Wild Love: A Rejected Mate Romance Read online

  WILD LOVE

  KINGDOM OF WOLVES

  C.R. JANE

  MILA YOUNG

  CONTENTS

  Join Our Readers’ Group

  Kingdom of Wolves series

  Wild Love

  Wild Love Soundtrack

  Prologue

  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

  Wild Soul

  Acknowledgments

  Books by C.R. Jane

  Books By Mila Young

  About C.R. Jane

  About Mila Young

  Wild Love Copyright © 2021 by C. R. Jane and Mila Young

  Cover by Aura

  All rights reserved.

  No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review, and except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

  For permissions contact:

  [email protected]

  [email protected]

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Proof: Jasmine Jordan

  DEDICATION

  For all the wild women and men we love!

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  KINGDOM OF WOLVES SERIES

  FROM C.R. JANE AND MILA YOUNG

  Wild Moon

  Wild Heart

  Wild Girl

  Wild Love

  Wild Soul

  These stories are set in the Kingdom of Wolves shared world, but our Wild series will follow Rune’s continuing story with her alphas.

  WILD LOVE

  Real Wolves Bite...

  The stranger in town whispers promises of heaven… but in his eyes, all I see is chaos.

  For most of my life I’d been cursed. Trapped in a gilded cage by my fated mate…

  Everything changed when I escaped and met two men who gave me their hearts.

  Wilder and Daxon are my everything… even if they don’t see eye to eye on sharing me.

  Things should have been amazing.

  But maybe I wasn’t meant for a happy ending.

  My world is falling apart. Between losing friends, more deaths in town, mysteries I can’t solve, and one of my lovers betraying me….

  It feels like I’m losing everything.

  Amidst all of this, there’s a stranger in town who’s set his sights on me, and I can’t figure him out. He’s everywhere I am, and the problem is, I can’t seem to resist him.

  Loving two men has been hard enough.

  But maybe all wild loves require sacrifice to keep them.

  The question is…how far am I willing to go to keep mine?

  I Knew You Were Trouble (Taylor’s Version)

  Taylor Swift

  All I Want

  Kodaline

  Sparks

  Coldplay

  Needed Me

  Rihanna

  Bad Habits

  Ed Sheehan

  jealousy, jealousy

  Olivia Rodrigo

  Easy On Me

  Adele

  Nothing New

  Taylor Swift, Phoebe Bridgers

  Ghost

  Justin Bieber

  To Build A Home

  The Cinematic Orchestra, Patrick Watson

  Happier Than Ever

  Billy Eilish

  Listen to the Spotify Playlist here.

  PROLOGUE

  RUNE

  His teeth ripped into the throat of the hunter struggling in his arms. He lifted his head towards the heavens, an ecstatic groan falling from his mouth as he savored the taste of the hunter’s blood. He buried his face into his victim’s neck once again, slurping loudly, the sound combining with the cries coming from some of the still dying men around him.

  He took one last draw of blood before dropping the now dead hunter to the ground. I winced at the way the hunter’s head hit the ground, even though he was dead…and obviously wouldn’t feel it. Add in the fact that his goal had been to kill me, and I shouldn’t be feeling any sympathy for him.

  What I was experiencing was probably just nerves…from the fact that I was standing in the middle of a scene from a horror movie.

  The ground was stained crimson with the blood of everyone he slaughtered. The bodies were piled up everywhere, their unseeing eyes staring up at the sky in a way that would be carved into my mind forever. I took a step backward and my shoe sunk into the sodden grass, which was soaked with blood, not water.

  It was hard to differentiate my feelings at the moment with my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. Was it fear? Disgust? Lust…

  He stood there in front of me, not a speck of blood on his pristine white shirt. No blood anywhere on him actually, other than the blood staining his lips and teeth. I absentmindedly wondered how that was even possible.

  His chest was heaving and his eyes were glowing as he stared at me, hunger and madness pouring out of him.

  How had I missed it before? He’d been so charming. Every person in town had loved him…wanted to be his best friend. I’d fallen under his spell just as hard. With everything going on with Daxon and Wilder, he’d managed to slip in somehow.

  I’d been a fool.

  I should have remembered that the most dangerous things come in the prettiest packages. Hadn’t I been taught that lesson a million times before?

  He began to walk towards me, and I trembled as I stood there, knowing that I should run but feeling paralyzed in place.

  He didn’t stop walking until he was standing right in front of me, looking down at me with possession and hunger, like his existence began and ended with me.

