Book 1 of Alpha Wolf: Mate Mine

‘Did you touch my mate?’ - Part 1

Without further ado, Mirko was returning to the Underworld... For the second time in one day.

His skin still tingled where had touched his mate, as if to remind him how he had failed to protect his other half... How he had found her in that cell, in the most despicable place on earth.

Mirko could almost imagine his own father mocking him from underground, among the worms with bellies full of his putrid flesh. Tiberious’s black soul whispered that a Black Devil Alpha was, is and will always be destined to be alone....that what had happened to Elena was an omen....that Mirko did not deserve a soulmate.

Shaking his head to bury memories from his past in the place where they belonged (the past), Mirko could not afford to think about his beautiful mate, otherwise he would rush back to the hospital.

All that unfortunate event would not have occurred if Mirko or Craken had not given her all the freaking time in the world and marked her right away. Without waiting for her to announce it to those annoying parents, who already knew about them from the very beginning. Without trying to be a good mate... Patient and respectful. Two adjectives that had never got along with Mirko.

His whole body was aching for revenge. His primal instincts needed the sweet smell of spilled blood.

Part of him knew that Elena inside the Underworld was no coincidence. Someone had locked her down there on purpose, hoping that she would get crazy or, worse, raped or torn to pieces.

Revenge was the only feeling Mirko could or wanted to embrace at the time being.

Blood flowed frantically into his veins like a raging river under an evil storm.

Once he reached the Underworld’s level where the cell was located, the lingering smell of Elena invaded his nostrils. He had to stop and concentrate to avoid losing his mind. The Alpha was standing on the edge of a ravine... The ravine of madness and bestiality. He could have fallen into it at any moment, but he knew very well that it would not be an easy ascent to climb back and return to the lands of normality.

When Mirko reached the destination, he found his Gamma and Beta just as he had left them.

Equally angered by the way their future Luna had been treated, they were ready to cheer and watch their Alpha destroy, rip apart, and send corrupted souls into the eternal fire of hell.

‘Beta. Go investigate what the fuck happened at the border last night and wait for me right there.’

Crucifero nodded, without taking his eyes off the floor, and left.

Just to warm up and release some of the steam that was about to blow up the volcano, Mirko broke the necks of the two guards who had been placed there to guard the cell of his mate. Mirko did not even bother to interrogate those dirty beetles. Simply, he snapped their heads off with such an ease and inhuman precision, as if he had done it so many times that his reflexes had memorized the act perfectly.

Then, his stormy eyes focused on the Wretched... The wolves of the Underworld.

There were 5 of them, standing still like gargoyles and staring at their Alpha. And those were the only witnesses Mirko needed.

Two of them were the ones he had placed to guard Alpha Ciro, or what was left of him.

Those were the wolves who only answered to Mirko ...or, better, only to Craken. Those were the wolves that had sworn eternal allegiance to Black Devil’s Alpha. Those were the wolves who would no longer shift into their human sides. Those were the Cerberus of the Underworld. The Wretched.

And luckily for them, Mirko did not perceive Elena’s sweet smell on them. If they were fortunate enough, they would continue to live. Or unfortunate enough, depending on the point of view ... Ending their bestial life in those abysses could be a favor.

′Did you touch my mate?′ Mirko asked them, through mind-link.

His arms were crossed over his bare chest, his legs slightly apart were planted on the ground. His unblinking eyes were fixed on the Wretched wolves.

‘No, Alpha.’ They all answered in unison, eyes on the floor, heads slightly lowered to show submission and respect.

Their enormous size occupied the cramped and dirty space populated by all kinds of dirt.

‘Have you talked to her?’ This time it was Craken’s voice that vibrated through their minds.

‘No, Alpha’ The same answer, uttered almost solemnly, came without hesitation.

Alpha Craken, through Mirko’s human eyes, assessed those beasts forgotten by the goddess. After an eternal moment, in which life and death quarrelled over who would prevail, Craken and Mirko reached their verdict.

‘Then you will live.’ He declared, saving the scythe of death for later.

Meanwhile Gamma Rolando, who had observed the scene, breathed a sigh of relief. Not because Mirko had spared those monsters, but because those same monsters protected the above world by keeping horrors worse than themselves locked in the Underworld. What was buried in the Underworld...it was best to keep it in there.

‘Barbaricus. Tell me what you saw last night and do it quickly.’ Craken growled in their heads.

One of them stepped forward. His height and size were comparable to Craken’s himself. In other times, he was known by the name of Rafael. His mate had been kidnapped, brutally raped and slaughtered, while she was pregnant with their firstborn.

Rafael was noticeably young when tragedy struck him, full of potential and hope. A pride and gifted warrior, so gifted that he could have been the leader of Black Devil’s warriors, just below a Gamma or Beta position.

