Wild Savage Read online

  

  Ashfall Mountain 3

  Wild Savage

  [Siren Classic ManLove: Erotic Romance, Alternative, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves, MM, HEA]

  Chip Garner’s in a pinch. He’s sent to Ashfall Mountain to convince his old crush, Alec to return home and take over their pack. If Chip screws up, his father dies. Failure is not an option. The mission shouldn’t be too hard, but the boy Chip grew up with is gone, replaced by a menacing and possessive werewolf who is a danger to everyone. When the mating call beckons, Chip can’t resist. The white-hot chemistry between Alec and him creates sparks but it’s only a matter of time before Chip’s deception is unearthed.

  Alec’s given up on hope a long time ago. When Chip resurfaces in his life, he knows he’s been given a second chance. Chip is his fated mate, but despite knowing Chip deserves better, Alec pursues the submissive wolf. It doesn’t matter to him if Chip comes with baggage. Can Alec deal with their old pack and claim his mate, while holding onto his sanity?

  Length: 23,000 words

  WILD SAVAGE

  Ashfall Mountain 3

  Fel Fern

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Wild Savage

  Copyright © 2020 by Fel Fern

  ISBN: 978-1-64637-202-7

  First Publication: July 2020

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2020 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Felicia Fern loves penning M/M erotic romance.

  A sadist who loves watching her heroes break their backs trying to earn their happy endings, Fel likes throwing in the occasional dash of the unknown to the usual romantic concoction.

  www.felfern.com

  https://tinyletter.com/authorfelfern

  For all titles by Fel Fern, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/fel-fern

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  WILD SAVAGE

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  WILD SAVAGE

  Ashfall Mountain 3

  FEL FERN

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter 1

  “Don’t forget what you need to do,” Pete Edwards said from behind the wheel.

  Chip Garner looked gloomily out the car windows. Rain continued to lash at the glass, painting the entire town of Ashfall into a blurry, ugly, gray mess. Just like his life. God.

  Dread sat in the pit of his stomach, constantly eating its way out of him. His non-existent submissive wolf whined softly inside of him. Some days, Chip could hardly feel the beast anymore.

  Pete’s growl filled the tiny car, making Chip jump in his seat. The big bully grasped a handful of his shirt and tugged him close, flashing him a row of sharp and yellowing teeth. Fear filled him. Pete was mean, big, and ugly. The bastard had been a pain in his ass during his childhood. Alec put a stop to all that bullying, but then, Alec eventually left.

  He swallowed the big lump in his throat. From the corner of his eye, the traffic light turned red.

  “Pete, the light,” he yelled.

  The bastard released him to hit the brakes. Pete was still pissed at him. He could tell.

  “Remember why I’m bringing you here,” Pete said. “Think about your dear old man.”

  How could Chip forget? The rules of his pack was simple. The strong buried the weak, and Chip was as weak as they got. He fell at the bottom of the pack ladder and had no ambition to rise up. He didn’t like fighting, grew queasy at the sight of blood. His dad was okay with him being the way he was.

  It had been Chip and his dad against the entire world for the longest time, but his old man fell apart after his mom died. His dad racked up debts and the pack Alpha Emmet used that against them. His father now owed Emmet a boatload of money, and he wasn’t going to let his dad go unless the debt was paid.

  Chip didn’t have any money. He was a high school dropout who washed dishes for a living, but Emmet knew all that. Their Alpha counted on it.

  “Answer me, dumbass,” Pete said. “You deaf or something? Maybe the taste of my fists would wake you up.”

  “I know what’s at stake. Give me a break. I’m just wondering how I should go about this mission.” Calling it a mission was too much. Scheme was a better word, but that only made him feel awful.

  “What’s to think about? Your fucking job’s simple. Bring that fucker Alec back home. End of story.”

  Chip laughed, unable to help himself. “Like that’s the easiest thing in the world. Did you forget Alec and his brother mowed down half the entire pack when they left five years ago?”

  “You’re lucky Emmet made me promise not to wreck that pretty face of yours,” Pete said with a growl. “You and your old man have gone soft and stupid, living on the outskirts of pack land.”

  To get away from assholes like you and everyone from that toxic pack.

  Chip decided to keep his mouth shut for now. They drove in silence for a little while. It had been a suffocating drive. Pete didn’t bother containing his aggression. Chip’s own cowardly wolf tucked its tail between his legs and pretended to be invisible.

  Pete wanted to make this journey as uncomfortable as possible. Emmet probably chose Pete for that same reason. The Alpha had always been calculating. Emmet bragged he was always two steps ahead of everyone else. All that confident swagger couldn’t prevent Emmet’s only two sons from leaving. Served the bastard right.

  Pete stopped the car right in front of the bus station.

  “I’ll call you tomorrow night for an update,” Pete said.

  “Wait. You’re just leaving? You’re supposed to drive me all the way to Ashfall Mountain,” Chip blurted.

