STORY EXCERPT

"Screw it,” Gill whispered. 

Self-preservation kicked in. Gill had read somewhere that submissive wolves should bare their throats to a dominant to show they weren’t a threat. However, Gill wasn’t well versed in shifter rules. At the very least, even if his car couldn’t start, he could stay inside. Surely, the stranger couldn’t rip through steel, right?

He scrambled to his feet, and had barely touched the door latch when the werewolf pounced. Gill yelped as the big wolf collided with his chest with such force, his back hit the cool aspalt road. Gill expected to feel claws and teeth sinking into skin within seconds.

“Don’t hurt me. Please,” he whispered automatically. 

Desperate to appease the dominant shifter, he offered his neck and shut his eyes, expecting the worst. Gill didn’t want to die. As miserable as his life was, he was a sucker for happy endings. There was a slim possibility he would find his mate out there, find a place for himself. 

He must have done something right, because at the moment, all he was distinctively aware of was the big shifter’s weight on him. Clothing hadn’t ripped, and while he was bruised from the fall, Gill was still in one piece. What was happening? Who was this stranger? So many questions swam in his head.

Confused, Gill dared to open his eyes. For such a big werewolf, the shifter didn’t make a sound. But Gill’s relief proved short-lived as the shifter pushed his nose into his face.

Despite how hard it was, Gill urged himself to be still. Any erratic movements could provoke the shifter. The werewolf sniffed at the side of his neck, then Gill felt something wet and warm. It took him a second to realize the shifter was licking him and that his wolf wasn’t panicked. Most of the time, when shifters hit on him at the station, the Omega wolf in him backed away, terrified. 

His animal wasn’t being a coward. Instead, it acted as if it sensed those men didn’t have good intentions toward him. This time, though, Buck wasn’t around to save him. Gill had to rely on his own wits. Still, he was puzzled why his wolf associated this stranger with—

Gill fumbled for the right emotion.

Safety.

Since the stranger didn’t look like he was about to rip out Gill’s throat any time soon, Gill decided to try to communicate.

“Um. Hi?” Gill felt foolish. 

What kind of guy said that to a dangerous shifter, especially a rogue Alpha like this? Alphas usually led packs. Although they were rare, loner Alphas existed. Was this guy one of them? Why did he pounce on Gill?

The shifter raised his head, saying nothing. Gill couldn’t get a read on those intense amber eyes, which frustrated him. Growing up, he’d been invisible. Being mediocre had its perks, though. People often overlooked him, so he had plenty of time to observe and read them, but Gill had nothing on this guy.

The stranger shifted. Gill’s jaw hung open. Never in his wildest imagination had he envisioned such a hot but terrifying Alpha on top of him. In human form, the Alpha was breathtaking. Every inch of him seemed to be carved out of hard muscle. Gill continued making his silent assessment—he had defined pectorals, six-pack abs, and the largest cock Gill had ever seen hung between the Alpha’s legs.

It didn’t escape Gill that the Alpha was rock-hard, despite the cold. He blushed as the Alpha’s gaze landed on the bulge in his jeans, and Gill focused on the stranger’s face instead.

The Alpha had black hair, clipped military short, and a strong-jawed face. Old scars treaded along muscle, telling Gill this man might be only a couple of years older than he was, but that he had been through hell. Even the Alpha’s still-golden eyes confirmed it. Gill saw unyielding strength there. 

He should be scared. Any unprotected new Omega should be, but Gill was also curious, hungry to know more about the stranger he’d just met. It was strange, because this man could do a number of scary things to him. 

“Who are you?” the Alpha’s voice was deep, like gravel. Those yellow eyes cleared to a solid gray, like steel. 

“Gill Sharpe,” he replied. “You?”

The Alpha let out an impatient growl. “I’m the one asking the questions here.”

“Hoo-kay. Fine.” Gill rolled his eyes, a mistake because the Alpha cupped his jaw. He winced, expecting violence, to hear bones break, but the Alpha only applied gentle pressure and thumbed the tiny scar Gill’s razor had given him that morning.

Finally, the Alpha gave his name. “Damon.”

“Damon? No last name?” he joked, although he was sweating in his clothes. It should be three degrees out according to the news, but he felt like someone had turned on the heater. Maybe it was Damon’s warm skin, pressing up against his slender body, and Damon’s cock. Gill couldn’t forget that, either.

Damon didn’t answer. He merely looked at Gill like he was some kind of puzzle.

“This can either go easy or hard. Answer my questions honestly and nothing will happen to you,” Damon eventually said.

He blinked. “Wait, are you interrogating me, here?”

Damon snarled, which shut him up easily. “I ask the questions.”

“Okay,” Gill whispered.

God, he was fucked. Why did he answer back and why did he always attract scary guys? Worse, Damon was both frightening and crazy, a terrible combination. Why did all the good-looking men have to turn out rotten inside?

Gill’s bladder felt full. How could his wolf mistake Damon for being safe when Damon was clearly all kinds of trouble?

