Wanted: The Fenrir Series, #3

By Karla Rose

Molly's life is a living nightmare at Valker Women's home, she's bullied daily and can't find a job anywhere. Things are looking bleak, and then to top everything off she gets bitten by a wolf and starts losing her mind. At least she thinks she's losing her mind. It's either that or she actually changed into a wolf herself and is now naked in a cave full of wolf people.

 

Drew just wants to work his way to become Alpha of the Lovell pack. He doesn't want a mate, he's not ready for it. He's certainly not ready for Molly, the Fenrir who doesn't know she's Fenrir. Can Molly adjust to her new life as a Fenrir?

 

Will Drew admit his attraction to the new addition to the Lovell pack? Or will outside forces steal their chance to know each other and destroy the pack in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Karla Rose
• Release date: Feb 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780473558222

Karla Rose

Karla Rose is a wife and mother of two,  living in the Waikato, New Zealand.  She spends her time, helping where she can, loving her husband, and supporting her children as they learn and grow.  She has a love of food, movies, music, TV series, the beach, friends  and family. You can find her on her website karlamrose.weebly.com, or her Facebook page Karla Rose - Author.

Book preview

A whole new world

Keeping her feelings under wraps had always been easy for Molly, normal even. Molly avoided confrontation, she was invisible, but like most things in this life, her predisposition to silence couldn’t last forever.

Molly’s joints popped noisily as she extended her arms and arched her body against the mattress, a simple stretch and she felt so much better, even if her outstretched arm knocked her pillow to the ground. She sighed. Her bed was too short, and it wasn’t even like she was tall. She opened her eyes to search for the pillow, and to her surprise came face to face with a pair of dark eyebrows, black hair with bleach blond tips, warm brown skin, and a pair of plump lips that scowled angrily at her. This had to be a nightmare, what else explained the biggest bully in Valker being in Molly’s bed?

What do you think you’re doing? Cath screeched, sending spittle flying into Molly’s face, which was just what she needed first thing in the morning, someone else’s saliva all over her face. Molly froze, looking around, this wasn’t her bed!

When Molly had arrived at the Valker Women’s Hostel six months ago, the metal-framed beds had all looked the same, all fifty of them, luckily she’d learnt her way around quickly. Each bed was surrounded by long white privacy curtains, each resident of the women’s hostel had an assigned bed, and each bed had a cubby at its base for keeping their meagre possessions in. Once you got used to the setup, there was really no way to confuse your bed from somebody else's, so why had Molly? She searched desperately through her memories, only to find she couldn’t remember anything from the previous day, or at least nothing since leaving a disastrous interview in the late afternoon. 

Given the shouting and the angry red hue creeping up Cath’s face, it was easy to see where she’d ended up. Molly was obviously in the bed Cath shared with her younger sister Sue, and of all the things she had learnt in the short time she’d been staying at Valker, one thing she knew was that you don’t mess with Cath, that meant she needed to get off the bed, quickly.

Moving as far from Cath as she could manage, Molly leapt. Actually, leaping off the bed was an understatement, Molly may as well have been flying she caught so much air in her attempt to flee.

Well? What do you think you're doing?! You want a little girl on girl? Did you think maybe me or my sister would be keen? Well, we're not so shove off! Cath’s voice rose as she moved aggressively forward, her hands slamming into Molly’s chest as soon as she was within reach. Cath hit Molly hard, so hard, she was propelled backwards into one of the neighbouring beds, landing against the metal bed frame in the adjacent curtained-off cubicle, it hurt, a lot.

Usually, when backed into a corner like this Molly would have ended up cowering against the cold metal bed leg, especially when faced with the kind of hostility Cath was throwing at her. Usually, Molly would have apologised over and over again until Cath had calmed down, or someone intervened on her behalf. Under normal circumstances, Molly would have racked her brain trying to figure out how to diffuse the situation, or at least how in the world she’d ended up in Cath and Sue’s bed, but today, despite every inclination to do just that, she found herself back up on her feet facing down the towering behemoth that was an angry Cath. It was like the sane part of Molly’s mind had been completely bypassed and she was cave person acting on instinct alone. She stared at Cath and watched as confusion crossed the woman’s features. A spot just below Molly’s ear on her neck burned and her blood began to boil, she stood to her full height and stared up at Cath. For the first time in her life, she wasn't terrified, not of Cath, and not of the consequences. For the first time, Molly felt confident despite her complete lack of height or bulk. She strode closer to Cath, grabbed the muscular woman by the throat and slammed her against the concrete wall. Cath’s head made what Molly, if she had been in control of herself, would have acknowledged was a sickening thud.

