Summary:
Valley Ghosts #6
After waiting to explore Preston Castle, the team was finally ready to go. Jason begins his research on the many paranormal experiences recorded through the years, and instantly knows this is not a typical haunting. While watching video footage, he realizes there’s far more lingering around Preston Castle than just ghosts.
Wade’s ability to see and interact with spirits has become something he depends on, but Janis warns him against the shadow people they’ll encounter. He questions whether it’s safe for them to spend time at the old reform school, but if anyone knows how to handle a haunting, it’s Jason. Not this time. The shadows are alive, and intent on harming all who invade their space.
Running Scared Paranormal Research is on the job, but their normal protections may not be enough to save them from what awaits them at Preston Castle.
Paranormal romantic thriller.
Blood and Sand by Jordan L Hawk
Summary:The Pride #3
War has come to the streets of Chicago…
Sam Cunningham didn’t set out to work for a gangster, but his job as Mickey Sullivan’s hexmaster seems safe enough…until a gang war puts a target on both of their backs.
Cheetah-shifter Alistair Gatti is desperate to keep his family’s speakeasy up and running. But with a brutal assassin killing off the city’s bootleggers, his options are growing slimmer with every passing day.
Their one chance to remain safe and keep The Pride afloat lies in the form of an ancient hex looted from an Egyptian tomb. If Sam wants to escape Sullivan’s grasp, he needs to recreate the hex and get it to work.
But in a gang war fought by magic as well as guns, the odds are in no one’s favor, and the streets of Chicago will soon run red with blood.
Original August 2026 Book of the Month Review:
Absolutely delicious! I've loved Jordan L Hawk's work since I first ventured into Widdershins waybackwhen and each new book from the author's many series I've dived into, just gets better and better. The Pride's third entry, Blood and Sand is a perfect example of that.
I won't spoil anything so details will be vague, if you follow my reviews then you are well aware of my no spoiler motto😉. I will say you need to read the series in order, technically you don't really have to read the author's Hexworld series that The Pride connects to but I personally would recommend doing so. It's not a case of plot points or characters crossing over so much as I felt I had a better, more deeper understanding and appreciation of the witch/familiar dynamic and the blending of magic and fact that went into the author's world building, but that's just my take on it.
Back to Blood and Sand. We see Sam and Allister pick up pretty much where Lion's Tail, book 2, left off. Their relationship is both stronger and weaker due to Sam's employer and its interesting to see that scale trying to balance out. Don't get me wrong, love for each other is never in question. Since reading the second book, I lost my mother and can certainly understand Sam's pull towards what he wants to do(no spoilers #sorrynotsorry) even though the reason behind it is on the complete opposite end of the emotional spectrum.
It's the above eluded to point that I feel earns B&S a "dark elements" label. I've certainly read darker books but there is an ambiguous moral line Sam contemplates that puts it in the dark column, some readers might not quite see it the same but I wanted to put that out there.
There isn't a single thing in this story that is just page filler, every scene, every interaction, every hex, every drink is needed and furthers the story along fluently. I don't know if the author has anymore stories in this series planned, the ending could go either way, but if more come I will definitely read them and if not, I'll enjoy what there is for years to come in revisits.
Summary:
The Magi Accounts #5
I made a promise to the enemy… and I intended to keep it.
Thank the goddess I have my pride and my wonderful, amazing mate—whose patience matches no other—because the world is in chaos, and Cosmo is my rock, my safe place inside the storm. If only I could find the time between witches, work, politics, and family to prove it to him.
The Shifter and Magi Equality Act is in full effect, supposedly making us equals, but the people themselves—the humans—are still treating us as lesser. Every time I turn around, we’re running into trouble between humans and non-humans.
To make matters worse, witches are everywhere in Fairview City, and the Red Cloth is encouraging humans to join their forces and challenge the equality my people have fought so hard to get.
Summary:
Vampires of the Beloved Gem #2
Can vampires from two separate worlds figure out how to mesh their lives together?
Giovanni Cardello loves life. He is more than content in his position as a craps dealer aboard the Beloved Gem, and his special bond with the coven master and close friends is all he needs. But mistaken identity leads to him being kidnapped, and he wonders if he’ll ever see his coven family again.
Lucius Mancini is honored to be the second for the created vampire. His family line goes back to the original eight, and Lucius is proud of the life he’s lived. When the created ones are called to be part of the newly formed paranormal council, the last thing Lucius expected was to scent his beloved. But when he discovers his beloved is missing, he questions if they’ll find him alive.
When Giovanni wakes up back on the Gem, he didn’t expect the gorgeous vampire in the room to be his fated mate. Gio agrees to move to Montana with Lucius, but the council is still forming, and Giovanni doesn’t know how he fits into this world. Now an unknown presence appears near Gio on the mountain, leaving everyone to wonder what its intent is. Is it after Gio? Or does it not want the council on the mountain?
Giovanni’s Jackpot is the second book in the Vampires of the Beloved Gem series. Each book in the series focuses on a different couple, but these books should be read in order as there is an ongoing backstory, and previous couples will make appearances in future books. This is a fated mate MPREG story with plenty of sexy times. You should expect all the normal vampire shenanigans and sometimes love bites in unexpected places.
Wolf Moon Rising #2
Lost best friends grow back together.
Alexis Mena has waited five whole years for his childhood sweetheart to come back from college. He’s ready to get marked, mated, and finally settle down, but when the stoic farmer returns, there’s a wall between them that Alexis can’t scale. Looking at Ridge every day is too much for Alexis, so when his cousin offers him the chance to stay with her and her husband, he jumps to get away. If he can’t have the life he’s always dreamed, with the Grove pack, at least he can stop waiting.
Ridge Paterson returned from college with nothing to his name but an old truck, a one-eyed barn cat, and a heap of debt. Fortunately, he’s also got hope—hope all that schooling’s prepared him to turn the family farm around. But no sooner has he set foot back on Paterson land than his parents decide to sell it out from under him. Listless and lost, he lets Alexis slip through his fingers. Left with cut roots and a heap of desperation, the man he left behind tempts him to find a new place to call home.
There’s more on the line than student debts and insecurities for the young werewolves. The mysterious Condition is affecting Alexis’s cousin, threatening her pregnancy and everything Alexis holds dear, and the man with the skills to solve it all might just be an alpha willing to follow his one-true love halfway across Virginia for a chance to put down roots of his own.
Harvest Moon is a 90k word novel about one sad man of the land, his podcasting childhood sweetheart, and an illness that threatens all werewolfkind, in a non-mpreg ABO universe.
Ghost Shadow by BL Maxwell
Chapter One
We’re Back!
Wade
I pulled up in front of the house I shared with my boyfriend and business partner, and jogged inside, too excited to walk. “Jason? Babe, where are you?” Kicking the door shut, I walked through the house to the backyard, knowing exactly where I’d find him.
“Hey, you’re home early. I didn’t expect you for a few hours.” Jason’s eyes lit up as he walked over to me and I hauled him in for a kiss.
“You two are just too cute,” Mom said, from where she sat next to Jimbo.
“Hi, guys, I’m glad you’re here too. So, I have some news.” Taking Jason’s hand, we walked back to his chair, and he sat on my lap.
“Fuck, you found us another haunted house didn’t you. Nothing says haunted house like an excited Wade. Remember the good old days when you didn’t like ghosts?” Jimbo crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at me, and I had the feeling if he could read my mind he would have. Good thing his beacon only worked on ghosts.
Rubbing my hands together, I braced myself for their reaction. “Not just any haunted house, the haunted house.”
“No, I thought it was closed.” Jason knew exactly what I was talking about, but it took Jimbo and Mom a while longer.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Haven’t we gone to everything haunted in the area?”
