Wolf King (Wolves of New York #1)

  Wolf King

  A Dark Mafia Shifter Romance

  Bella Jacobs

  Contents

  WOLF KING

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  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

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  About the Author

  Also by Bella Jacobs

  Sneak Peek

  WOLF KING

  Wolves of New York

  Book One

  By Bella Jacobs

  Copyright Wolf King© 2021 by Bella Jacobs

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This contemporary romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This ebook is licensed for your personal use only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, especially if you enjoy sexy, fast-paced urban fantasy reads. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work. Edited by Judy’s Proofreading. Cover Design by Violet Duke.

  Created with Vellum

  ABOUT THE BOOK

  Maxim Thorn is a ruthless Alpha, a mobster king who rules his pack with an iron fist.

  He’s also my only hope.

  As a shifter from the wrong side of the tracks who’s just been rejected by my abusive fated mate, I don’t have a lot of options in this city.

  I have no choice but to make a deal with the devil.

  But that doesn’t mean I’m powerless. I have an ace up my sleeve, a bargaining chip Maxim can’t resist. He wants revenge on my pack leaders for poisoning his father, and I hold the key to his enemy’s destruction.

  In exchange for one month of protection from my ex and his friends, I promise to give Maxim what he wants—me.

  I expect honoring the bargain to be pure hell. I don’t expect to ignite every time we touch or to develop a soft spot for this wounded wolf. His blood calls to mine, and I’m starting to think this wicked king may have a heart after all.

  But is there room in his world for love?

  Or am I destined to become a pawn in his dark game?

  To Kelly Lambert. Thank you for your help with Maxim and Willow!

  Chapter 1

  Willow

  Run! Fucking run, Willow!

  Move your fluffy ass!

  I push harder, huffing up the ramp on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge at something slightly faster than a jog, my lungs full of razorblades, wishing I could shift. But the scent of my wolf would draw the wrong kind of attention in this rough part of town.

  A woman out for a jog at least has a shot at being ignored.

  Silently, I vow that if I live through the night, I’ll get serious about exercising both sides of myself.

  I’ll jog in my human form every morning and bike around the neighborhood every afternoon. And I’ll start shifting and running in the park with my dad on weekends.

  We’ve both gained the Shit List Fifteen, a common occurrence in wolves on the outs with the Blood River pack Alpha. Wolves on the Shit List don’t get invited to wild woodland parties or Friday night dances or included in other calorie-burning pack events.

  Shit List wolves are encouraged to stay in their homes, where they won’t be seen or heard, and think about what they’ve done and how fast they can make amends to the leader who literally holds their lives in his hands.

  Victor Darius almost killed my father after my sister ran away. In the end, he settled for beating Dad to a bloody pulp and blacklisting him, ensuring no one in The Parallel would even think about retaining his services.

  Dad hasn’t worked as a defense attorney in eight years.

  All that schooling, all that passion for justice, all the good he could have done for his clients was flushed down the drain, all because my sister rejected her mate after their claiming ceremony.

  Collum Darius was a violent, sadistic asshole, but he was also the Alpha’s nephew. No one rejects a member of Victor’s family and lives to tell about it. If Kelley hadn’t run as far and as fast as she did, Victor would have murdered my sister.

  If she ever dares to come home, she’s a dead woman.

  And now…so am I.

  And that’s when I remember that I won’t ever shift with my dad again. I won’t ever hug my mom or tease them about how grossly in love they still are or sit on the couch with them on a rainy Saturday afternoon, watching old movies and dreaming about brighter days.

  There won’t be any brighter days.

  Not for our family.

  My parents are already on a train to St. Louis and the misfit pack there, where they’ll spend the rest of their lives watching their backs, hoping Victor doesn’t try too hard to find them. And I’m on my way to the only person who might give me refuge and deign to save my life.

  For a price…

  Probably a terrible one.

  Maxim Thorn isn’t known for doing favors for free. He isn’t known for having a heart, at all, but I have to try to convince him I’m worth saving. I couldn’t go with my parents. If I had, Victor absolutely would have tracked us all down and slit our throats himself.

  He’s going to be insane when he realizes what I’ve done.

  If I don’t get out of The Parallel soon, I won’t be leaving it at all. Ever. Not in one piece. Victor will rip me apart with his bare hands, slowly and meticulously, so I have plenty of time to reflect on my poor decision-making skills.

  My throat tightens, but I’m panting too hard to start crying again.

