Naughty Wolf Read online

  Naughty Wolf

  Aidy Award

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  1. The Kostest with the Mostest

  2. Heli’s Hell

  3. Always Listen To Your Wolf

  4. Dumb Blondes and Other Smart Women

  5. Killer Whales and Other Sea Wolves

  6. Revenge Is Best Served Wet

  7. Kisses and Killers

  8. Clues to Serenity

  9. The Best Laid Plans

  10. Mine

  11. Pretty Pink Visions

  12. Alpha Who?

  13. Alpha Up

  14. The Bunny and The Wolf

  Also by Aidy Award

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2019 by Aidy Award.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author directly.

  Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Naughty Wolf/ Aidy Award. -- 1st ed.

  Cover by Jacqueline Sweet

  For my own little brother

  Acknowledgments

  Acknowledgements

  Great big thanks on this book go to the coolest women who helped me plot this book. Hugs to Sylvia McDaniel, Peggy McKenzie, and Kat Kennedy.

  This story is so much better because of you.

  Super duper thanks to my Amazeballs, especially those that volunteered to help me proofread at the last minute.

  Extra hugs to Sydney M Dolan-Neblett, Kerrie Moore, Tamye Whitener, Patricia Centlivre, Lisa Mathis, Jeanette Merrick, and Dorothy-Helen Billmeier!

  I am very naughty

  But in a very nice way

  ―KinkyQuotes.com

  The Kostest with the Mostest

  Kosta had always loved pack mating ceremonies, as long as he wasn't the one getting mated. He was an expert level flirt, and more than one wolftress had tried their best to work their way into the sacred circle with him.

  He'd taken a few of them home later and made them howl at the moon with pleasure. Not this time.

  Tonight's mating ritual was a whole new deal. His brother Maxsim had decided to mate a human of all things. A very beautiful human, who was smart, and sweet, and who had recently shifted into wolf form after being marked and then eaten the face off a local pack alpha. Frankly, the asshat had it coming.

  No way he could fault Maxsim for falling for the cute and curvy librarian he'd had a crush on since high school. Mating her was a whole other deal. Wolves mated wolves. So it had been for hundreds of years. The tradition kept the packs and the existence of their entire species safe.

  Biting a human, much less marking them with a mate's bite, was completely taboo. Even revealing themselves as a wolf-shifter to a human could be punishable by death. At least it had been until the Wolf Tzar and the strong-armed reign of the Volkovs had been brought to an end.

  By Kosta's oldest brother, Niko, and his own mother, nonetheless. Their mother, the revolutionary, and his broken, ghost of a man brother had changed his whole damn world, which he wasn't sure he liked.

  Now here he stood at a mating ceremony where wolves and humans were claiming their true mates. Like that was even a thing.

  True mates, fated to be each other's one and only love. What bullshit.

  "Isn't it beautiful?" A young wolftress sidled up to Kosta and sighed at the matings happening in the sacred circle. She was cute, with that nerdy look he had a thing for, but she had dark hair and the blue eyes of a Troika pack member. He much preferred the springy blonde curls and chocolatey brown eyes of-- fuck. He was comparing her to Heli.

  Heli, the human woman he'd been dicking around with for the past few weeks…. Heli, the luscious lady who always smelled like butter and brown sugar…. Heli, who had his cock hard as stone with just a look.

  Shit. He was going to have to break it off with Heli. Just thinking about her was making him hard.

  "Kosta? Uh, isn't the mating ritual under the full moon beautiful?" The pretty little wolftress was trying so hard to get his attention and he was standing here daydreaming about break up sex with another woman. He was such an ass.

  He turned his full attention to the woman by his side and flipped his flirt switch to maximum. He took her hand in his and kissed the inside of her wrist. "Indeed it is. Why aren't you out there, sweet thing?"

  Her eyes went as round as the moon. "Me?"

  "Absolutely, you. Let's see who we can find for you to have a little romance with, shall we?" This was a game he had down to a science. He never wanted to hurt any wolftresses feelings, but he wasn't going to mate any of them. His father had always impressed upon him that the Troika boys’ mates would be strategic matches to further ties with other packs. His mother believed he could choose to love who he wanted. Maybe he didn't want a mate at all, or maybe he'd already found her.

  It was easy enough to place himself directly into the friend zone with a whole lot of sex appeal and charm thrown in. Now to find her a lucky wolf.

  Aha. There, just a quarter of the way around the circle, he spotted s strapping young wolf with more than half a hard on. He had one arm across his chest and no game. That guy didn't think he could get a girl and this girl needed a guy. Bingo bango.

  And the pack all thought his mother was the matchmaker.

  He held out his hand to the wolftress and began humming. The girls always fell for the waltz. He put an arm around her back and together they danced their way around the sacred circle. Under any other circumstances, with this soft, lush wolftress in his arms, he'd give her a little taste, but tonight. Kosta very carefully avoided the moonlight so it didn't appear to anyone he was bringing this woman into the mating ritual. They quickly approached the wolf he had picked out for her and Kosta spun the little wolftress, letting her go right at the pivotal moment.