“Ask,” he said, because what else could he do? Some sexy but psycho Alpha was straddling him, and his car was broken. Gill had no way out.

ADULT EXCERPT

Claim Gill. Kill the others after. 

Damon ignored the suggestion and kept on running. The flat ground beneath his paws started uphill. He slowed to a trot, feeling the brush of Gill’s fur beside him a few seconds later. The Omega panted, and he guessed they’d run a good distance without rest. The trees thinned as they went higher. Finally, the cabin was in their line of sight.

The log cabin had been a pleasant discovery during one of the times he’d had a fight with Tank. Tank left in a huff, and Damon had continued running. His exploration had led him here. He’d been inside the structure. The furniture was dusty, but the walls, ceiling, and floor were solid. Whenever he’d sneaked away from his watching brothers, he’d spent his time here, cleaning up the place.

The Omega shifted back to human.

“Wow,” Gill said, walking alongside him. “This yours?”

Damon shook his head and returned to human as well. “No, but it will suffice.”

Damon reached the front door and held it open for Gill. According to the romance books Max, Jagger’s mate, had leant him, opening doors was a gentlemanly thing to do.

“Thanks,” Gill said. 

Damon followed the Omega. With his shifter's ability to see in the dark, Gill curiously walked around. It wasn’t a large space, but Damon hadn’t thrown away the wooden furniture. He headed to the fireplace to warm up the space. Damon wasn’t cold, but Gill shivered and rubbed the goose bumps on his arm.

“A friend’s, then?” Gill asked after Damon had a fire going. 

“Something like that.” Damon cringed inwardly. 

Lies came so easily to him, but he wanted to change that. He no longer wanted to be this person. Damon knew he might never go back to being his old self completely, but he could be a better person by not lying to Gill.

Gill finished poking around and frowned, lingering by the fireplace.

“Problem?” Damon asked, wondering if Gill had changed his mind.

“There’s no mattress on the bed.”

Laughing, Damon joined him. “Do you need one?”

“No,” Gill whispered. “Let’s continue?”

Damon didn’t need another invitation. He grabbed Gill’s shoulders and pushed him against the wall. Gill let out a breath, and Damon could hear the thump-thump sound of the Omega’s elevated heartbeat. 

Gill touched the scar on his chest again, but Damon didn’t want a reminder of his past. He gripped Gill’s wrists and pinned them above his head, then took Gill’s lips again. He took his time, sucking and nipping. Their tongues tangled and their teeth clashed. When he thrust his tongue down Gill’s throat, the Omega sucked hard on it. 

Fuck, this Omega was doing all kinds of things to him. 

“Need to be in you now,” Damon said after ending the kiss. 

“Fuck me, Damon. I want you inside me too,” Gill whispered, pupils dilated. 

Damon spun him by the shoulders and kissed Gill’s nape. The Omega expelled a long sigh. Keeping one hand over Gill’s wrists, Damon trail his other down the length of Gill’s spine. Gill shivered.

“I thought you were going to fuck me,” Gill said.

“The next time we do this, I’m going to take my sweet time enjoying your body.”

“Next time?” Gill asked, excited.

Shit. Damon hadn’t meant to say those words, to make promises he wasn’t sure he could keep. 

Being with Gill filled his body with lust and his head with ideas about keeping Gill forever, making Gill his, body, heart, and soul.  His brothers encouraged him to live in the moment. Damon did just that. He reached over Gill’s hip and found Gill’s dick. It was smaller than his, but a perfect fit in his hand. He pumped Gill’s shaft until the Omega thickened under his care. 

Damon wedged Gill’s legs apart, knowing he didn’t need to do that much preparation because Omegas were self-lubricating. He just didn’t want Gill to remember their first time together as Damon taking what he wanted with no care for Gill’s pleasure.

“Are you ready for me?” Damon asked, squeezing Gill’s left ass cheek. 

Gill groaned and tried to push his prick against Damon’s hand again. That only prompted Damon to give him a swift smack on the ass. Gill jumped, but Damon could smell his growing arousal.

“You like that?” Damon asked.

Gill answered with a whimper. Damon gave him a few more taps, alternating between both cheeks, before slipping his finger into Gill’s pink rosette. Fuck, but the Omega was already slick and ready for him. How convenient. Damon could imagine Gill always prepped and ready for him, could see himself slipping his dick any time he wanted inside Gill as they lay in their bed—

Their bed?

Damon cut off that dangerous line of thought. He pushed in a second digit and began widening Gill for his access. 

“Damon, need you,” Gill murmured.

“Patience, pet.” Damon added a third and began to make twisting motions. Deeming Gill ready then, he gripped Gill’s sides and pushed in, one delicious inch at a time. 

“Fuck, pet. You’re so tight for me,” he muttered. The urge to slam all the way in arose, but he wasn’t exactly small, and hurting Gill was out of the question, especially given Gill wasn't that experienced. 

Finally, he was fully sheathed inside Gill, his balls brushing Gill’s ass. There was nothing quite like it. Damon breathed hard. “How is it, pet?”