“Nope, there’s one we haven’t made it to.” I was going to drag this out as long as I could because I knew once I named the place, Jimbo was going to lose his shit. Winking at Jason, I continued to torture Jimbo.
“Is it that place in Placerville? The hotel you guys got kicked out of? Pretty sure you’re still banned from there.”
Jason laughed, and I elbowed him. That shit stung, I would have loved to return there. “Not until they get a new owner. I called there a few weeks ago and they told me not to bother calling again. They have a long memory.”
“You terrified the whole hotel.”
“We terrified the whole hotel.”
“Fuck’s sake, tell us where you’re going.” Mom finally couldn’t take it anymore. Jimbo folded his arms again beside her and gave me the hairy eyeball.
“Yeah, Wade, where are you going?”
I didn’t miss that shit, he was part of the team now, and he wasn’t getting off the hook so easy. “If you don’t want to go that’s fine, but I called Dean and he’s on his way. Should be here any second, and he sounded pretty excited about going. He didn’t even care where it was.”
“You asshole, I don’t know what you told him, but—dammit, Wade, where are we going?”
“See, I knew you wanted to go. I got a call from the property manager at Preston Castle. They’ve always had issues, but nothing like they’ve had the past month. Something has changed or something is coming, and he wants us to make sure whatever it is, it’s gone by the time they open for their Halloween celebration.”
Mom’s eyes widened at the name—she’d heard us talk about the place before. It had been built in 1894 and was called the Preston School of Industry. What it actually was, was a prison for young boys. Through the years it had been used for different things, but now, it was mostly a museum, and a haunted house attraction. None of that mattered to the ghosts that still walked the halls and made their presence known.
“Hell no, I’m not going with you so don’t even ask.”
We’d all watched a horror movie that used the building as a backdrop. Now, I knew that had been a mistake. The color drained from Jimbo’s face, but he didn’t say a word. Dean arrived and joined us in the backyard.
“Hey, guys, what’s going on?” Walking directly to Jimbo, he leaned down and kissed him before he took a better look at him. “James, are you okay?”
“I just told him where we’re going next.”
Dean sat on Jimbo’s lap and put his arm around his shoulder. “I thought you were excited to go on another job?”
Jimbo took a deep breath and blew it out before he pulled Dean in close. “If you go, I’ll go, but this one is not going to be fun or fake. I’ve heard a lot of stories about it, and they’re all true.”
“Wait, what have you heard?” I asked. He’d never said a word about any of this before.
“I have a friend who worked there when it was still in operation. There was always activity, it didn’t matter if it was in the middle of the day or late at night. A door would open and close, things were always coming up missing, or moving right in front of people when they were working. Most of them ignored it, but a few couldn’t and ended up not working there anymore.”
“Jimbo, I need to ask you something.” Jason leaned forward but kept his arm draped around me. Jimbo’s eyes narrowed but he nodded for Jason to continue. “If this place is that blatantly active, are you absolutely sure you can control your beacon?”
Jimbo huffed and opened his mouth to answer, but Jason raised his hand, and waited until he settled back to speak again. “I’m not saying you can’t do it, but I don’t want to put any of us in danger, and if you end up bringing in every spirit who’s been there, or is within ten miles from there—well, we’re fucked.”
“Jason, language!” Mom snapped, before stroking Jimbo’s arm. “James, I know you can do it. Just talk to Janis and see what she suggests. If you could make it through the Sacramento underground case, you can make it through anything.”
“Yeah, Jason, there was a shitload of spirits there, and as you know I did not contribute to the problem.” He gently moved Dean forward just so he could cross his arms and give me a defiant look.
“Okay okay, if you’re sure. I just know you were really relieved when we decided not to go to Preston last year.”
“You’re the one who said it was too much for just the four of us and look how that turned out. We still had to deal with that crazy ghost at the hair salon.”
I didn’t miss Mom’s shiver as she leaned in closer to Jimbo. “Count me out, that shit was too much for me. I’m perfectly happy hearing about it all when it’s over.”
“Well, that’s something else I wanted to talk to everyone about.”
“What is it, Wade?” Jason asked.
“I think we need to enlist another ghost hunting group. I’ve been low-key investigating a few, and there’s one or two that are promising.”
“I know someone who would go. Well, I think he would,” Jimbo said.
“Who?”
“He’s the son of an old friend I’ve known for quite a few years. His dad’s side of the family has the sight.”
“He can see spirits?”
“Yeah, his dad has shut down that part of him, but his son is apparently pretty open to it. I can ask if he’d be interested.”
“Can you call him and see? Just tell him we have a job but it’s too big for the four of us. If he’s interested, we might just need one more.”
“Maybe his boyfriend would want to go as well.”
“Ask him or have him call me.”
“Okay, Wade, now what’s the big plan here?”
“I’m not sure yet. I got a call from the owner because something has stirred up the activity even more than normal. And like Jimbo said, it’s a very active haunting. They don’t conduct any business there other than tours, and at Halloween they have a big event. It’s gotten so bad they’re unable to staff the tours. They’ve even hired professional paranormal investigators and they didn’t last either.”
“What did they see?” Jason asked. I knew this would be a tough case for him too. He wasn’t able to see and communicate with spirits the way I could, and even though most of them went without much trouble, there was always one or two that refused to leave.
“It wasn’t any one incident, it was a lot of things. The spirits seem to target one person and they harass them until they can’t take it anymore and quit.”
“Is there footage from the other investigators we could watch?” Dean asked.
“Yes, there’s a bunch of it. But, Jason, you need to know, this is similar to the The Vineyard House, only there’s way more spirits, and like I said they are not shy.”
He thought about it for a second before he wove his fingers with mine. “We’re ready for this. As long as we can get one or two more people, we should be good to go.”
“We might need our little friend too.” A ghost had attached to us after we’d left The Vineyard House. She was a child when she’d died, but she hadn’t moved on because her spirit was at first attached to the house, and then later she was curious about us and wanted to help. Now if we needed her, she was there, as a bridge to the spirit world, and also a guide.
“Emma hasn’t let us down yet. She always seems to know what’s happening.” Jason glanced around like he expected to see her.
“You’re right, I can feel her closer lately, but I haven’t seen her. Maybe she knows we’ll need her soon and she’s waiting.” I hoped Jason was right, and Emma was there when we needed her. I still had trouble trusting spirits. Even the ones who wanted to help always seemed to hold back from telling the whole truth.
“So, Jimbo, tell me what you’ve been told about this other guy.” Jason gave Jimbo a serious look and waited for him to offer him more information about the guy he trusted enough to recommend.
Blood and Sand by Jordan L Hawk
1
Alistair stared down at the dead bootlegger and wished he’d stayed home.
The man—Charlie O’Keefe—sprawled on his back on the deck of his yacht, which was currently tied up at a little marina not too far from Towertown. A single gunshot marked the center of his forehead. Fortunately, the back of his head was against the deck, hiding at least some of the carnage of the much larger exit wound.
Not an unfamiliar sight, Alistair having served on the front lines in France. Though in the war, few casualties were shot at such close range, at least judging from the powder burns on O’Keefe’s skin.
“Must’ve got the jump on him,” Doris observed from where she stood a few feet behind him on the deck. Philip didn’t say anything; he’d taken on snow leopard form and leapt to the bridge’s roof to better survey the area. “There’s no sign of a struggle. He still had a drink in his hand when he went down.”
Indeed, a battered flask lay in O’Keefe’s fingers, liquor pooling beneath it. His assassin had walked right up and shot him in the face. Someone he knew, then.
Whoever had done it, it was bad news for them. O’Keefe was meant to be their new source for booze, since their last bootlegger died in a fiery airplane crash.
So much for that.
“Check below,” Alistair said. “See if the cargo is still intact.”
