Ezra Dawn's Blog

Hi lovelies! So when I released the Asphalt Bay Boxset Vol 1 I included this story as bonus content. What I forgot to do was post it here on the blog in my freebies section so readers who already had the first three books didn't need to buy the boxset to read it. It's about a year late (So sorry about that!!) but I hope you enjoy. Blurb: Lykos has been tasked with making cupcakes for his son Talon’s entire third grade class. The problem? He’s not allowed to use magic and must bake them all himself. Oh, and let’s not forget that they must be decorated to perfection following the theme Talon has chosen. When Lykos’ family decides to drop in for a visit, an all-out war to see who can decorate and bake the best cupcake begins. With three gods and a demigod going all out, it’ll be a miracle if there’s still be a kitchen left by the time they’re finished.It’s been eight years since I brought my son Talon into this world and the little hellion has me wrapped around his little fingers. Which is why, despite not being the best person in the kitchen when not using my powers, I agreed to provide nature themed cupcakes for his entire class because they’re doing a scavenger hunt tomorrow. Since we live in such a small town that’s mostly run by the pack our children go to school on pack lands. It’s like being homeschooled but with a different approach to teaching. The problem is, my son told me I couldn’t take any shortcuts with the cupcakes, which means I’m currently standing in the kitchen with a recipe book in front of me trying to figure out what flavor would be best.Deciding to make both chocolate and vanilla, I get to work mixing the ingredients for the batter. Gods, I hope these taste okay. The last thing I want to do is poison my kid and his classmates. I’m starting to think my boy loves torturing me. The little shit could’ve asked Declan to make him cupcakes because we all know he’s a wizard in the kitchen. Hell, for that matter, he could’ve asked his grandma. But no, he asked me and now I have to do it because I don’t want to disappoint him. Let’s hope I don’t screw this up.After lining my cupcake pans with the paper cups, I begin scooping the batter into the pans. I’ll have to make a few batches since there’s about thirty kids in his class and all of them are shifters. Two cupcakes per child probably won’t be nearly enough to satisfy them but I’m not about to let them have any more than that. The entire pack would probably lynch me if I sent their kids home hopped up on sugar from too many cupcakes. Then again, I’m sure all the other parents are making something too, so I don’t think I’ll be the only one providing sweets. The pack is having a potluck for when the children get back from the scavenger hunt because it’s supposed to be an all-day event. I’d make enough cupcakes for the kids and the parents, but I don’t have that much confidence in my baking skills, so I’ll be drawing the line at making sixty.I’m on my second batch of batter when my uncles and father appear in front of me. “What are you guys doing here?”My uncle Hades says, “What we can’t just stop in for a visit?”“Sure, you can, but you usually have a reason for dropping in unannounced.”“We just wanted to see you and the kiddo, that’s all.”“Mhm, sure.”My dad looks at the mixing bowl in my hands and says, “Do you need some help with that?”Knowing where this is going, I shake my head. “Nope, I’ve got it.”My uncle Zeus gets this glint in his eye and smiles. “Come on, let us help.”“No.”“It’ll go faster if you do.”“No. I know how you three are. What happened at my wedding is a perfect example.”“Oh, come on, don’t be a spoilsport. We were only having a little fun.”“Need I remind you of what happened the last time you were only having a little fun?”Hades rolls his eyes and says, “We know, dinosaurs went extinct.”“No, actually, I was talking about the snowstorm that hit the northeast and killed four hundred people in 1888 because the three of you threw power around so much it created a winter hurricane.”Zeus says, “Come on nephew, we haven’t done anything like that in years.”“Tell that to the state of Hawaii. I know you three vacationed there a few months ago. Their volcano is still erupting.”My dad says, “You can’t blame us for that.”“Sure, I can.”“How about this, the three of us will bake a different kind of cupcake and decorate it. Whoever has the best cupcake gets to help you finish yours.”Shaking my head, I say, “No. Not happening, I know how you guys are.”They each give me their best puppy dog expressions and I sigh. “Okay, fine. But you can’t use magic.”Hades says, “Why not?”I give him a look that clearly says are you serious right now and shake my head. “Talon told me I couldn’t use magic for this so that means neither can you if you plan to help me.”