Blood Bound [Book Two, Lady and the Wolf] (EDITING)

Prologue: Blood Bound

Her smile was wicked. "Witch? You say it like it's a bad thing," she mocked. "You will never find peace, because I'm sending you back."

That made his head snap up, getting his undivided attention. He chuckled darkly as he growled, "And I'll kill again until you get the damn message."

Athea laughed. She would have loved nothing more than to keep messing with his mind, but their time was up.

"No, you'll serve one year of service to every human you murdered. You have no choice in the matter."

"What do you mean I have no choice?" he roared, anger rising as he strained at his shackles.

"You're under our control now, Konstantin. You will obey, and then when your debt is paid, and only then, you can rot in Aion. You can have what you wanted when you started this hunt for innocent blood."

"And if I don't?" he snapped, his voice hard and full of rage. He continued to writhe in his restraints, his temper flaring. If he managed to get out of his chains, he would surely rip her apart.

She couldn't help but smile at that. He could bully many creatures, but she was not one of them.

Her smile fell and her expression was stormy as she answered, "We'll just keep sending you back until you do."

He was tired, and she could tell he had no time for arguments. "A thousand years of service and I can finally die? That's certainly a small price to pay to get your wicked ass off my back," he seethed.

Her face showed nothing of what she thought of that statement. "You accept?"

He nodded slowly, knowing his resolve had been defeated.

But he made no promises that he would do his job dutifully. Athea didn't much care whether he walked on fire as he lived out his debt, he would pay it in full.

Athea smiled as if she'd just won a great battle. "Tell me, monster, did you find anything close to a mate in the human world?"

"Mates are for shifters, my kind do not need mates," he snapped. "You damn well know we're not that weak."

Her smile was icy, made to make him tremble, but his face never wavered from the anger he so carelessly put on show.

"Oh, not anymore. You and those other monsters you came with from Altholo will have a very fun time when you're all reborn back on the mortal plane. Well, most of you."

"What do you mean?" he growled menacingly as she turned to walk away.

She turned to look at him, taking satisfaction in his uneasiness. "You will have a mate, Konstantin. You will need her, just like you need the air you breathe. You will be her slave, her protector, her savior, and I will watch as you slowly fall into darkness as she is taken away from you, just like you took the lives of all those innocents."

Konstantin spat at her feet, growling as he said, "You think I'll let a human control me and forget about this? You think I'll fall to my feet for some bitch with a leash?"

Her answer was final. "Did you hold no love for the human you killed hundreds for?"

"I didn't love her. I killed because they took what was mine." No, he hadn't loved the human. He had his revenge for the bastards who took what was his.

"So possessive. It's not flattering."

He snarled, "Flattering would be me letting you live once I'm free, witch."

Was that supposed to scare her? Athea shook her head. "You'll find your mate, Konstantin, and when you do, your hell on earth will just be getting started. You cannot reject her-"

"Just watch me," he snapped, cutting her off.

Athea continued, ignoring him. "-because you will die if you do, and the cycle starts all over again."

Konstantin growled low. "I will serve my duty to those disgusting humans, but I will not lower myself to your games, Athea. I'm not falling for some trick you created."

She shook her head, astonished at his determination to make this process as painful as possible. As she turned to leave the room, Konstantin's shackles rattled loudly as he jumped forward, making her turn to throw a disdainful look at her captive.

"My brothers! Where are they?" he demanded. His face was ablaze with what Athea thought was... panic?

"Are you scared for them?" she asked. At no point had he shown concern for anyone, not even himself.

"I fear nothing," he shot back, "but they are innocent of my crimes!"

Looking down at him almost begging made Athea shake her head in dismay. "Akim, Lyra, and Rafa will be sent back with you. They stopped your slaughtering and deserved mercy, but those other fools who aided you in your massacre are sentenced to suffer in Aion. No praise necessary."

The last thing she heard was the roar of anger and grief as she left the room. There was a debt to pay, and the price was high. Konstantin would learn what happens to those who don't follow the rules of this world, one way or another.