Molly felt powerful, she felt strong, she suddenly knew that Cath wouldn’t be able to hurt her ever again, not physically, not emotionally, not like in the past.

Molly’s mind whirred. She was completely unaware of anything besides Cath. She had a type of tunnel vision that forced everything else from her mind except for what was directly in front of her, which was strange since Molly prided herself on being aware of her environment, right down to the little non-verbal tics most people were unaware of.

Even though Cath was more than twice Molly's size, she lifted her like she was a rag doll. Cath's dark brown eyes shot open in shock and disbelief. Cath was a bully, Molly had been her favourite target for months, and she’d been an easy target at that. But not anymore. Cath had taken food, blankets, soap, and even feminine hygiene products from Molly, just because it amused her. Before today Molly hadn’t said a single word in complaint, fearing that it would only make things worse, but today she wasn't taking the abuse, today she was standing up for herself no matter the consequences, today she would make this bully pay.

Anger and vengeance rose up within her. Molly would make sure this horrid woman never bothered her, or anyone else ever again. Heat filled her body as a violent presence moved to the forefront of her mind, a look of pure terror filled Cath’s eyes, and satisfaction filled Molly. She wasn’t a victim anymore, now Cath was the victim. Suddenly Molly’s ears were flooded with sound, the room around her seemed to have gone from deathly quiet to overflowing with noise, there were voices everywhere, they rang in her ears till her head hurt. The crowd that had gathered registered as little more than marionette puppets to Molly, it was the noise that bothered her, it dominated the space around her, it was so loud it broke through the growing rage within her, it made her aware that someone was yanking at her arm, screaming for her to let go. She turned to see a petite woman pulling at her arm, trying her hardest and failing. Cath’s gentle, kind, and much smaller, younger sister Sue attempted to remove Molly’s hands from Cath’s throat. It was Sue who always apologized for the way Cath treated Molly, the gentle girl who at some point in her life had been hurt so much that she had withdrawn into herself, the girl who despite her hurt still found the courage to care for others.

Swivelling her head, Molly looked between Cath and Sue. Sue was terrified, and the normally haughty and aggressive Cath was losing consciousness quickly, her face had even begun turning an unhealthy shade of blue.

Molly suddenly snapped back to reality. What was she doing? She didn’t behave like this, she wasn’t the bully. Recoiling from the reality of her actions, or more the idea of what she had been willing to do to Cath, she forced herself to let go. Finger by finger she loosened her grip until eventually she had completely released her hold on Cath. Molly took a step back, horror filling her as she watched the woman who had tortured her for months fall into a heap on the floor. Sue dropped to Cath’s side and tried desperately to rouse her sister, Cath didn’t look good, her breathing was shallow and the colour of her face contrasted horrifically with the broken blood vessels creating a choker pattern around her neck. Molly had done that, she’d purposely held Cath hard enough to break the blood vessels in her neck. The anger that had filled Molly drained away as suddenly and it had arrived, and a wave of shame replaced it. What was wrong with her? First, she woke up in someone else's bed, then she went all ‘She-Hulk’ and attacked Cath. There had to be something seriously wrong with her.

While Molly had been attacking Cath, all the people around her had been faceless. But now she could see them all, and they were all looking at her,she hated everyone looking at her, couldn’t stand being the centre of attention. Molly was the type of person who avoided crowds, and now she was surrounded by people who watched her cautiously, terrified she would go crazy and turn on them. There were so many people staring at Molly, her heart leapt into a frantic rhythm, then her breathing became increasingly shallow as she fought off a panic attack. Usually Valker felt empty, but now it felt too full. Recoiling from the crushing claustrophobic feeling, Molly stared at her feet, she avoided making eye contact, praying the ground would open up and swallow her whole. The moment she looked down she was faced with her noticeably unusual appearance. Even without the whole Cath situation, people would have stopped and stared at her, she looked like something out of a horror movie. Blood and dirt caked her shredded clothes, making her look like a zombie or something equally gruesome, something had happened to her, something awful, only she couldn’t remember what it was.

