War: Feral Hearts Book One Read online

  War

  Feral Hearts Book One

  R.E. Butler

  Gwen Knight

  Copyright © 2020 by R.E. Butler and Gwen Knight

  All rights reserved.

  No part 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.

  Cover by Yocla Designs

  Edited by Missy Borucki

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  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

  Epilogue

  About Author R.E. Butler

  About Gwen Knight

  Acknowledgments

  Gwen and R.E. would like to thank everyone who helped make this book a success. Thanks also go to their editor, Missy Borucki, cover designer, Yocla Book Cover Designs, and beta-readers, Shelley, Joyce, and Ann.

  A year ago, War had everything. A mate, a life, a pack.

  Now, he’s trapped in a world turned upside down. Where once there was a sun, there’s now only darkness. All thanks to a witch with a bloodthirsty vendetta. She stole his mate and drove every last werewolf mad, turning them into feral beasts hell bent on killing any human that crosses their path.

  Without hope, War is lost…until a ray of light pierces his endless darkness.

  Emma.

  He’d know his mate’s scent anywhere. Only she can keep away the madness. Only she can return his humanity.

  But the humans won’t let her go easily, and War will have to risk everything to finally reclaim what is his.

  Prologue

  Before today, Zara Bennett had never understood the phrase murderous. But damn if she didn’t feel it now. Red hazed her vision as she watched her lover profess his undying devotion to another woman.

  Another woman? What’s happening? Who the hell is this woman?

  Zara’s blood boiled. Especially when War offered his throat to this random woman—and a human, no less. A human! He was the damn alpha of the Pinelands Pack, the largest werewolf pack in the eastern United States, and he was lowering himself to this? To taking an insignificant human as his mate?

  Hell no! That was her place! She should be the one standing at his side.

  Gritting her teeth, Zara fisted her hands in her hair. This could not be happening. War was hers. She felt it deep in her bones—the same way shifters felt it when they found their true mate. And she refused to stand here and watch as he took another woman as his bride. His mate. His queen.

  After everything War had put her through, she’d hoped he’d start to see sense. When he’d first told her they had to end things because he’d met somebody else, she’d thought he was kidding. It had to be a prank or a test. Shifters were strange creatures. They often played games of the heart—or so her sisters had once warned her. They’d cautioned her to keep her distance from him. Wolves are dangerous, they’d said. They played hard and felt zero remorse after ripping out someone’s heart.

  Zara had assured them War was different. He was the alpha, and he cared about her.

  He had to.

  She couldn’t have misread the situation that badly. Couldn’t have been so very wrong.

  Yet, there his little human stood, draped elegantly in white flowers, face aglow with happiness, and love shining in her eyes. The way she clutched War’s hand… Zara scoffed. War hated public displays of affection. He’d told her so himself after she’d once leaned in for a kiss and he’d turned away. He’d muttered something about it being inappropriate, but she couldn’t remember his exact words. If only she’d listened a little closer. But standing in War’s presence had always left her feeling a little muddled. His aura was so intoxicating, his strength overwhelming.

  Releasing her hair, a tiny whimper rose from Zara’s throat when War leaned in and kissed his bride. She hadn’t meant to make a sound, but it was hard to choke back such hate. War lifted his head, his gaze narrowing the second he spotted her. A tic leaped at his tight jaw and displeasure darkened his face.

  Her brows furrowed as she contemplated his expression. Was that scowl meant for her? No. No, it had to be a response to this entire situation. Did he not want to marry the human?

  Relief loosened Zara’s shoulders. She knew it! Who would want to marry a human anyway? His anger was written as plain as day on his face.

  Clearly, he was being forced into this.

  She could work with that. They could still be together. She could take care of the human. It wouldn’t take more than a couple words and a bit of intent. She’d been born with magic in her blood—she didn’t see any harm in using it to get what she wanted.

  And she wanted War, just like he wanted her.

  No doubt about it.

  War held her gaze, the sizzling heat in his dark brown eyes lifting the hairs on her arms.

  The woman turned, her pale blue eyes widening. Zara bit her tongue to keep from cursing the human right here and now. Just the sight of her evoked such hatred. These insipid humans were always in the way. But thankfully, she knew exactly how to overcome this. Her mother had long since taught her how to conquer any obstacle.

  Summoning her powers, Zara clasped her hands and began a low chant. The words came to her as naturally as breathing. Her mother had bestowed upon her every bit of earthly essence she’d ever possessed. An essence Zara now called upon.

  Her magic crested, the deadly intent focused on the pitiful human. Zara felt it boiling over, the taste of blackness creeping across her tongue. But before she could release it, something hard slammed into her and sent her sprawling across the ground.