‘The woman who looks like a man, Frerea, brought the Full Moon’s she-wolf here last night. Then she threw her to the ground, beat her up for hurting another she-wolf and locked her in the cell.’ She also placed the two werewolves you just killed to guard her cell.′

Barbaricus, the massive wolf that had belonged to Rafael, paused as his Alpha roared and kicked the wall, creating a mini earthquake. All the sounds of the Underworld paused for a few seconds before resuming where they left off.

′Frerea demanded that we rape and bite the she-wolf legs off. She insisted they were your orders, Alpha. But-′

With a lightning-fast move, Mirko grabbed the wolf’s neck, squeezing it in such a way that Barbaricus saw the shadow of death greet him.

‘But what?’ Craken snarled as his fangs were mere inches away from the pulsating artery of Barbarico’s hairy neck.

Mirko’s face was now deformed, half wolf half human. Black and swollen veins came out of his face, his eyes contained an alien and dark planet.

’W-we refused to accept. Frerea was the one we raped instead, and then kicked out, barely alive. We only take orders from you, Alpha.”

Mirko hit the wall with a loud snarl, leaving an empty hole that stared at him like a big eye with no orbit. The Alpha did not care about the blood gushing from his knuckles. He felt good as the red liquid dipped into the disgusting soil.

Frerea. He should have known.

The warrior had always had a soft spot for Cornelia.

It did not take long to realize that Cornelia had been released. Although Mirko had locked her up, in a cell nearby the entrance of the Underworld, he had not wasted a Wretched for guarding her... but he had put a normal Black Devil’s warrior. And Frerea must have helped her escape.

Someone else would feel betrayed that one of his warriors had stabbed him in the back.

Mirko did not care one bit. Werewolves had tried to deceive him endless times during his seeming young life.

The people he trusted were fewer than the fingers in his hands. The people who had tried to betray him were more than the trees in his territory.

The people who had fully succeeded in their intent to deceive him were the same amount of people who had defeated him in a fight:

Zero.

Despite everything, there was something that troubled Mirko: No one could survive the Underworld.... let alone a she-wolf, defenceless and passed out.

True, the Wretched only accepted orders from Craken and once Elena carried his mark, she could walk naked in the Underworld if she wanted to and no one would dare stare at Craken’s mate. But she did not bear the mark yet.... And neither Mirko nor Craken had forbidden them to harm the she-wolf.

’Barbaricus, why has my mate not been...′ He shut his eyes for a painful second and gulped ‘-touched or... abused?’

‘I smelled a trace of your blood on her fangs. It was minimal, almost imperceptible, but I sensed it anyway.’ The wolf declared without batting an eye.

The power of the spilled blood had saved Elena.

Mirko closed his eyes. His mate was safe, still alive and untouched, because she had marked him... and Barbaricus’ extraordinary ability, above average, had saved her life.

‘You will be assigned as your Luna’s bodyguard. And it’s an order.’ Craken stated without any preamble.

The menacing wolf did not seem pleased, as a shadow of annoyance crossed his face.

‘Do you have anything to say about it?’

‘No, Alpha. It’ll be a-’ He growled as his nostrils flared, before continuing. ‘An honour to protect my Luna. However, Alpha, I will never switch to my human form as my human is long dead.’

‘I know and I accept that.’ And just like that, the matter was closed.

Mirko knew that Barbaricus was a fearsome warrior beyond skilful. Besides, he was a monster unable to feel mercy. The perfect bodyguard for his perfect mate.

Although he had lost his soul and did not wish to leave the Underworld, Mirko only wanted the best for his mate. And Barbaricus was the best.

Despite the fact Elena would be safe inside his pack once she would bear his mark, Mirko trusted no one. Not even the power to bear Black Alpha’s mark, especially when she would be out of his territory.

Suddenly, his feral eyes rested on what was left of Lord Skull’s Alpha Ciro, once a mighty wild alpha now a piece of rotten meat. Mirko’s already tense jaw ticked like a bomb about to explode.

Bad luck wanted that Elena had been locked up right next to Ciro’s cell.

‘Did he touch my mate?’ Mirko growled through the mind link.

′No, Alpha’ The Wretched replied.

‘Did he talk to her?’

‘Yes, Alpha’ At those words, eyes narrowed to two slits.

‘Cut off his left foot and feed it to him for his next meal. Make sure he stays alive.’

While two of the Wretched grabbed Ciro by one leg like a salami, the excuse of an Alpha began to babble something about a certain Esmeralda, in his perennial frenzy state.

Mirko simply ignored the pitiful scene and the screams that followed.

At last, he turned to his Gamma.

Meanwhile the typical sound of the Underworld invaded the air around them. Screams, roars, broken bones, mouths feeding on living flesh and other dark noises.

“Gamma” Finally he spoke aloud. But it was not Mirko who spoke. The voice was completely different. It belonged to a beast.

“Yes, Alpha,” Rolando replied, looking away.

“You know what to do.”

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AN/ What do you think the Gamma has to do?!

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