Title: The Alpha's Mate
Author: Beth Laycock
Series: Penhul Pack #1
Genre: M/M Romance, Paranormal
Release Date: September 15, 2020
Alpha of the Penhul pack with a human mate? Never going to happen.
Addison knows grief can do strange things to people, but when he’s wandering Pendle Hill and witnesses a dog leap out of thin air, he thinks he must be going crazy. When the border collie morphs into a man—a very naked man—he has to be dreaming. Only when he wakes to find himself cold and alone, locked inside a bare stone room does he wonder if it was the start of a nightmare.
As the youngest alpha the Penhul pack has ever had, Drake knows he has a lot to prove. Increasing their dwindling numbers is hard enough but convincing his pack they can do so by working alongside humans is like trying to teach an old dog new tricks. He was taught, as all familiars are, that humans can’t be trusted, especially not with their secret. It’s no surprise, then, that he has no idea what to do when a member of his own pack brings a human prisoner to their den. But he’s definitely not prepared for the reaction the human elicits from him.
Can Drake put aside their differences, and Addison come to accept their similarities, to save the Penhul pack from danger? A threat that may end up costing Drake not only his life but that of his fated mate?
Standing in front of the door, I peered through the barred window into the room yet couldn’t see anyone. But I knew someone was inside from the telltale tingle along my skin as the hairs on my neck lifted. I didn’t sense danger or even wariness like I usually did when I had to interact with humans. That lack of sense set me on edge. “Stay here. I’ll go in alone to see him.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I unlocked the door and stepped inside the room. The burst of pain in my abdomen took me by surprise and I sucked in a deep breath. A reaction to a human had never happened to me before. He did make a sorry sight though. Arms clutching his knees to his chest and his head lay on top of them. Chin-length blond hair hid his face. But his scent couldn’t be concealed. The distinctive human smell filled the room.
I took another deep breath, and beneath the scent of human I smelt hints of something sweet like honey. My mouth watered at the flavour, and I staggered back at my response. This couldn’t be an ordinary human. Perhaps his ending up here wasn’t so coincidental after all. What if he had already suspected what we were? What if he’d been out on Pendle Hill looking for us?
At the scrape of my feet across the stone flags as I stepped farther into the room, his head lifted. And I found myself staring into a pair of chocolate-brown eyes that sent a rush of adrenaline through my veins and left me light-headed. Every muscle went into lockdown at my bizarre reaction to the human, and I held my breath as I stared into eyes that darkened and narrowed as they clashed with mine. The lack of submission sent a jolt down my spine and I swallowed hard, off kilter from nothing more than looking at the human. That didn’t bode well. Not at all.
“Yes, Alpha.”
I unlocked the door and stepped inside the room. The burst of pain in my abdomen took me by surprise and I sucked in a deep breath. A reaction to a human had never happened to me before. He did make a sorry sight though. Arms clutching his knees to his chest and his head lay on top of them. Chin-length blond hair hid his face. But his scent couldn’t be concealed. The distinctive human smell filled the room.
At the scrape of my feet across the stone flags as I stepped farther into the room, his head lifted. And I found myself staring into a pair of chocolate-brown eyes that sent a rush of adrenaline through my veins and left me light-headed. Every muscle went into lockdown at my bizarre reaction to the human, and I held my breath as I stared into eyes that darkened and narrowed as they clashed with mine. The lack of submission sent a jolt down my spine and I swallowed hard, off kilter from nothing more than looking at the human. That didn’t bode well. Not at all.
Beth Laycock’s books are influenced by her time living overseas as well as the gritty, urban landscape of the north of England where she grew up. She has been reading romance since she was old enough to tell herself that line every book lover does—just one more chapter.
As a teenager, she attempted to write her first novel, and many more since then are still gathering dust on her bookshelf. It wasn’t until she discovered the M/M genre that her muse showed up and refused to quit telling her stories about beautiful men finding love together. She hasn’t stopped scribbling them down since.
Beth’s muse usually shows up when she is in the shower, is allergic to cleaning, rarely lets her watch TV, and insists she drinks copious amounts of coffee so she can turn caffeine into words.
Beth’s books range from sweet to sexy, long to short, contemporary to paranormal, but a HEA is always guaranteed.
EMAIL: beth@bethlaycock.com
