Feral Wolf
by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti
Self-Published
Book 3 in the Darkmore Penitentiary series
A morte e ritorno.
My family’s motto circles in my mind as I look this problem dead on and try to figure it out.
I’ve faced worse than this. Survived worse odds than this. I won’t let this failure break me.
We have 72 hours to turn this around.
72 hours to make a new plan out of the dregs of the old.
72 hours until all hope is lost.
This task is impossible, but I still like my chances. I have an ace in my pocket and his name is Mason Cain. He might not want to help me, but I don’t plan on giving him a choice in the matter.
My name is Rosalie Oscura. And I refuse to let anything beat me.
Age Recommendation:
18+
Genre:
Urban Fantasy
Reverse Harem
Feral Wolf by Caroline Peckham and Susanne Valenti, is the third book in their Darkmore Penitentiary series, and begins right where it ended in the last book, with Rosalie's plans for escape all gone to shit, and only 72 hours before the FIB come back in, take control of the prison, and any possible chance of escape gone forever. It follows Rosalie and the Daring Anacondas (heehee) attempt to navigate an even more dangerous prison, and figure out how to do the impossible.
WHAT THE FUCK?!?!
Caroline? Susanne? ...
WHAT THE FUCK?
Not cool. But seriously ... who hurt you, and why must you take it out on your readers?
Sigh. Deviating from that ... incredibly disturbing, and heart wrenching cliffhanger, I have mixed feelings on Feral Wolf. It still has the things I like about this series in it; specifically, a plot and action. But I feel like the authors kind of fell into the trap that they fell into with the Ruthless Boys series. Sex scenes for the sake of sex scenes. Quite often, they felt out of place, and put a pause on the action of the story. The only sex that felt like it was naturally interweaved in the story, was with -----------spoiler---------> Roary! YAY! and Cain, when Cain and Rosa are forced to hide in his quarters until the guards outside are gone. <------------------. When we weren't getting weirdly placed sex scenes (that yes - were hot, but still was pressing the big fat pause button on the story), the story was interesting, fast paced, and hilarious. Honest to god, Caroline and Susanne have some of the oddest dialogue and inner thought sequences I have ever read - but I can't deny that I laugh at the ridiculousness of it. These books are entertaining, which is what I'm looking for when I escape into a book. But that ending? That's fucking horrible. -----------------> Do you two hate Roary? I mean ... hasn't he been through enough? A fucking hook in the back that brings back horrifying memories of watching Texas Chainsaw Massacre when I was younger (I hate horror movies) and then you have him end up in psych, and have his soul removed? Just ... ugh. What the fuck? <---------------
Feral Wolf wasn't my favorite in this series so far, but I did appreciate that it was shorter than the others (as I do think some of their books are much longer than they need to be). I appreciated the story, and banter, and entertainment value. While they do fall into their usual trap of too much sex, it wasn't as bad as some of their other books, and even without that terrible fucking cliffhanger, I still am invested enough in the series to continue it ... whenever the next book comes out. For you Zodiac fans, there were sooooo many easter eggs to that series and it. killed. me.
Ethan finally admitting to his pack that Rosalie is his mate
All of Sin's inner thoughts lol
Sin's attempt to cover up Quentin's death
Sin yelling to the Belorian that he is a taken man
ROSALIE AND ROARY!!!!!
Cain and Rosalie in his quarters
Roary and Ethan needing to use their order gifts to accept one another into the pack
G-Spot Joe hahahahaha
Roary conjuring rain for Sin's apology
how Sin killed Sparkles
LEON AND DANTE AND KIDS
If you’re ever lucky enough to find what I have found, then you will realize you would give up everything to keep it. She was mine and I was hers and that was all I needed in the whole wide fucking world. Sin: "When I was a kid, I once had this raincoat that was pink and blue and really brought out my eyes,"
Sin murmured, resting his cheek against the side of Ethan's head sympathetically.
Sin: "But the bitch who ran my foster home took it away and gave it to this pig ugly girl. It looked...fucking terrible on her."
He sniffed dramatically.
Sin: "But when I called for it, it didn't come back to me. So I know exactly how you feel."
I frowned up at him and Ethan's brow furrowed too as irritation worked through his body.
Ethan: "How is that the fucking same? That was my pack. My family. My world-"
Sin: "Yeah. They kept you warm and dry. They were good company. They always listened to you when you were feeling down."