  Which is good. I don’t have time to cry. I have to get to Human Side before one of the Alpha’s servants goes to check on my Almost Mate and realizes Pax is tied up in his massive closet, bleeding from a head wound.

  At least, I hope he’s still bleeding…

  Pax deserves to bleed after the things he’s done.

  Pax Darius is the Alpha’s son, the man that the moon and the stars in their infinite cosmic wisdom decreed was destined to be my mate.

  Pax, who spent fifth grade spreading rumors that I ate my own boogers on the bus. (I did not.) Pax, who made me sniff his armpit every time we crossed paths in junior high, grabbing the back of my neck and shoving my face into his stinky pit while his friends laughed and cheered him on.

  Pax, who by high school had developed a taste for whiskey and girls who told him what he wanted to hear and didn’t appreciate the fact that I refused to kiss his ass. I might have been a nerdy pack reject with no friends, but I had my pride. My integrity.
I didn’t have a death wish—I bowed to the Alpha like the rest of the pack, but Pax wasn’t the Alpha. He was a drunk kid obsessed with his own stupid penis, and I had better things to do with my time than court his favor.

  Like read. Or study.

  Or have my eyeballs repeatedly stabbed with dirty toothpicks.

  Aside from the random unpleasant run-in, I largely escaped Pax during our undergrad years. He rarely went to class and when he was sober enough to make it on campus, his business courses weren’t anywhere near the science building.

  And the last two years of grad school have been a Pax-free delight.

  Even knowing that I’d eventually have to work under Victor’s insufferable son when he took over as Alpha couldn’t bring me down. I was so excited to be getting my master’s in chemistry that most days I managed to forget the only reason I was being allowed to get my degree was so I could join the pack’s drug development division when I graduated.

  The Blood River pack used to be known for its accomplished fishermen and women, excellent daycare centers, and some of the best diners in Parallel Brooklyn.

  Since Victor’s father took over in a bloody coup fifty years ago, however, we’ve become known for violence, crime, and drugs.

  Half of Parallel New York is hooked on Victor’s latest designer high at one point or another. He has the best chemists in the city working in his labs. Dominating the drug trade is so important to him that even Shit List wolves like me can get a job if they’re smart enough.

  And no, I wasn’t looking forward to making drugs that hurt people, but I’d convinced myself I could find a way to create minimally damaging compounds with relatively few side effects. I thought I could serve my Alpha and my conscience at the same time, and that I was on the verge of turning things around for my family.

  I was going to make good money, enough for Mom to quit working her fingers to the bone as a housecleaner and for Dad to go back to school Human Side and become a lawyer again.

  And then my name was drawn for the mate claiming ceremony last week, signaling it was my time to couple up and make some big, strong wolf babies for Victor’s army.

  Cannon fodder.

  That’s what the nurses whisper about baby boys these days, a fact that was enough to chill any urge I might have had to reproduce.

  I didn’t want to marry, mate, or risk getting pregnant, but I couldn’t skip the ceremony. The best I could hope for was that I’d be mated to a decent man who would understand my reticence to have a baby right now and help me take precautions to ensure we didn’t have children.

  And then tonight…

  Tonight, everything went to hell.

  Straight to fucking hell.

  As if summoned by my thoughts, a rage-filled howl cuts through the cool air. It’s coming from somewhere behind me and probably has nothing to do with me or the drunk monster I hit over the head with one of his tacky imitation Greek statues, but it sends a jolt of terror dumping into my veins.

  I remind myself that wolf packs fight every night in The Parallel.

  In the human dimension, Brooklyn has become gentrified and trendy. In our world, life for wolves gets deadlier with every passing year. It used to be just the vampires and their taste for shifter blood we had to fear, but lately it’s been one bloody battle for dominance after another.

  The packs who could afford to get out when things first started going south, did so a long time ago. The rest of us are killing each other for scraps, and I don’t see that changing any time soon.

  So maybe this is a blessing in disguise—being forced to run for my life with nothing but the borrowed clothes on my back. Maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If I’m clever and quick and play the few cards I have just right, maybe I can escape and get a fresh start.

  I hold onto that spark of optimism as I reach the center of the bridge and the first pissed-off howl is joined by another and another, until it sounds like the entire borough is keening for blood.

  There are other portals to Human Side. Easier portals. Portals that don’t involve stress or mess or braving the freezing East River in the middle of October.

  But those portals are guarded by Victor’s men. They have lines and I.D. checks and fees for passage.

  A wolf on the run has only one option.

