STORY EXCERPT

Loren sat on the grass, his legs feeling unstable. His body ached to shift into a wolf, but he knew it would hurt too much. God, he just wanted answers. He closed his eyes and tried to relax, to just enjoy the feel of the wind sweeping through his hair. It didn’t work, not that he expected it to. He almost couldn’t remember when he’d last been carefree, when he’d genuinely smiled.

Loren felt tears burn at the edges of his eyes and hated himself for falling into self-pity. No wonder his mate didn’t want him. He was a werewolf. He should have been strong, not a wimp who cried himself to sleep every night. Fuck.

As Loren fumed, a sudden feeling of being watched invaded him. The forest stopped seeming so silent and empty. A low giggle sounded to his right. Loren lifted his head and looked around, but nothing was there. Whispers surrounded him, and he shot to his feet, alarmed.

“Who’s there?” he asked.

He received no reply. As the wind blew, a familiar scent invaded Loren’s nostrils. Loren froze, instantly identifying it as the distinctive feel of his mate. And yet, something wasn’t quite right. First of all, this didn’t feel like the same scent Loren remembered from his brief moments with the lion, back when they’d been trapped together in the assassins’ cages. He did recognize it, and the voice from his dream echoed through his mind. “I want to consume you.” What in the world?

 The peculiarity of the situation made Loren even more distressed. To complicate things further, a growl replaced the giggling—vicious, full of malice. Suddenly, the two-headed beast that inhabited Loren’s nightmares stepped into the light.

Orthrus looked as hideous as Loren remembered. Of course, Loren had never seen himself as the monstrous canine, but he’d faced it in the realm of his mind when it had imprisoned him and taken over his body. Loren froze, terror rendering his every muscle immobile. This couldn’t be happening. It had to be another nightmare.

Before Loren could even try to figure out what was going on, the hell-hound charged. Loren didn’t move, hypnotized by Orthrus’s ferocious gaze. It bounded toward Loren like a flash of burning darkness, and in that moment, Loren would have liked nothing more than to let it devour his flesh.

For the first time in many weeks, Loren’s human body yielded to the wolf. Loren landed on all fours on the grass and stared at his opponent. He took a step forward, and Orthrus stopped running. The terror inside Loren melted, and he no longer felt hostility come from the canine. Loren saw his chance and attacked.

It was nothing like the night Orthrus had awoken inside him. This beast seemed different, hesitant. And then Loren’s eyes cleared, and the illusion of the hell-hound vanished, and a fox appeared in its stead. Mine, Loren’s wolf growled. He increased his speed and pounced, pushing the fox down with his weight. It—no, he—let out a whimpering sound and tilted his head in submission.

Loren had never been particularly dominant, but he found that the fox’s behavior awoke latent instincts inside him. He bared his fangs, holding his fox captive under his larger bulk. His mate would never leave him again. He’d make sure of it.

A low curse drew his attention from his fox. Loren lifted his eyes to see the familiar form of a tall, blond man coming toward him. The lion. His lion. The wolf felt suddenly pulled in two directions, and his human mind struggled to understand. Confusion and uncertainty slammed his possessiveness back, and Loren faltered. His hesitation broke his hold over the fox, and sharply-clawed paws pushed him away with surprising determination.

As Loren stood there, frozen, the fox shifted into a naked man, the same one Loren kept seeing in his dream. Loren couldn’t hold on to his wolf and changed forms as well. “What’s going on?” he asked, glancing at the fox shifter.

“You tell me,” the other man snapped. “You have to undo it. Undo the spell.”

“Spell?” Loren repeated in confusion. “What spell?”

“What you did to me and Tavon. There’s no other explanation.”

The lion—Tavon, apparently—walked to them and took off his jacket, then wrapped it around the fox shifter’s shoulders. The tenderness of the gesture just about broke Loren’s heart. “Yosh, I told you to calm down,” Tavon whispered.

“Calm down? How can I calm down? This mongrel is doing something to you, to me. He’s trying to break us apart.”

Loren felt like he’d been slapped. Mongrel? How could his mate say that? Mates were supposed to be loving, caring to each other. And what the hell was Loren thinking? The lion was his mate, right?

“Please,” he said, hating the choked tone in his voice. “Tell me what’s happening to me.”

Tavon turned to him and sighed. “Hello, Loren. We’ve never been officially introduced. I’m Tavon, and this is Yoshi.”

“His lover,” the fox shifter helpfully supplied.

ADULT EXCERPT

He wrapped his arms around his fox mate, doing his best to soothe Yoshi. “Shhh…Don’t be afraid. We’ll take care of you.”

“Loren,” Yoshi whispered. “I can’t do this. I promised.”

“The circumstances were different,” Loren said soothingly. “You didn’t know me then. Wanting me doesn’t mean that you don’t want Tavon anymore. You can love Tavon and love me as well.” Or at least that’s what Loren hoped.

“But…it’s all wrong.” Yoshi sounded so torn, so desperate, that Loren’s heart hurt.