Ethan: "A raincoat can't fucking-"
Sin pushed forward and kissed Ethan hard enough to stop his words and my brows rose as I watched them, my heart pounding as my teeth sank into my bottom lip. I mean, he was kissing my mate and I definitely should have been pissed about that…but he was kissing my mate and it was really freaking hot, so… I didn’t know what was more torturous though, him shifting back and giving me a view of the screen that showed Rosalie fucking Eighty-Eight and One together or dealing with his Lion balls pressed to my cheek. It was a sad fucking day in Darkmore when those two scenarios had become my reality. I sang our theme tune under my breath and Roary cut me a sideways look that said I was annoying him. But irritation was akin to sexiness on him. It made his dark brows dip low and his eyes go all grumpy brown. Brooding, that’s what it was, and I bet it looked good while he reared over someone and put them in their place with his danger dagger. Damn good. I’d let him brood all over me if that was what he wanted. Sin: “Listen, kittens. I can taste the lust on those two in that room so bad, my boner is gonna sprout legs and head off on a life of its own soon.”
Roary: “By the stars,”
Roary muttered, trying to pull away again but I held on tight.
Sin: “Point being, Rosalie can’t do what needs to be done because of how her pussy pitter patters around him. So we need to deal with it for her. You catch my drift?”
I wiggled my eyebrows.
Sin: “Is my coconut bobbing your way? Is my raft sailing up your river? Is my cockerel crowing at your window? Is my spider crawling up your drainpi-”
Roary: “We get it,” Ethan pulled his hand free of mine as we started running downstairs and I gave him a sideways grin.
Sin: “So I can suck your cock but not hold your hand?”
Ethan: “Shut up,”
Sin: “Hey now, don’t be touchy. I just need to figure out your boundaries. No hand holding, but cock sucking is a go. Noted.”
He huffed but didn’t disagree.
Sin: “Shall we do a quick green light list just so I’m fully prepared the next time we’re hard?”
I asked casually, but he didn’t answer so I went on.
Sin: “Alright, I’ll start with my green light list. You can fuck me any way you like but if you’re gonna knock on my back door, then sometimes I can get a bit aggro. As in, you might have to beat me down to do it. It’s my Alpha instincts. I like it once I’m down though. But I don’t go down easy. I kinda turn into a savage animal. One guy lost a leg. Actually…I don’t remember the last time someone got me down. I think it was that Bear Shifter who had me shift into a four titted leprechaun. Or it might have been the Cerberus who had me shift all my orifices into vaginas. All of them, shadow man. All of them.”
I pointed at my ear as Ethan’s upper lip peeled back. That was easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Speaking of which, I tugged a lemon from my pocket and gave it a little squeeze. Nice. Cain gritted his jaw, glaring at me with unwavering nerve in his gaze. He was one tough nut to crack, but I’d crack him alright. Because I was going to wrap his nut in my fist and squeeze – not his literal nut, but come to think of it, I wouldn’t have minded having a little squeeze of those. But if I did that, he’d definitely get an angry boner. And I bet he was the kind of guy who took hate fucking to a whole new level. A level I wouldn’t have minded Mario Karting my way to and parking up to let him put his Luigi in my Peach. So long as my Rosalie was there to watch. Sin whipped around to face me, his brows going up as he spotted me and he quickly lunged to my right, trying to block my view of the very clearly dead body of Quentin which was sprawled on the floor to the side of Cain. He threw a hand out towards the corpse and a bang sounded as he directed his fire magic into the body and Quentin exploded into a billion pieces. Blood and guts splattered the walls, coating the CCTV monitors and getting Ethan and Cain utterly covered with gore as they both cursed loudly. I flinched back, luckily escaping the worst of it as Sin's bulk blocked me from it, but Roary swore as he caught a face full of entrails.
Sin: "Phew, he's gone,"
Sin muttered, offering me a wide smile like he’d only just noticed me.
Sin: "Oh hey, kitten. I see you saved the Lion puff. Good job."
Rosalie: "What. The. Fuck-" Sin: “At least she didn’t kill you, right?”
Sin said cheerily.
Sin: “Or cut off your cock. You’ve got such a nice, big cock and our wild girl would have been so sad to lose it.”
