Embrace A Wolf (Iron Wolves Next Generation Book 4) Read online

  Embrace A Wolf

  Iron Wolves Next Generation Book 4

  By

  Elle Boon

  © Copyright 2022 Elle Boon

  All cover art and logo © Copyright 2022 by Elle Boon

  All rights reserved.

  Cover by Rebecca Poole

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Embrace A Wolf

  Iron Wolves Next Generation Book 4

  Copyright © 2022 Elle Boon

  First E-book Publication: June 2022

  Cover design by Rebecca Poole

  Edited by Tracy Roelle

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Copyright Page

  Copyright Page

  Playlist

  Dedication

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thank You

  About Elle Boon

  Other Books by Elle Boon

  Playlist

  Kamikaze - Eminem ft Joyner Lucas

  River - Ed Sheeran Eminem

  The Joker And The Queen - Ed Sheeran Taylor Swift

  When I See You Again -Wiz Khalifa et al

  You Are The Reason - Calum Scott Leona Lewis

  I See Red - Vella

  Dancing With The Devil - Demi Lovato

  You Don't Own Me -SAYGRACE - G-Easy

  The Diary Of Jane - Breaking Benjamin

  Fully Alive - Flyleaf

  I Miss The Misery - Halestorm

  The Anxiety -Willow & Tyler Cole

  Stay - The Kid Laroi

  Pillowtalk -Zayn

  Scars To Your Beautiful - Alessia Cara

  Save Me - Jelly Roll

  Narcissist - Avery Anna

  Chris Stapleton - You Should Probably Leave

  Careless Whisper -Seether

  Lonely - Justine Bieber

  Chasing After You -Ryan Hurd & Maren Morris

  Easy On Me _ Adele

  Dedication

  To all who love my Iron Wolves...I’m so excited to introduce y’all to this new generation. This is Jaxon and Piper’s story and whooowee, I hope y’all are ready for one crazy adventure filled with all kinds of heartache, twists, and a lot of mayhem that’s sure to happen. These two took me on an adventure I wasn’t sure exactly how it was going to go, so I hope y’all enjoy the journey as much as I did. Get ready because Jagger and Jaxon will show you exactly why they’re every bit as alpha as the big bad Iron Wolf Alpha Kellen aka their father.

  I truly do love all these characters and getting to see my original wolfies sure does make me a happy camper. My deepest wish is for y’all to love this new journey I’m taking you on and see who pops in and out. Maybe there’ll be some new characters and of course, old favorites along the way.

  There are so many I’d like to thank, starting with my amazing Boonies and my Elle’s Beta Crew. Y’all rock soo effing hard. Seriously, y’all are the best ever. Thank you for lifting me up when I was down and giving me the strength to keep on trudging on. My betas are so effing awesome, and I can’t thank y’all enough for keeping me sane and on point; Mary: Maureen, Debbie, and Ann... I Love you ladies soo hard.

  Of course, I have to thank my family...my hubby who is my rock, my kids, and Romy for giving me all the love and reassurance when I’ve needed it. You know, she sat beside me a lot in her own office chair and watched YouTube Kids while I wrote. Good thing she can’t read ’cause there was some bowchicawowow going on in this story LOL.

  Love y’all sooo hard.

  Elle Boon

  Prologue

  Jaxon held both hands up trying to show his mate he wasn’t a danger to her or their child. Hell, she was the threat, but he worked to keep that thought from showing.

  “Piper, listen to me, please. Put Ruger down and we can talk. Just you and me, nobody else. The two of us can go somewhere and figure this out.” He pleaded.

  His mate jerked backward, her gorgeous blue eyes darting to the side as if she expected someone to jump out and attack. Goddess how had he missed the signs that she needed help? Fuck he didn’t even know how to help her except get their young away from those deadly claws.

  “Stay back, Jaxon. I mean it. I don’t want to hurt you but he... he’s not our child. Look at him. Can’t you see it too?” she asked, her voice wavered.

  What scared him the most was the absolute conviction in every word she said. “Tesoro, let me take Ruger to your parents, and then you and I can—”

  Piper growled. Long claws spouted from the tips of both hands, making his boy whimper. His own wolf threatened to burst from him with the need to protect.

  “I said no.” Piper took another step backward, deadly claws gripping the tender flesh of their young.

  “Ruger, look at me. It’s going to be okay, buddy. You hear me. Mommy loves you like I do,” he tried to reassure their young which only seemed to anger Piper more.

  “He is not our child.” She lifted Ruger up by the back of his shirt, making the young cry out.

  Time slowed for Jaxon in that moment. He heard the others from their pack rushing toward them and the overlook where they stood, but he knew they wouldn’t make it in time. The deadly intent written all over his mate’s face, even as her thoughts were closed off said as much. As her hand arced down, he rushed forward, jerking his son out of her grasp. Piper was a mix of wolf, vampire, and Fey, making her one of the strongest beings to walk the Earth. As her claws ripped through him into his child, he felt the magic taking both of their lives. Her cry of outrage, of pain at his actions, didn’t stop her from trying to rip Ruger away from him. Even as their child lay in his arms, his mate screamed at him to heal himself. Jaxon held his son, his life flashing before his eyes as Piper fell to her knees, her claws dripping red with their blood.