“Aye-aye, captain.” Doris saluted him; he returned it with his middle finger.
She went below in tiger shape, ready in case of an ambush. Alistair didn’t think she’d find any trouble, though; aside from the gentle slap of waves against the hull, the marina was utterly silent. Autumnal chill had set in, the wind over the lake promising winter, and the best days for pleasure sailing were behind.
He went into cheetah shape to take advantage of his nose. The world took on new dimensions around him, smelling of blood and brains, oil and fuel, salt and algae, snow leopard and tiger, and…
A human, probably a man. And…ink? Did the assassin have a leaky fountain pen?
Either way, it wasn’t going to help him figure out who had put O’Keefe on ice. A rival? A personal grudge? A gang boss who didn’t want the competition?
He hoped it wasn’t the latter, because the only gang in the area was headed by Mickey Sullivan. Who Alistair’s lover—and witch—worked for.
Sullivan wasn’t usually so aggressive when it came to small-time rumrunners. But between the death of his only child and an ongoing war with Isabella Fabiano and her gang, maybe his patience had run short.
“Booze is still here,” Doris called.
Alistair shifted form so he could talk. “Grab the hooch, then we get out of here before anyone else shows up.”
Philip sprang down to the deck and took on human shape. “Just steal it?”
“Not like he’s going to miss it.” Alistair turned his back on O’Keefe’s body, its eyes fixed lifelessly on the clouds above.
Philip shrugged. “We should check to see if it’s tainted.”
“We’ll do it back at The Pride. I don’t want to spend any more time than we have to here. The killer might have friends who are on their way to pick up the liquor right now.”
Philip swore, but it got him moving. The living space below had been converted to a cargo hold filled with crates of illicit liquor. They hauled the crates out, Doris lifting them easily by herself, Philip and Alistair panting and cursing to move them together. As soon as the truck was full, they shut the hatch behind them, leaving what remained.
As they crammed back into the truck, Philip said, “This load won’t get us through the end of the month, Alistair. With O’Keefe bumped off, we need to find a new supplier fast.”
Alistair ground his teeth in frustration. Running a speakeasy in Chicago was good business, but not exactly the most stable way to make a living. They were getting squeezed left and right, and pretty soon their only choice was going to be between serving whatever panther piss Sullivan sold them or packing it all in.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said as Doris steered the truck away from the dock, its lights off so as not to attract attention. “We’ll come up with something. We always do.”
* * *
Sam took off his hat and held it tightly in his hands as he walked through the front door of The Silvervine. He’d been in some equally fancy joints since he came to Chicago, but that fact didn’t seem to be helping his nerves tonight.
The cabaret was in full swing, a constant flow of men and women in fashionable clothes coming in, and a smaller stream departing. Just inside the door, two hosts guided diners to their tables. Sam cleared his throat when his turn came. “I’m here to meet Mr. Sullivan? Sam Cunningham.”
The man didn’t bat an eye at the mention of Sullivan—but then, according to Alistair, the gangster owned the place, even though his name wasn’t on the paperwork. “Of course, Mr. Cunningham. Right this way.”
Sam followed him, trying not to gawk. He’d been in Chicago for a little over six months now, but its nightlife still had the power to dazzle him. Back in Gatesville, where he’d spent most of his life, the town would have already rolled up the sidewalks for the night. Most folk would be in bed by now, or else listening to the radio if they couldn’t sleep.
Here, the evening was just getting started.
The Silvervine was decorated in rose and gold, with red velvet covering the walls. Tables surrounded a dance floor where customers did the Charleston to the accompaniment of an eight-piece orchestra. More diners watched from a second-floor balcony. Waiters threaded their way through the tables, carrying drinks—none filled more than halfway to allow for illicit alcohol to be added—and plates of spaghetti, linguini, and steak.
After pausing at the coat check, the host led him through the dining room to an arch on the far side. A velvet curtain hung in the arch to shield the occupants in the room beyond from curious eyes.
It was another dining room, this one much smaller than the main hall, with fewer tables and only a four-piece orchestra. The dance floor was mainly unoccupied, though a pair of women drunkenly swayed together, laughing hysterically at their own lack of coordination. Sam followed the host up a set of stairs to the balcony above.
Sullivan sat at one of the three tables, his right-hand man Leonard Turner at his elbow. The other tables were occupied by men and women Sam recognized as members of Sullivan’s gang whom he’d met over the summer. Several of them called greetings when he entered, and a few leaned back in their seats to shake his hand as he passed.
Heat crept up his neck at the attention, even as he tried to smile and return all the greetings. He barely knew them, but apparently that didn’t matter. The important thing was he was Sullivan’s, just like they were.
“Glad you could make it, kid,” Sullivan said, pulling back the empty chair at his table. “Have a seat; have a seat.” To the host, he added, “Get the man a Canada Dry, would you? Fill it to the top. And another scotch and soda for Lenny here.”
“Thanks.” Sam’s palms sweated as he sat down, and he wiped them on his knees beneath the table. He wasn’t used to any of this—when he took the job as Sullivan’s hexmaster, he’d assumed he’d be spending his days working in the lab and his nights at home with Alistair or at The Pride.
And for the most part, he did. But his promotion had unexpectedly put him in the upper echelons of the gang, which meant the other members wanted to get to know him. Most of the time he was able to politely dodge invitations to dinner or drinks, but when Sullivan summoned him, he had no choice but to attend.
“How are you doing?” Sullivan asked him. “All healed up?”
The man who’d formerly held Sam’s job, Vic Nagorski, had shot him in a misguided attempt to force Sam to help him with a hex, one that could heal any wound—but only at the cost of someone else’s life. Fortunately, ordinary doctors and hexes had been able to save him, though he was only now really able to move without pain again.
They hadn’t saved his mother, though.
“Once a failure, always a failure,” whispered his father’s voice in his head.
“Good as new,” he told Sullivan. “How is Mrs. Sullivan?”
A look of sorrow flitted across Sullivan’s face, there and gone in an instant. He’d aged since his only child’s death, his hair grown out so darker roots showed, more lines around his eyes. “She’s visiting her mother in New York for a bit. I’ll pass along your greetings.”
A waiter came with their drinks, then took their orders. Sam got the steak, since he’d never mastered the knack of twirling spaghetti on a fork, and didn’t want to look like a fool in front of his employer. Once the server was gone again, Sullivan said, “How are things going at the hexworks?”
Sam wasn’t sure why he’d been invited to this dinner, when Sullivan could have summoned him to his office at any time. But being asked to talk about hexes put him on surer footing, and he sat up straighter.
“Good! We’re fully up and running now—one of the scriptoriums wasn’t working out, it was too dark, but we figured out how to amplify the hexlights without needing more magic to run them, so that’s taken care of.”
Vic had burned the old hexworks to the ground, which meant the entire operation had to move to a new location. Sullivan acquired a building that once housed a Lithuanian-language newspaper, now out of business, and Sam had been helping to convert it to a hexworks ever since.
“Excellent, excellent.” Sullivan took a sip of his drink, which looked like a gin and tonic. While working at The Pride, Sam had learned more than he ever wanted to know about cocktails. “And you’ve figured out the counter to that look-away hex, I believe.”
“We have.” Sam had to restrain himself from going into details; most folks didn’t particularly care about how hexes worked, so long as they did. “It’s ready to be copied now.”
Sullivan beamed at him. “Well done. You’ve earned a bonus.”
Turner slipped a hand inside his suit coat and came out with a thick envelope, which he passed over to Sam. Sam’s throat constricted—he wanted to protest, say it hadn’t been anything, really. He was already being paid more than he’d ever dreamed and certainly didn’t need a bonus.
But it wasn’t just him now. Luke and Glenda, his teammates in the lab, deserved acknowledgement for their hard work.