  Zara cried out, her spell shattering and the power trickling back into the earth. She forced open her eyes to find War towering over her, rage twisting his handsome face into something beautifully savage. The man was a living statue. A tapestry of perfection. It was what drew him to her in the first place.

  “What the hell are you doing?” He snarled, revealing a pair of sharp, white fangs.

  A soft smile curled her lips. He sounded angry. Maybe because he didn’t want her to see him like this? Prostrating himself to some human? Soon he’d understand he didn’t need to hide anything from her. “Saving you so we can be together. I just need to take care of her.”

  “Her?” War grasped Zara’s arm and hauled her to her feet. “Emma is my mate. Not you.”

  Zara stared up at him, her bottom lip trembling. Emma, ugh. “She can’t be! You and me—”

  “There is no you and me, Zara!” War’s words thundered through the glade, and his grip tightened around her arm. “We’ve been through this. But let me say it again, slowly. Maybe this time it’ll get through. I. Love. Her.”

  Zara sucked in a shivering breath. “No.”

  “Go home.” War released her arm and gestured toward her car. “Just go, okay?”

  “But…” He loved the human? How could that be? No, this wasn’t right. He was hers. Had been since the moment they’d first locked eyes across the bar, since he’d taken her home and showed her what it meant to make love, since she’d woken up the next morning to find him asleep next to her. That made him hers!

  “Zara!” His harsh growl dragged her thoughts back to the present. “
Did you hear a word I said? You aren’t welcome here. Go home.”

  She shook her head, her attention drifting toward his “mate.” So pathetic the way she huddled behind his pack, fear alight in her eyes. Disgusting, really. Humans were nothing more than prey for the wolves. They certainly weren’t worthy enough to marry.

  The woman stole a step back, as though adding distance between them would protect her. A fascinating thought, really. Because nothing would protect this little lamb.

  A malicious grin curled Zara’s lips. She liked seeing this Emma afraid. And for good reason.

  “Don’t,” War snapped. “If you lay so much as a finger on her or utter a single word in her direction, I’ll rip out your heart right here and now.”

  Zara choked on a laugh. What an interesting threat. Did he not realize he’d already done that? Ripped it out and stomped on it in front of everyone? That he’d destroyed something precious within her?

  So appropriate, really.

  Because now she was going to do the same to him.

  Lifting her chin, she met his heated stare with one of her own, albeit cold and calculating. One full of hate and loathing for him and his new bride. They had no idea the future that awaited them. She had just the punishment in mind.

  “Enjoy your time with your new bride,” Zara said, grinning venomously at War, “because it won’t last long.”

  1

  A howl broke through the perpetually dark sky and made Emma Davis shiver. Despite the humid heat of July, she couldn’t stop the goosebumps from crawling up her flesh at the sound. A wolf was hunting.

  Was it War, or maybe one of his pack members?

  Dropping her head with a sigh, she tried not to think about the shifter who was her soulmate, because he was forever lost to her. He might be with his pack in the same area as Fort Allegiance, the safe zone in what used to be Forked River, New Jersey, but that meant nothing. He was as far gone from her as possible. Savage. Fully wolf, all the time. Dangerous beyond belief.

  What the militia who ran the safe zone called feral.

  Not at all like the man she’d loved. The strongest alpha. Firm but kind. Dangerous but protective of his people and those he loved. Which had been her…before.

  “Ugh, I hate that sound,” Luna, Emma’s best friend, said as she plopped next to her on the ground with her gardening tools.

  Outside the home they shared with Luna’s mother, Marianne, was a garden that they tended together. Marianne was a great baker. Her pies and sweets were among the most requested in the market where they traded for things they needed.

  “I know, me too.”

  “Mom sent me out for a stevia leaf.”

  “Okay. Wanna help me weed?”

  “Nah.”

  “Ah, you suck.”

  Luna chuckled. “Mom wants me to go to the market for apples too.”

  “What do you have to trade with?”

  “Dried stevia. She wants some fresh leaves for her tea.”

  “I’ll go with you.”

  Emma turned her attention back to the garden. Several rows of four-foot-high stevia plants needed attention. While they also grew other vegetables and fruit in the garden, they were the primary supplier of stevia sugar to the safe zone and traded it for almost everything they needed. She continued to weed until Luna appeared carrying a backpack brimming with small mason jars filled with dried stevia leaves.

  “Apple pie for dessert tonight?” Emma asked as she cleaned up the weeding tools and brushed the dirt from her pants.

  “Yep. And I need to pick up some honey and elderberry root for Mom’s flu symptoms.”

  They walked together away from their small home and down the street. They didn’t have a choice but to walk. The only vehicles permitted in the safe zone were ones driven by the militia. They’d found bicycles in an old shed in the backyard, but the militia had confiscated them for their own use.