Roary: “It’s worse than that. So much fucking worse…”
Sin: “I dunno, man. Imagine having to just sit there and watch me fuck her for you because you had no D. That would be sad. You wouldn’t even be able to jerk off over it. I mean, I could probably shift into you for her so she wouldn’t have to miss out on having you with a dick. But for you that wouldn’t help. Not one bit,” Roary: “This isn’t a game you want to play. I’m not the man you fell for, I’m the monster he became. I don’t play nice with my prey and you’re the best hunt of my life. If I get my claws into you, I won’t let go, and I’ll leave my mark for everyone to see.”
Rosalie: “Prove it,” Rosalie: “You really think you’d kill for me, Roar?”
she asked breathily and I slid my hand onto her breast, finding her nipple hard and peaked for me. Her skin was so soft against my rough fingers and as I scored my thumb over her sensitive flesh, she arched back against me with a gasp. This body had ached for mine since she was old enough to know she wanted me. How many times had she made herself come while thinking about me? And how close had she come to imagining the truth of the animal I was becoming for her?
Roary: “I’d kill for this throat-”
I bit into the flesh of her neck.
Roary: “-and this mouth-”
I bit her lower lip as she turned her head to look at me, toying with her nipple again to make her pant.
Roary: “And this flesh.”
I pulled my hand from her breast, carving it down the centre of her and cupping my fingers between her thighs, the damp, needy heat of her pussy wetting my hand.
Roary: “I’d kill an entire army for this.”
I tugged her ear between my teeth and her ass ground back against my hard cock, making a low groan escape me.
Roary: “But it’s your soul I’d kill the most for. I’d destroy the world so long as your soul was kept untarnished. I’d die by my own hand for that too.” Rosalie: “I claim you, Rosalie Oscura. You’re mine and fuck what the world thinks because of it. I’m done holding back.” Plunger started humming as he did a weird half waddle towards the exit and my eyes almost bugged out of my face as I watched him go.
Where. Is. The. Potato???
My heart thrashed with a mixture of fear for my life and sympathy for a root vegetable as I tried not to let my thoughts linger on its location for too long. What horrors it had seen. What a destiny for an innocent carb. Rosalie: "I made peace with my scars a long time ago. And I made something meaningful of them when I covered them in ink for my famiglia. But I know how uncommon scars are and I know that they're not exactly a turn on, so-"
Cain growled at me as he snatched his hand back out of my grip, grabbing my waist again and throwing me back down on the bed beneath him.
Cain: "Maybe I need to teach you something while I've got you at my mercy, Rosalie,"
he said and I swear the way he growled my name sent a shiver darting through me all the way to my core.
Rosalie: "What's that?"
I asked breathily, watching him as he reared over me, his gaze roaming down my body, fixing on my left side with more intensity than I thought anyone had ever looked at me before.
Cain: "That all of your damage is what makes you so beautiful to me. It's not the face you show the world, it’s the hurt you've overcome to claim your crown. I can see the pain of my own past in you and so much more besides. You're a warrior, a survivor and you're more beautiful for every mark upon your flesh." Cain: "You were always going to ruin me, weren't you?"
Cain breathed, resting his forearm against the door above my head as he leaned down to look into my eyes.
Rosalie: "Perhaps we were always meant to ruin each other. But either way, I don't seem to be able to stop it."
Cain: "Then don't,"
he replied, his eyes flashing with vulnerability for a moment before he locked the feeling down again and looked away from me. I caught his chin in my grasp and made him meet my gaze.
Rosalie: "Maybe I won't,"
I breathed, tiptoeing up to press a kiss to his lips.
Rosalie: "But I guess the only way you'll find out is by sticking with me." Roary: “Actually...I need to do something, and you might not like it.”
Ethan: “What?”
I frowned and he cleared his throat.
Roary: “You’re a part of my pride now, so I need to use my Charisma on you. Try and make you serve me,”
he said, looking apologetic.
Roary: “It’s a Lion thing.”
Ethan: “Okay, you can do that, but only if you let me do something weird too.”
I ran a hand down the back of my neck.
Roary: “Deal. What is it?”
Ethan: “I need to sniff you. Like, really sniff you. Then I need to scent mark the hell out of you.”
Roary: “Are you gonna piss on me?”
he asked in horror.
Ethan: “No,”
I laughed.
Ethan: “I just have to…rub on you a bit.”
