Wild Protector Read online

  

  Ashfall Mountain 1

  Wild Protector

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

  Teddy Grayson needs to get away from his old pack. A change of scenery is the answer but Ashfall Mountain is no vacation spot. It’s where violent shifters on the verge of turning feral end up. Teddy’s like a fish out of water in a pack full of werewolves who act more like beasts than humans but he’s also there for a reason. Teddy’s always burned a torch for his Dom, his brother’s best friend. He has no plans of leaving. He intends to stay until Dom admits they’re mates.

  Dom Walker has his hands full. Day in and out, he’s doing his best to prevent his best friend from murdering his pack mates. Teddy’s a complication he can’t deal with but no one can ignore the mating call. Teddy doesn’t fit in with monsters like them but the submissive werewolf’s stubborn as hell. When Dom finally gives in, he realizes he’ll do anything to keep his mate.

  Length: 24,000 words

  WILD PROTECTOR

  Ashfall Mountain 1

  Fel Fern

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Wild Protector

  Copyright © 2020 by Fel Fern

  ISBN: 978-1-64637-180-8

  First Publication: June 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

  DEDICATION

  To my readers, I hope you enjoy the first book in my new series.

  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 PROTECTOR

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  WILD PROTECTOR

  Ashfall Mountain 1

  FEL FERN

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter 1

  Teddy Grayson gloomily watched his ex-boyfriend brawling with another werewolf warrior from his bedroom window. Both men panted, sweated under the harsh afternoon sun.

  He fought and argued with another pack mate to secure this bedroom just for this very reason. To watch Hank teach other young warriors to acquire combat skills day in and day out.

  Teddy reached for the beer can in front of him and gave it a shake. Empty. Oh right. Last night he guzzled down an entire six-pack all by himself. That was why he was nursing a little hangover. Shifters didn’t get drunk easily, but he was an exception. Teddy had always finished last in everything and fell to the bottom of the pack ladder. No surprise he couldn’t hold his drink.

  How often did Teddy wish he wasn’t born a submissive werewolf but a dominant one? If he’d been a warrior, maybe he’d be down there in the practice courtyard with the others, able to keep a close eye on Hank. Maybe Hank wouldn’t fall for Steve’s charms. Hank wouldn’t have dumped him.

  “Don’t kid yourself,” he muttered.

  Teddy had always known Hank wasn’t his to keep. Hank didn’t even understand the word commitment. Not like Teddy did either. They both agreed to fool around. It wasn’t like Hank was his potential mate.

  Hank was just a replacement for Dom, his brother’s best friend and a man he had a crush on since he was old enough to want someone.

  God. Teddy was pathetic.

  He should stop this. Feeling sorry for himself would never get him anywhere. His phone beeped on his desk, signaling it was time for work. Teddy had no real desire to leave his room and head to the cafe. He wanted to quit his job as a waiter. Try something else. He only took that job to avoid bumping into Hank, into his dad all the time.

  “He’d only call me quitter again,” he grumbled to himself.

  “That’s right,” said a familiar, rumbling and deep voice.

  He groaned, seeing his dad standing right by his doorway. Trust the guy not to knock. Teddy scoffed. Just because his father was the Alpha didn’t mean he could just burst into his room any time.

  “Get your lazy ass off that chair, boy,” Thaddeus Grayson said in a booming voice which only made him wince.

  A tiny headache still pounded against his skull. Damn it. His dad knew how much Teddy hated that word. Boy. Teddy was twenty-four years old, not a werewolf cub Thad could still order around.

  “I’m taking a personal day off,” he muttered.

  “And do what? Stare out at the window all day, pining for someone who’s never meant to be yours?”

  “Ouch, Dad,” he muttered. He winced when his dad slapped him hard on the shoulder.

  “I have a job for you to do,” his father said, grasping his arm and abruptly yanking him to his feet.

  Teddy was forced to look his dad in the eye.

  “What?” he asked sullenly.

  “I need you to head up to Ashfall Mountain.” His father paused for a very long time before continuing. “Check up on your brother and his pack, the Wild Manes.”

  Teddy blinked, completely taken aback by the request. His brother Talon and Dom had left the pack years ago, leaving Teddy in the dust. “Last I remembered, Talon and you were at each other’s throats. Did something change?”

  His father growled into his face, flashing sharp teeth, but he wasn’t scared. Teddy knew his dad would never hurt him. Thad might not be winning the best father of the year award anytime soon, but he was a good Alpha.

  “Talon killed Killian in a dishonorable matter. That’s one act I’ll never forgive.”