  The surprise in her eyes gave him a chuckle, because no way was she going to recover out of that spin before she crashed right into shy wolf boy. In three, two... “Hey Sorkin, catch her.”

  One. Splat. Sorkin did the Troikas proud and his reaction time was pretty damn quick. They still fell to the ground in a heap, but he cradled her as they plummeted and protected her with his own body from the worst bits. She landed sprawled across him, their faces inches apart.

  “Hi,” she giggled.

  “Hello, there.” Sorkin sounded dumbstruck.

  Perfect. Duty done.

  Now time to high tail it out of there before any other wolftress set her sights on him. He’d make better time if he shifted, but this was his last pair of clean jeans. He’d already used his emergency change of clothes in the back of his truck. Twice last week. Laundry day had come and gone while he and Max had been on the hunt for lone Grimm pack members.

  No shifting for him. Walking back to his car it was then. He could keep himself out of sight and mind of any stragglers.

  Two yards into the forest and he knew he wasn’t alone.

  "Why do you do that, Kos?" A quiet and broken voice came out of the shadows behind him.

  It was a voice that a week ago he never thought he'd get to hear again. Niko leaned against the trunk of a tree, all but his glowing blue eyes hidden by the darkness.

  Kosta slowly approached. Lord knew his brother was jumpy as fuck these days. "Do what?"

  "Let go of all the girls who want to be with you. She would have dropped to her knees right here in the shadows and sucked your dick if you'd so much as looked at her. She was hot and wet for you, couldn't you scent that on her?"

  "Of course I could. Since when are you a love 'em and leave 'em wet jackass?" There was a lot about Niko that had changed. He wasn't the sunny eldest brother and heir to the pack anymore. That was hard for Kosta to take. He'd worshipped the ground Niko walked on for a long damn time.

  This guy hiding in the dark wasn't the same man who'd left for Russia to serve the Tzar six months ago.

  "I left Zara nice and wet when I--" He cut his sentence short and turned his back on Kosta.

  Shit. He shouldn't have pushed Niko. They were all lucky to have him back. Kosta hadn't thought he should come to the mating ceremony tonight, but Selena, as the matriarch, had insisted. If the pack was going to accept Max as the alpha even though Niko had returned, he needed to be here to give his blessing. He’d done his duty.

  Niko shrugged his shoulders and folded into himself. "Whatever. I'm going to Sleepy Folk if anyone needs me. Not that they will."

  “Okay, Eeyore,” Kosta said under his breath, although with their wolf senses, his brother would hear anyway.

  Niko’s only response to that was to give Kosta the finger. In a few more strides, Niko shed his clothes and dropped them in the dirt. Kosta waited for the pop of bones, stretching of skin, and prickle of fur as his brother shifted into his white wolf form. He didn’t. Niko walked away through the trees on two legs. Naked.

  Geez. They were going to have to talk to Doc about some psychological counseling for Niko. What the fuck?

  Well, Kosta cert
ainly wasn’t going in that direction to get back to the Reserve’s parking lot. He’d seen more than enough naked asses for the night, thank you very much. He’d take the long way around.

  The Reserve was his second home and he knew every nook and cranny, every fallen tree, every gopher hole. He’d spent more time running around these woods with his brothers and pack mates than he had in school. Ten minutes later, that intimate knowledge came in handy when he spotted the blind someone had tried to make out of underbrush and branches.

  Dammit. He had been thinking about how they were going to bring Niko out of his darkness and hadn’t been paying attention to all the little cues his wolf senses were sending him.

  A quick scent of the air and he identified two wolf-shifters. They weren’t Troikas and he didn’t know all the Grimms on sight yet, but he recognized the particular saltiness of the Bay pack. Some called them the East Coast sea wolves because they were as adept at hunting in the ocean as they were on land.

  Kosta just called them bastard one-bloods. Thinking they were all superior and shit was bullshit. His brother might be pushing his boundaries of what he thought being a wolf meant, but he didn't command anyone to think or behave the way he did. The Troikas brothers were raised in love, to know the difference between right and wrong, and to stand up for what they believed in. Other wolves naturally gravitated to that kind of leadership. Even during this new pack war they were in the center of, Troika wolves were loyal.

  Max was going to make a good alpha because he didn't have to throw his weight or fangs around for others to follow his lead. Kosta didn't have to worry about that. He wouldn't ever be the alpha of a pack. Not him or Niko.

  That didn't mean he should stand around and do nothing when other alphas bullied the shifters and humans in their territory into subservience. That was exactly what was happening over at the Bay. So what made these two dumbasses think they could encroach on Troika territory on the most sacred of nights?

  It wasn't the first time another pack had sullied the Reserve since Niko had been accused of killing the Wolf Tzar. It would be the last time these two wolves in particular were going to leave their taint in his nose.

