by Fel Fern
Darkfall Mountain Pack 1
Garret’s Dilemma
City slicker Bo Ramirez reluctantly agreed to spend the weekend camping in the Darkfall woods with his outdoorsy werebear boyfriend. But when Bo turns from lover to food, there is no one else in the woods to hear his cry for help.
Dominant werewolf Garret Marks is a part of the Darkfall Mountain Pack. The lone wolf of the pack, Garret’s peaceful solitary existence is shattered when an injured human male stumbles into his property.
Garret smelled trouble the moment Bo crashed into his life. Bo’s stalker crazy shifter boyfriend is out for Bo’s blood, but it’s really none of Garret’s business. Something about Bo calls to Garret though. The human drags all of Garret’s protective animalistic instincts to the surface, preventing Garret from walking away.
Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 20,052 words
GARRET'S DILEMMA
Darkfall Mountain Pack 1
Fel Fern
EROTIC ROMANCE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
GARRET'S DILEMMA
Copyright © 2015 by Fel Fern
E-book ISBN: 978-1-63259-852-3
First E-book Publication: November 2015
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2015 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.
PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers,
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DEDICATION
To my readers, I hope you enjoy the first book in my new MM series. To Siren Publishing, for giving this book a home.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
GARRET'S DILEMMA
Darkfall Mountain Pack 1
FEL FERN
Copyright © 2015
Chapter One
“Come on, Bo. This is a weekend of relaxation. Stop looking at your emails. Better yet, keep your phone,” Royce chided.
Despite being at the wheel, Royce snatched away Bo’s phone without warning when Bo kept on texting. Then Royce tossed the phone over his shoulder.
“Hey! That was my boss asking me about an important account,” Bo protested.
Royce snorted. “Tell him to go fuck himself. It’s not the end of the world. He knows you’re on a much-needed vacation.”
Bo unbuckled his seatbelt and lunged for his phone, but Royce easily shoved him back in his seat with his supernatural strength. Royce’s pulse raced with fear. An unwarranted reaction, because he knew Royce would never hurt him in a million years.
The existence of the paranormal had only been revealed twenty years ago, and the human race only started getting used to living and working alongside them. At this day and age, interspecies dating was still considered unorthodox.
Heck. Bo’s city-bred parents didn’t blink an eye when he came out, but they were adamant about Bo introducing Royce to them at one of their parties. “Shifters were different from other men since they share half of their souls with an animal. You better be careful, Bo,” Bo’s mother had said. “They’re dangerous, unpredictable, and the laws of men don’t apply to them. “
Although Bo loved his momma to bits, she wasn’t done. She emphasized Royce Masters had the means and wealth to disguise his animal nature under his designer suits and impeccable manners. Then she repeatedly warned Bo about the gossip she read from the tabloids about Royce and how all his boyfriends had mysteriously disappeared.
What a load of bullshit.
The media always wanted dirt on Royce. Besides, until Bo, Royce confessed all his ex-lovers disappointed him because all they were attracted to were his wealth, status, and unique standing as a successful businessman and shifter in the community.
Bo’s twelve-month relationship with Royce was proof all his gainsayers were wrong. During all that time, Royce had been nothing but a gentleman and a sweet and caring boyfriend.
Well, there was that one odd incident one time when Royce’s control slipped a little in the bedroom. Royce did make up for the slight with gifts and kisses, and he did explain. All shifters had trouble keeping their animal half leashed so close to the full moon.
Besides, Bo counted himself lucky. He wasn’t ripped or attractive, only average. Some days, he still couldn’t believe a rich, successful and handsome guy like Royce would date an average guy like him. Bo was the kind of guy no one took a second glance at, and he was fine with mediocrity.
Annoyance took over his misplaced fear. Bo snorted. “This is one of the disadvantages of having a pushy shifter boyfriend.”
“Come on, Bo. You said so yourself you needed a break,” Royce argued. “So sit back, relax, and enjoy the scenery. This is a special weekend for us, remember?”
Bo reluctantly sat back in his seat. He knew he had a problem. Growing up poor made him a workaholic, and it took Royce a long time to convince him to t
ake a break—to drive away from the city and spend the weekend in the woods. Royce promised to teach Bo to hunt, fish, and he implied there would be some wild and kinky sex on the side.
