The All Consuming: A Shifter MC Novel (Pureblood Predator MC Book 4) Read Online Free Page A

first few dogs arrive at the dais. They circle me, barking and yelping, their eyes glowing black and red. The braver ones lean their thick necks over the edge and bite at me, their teeth snapping closed on empty air, flinging spittle, forcing me into the center of the dais.
    Panic rises in my throat. I wrestle with the urge to fling myself to the dogs. Only thoughts of the people I care about stop me.  
    Soon the dogs have me completely surrounded.
    Their barking rises into a deafening crescendo, then slowly fades. The dogs settle on their hindquarters. Silence descends over the courtyard.  
    Then I hear a long, plaintive howl from high overhead.  
    The hair on my arms stands on end.  
    My skin warms.
    The despair that settled over me moments ago lifts, and my heart rises with the wolf’s howl. His howl is hope. Courage. Strength.  
    Opiyel’s dogs shift restlessly. Eye one another. A few bite and worry at their own limbs. They sense something—
    The howl rises again. Louder this time.  
    I feel my wildborn animal stir. She’s weak.  
    But she’s answering her bloodmate’s call.
    My claws lengthen. Only a half inch, but enough to maim.
    Maybe even murder.
    Longing swells in my chest.
    Maybe he’s stronger than I imagined. Maybe the One We Answer To rules as apex alpha in this land as well as the warm—
    Then the howl abruptly quiets.  
    The rabid dogs chuff and growl.
    Aaron’s howl stopped so quickly for a moment I’m convinced he’s been murdered. Maybe Opiyel loosed my brother on him.  
    The hope vanishes, replaced by dread foreboding.  
    The dog pack begins stirring. They shuffle to the side until a long, straight path emerges, leading directly to the gates of the Dog God’s palace.
    The gates swing open.
    Opiyel strides into his dog pack, his Doberman snout lifted high.
    He’s wearing his black satin robes and a crown of rusted black metal. HIs stride is imperious. Regal. The dogs whimper and lower their heads as he passes. He’s carrying something.  
    My breath catches. I tear at the shackles once more, enraged and desperate and filled with bottomless loathing.  
    The Dog God is carrying my swaddled, infant son.
    The Purebloods trapped in the Cliff of Cages burst into a tremendous wall of furious sound when they see Opiyel.
    Opiyel makes it halfway to the dais before lifting my son in his arms. Several dozen rabid dogs break from the pack to nip and yelp at Opiyel’s feet, begging their master to feed them.  
    The caged Purebloods quiet instantly.  
    They scent who my son is.  
    Child of a Risen and a primal Pureblood alpha.
    Opiyel pauses. Stares at the Cliff of Cages, then at me. He’s considering something. A flicker of doubt clouds his eyes. Then he storms forward, leaps onto the dais and says, “Kneel to me now, my queen. Or your child feeds my hounds.”
    I can’t help myself. The bastard has my son .  
    My beautiful baby boy.  
    My kneels buckle.  

C HAPTER T HREE
A NIK

    M IA AND I are hiding from the afternoon sun in the scant shade offered by a saguaro cactus when a hot breeze carries an unfamiliar scent to our noses.  
    Mia puts her finger to her cracked and parched lips.  
    Silence .
    It’s been our ally these last few days.  
    Silence and the night shadows we stalk through.  
    We’re traveling south. Toward the Pyramid of the Sun and the traitor Shiori and, hopefully, my sister Pimniq. The thought of finding my sister alive is all that sustains me.  
    I glance at Mia, suddenly feeling guilty.  
    Mia has also sustained me.  
    Her indomitable spirit. Her honed survival instincts. We haven’t been intimate with one another since that first night in the canyon, but each day brings a new closeness. I only wish we’d met in a different time. A different place. My heart feels…closed off. Walled in with grief.  
    I lift my head and smell the air.  
    The unfamiliar scent is gone.  
    My neck aches from lying for hours on rocky soil. My mouth is so dry it’s a