Alpha's Claim anthology

232 Pages·2014·0.98 MB·English

by  Robbins Tyler

Evernight Publishing

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2014 Evernight Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-77130-703-1

Cover Artist: Sour Cherry Designs

Editor: Karyn White

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced electronically or in print without written permission,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are
fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or
persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALPHA'S CLAIM

MANLOVE EDITION

Edited by Karyn White

10 AUTHOR SHIFTER ANTHOLOGY

The Becoming by Tyler Robbins

Bite Harder by Avril Ashton

Bad Moon Rising by Pelaam

Waking Up Wolf by Nikka Michaels

Laid Claim by JC Holly

Out in the Cold by Lucy Felthouse

His Great Dane by Karly Germain

Claiming Ayden by Eileen Griffin

One Mate by Tamsin Baker

Be the Boss by Giselle Renarde
THE BECOMING

Call of the Wolf, 1

Tyler Robbins

Copyright© 2014

Chapter One

A steady stream of water spilled down the glass pane of Josh
Spinner’s bedroom window, blurring the images of dreary, slate-gray
skies and the sagging branches of pin-oak trees in the backyard. The
weather had turned ugly with little warning, like most Septembers at
the tail end of hurricane season. Mother Nature’s little reminder for
the Texas Gulf Coast that she alone could wipe them off the planet if
and when she was so inclined.
Josh’s mood matched the gloomy weather, but not because of
the relentless downpour. No, his temperament had nothing to do with
rain, but everything to do with nature.
He ran warm fingers down his bare chest, splaying them
across his abdomen as his intent for satisfaction grew by the second.
His cock throbbed, and his balls tightened at the thought of release.
His need had heightened, not because he was a horny twenty-year-old,
but because the time had come for the younger members of their pack
to face the becoming, when the wolfen spirits chose mates for newly
sanctioned males.
His father urged him to open his mind and listen to the spirits
beyond their realm, listen to the driving force of their kind. The wolf
spirits would lead him toward the female he’d been destined to have.
The female who would bear his children, ensure their lineage within
the pack and secure their place within the shifter community.
Mates were chosen from neighboring packs, not because
mating from within their own pack was forbidden, but because
choosing a mate from another pack solidified the bonds and
guaranteed the Piney Woods territory would remain strong and
impenetrable to outsiders.
Josh dipped his fingers inside his boxers, relishing the thrilling
jerk of his prick. Hard and hot, he stroked it slow and easy, biting his
bottom lip and tensing his legs with each upward tug of his hand.
Goddamn, he needed relief.
He’d never get it the way he needed it though. He’d figured
that much out by the time he’d turned fifteen. He’d never be satisfied
with any female. Not when his fantasies always involved the touch of
a man.
This time was no different.
He squeezed his eyelids shut and imagined Damian White
down at the neighborhood pool, muscles glistening wet, and the
outline of his thick shaft pressing against his groin when he stretched
out beside Josh poolside.
Josh had pretended not to look, not to salivate when Damian’s
girlfriend teased him by skimming playful fingers along the ridge of
his stiffening cock through the fabric of his clinging swim trunks.
God, how he’d wanted it to be his fingers arousing the other man.
Josh clenched his jaw as his breathing escalated. Anger
replaced desire. Frustration took over where yearning left off. He’d
never have that now. He’d never know the feel of another man
bringing him to orgasm, satisfying every nerve in his body the way
only a man could do.
He’d lose his virginity to whatever girl was chosen at the
becoming. Get her pregnant within a couple of years. Raise a couple
of kids. Please his father and keep his goddamn mouth shut about
what he truly felt. He’d be loyal, as he’d been raised to be.
Josh’s balls drew up, and he lifted his head a little to look
down the length of his torso, his gaze fixated on the bulbous,
reddened crown. He sucked in air and held it as satiny white seed
spurted from his cock; his body trembled, and his skin became
electrified by tingling nerve-endings. His face heated, and pressure
built, causing his eyes to bulge in their sockets until he couldn’t hold
his breath any longer. He slammed his head back onto his pillow.
Warm ropes of cum quickly cooled on his sensitive skin, and
he bristled from the chill. He grabbed a towel on the edge of his bed,
wiped himself clean, and pulled his boxers back up to hide his spent
shaft.
There had to be more to life than this. More than fucking his
own palm while imagining some hot guy’s lips wrapped around his
cock.
Could he even do it? Could he live the lie? Would the great
spirits from beyond expect this from him? Condone the denial of his
true nature?
Fuck! How could he even shift if he denied nature?
Josh jumped at the sound of a knock on his door. “Yeah?”
“Be ready at five a.m., son. We need to head out early.”
Josh took a second to compose his whirling emotions.
“Josh?”
“Yes, sir. I’ll be ready.” Josh’s father, Gabriel, was a no-
nonsense kind of man. If he said to be ready, Josh would be.
He tugged the blanket around his shoulder, turned onto his
side, and stared at the waterfall still flooding his window pane. His
mind felt as inundated as the glass. Only, Josh was drowning in his