  “No.” Her scream shook the foundation seconds before she plunged those same claws into her chest. If he’d have had the strength, he’d have stopped her. One of them should live for the sake of their other child, yet as the night wind blew around him, cooling his skin, he let his eyes close for the last time.

  Jaxon jerked awake. His heart was pounding like he’d run through three realms within one night while a gallo demon chased him. “Fuck,” he muttered.

  He got to his feet, swaying slightly. It took him two tries to get up without falling back on his ass. There was no way in hell he wanted to go back to sleep and let dreams or visions of the future fuck with him anymore. Shit, he hoped it was just a dream, but he wasn’t a fool. Ever since he’d accidentally on purpose killed a demon that just so happened to foresee the future, he’d been plagued with the bastard’s abilities. Of course, Jaxon hadn’t been given a manual on how to use the shit he saw or control the dreams, unlike the demon who had used the foreseeing to his advantage by selling his services to the highest bidder. Which would’ve been fine if he hadn’t jumped into the futures and changed them to fit others wishes, for a fee.

  He entered the kitchen to get a drink without bothering to turn a light on. It pissed him off to see his hand shaking like a leaf in a tree during a wind storm when he reached for a glass.

  “Sonofabitch,” he swore, closed the door to the fridge and the cold beer. Instead he opted for the bottle of vodka he kept in the freezer instead.

  There wasn’t many times since he’d been back on Earth that he’d found the need to numb his mind, not that their wolves allowed them the ability to get drunk without a fuckton of alcohol. Yet he found if the alcohol was cold enough and drank fast enough, he could get a little buzz. By the time the entire bottle was gone, he was happy to note his hands no longer shook. One thing was clear... he and Piper could never become mates. No way in all the realms could he allow his vision to come true.

  A steady pounding of his heart was a clear indication that the vodka worked to soothe one part of him. Now if he could forget the last twelve hours and that fucking dream life would be great. His inner beast growled with the knowledge that he was going to deny them both what their kind was destined to have. One truemate. For the sake of Piper, him, and their unborn children, he had to keep from claiming her as his own. Which meant he had to stay far away from the way too tempting female when all he wanted to do was embrace every inch of her and make her his.

  Chapter One

  Piper knew she shouldn’t be tempting Fates, yet she was done playing by the rules. She gave a mental snort at the absurdity. Since she and her twin sister Willow began dream-scaping, rules were tossed out the window and tempting was her specialty or rather fucking sh
it up was. Heck, she was pretty sure the only thing either of them had promised their parents was to not get dead. Of course, their parents hadn’t been prepared for what fate had tossed at them, so she did feel a teensy bit bad. They’d literally put their toddlers to bed one night, only to wake up hours later to older versions of Piper and Willow lying in the beds.

  The first time Piper had woken within her dreams, her heart beat faster than her mom’s favorite song, Black Betty by Ram Jam. The only thing that helped settle her nerves was finding Willow right next to her. In complete accord, they’d gone in search of the two males who were their Fated mates, Jagger Styles who was her sister Willow’s mate, and Jaxon Styles who was her mate, along with the other children who’d been lost. Neither of them had known their jumping would take such a toll on their physical bodies, or that years would pass in a matter of hours. Yet she wouldn’t change a thing, since it put her and Willow on the same path as the others.

  Every realm they’d jumped to was different from the last. Some were inhabited by non-violent beings, while others had demons she still shuddered to think about. Each night for two long human years, she and Willow had gone to sleep and searched for the males who held the other halves of their souls, waking to find themselves older than when they’d fallen asleep. And each time they awoke without their mates or the other children, Piper had lost a little bit of herself, her only hope returning as she closed her eyes and dreamt again.

  “Fucking hell, what’s it matter now?” Piper rubbed her palms over her eyes, hating how hot they felt. She was done allowing herself to mourn a loss he who shall not be named didn’t give two shits about. Loneliness was cold and bitter, and no amount of pep talks could tell her everything would be alright. None of her friends or family could help her as moment by moment she lost a little more of herself at her truemate’s rejection.

  Luckily for her sister Willow, her mate couldn’t wait to claim her. And she wasn’t jealous. Much. After years of fighting, searching, and whatever else they’d gone through, all of the lost ones were home where they belonged. All of them had been changed in some way from their time in the realms they’d been forced to live in. Some had visible changes, like Xian who was a black wolf with huge black wings when he shifted. Not that she and her sister couldn’t shift into the same now that they’d seen such a creature. Being part Fey, part vampire, and part wolf afforded them many things. But what the others weren’t aware of, was that during their forays through realm after realm, she too had been changed. She had used her Fey power to keep her secret from Willow, worrying her twin would freak out and well Piper figured ignorance was best for everyone.