No one could train me. I was the scariest Alpha Werewolf from the streets of Alestria. You wouldn’t catch me waiting on someone day and night like a whipped mutt.
Roary: “By the stars, my feet are killing me,”
Roary groaned. Oh no, poor baby. I immediately let go of his neck and moved around him, pulling his shoes and socks off as I knelt down and started working on his feet.
Ethan: “You’ve had a rough day,”
I said with a whimper and he nodded. My heart beat harder and I definitely would have been wagging my tail if I was in my Order form as my instincts urged me on and I started licking his face and panting. He tasted good. Like sandalwood and new friends.
Roary: “Um-”
he started but I barked excitedly, knocking him off the boulder onto his back and howling to the sky. I rubbed my face against his, our stubble scraping together as he started laughing and shoving me back, but I was lost to my Wolf now and I couldn’t stop. I bit his ear, tugging on it like a pup teasing its brother.
Roary: “Ah, you asshole,”
he shoved me back as he laughed and I wrestled him back down to the ground, taking his jumpsuit between my teeth and shaking my head furiously as I tugged on it. Then I ran my tongue right over his face and he spluttered, starting to wrestle with me. Which was exactly what I wanted. Ethan: “Why did he drop the timer?”
Sin: “I have no idea. All I said was that he’s a wrinkly ballsack wart that no mother could ever love,”
Sin said in dismay, like that wasn’t anything to do with why the guard had dropped the timer. Ethan: “Who the fuck has a sexy fantasy about a tiny person, man?”
Sin: “Some chick named Tallulah. I’ve seen stuff in that form, kitten. All kinds of stuff. Harrowing stuff.”
He shook his head, lost to some memory for a second before he slapped on one of his usual crazy smiles.
Sin: “Anyway, now you’ve met G-spot Joe, would you like a whirl with him the next time we’re fucking Rosalie together?”
He waggled his brows. Sin: “I know how much you like putting stuff up your butt. I’ll put on a tiny crash helmet and-”
Ethan: “I do not like putting stuff up my butt,”
I hissed and he winked like we were sharing a secret.
The day I let Sin Wilder crawl up my ass would be a cold day in hell. Sin: “I’m gonna climb your dick like Mount Everest, buttercup,”
Ethan: “You try that and G-spot Joe is gonna be dead G-spot Joe,” Sin: “If I’m doomed to love the sun from all the way down here on Earth, then at least give me wings so I can fly close enough to burn,” Sin: “Do you think I’m stupid because I never learned that stuff?”
I whispered and she pulled away with a sharp frown.
Rosalie: “No, I think you’re incredible. You’re different and wild and you don’t think like anyone else. I fucking love that about you, Sin. Do you know how many people in this world are clones of each other? You’re smart in a way so many other Fae are dumb. Because most people see grey when they look at the world, but you see a rainbow, and you make me see it too.” She hung a sheet and cast a silencing bubble, giving us four some privacy – wait, no there was five of us. Six if you counted my cock. Which obviously you did, you dirty fucker.
Who am I talking to? Oh the people in my head. Shh, I need to pay attention. Sin: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry like people in movies are sorry when they’re standing out in the rain and have flowers and there’s music and stuff.”
Roary came into view beside Rosalie, flicking his fingers so a storm cloud appeared above my head and rain started washing over me in a torrent.
Sin: “Thanks, buddy,”
I whispered and he scowled. Rosalie: “Really? He saw us escaping? He knows this will work?”
Leon: “Err, well no not exactly. His exact words were that there was “a minuscule opportunity for success but that it relied upon us being here at the opportune moment and even then, it absolutely wasn’t guaranteed and was supremely unlikely to work.’ Which all in all sounds pretty fucking positive to me, don’t you think?”
Sin: “Oh my stars, that sounds like a definite yes,”
Sin said enthusiastically and I frowned at him because it absolutely didn’t. Sin: “Say you’re mine, wild girl. Promise it and I’ll do whatever you want. You can boss me about to your heart’s content and I’ll sacrifice everything I’ve got to make all of your wishes come true.”
Rosalie: “Okay. I’ll be yours if you’ll be mine, Sin Wilder.” Sin: “It’s too late for that. I’ve been yours since the moment you gave me that pot of pudding.” Sin: “Cross my heart and hope to pie,”
Ethan: “You mean die,”
Sin: “Why would I hope to die? I hope for pie regularly but I’m not suicidal, kitten.”