Dire Needs: A Novel of the Eternal Wolf Clan Read Online Free Page B

misbehaving and sin—yeah, those were a few of his favorite fucking things…
    Vice made it his life’s work that all the people he’d come in contact with found their favorites too, because what the hell was more fun than that? He was born tolead people astray, take them off the beaten path, travel the road not taken.
    Den of iniquity
was tattooed across his back because his entire being was one, along with the words
mayhem
and
deviant.
They didn’t stop the women—and the men—from wanting him. The wolves all knew better and gave him a wide-as-hell berth. They didn’t want to be pulled into his world of sin, and Vice knew it was better they weren’t all in the damned gutter with him.
    “According to Facebook, Rifter left the bar with a human.” Stray was checking his iPhone as they pushed through the crowds. “Twitter confirms.”
    “I fucking hate social media.” Vice lit another rolled cigarette, the wafting of the special blue smoke hovering around both of them like a heavy embrace. “No one can just fuck in private anymore.”
    “Rifter went home with a human and that’s what you’re worried about?”
    “Ah, Stray, come on. Probably just a rumor.” He stared up at the full moon, the pull that much stronger because of this time of year. Mating season made them all edgy and way too unfulfilled, even after hours of mind-blowing sex. They couldn’t get everything they needed, and neither could their wolves, and that made for some very unhappy dual-natured creatures.
    If Rifter had taken a human home, she was in big goddamned trouble. That made Vice smile. “Let’s get this shit over with.”
    He looked through the small window on the heavy back door and saw the open, tree-covered field behind the bar. When he opened it, the smell of snow—and human—would be unmistakable. “They’re out there.”
    “Shift?” Stray asked, sniffed the air himself, and, yes, that was certainly the best option. Much easier to lettheir wolves run wild and leave their faces a complete mystery.
    They eased out the side door so as not to be spotted, and in the small alleyway, they stripped, left their clothes behind as they let the change take over their bodies.
    There was the familiar creak of bones and stretch of skin as Vice allowed his Brother Wolf to take over, pushing him to all fours as he shifted from man to beast.
    It wasn’t pleasant, to say the least, but as his old Marine sergeant used to say,
Pain is just weakness leaving the body.
    Vice
really
liked the Marines.
    And when the shift was complete, their wolves were far bigger than most Weres and regular wolves. When you looked at a Dire in any form, you knew you were looking at something that wasn’t entirely of this world. It was the height, the build, but especially the eyes—Vice knew his looked silver when he changed, and they were nearly silver in human form.
    Time to kick some ass.
    But as their Brother Wolves bounded for the hills, their wolf vision sharper now, their huge paws punching silently through the snow, something other than the cold made their hackles rise. The scent of death hit Vice hard. Human. Lots of blood. His mouth watered, his lips peeling back from sharp teeth, but no, eating humans was not cool.
    They both slowed to a trot, crouching in the underbrush, which caught on Vice’s pure white fur—and yes, he understood the irony of that color being on him—and left burrs in Stray’s shaggy black coat. Vice’s sensitive ears twitched as he listened for movement, and when he heard nothing but the icy wind cutting through the pines, he rose slowly to his seven-foot height on two strong legs,and Stray joined him. At the sight ahead, neither wolf could stop from howling desolately into the night—a cry of both victory and frustration, because they knew they had to shift to human form now, even though the moon’s hold was fierce.
    And they did, the change back just as painful as the wolf retreated and the man returned, Vice finding