  I felt owned at this moment, like it wasn’t possible to belong to anyone else when this creature was in my presence.

  He grazed his hand softly across my cheek, and I shivered, the sensation dripping down my spine and across every inch of me.

  “Are you ready to belong to me? I’m the only one who truly would burn the world for you, little darling.”

  A soft keen ripped from my throat as his thumb traced my lips.

  His eyes began to glow, a crimson ring replacing the brilliant blue I’d grown used to seeing. He smiled, and my breath hitched as I watched his incisor teeth sharpen and lengthen. I watched as if caught in a trance as he began to lean forward, his bloody gaze intent on my neck.

  The sharp prick of his teeth as they ripped into my skin was the last thing I felt before I descended into blissful darkness.

  RUNE

  3 WEEKS EARLIER

  Let me explain.

  Daxon’s words spun on my mind. All the while my wolf tore out of me vic
iously, the pain not comparing to the piercing ache of finding Rae tied to a table in the basement, his tongue cut out, and the man responsible… I choked on my breath at the thought.

  Daxon had done this.

  I shuddered as I lunged at him, white fur bristling across my skin, bones shifting. Teeth bared, I released a heavy growl.

  I felt betrayed at what he did to Rae...I’d never known real love. And when I thought I finally had, he and Wilder ripped my heart to shreds. And now my head danced with untruths, with lies, with things I couldn’t make sense of with my own eyes. I didn’t want to believe Daxon was the killer in the woods. But if not, after what I’d just seen… What was he?

  Maybe this was what finally destroyed me.

  I slammed into him, my force propelling him backward.

  Inside my head, I was screaming.

  He reeled, reacting too slowly, and he fell. He slammed to the floor onto his back, grunting, and I straddled his chest, glaring down at him.

  “Rune,” he snarled, his gaze narrowing on my wolf eyes.

  My head was full of memories of us together... things my stupid heart refused to believe were lies. I couldn’t live with that. Not after Wilder left me. Not when I had no idea how I'd take another breath if I lost them both. Not when I could never go back to them being anything but my lovers after I let them see into my soul?

  Anger crashed through me, because nothing excused what Daxon had done. And nothing excused Wilder for leaving me for her.

  Fury flared over me right through my bones, and I snapped down, my mouth biting into the meaty curve of Daxon’s neck.

  He bellowed, shoving a fist against my side, but it barely registered.

  Blood seeped into my mouth--warm and so delicious. I slurped more of it, my teeth tearing deeper into his flesh, hitting bone.

  I wanted him and Wilder to hurt, to cry like I had, to feel so trapped that their world would suffocate them.

  My entire life, I’d been lied to, pushed aside, walked on. But the strength coursing through me was unlike anything I’d experienced before. My new strength made me brave, and I growled at the sensation, loving the power.

  Daxon roared and shoved his hands into me, catching me unexpectedly.

  I flew backward and hit the leg of the long, metal table, sending it rocking sideways. The entire thing crashed over behind me, with Rae still on it. Rae was growling with pain as he tumbled to his side.

  I winced and drove myself back up, my heartbeat racing.

  I sneered at Daxon as he got to his feet and towered over me.

  In response, I peeled back my upper lip over my fangs so my threat was clear.

  His chest puffed out, fists curled as blood from my bite rolled down his heaving chest like red ribbons.

  “What the fuck are you doing, Rune! You’re attacking me because of him?” He jutted an arm out toward Rae, who was now on the floor on the overturned table.

  I growled in response with words he couldn't understand. The longer I stood in front of him, the more he got into my head.

  When Rae’s desperate pleas found me, rage took me over once again, and I leaped at Daxon.

  His eyes widened at my attack, and he lunged out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. Something about my wolf made me feel like I could fly. I left a trail of silver glitter behind me, just as I did every time I took wolf form.

  I swung around incredibly fast, paws skidding across the floor, and came up behind Daxon before he could respond. Head first, I bowled into his back, sending him stumbling forward. Then I attacked, biting, ripping into him. We rolled on the floor, and I sensed nothing but the red fury pulsing within my veins.

  He wrenched away from me in a sudden move and shoved himself up on his knees. Then he hurled himself on top of me so fast with an arm thrown around the back of my neck, putting me in a chokehold.

  My head spun.

  “Rune, fuck! I don’t want to hurt you, but you’ve got to back the hell down.”