Silently pledging to split the entire sum between the two, he accepted the envelope and put it in his own coat, beside his hexmaking kit. “Thanks, Mr. Sullivan. That’s very generous of you.”
Sullivan smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “I take care of my people.” His eyes went past Sam, and he sat back. “And here’s that dinner.”
Talk turned to inconsequential things while they ate. Turner regaled them with a story about an excursion to Milwaukee in which he’d encountered a pair of contortionists, and soon had Sullivan and Sam both choking on their laughter. When they’d first met, Sam had thought Turner severe—and he could be, especially when carrying out Sullivan’s orders. But he had a lighter side to him, always ready with a preposterous anecdote or amusing joke.
After dessert—chocolate ice cream with shavings of chocolate sprinkled on top—a steady stream of the other gang members came by for a quick word with their boss. Sullivan and Turner lit cigars; Sam demurred, to Turner’s amusement.
“Maybe we should call you Choirboy,” he said with a wink. “You don’t smoke, you don’t drink, you’re going steady with that cat when you could be working your way through Bughouse Square—you’ve got to have some vice.”
Sam’s face heated, but Sullivan only laughed. “A smart man keeps his vices under wraps,” he said, pointing his cigar at Turner.
“Still waters run deep, I guess.” Turner clapped Sam on the shoulder.
The teasing wasn’t mean-spirited, which was a change from Sam’s former life back in Gatesville. There, it was meant to set him apart; here, it was a signal he belonged. “Deep as a puddle,” he replied, and got a chuckle out of Turner.
Sullivan checked his watch, then rose to his feet. Turner and Sam did the same, as did another of the gang, Eddie Bellinowski. “Bring around the car, would you?” Sullivan asked Bellinowski, who nodded and hurried away down the stairs.
Assuming Sullivan’s departure meant he was free to go as well, Sam trailed along after him and Turner. At the coat check, Sullivan retrieved a fur coat that looked too hot for the fallish weather but probably had a hex on it to keep its wearer comfortable. He made quite a sight as they strolled toward the glass doors at the front of the cabaret: fur coat, diamond tie pin, tailored suit, and shining shoes.
At the door, Sullivan paused and turned toward Sam. “Always a pleasure to—”
The front of the building exploded inward in a shower of fire and glass.
Only Unity will Spare Us by Michele Notaro
Prologue
Despite everything, I couldn’t help but think this was a trap.
Call it paranoia, but I wouldn’t put it past the NHSO to lead us here only to capture, torture, or kill us—or all of the above. After all the things they’d done to me throughout my life, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to trust them, whether the Shifter and Magi Equality Act was in effect or not.
So being here at the NHSO headquarters wasn’t really giving me any warm and fuzzy feelings, not that I was a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, but still. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and the longer we were there, the more my anxiety ratcheted up.
“It’s going to be fine,” Jude said, not for the first time. “If they were planning on betraying us, they would’ve done it by now. We’ve been sitting in here for hours.”
Logically, I knew he was likely right, but that didn’t stop my brain from thinking up horrible scenarios as I paced back and forth inside the conference room.
“Bubba, this is the exact reason why Renata put that they’re negotiating with the NHSO today about our jobs all over social media and everything. It’s been everywhere. They can’t do anything to us without facing the public’s scrutiny. People are waiting to hear what happens today. She’s even meeting with the local news station later so they can get an exclusive. We’re fine.”
Another good point, but I still had my doubts.
Jude sighed as he stared at me. “We have contingencies in place, and I doubt they’d be able to hold us here even if they tried.”
Okay, so that was true. We could probably bust out of here if we needed to. Before, the only reason we complied when they came at us with magi collars and torture was because we had trackers inside us. And we knew our punishment would be ten times worse, and last longer, if we ran first because there was no doubt they’d catch up.
But we didn’t need to worry about that anymore. If we wanted to bust out of here and make a run for it, they’d never catch us.
But even knowing that, I muttered, “Maybe I shouldn’t have let him go in there by himself. What if they do something to him, Jude?”
“He’s not by himself. He’s with Harriet, Renata, and Simon.”
“I know, but—”
“Can you feel his emotions? Does he feel calm or panicked right now?”
Instead of snapping at him, I took a breath and concentrated on the piece of Cosmo’s soul wrapped around my heart. After only a second, I admitted, “He’s calm. But that doesn’t mean he’s not hiding his panic from me so I don’t freak out and—”
Jude’s bark of laughter cut me off. “For fuck’s sake, bubba. Has Cos ever done that to you? From what you’ve told me, he never hides his feelings from you.”
That much was true. “He doesn’t, but—”
“Mads,” Charlie said, placing a hand on my shoulder and squeezing so I’d turn to him. “If there was trouble, Cos would do everything in his power to make sure you knew so you could keep us all safe. Right?”
I stared at Cosmo’s younger brother, who looked so much like him underneath his pretty makeup. He’d actually worn his makeup to HQ for the first time, and I was so happy for him and so damn proud. Charlie sent me an encouraging smile, and it helped ground me. He was right. If something wasn’t right with this meeting, Cos would let me know. Most of our pride was here at HQ with us, so there was no way he’d hold back.
After a few seconds, I nodded. “You’re right.”
Char grinned at me, then pulled me into a hug, scenting my cheek. “He’s okay, Mads. We’re all okay.”
I nodded against him, holding him tight for a minute. “So… you’re really leaving my team, huh?” Apparently, I was determined to poke at all my sore spots today. Ugh.
He sighed. “I don’t want to, but I need to be with Ash.”
“I know, and I don’t blame you. I just… I’m going to miss you.”
He released me and sent me a smile. “We’ll still be working together—well, assuming we get everything set up the way we want. And I live with you. I’m surprised you’re not sick of me yet.”
Even though I knew he was joking, there was still some of that insecurity he rarely showed peeking through. “I could never be sick of you.”
He sent me another wide smile, and then, because I was already feeling overwhelmed, fidgety, and a little out of my mind, I pulled him back into a hug. Char was always good for a nice hug. Pretty sure he got his hugging abilities from his big brother.
We waited another hour before the door to the conference room finally opened, and Cos walked in with Harriet, Simon, and Renata behind him.
Renata had decided to come today to help ensure our new rights were being followed to the T. She wanted to make sure that everything was as equal as possible at the top—at the NHSO—so that all magi and shifters in other jobs and situations would have this as an example.
Plus, Cos, being a Shifter World Council United States Representative, was negotiating for the entirety of the NHSO across the US, not just our local branch. We were setting the example… and making sure the NHSO was really going to follow the rules before other magi crept out of the woodwork. We didn’t want anyone to end up in a bad situation. We knew people would, no matter what we did, but we were trying to set a precedent and praying that the other cities—and other businesses—followed our lead.
We couldn’t be everywhere at all times, so this was the best we could do. Risking ourselves first before we told others it was okay to come out of hiding seemed like the right thing to do.
Cos sent me a smile, and I felt the warmth of his love in my chest. And for the first time since we’d gotten here, I took a calming breath. It was okay. Everything was okay.
Renata shut the door behind them, and she spoke first. “Everything’s set up. The biggest change, I think, is the fact that no one is allowed to physically punish any magi, or shifter, no matter what they do. Collars are no longer allowed—supposedly, the government is melting them all to get rid of them—and there will be absolutely no punishments… no torture. Ever again. If someone comes at you like that, they’ll be arrested and thrown into jail for a very long time.”
I didn’t even know what to think about that. Yes, obviously it was good, but I had my doubts that all the humans who worked here would actually follow that rule. Hopefully the number that would—probably the ones who’d stuck by us in the past—outweighed the number that would try to harm us despite the law. That was just something we’d have to deal with as it came.