  Teddy kept his mouth shut, although he was dying to tell his dad the truth. His dad had always looked a blind eye towards Killian, his Beta, because they were childhood friends. Best buds. To Thad, Killian wouldn’t do anything wrong. Killian was a creep who thought he could get away with anything. Talon killed him to protect Teddy. His brother got exiled from the pack as a result, and Dom followed him.

  No use opening old wounds.

  “Then why send me to Ashfall Mountain if you don’t want to patch things up with Talon?” he demanded.

  His father glowered at him, eyes bright yellow. He understood. The Alpha had always been a man of a few words. His father might’ve not forgiven Talon for his actions, but he was worried about Talon. It had been two years since Talon’s exile and yet there
was no word from his brother. Was Talon still even alive? His dad clearly thought so.

  Before he started a relationship with Hank, Teddy sort of hoped Talon would reach out to him and ask Teddy to join his little ragtag pack on Ashfall Mountain. It never happened and he sort of understood why. Maybe Talon thought Teddy wouldn’t survive out there in the wild. Teddy had always been a city wolf, born and raised.

  The Ashfall Mountain was said to be a magnet for outcasts and killers, monsters who didn’t have any other place to call home. There, the strong ate the weak. He suppressed a shudder. Teddy refused to show weakness in front of his dad. His father clearly believed he could do this, and Teddy wanted to have a word or two with Talon.

  “I get it,” he finally said. “I’ll go. Not like I have anything going on here.”

  His father looked visibly relieved. He groaned when his old man slapped his shoulder again. “Some fresh mountain air could do you some good.”

  With those parting words, his father left the room. He looked around his bedroom for a few moments. Teddy would be leaving the comforts of home for parts unknown. Did Talon and Dom even have internet and electricity up there?

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said to himself. “My mind’s set.”

  Teddy began to pull out clothes from his closet. His headache had disappeared, and he was starting to look forward to this trip. His dad was right. A change of scenery might be best for him. He didn’t even look out the window the entire time he was back. Teddy’s thoughts centered on another man. Dom.

  Two years was a long time. Sure, he wanted to check up on Talon, but Teddy wanted to catch a glimpse of Dom again. Once upon a time, he used to believe Dom was the love of his life, his one true mate. Time to find out if that was true.

  * * * *

  Dom Walker gripped the edges of the sink and stared at his bloody reflection in the mirror. Black eye. Broken nose. Bruises and rake marks all over his chest and the rest of him. He breathed hard, but he couldn’t contain the angry wolf that shared his skin.

  A growl tickled from his chest. Claws slid out of his fingers. Fur began to cover his chest and shoulders. His blue eyes bled to gold.

  He silently willed the change back, but it proved harder and harder to do each time.

  “Fuck,” he whispered. Cracks appeared across the sink where he gripped the ceramic with his claws too tightly.

  When Talon and he came to the Ashfall Mountain, he thought they really could make a difference. Make men out of monsters. What a fucking laugh. They’d been overambitious. Dom should’ve known better than to expect anything great out of his best friend.

  Something broke in Talon the day Talon killed the old Beta of their pack. He’d known that in his bones, and yet he chose to follow his best friend out here. The one place on earth everyone else avoided.

  He’d soon learned that monsters didn’t want to be governed, and Talon was on his way to becoming one. Dom wasn’t far off behind. This was their choice. They thrust themselves into an environment where it was kill or be killed. There were plenty of crazy and power-hungry shifters who wanted to claim more territory, and they couldn’t have that. They made Ashfall Mountain their home and they were here to stay.

  After a few painful seconds, he retracted his claws. The fur disappeared, but his eyes remained yellow.

  Outside his cabin, he could hear growling. Alec and Kris were at it again. Damn bastards. He should just let the two brothers finish each other off.

  “Where the hell is the Alpha?” he muttered under his breath. “Oh, I don’t know. Fighting other monsters when he can’t even get his own bloody house in order.”

  Oh no. Stupid Talon made Dom his second. It was his responsibility to keep the others from ripping each other to shreds. Dom didn’t bother cleaning himself up. He hauled on a pair of jeans and left his cabin.

  Five other cabins circled his own humble one. Ryder, who lived next to him, took a seat on his rocking chair, shotgun on his lap. The cocky asshole tipped his black ratty cowboy hat towards him. Dom growled.

  Typical. Ryder was just going to watch the shit show unfurl every single time. No sign of Max. Dom could’ve used the big, scarred man’s help, but Max was probably out there in the woods, doing God knew what. Picking fights like Talon.

  Dom didn’t know why he still cared, why he bothered doing his job at all. All he got for trying to keep the peace and the other wolves in line was more scars.

