STORY EXCERPT

Chip broke from paralysis and ran back to his car. His heart hammered. He nearly slipped over the rock he dug out, but he quickly righted himself. Chip yanked the car door open and dove inside. He slammed the door shut only to hear a distinctive ‘thunk’ sounds against his window.

Chip locked the doors, screamed as a face appeared in the glass. The werewolf’s yellow eyes looked crazed, lacking any trace of humanity. Moisture from the creature’s nostrils and mouth formed on the glass. It also left a trail of saliva from its massive jaws, lined with sharp, yellowing teeth. Even from the safety of the car, Chip could smell its fetid breath. Decay.

The werewolf backed away and used its body to slam against his car door. Metal creaked and dented. Chip fumbled for the key, which he’d left in the ignition. His fingers slipped. Chip cursed as the key fell. He bent down, desperately feeling for it.

A thump from above him made him hit his head on the dashboard.

Chip found the key and slotted it back in. He looked past his windshield wipers, moving back and forth to clear the rain. Bile filled his throat. Where was the other shifter, the panther?

He shrieked as claws punctured through the roof of his car.

“Oh God.” Chip started the car and hit the pedal. This time, Betty didn’t fail him. He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white and drove like a demon. Above him, he heard a snarl. The claws disappeared. Through his rearview mirror, he saw the werepanther tumbling off the hood of his car.

“Yes!” Chip would’ve pumped his fist into the air if he weren’t focused on the road ahead of him. Another bang from the back of his car made him remember he still had one other shifter on his heels.

One cat. One wolf. That was strange. Shifter groups usually stuck to their own kind. Were they allies?

A dozen questions raced through Chip’s head, but he didn’t have the time to ponder on them. He drove, hoping to outrun the werewolf behind him. Chip would see warning signs up ahead of him. He tried to read one out loud.

“Warning, Wild Manes territory ahead.” A wave of relief filled him as he stepped on the gas. Chip was going beyond the speed limit, but who was going to stop him?

Branches creaked and broke from the left of him, but he didn’t dare look. Chip felt like he had been suddenly thrust into some kind of nightmare he couldn’t wake up from. Chip nearly lost control of the wheel as something agile leapt at the car from the trees.

A lump of muscled beige fur hit the windshield. He cried out, as gigantic claws scrambled on glass. His car swerved. With his view now restricted, Chip could hit a tree or something. His chances of getting into an accident were high.

“God, what’s wrong with these shifters? They never stop.” Chip hit the brakes just within more of those signs. So close, he thought in panic. The panther shifter hissed at him behind the glass, raking its claws over and over at him.

These crazy bastards were beyond reason. A sane shifter wouldn’t be crazy enough to jump on a goddamn moving vehicle. How long before the glass would break? Chip fumbled for his seatbelt. After two tries, he got it out.

Spiderweb cracks appeared on the glass. Chip let out a cry and crawled to the back seat ungracefully. He peered out the glass, heart beating fast. That mottled-fur werewolf was standing right outside the window, staring at him like he was a juicy piece of meat.

Horror stories of Ferals turning on entire human towns came back to him.

These two would drag him out of his car, rip him apart, and then eat him. They’d suck the meat off his bones with relish. Chip curled his knees to his chest as more cracks appeared over the glass. Jesus. This wasn’t the way Chip imagined he would go. Damn it all. He didn’t even get to see Alec again.

“This is unfair,” he whispered.

* * * *

Shards of glass flew everywhere. Chip ducked. Some of the fragments hit his back. One particularly sharp one managed to embed itself just below his neck. Pain seared up his skull. Chip couldn’t remain stuck here, cowering in the back seat. Giving up wasn’t an option yet. For a second, he froze up, but that wouldn’t happen again. Chip was so close to Wild Manes territory.

Chip tried to think. He dared to look up. The werepanther tried to squeeze itself through the hole it made, but it hissed as the remaining shards cut into its fur and skin.

“Serves you right,” he muttered. The big cat locked its unfriendly yellow eyes at him and snarled, the scary sound filling the entire space.

If the werewolf was waiting on the left of him, then he’d try the other door. Chip unlocked it and stumbled outside, right into the muddy ground. The rain hadn’t stopped or slowed down. Chip had no time to lose. He reached for his own wolf, then froze, seeing the panther shifter’s companion a few feet from him.

The other Feral padded towards him like it had all the time in the world.

“So stupid, Chip,” he whispered. He counted on the fact that they acted like rabid animals without any human intelligence left. Chip wouldn’t be able to make that same mistake again, not when he was dead.

The werewolf didn’t make a sound, didn’t attempt to signal his companion. First come, first serve, Chip guessed. He was still on his hands and knees in the mud, trembling. His wolf wouldn’t answer his call, refused to come out.

The cowardly beast curled further inside him to a painful point, more chicken than predator.

“Please,” he whispered.

