STORY EXCERPT

William could not believe this was happening. He was never ever going to hear the end of this. He had gotten caught and put in the pound! A werewolf caught by a dog catcher. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

William was running an errand for his alpha and thought he would just skirt quickly across the dirt road and take the shortcut into town. Of course, he was so distracted by his mission, and getting home for a wild night of TV watching and wallowing in self-pity, he never even heard the van that approached and clipped his hind leg.

Dazed, but not broken, William lay in the road hoping the motorist would just carelessly drive away and not bother to have a conscience. Normally, he would have commended the person who tentatively touched his head to look for injuries, but not today. William would just play dead, cross his paws, and hope Mr. Do-Good would leave, but he had no such luck. He heard Mr. Do-Good grab a radio off his belt and speak.

“I am bringing in a mixed breed of some kind. Shepherd or husky, I think. I clipped it going down the old dirt road off Highway 20.”

Mixed breed! I am not a mixed breed. I am just an ugly wolf.

“No, I was not speeding. It just jumped out of the woods along the road, and I clipped it.”

Yeah, because I am an idiot that should get my head out of my ass and into the job.

“I don’t understand why it’s unconscious. I barely tagged it. There isn’t even any blood!”

That’s because I am faking, you idiot. Now go away! If not, I may switch tactics and go all feral and rabid.

“Yeah, I got it. I will be back in twenty minutes.”

Great. I’ll just go along with this and make a break for it when they try to get me into the building.

Keeping the existence of shifters a secret was more important than getting teased about ending up in the pound. William lay limp to let the dog-catcher place him in a kennel and take him to the pound. When they neared the pound, he realized this was going to be more difficult than he thought as he was greeted by a vet tech outside with a syringe.

The vet tech met the driver at the door and asked in which kennel he placed the stray. The head vet heard talk of some rabid dogs in the area and wanted this one immediately sedated for the volunteers’ protection. Before William could even brace for the sting of the injection, he blacked out.

When William woke, he was washed and dried. He had a headache resembling a hangover and was sharing a cage with a German shepherd.

Crap. Crap. Crap! Oh, thank God they didn’t neuter me.

He knew opening the cage was no issue, even with paws. It was the walking out without getting caught and avoiding the security cameras that posed the greatest risk. How was he supposed to break free when everything would be recorded and available to sell to the highest bidder? Should he shift?

Well, I might as well sit here until everyone leaves for the night. Then I am so out of here! Man, it stinks in here.

His muzzle wrinkled with the smell of wet dogs and waste. He knew they were animals and behaved as such, but being caged was making his wolf restless. William sighed and then inhaled a sharp breath that froze him.

What? He inhaled again. That’s not a dog or shifter. It smells so good. So masculine and sweaty and raw…and human!

* * * *

William turned his eyes toward the source of the scent he wanted to taste. It was coming from a huge man who was practically lying on the ground looking through the small doggie door between the rooms of the kennel. His light eyes were looking right into William’s when the white shepherd jumped up on the kennel fence and tried to paw at the man through the chain link. A snarl ripped from William’s throat as he lunged through the connecting door. He didn’t know who this man was, but he knew he didn’t want anyone to come between them.

The action startled the man, and he fell back on his ass. Even a big man knew to stay away from a dog with exposed teeth, and his set of teeth surely looked particularly sharp. The female shepherd instantly submitted then walked to the farthest corner of the rear kennel and turned away.

The muscular man sat on the ground, watching this display of dominance. His face wrinkled as several emotions played across it. He tentatively turned his hand palm up and moved it toward the fence that separated them.

Realizing he just let his wolf take over, William knew he had to move slowly if he did not want to scare this man away for good. He nudged his muzzle through the chain link and sniffed the outstretched hand.

Heaven. Mate! His mate. William had to do whatever he needed to get adopted by this human in front of him.

ADULT EXCERPT

William tried to think, to reason, but Aiden was kissing him behind his ear. Each nibble on his skin made his eyes roll back and his heart race.