Physical punishments had been such a normal part of my life for my entire life that I didn’t think I’d believe they weren’t allowed to happen until… until a lot of time had passed. I felt like I couldn’t even comprehend what it meant to not have that threat hanging over our heads.
She continued, “They’re only allowed to make you work five days a week, although they’re allowed to ask you to come in for overtime if they need you. The keyword being ask. They can’t force you to work more than forty hours a week. You’ll get a good salary, benefits, and be compensated for overtime if you do decide to do it.”
That sounded… amazing. Almost too good to be true.
She turned to Cos and waved him on, so he took over. “Our day-to-day will be the same as before, but now we get to focus on all crimes, no matter who’s involved.” Meaning we could actually help non-humans. That was fucking incredible.
The local police dealt solely with human-only crimes—I wasn’t sure if that would eventually change—so it was left up to the TRD to take care of non-human ones. But now we were allowed to concentrate on crimes other than non-human against human. We could help non-humans.
Cos continued, “We got them to agree to having two magi on every TRD team. And to continue sending out the teams in groups of two while the Red Cloth is at large. This is a policy they’re enacting at all NHSO headquarters across the country.”
Good. Out of everything I’d wanted, I wasn’t surprised this one went through. The NHSO was filled with prickholes, but not all of them were complete idiots, and they knew how big the witch threat was.
Renata added, “Everything I spoke about will also be country-wide.”
“That’s great news,” Jude said, giving her a nod.
She smiled back, but Cos kept talking. “Exactly. As for our teams, they listened to me about who we want on which teams. So that means Mads, Jude, and Logan are on one team—I had to argue that you two counted as one, and obviously, I won.” He shot me a nod. We’d all spoken a lot about counting Jude and me as one mage on a team since Jude couldn’t help close the veil tears or even put up a taragorian-proof shield. I felt… guilty talking about Jude that way, like he wasn’t a real mage, but he was so adamant that we be counted as one together that I finally agreed with him. Cos added, “And Ash and Wren are on the other team. But… there will be some changes on who’s running what.”
He glanced at Harriet, and she smiled at him. “Harriet is moving to Simon’s team.” I blinked at that. What? Why? I love Harriet. “And so I’m moving into her spot. I’ve been promoted to captain, and I’m taking over our team.” He sent me a wink, smiling broadly before he turned to Jude. “Which means, Jude Ono-Nai, you’ve been made team lead. You’re the first magi in the entire country to hold that position. Congratulations, brother.”
Jude and I both just stood there frozen, staring at my mate.
It took a whole minute for his words to really make sense in my brain, and when they did, I let out a gasp before grabbing onto Jude. I could feel his shock, excitement, and happiness, and I could tell he was proud of himself. He fucking should be. I turned the big brute toward me and stared into his eyes. The moment they met, and I saw his going glassy, I felt my own begin to water.
In Magi, I said, “You did it.”
“I can’t believe it, bubba.”
I nodded and pulled him down to rest our foreheads together, still maintaining eye contact, just soaking in each other’s presence and letting our magics hum in happiness from our closeness.
After a little while, I whispered, “You’re better than all the clouds in the sky.”
He whispered back, “And you’re better than the tallest tree in the world.”
“Congratulations, Judikans. This is amazing. You are amazing.”
He smiled and straightened, then kissed my forehead. “So are you, bubba.”
The second he stepped back, Kulani pulled him into a hug, and after one last look at my absolutely incredible dyad, strong arms pulled me into a hard chest, and I hugged the crap out of my mate.
“Thank you,” I whispered to him. “This means so much to him.”
“I know it does. I think it means a lot to all of us.” It was true. My pride was supportive of everyone, and they all knew how hard Jude had worked to earn the position within the NHSO, even when we had everything working against us. If it meant a lot to him—and to me—it meant a lot to the rest of our family.
I nodded against him. “It does. Thank you.”
Cos snorted. “You don’t need to thank me. It wasn’t even a question. Honestly, if he and I could switch places, I’d do it in a heartbeat. He should already be way higher in the ranks than me. He deserves it.”
My heart warmed with my love for this man, and all I could do was hold him tighter.
I’d definitely been doubtful that anything would come of this meeting—at least not anything other than the government betraying us—so this absolutely blew my expectations out of the water. I was pretty sure I was still in shock at all the changes they were making. It was fucking amazing.
“Let’s go home and celebrate!” Charlie yelled, forcing me to release my mate to look at the younger shifter. He threw his arms in the air and yelled, “It’s time to party!”
That made everyone laugh, and Char just grinned wider. I had no doubt he was planning a huge blow-out at the house in his head. We were in for a wild ride tonight.
And even though Jude probably wouldn’t let it show on his face, I knew without even checking our connection that he’d love and appreciate every minute of it.
Giovanni's Jackpot by Taylor Rylan
1
Giovanni
Icould hardly wait. In just a couple of hours, I’d be on my way to Texas, and I’d get to spend a week naked in bed with an alpha that ticked all of my boxes and had a sex drive to match mine. Too bad the sexy wolf wasn’t my beloved. But when Caleb messaged me asking if I wanted to meet up again, I did something I never did. I agreed.
I’d met him on a cruise a few months ago. He was a lawyer from Houston, and when I looked up from my table on the casino floor and met his brown eyes, I knew then I’d be going to his room that night after my shift. In actuality, I spent every night of that cruise in Caleb’s bed.
I knew not to get attached to him. He wasn’t my beloved, and I wasn’t his mate. But we were good together, and what could it hurt?
I put another pair of clean pants into my bag, just in case. I wasn’t planning on spending a whole lot of time dressed over the next week, and really, how many changes of clothing did I need?
Remembering the new bottle of lube I’d bought specifically for this trip, I dashed off to the bathroom and realized I’d not packed my bathroom bag. That was definitely a must. I dropped everything I needed into it—adding the lube last—zipped it, and took it out to my small carry-on.
I was ready to go with plenty of time to spare before my ride was due to arrive, and all I could do was sit and wait. Not something I was good at doing. I was active by nature. Sure, I stood by a table all evening, but I was active in doing so. I tossed dice, reached for them, flirted with the players. It was who I was and how I worked.
A knock on my door was a welcome distraction. Maybe it was Matteo—no, he was with Master Nikolai because Diego was with his little penguin. Nigel was sweet, and I was glad that Diego had found his beloved. Sure, it would be nice, but I didn’t expect to find mine anytime soon. I was only sixty-five.
When I opened the door, I noticed two things at once. One, there were three wolves standing there, and two, one of them reached for me before I could do anything. Then everything went dark.
* * *
I couldn’t remember the last time my head hurt like this, if ever. I opened my eyes but quickly realized that there was something covering them. My arms were bound behind my back, and when I tried to pull them apart, it was no use. My strength seemed to be lacking, and I couldn’t break whatever was holding my hands together.
I listened, trying to pick up the sounds of anything, but I heard nothing. No car horns, no traffic, no airplanes overhead—nothing.
I wiggled my nose, turned my head, and realized that whatever was covering my eyes wasn’t covering anything else because I couldn’t feel anything on the lower half of my face. That was a good thing, I guess. I felt around as best as I could and came to the conclusion that I was on a bed, possibly. It was soft beneath me, and when I rolled a little to my left or right, I didn’t feel the back of anything.
My immediate plan was to roll off whatever I was on and get to my feet. Only when I went to roll in one direction twice, I found what I was sure was a wall. When I rolled the other direction, I encountered the same thing. A wall.
I knew I shouldn’t panic. Really, the last thing you should do in a situation like this was freak out. But that’s what I was doing. I rolled to my back and tried to move my legs around. I discovered they were free and weren’t tied to anything, and when I kicked upward, they didn’t hit anything.