ADULT EXCERPT

Alec reached for the hem of his shirt. Chip parted from the kiss and raised his arms so Alec could peel off his shirt.

“I like seeing you wearing my clothes, my scent, but they’re too big for you,” Alec said. “Your stuff’s all there, in the trunk. I’ll grab them later.”

“Thank you. I think your shirt looks good on me, too.”

Alec moved his fingers to the drawstrings of his borrowed shorts and undid them. His bottoms simply slipped down his legs. Chip didn’t wear any underwear underneath. He swallowed, all too aware he was naked while Alec still had his pants on.

“Look at you. Gotten hard for me already,” Alec said, closing his fingers over his shaft and giving it a squeeze. Chip groaned.

Taking initiative, Chip knelt in front of Alec and reached for the button of his jeans. A growl tickled from Alec’s lips as Chip unzipped him and drew out his cock. Alec’s dick was huge in his hand. It curved upwards, thick, long, and meaty. Chip wondered if Alec could fit all that inside his tiny hole.

A shudder of anticipation crawled down his spine. Alec speared his fingers through his hair and gave it a tug, only turning him on. Alec tugged him close, until Chip’s lips could kiss Alec’s cock head. The tip of Alec’s shaft was already leaking pre-cum.

Chip stuck out a tongue to catch the liquid. Alec tasted of male musk. He licked his lips, heard Alec’s snarl of approval. He sucked on the crown of Alec’s prick, eager to get to work. Chip never thought he’d like giving blowjobs, but every rumble and groan of appreciation he milked from Alec sounded like music to his ears. His own dick thickened as he continued to suck and lick.

Chip moved his mouth from Alec’s tip to base. He also paid attention to Alec’s balls. Chip took them in his mouth, felt Alec’s fingers tightening in his hair. He pulled away, parted his lips, and began to take Alec’s impressive girth down his throat. Chip gagged on his first try, but that didn’t deter him. He wanted to hear Alec growl for him again.

Second try and he managed. He bobbed his head up and down Alec’s shaft, felt Alec growing thicker by the moment.

“Don’t move,” Alec commanded. The order sounded hot on Alec’s lips.

Chip obeyed, stayed still as Alec began pumping his hips, his cock in and out of his mouth. Alec’s last push did the trick. Alec let out a growl and emptied his jizz down his throat. Chip caught every last drop with his tongue, not wanting to spill a drop. Alec pulled away, his eyes still glowing amber, his wolf peeking out.

Alec tugged him to his feet and edged him towards the couch. Chip lay down, heart racing as Alec crawled on top of him, straddling him. Alec smelled so good, of oil, dust, and clean sweat.

Alec pinned his arms above his head and took his mouth again, not holding back. When Alec pulled away, he panted. Chip was at his complete and utter mercy. He loved every second of it. Alec left a trail of hot kisses and bites down his neck, his chest.

“Alec, I love you.” The words left his lips, unbidden.

Alec halted his task. Shock rippled across the dominant wolf’s eyes. Alec didn’t say anything. Alec even released his wrists. Trust Chip to screw everything up. He bit on his lower lip and waited for Alec to get off him and tell him this was all one big mistake.

* * * *

Never in his wildest imagination did Alec think he’d ever hear those three tender words from anyone else. He thought he’d die on this forsaken mountain, mauled by his pack mates or their enemies, forgotten by the rest of the world. Kris and he wanted their cursed bloodline to end here, but here was Chip, giving him a new reason to live.

“Sorry,” Chip blurted. “That came out spur of the moment. It’s stupid, I know. I mean, I only arrived here yesterday.”

“Those words mean so much more to me than you know,” Alec said. He kissed Chip on the mouth, gently and slowly, before answering him. “Give me time to say them back.”

Softness had been beaten out of him since he was a kid. Alec didn’t know how to react to Chip’s confession. Damn the Fire Claws Pack and his father for turning him into this, someone who could barely express his own emotions.

“Time’s not on our side,” Chip whispered. The submissive wolf looked stricken, miserable. 

“I told you. I’ll find a way,” Alec reassured him. “For now, relax. I’m going to give you a good time. I’ll make you addicted to me so you’ll want no other man.”

Chip touched his unshaven cheek and smiled up at him so sweetly that Alec wondered for the thousandth time what Chip was doing with a killer like him. Chip didn’t belong in their world, never did. Alec always thought Chip would be better off if he weren’t born a werewolf in the Fire Claws Pack. He deserved so much more. Better life. Better mate.

Too bad all Chip had was him.

“Don’t you get it, Alec? You ruined love for me. You’re it for me,” Chip whispered.

“My mate.” Alec kissed the top of Chip’s forehead. His cock had become rock-hard again, thanks to his shifter genetics. He pressed it against Chip’s belly. Alec couldn’t wait to claim Chip in the most intimate way possible. He’d own Chip. Anyone on this mountain who so much as looked at his Chip wrong would receive a hell of a reckoning.