own fears, his own doubts, and his own need for understanding.
What was he supposed to do?
The universe suddenly felt small and confining, and though he
didn’t have the answers to so many questions that haunted him, he
was sure of one thing—he was trapped, and nothing about the
upcoming events gave him any relief that his problems would ever be
solved.
****
“I don’t think you should go.”
Standing in front of the window in his mother’s bedroom,
Braden Scott glanced over his shoulder at his mother, Abbey. Deep
lines rutted her forehead, and dark circles seemed to bruise the skin
under her eyes. Needless worry hadn’t helped her already weakened
state, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.
“I have to go.” He turned and knelt at her side. “It’s time.”
“But what if they reject you?” She smoothed his brow with a
loving touch.
Braden clasped her soft hand in his own and brought the back
of her fingers to his mouth where he dropped a tender kiss. “Mom, I
have to do this. I already feel the signs, the itch under my skin.
Waiting for the next becoming would be torturous. Besides, we’ve
been cast out long enough. Don’t you think?”
A shaky smile broke across her face, and she sighed. “Very
well. Just keep your head down and don’t give them any reason to
turn you away.”
Braden kissed her hand again then placed it at her side before
standing. “Lucy will be over later today and will stay the week. Be
nice. She’s only here to help.”
Abbey rolled her eyes. “Sweet girl, but bless her heart, she
talks incessantly.”
“You like the company, and you know it.”
She waved him off. “Go, before I cry.”
Braden glanced over to where his mother lay in her bed then
gave the room the once-over, wishing somehow he could give her
everything she deserved. A big house with lots of light and fresh air,
maybe a window nook for reading her favorite books, and a kitchen to
fill all of her extra time doing what she loved most—baking.
The last year had been tough for her, but she was on the mend.
She’d finished chemo and only needed a little rest and a few silent
prayers that her strength would return soon. If any woman could
survive breast cancer, his mother would be the one.
After all, she’d already survived her husband, Braden’s father,
Benjamin, being cast out of the pack, making him the only omega
Braden had ever heard of. The gesture was more symbolic than
punishment. Had the elders chosen another road, his father would
have been given a death sentence rather than being ostracized.
His mother sometimes tried to discuss their family’s dark past,
but Braden never wanted to hear it. What good would it do to rehash
something that couldn’t be changed?
It didn’t matter much anyway. Braden would never understand
how a man could murder his best friend in cold blood. He didn’t like
talking about it, and that was that. The pain was too much. Besides,
how could he miss something he’d never had?
Fortunately, Braden hadn’t been judged as severely as his
father, and he’d been permitted to participate in the becoming because
his birth occurred after the killing. After his father’s banishment.
Braden slung his bag over his shoulder and walked the mile
and a half to the Greyhound bus station in downtown Suttersville. Its
twelve hundred some odd residents fought hard to get the bus
company to pass through once a week, though the station resembled
more of a road-side taco stand than an actual station. The metal
canopy out front barely provided enough coverage to keep him from
being entirely soaked. But Braden didn’t mind the water. He liked the
cool feeling of it splashing against his face.
On hot nights, he welcomed the rain. Anything to relieve the
sticky, humidity and restless thoughts usually plaguing him when he
had nothing better to do. Secretly, Braden hoped the becoming would
reveal an explanation for the strange feelings that kept him awake,
tossing and turning at night. That gnaw in his gut telling him he
wasn’t alone kept him on his toes. Strangely, it filled his mind with an
inexplicable air of excitement, rather than fear of the unknown, that
he couldn’t seem to suppress.
Perhaps it was the becoming itself. The time when he’d make
his first shift as a true wolf, see the one he was meant to spend his life
with, and, he hoped, be welcomed into the fold … at last.
Or maybe it was his wolfen spirit, reminding him that he was
and always would be part of a bigger picture. Part of a community of
paranormal beings who were created with an innate bond, and that the
purpose for all he and his mother had suffered and sacrificed would
soon be revealed.
When the bus came, Braden took a seat near the back, away
from the hustle and bustle of people getting off and on. His nerves
were already on edge, and by the time the four hour trip concluded, he
was sure he’d be clawing at the walls of the bus, his wolfen spirit
sensing his need for open air and plenty of space.
It had always been that way. As long as he could recall, he
hated tight spaces and the inability to take off at a moment’s notice.
Just run. Find open road, peace and quiet.
His mother claimed he was like his father in that regard, but
Braden wanted to be nothing like a man capable of murder. He hoped
it was merely a sign that his wolfen spirit was bucking for release.
Yeah, his time was coming. No more isolation from other
shifters. No more scraping to get by. Soon he’d have the support of a
pack. An extended family. And if everything went off without a hitch,
despite his mother’s fears, he’d be accepted, lock, stock, and barrel, as
one of them.
Chapter Two