It took some maneuvering, but I was able to wiggle my way down toward my feet and hit the end of something. I put my feet up on the…footboard? Wall? When the third kick hit air, I sighed in relief.
Okay. So maybe I wasn’t buried in a box somewhere. Maybe. Who really knew though? Where was I? How did I get here? Why were my eyes covered? Who were those wolves?
I heard a door open and wanted to cry in relief. If a door opened, that meant I wasn’t alone. Didn’t it?
“You’re a wiggly one.”
I didn’t recognize that voice.
“Time to go back to sleepy time. We can’t have you getting out of here.”
I sensed a prick on my neck, and then my blood felt hot. I tried to jerk away, but my body betrayed me with its sudden heaviness.
“Night-night.”
What did that even mean? I figured that out when I felt my mind shutting down and I succumbed to whatever it was they’d injected into my neck.
* * *
I slowly came to. My mouth felt like it was full of dirt, my head felt as if it were going to explode from the pressure in it, and my teeth ached.
“I think he’s waking up, Alpha.”
“Good.”
I heard footsteps, and whatever was covering my eyes was suddenly gone. Immediately, I closed my eyes and groaned at the bright light that was shining in them.
“What’s wrong, vamp. Don’t like the light after a few days of nothing but darkness?”
My brain was too fuzzy to try to figure out what he meant. Was he saying I’d been in here for a few days? Wherever here was.
“What do you want me to do with him, Alpha?”
“Leave him here for now. Either they haven’t found the note yet, or they just don’t care if they lose one member of their coven. I’ll give it another day before I contact them and take the next step.”
I blinked several times and tried to focus my eyesight and didn’t get them to work until the two wolves were at the door. They were through it before I could get a word out. Not that I expected them to answer any questions I had. But I had several.
My mind was still a fuzzy mess, and it hurt to have my eyes open, so I closed them, hoping that helped. That only made the room spin as my brain slowly woke up from whatever it was they’d given me.
I tried to remember what I’d been doing. I was packing. Had the car arrived to take me to the airport? No. I’d answered the door, and there had been wolves there. But that was the last thing I could really remember.
I opened my eyes and looked through the blurry mess that was my eyesight right now. That didn’t help the pounding in my head, but I needed to know where I was. I squinted, trying to focus, but it was no use. I closed my eyes and tried instead to see if I could hear anything. The pounding in my head wouldn’t allow for any focus, so I gave up and just lay there.
My teeth ached, telling me it had been too long since I’d last fed. That would contribute to the weakness of my body. I had to feed every five to seven days at my age. It was inconvenient at times, but it was how things were for me. I hadn’t found a donor recently because I was going to be with…Carl? No, that wasn’t right. Caleb. Drat. Why was my head so fuzzy?
I sighed, wondering what day it was. Was this how I was going to die? Slowly starving to death? The one wolf had said he was going to contact someone. But who? I couldn’t think enough to try and figure it out. I tried my best to clear my mind and let myself fall asleep without any sort of help from whatever it was they’d been giving me.
When I woke next, I found myself alone still, something that was a relief, actually. My brain was no longer quite as fuzzy, but I was incredibly hungry and knew that if I didn’t get something to eat soon, it could be very bad for anyone that came within striking distance to me.
I opened my eyes to a red haze, telling me it was as dire as I’d thought. My body was in hunt mode, and I needed to feed. I pulled on my arms, hissing when my shoulders screamed in pain. I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in this position exactly, but I knew it had been too long.
I got my first look at where I was and saw that I was in a small room, possibly a bedroom. I was definitely on a bed that was pushed up against the wall on one side, and in front of me was some sort of solid piece of plastic. Possibly to keep me from rolling off the bed? I wasn’t sure.
What I did know was that lying on my arms hurt with the way they were tied behind me, so I rolled to my side, then stomach. I was somehow able to get my knees under me and sit up on them. My shoulders were screaming at me, but I did my best to ignore them.
I knee walked over to the clear plastic rail and discovered it was only there to keep me from rolling out of the bed. I swung my leg over and was thankful for my long legs when it touched the floor. Hesitantly, I checked to see if my leg would hold me up, and when my knee didn’t buckle, I swung my other leg over and stood there, getting my feet under me.
When I was sure I could walk, I moved away from the bed and over to the other side of the room. I found a mirror on top of a dresser and did my best to turn around to try and see how my arms were secured behind my back. I saw silver handcuffs, only these seemed to be hinged in the middle. That would explain why it was that I couldn’t pull them apart.
I looked around the room as best as I could, but there was nothing except a dresser with a mirror, the bed, a chair, and a window. I walked over to the window and looked out. It was dark outside, and to anyone else, it might be difficult to see what was out there. Since my vision had tinted, I could tell that there was nothing but small prey animals out there. Wolves. Small animals.
Was I in the forest somewhere? Evergreen pack? The one wolf had called the other alpha. Diego and Nigel had problems with some of the wolves in the Evergreen pack. Was that who had me? But why?
I checked the window for a lock. I wondered if I’d be able to somehow flick it and then get the window open. I looked back to the chair and went over, wondering if I had enough strength to move it across the room.
I tried to push on it with my knees, and it moved only inches, causing me to groan. I pushed again, harder this time, and was rewarded with the chair moving farther for my effort. I pushed a third time and had to stop to catch my breath.
Whatever they’d injected me with had sucked all of the energy out of me—that combined with the fact that I knew it had been too long since I’d fed. I needed blood, and I needed it soon. Even just a little would help give me enough energy to break the restraints on my arms.
When I’d caught my breath, I pushed again on the chair. It took what felt like forever to get the chair in front of the window, but I somehow managed. I carefully climbed up onto it and turned, reaching for the window lock. My fingers barely reached, and when I flipped it, I sighed in relief. I bent down a bit, grabbed the top of the window frame, and tried to lift. When the window didn’t budge, I growled, frustrated.
I looked carefully at the window and saw nothing but a windowsill. There were no nails or screws, so why wouldn’t the thing open? I tried lifting it again and still nothing.
“You surprise me, vamp. But it’s secured from the outside.”
I turned toward the voice and hissed. My hunting instincts kicking in, I launched myself off the chair and was across the room before the wolf could even blink. When my fangs sunk into the throbbing vein on his neck, the wolf screamed out in pain. I sucked, relishing the warm metallic fluid as it trickled down my throat and warmed my stomach.
The wolf pushed at me as I swallowed a second time. I heard shouting, screaming, and then felt another stab in my neck. I turned my head and hissed, spitting out the chunk of flesh that came with my teeth when I turned my head to the side.
“Shit. He killed Rob. Why isn’t it working this time?”
I hissed again, my vision even deeper red now that I’d regained a bit of strength. I zeroed in on the other two wolves, ready for more blood now that I’d been pulled away from my first meal.
I yanked on my arms, finally freeing them, and when I got my hands in front of me, I held them out and grew my claws. One wolf shifted and growled at me. I simply grinned and started toward him. I was hungry, and I wasn’t overly picky at the moment.
The one wolf took off down the hallway, leaving me with the one in wolf form. I didn’t enjoy feeding from animals. Too much hair. But at times like this, one couldn’t be too picky.
“Come here, puppy. I’m still hungry,” I said. He growled again, and I hissed before I rushed down the hallway, surprising the wolf. I had him in my grip and held him against the wall before he probably realized that vampires could move faster than any other paranormal being.
“Shift and I’ll make it pleasurable for you,” I said.
Fur gave way to skin, and I found myself face-to-face with one of the wolves I remembered seeing outside my apartment.
“Where am I?” I asked as I held the wolf against the wall, my claws biting into his neck just enough to keep him in place.
“Pack lands. West of the city. Don’t hurt me.”
