Free A Dark Hunger by Natalie Hancock

Prologue
     
     
    Rain pelted
down hard, soaking Riyzan completely almost instantly. He didn’t
care—he couldn’t feel the cold, couldn’t feel anything as he knelt
down on the ground, his gaze moving slowly across his dead
wife.
    She just lay
there, almost peaceful looking had it not been for the trickle of
blood on the corner of her beautiful lips, or the gaping hole in
her chest.
    He could smell
her blood—the sweet aroma that always brought the dark hunger from
within, the hunger he could never control.
    Stroking her
cheek gently, Riyzan moved a stray bit of hair behind her ears and
spoke a silent prayer to himself, thanking everyone for the love
that had been given, the beauty in his wife and the kindness he had
learned to give and share.
    When he
finished, he gently slid his hands underneath her, lifted her
lifeless form off the ground and held her close.
    Layla cried
silently as she watched and Riyzan was unable to feel any emotion
as he bowed his head, letting his long hair side over Surquyn’s
face and walked away without a word. He didn’t make a move to turn
to his own daughter and her mate and comfort them. She wasn’t
alone, he was. He had lost his true love and had no idea how he
would ever survive without her in his life.
    The rain came
down harder, mixing with his dark thoughts. He couldn’t understand
what had happened, couldn’t understand why he’d lost the one woman
who kept his hunger at bay, who kept him strong each day he
lived.
    Thunder cracked
through the sky and his thoughts darkened further. Riyzan couldn’t
let her go. He couldn’t bury her like he did his firstborn. The
wound cut deep into his heart at the thought as though it had only
happened yesterday, and he knew he couldn’t handle it. Not
again.
    Once at the
back of the mansion— their mansion—he kicked the door open
and strode straight into the kitchen. The automated lights
flickered on and he saw the blackened walls near the kitchen door,
spreading across the wall. The fire had been big, nearly burning
the entire mansion down.
    Riyzan gently
placed Surquyn on the table and once again moved her hair away from
her face. In the light, he saw her wound clearer. Her skin was
torn, bones broken and her deflated heart, which lay unmoving,
where it used to beat life through her body.
    No! He
couldn’t leave her, couldn’t let her leave him when he needed her
most. He couldn’t say bye to her, not again. Without thinking,
Riyzan bit into his wrist and let his blood drip from the wound
into the hole in her chest. When his wound closed over, he grabbed
the kitchen knife and slit his wrist deeply, letting more blood
pool down her throat before he put both hands on her chest and
pressed down, trying to get her heart to pump his blood through her
body.
    Nothing
happened.
    She lay
unmoving on the table, her heart didn’t beat and she didn’t come
back to him. She had left him for good.
    For the first
time since turning into a vampire, Riyzan felt tears slide down his
cheeks, felt his heart break with the knowledge that she would
never smile at him, never love him or feed him again.
    Never laugh and
make his day worth living.
    Riyzan buried
his face in her stomach as he cried, bunching her clothes into his
fists, holding her close as he thought about facing the world
without his woman by his side.
    He’d have to
face Layla—who looked so much like her, and Shayla who had killed
her. He couldn’t do it, couldn’t live without her. He needed her
with him, by his side.
    He jumped back
when Surquyn sat up straight, sucked in a deep breath and then let
out an ear-splitting scream…

Chapter One
     
     
    Riyzan pushed
Surquyn against the wall, not caring about the humans walking past
the alleyway they stood in, and kissed her while she clawed at his
clothes and moaned into his mouth. He held in a groan, sliding the
straps of her thin dress off her shoulders and watched it pool at
her feet. He licked his lips at the sight of her full