  Growling, I thrust against him, snapping, but he tightened his hold, and I gasped from a lack of oxygen. My back legs kicked out to find purchase, but I came up short.

  When he released me, I stumbled out of his arms, coughing for breath to fill my lungs. A rumble escaped my throat, my wolf pushing to take me over completely, to show Daxon she was a worthy opponent. I could take him down!

  “If you want to fight, then let’s do it,” he barked. “I won’t back down, you know that, but you should also get your facts straight first. Then we can at least fight for the right reasons instead of over this piece of trash.”

  His words infuriated me, especially when to my side, Rae was writhing on the turned table, trying to free himself. I called my wolf back, and she slithered within me in seconds, skin replacing fur, bones stretching. Pulling up, I now stood in my human form once more, naked, while the taste of Daxon’s blood coated the back of my throat.

  I turned to face him.

  “Please, Rune, it’s not what it looks like. I mean, sure, I am going to kill Rae, even if he deserves so much worse.”

  “What are you doing, Daxon? You can’t just kill who you want. What’s wrong with you?”

  He didn’t scare me. I felt too broken, too hurt, and too far gone for fear. What I felt now, as the rage slipped away…was numb.

  My pulse thundered in my ears with images of how devastated Miyu would be if she lost Rae. I recoiled back toward the table and glanced down at Rae who was shaking off the last of the restraints.

  “Get up,” I instructed. “We’re getting out of here.”

  “You know I’m not going to let that happen,” Daxon growled.

  I took a panicked glance over my shoulder at him. But the words I wanted to say were stolen. Rae crashed into me so unexpectedly, I yelled. I hit the floor hard, all the breath driven from my lungs once more as his heavy body landed on top of mine.

  And it all happened in a split second.

  I frantically shoved against him, pushing my hands at his face, against his gaping mouth and snapping teeth. Shivers curled around my spine, and my heart was hammering in my chest. He violently bit my forearm as I shoved it between us.

  Teeth tore my skin, sharp pain racing up my arm, and I bellowed. But when his eyes met mine, something else slid behind them. They didn’t belong to Rae, but a predator.

  He flew off me then, and Daxon hurled an arm around his throat, before kicking the back of his legs.

  Rae fell to his knees while Daxon snatched a handful of his hair. “You see, Rune, our friend hasn't exactly been truthful with us. Have you?” He shook Rae’s head forward, forcing him to nod.

  Rae roared with a voice I barely recognized. It grew dark and gravelly, then he stared at me as if he looked through to my soul. “He’s lying, Rune. Don’t let him hurt me, please.” His voice was garbled as he pleaded. The words hard to understand without his tongue. The hairs on my arms stood on end.

  But the bite on my arm told a different story.

  “Rae,” I murmured, getting to my feet. “What have you done?”

  I stared at the man who had married my best friend, who I thought I knew, but my head pulsed trying to make sense of it all. Blood and tears coated his face, he was a mess.

  “What did he do?” I cradled my bitten arm to my chest, looking to Daxon for answers. Needing the truth.

  “This asshole,” Daxon snapped. “Has been preying on pack members for months now. He killed Eve, Mary, and Asher. He attacked his next victim near the woods today, but I caught him before he got the chance to butcher her.”

  My mouth hung open, and my mind blurred. No, this couldn’t be real, yet pieces started to slip into place about how each body had been found near the woods. How recently I’ve noticed a dire change in Rae, who appeared despondent and distant. Miyu telling me he hadn’t been himself. “B-but…this is Rae we’re talking about. The guy who loves Miyu and tells bad jokes at the diner.”

  “And the devil doesn’t appear with horns and a tail, but sh
ows himself disguised as everything you’ll trust,” Daxon responded, quoting something I knew I had heard before somewhere.

  “Why would you...?” I asked Rae, my voice cracking. “How could you do this to Miyu?”

  His disposition darkened… I saw it in his shifting eyes, his curling posture. Then he lunged at me again, the hair in Daxon’s fist ripped free.

  I scrambled back, terror shuddering over me.

  Daxon threw himself after Rae and wrenched him backward. Suddenly, Daxon was grasping a butcher’s knife. Where the hell had that come from?

  He yanked back Rae’s head and sliced his throat in one quick swipe. The blade bit into flesh, blood pebbling instantly. Rae choked and blood spurted out, its warmth splattering my face.

  I flinched and stumbled back until my heels hit the wall. A cry pinched in my throat as Rae held my stare. I frantically wipe my face with my hand, needing his blood off me.