Wild Defender

  

  Ashfall Mountain 2

  Wild Defender

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

  Sam Davis is being hunted. To pay off his debts, Sam’s scummy father sells him off to a psychotic panther shifter Alpha on Ashfall Mountain. Negotiations are off the table when the panther pride turns on them. Sam knows his life is over. When he attracts the attention of another violent predator, he isn’t sure if Kris wants to save him or keep him.

  Kris Ward has trouble keeping his sanity in check. Violent shifters are sent to Ashfall Mountain to die. He and his brother plan to eventually kill each other off. Kris has no regrets, no reason to live, until he finds Sam, bleeding and clawed nearly to death. Bringing Sam to his pack will cause problems but Kris doesn’t give a damn. Sam is his fated mate and Kris intends to pay back the bastards who hurt him.

  Length: 21,000 words

  WILD DEFENDER

  Ashfall Mountain 2

  Fel Fern

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  Wild Defender

  Copyright © 2020 by Fel Fern

  ISBN: 978-1-64637-181-5

  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 legal@sirenbookstrand.com

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  To my readers. I hope you enjoy reading Kris and Sam’s story as much as I loved writing it.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Fel Fern writes short and steamy M/M erotic romances.

  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 DEFENDER

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  WILD DEFENDER

  Ashfall Mountain 2

  FEL FERN

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter 1

  Kris Ward went for his brother like a rabid animal. Alec was no victim. They brawled, fought, and rolled in the dirt with fists—at first. Alec threw a punch right at his nose. The sound of crunching bone only fueled his rage. Anger swirled inside of him like a living force, a storm. Kris had lived with it his entire life. At that moment, it burned hot and white. Kris couldn’t think of anything else.

  Claws and fangs came out soon. Pain surged through Kris’s entire body as the white wolf tore out of him. Fur rippled across his chest and shoulders. Bones broke and organs moved. He let out a howl of challenge and padded towards his prey on all four paws. Alec looked like his reflection. They had the same white fur and blazing blue eyes. Most people always mistook them for twins, but Kris was a year older.

  Someone swore in the background. Kris didn’t need to look to see it was Ryder. Their other pack mate viewed their daily fights like a spectator at a Roman coliseum. Something was wrong with that one, with all of them, all the shifters living on this mountain. Alec and him most of all.

  Alec came at him, not holding back. Kris anticipated his lunge and raked his claws right across Alec’s flank.

  “Dom! They’re at it again,” Ryder was yelling.

  He snarled as Alec came at his eyes. Kris shoved his brother backward. Alec didn’t stay down for long. He leapt at Kris, driving him to the ground again. Kris pushed Alec off. They clawed and bit, tore at each other. Resentment bubbled towards the surface. An old door cracked open in the back of his mind, one that led to Alec’s and his bloodthirsty past.

  Dom, the pack Beta, once asked him why Alec and he did this to themselves. Kris had no answer for him. Dom wouldn’t, couldn’t understand the scars they both bore. Alec and he were designed to do this, repeat this dance over and over until one of them was dead.

  “Ryder, what are you doing? Won’t you stop them?” came a new voice. Teddy. Dom’s mate. Teddy let out a frustrated sigh. “Kris, Alec, cut it out. Please? You’re brothers. You don’t need to do this.”

  Teddy’s words meant nothing to him. Alec and he resumed fighting, because that was all they’d been programmed to do.

  Kris was happy for Dom. Dom was his first true friend, someone he could trust his back to, but he’d been undeniably jealous when Dom found his mate. Teddy didn’t belong here. He wasn’t like all of them. A good apple mixed in with the rotten. Teddy came here for Dom and his psychotic brother, their Alpha, Talon.

  Kris liked Teddy, but he didn’t have the heart to tell the submissive shifter that among all of them, Talon was probably the worst off. Unsalvageable. Not that Kris and Alec were far from Talon. Everyone in this pack of miscreants save Dom and Teddy had a one-way ticket to hell.

  That was just how the world worked. That was why the paranormal government didn’t interfere with the affairs of the monsters living on Ashfall Mountain. Eventually, they’d destroy each other. In Kris and Alec’s case, they’d wind up murdering each other. End of story. Fine with both of them.

  Alec sunk his teeth to his left shoulder, and the sound of tearing fur and flesh enraged him. His brother didn’t let go. From the corner of his eye, Kris spotted a massive dark brown muscled wolf coming at Alec. Someone else shoved him to another side. He recognized the slightly smaller wolf with dark fur. Ryder. Normally, the joker of their little crew was content to sit back and let the shitstorm unfold.

  “Stop it,” said a furious voice. Teddy stomped up to all of them, glaring at Alec, then him. “Can’t we all have breakfast together as a pack and enjoy a peaceful morning?”