Even growing up, Bo wasn’t the sporty kind of guy. Hell, he was the slightly clunky kid that always got picked last during gym. While his high school days were behind him now and Bo lost all the extra weight, he was still uncoordinated and gawky.
Although Bo always knew he played on the all-male team, his experience with dating had been limited. Before he met Royce, Bo only had one other ex-boyfriend. Kyle turned out to be a dick, a freelance musician who fucked other guys behind Bo’s back while Bo was at work.
Bo could still remember the last time he saw Kyle. The bastard had knocked on his apartment door, wanting a loan to finance his drug habit, but Royce had been there. His shining armor who had promised Bo he’d take care of Kyle. True to his word, Bo had never seen Kyle again. Good riddance, loser.
“Sorry, you’re right,” Bo mumbled.
He couldn’t afford to screw this up. Like Royce reminded him, Bo had been spending too many nights at the office trying to finish a deadline. Bo knew they both needed this weekend to reconnect. Maybe spark some fire back into their relationship. Bo had a wonderful and caring boyfriend. He couldn’t ask for anything more.
“Give me a kiss,” Royce commanded.
Bo shivered when Royce stole a look at him. The glint in Royce’s eyes excited and scared him at the same time. In the bedroom, Royce always took control, but Bo didn’t mind. Being with Royce allowed him to come to the realization he liked being submissive in the bedroom.
He leaned over and gave Royce a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Watch the road,” Bo reminded him.
Royce chuckled. Bo stared out the windows. They’d been traveling for a couple of hours now, but it looked like they were reaching the Darkfall Mountains because the terrain visibly changed. The smooth road turned uphill, and thick pine trees rose on either side of them.
Further up the path, lay the charming little town of Darkfall—population three thousand. Rumor had it Darkfall was occupied by a territorial and isolated werewolf pack that preferred to keep their privacy.
Remembering the gossip and rumors Bo read from travel forums about the werewolves being inhospitable to outsiders, he shuddered. Tales ranged from mildly disturbing to ones that bordered on the horror movie angle. Some even said the wolves feasted on the flesh of outsiders after tearing their throats out.
“Royce, are you sure the local werewolves won’t mind us camping on their land?” Bo couldn’t help but ask. “I mean, some of the rumors must be true, right?”
Royce let out a tired sigh. “I’ve told you before. We won’t be staying in town, but at my private cabin in the woods. It’s practically just us up there. No cannibalistic wolves. I promise.”
“Okay, good.” Bo breathed a sigh of relief, and continued watching the gorgeous scenery.
Little did he know the last thing he needed to worry about were wolves.
Chapter Two
Usually, Bo liked being tied up. Not this time though. With his wrists tightly bound with coarse rope against the bedposts, he couldn’t move his arms, or for that matter, his legs. Splayed opened, naked and restrained for Royce’s use usually aroused him, but this time felt different.
Was it nerves? No matter how often he told his body to relax, it refused to obey him.
“Royce?” Bo hesitantly asked. “I don’t really feel comfortable, and I think you need to redo your knots. They’re too tight, like they’re cutting off my blood circulation. Can we use the Velcro cuffs instead?”
Royce completely ignored him. The werebear continued pawing through their toy bag, which lay atop the dresser beside the bed. Like him, Royce was completely undressed, but unlike him Royce’s movements hadn’t been restricted.
Something felt off about Royce tonight. Dare he say it? Wrong. Usually, Bo liked Royce taking the lead. He loved hearing Royce’s voice go all growly and commanding, making him instantly hard. Tonight though, dinner felt rushed, like Royce wanted to get on to the main event. It certainly wasn’t the romantic meal Bo envisioned having.
Hell, he even imagined Royce surprising him after with maybe the key to his apartment or presenting Bo with something to take their relationship to the next level. Bo was certainly ready, and he assumed Royce had been on the same page. Okay. Bo swore he’d be cool about this. Panicking and destroying the mood wouldn’t help them one bit.
He called Royce’s name a couple more times. When Royce ignored him, Bo no longer wanted to do diplomatic.
“Look, Royce. I’m serious.” Bo couldn’t keep the anger from creeping into his voice. Hadn’t Royce often reminded him open communication was essential in their relationship?
Finally, Royce stopped to look at him. Bo became aware of how fucking huge the werebear was. Royce practically towered over his vulnerable form like some colossal monster.