I zeroed in on that throbbing vein once more and grinned after I got a good whiff of this one. A positive. My favorite type. I licked his neck twice before I bit down. The wolf I had pinned to the wall moaned loudly as I took my first deep drink of blood. He shuddered as I took my second deep pull, and I smelled his cum as he went slack against me.
My own cock responded, plumping in my jeans. If only this asshole hadn’t kidnapped and drugged me, I would possibly be willing to see about taking things further. But alas, he had, and after a third deep drink, I let him fall to the floor. He’d be fine in a little while, but I planned on being long gone before then.
I licked my lips, getting as much of the blood off them as I could before I felt my body regain more strength. Whatever they’d given me made my blood feel warm, but the blood I’d just gotten from the wolves countered it, and I headed down the hallway, searching for a way out.
I found what I thought was the front door and opened it, coming face-to-face with the wolf that had run off. Only, he wasn’t alone.
“Grab him,” the other wolf commanded.
I lashed out, slicing the stomach open of the wolf closest to me. He screamed in pain, grabbing his torso as he stumbled back a step. I advanced on him but never made it to him before the other wolf I had chosen to ignore had me in a firm grip.
“You’ll pay for that, vampire. Your kind have caused enough trouble for me.”
My head was yanked to the side, and I felt another prick in my neck before it became difficult to breathe and everything went black.
Harvest Moon by Sam Burns & WM Fawkes
1
Alexis
As I walked up the long driveway to Ridge’s family farm, all I could think about was my mother’s tiny frown as I walked out the door. It was the shirt, of course. She wanted me to get rid of it, because “it was too small.”
Which, I supposed, wasn’t entirely untrue. I’d gotten it in high school, and I had grown since then, but that was half the reason I wore it. More than once, I’d been told I looked good in it.
Yes, sure, I was an omega, but as an omega who’s been miraculously unaffected by the Condition, I’m in pretty good shape. I think it’s the hiking. Or maybe the canoeing. The rock climbing?
The canoeing was for sure why my arms looked pretty darn good in the shirt. Maybe the climbing for my pecs.
What can I say? It pays to be an outdoorsy guy sometimes.
And I needed my best foot forward for this. Or my sexiest shirt. Whatever.
Because Ridge was finally home.
It felt like it had been forever. All through high school, our parents had encouraged us to wait to start anything serious.
My mother had always nagged about how I didn’t want to get myself trapped in a bond while I was still in high school. It was hard to blame her, and even now, I could see her point. She and my father had bonded in high school, and by all werewolf accounts—except for hers—they were some kind of perfect fairy-tale fated mates or whatever.
The truth was, she could barely stand to look at him. He was crude and blue collar and down to earth, and she hated all that about him. In Ridge, she’d seen everything she hated about her own life as a specter looming over my future.
Thing is, I didn’t want fancy parties or silk blouses or husbands who worked behind a desk and had never seen a clod of dirt in their lives.
I wanted a man who knew a tractor inside and out, and who could tell one kind of seed from another on sight. A man so obsessed with the land that he’d gone off to college in North Carolina for years to learn more about how to make things grow out of it.
No, of course not just any man who’d done all that.
Only Ridge Paterson.
Why else would I have accepted our parents’ suggestions to wait all through high school, not dating anyone at all, just following after Ridge like a groupie? Why else would I have waited as he’d gone off to North Carolina for college, been away for far longer than college had any right to take him from me?
I was twenty-two years old, and I’d never even been on a proper date because I’d spent my whole life waiting for Ridge.
But now? Now he was back.
The sight of his beat-up old red pickup meandering through town yesterday had been unmistakable, and it had taken every ounce of self-restraint in me to keep from running down the road after it.
And that’s the story. That was why I was there, walking up the long, dusty drive that led to Ridge’s family farm. Why I was wearing the tightest shirt I owned and jeans that showed off every single one of the hundred squats I did every day.
Mrs. Paterson was sitting on the front porch swing, a lemonade at her side and a fan in one hand. She smiled and waved when she caught sight of me, and then, as though no time at all had passed since school, she pointed toward the north field. It gave me such a moment of déjà vu that I almost wanted to pull out my phone and check the date.
Instead, I smiled and waved back, and turned toward the north field. Nothing was going to stop me this time. My mother could hate her life all she wanted, and I was sorry she did, but that wouldn’t stop me from snatching the life I wanted with both hands.
It wasn’t my fault she was unhappy with the choices she’d made when she was too young. More importantly, what she wanted and what I wanted were very different things. Not that I’d have married my dad or anything, but he was a good guy. And maybe I had picked a guy a lot like him, but I was not like my mother.
She wasn’t a nature lover. She didn’t have a podcast called Omega and the Great Outdoors. She should never have married a blue-collar guy who worked with his hands for a living. Me? I wanted those rough, callused hands. Wanted them all over me, on every inch of my skin, and . . .
Okay, no, that was a bad train of thought to head down right before I saw Ridge for the first time in years. I didn’t want to go see him while stinking of arousal, and distract him from the conversation at hand. From the fact that I’d been waiting for him for almost a damned decade. The fact that I was ready.
Ridge, in classic Ridge style, was digging in the dirt.
As much as I love the outdoors, I know absolutely nothing about farming. I mean, yeah, I know that things grow out of the ground and we eat them. It’s awesome. But it’s not the vocation for me. It’s Ridge’s thing.
He glanced up as I approached, sniffing the air, and froze, staring at me, eyes wide.
Was that good or bad? Was the shirt too tight? Did I look ridiculous?
No. No, I looked good. I’d spent hours picking this outfit. It showed off every physical asset I had, and I damn well knew it.
“Hey, Ridge. Good to see you.” I tried to keep my voice low and husky, the way that had always made his eyes darken and his breath catch back in high school. The way that got me the most super gross, inappropriate messages on my podcast’s email account. Needless to say, I tried not to do it on the podcast too much.
He turned back to stare at the ground so fast I was afraid he’d dropped something. But no, he just went back to digging, shoving his little trowel into the dirt so hard I was worried he’d snap it in half.
After a silence so long I’d half convinced myself he was going to ignore me, he answered in a mumble. “Hey, Alexis.”
What fresh hell was this? Five years apart, and all I got was “hey, Alexis”? What next, was he going to ask if it was hot enough out for me? What I thought about some local sports team?
Hell, I didn’t even know if there was a local sports team.
Fine, okay, if that was how he wanted it, I could fake small talk. “Going to get the fields going again? I think your parents have only been working the garden the last few years.”
One corner of his mouth turned down and he sat back, sighing. “Yeah, that’s what they said. Apparently the tractor broke, and instead of fixing it, they just . . . stopped.”
There was frustration in his voice. He’d always been the guy who fixed things when they went wrong around the farm, so he probably felt like it was his responsibility, somehow. Like his parents weren’t adults capable of getting someone to fix their tractor. On the other hand, as a guy with his own parents who sometimes acted like helpless children, I could feel his frustration.
I couldn’t count the number of time’s I’d had to change the settings on Dad’s phone or reset the clock on the DVD player because Mom “teehee, just couldn’t figure it out.”
I always assumed it was an excuse to be lazy and make someone else do it.
While I wouldn’t say it to Ridge, I wondered if, with his parents, it hadn’t been more that they couldn’t afford the parts or labor to fix it. Even before he’d gone off to school, things had been tight for the Patersons. That’s why he’d been so determined—something needed to change, he said, and he wanted an education to help him figure it out. Maybe things would get easier for them now that he was home.
There was a little thunk as his shovel hit something, and he pulled away and dropped it, sifting his hand through the dirt until he found what he’d run up against. Holding it up to the light, he cocked his head and looked at the dirty object for a moment, then gave a little smile. Without looking at me, he tossed it over.