There was something seriously wrong with her, with every passing moment she felt stranger, every scent had suddenly become more intense, every sound was too loud, and she was hot, burning up even, sweat dripped down her face, she felt dizzy and nauseous. Molly collapsed against the stone wall not far from Cath and Sue, trying her best to block everything out. She prayed that whatever this was it would be over soon. Heck at this point she would have been happy to find out she was experiencing a fever-induced hallucination. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would wake up and find that this had all just been some bizarre nightmare.

The crowd were murmuring to each other from a safe distance, and Molly could hear every conversation, every worried comment, she could swear she even smelt the fear radiating off of each of them. After what seemed like an hour, during which time the hostel nurse came and took Cath and Sue away, a short squat man Molly recognised as Frank, the day guard, crouched down in front of her. He ignored her bloody torn clothing and the women who still stood around Molly, and gently rested his hand on her shoulder.

Molly, honey. You're going to need to come with me. Frank said gently, helping Molly to her feet.

She followed Frank in silence down an eerie grey hallway. They were in what she thought of as the spooky part of the building, the walls were painted white and yet it always seemed grey, dank, and dark. Usually, Molly found it unsettling, but today with her thoughts jumbled, she just followed Frank. Something was wrong with her. Normal people didn’t just lose their temper like that, and they definitely didn’t go from barely being able to lift a 5kg sack of potatoes to having super strength in just one night. Not without the gym, or you know, being bitten by a radioactive spider or something, and they certainly didn’t wake up not knowing where they were, how they got there, or why they were covered in blood and dirt. Not unless they were heavy drinkers and Molly had never really been interested in alcohol.

Frank’s whole face seemed to move as he spoke, his greying moustache quivered, and it was as though his beard and bushy eyebrows had minds of their own. They’ll meet you in here Molly. Frank said softly as he unlocked a door at the end of what had to be the longest and spookiest hallway in the world.

There were horror movies with sets less creepy than this.

Frank was being extra gentle with her, in his own subtle way, he was saying goodbye and Molly knew why, Valker had a strict no fighting policy, or at least a ‘no getting caught if you were going to fight’ policy, otherwise Cath would have been kicked out long ago. Either way, it was unlikely Molly could stay here now, she was going to be homeless, again.

Thank you for always being kind to me Frank. Molly said, her voice just above a whisper.

He smiled, nodded his head, and left.

Molly looked around the smelly, dingy, grey room, taking in the solitary desk, three chairs, old grey filing cabinet, and a drain that had what she hoped was rust build up rather than something more nefarious. Without knowing why she pulled out the chair closest to the door, shifting it even closer to the exit before sitting down. After five or ten minutes the smell was really starting to get to her, it was like the room had never been cleaned, like it had an immovable layer of blood, sweat, and dirt. She had just about made up her mind to leave when the door behind her swung open letting in a strange pair and a gust of air that almost made her gag as it stirred up the scent of death and decay.

Good morning Miss Grey. said a woman wearing a tight red peplum dress, I understand that you’ve had a rather alarming altercation with Miss Catherine Sims today.

Molly took a deep breath in through her nose, preparing to answer when once again the desire to gag washed over her, only this time it wasn’t just the room, it was them, the lady in red and her companion, they smelt wrong, like sickly sweet apples, vinegar and something metallic.

She was threatening me. Molly’s voice cracked, I... It was an accident. I was just trying to get her to move away from me.

Is that so? The man’s tone was cool with disbelief, and something else, something that sent a shiver down Molly’s spine, that made her skin crawl.

You understand that violence is not tolerated at Valker Women’s Hostel. the woman said.

Molly shot a nervous glance at the regal-looking pair in front of her. They were alike, blood red hair, pale, almost translucent white skin, as well as unnaturally vibrant green eyes, something about them was unsettling, otherworldly even, and the moment Molly acknowledged how uncomfortable they made her, a heat began building up deep within her. It was almost identical to how she felt when confronted by Cath, only this time it wasn't anger, it was fear, a fear she couldn’t seem to shut down.

A small inner voice leapt into action within her, getting louder and more insistent the longer she stayed in the room.

Be vague. It warned, Cover your tracks. Tell them nothing. Run. Hide. It was terrified, and now so was she.

I’m sorry, who are you? Molly asked, attempting to buy herself more time.

The lady smiled widely, showing off an alarming number of bright white teeth. Oh, how rude. My name is Faye Vaneer and this is my brother Fred. We own the Valker Women's Hostel. Faye said, rolling a golden charm shaped like a little cat between her fingers.