  “Hello, dears,” Mr. Friedman said as he waved from behind a weather-worn white-picket fence. “On the way to the market?”

  “Yes,” Luna said. “Can we get you anything?”

  “If they have pears, I have a hankering.” He bent and plucked several eggplants, handing them to Luna to put in her pack. “See how many you can get. And keep an eggplant for yourself for dinner.”

  Emma didn’t make a face, even though she wanted to. She loathed eggplant. Vegetables shouldn’t be purple.

  “Thank you,” Emma said.

  The market was two miles away from their neighborhood, in a repurposed home improvement store. When the world plunged into darkness a year earlier, the sun disappearing and an always full moon rising high in the sky, two things happened—humans turned into assholes, and the shifters became wolves permanently. She’d lost many things that fateful night, among them the other half of her heart. She still felt his loss as sharply as if it were the night he’d shifted along with his pack. War had raced away from her, leaving her alone and confused in the dark. Chaos had ensued in the following weeks as the wolves appeared to go fully savage and attacked any human they came across. About one-quarter of attacked humans survived but were changed into wolves. The others died gruesomely, their bodies mangled beyond recognition.

  “What are you thinking about so seriously?” Luna asked.

  “The anniversary.”

  Luna hummed. “Just a few more days.”

  July twelfth. The first anniversary of the night the world went dark. And darkness reigned.

  In the safe zone, there would be a celebration. A new Independence Day. But what did it really commemorate? That the wolves had been insane for a year, and that humans had proved themselves relatively incapable of functioning in a dangerous environment without nearly ruining everything. Hardly something worth celebrating.

  A year ago, Emma had stood with War in front of his pack, and they were about to declare each other mates. They’d been interrupted by a woman who threatened her. War had sent Emma away with his wolves for protection while he dealt with the woman. By the time he made it back to her, it was dawn. He’d begun to explain that the woman was someone he’d been involved with, when the ground shook suddenly, knocking many off their feet. Emma had crashed into War with a yelp. He’d caught her before she hit the ground, and he’d looked around with a growl.

  The morning sky darkened like someone was sucking the sun back down, a night sky blooming as if time had reversed. A full moon rose high in the sky, casting the clearing in a strange blue light.

  War had let out a pained grunt, and it startled Emma to feel fur prickling her hands where she touched him.

  He shifted, his furry form exploding from him faster than she’d ever seen. Around them, the wolves followed suit, shifting and howling. She’d met War’s eyes, and she’d seen the recognition for her die in his gaze.

  He snarled, baring shining fangs at her, and she’d instinctively known that he wasn’t the man she’d known. Something had happened—forced his change and turned the sky dark. And, as he raced away from her with his pack, leaving her alone in the darkness, she realized something terrible had occurred.

  It wasn’t just the wolf pack in New Jersey that had changed without warning. According to the news, every wolf shifter—everywhere—had turned. Humans were told to stay hidden in their homes. Those who listened lived. Those who didn’t ended up killed or turned.

  The government crumbled. The president’s entire security force had been a wolf pack, and they’d obliterated everyone in the White House. Day by day, the conditions grew worse. People looted stores, robbed and killed each other for supplies. Utility companies went dark. No more electricity. No more running water.

  No more Wi-Fi.

  Humanity’s reliance on technology had brought them to their knees in a heartbeat.

  And here they were, a year later, planning to celebrate.

  Emma was thankful she, Luna, and Marianne had made it to Fort Allegiance, the only safe zone in New Jersey. She was thankful for the tall wire fences and
the security forces that patrolled. She was thankful for the scavengers who left in small groups and hunted for meat and supplies.

  But she hated being separated from War. She hated going to bed at night without his strong arms around her and his wolfy, woodsy scent in her nose. She didn’t think she’d slept well in the last year. Fear did strange things to people.

  Shaking her head out of her thoughts, she focused on the walk to the market, greeting people as they passed. The safe zone’s fenced city spanned eight miles and housed five thousand people. The militia, headed by General Laurence Taylor, had approximately three hundred members and were in charge of everything from the city’s safety to dispensing supplies. For the most part, Emma steered clear of the militia. While many had real military and police backgrounds, there were just as many disgruntled average-Joes who hated wolves and loved being in charge. They’d been bullies before the forever-darkness, and they were bullies now, but with guns and power.

  “Oh blergh,” Luna said, bumping into Emma so she veered to the left once they were inside the market.

  Emma looked around and noticed Fritz Banner, part of the militia and in charge of the scavengers. He also had a hard-on for Emma’s lovely bestie.

  “How many times has he asked you out?”

  “This week? Twice.”

  Emma tried not to snicker, but Luna always saw through her. She smacked her shoulder as she ducked behind a stand with clothes for trading. “I hate you so much. Why can’t you have a stalker?”