  Peaceful?

  Alec panted, stared daggers at him. Kris took that opportunity to push Ryder aside and go for his brother’s throat again. Dom caught his neck with his fangs. Kris stilled, growling softly, his gaze solely trained on Alec. Alec’s blue eyes, so like his, only reflected the same hatred he felt.

  The same blood might run in their veins, but they’d never really been brothers. Enemy, the beast inside his skin whispered. Kill.

  Someday, not today, Kris mused. That didn’t sit well with his wolf. They were outnumbered. To get to Alec, he needed to go past Dom and Ryder. Not good odds. Ryder, he might be able to take on, but Dom was no pushover.

  “Kris, fuck. What’s wrong with you?” Teddy demanded. Good old Teddy. Wide brown eyes met his own. So innocent. Dom shouldn’t let his mate live among monsters.

  He didn’t need to be here. Dom released him and he snarled. Kris didn�
��t try to go for Alec again because Dom would try to stop him. Peace? What did Dom’s submissive werewolf know? He didn’t want to linger there any longer. Kris’s wolf was still full of boundless energy. Kris wanted to hunt, to hurt.

  Going after his pack mates didn’t feel right, so he left them, ran into the nearest line of trees. His heart beat rapidly. Kris’s blood still ran hot in his veins. His nose picked up another familiar scent in the woods. He thought he glimpsed another werewolf with pitch black fur and an equally dark aura. Max. The loner in the group. Max didn’t pay him any attention, simply let him pass.

  Was Max playing guard wolf and watching the property? It seemed unlikely. The only people who gave two fucks about the well-being of the pack was Dom. The Beta sometimes roped in Kris to do certain tasks like hunting for food or chopping wood. Kris didn’t mind, because sometimes, it felt good to pretend. Act like they were all a real pack, not a group of walking dead men.

  He ran faster, deeper into the woods. Kris caught a flash of movement up ahead of him. A hare but such a small prey wouldn’t cull his bloodlust. Kris wanted to hunt for bigger prey.

  * * * *

  “Dad, you don’t have to do this. Turn back. It’s not too late,” Sam Davis whispered, clutching at the seat belt. The truck shook as his father resumed the drive along the rocky dirt path at the base of Ashfall Mountain.

  “You don’t understand, son. I have no choice,” his old man said.

  No choice? I warned you about loaning money from the Black Claws Pride, many times. You kept on gambling, using up my paychecks. All you care about is yourself. Those were the words Sam wanted to yell at his father, but he pressed his lips together instead. Sam never had the guts to confront another person, even his deadbeat dad. Same old cowardly Sam. No better than a chicken.

  He looked out the windows, curling his fists on his lap. Scattered trees, rocks, and dirt. The landscape looked desolate. What kind of father would sell their own son off to a pack of monsters? Cat shifters called themselves a pride, he reminded himself. God. What did it matter?

  His father had debts. He was payment. A no-brainer, except this was his damn life they were about to take. Sam had no illusions what it would be like, being given to the werepanthers. The panther shifters had been taking advantage of poor, stupid saps like his dad for years. The mayor and the local police could do jack shit about their debt-collecting business.

  Everyone in town knew those who entered Ashfall Mountain never came back out.

  “You’re really going to hand me over to those animals and let them make me their human pet?” he finally asked, turning to his old man.

  He didn’t think he had it in him to confront his dad, but if there was ever a time to get mad, this was it. His old man kept one hand on the wheel while he curled his other to fist and let it fly. Sam tried to dodge, but he couldn’t avoid the blow. Pain surged up his cheek. The bastard always did have a mean left hook.

  “Shut the hell up. You owe me, son.”

  “Owe you? I’ve been paying the bills and rent ever since I graduated from high school,” he blurted. “Hell, I could’ve left this sad excuse of a town, gone to college, but I stayed because I felt sorry for you.”

  Sam recalled his thirteen-year-old skinny self, lingering at his mom’s death bed, and her pale, frail shaking hands holding his. Promise me, Sam. Look after your dad for me. He’d never forgotten her words but damn it. It had been so hard. Sam’s entire childhood had gone to shit after that.

  “You’re the only one to blame for being sentimental, Sammy. How many times have I told you? The world eats the weak.”

  “Then both of us are weaklings, cowards.”

  “What did you say to me, you ungrateful piece of shit?” his father demanded.

  “Careful now, Dad. You keep messing my face up, and Cyrus might not be too happy.” Bringing up the panther shifter his father owed money to made his old man drop his hand.

  “You got in the truck voluntarily,” his father grumbled, sounding sullen.

  “You said we were going out for breakfast to celebrate me becoming an assistant manager at the cafe,” Sam reminded his father in a cold voice he almost didn’t recognize. When he learned his father had other intentions, what else could he do? Skip town and let the panther shifters deal with his father? What about his promise to his mom?