What happened to you? Fred asked, abruptly indicating Molly’s dirty, bloody clothing and scrunching his nose in disgust. Surely this didn’t happen during your fight this morning.

No. It didn’t. Molly replied. That was at least one thing she could remember.

Well. What happened then? Fred demanded.

Frowning Molly tried to remember. Something had happened last night. She'd been walking back to the hostel from the centre of town, it had been another wasted day of trying to get a job in one of the few stores in Barri, it was a boutique town, most of the stores were family operated. Needless to say, she'd had no luck. She’d been walking back to Valker in defeat when... it all came crashing back, someone had grabbed Molly, she'd screamed and fought, but no one had heard her, no one had been close enough to hear her, let alone help. It was stupid really, she’d been told so many times to stick to the main walkways, but of course, she hadn’t listened. She’d been taking the scenic route back to the hostel, walking the path through Barri’s Grove, a pine-filled area named for the marriage place of some Norse God, that was when her attacker had grabbed her. Molly had stepped into the grove and a man had grabbed her by the upper arms and slammed her into the ground, he ripped at her clothes, then to her complete terror and disbelief, his eyes had changed colour and he’d bitten her.

Molly raised a hand to her neck expecting to find deep tears in her flesh, or teeth impressions at the least, there weren’t any, just the flaky remnants of dried blood on her otherwise smooth, unbroken skin. She could clearly remember her flesh-tearing, and it hadn’t just been some carried away love bite either, it had been a deep, rending, tearing of flesh. It had been painful. She remembered a wolf appearing, probably drawn in by her screams, or maybe even the scent of blood. The massive black creature burst through the tree line and launched itself at her attacker. She’d like to say she felt sorry for the guy, but she didn’t, he was probably lying dead in the grove right now, and at the most she thought she should probably let the police know.

After the attack all she could think of was running, she’d ignored the light-headed feeling that had sapped her energy, the blood that dripped onto her clothes, and somehow she managed to make it back to the hostel without the wolf catching up to her, or being seen by the ever-observant night guard. Molly could only assume that once she’d made it to the Hostel she collapsed from blood loss before making it back to her bed. That must have been why she'd ended up in bed with Cath and Sue. The sisters shared a large bed, which was unfortunately right next to Molly’s. She would have been surprised they hadn’t woken up, only the two women were heavy sleepers, they’d actually slept through a fire drill once. Two trainee firemen had rushed in and after a lot of shaking had woken the women up, of course, Cath and Sue had insisted on being carried out, and the firemen had happily obliged. It helped that both women were beautiful and well versed in the feminine art of flirting. Even Sue had a remarkable ability to get men to do what she wanted, a gift Molly often wished she had learnt, it would be helpful being able to turn the charm on like they did.

Molly remembered everything, but had no plans to tell Faye and Fred. She didn't trust them, there was just something not right about them, they smelt like something unnatural. Besides, the truth sounded crazy. it was the kind of thing that would land her in a padded room.

Red fingernails tapped impatiently against the tabletop. Miss Grey? Are you going to answer my brother's question? Faye asked, her voice deathly cold, her tapping stopping abruptly as she glared.

It was about this point Molly remembered she'd given the name Smith when she'd come to the Hostel. Smith was the name of her favourite foster family, the only family she'd stayed with where she felt even a small amount of love. Molly struggled to understand how Faye and Fred Vaneer, two people she had never even met before, could possibly know her birth name. It had taken Molly years to get her birth certificate, years to find out what her real surname was. She had been known as Molly Doe for years, kind of like when a person was given the name John or Jane Doe when no one could figure out who they were. Yet, here were these two people she’d never met before, and her newly discovered surname fell off their tongues as though they had always known it.

The warning bells in her head were going berserk.

Heart racing Molly squeezed out an. I'm sorry. I don't remember. She’d been trying for calm, but her answer came out as a fearful squeal.

Faye and Fred looked at her doubtfully.

Very well. If you’re not willing to tell us the truth, we'll have to ask you to leave. Please collect your belongings and go. Faye snapped, pushing to her feet and dismissing Molly with a wave.

Standing, Molly nodded. I understand.

She turned toward the door but was halted by Fred who had captured her arm between his long thin fingers.

Molly. You don't need to leave. If you trust us, if you let us help you, then you can stay. His voice came out smooth as silk, compelling, or at least it would have been, if the voice in her head wasn’t screaming for her to run, somehow making his voice seem greasy and... dangerous.