  Kris and Alec bit and clawed at each other in wolf form. They were brothers, indistinguishable to any outsider in animal form because they both had white fur and blue eyes. Dom knew the one with the scar near his muzzle was Kris, the older brother. Right now, Kris pounded Alec into the dirt.

  “Aren’t you going to step in and pull them apart, Beta?” Ryder drawled from his porch.

  Dom wanted to grab that stupid hat off Ryder’s head and tear it to shreds.

  “It’s your job to hunt for tonight’s dinner. Make a move on it,” he said, unable to keep the growl out of his voice.

  “Correction. My job and Max’s, but that big fucker’s gone off without me. As usual. Not that I want to get in that monster’s way,” Ryder said, flashing him a big grin.

  Dom cracked his knuckles, told himself he shouldn’t punch Ryder in the face just for smiling and being amused at everyone’s expense. Dom would deal with Ryder later. He watched Kris and Alex wreck each other’s bodies and at that moment, realized he ceased to care.

  Why did Dom have to pick up all the slack while Talon was doing whatever he wanted?

  He tried to bring Talon back to reality, to remember his duties as Alpha, but Talon only had one interest. Fighting and shedding blood. In the two years they’d been here and formed this sad excuse of a pack, Talon had only gotten them into more fights he could count.

  Hell. Talon seemed hell bent on making enemies of the other two groups living on this mountain and for what? To secure them all a faster death sentence? Trying to talk reason into his best friend only amounted to more bloodshed, and he didn’t relish getting into another brawl with Talon.

  “You’re just really going to leave them like that?” Ryder asked, sounding surprised.

  Dom really didn’t need Ryder’s commentary. The other werewolf had never been of any help to anyone. Ever. Sure, if an enemy group entered their territory again, Ryder would fight them off with the rest of them, but in situations like these? Ryder would just sit in his chair, content to watch the drama unfold. Violence was the only entertainment in these parts anyway.

  “Sure. They can kill each other for all I care,” he answered. The harshness of his words even took him by surprise, but if there was anyone to blame it was Talon. Thanks to Talon, he became this way. Dom stopped caring. He broke easy, just like everyone else living in this forsaken place.

  Chapter 2

  “Sorry, man. This is as far as I can go,” said the driver.

  Teddy peered out the windows and wondered if the guy was pulling his leg. “You can’t be serious. We’re at the base of the mountain. You can’t expect me to hike all the way up that road.”

  Road? More like a dirt path in Teddy’s opinion.

  “Mister, I know you’re not from around these parts, but maybe you’re headed the wrong way. Which inn are you staying at?” the driver asked.

  His wolf identified the guy as a shifter. Not an apex predator but a prey animal. He could understand a deer shifter’s apprehension, but Teddy hired a car service with the understanding the guy could take him all the way up to where his brother and Dom were holed up in.

  “I know where I want to go. Up there.” He pointed to the road ahead of them, which only went uphill.

  “Look, man. The monsters who live around these parts, they aren’t like you or me,” the deer shifter said, turning around to peer at him. “There are three hostile groups here living here at the moment and they’re constantly at each other’s throats. Outsiders are killed on sight.”

  “I won’t die.” Despite the brav
ado in his voice, Teddy was becoming uncertain. He had pepper spray in his luggage, as well as his dad’s gun. He didn’t even want to bring a firearm with him, but his father convinced him to take it along with him. Now, he was a little glad.

  He’d only been in town for a less than an hour. Teddy asked the locals what they knew about the shifters living in Ashfall Mountain and their advice had all been the same. Stay away from that place.

  One of those groups the deer shifter mentioned must be Talon’s pack. He had a rough idea where they were at. A local in town had helped pinpoint where the Wild Manes pack lived on his phone.

  “All right, man. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but you’re not going to convince me to drive up there. They’ll tear me to shreds.”

  Since the deer shifter was sticking with his refusal to take Teddy any further, he got out of the car. The deer shifter helped take out his wheeled luggage from the trunk of his car.

  “That’s going to be hard to haul up that road,” the deer shifter said.

  Then the bastard got back behind his wheel and started towards the town.

  “Screw you!” Teddy grabbed the handle of his luggage, took deep breaths, and began hauling his bag up the dirt track. Half an hour later, he started to sweat profusely and his luggage felt like it weighed a ton.

  Teddy took off his jacket, stuffed it in his luggage, and checked his phone app again. The app couldn’t pinpoint his location. He raised his phone above his head to get a better signal. That helped a little. Teddy continued his trek.

  He cursed, halting as he heard something crack. God, he hoped it wasn’t his luggage.

  He looked down, heart sinking. Teddy bent down to check his luggage. Yup. One of the wheels was busted, probably when he ran it over that rough patch of ground. Maybe he should’ve brought less stuff, but he got carried away with packing.