“If you keep doing that, I won’t be able to think.”

“Good. I don’t want you to think I want you to kiss me.” Aiden turned William’s face and claimed his mouth. His hands roamed down William’s back and delved into his jeans, eliciting a moan that broke the kiss. Sucking in a breath, Aiden clutched William to his chest and flipped them. He pinned William’s wrists to the mattress and spoke in short, punctuated words. “You are mine. I don’t want anyone but you. I don’t know why or how all this shifter stuff works, and I don’t want you to tell me right now. All I want is for you to say you will be with me forever and that you will always work at us and not give up. Can you do that?”

“Yes.” William shifted his eyes. The pure chocolate of his irises were now encircled in amber. “Aiden, I promise I will be with you, I will work on us, and I will never give up.” William easily lifted his hands away from the mattress, provoking a gasp from Aiden.

“How can you do that?”

“I am a shifter, remember. I let you pin me because I wanted it, and so did you, but now I want to prove to you I am yours and only yours forever. I want to claim you.” William began to unbutton Aiden’s shirt, placing kisses on the exposed skin. “I want to make you mine. I want to tie myself to you for all eternity.”

Aiden was breathing faster and quickly lost the ability to see reason. William’s rich scent was flooding his body, and his sweet words were overwhelming his mind, weakening his reserve. When William reached for his belt buckle, Aiden knew he had to try to regain control. He stilled William’s hands and rose to his knees so he could straddle William.

William thrust his hips upward, pushing his erection against Aiden’s, each press bringing them closer to the release they both knew they wanted.

Aiden placed his hand on William’s crotch to still him then rubbed over the bulge there in his jeans. “If I let you claim me, it’s for life? Nothing can break us apart?”

William grabbed the hem of his shirt and yanked it over his head. “There is no force that can keep a shifter from his mate.” His hands went back to Aiden’s buckle and undid it. He released the button and pulled the zipper down slowly. “When we mate, we mate for life.”

“Life. That is what I have always wanted.” Aiden sucked in a breath when William wrapped his hand around his hardened length and began slowly squeezing and releasing.

“That’s all you want?”

“No, now I want you to hurry up and undress me.”

Aiden and William clawed at their remaining clothes. Whimpers and groans of want and desire mixed with heavy breathing and begging pleas to touch and caress. Once naked, Aiden grabbed William and chuckled. “We need to slow down. I am acting like a teen in the back of a car. I want this to be special for you. I am sorry it wasn’t the first time.”

“No, don’t be sorry. I wanted you so badly. Everything you gave me that night was what I wanted.” William pulled Aiden’s gaze to lock it with his. “Everything I want is right here.”

They fell back onto the bed, and Aiden worked his lips down William’s body, stopping to pull a nipple into his mouth. It pebbled against his tongue. He dragged his tongue across William’s chest to lick at the other rigid point. He suckled when William clasped his head to his chest. Aiden grasped William’s hands and pushed them above his head. “Let me make love to you.”

William smiled and replied, “Lube is under the pillow.”

Aiden kissed his way toward William’s erect prick. He wasted no time to fondle it, but instead swallowed it down in one swift motion.

“Oh, fuck, that feels amazing.”

He sucked, bobbing his head up and down, using only the slightest scrape of teeth when he slowed. Pre-cum splashed onto his tongue, drawing a moan that vibrated against William’s cock. When William began pushing into his mouth, Aiden pulled off of him.

“Agh, what are you doing? Don’t stop. I was so close.”

“I know. And I want to be in you when you come. I want to come with you, feel you milk the seed out of my cock.” Aiden grabbed William’s legs and pushed them back toward his chest. He reached up and placed William’s arms under his legs. “Hold them like this, and don’t move.”

Aiden’s hands caressed the smooth skin of William’s ass. He pulled his cheeks apart and saw the perfect pink star nested in between. He bent to kiss each check while rubbing a moist finger lightly over the hole. “I am going to bury my cock in here,” he said as his lubed finger pushed all the way in.