'Unnatural Allies' is out today!

Unnatural Allies

https://www.jms-books.com/edward-kendrick-c-224_229/unnatural-allies-p-3125.html

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083FJD18B

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/unnatural-allies-edward-kendrick/1135918745?ean=9781646562398

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/unnatural-allies

GENRE: Gay Paranormal Erotic Romance
LENGTH: 32,734 words
RATING:

Vampires and werewolves are natural enemies. Therefore, Andre has no regrets about killing Raúl, the Alpha of the Wintermane pack, who plans to attack the Crimson Cathedral nightclub, revealing the presence of vampires to the human world.

When Sand learns of his brother's murder, he debates seeking revenge because he hates Raúl, who backed their father when he forced Sand out of the pack for being gay. Then, he discovers that Estebe, the new Alpha, plans to continue Raúl's mission.

Things come to a head when Sand, a bodyguard, escorts a client's daughter to the nightclub and the club's owner tells Andre to find out why Sand is there. Despite their differences, instant lust drives Andre into Sand's bed-but not before they agree to work together to stop Estebe.

Can they successfully end Estebe's existence -- and survive? And, will their relationship stand a chance as lust turns to an attraction that defies the belief that they are supposed to be mortal enemies?

EXCERPT:

"Now what?" Sand grumbled. He rolled over, trying to find the phone on the nightstand. His hand closed over it and he answered while he mentally cursed whatever idiot was calling him at the crack of dawn on a Sunday to damnation.

"Your brother is dead, Sandalio. Murdered."

Sand shot upright, the phone pressed tightly to his ear. "Murdered?"

"Yes. On his way back to the pack after visiting the city. Because it was the full moon, he was in his werewolf form."

"Weren't we all, last night," Sand said under his breath before he asked, "Who killed him, Dimas?"

"We don't know. When he hadn't returned by the time the moon went down we went searching for him. He was found on a path through the woods, dead and, obviously, in his human form at that point. There was one puncture wound in his back going directly into his heart, but whoever did it took the weapon with them."

"A knife?" Sand frowned. He didn't see how anyone could have approached his brother while he was a werewolf and stabbed him.

Dimas implied as much when he replied, "My guess would be some sort of projectile, but not a silver bullet. A bullet would still be in the body."

"You're certain he wasn't killed by a hunter?"

"Damn, Sand, you should know better than to even suggest that. He would have sensed a human anywhere close enough to shoot him, and made certain to get out of range."

"Or kill him," Sand said under his breath. He didn't know how he felt about his brother's death. They had never been close, to put it mildly. In fact, they hated each other. On the other hand, Raúl was family, for what that was worth. Not much in his opinion. Sand had been kicked out of the pack because he wasn't willing to mate with any of the females. Something that was mandatory as far as their father, who had been the pack's Alpha, was concerned. When their father had died, Raúl had fought and beaten all the contenders to become the new Alpha. Soon after, he had made it a point to find out where Sand was living. He visited, only once, to tell him in no uncertain terms that he was not welcome back into the pack unless he changed his ways. My profligate ways, to hear him tell it. Not as if I had a choice. I'm gay, I knew that long before I turned twenty-one. It's in my genes, or DNA, or something.

"Is there any clue to who murdered him?" Sand asked Dimas.

"Nothing. By the time his body was discovered any scents of his killer were long gone, if there had been any to begin with."

Sand knew what that meant and said, "If there weren't, and since Raúl apparently wasn't aware anyone was in the vicinity, it had to have been a vampire."

"That's our feeling," Dimas agreed.

"Why him?"

"If we knew, and we might, it would go a long way to determining which vampire it was."

Sand read something into what Dimas hadn't said. "Did Raúl have plans to attack one of them? If so, and they found out, they might have dealt with him accordingly."

"Oh, he had a plan all right," Dimas said grimly. "One that was so insane he wasn't able to get anyone in the pack to go along with it, no matter how much he threatened. All right, I take that back. A couple of his extremely loyal Betas were on his side, but that was it."

Which you weren't, but then you're one of the smart ones. "Knowing him, he did do his best to threaten all of the Betas, if not the rest of the males, to agree to his plan."

Dimas's laugh was sour as he replied, "You know it."

"What was this insane idea?"

"You've heard of The Crimson Cathedral?"

"Yeah. It's a fancy club owned by a vampire, and a feeding ground used by his cronies to cull human customers to feed from -- or so rumor has it."