  Sure, Pete was the most odious person in the world to him, but driving up Murder Mountain all by his lonesome daunted him. Everyone in the paranormal world called it that because Ashfall Mountain was the kind of hell on earth that attracted the most violent, psychopathic shifters who were off their rockers. Shifters who were about to turn Feral. The government mostly left the three groups living there alone because they figured sooner or later, they’d kill each other off.

  Alec was one of those shifters. Just thinking about his old crush, about the boy who saved him from high school and pack bullies too many times to count, made his hands clammy. Chip wouldn’t be alive here today if it weren’t for Alec. That was the truth. His pack didn’t believe the weaker submissive shifters balanced a healthy pack. Chip was considered deadweight.

  The only reason Emmet sent him here was because the Alpha thought Chip could be used as a bargaining chip, that he was Alec�
��s one weakness.

  “Don’t be a pussy,” Pete said with a scoff.

  “You’re afraid of going out there, too.”

  Chip barely saw Pete’s fist flying. He groaned, shut his eyes in time as Pete socked him in the face. His right eye throbbed. Pete snarled at him.

  “Keep talking and I’ll turn you into a punching bag,” Pete said. “I’m only following the Alpha’s orders, but you know what I think? Emmet expects too much out of you. I have a bet going with my buddies. Ask me what we bet on. Go ahead.”

  Chip rubbed at his eye. Pissing Pete off? Not a good idea, so he played along.

  “What?”

  “That you wouldn’t be able to make it to where Alec is. The monsters living on that mountain will get you first. I bet they’d love to sink their claws and fangs into something soft and tender like you,” Pete said with a sneer. “I hear Ferals eat fatsos like you for dinner. They’re going to have a feast tonight.”

  Chip opened his mouth, then closed it, not wanting to get hit again. They entered a staring content. Chip dropped his gaze. He could never hold a dominant wolf’s gaze.

  Pete eventually got bored and gave up. The bully opened the car door. Pete couldn’t be seen with him as Chip made his way to Ashfall Mountain. Alec would probably go for his throat.

  “Keep your phone charged, Chip. Expect my call. If you don’t answer, you know what’s going to happen to your dad.”

  With those farewell words, Pete slammed the door shut. The drizzle turned into a downpour. Feeling numb, Chip got out of the car. He got a little drenched, but Chip didn’t care. He slid into the driver’s seat. He didn’t start the engine. Not right away.

  Chip chewed on his bottom lip, considered his options. Not like he had much of a choice. All Chip wanted to do was go back home, to the small cabin at the edge of the woods he and his dad shared. Life wasn’t easy. They lived on the fringes of the pack. The local townsfolk distrusted every werewolf in the Fire Claws Pack, including his dad and him, even if they were harmless, but that cabin had been home. Was it still home if his dad wasn’t there?

  Sure, his dad was still on a downhill path. Chip always cleaned after him. Most of the time they argued, mostly about his dad’s debts, but he was Chip’s only family.

  Emmet made it clear he wasn’t letting his dad go unless he managed to convince Alec to come back home with him.

  Deceiving Alec felt like a dick move. Nothing could convince the two brothers to return. Emmet had tried everything, but Alec and Kris chose to remain where they were, with their broken pack.

  “I can do this. Pete’s wrong. I’ll get my dad back. I won’t get eaten.”

  Those last words sounded funny, but they weren’t. Pete had a point. Feral shifters, especially those far gone their human side had disappeared, often resorted to cannibalism. To them, anything that moved was prey. Fair game. The thought raised goosebumps all over his arms.

  Chip started the engine. He debated grabbing something quick to eat. He hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast, and it was now three in the afternoon, according to his watch. Chip shook his head. Stopping for late lunch wasn’t an option, not if he wanted to arrive at Murder Mountain before sundown.

  He forgot to charge his phone earlier, so Chip had to stop twice to ask a local for directions. The second one, an elderly woman, looked annoyed as he stopped her as she was getting out of her car.

  He rolled down his window and asked, “Excuse me, ma’am, sorry to bother you, but could you direct me to Murder—I mean Ashfall Mountain.”

  Like the first man he asked, she looked baffled by his question. “Turn left at Blackberry Street, then left again to exit town. Follow the road. It’ll lead you to the mountain top.” She paused, then looked him over. “I don’t recommend it, son. The roads are slippery and there are monsters living there.”

  “I’m not human. Thank you kindly.”

  She gave him a nod, looked like she had plenty more to say, but Chip drove on. The directions she gave were right. Chip found himself deviating from the town and started on a mountain road. He didn’t encounter any cars here, just a long strip of road that seemed to go on forever. The road disappeared into a dirt track. He started uphill. He could hear the engine under his good old reliable secondhand white Toyota letting out what sounded like a protesting rumble.

  “Don’t fail me now, girl,” he said. Chip patted the wheel affectionately. He knew he should replace her sooner or later, but this car was special to him. When he turned sixteen, Alec accompanied him to a car dealership. They choose this car together. Even now, he remembered Alec’s laughter when he named her. Betty.