A warning growl tickled from Royce. Bo’s breath hitched. His heart painfully began to hammer against his chest and the fear he momentarily felt during the drive doubled, hell, must have increased a couple of notches.
Royce wouldn’t hurt me. He never had. That was a lie he kept telling himself though, wasn’t it? Bo kept stifling the tiny voice in his head reminding him Royce wasn’t completely right in the head.
That Bo glimpsed Royce’s real self the moment Royce lost it and kept on going, using the flogger during that one scene after Bo yelled “yellow” then “red.” They were playing at one of the public play areas in the BDSM club they frequented, so a couple of Doms helped stop the scene. Here though, as Royce painfully reminded Bo, they were alone.
Back then, Bo accepted Royce’s explanations about losing his control during the full moon. Full moon, my ass. Bo had asked fellow work colleagues who were shifters too, and they said a shifter who had been bitten a long time ago wouldn’t lose his cool during the full moon.
Over the weeks after the club incident, Bo had tried burying that voice. Fooled himself to thinking he was being paranoid because he was feeling insecure. Bo did his best to convince himself that it was fluke. Everyone, including Royce, was bound to make mistakes, didn’t they? Besides, every relationship required work. Had flaws they could work out. Royce deserved a second chance to chase away Bo’s fears, didn’t he?
Finally Royce spoke, but the words he spat out stopped Bo cold and rang all the alarm bells in his head. “I can smell your fear, and it smells so fucking good.”
Under the dim cabin lights, Bo could see Royce’s pupils bleed from human brown to animal yellow—an indication Royce’s human half was slipping. Bo tried to calm his beating heart, to control his breathing, but when Royce flashed the slightly sharpened rows of his canines, Bo lost it. He thrashed in his bonds, desperate to get free, but the bonds held true. They cut into his skin, definitely bound to leave marks—and not of the pleasant sort.
“Let me go, you crazy bastard!” Bo shrieked. He screamed himself raw, but of course, no one heard him.
Royce leaned in close, ran an affectionate hand up the straining muscles of Bo’s left bound hand. For once, Royce’s touch felt repulsive. Greedy. “Go on. Keep on doing that, because I love it when my prey struggles.”
“Fuck you, Royce.” Bo winced when Royce snarled, his canines within snapping distance of his face.
“I can’t fight my bear anymore, Bo.”
Royce closed his mouth, and a cruel smirk appeared on his lips. His pupils turned completely yellow now, completely eliminating whatever hope Bo held onto that Royce waged a war inside him. That Royce had a problem Bo could somehow help fix.
Had Royce ever loved him in the first place? The words of his mother, Sheryl, came back to him. The tales she heard about Royce Masters, the mysterious disappearances. Kyle disappeared, too. Oh God. Bo might hate his ex-boyfriend’s guts, but Kyle didn’t deserve to die.
“Rejoice in the fact you lasted longer than the others.�
��
“Did you ever love me?” Royce finally asked, point-blank. “Hell, right now I’d settle for like, or attracted to.”
He let the pain of betrayal leak into his voice, hoping in some way to distract his maniac psycho werebear boyfriend who could easily rip him in half. The only reason Royce hadn’t—Bo couldn’t bear to linger on that thought. His suspicions came true when Royce laughed at his face. Whatever love Bo had left for Royce shattered, but Bo had to put the hurt away, because now his objective was to survive.
“Love a human? Give me a break, Bo. Mortals are only good for one thing—food and fucking, and I’ve grown tired of all your whining.”
Bo winced at the brutal honesty in Royce’s words. He wondered what kind of fool let himself believe that a man like Royce would want to keep him. He pushed away the fear that threatened to envelop him, that might hinder his mind from thinking of other possible escape routes.
They were in the middle of the mountains. An area so isolated even the local werewolves didn’t know about. No matter how much Bo pleaded for help, no one was coming. He had to save himself.
Bo realized he only had one card left to play. A gamble. He relaxed his arms, breathed in and out, counted to ten silently in his head, and tried ease the tension from his body. Bo could tell Royce didn’t like his prey getting brave, but his reaction intrigued him all the same.
“I bet you’re an expert at this,” Bo began.
“Oh, I am. My family has been doing this for centuries.” Royce flashed his canines again, and Bo tried very hard, to not think of those sharp teeth sinking deep into his skin and tearing skin and muscle.