"Yes. Raúl wanted to attack it, targeting the vampires. He thought if it looked like a mass shooting, and the cops and the humans who were there saw that the people who were shot didn't die, and healed rapidly, it would prove that vampires do exist. Then the humans would hunt them down and eliminate them."

"Was he out of his fucking mind?" Sand spat out.

"We are talking about Raúl," Dimas replied. Sand could visualize him rolling his eyes in disgust. 

One Plus Two Equals... - 53

Two months later

"That just earned you a gold star," Auden commented as he wiped the blood off his weapon.

Julyan nodded, bending over with his hands on his knees until he regained his breath and his control.

The fight had been short but vicious, the two of them against four well-armed creatures who had banded together to try to take over a small section of the city run by one of the local mafia capos. It wasn't the agency's intention to protect or even deal with the capo, who had no idea what he was facing. As far as they, and Auden, were concerned, stopping him was the Fed's job. The creatures were another thing. If they'd succeeded with their plot then who knew what they'd do next to expand their power in the human world.

"Ready to get out of here?"

Again, Julyan only nodded.

"Cat got your tongue?"

"Sort of." Julyan admitted. "Not literally but… This was hard."

Coming over to him, Auden gripped Julyan's upper arms. "I take it you mean the killing."

"Yes." Julyan didn't resist Auden's hold, only staring at his lover. "Xander felt so…so thrilled, for lack of a better word, at being able to fight and kill. It was frightening, Auden. If he's a part of me, does it mean those were my feelings as well? I mean…" he tapped his chest, "Somewhere in here am I part beast and killer even though I've never felt like one?"

"Not at all," Auden assured him firmly. "If that was the case you wouldn't be so worried about it. You, as Julyan, are no more of a fighter than Duane is. The only difference between you and him is that he shifts into another human, me, and we are thinking, feeling individuals on our own. He doesn't have to control me any more than I have to control him. In your case, because Xander is a very wild and predatory animal, you need to keep a tight rein on him when you're using him to help destroy the creatures that need eliminating." Auden pulled him to his chest in a tight embrace. "We can all be thankful you have a good moral core, unlike those guys we just took down."

Julyan looked up at him, the worried expression still on his face. "What if he manages to erode this moral core you say I have?"

"I don't think, in fact I'm quite certain, he wouldn't be able to by the mere fact he doesn't have morals as we think of them. He can't lie, or knowingly be cruel. He can't consciously consider the difference between right and wrong on any except the most primal level. He can't foresee the consequences of his acts or think in abstract terms."

"That you know of," Julyan countered. "If he's part of me then maybe he can do all those things."

"Julyan, if he is in the way you're implying then he would have the same beliefs you hold, just as Duane and I believe in the same things on an ethical level." Auden chuckled when Julyan rolled his eyes at his last words. "Okay, so maybe I was a bit free and loose morally when it came to those first few kisses, but," he kissed Julyan's forehead, "I did know what I was doing was wrong. I just didn't particularly care at that point."

Julyan relaxed into Auden's hold finally, and grinned. "So, I'm safer with Xander than with you?"

"You had better believe it! On any and all levels." Auden glanced around the room hopefully, seeing only the remnants of their battle, which were hardly conducive to what he had in mind. "I opt we get the hell out of here, go home, and celebrate your losing your virginity."

"My virginity?" Julyan snorted. "Been there, done that, long before I met you."

"Your operative virginity," Auden's kiss was hard, almost brutal, before he realized what he'd done and softened it.

"That's how you kissed me the first time." Julyan wrapped his arms around Auden's neck. "I fought it then."

"And now?" He found out seconds later when Julyan kissed him hungrily, his tongue probing, fucking his mouth with such ferocity Auden instantly had a raging hard-on. "I think…" he managed to get out when they broke to try to regain some control, "there was just a bit of Xander in that kiss."

Julyan shook his head. "Nope, it was all me. Now, as you said, let's get out of here. I don't mind a dirty floor if it comes down to it, but a bloody one…" He shuddered.

"I absolutely agree. Home it is, to shower and then continue this."

"Or," Julyan grinned, "continue it in the shower."

"Yeah, that works too."

One Plus Two Equals... - 52

"Julyan, stop pacing and concentrate."

"Cats pace."

Auden shook his head. "Technically, cats prowl, something you're more than welcome to do after you've shifted. Now, try it again. Concentrate on Xander and become him."