  “Stop whining. Just shut up until we get there.”

  Unable to look at the old bastard, he glanced out the window again, his nerves still shot. His stomach churned. He wanted to throw up. Maybe he should open the door, throw himself out of the moving vehicle. That would teach his father a lesson. His dad wouldn’t have anything left to trade.

  He let out a little dry laugh. What did he think this was, a movie? For one, Sam wouldn’t have the guts to even open the door, let alone throw himself out. For another, he could die.

  “What are you laughing at?” his father asked.

  Sam shook his head, wiping the tears from the corner of his eyes. “Look at us. We’re the same. I’m just like you.”

  Cowards. The same blood ran in their veins after all. No wonder they were family. His dad remained tight-lipped throughout the rest of the drive. They got off the dirt road and deviated to an even smaller path that was laden with more rocks. He felt every bump. His insides twisted. He began to sweat profusely as his dad directed the truck to more twists and turns.

  “Are you sure you’re going in the right direction?” he had to ask.

  Trees surrounded either side of them. The forest seemed denser, nearly able to swallow them both up. His old man said nothing, merely stopped the truck all of a sudden.

  “Get out,” his dad said hoarsely.

  He stubbornly sat there. What did his dad think, that he’d willingly go to his death?

  “Please, son. Do this last thing for me if you want both of us to live. They’re watching us right now.”

  He stared at his father. “You only want to save your own damn skin, you rat bastard. How long will a human last in the company of vicious shifters? I’m just a toy to them. Once they get bored, they’ll get rid of me.”

  He finally opened the door. Sam’s skin prickled. It felt like eyes upon eyes were on the two of them. Sweat coated his front and back. Only anger at his old man kept him talking.

  “I hope you’re happy. I hope the guilt of sending your own son to his death will haunt you to your dying day.”

  Chapter 2

  Sam’s father slammed the door shut and joined him outside, much to Sam’s surprise. Sam thought the slimy bastard would just drop him off and run away. Where were they anyway? He looked around and saw nothing but old, towering and imposing ash trees.

  “You ungrateful—” his father began, but Sam shut him up with a question.

  “This is where the panther shifters live?” he asked.

  His old man frowned. “No, but this was the location they gave me.”

  “Probably didn’t want to give out where they lived to a human,” he said drily. Once the shifters got sick of playing with him, would they dump his body in a place where no one could find him? Grim thought.

  The sound of rustling leaves made him look up. For a second, Sam thought he saw pretty lights strung up in the trees. Cold sweat broke out his entire body. Not lights. Eyes. Dozens of them.

  “What have you ever done for me, for this family?” his father kept yammering on.

  “Shut up.” Sam hissed, grabbing his father’s arm. He lowered his voice. “Look up. They’re watching us.”

  The old man finally shut his trap to follow his gaze. His father turned pale as a ghost, just like him. Sam could see them now, big, dangerous, and muscled predators with sandy fur weaving in and out of the trees. Their movements made him think of snakes for some reason. Would they make it back to the truck or would the panther shifters get them before they could even open the door?

  Finally, his dad cleared his throat. “Well, here he is, just like I promised, Cyrus.”

  Hi
s heart sank. So. His dad was really dead set on doing this, on handing him over like he was nothing. A transactional object. Anger filled him from the tips of his toe to his pounding skull. He’d punch his dad in the face if he weren’t too scared of the deadly killing machines above them.

  “Didn’t I tell you he’d deliver?” said a new oily voice.

  A dark-haired man stepped between the two trees, wearing only jeans, his movements eerily graceful. Scars decorated his chest and face. His eyes shone yellow under the afternoon sun. Shifter. The stranger looked from his father, then back to him. The shifter stuck his extremely long tongue out and ran it over the sharpened points of his teeth. Fear grasped Sam by the neck.

  These monsters looked at his dad and him like they were nothing, like they were at the bottom of the food chain. Sam guessed they were.

  Sam swallowed, took a few steps back towards the truck, but stopped when the shifter held out a warning hand.

  “Cyrus,” his father said. “So my debts are paid?”

  “That’s right. You and your son will provide us with much entertainment. My cats were bored. It would be fun to hunt something different from a change, something human.”

  Sam saw madness reflected in Cyrus’s eyes and knew there was no reasoning with this madman. A delirious-sounding laugh slipped from his lips. He bet his father didn’t see this coming at all.

  One of the large cats dropped from the trees, followed by two others. They lingered by Cyrus’s side, but one word from their Alpha and the chase was on. What chance would two humans have?

  Two humans? His father didn’t give a second thought about trading him off. Sam didn’t care if his old man lived or died. It was every man for himself out here, amongst the monsters. He heard his mother’s voice in his head again.