Reckless Wolf

Reckless Wolf FATED IMMORTALS: BOOK ONE VERA RIVERS Reckless Wolf: Fated Immortals Book One Text Copyright © 2023 by Vera Rivers All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental. First printing, 2023 Publisher Vera Rivers [email protected] VeraRiversAuthor.com Cover art by: miblart Contents Vera Rivers Books 1. Bianca 2. Atlas 3. Bianca 4. Atlas 5. Bianca 6. Atlas 7. Bianca 8. Atlas 9. Bianca 10. Atlas 11. Bianca 12. Bianca 13. Atlas 14. Bianca 15. Atlas 16. Bianca 17. Atlas 18. Bianca 19. Atlas 20. Atlas 21. Bianca 22. Atlas 23. Bianca 24. Atlas 25. Bianca 26. Atlas 27. Bianca 28. Bianca 29. Atlas 30. Bianca 31. Atlas 32. Bianca 33. Bianca 34. Atlas 35. Bianca 36. Atlas 37. Bianca 38. Atlas Epilogue Vera Rivers Books & Moon Meditations Other Books You’ll Love Vera Rivers Books Receive a FREE romance ebook by visiting my website and signing up for my mailing list: VeraRiversAuthor.com By signing up for our mailing list, you’ll receive a FREE ebook. The newsletter will also provide information on upcoming books and special offers. Chapter 1 Bianca Ding! Ding! Ding! Obnoxious slot machine noises only vaguely overtook the sound of some outrageous redhead shrieking as coins spilled from the lip of a winner. For half a second, I peered at the earnings with unadulterated envy, swallowing the thickness in the back of my throat as the buxom woman fell drunkenly over her companion, cherry-red nails splayed over his black blazer. “I told ya I was lucky, Dukey,” she cooed, her shrill tone gnawing on my already raw nerves. “You should’ve brought me here weeks ago!” “You only won five hundred, Miri,” “Dukey” snorted contemptuously. “I tip my hairdresser more than that.” I wanted to extend my claws and slash Dukey’s stupid, smug face, but I inhaled, steeling my heaving chest, and reminded myself what I was there to do. Causing a scene would only deter me from the task at hand. I wanted to be in and out. I couldn’t stand there, gawking at the ridiculously undeserving patrons of the Golden Halcyon casino. I already stuck out like a sore thumb in my ratty jeans and sheer, white blouse. Women like me didn’t belong in places like this, where men like Dukey and his entourage of super-skinny, fae-types clung to his arm like cufflinks, falling all over themselves for a moment or two of fleeting pleasure. What was I thinking coming in here like this? Panic overwhelmed me, but I took another breath. What waited for me beyond the walls of the casino was much, much worse. I had to succeed in this mission. Dahlia needed me. I needed me. Focus. Pay attention. Keep going. “You work here?” A fat, pompous lion shifter deliberately pushed into me, the sweat of his body filling my nostrils. Bile immediately flooded my windpipe, and I shook my head, stepping back. His eyes popped as my face turned toward him. Everything about him repulsed me instinctively. Coupled with my already fraying nerves, I was shocked I didn’t vomit right there on his three-thousand-dollar shoes. If the idiot had bothered to look past the swell of my breasts toward my dingy clothing, he would have plainly seen that I didn’t don the standard uniform for the Golden Halcyon or any other of Atlas’ casinos in Covale City. But this shifter wasn’t looking at anything but my rack. “Hey, you’re cute!” he mewled, reaching outward to touch my ass, the meat of his fingers landing precisely between the cleft of my cheeks. Instinctively, I slapped him. I immediately regretted it, the scowl on his face familiar. “Who the fuck do you think you are, trash?” he hissed. “I’ll see that you don’t work anywhere ever again!” “Asshole,” I muttered, slinking away into the thick of well-dressed patrons, hoping that he didn’t follow. I don’t think he even heard my insult, which was lucky for me; his attention was quickly shifted elsewhere. A scantily dressed server ambling by caught his ogling eyes. I wasn’t looking to fight, and he’d already steered me off course more than I needed to be. I fixated on my plan, ignoring the clamminess forming on the inner part of my palms. This was not my first time inside the Golden Halcyon, but it may as well have been. Suddenly, I felt all turned around, the VIP room further away from the front door than I initially remembered it. Didn’t I count fifty paces the last time I was here? Why does it seem like a hundred? Swallowing thickly, I tried to forget the number of steps toward the back and instead just settled on making my way to the elusive area where all the big spenders would surely be deeply into their cups by now. It was well after midnight, the liquor flowing for hours. Taking what I needed would be easy with the rooms full and almost everyone drunk. Or at least, that was my hope. I’d planned this a dozen times in my head, accounting for security and various other obstacles, but now that the night was upon me, I wasn’t sure I’d considered all the variables. Don’t be a chicken shit, Bianca. You can’t wait any longer, my inner voice screamed. It wasn’t the motivational pep talk I needed. It certainly didn’t inspire me in any real way. What I was about to do was both stupid and reckless. But given the alternative—returning to Jesse’s harem and waiting for my twin sister to recover so we could be further exploited and humiliated—well, this was a no-brainer.