Page 1 of Plug and Claim

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Chapter 1

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

Kira

It was Kira’s last night in the cottage. Someone in the village had discovered her secret, and now, the vampires were coming for her.

Sitting at the candlelit table, Kira warmed her hands on the cup of camomile tea, soaking up the small comfort as she braced herself for what was to come.

Would they feed on her before they took her away?

Probably.

Would they force themselves on her at the same time?

Perhaps take turns violating her right here on the kitchen table? She hoped not, but vampires were cruel. Thinking ahead, she’d added extra milk to her tea to cool it; if they spilt it while assaulting her, at least it wouldn’t scald her. It was a ridiculous thing to think about at a time like this, but she had nothing to do now except wait, and think of ridiculous things to pass the time.

Yesterday, after years of hiding in the quiet village of Nordokk pretending to be one of the humans, the villagers had seen her shift into her wolf form and reported her to the vampire authorities.

Now, she needed only to wait. The vampires would come for her soon.

She glanced out the cottage window. The recruiting officers always came at night, and now that twilight had succumbed to pitch black, it was only a matter of time before they arrived. Even in her human form, her night vision was superior to a human’s, and she could see into every shadow of the bushes and fence posts lining the dirt road.

Unless they come via the back garden.

Staring out of the windows was making her increasingly nervous, and she forced herself to look down at her tea and find a place of calmness. The camomile tea leaves floated across the surface. They were meant to help calm her, but she called bullshit.

How could she be calm when the enemy was fast approaching? When in a matter of minutes, she might feel sharp teeth sink into her neck, firm bodies pressed against her, rough hands spreading her legs…

She shuddered as she dismissed the thought. It would not help to imagine the worst. There was every possibility that they wouldn’t touch her at all—not until she arrived at Volmasque Academy, anyway.

The academy had been established by Henrikk, the Vampire King, to train wolf shifters to become obedient pets, and vampires to be their masters, all under the guise of fostering harmonious wolf-vampire relations.

Vampires ruled over the population, the majority of which comprised of humans and wolf shifters. Humans were largely left alone, allowed to lead their lives peacefully like cattle—until the vampires grew hungry. But vampire attacks on humans were rare. Despite their disdain for wolves, vampires preferred to feed on them instead of humans. Some believed it was because they preferred the taste of wolf blood, whilst others claimed vampires derived more power from wolf blood. It made little difference to Kira—vampires could suck a dick for all she cared. She would never let one of those parasites suck her blood, not willingly.

They had tried to take her when she turned eighteen, and Kira had almost let them. She’d been planning revenge for as long as she could remember, but in the lead up to her eighteenth birthday, she’d allowed her foster father, Byron, to talk her out of it. They’d subsequently spent the last twelve months hiding in the vast mountain woods. But no longer. Hiding in the shadows was no life.

She tapped her fingernails against her cup anxiously.

How much longer?

A minute?

Two?

The vampires couldn’t be far away. She could feel it in the dread that seeped into the cottage like smoke, rolling in under the door and through the open windows.

Suddenly, she sensed it. Someone was outside. She felt it all the way in the pit of her stomach.

All was quiet, but all was not well.

She heard movement outside—a single set of footsteps.

Every hair stood on end as Kira stayed perfectly still, feigning that she was unaware of the stranger’s presence as she lifted the teacup to her lips. She heard the crunch of pebbles as the stranger approached, and then silence. She could feel eyes on her, and her throat was tight as she swallowed the liquid, gulping too loudly. Her cup rattled as she set it back down on the saucer. The footsteps resumed, striking the wood ominously as the stranger crossed the porch.

A deep, masculine tune met her ears.