“It’s not wrong, Yosh,” Tavon said. “We all want this. Why should we deny it?”

“I know you’re confused.” Loren tried again. “I am, too. Werewolves only have one mate, and having two is unheard of. But Yoshi, sometimes things happen that don’t really make sense. The world doesn’t always abide by the rules, and nature is known for being fickle. Why fight it?”

“In your heart, you know it’s true,” Tavon offered. “I’ve never said it before, Yosh, but I’ll say it now. You’re my mate, and so is Loren. We’re meant to be.”

Yoshi burst into tears. “Please tell me you’re not lying to just make me feel better.”

Loren licked the tears off Yoshi’s cheeks, finding their taste addicting. “I think you’d know if we were lying. After all, you’re the trickster.”

The tiny, lame joke worked like a charm. Yoshi stopped crying, and he met Loren’s eyes as if trying to see into his soul. Loren held Yoshi’s gaze fearlessly. After all, Yoshi had only love and desire to find.

All of a sudden, Yoshi’s lips spread into a wicked grin. “I think we’ve had something pending for two months now.”

Loren surmised that Yoshi had understood and accepted their words. His joy was overcome by arousal when Yoshi sneaked away from their embrace and straddled Loren’s lap. Yoshi’s ass rubbed against Loren’s naked cock, and Loren couldn’t suppress a moan. “Fuck me, Loren,” he murmured seductively. “I want your cock in my ass.”

Loren’s wolf surged, the same possessiveness taking over his senses. He pressed his mouth to Yoshi’s, stopping the other man from saying anything else. God, to think he’d have what he’d wanted for so long…it was too much.

A low growl sounded behind them, and Loren broke the kiss to glance over Yoshi’s shoulder. Tavon gave him a predatory look, his blue eyes burning with lust. Even if his body demanded release, Loren’s wolf backed down, waiting for the command of the more powerful male. “Tav,” Yoshi cried. “I need you.”

Tavon ignored Yoshi. Instead, he stared at Loren as he leaned against the headboard and jacked his cock. “Do it, Loren. Give him what he wants.”

Loren nodded. He couldn’t have spoken if he’d wanted to. He flipped Yoshi on the bed, pushing his fox on all fours. Just seeing the twin globes of Yoshi’s ass nearly had him coming on the spot. Tavon chuckled. “Wait until you’re inside him. He’s always so tight and hot inside. Aren’t you, Yosh?”

Yoshi moaned in reply, the sound sending shockwaves of pleasure through Tavon. Fuck, no wonder kitsunes were said to drive men out of their minds. Loren didn’t know how Tavon kept his cool, but then again, the lion probably had the advantage of experience.

“Tav…I want to suck you. I want to taste you.”

The illusion of calm vanished, and Tavon pounced toward them. Feeling an urgency he’d never once experienced, Loren swept through the nightstand. He knew he should be bothered by the fact that he was basically fucking in his brother’s bed, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He felt too satisfied with finding a half-empty tube of lubricant to even consider that tiny fact.

Squeezing a generous amount of liquid on his fingers, he returned to the bed. Tavon was already feeding his dick to Yoshi, and they both looked so beautiful in their pleasure that Loren hesitated. Did he really have a place by their side?

As if guessing his thoughts, Tavon turned toward him. Even as he fucked Yoshi’s mouth, he growled at Loren. “Come on. What’s taking you so long?” The words would have sounded rough, but the look in Tavon’s eyes told Loren his lion mate felt his hesitation.

On cue, Yoshi wiggled his ass, obviously demanding attention. How could Loren resist such an invitation?

He crawled back behind Yoshi and took a deep breath. He didn’t know much about this since he’d only ever slept with women. Yoshi and Tavon seemed experienced, though, and they’d tell him if he did anything wrong. Tavon gave him an encouraging look. “Go on. He can take it.”

Loren nodded. With no warning, he pushed two fingers inside Yoshi’s ass. He almost thought he’d been too rough but was proven differently by his mate’s reaction. Yoshi went wild. His body seemed to try to suck Loren’s fingers right in, and Loren got a brief understanding of what Tavon meant by his words. He wanted to take Yoshi right then and there, but he took his time to prepare him. He’d read all about this, curious about how gay sex worked, and for once, he felt thankful for his curiosity. He finger-fucked Yoshi, doing his best to find the spot that could have his mate begging for more. He felt an absurd amount of satisfaction when he succeeded and started rubbing his mate’s prostate mercilessly. Yoshi sobbed, moaning around Tavon’s cock. “That’s my little slut,” Tavon said. “Take it. Take my cock. His fingers feel good, don’t they?”

Loren was surprised to realize that Tavon’s dirty words aroused him. An intense blaze took hold of him, and every molecule of his body ached for his mates. “Now, Loren,” Tavon purred. “Fuck him.”

Tavon’s words broke through the remnants of Loren’s control. Cursing to himself, he removed his fingers and hastily slicked his cock. In mere instants, he impaled Yoshi in one single, powerful thrust.