Josh hadn’t been to the pack campground since he was a
teenager. His dad used to take him along to set up before other packs
arrived, but the last few years, Josh had gone out of his way to make
sure he was too busy to help.
The idea of the becoming made sense to him, especially the
meditation and the actual ceremony. He’d seen young shifters
become—well, to be more exact, he’d seen them prepare. No one
actually witnessed a shifter’s first becoming other than his chosen
mate.
When men came of age, they’d attend the ceremonies and
begin the final ritual by drinking an elixir. According to his father, the
concoction, made by the elders, came from a mixture of mescal bean,
belladonna, and a few other herbs Josh had never heard of, much less
pronounce.
The men were sent into the wilderness, alone, on the night of
the harvest moon. According to legend, the spirits found them,
awakened their wolf, and then they shifted. And somehow, their mates
joined them in the spirit world.
When they emerged from the forest the following night, the
becoming concluded with promising ceremonies, and later each
couple returned to their packs and began courting. The rest was left up
to each couple and their families. Most pairings led to marriage and
children. Needless to say, the divorce rate was much lower with
shifters than the average statistics of the human world.
Josh found it all fascinating until it came to the pairing part.
Perhaps his biggest fear was the spirits choosing a mate for him when
he clearly held no desires to be paired with a female. And what
desires he did possess, he’d never speak of aloud.
As he walked along the path leading to the main gathering
area, the hair on Josh’s arms stood on end. The chill in the air was
definitely out of place for the season.
A few people had already arrived and were setting up tents and
camping supplies. To an outsider the camp probably appeared like any
other campground. What took place after dark, however, was much
different.
He dropped his backpack and the heavy vinyl bag containing
his two-man tent, his home away from home for the next few days.
His father set up his tent along with the older pack members,
segregating those who had yet to shift from the remaining packs.
Someday, Josh would do the same for his son.
The women didn’t actually participate until the night of the
main ceremony, and even then, they were kept separate until they
were joined with their perspective mates in the spirit world.
Several familiar faces passed by. Josh acknowledged them
respectfully, but on the inside he’d practically turned to mush. He’d
be an alpha someday, but today he was just a kid about to undergo a
life-altering change. Even the bravest man would find that
intimidating.
His excitement was compounded by the low murmur of
anticipation blanketing the air as the campground started to fill up.
“Are there always this many people here?”
Josh jumped at the unexpected voice behind him. He glanced
over his shoulder at the tall, dark haired guy setting up his tent a few
yards away. “Yeah, it gets crazy.”
The guy wiped his hand on his pants leg then extended it to
Josh. “I’m Braden.”
Josh shook his hand. “Josh.” Electricity zapped his fingers,
and he jerked his hand back, then clenched it tight at his side. What
the hell was that?
A shaking smile broke across Braden’s lips. “This whole thing
is amazing.”
Josh shrugged, doing his best not to show signs of his
impending mental breakdown. Who is this guy? “Yeah, I guess.” His
vision blurred, and his ears rang.
“My mom’s told me stories about this. I never thought it
would actually happen though.”
Josh held his breath as Braden rubbed the back of his arm
across his forehead and wiped away tiny little beads of sweat that
bubbled up.
The instant the droplets were broken, Braden’s scent wafted
toward Josh. His skin itched under the surface, and his heart raced.
The fragrant smell of pine and rich, black dirt danced inside his nose.
He knew that natural, earthy fragrance like he knew his own. Josh
eyed the other man closely. “I, uh, I’ve never seen you around
before.”
Braden nodded. “I live over in Suttersville.”