  And so, once I reach the bridge’s apex, I don’t hesitate, I swing one leg over the railing and then the other, suck a final breath into my heaving lungs, and jump.

  As I plummet toward the water, I send out a feverish wish that Maxim Thorn is home tonight and in the mood for vengeance.

  If he’s not, the chances that I’ll live to see morning are very slim indeed.

  Chapter 2

  Maxim

  If it’s not one damned thing, it’s another.

  There are nights when I relish being the most powerful Alpha Human Side, nights when I love my work and the chance to blow off steam with a hot fairy or oversexed nymph at the club when my work is done.

  Tonight, is not one of those nights.

  “She just…disappeared, Boss. I swear. There one minute and boom, gone the next.” Troy, a very loyal, very I.Q. challenged bodyguard his superiors should have known better than to trust on Diana detail stands stiffly in my doorway, looking like he’s about to wet himself.

  And yes, I’ve purposefully cultivated fear in my security staff—it keeps them on their toes—but Troy needs to grow a spine.

  After all, I’ve never had anyone killed for losing Diana—yet.

  “Is my sister a witch?” I ask flatly.

  Troy gulps. “Um…no?”

  “Is that a question, Troy? Are you uncertain as to whether my little sister is a practitioner of the dark arts?”

  He shakes his head. “No, sir. No, she’s not.”

  “So, she couldn’t have disappeared. That means she lost you, gave you the slip. You took your eyes off of her for a split second and that’s all it takes. And now you will find her. Quickly. Take a team with you. If you find her before midnight, I’ll consider allowing you to keep your job. If not, report to H.R. first thing tomorrow morning.”

  He gulps again, his Adam’s apple working as he nods. “Yes, sir.”

  Of course, he knows that H.R. stands for Hermione Rivers, my second-in-command and a woman who tolerates exactly zero shit from our soldiers. Average North Star pack members have a certain amount of leeway when it comes to when they pay their dues, how often they’re expected at pack meetings, and whether or not they RSVP to the midsummer party.

  But my security crew runs like a well-oiled military operation.

  When we say jump, they don’t have to ask how high. We’ve already covered that in training and reinforced it during weekly drills. It’s how we survive and thrive Human Side, where we have to conceal not only our illegal operations, but our basic nature, as well.

  It’s also how we protect our people from Victor Darius and his thugs.

  Victor has been trying to kill my family since the day my father told him he’d never bend the knee to the Blood River Alpha and moved our entire pack to Human Manhattan.

  And last year, Victor very nearly succeeded. We don’t know who poisoned my father—no one’s come forward to claim responsibility for the attempted hit—but all my money is on Victor and Pax, the mealy-mouthed shit weasel he calls a son.

  Which reminds me, “Tell Damon I want the Blood River intel report early tonight before you leave.”

  Pax was part of the mate claiming ceremony in The Parallel tonight, and I want to know who he was mated to.

  According to my sources, about half the Blood River pack’s women would be perfectly happy to end up with the Alpha’s son, for the wealth and status if nothing else. But the other half are smart enough to want to steer clear of that walking disaster.

  If one of those women ended up his mate, we might have the making of an insider ally.

  Hell, even if one of the social climbers is chosen, we could still come out on top. Give her a
few months of putting up with her new husband’s alcoholic outbursts and general douchebaggery, and she might be willing to help arrange for her mate to have a little…accident.

  An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

  The Darius family tried to take my father away from me, from our people, and I’m happy to answer blood with blood.

  But when I make my move, I won’t fail the way they did.

  Troy nods stiffly, “Yes, sir. Will do, sir,” and hurries away down the hall without another word.

  Good, I think as I shut the door and cross to the bar in the living room, pouring myself a much-needed bourbon.

  If he’d tried to apologize again, I would have had to punch him. Apologies are a waste of time. The North Star pack doesn’t apologize. We pursue excellence and when we fall short, we pursue it with increased fervor. We don’t waste time with useless words.

  “Sorry” doesn’t keep our people safe or bring lost wolves back from the dead.

  I don’t think Diana is in danger tonight—she’s probably off with one of the human boys from her school she’s been forbidden to play with—but I don’t like not knowing where she is.

  My little sister is a prime target.

  Anyone closely connected to me is.

  It’s one of the many reasons I’ve put off claiming my own mate.

  I’m too busy to coddle a new wife, and I have no desire to start a family until we’ve reclaimed our pack territory in The Parallel. I don’t want my children growing up under lock and key, unable to leave the pack tower until they’ve learned to control their wolf.