  Kosta quietly stripped and hid his clothes on a low hanging branch and let his wolf out. His bones cracked, his vision changed so that he could easily see into the dark, and the fur pushed up out of his skin. He wanted to howl at the brilliance of the full moon that gave all of his kind her strength and love. He would, after he ripped out the throats of the intruders.

  It was easy for him to stalk through the night with stealth. His wolf was the darkest black all over except for the glow of his eyes. He kept those hooded and hunted his prey.

  The two shifters were upwind from him and the sacred circle. If this was the kind of training Bay gave their enforcers, they deserved to go down. They wouldn't be easier to track and ensnare if they were fluffy white bunnies.

  Just like those ridiculous bunny slippers Heli wore. She was completely adorable in them, which he'd never admit. When she was all satisfied and sleepy after he'd made her come a half dozen times, but insisted on getting up to pee before bed, she'd slip them on, even though she was stark naked, and shuffle across her room. So fucking cute.

  Damn it. He should not be thinking about Heli's perfectly plump ass swaying like it did when he was on the hunt. Shit. He really, really needed to break up with her. Again.

  He shook his head to clear it of those too tempting thoughts, and reacquired his targets. Not only were they upwind, they had also started talking, and not as quietly as they probably thought they were. To top it off, one of them lit a cigarette.

  "He's not coming. This was a stupid idea. Why would he come this way?" The non-smoker stomped his feet like they were falling asleep from standing around too long.

  Smoker took a drag and flicked the ashes into the brush. "I don't know. I'm not going to question Decker's orders, are you?"

  Decker. The new alpha of the Bay pack. His father, the previous alpha, had died only a few months ago. Decker must be trying to prove himself with these attacks on Troika. Like they didn't have enough trouble already with the Crescent pack breathing down their necks.

  Who were these two waiting for? Not the alpha himself. That guy was too incompetent to fight his own battles. No, he'd sent his dogs to do his work and test the Troika borders while their efforts were focused on incorporating the Grimms and defending against the Crescents.

  There was one sure way to find out what they wanted. Scare it out of them.

  Kosta crept around behind them, still completely unnoticed, and sat down. They were so useless that even if they attacked he'd be able to take them down before they even thought about shifting. Might as well relax. Who are you waiting for, fellas? The big bad wolf?

  Non-smoker jumped about three feet, but smoker slowly turned, the cigarette hanging from his bottom lip.

  You should put that out, before I put it out for you. And don't even think about littering in my forest.

  Smoker plucked the lit cigarette from his lip, slipped it back into the box and shoved the whole thing, still smoking, into his pocket. He swallowed and said, "The alpha of the Bay pack would like to speak with you."

  That did not merit a response more than a raised eyebrow.

  "He thinks you may be of a mind to discuss the current state of affairs, unlike your brother."

  Decker wants to negotiate his surrender? I accept.

  "No, uh, he heard through his network of spies that you were not happy about Maxsim mating a human and taking over the pack. He said to tell you, he empathizes and might be able to help you with that problem."

  Problem? Seriously? Decker was dumber than Kosta thought if he even considered for a second that any Troika would betray the pack.

  Having these two frightened emissaries that smelled of urine right here in front of him was too good an opportunity to get intel. It was almost a shame, too, because he would have fun ripping them limb from limb.

  Tell me, does the Bay pack truly believe Wolves are superior to humans? That we are stronger, smarter, and inherently suited to rule over mankind as our servants?

  He'd meant that to sound sarcastic, but the timid shifter didn't get that message.

  He lit up and got all excited. "Yeah. Decker is changing the future, man. Wolves aren't going to have to hide in the dark anymore and we get all the women we want. I mean, well, the enforcers in the pack do. I don't mind the leftovers though. I'm getting more pussy now than I ever did before the pack war started. You could have your pick, not that you have to--"

  Enough. This schmoe had eaten up every line Decker had ever told his pack, and then some. It wasn't that surprising he'd bought their loyalty with access to women. Decker always was a degenerate.

  The smoker glared at his buddy. "What my friend here is trying to say is, Decker appreciates that wolfkind has certain advantages of nature that humans do not and he has used the current shift in the regime to use those to benefit the pack, and indeed all wolves. He would like if you would, ah, visit the Bay and see for yourself. He thinks you might like to make similar changes in Rogue."

  That fucker. What Kosta would like to do is send Decker a couple of severed heads in a bag. What he needed to do was go tattle on Decker to Max so he and Gal could take care of the problem.

  A tension like claws on a chalkboard wrankled through him at that idea. His animal side whispered that he could eliminate the threat without Max ever knowing it existed in the first place. That's what Niko would do if he was his old self. Niko acted. Max thought, and Kosta followed along for the fun of it.

  He was done having fun.

  This was war.

  You tell Decker I'll be there. He turned his back on the emissaries and nonchalantly walked away into the woods. It took only a minute for him to fade into the dark and then he turned and paid attention to what they did next.