STORY EXCERPT

A lone howl sounded as they gathered around the pit, their makeshift meeting spot located in the empty swimming pool at the old YMCA, long since abandoned and littered with “No Trespassing” signs. It could only be the Alpha, running late as per usual. The man liked to make an entrance and Kristos sincerely doubted tonight was any different. As Razor’s second, Kristos was in charge of keeping the rest of the mutts in line until he deigned to make an appearance.

“Settle down,” he barked, drawing the black eyes of every tattooed thug in the place. Their gazes sent most of the cities’ citizens crossing the street or slamming their doors when they prowled through town. Kristos wasn’t the least bit intimidated though. They were his family after all.

He motioned for Maria to turn down the lantern, the only source of light in the shadowed pool area. The stark LED immediately faded, blackening out the pit until only the glitter from their eyes were lit up by shards of moonlight from the broken windows on the far right wall.

“Greet your Alpha, bitches,” he commanded, filling the darkness with his voice. He echoed Razor’s howl, lending his voice to the cavernous room. The others joined in, calling to Razor so their eerie melody echoed and throbbed in the night. No doubt the sound was sending shivers down the spines of the LA neighborhood they occupied. It was good to be feared. It was better than being seen as weak.

There was no official length of time their music sounded, but eventually the last voice faded, leaving a pregnant pause in the wake of their howls.

Finally, Razor’s rumble cut through the pitch. “Lights.”

Maria obeyed, adding an additional lantern to the wall of the pool. The white light came on and showed Razor, his massive body deceptively relaxed on the edge of the deep end, one leg hanging over. His thick, dark hair, caramel skin, and ripped musculature made for an intimidating picture. The power that clung to his skin only added to his badassery.

“Hello, ladies and gents,” Razor greeted, a grin twisting his lips upward into a ghost of a smile. “How are we feeling this fine full moon?”

The entire pack answered with a series of growls and howls that sounded like hell had come to the YMCA to roost.

Razor’s grin widened. “Good. I’m glad to hear it.” His eyes went to Kristos, causing him to lift his chin in pride. “How’s it going, hermano?”

“Ready for your orders, Alpha,” Kristos said, returning his grin. He was so proud of Razor for taking over the pack from his old man. The old guard had been so much weaker. Razor had carved a real home for them out of the sprawling Los Angeles landscape.

Razor nodded. “Always such a good mutt, Kristos.” He winked, taking the sting out of the slur. “Take Brooklyn, Tawny, and Maria to the west side to patrol down the strip. A little birdy told me that there have been a few humans who didn’t believe the stories and started selling wild horses to the kids at the park. Deal with them.”

Kristos sneered. “It’ll be done.” He would personally make sure he crushed the life out of any drug-dealing sonofabitch he found. The only thing the pack dealt in was weed and that hardly counted anymore. If there was heroin creeping into their district, it was because someone was making a move.

He turned to leave. “And Kristos?”

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Get me the name of the org who has decided to sell to our people, eh?”

The expression that twisted Kristos’s face was pure menace, and he knew it. “Happy to.”

He could hear the smile in Razor’s expression as he said, “Good wolf.”

ADULT EXCERPT

Razor had kissed many people in his life, but he had never been kissed like this. All his fantasies were blown out of the water from the first hard touch of Kris’s lips on his. He groaned, his body throbbing with unspent desire. His wolf, the shadow always present in the corner of his mind, was now all he saw, all he felt, almost like he was shifted into his feral form.

He opened his mouth at the insistent press of Kristos’s tongue, whimpering at the first taste of masculine spice. As the Alpha, he rarely felt swamped, overwhelmed, but that was all he felt at the moment. And he loved it.

“Raz,” Kris whispered against the seam of his lips. “We need to slow down. The Bruja did something. You—”

He pressed their lips together again, though his heart constricted hard at the thought. He pushed the fear and uncertainty away. He didn’t need to think about anything but claiming his Novio. His wolf didn’t care what the pack thought. He was strong enough on his own, had led them through conflict into peace. They would follow him, or they would suffer. No one but Razor was strong enough to lead a pack this size.

His hands ran over Kris’s body of their own accord, unable to stop their constant motion. He needed Kristos in a way that went beyond the need for release. His wolf howled, the sound only audible to those in the pack who shared the same unique wavelength that existed between wolves and their pack. Even out of shifted form, they were connected.

Kristos shivered, the older man shuddering as the lone voice rose. It was a call for a mate, the need of an Alpha for his Alpha mate. Kristos smothered his wolf, keeping it from returning the howl. Razor whimpered. No. Please.

“Sing with me, please, Novio.”

Kristos looked into his eyes, those soulful orbs filled with enough doubt to make an ocean spring up between them. Doubt would come later. Right now the only thing between them needed to be their bond, the bright rope that had bound them even before the Bruja’s mixture had taken Razor’s human thoughts and swept them aside.

Slowly, Kris loosened his stranglehold on his wolf. His voice joined Razor’s, the notes perfectly complimentary. An echo of surprise rippled through the pack. Razor ignored it. He needed.

Kris’s fingers plucked at his nipples, making him arch into the touch. He hadn’t been aware his nips were all that sensitive. Of course, it wasn’t as if the chicks he had played around with had been interested in those tiny nubs of flesh.

“So sensitive,” Kris murmured, twisting them to make Razor writhe. His voice was a guttural purr, pure temptation.

Kris kissed his way down Razor’s body, leaving a trail of fire in his wake. How had he ever lived without a touch like this?

“Please,” he begged, muscles jumping in anticipation.

“Let me take care of you, Alpha,” Kristos murmured, his voice hard enough to brook no argument. His large hands cupped Razor’s ass, squeezing the taut muscle.

God, please. Razor couldn’t remember wanting anything as much as this.

“Promise?” He needed his second’s word.

“I will always take care of you. Always.” Kristos’s pledge settled everything in Razor.

Yes. Yes. Please. Kris gave Razor’s hard dick a stroke.

“Like that?”

“Yes!” He couldn’t stop moving, couldn’t stop wanting. “Novio!”

Kris jerked him off with a precision that staggered Razor. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t do anything but react.

His lover chuckled, nipping his bottom lip as Razor’s hips swiveled. “You have to forgive me for this tomorrow,” he rumbled, thumb swiping against the plum head of his dick.

There was no tomorrow. There was only now and the incredible way Razor was feeling. How had he missed this? How had he not known the man was his mate? Kris saved him over and over again, backed him up, was his best friend. All the signs seemed enormous now. How had he missed this?

Kris moved his attention to Razor’s earlobe, sucking and licking at the newfound erogenous zone. “Come for me, Alpha,” he whispered against the shell of Razor’s ear.

It was too close to Razor’s nightly fantasies for him not to react. His breath hitched and spunk sprayed from the tip of his dick, the orgasm impossible to deny. The whole time Kris stroked him through it, wringing every last ounce of pleasure from his body. Razor babbled, cried out, generally made a spectacle of himself as he was taken through the most intense orgasm of his life.

In the aftermath, he lay there, panting, ready and willing for whatever was next. Kris gave him a wink and grabbed the tendon on the side of Razor’s throat.

“You’re sweet when you come,” Kris murmured, staring into Razor’s eyes. “I always knew you would be.”