  Chip committed that sexy sound to memory, because Alec wasn’t a guy who often laughed. Chip never once saw him smile either, but that was understandable. Demons bogged Alec down. Violence dictated Alec’s life.

  “Shit.” Betty’s wheels must’ve caught on something because he stopped moving. He killed the engine. Chip had a kit in the trunk, but he didn’t exactly relish going out in this downpour. He looked out the windows and saw nothing but barren rock and a few tough trees.

  Even without the rain muddying the entire surroundings, the landscape here felt desolate. Scary. The trees here looked old, and they didn’t seem like the fairy tale type either. They looked monstrous, sprouted right to the heavens, and towered over him.

  “Stop scaring yourself. Idiot.” He scoffed and opened the car door. The faster he got off the road and to Wild Manes territory, the better. They were expecting him, or at least two people in Alec’s pack were.

  Chip tried to contact Alec through his old email. When Alec didn’t answer, he tried Kris’s old phone number. To his surprise, someone else answered his call. Sam. He’d introduced himself as Kris’s mate—shocking considering he didn’t think either Kris or Alec would ever settle down. Alec once confessed to him the thought never crossed his mind because he didn’t want to drag a mate into his violent lifestyle.

  It was Sam who spoke to Kris for him. Sam seemed nice, friendly. Part of him wondered how Kris managed to score someone like that and keep him.

  Chip checked his tires, saw the problem immediately. His left front wheel got caught in a huge rock. No need for tools at all. His tires looked fine. Chip hunkered down and tried to pry the rock loose. He grunted. No use. He poured more of his strength into his task.

  Chip might be a submissive werewolf, but he was still stronger than the average human. Sweat mingled with rain. He was wet head to toe. Chip grunted, feeling the ache in his arms, but he was determined to get the hell of there. The sooner, the better.

  With a yell, he tried again. He finally felt the rock give way from soil. Chip dug it out and shoved it as far away as possible from Betty.

  He stood up, all muddy, wet and cold. Chip could feel the chill seeping past his skin and settling right into his bones. He shivered, about to get back into his car when he spotted two pairs of bright lights up ahead of him.

  Not lights, he realized with a sinking heart, but eyes. Piss-yellow eyes belonging to two shifters. Could Chip reach his car in time?

  Chapter 2

  “Hey, Alec. What are you doing? Adding a new little animal friend to your collection?” Ryder’s annoying voice made Alec growl.

  He narrowed his eyes as the only pack mate he didn’t get along with sauntered up his porch steps, dripping water everywhere. Scratch that. No one in this damn crazy pack liked Ryder. Alec automatically hid the piece of wood he’d been working on in his pocket.

  “Go the fuck away. Don’t you have anything else to do?” he demanded. Alec tried for diplomacy first. If that didn’t work, well. Then they’d just have to settle for a fight with claws and fangs. His wolf woke inside him, eager for the prospect of violence. Ever since Kris mated Sam, Alec found himself lacking a brawling partner.

  “I’m bored.” Ryder plopped himself on the extra folding plastic chair next to him.

  Alec glowered at him. Couldn’t Ryder see this was his private time? Alec c
arved objects to distract himself from the murderous animal sharing his skin, and Ryder was interrupting that valuable time.

  “How about doing one of me, man? Me in wolf form?” Ryder asked.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said flatly.

  “Come on, dude. There’s no need to hide your cute little hobby.”

  He snarled at that word. Cute. No one could call him or his hobby that without severe consequences. Alec gripped his knife. It was pointy and sharp. It could do the job of filleting Ryder.

  “Alec!” Sam came running up his porch. God. What now?

  Sam looked out of breath as he panted, lowering his umbrella. Sam nearly hit Ryder in the face with it. Much to his disappointment, Sam closed the umbrella. The human looked excited, out of breath.

  When Kris had fallen hard and fast for a human, Alec had been apprehensive, completely against it. After all, he and his brother were taught to eliminate any weakness. Mating a human was completely incomprehensible to Alec, because that meant Sam and Kris’s life-forces were one now.

  Any harm that came to Sam rebounded back on Kris. Too bad Alec found he actually liked the spunky human. Sometimes, when the couple wasn’t looking, he found himself staring at them, wondering. It wasn’t just Kris who paired up. Their Beta, Dom, had also found his mate.

  What about the rest of them? Would they remain broken forever? Doomed to die fighting their enemies or, worse, a fellow pack mate?

  “You’ve got to come with me. I’m worried. There’s supposed to be a guest coming, but it’s pouring dogs and cats.”

  Ryder giggled at that. “God, Sam. You always crack me up. Wait. What guest? Does Talon know about this?”

  Alec rolled his eyes. Who knew what their Alpha was up to these days? Talon was the worse out of all of them, the closest to turning fully Feral. Alec was not far behind. He thought Kris and he would eventually off each other, but that wasn’t happening. Not anymore. Unfair, but true.