Julyan, naked at the moment to facilitate the shift, stopped where he was, a few feet away from one wall of the large, empty room in a non-descript warehouse in lower Manhattan. On paper the building belonged to a small shipping company. In fact it was one of the agency's many holdings, used exclusively for training shifters on how to control their animal halves.

"What if…?"

"Julyan," Auden growled before tempering his tone. "Stop worrying so much and just shift. Duane's already told you, several times, that when you were in your cat form, you obviously still knew what you were doing once the original rage had dissipated. You tried to clean his wounds and when he explained how to shift back you understood him and did."

"All right, I'll try…again."

Auden watched him carefully when he closed his eyes, obviously from the look on his face doing his best to make the shift happen. They had been at it for the best part of an hour with no results so far. Auden knew it was fear holding Julyan back, fear of not being able to control Xander.

Julyan's hands fisted and unfisted, his chest expanded as he took another deep breath. And kept expanding. Slowly the cat appeared, wavered, disappeared and then returned.

"Yes," Auden whispered when Xander finally held his form. His tawny fur was dotted with small darker spots, his shoulders and neck massively muscular, his hindquarters smaller and leaner in comparison.

Xander turned his head to look at Auden through pale golden eyes, distinctly different from Julyan's blue ones. There was intelligence in them well beyond what one might have expected and Auden knew it belonged to Julyan although the body was Xander's.

"Feel better about your ability now?" Auden asked, smiling.

Xander nodded his head slowly before he began to prowl the length and breadth of the large room as if testing how his body moved. Finally he came to a stop in front of Auden. His shoulders stood waist-high to Auden, his head when he brushed it against Auden easily touched his chest.

"You are one beautiful, if rather toothy, animal." Xander butted his head against Auden, almost knocking him off his feet. "Okay, okay, bad joke. Sorry. Now, unless you want to keep testing your body, shift back."

It took a few moments, then Julyan was standing in there instead of Xander. He looked both elated and relieved. "I did it! And Auden, I was in control, mostly. I could feel the animal part of him, the predatory urge to explore and maybe hunt, but I was able to curb it."

Auden chuckled. "Or I would have been dinner?"

Julyan shook his head. "He was never interested in you. It was more like he wanted to get out of the room and see what the world had in store for him."

"That part you had better rein in whenever you shift. I have a feeling people might panic if a saber-toothed cat started strolling down the street."

Julyan grinned. "You think, huh? Should I test that theory?"

"Umm, no. What you should do is get dressed again so we can get out of here."

"Or you can get undressed so we can celebrate my success."

"Julyan…"

"Okay, okay, getting dressed now. But when we get home…"

Auden laughed. "Maybe."

As Julyan dressed, his look turned pensive. Finally he turned to look at Auden. "Can I…no…may I come with you sometimes when you have to deal with… things?"

"I'll think about it. If I say yes it won't be until after you've done a lot more shifts and we both know for damned sure that you're always in control."

"All right, that makes sense. Now, let's get out of here."

One Plus Two Equals... - 51

"But I couldn't shift." Julyan protested as he sat, wrapping his arms around his knees. "I've been angry before in my life, and scared, and nothing like that happened."

"Anger and fear come in many forms. I would suspect you've never been in the position where you've felt the need to save someone you love and didn't have a clue how to."

"Well, no. I'm not a fighter and," Julyan smiled slightly, "I'm usually the one who needed protecting." He shuddered. "What was I? I felt like a predator. All I wanted to do was maim and kill those…those sons of bitches."

"You did a damned good job of it, too. And before you start feeling any kind of guilt, I'd say they deserved it," Duane said. "Not because of what they were doing to me but because of what they undoubtedly planned on doing to or with you."

"You still didn't answer my question. What was I?"

"A saber-toothed cat."

Julyan's eyes widened. "They're extinct."

"Somehow in the grand scheme of things, I don't think that matters. Shifters have been around since the beginning of time."

Nodding slowly, Julyan thought about what he'd said. "Does that mean I've been around since they were?" He shook his head. "No, that's not possible. I had a normal life growing up, parents who loved me. I told you that, and about my mom's getting sick and all. I was born just like any other human. Ask my mother, she's got baby pictures from day one, literally. I didn't…appear one day like…like a changeling dumped in a crib."

Duane chuckled at his description. "No, I doubt you were a changeling, or even that you've been reincarnated over and over. My best guess, and it's really more than a guess, you carry a gene which makes you a shifter, just as Auden and I do."

