CEO of a billion-dollar business, keeping many of the wolves chatting and laughing employed.

  Cartersville was like any other small town, colorful people keeping small businesses alive. Ours was the largest, a highly profitable sports car manufacturing corporation. The ache behind my eyes had occurred the minute I’d read the email sent via the Wolfen communication system. I kept them covered by sunglasses. I hated the old ways, our ancestry outdated and unwanted.

  “My guess is they wanted to surprise us,” Riker said, laughing.

  “Maybe we’re going to start the ancient games again,” Chase chortled as he paced the terrain in front of the makeshift stage that had already been put together. The eight chairs suggested all the council members would be in attendance.

  That meant something was wrong or our lives were about to change. I didn’t like either concept. I was far too busy to worry about pack politics.

  “Oh, do you remember the old jousting event?” Riker asked.

  I tilted my head in his direction, not surprised he was grinning from ear to ear. He was a rough and tumble guy, his vacation taken to build a new garage on his house himself. I could only imagine the luxuries he’d put into it.

  “You mean the spearing method of death,” Chase snarled. “I hated that shit. We’re too old to play games proving our wealth. And too human.”

  “Aw, you’re just pissed because you never won an event.” Riker was forced to step back as Chase lunged for his throat.

  “Stop it,” I hissed. “Let’s just hear what they have to say.” There hadn’t been a mandated meeting in at least twenty-five years if my memory served me. Maybe longer. Maybe it was just protocol, but I didn’t like the fact the council members had arrived from every corner of the world.

  “What if we’re forced back into the old ways? Are you going to vote for the change?” Chase always knew how to get under my skin. He should be happy the Wolfen had shifted into becoming a democracy instead of running the organization like Stalin or Napoleon. I’d been alive long enough to see some shit go down in the packs.

  Chase had too, although he refused to associate himself with members of the pack. His continued push back at the rules could be considered criminal activity within our ranks. He wasn’t above the law.

  All three of us noticed several limousines pulling up along the road behind the stage.

  “There they are, the majestic eight,” Chase spit out through gritted teeth. “Whoopedy do.”

  “Just shut your damn trap,” Riker hissed. “Our brother is right. We listen. We learn.”

  “Learn what? That we’re really bloodthirsty wolves chomping at the bit to feast on small animals and humans?” Chase was laughing when I knew there were some within our pack and others who wanted nothing more.

  The old ways.

  “I wonder what they have in mind.” Riker was talking more to himself than to either one of us, but I could sense his concern.

  The worldwide count of members of the Wolfen hadn’t strengthened in the last two decades since the hundreds of packs had voted to alter practices.

  Everyone wanted to be a human.

  Only it was impossible to alter our DNA. We’d been around since the beginning of time. However, while we could breed with humans, our numbers had dwindled. While it was entirely possible for a child born of hybrid parents to shift, the difficulties could be considered a problem. Plus, few children born in the last twenty years gave a shit about their ancestry.