  She rolled her shoulders, giving one last look toward the direction she sensed the male who was her Fated mate had went. Her soul ached at his refusal to acknowledge her. Oh, he was long gone, his scent a mere memory in the wind. Piper could flash to him in a blink if she chose to do so. She wasn’t going to do something so fucking desperate. Nope, not going to happen, ever.

  Although she and her sister were young in Fey years, she felt as though she was at least a hundred human years. Several of the so-called children were mated, including her twin. The bond they’d had since before they’d left their mother’s womb had nearly destroyed Piper when her own male rejected her. Luckily for her, she was able to shut off their link to an extent.

  “Hey, girl. Why are you looking so sad?”

  With little effort, Piper sent a burst of magic washing over her, cleansing the sadness from herself. She quickly sent a tendril of her powers toward the female in front of her, masking it within the air, ensuring the other female was unaware of what she was doing. The shifter female was sweet and had spent years flashing from realm to realm with the other children, including Jaxon the dickbag.

  “Harlow, it’s good to see you. You’re looking lovely as always.” Piper forced a smile as she spoke, allowing the female wolf to embrace her in a brief hug. They were both blonde and petite with strength running through them from their wolves and what they’d been through in their lives.

  “That’s nice of you to say, but I feel like I’ve been wrung out like an old something or other, but I’m still dripping. Does that make sense?” Harlow grumbled, looking over her shoulder toward the clubhouse.

  Since they’d returned, most of the shifters were settling into their new normal, but Harlow and her father Rowan were butting heads. “Is your father still grumbling because you chose to stay here at the compound apartments instead of with him and your mother?”

  Harlow’s nose crinkled. The female was older in Earth years than Piper by a few years, but anyone looking at her wouldn’t know it. She was smaller, built like her mother Lyric who was petite in stature, unlike a lot of shifter females who tended to be, well tall and statuesque. Piper sensed great strength within Harlow, bigger than just a shifter.

  “Yes. He’s used to being in charge, and since he is still kind of new to the shifter world, he thinks he needs to watch over me twenty-four-seven, or I might get stolen, lost, or something,” she said. Harlow sighed, then stiffened, turning to stare at the woods.

  Piper shifted to stand in front of Harlow, letting out an audible sigh at the sight of Cannon. He was Harlow’s younger brother, and one of the largest males of the crew. Where Harlow was small fierce, her brother was huge and brooding. They both had the same hair and eye color, but other than that, the two were completely different.

  Cannon took two steps out of the tree line, which was two too many for Piper. He and the other males were aware that her mate had rejected her. If there was one thing that she didn’t want to do that evening, or any if she had a choice, it was face the fact she would be mateless for life. Nope, she would rather choose electrocution or some other form of torture, thank you very fucking much.

  “Hey, girlie, I gotta get going. If you ever want to chat, or need me for any reason, give me a holler,” Piper said, tapping her head. She hated to see the pity in everyone’s eyes as they danced around the fact her mate despised her.

  “Piper, please don’t go,” Harlow pleaded.

  “I have plans with some friends. See you.” With a thought, she flashed away from the Iron Wolves’ compound, materializing on the outskirts of Sturgis. Cannon’s low growl and kind eyes made her wish he could’ve been her mate, but the Fates were fickle bitches.

  The air hung heavy around her while the night sky twinkled with little sparkling stars. If she’d been human, she might’ve looked up at the beauty and wished on one of them, but she was far from human.

  Days would go by, and she could almost pretend everything was okay, especially in her dreams. During those times, she actually found a sense of joy and even peace. Willow was never with her when she dream-scaped any longer, and that too was fine. There were times she could see looks pass between the others, some akin to pity. Some were foreign to her. She built walls between her and everyone else. Only in her dreams could she escape the searing pain that plagued her every hour she was awake. While she slipped through other worlds or realms, it gave her freedom to explore and search for answers. There were times she wished she had someone to talk to, someone who would understand the pain lancing through her. At those times, Piper wrapped her armor around herself for protection more securely. It was in those moments she was aware how vulnerable she truly was.

  If a being in one of the other realms had sensed her weakness, they could and would take advantage of her. Many would take the very soul within her. She’d been close. Too close numerous times to losing herself within the dreamscapes. Like then, her heart thudded too hard, sending a sharp pain like it was being sliced open with a magical blade.

  She pressed her hand over her chest, wishing the ache away. The new pain and the old welled up, crashing together, threatening to send her collapsing to her knees. She took a step and then another through the darkness. Her bones felt hollow, brittle.

  “Ahh,” she screamed, sending creatures scurrying away from her. Why was she being ambushed with all of the shit she’d buried?

  A little voice crept inside her like an insidious demon raking across her nerves. “Maybe because you tried to bury that which shouldn’t be buried. Don’t you know how dangerous it is to do that”