"Shifting is genetic?" Julyan looked as if he didn't believe it.

Duane chuckled. "Unless you're a god, according to those who should know."

Julyan must have been recovering at least some normalcy because he snickered. "If I am a god, you'd better start bowing down to me."

"Worshiping you, I can handle, but I draw the line at bowing."

"Well, damn." He leaned back against Duane when his lover moved closer, sighing deeply. "This is going to take a lot of getting used to."

"We're here to help you. The first thing you'll have to do is learn to control your shifting. It would cause real problems if you always reacted the way you did today, without a thought for the results."

"But, I didn't know…" Julyan shivered.

"I understand that, Juls. However, just because you now know you can shift, doesn't mean it won't happen again without warning if we don't show you how to master your cat. At least you were able to return to being you."

"Damn, that would have sucked if I hadn't been able to. I might be out there tearing up the sofas." He straightened suddenly, glancing toward the living room. "I have a hell of a mess to take care of."

"I'll call the boss and have him send a cleanup crew."

"Is that something he keeps on hand?"

Duane snorted. "You've never seen what's left when Auden gets done taking out one of the creatures he has to deal with."

"I hope it's less messy than what I…what the cat thing left behind."

"How about we give it a name. The 'cat thing' just doesn't have the proper ring to it."

"Yeah, I guess it doesn't, though that's what it is."

"How about Garfield?" Duane ducked fast when Julyan took a swipe at him. "Okay, scratch that. How about… Xander?"

"Xander?"

"It's a nickname for Alexander and means defender of mankind."

"I'm not certain that fits me, or him, I suppose."

"Juls, he was defending me and once you learn to harness him, I suspect he'll do the same for others, just as Auden does. It's in you to do that, and I mean you, Juls, as well as your cat."

"I hope so."

"I know so."

One Plus Two Equals... - 50

"Holy hell," Duane whispered as understanding hit him hard. He would have touched the animal if his hands weren't still shackled behind him. "How…? Damn, no wonder they wanted you but how did they know? Why didn't I know?"

The cat shook its head from side to side.

"Can you, do you know how to shift back?" Duane remembered the first time he'd shifted and the underlying fear that he wouldn't be able to return to himself.

The cat yowled softly, again shaking its head.

"Think it, Juls." Desperation gave an edge to Duane's voice and he tempered it. "Think of yourself in your human body. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Time seemed to stretch out indefinitely before the cat's body began to transform. Then Julyan was there, shaking uncontrollably. "Why did that happen?" he asked in a panic-stricken whisper.

"Because you wanted to save me," Duane told him as he struggled to sit up.

Despite his obvious terror at what had happened to him, Julyan realized Duane needed his help. He looked around at the destruction he'd caused, uncaring for the moment as he asked, "Who had the keys?"

Duane nodded sharply at the body of the dead leader and Julyan searched the pockets of his jeans. When he found them he unlocked the shackles, to Duane's great relief. He eased his arms forward, wincing in pain. Gently Julyan rubbed his shoulders before wrapping him in a loose embrace.

"Auden's going to be pissed that he missed this," Julyan muttered. Then he began to laugh hysterically, a laugh that soon changed to sobs.

"Pissed doesn't begin to cover it."

Julyan found himself in Auden's arms and buried his head in his chest.

"Careful there." Auden eased him away from the worst of the still healing wounds Duane had received.

"S-s-sorry," Julyan took a deep breath to try to quell his weeping.

"Hey, I'll live. We'll live." Auden kissed the top of his head. He stood carefully with Julyan cradled in his arms. "Let's get you out of this mess."

"Please…" As Auden laid him gently on his bed, Julyan shook his head. "I have to… I need to know…how."

"How come you're suddenly a shifter?" When Julyan nodded, Auden settled down beside him, stroking his cheek. "I think this is a question Duane can answer better than I, if it's all right with you."

Julyan clung to Auden for a moment before nodding again. Duane reappeared, smiling slightly. "So now I'm the expert, huh? Well, I'll try to answer. As I said, I think you were terrified by what they were doing and wanted to help me but couldn't, or at least not in your human form. However, somewhere deep inside you another form exists just as Auden does in me, and me in him."

"How come I never knew? Why didn't you know? Those men did."

"So it would seem. I have to wonder if they knew what you shift to or just that you could shift."