No matter how much she tried to push the uncomfortable feeling away, Molly couldn’t shake the desire to leave. Cringing, she attempted to ignore the crawling sensation the pressure of his fingers left her with, she pulled at her arm, trying to remove it from his grip.

I told you what I know, now please let me go. She said.

Fred released her arm, and without acknowledging them any further, Molly left the room. As soon as the door was fully closed, and the latch clicked into place, she was sprinting down the hall. Molly was uncertain why running was necessary, but she didn’t care, all she knew was that she needed to do it, she had to get away from this place, away from those people. She needed to get somewhere safe, and this wasn’t it.

Molly tore around corners so fast she skidded on the lino, each time she began to lose her footing she corrected successfully, as though it were normal to run like she was being chased by the devil himself. A feeling of relief filled her when she finally made it out of the Hostel and saw the tree line in the distance. She didn’t stop to grab any of her things, all she could think of was getting away, of going somewhere safe.

Within moments of crossing into the forest, her body started burning, her skin was on fire! She tore at what remained of her clothing, trying to stop the agonising sensation that seemed to be made worse by the scraps of clothing draped over her. Her bones ached, every part of her body hurt, she was in pain, searing pain. A scream tore through her, and for a moment the pain was so bad that the world turned black. When it eased off she noticed trees zooming past on every side, or was she zooming past the trees? Either way, the woods had never been more magnificent, never had they seemed more of a haven. She was free, she was strong, no one could hurt her anymore, everything was so beautiful and smelt so good.

Her feet thumped a triumphant rhythm, she had escaped, the scents of the forest consumed her, till she finally came to a place that smelled safe. She crept inside the cavern, it was perfect, hidden, warm, and dry. It was only once she was safely inside that she lay her head down, and let the sweet nothing of sleep envelope her.

A foot nudged at Molly’s side.

Hey. a masculine voice rumbled.

The nudging continued, this time a little more forcefully.

Hey, you don't have permission to be here. he insisted.

Rolling over and forcing her eyes open, Molly stared up at a tall dark-haired guy.

Seriously lady. You need to get permission before entering our den. he was frowning now.

Suddenly, all the hair on Molly’s body felt like it was standing on end. She scrambled backwards, away from the guy, till the coarse stone of the cavern pushed up against the naked skin of her back.

As though in response to her fear, her new inner voice was taking over again. Molly couldn’t help but hope she wasn’t losing her mind when she responded automatically to its promptings. It seemed so real, and as far as she could tell it was protecting her.

Molly squared off her body, ignoring the fact that she was naked, and standing solidly in front of the dark-haired guy. A growl ripped up her throat unbidden, warning him away.

She wasn’t sure why the voice insisted she growl like an animal, she was especially unsure about being naked, but she couldn’t help but listen, she felt threatened, and terrified, and the voice was helping.

The guy didn't smell wrong, not like Faye and her brother Fred had, but Molly was still on high alert, her whole body seemed to be preparing for him to either attack her, or do something equally awful. Her jaw ached, her skin burned, pain washed over her in waves bringing her to her knees, she couldn't hold in the scream.

After a few moments of never-ending pain and screaming, Molly watched the guy pull out a walkie talkie and shout anxiously into it. Guys! we've got a problem down here. 

What's wrong Jaime? a male voice responded, followed by a static buzz.

Drew? We've got an uninvited guest, a female from one of the other packs. At a guess, I'd say Isangrim. She smells like a grey. Chick’s freaking out, she’s got nothing with her, and is covered in blood and dirt. I think somethings wrong with her, she seemed like she was going to shift, then she fell to the ground and started screaming.

Yeah, I can hear that. You didn't touch her or anything? the voice asked through the static crackle.

Only with the toe of my boot. There’s so much blood on her at first I wondered if she’d been attacked, then crawled in here and died.

Can you get close to her? Dew asked.

Molly’s pain stopped abruptly, so did her screaming. Her gaze shifted unbidden to the dark-haired guy called Jaime, his feet shifted as though he was considering moving closer to her. He brought his hands up into a placating posture. She growled, pushing herself as far from him as the cave would allow, there was no way she was letting him get close to her, and even if she would have considered it, the internal voice was in control of her body now, and it wasn’t having a bar of it.

Not a chance. Not unless I want to lose a hand anyway. Jaime said.

A sigh registered over the walkie talkie. Fine. Just... don't do anything. I'll be there in a minute.

Less than a minute later, a new scent