I held it up to look at it too, and for a moment, I was stumped. Then—“Wait, is this quartz? How did it get there?”
“Pretty common,” he said, in that quiet, even tone of his. It was the way that told me a thing was important, but he wasn’t going to say so in words.
So I did what I had spent a decade doing. I brushed off the dirt, smiled at it, and stuffed it in my pocket. It would go well with the multiple shelves of rocks and arrowheads and sea glass I had at home already. Ridge had always liked finding things, and as often as not when he found something, he handed it to me. Who was I to get rid of a single piece of his collection?
When I looked back up at him, he was staring at my hand in my pocket, a tiny smile on his face. But of course, when he saw me looking, he turned back to the dirt.
I decided to prod, since he’d gone quiet again. This time, I wasn’t going to be put off so easily. “So. Now that you’re all done with college”—I didn’t miss the way he flinched at the words, but I had no idea what that flinch meant—“what’s next?”
He didn’t look up at me again. Instead, he shrugged and picked the trowel back up. “You know. Work the land. Try to get things up and running again.”
I was pretty sure his parents had sold off the broken tractor, and wasn’t sure how he was going to get the farm working again without it, but I didn’t say that out loud. He was an alpha, and even one as steady and sweet as Ridge didn’t want to hear that kind of skepticism about his plans. Well, I doubted anyone at all did, alpha or not.
On the other hand, I didn’t think he was going to be able to till and plant the whole farm by hand. It seemed like a lot for one man, even one big, strong, muscular alpha, with shoulders so broad I could probably ride them . . .
Okay, no. Not that.
“Anything else?” I prompted. “I mean, you’ll have time when you’re not working. Right?”
He glanced around the huge empty field, and back at his tiny trowel, and, well, good point. I didn’t think he was trying to till the soil with that tiny shovel, but I didn’t know what he was doing, either, so I decided not to ask and make myself look ridiculous. “Maybe,” he finally answered. “But not for a while.”
It was all I could do to hold back a groan. “What about dinner?” He had to eat, right? I tried to ignore the fact that I was practically asking him out, and probably starting to sound desperate. It was common in human society for any person to ask someone else out, almost to the point of people thinking werewolves stuffy and backward for doing things a certain way.
But, well, an alpha needed to bond an omega who calmed their more feral instincts, and however much they might like a person, if the omega didn’t do that for them, then they couldn’t bond. It wasn’t about finding the person friendly or attractive or anything like that.
Alphas spent their lives trying to deal with their baser instincts, and they needed mates who helped with that.
Ridge shrugged, but he didn’t look back up at me.
And that had to be it. Ridge had always been kind. Talked to me more than he talked to anyone else. Given me all those damn rocks. But that had been all it was. Kindness to a lonely kid who followed him around like a damn puppy.
Ridge had never been planning to come back and woo me, and mate me, and . . .
No. He was just a nice guy who’d given a desperate omega a little attention, and I’d blown it all out of proportion in my mind. Thought we were going to be together. Thought Ridge wanted me.
I almost sat down right there in the dirt.
I’d been waiting five years for a man who didn’t actually want me. I took one shallow breath, then another, and it wasn’t going to work. I wasn’t going to be able to calm down. Not with him, the embodiment of everything I wanted in life, sitting there, five feet from me but a universe away.
“I, um, I’ve,” I stuttered, struggling to get enough breath to say what I needed to say. “Gotta go. See you ’round, Ridge.”
I could only hope I was out of scent distance before the tears started.
BL MaxwellBL Maxwell grew up in a small town listening to her grandfather spin tales about his childhood. Later she became an avid reader and after a certain vampire series she became obsessed with fanfiction. She soon discovered Slash fanfiction and later discovered the MM genre and was hooked.
Many years later, she decided to take the plunge and write down some of the stories that seem to run through her head late at night when she’s trying to sleep.
Many years later, she decided to take the plunge and write down some of the stories that seem to run through her head late at night when she’s trying to sleep.
Jordan L HawkJordan L. Hawk is a trans author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave him a life-long love of things that go bump in the night. When he isn’t writing, he brews his own beer and tries to keep the cats from destroying the house. His best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook.
If you want to contact Jordan, just click on the links below or send an email.
Michele is married to an awesome guy that puts up with her and all the burnt dinners she makes—hey, sometimes characters are a bit distracting, and who doesn’t plot when they’re supposed to be cooking? They live together in Baltimore, Maryland with two little monsters, a three-legged fiend, and a little old man (aka their two sons, their cat, and their senior dog). She hopes to rescue another cat soon, and if her hubby wouldn’t kill her, she’d get more than one… and maybe a few more dogs as well.
She loves creating worlds filled with lots of love, chosen family, and of course, magic, but she also likes making the characters fight for that happy ending. She hopes to one day write all the stories in her head—even if there are too many to count!
Taylor RylanThe Men of Crooked Bend Series is what started it all for me and it was incredibly difficult to let those men go. It was originally supposed to be a trilogy but it ended up as a ten book series with a bonus book that's part of The Snow Globe Christmas Series. In the Men of Crooked Bend series, you get to know the cowboys and other men of Wild Creek Ranch in Crooked Bend, Wyoming (a totally fictitious town). The series is set in the foothills of the Grand Teton Mountains, a place I fell in love with as a teenager.
I have a closely related spin-off series called Sulfur Springs. In it you leave Wild Creek and go to the little neighbor town of Sulfur Springs and meet the sexy men of the Sulfur Springs Fire Depart, the sheriff's department, as well as quite a few US Marshals. You see some familiar faces but you also meet some very new ones. It’s finally finished and ended up being a nine book series.
I love to read, it’s always been one of my favorite things to do since I can remember. When I started writing, I couldn't decide if I wanted to write contemporary or paranormal as I love both. I chose contemporary but still, paranormal was talking to me and those darn shifters kept saying, “tell our story, it’ll be fun.” So I did. And it was. That’s how I started my Honey Creek Den series. Honey Creek is another totally fictitious town set on Flathead Lake (a real place) in Montana. I've never been there, but hope to get there at some point. Honey Creek Den is finished with the planned six books. The Timber Valley Wolf Pack is also finished with six books and now I've moved onto the Warlocks of Amherst Series. This series takes us away from the den and pack and we get to know Edison's warlocks in Amherst, Massachusetts.
When I'm not busy writing about cowboys, architects, sheriffs, firefighters, US Marshals, bears, tigers, or warlocks (to name just a few), I like to read (who doesn't?). Because of my limited free time, I’m fond of short stories and novellas. I can be found on Amazon, Book Bub, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Sam lives in the Midwest with husband and cat, which is even less exciting than it sounds, so she's not sure why you're still reading this.
She specializes in LGBTQIA+ fiction, usually with a romantic element. There's sometimes intrigue and violence, usually a little sex, and almost always some swearing in her work. Her writing is light and happy, though, so if you're looking for a dark gritty reality, you've come to the wrong author.
W.M. Fawkes is an author of LGBTQ+ urban fantasy and paranormal romance. With coauthor Sam Burns, she writes feisty Greek gods, men, and monsters in the Lords of the Underworld series. She lives with her partner in a house owned by three halloween-hued felines that dabble regularly in shadow walking.
BL Maxwell
Jordan L Hawk
Michele Notaro
FB GROUP / CHIRP / AUDIOBOOKS
EMAIL: michelenotaro.author@gmail.com
Taylor Rylan
EMAIL: AuthorTaylorRylan@gmail.com
Sam Burns
EMAIL: sam@burnswrites.com
Ghost Shadow by BL Maxwell
Blood and Sand by Jordan L Hawk
Only Unity will Spare Us by Michele Notaro
Giovanni's Jackpot by Taylor Rylan
Harvest Moon by Sam Burns & WM Fawkes