“Right. That makes sense.”Zeus claps his hands together and says, “Let’s get started then.”My dad uses magic to conjure aprons for all of them as well as enough ingredients and mixing bowls for each of them. Thankfully, I used my own magic to supply enough cupcake pans for multiple batches in case I screw something up though I’m hoping I don’t. Leaving my family to do their own thing, I start filling another set of pans with my second batch of batter. The timer on my oven dings and I take my first batch out and set them aside to cool.As I’m preparing my icing, I look up to see my uncles staring each other down. Sensing something is about to happen, I turn off my mixer and face them. My father is standing off to the side putting the finishing touches on his own cupcake. It’s then that I notice the two nearly identical cupcakes sitting on the counter. The only difference in them is the way they’re decorated. Sighing to myself, I wait for my uncles to start arguing.“You stole my idea!”“I did not!”“Yours looks exactly like mine, well, apart from your horrible decorating.”“You take that back! My decorating is not horrible.”“It is! Your woodland animal looks like an alien blob!”“It’s a squirrel!”“It looks nothing like a squirrel!”“Well, yours looks like something you’d find in a baby’s diaper!”“Are you saying my cupcake looks like baby shit?”“If the diaper fits.”Suddenly, Hades grabs a handful of leftover icing and slaps Zeus in the face with it. Zeus grabs three eggs and smashes them into Hades’ hair. Grabbing my finished cupcakes, I move them away from the kitchen. Once I’m sure they’ll be safe, I head back into the kitchen to grab my other batches of cupcakes and my bags of icing, so I can finish decorating them before my uncle’s fight gets too out of hand and messes up my hard work. As I walk into the kitchen, an egg flies past my face and hits the fridge. Shaking my head, I quickly grab my things and leave before I get caught in the fray.An hour later, my uncles come out of the kitchen covered in flour, broken eggs, and a number of other things. I swear there’s even ketchup and mustard staining the front of their t-shirts almost as if they picked up the bottles and started squeezing them at each other. My father follows behind them completely unscathed holding a perfect cupcake iced to look like a fox. He hands me his cupcake and I can’t help grinning.“How’d you manage to come out of there completely unscathed with a cupcake?”He winks at me and says, “I snuck out the back door when the eggs started flying.”Laughing, I take a bite of the cupcake and groan. It tastes like heaven.My dad grins and says, “So, what’s the verdict?”“Grab a bag of icing old man, you can help me finish decorating these.”“Sir yes sir.”Turning to my uncles, I say, “You two better clean up your mess because if you don’t, you won’t like me very much by the time I’m done with you.”Suddenly, my front door bursts open as Declan runs in shouting, “There’s a tornado heading this way we have to get to safety now.”He takes a look around and says, “What the hell happened in here?”Standing, I cross the room and say, “Long story sweetness. I’ll tell you about it later. Show me where this tornado is so I can make it go away.”“You want to go up to a tornado and make it go away? ARE YOU INSANE?”“You know it.”“Jesus Christ, I have no idea what fate was thinking when she saddled me with your crazy ass.”“Aw sweetness, come on, you know you love me.”“I do, very much but sometimes I wonder how in the hell I manage to put up with you.”“You can’t live without me, that’s how.”“True. I couldn’t imagine my life without you in it.”“I can. It would be very bleak and lonely. You need me to spice things up. Besides, if I don’t do something crazy once in a while, you might get bored with me.”He pulls me into his arms and says, “Love, I could never be bored with you. Now, let’s take care of this tornado before it threatens our afternoon plans. I’m looking forward to sampling your cupcakes.”Waggling my eyebrows at him, I grin and say, “If by cupcakes you mean my balls then honey, you can sample those anytime.”He throws his head back and laughs. “No, I actually meant the cupcakes you baked however, I do look forward to sampling your balls as soon as we get Talon into bed tonight.”“I’ll hold you to that.”Stepping outside, I feel a powerful wind gust and turn towards the direction it’s blowing from spotting the tornado in the distance. Grinning to myself, I use my powers to change the weather slightly, so the conditions needed for a tornado to appear no longer exist.“Dad! Dad!”Turning towards the sound of my son’s voice, I see him running at us waving a piece of paper. When he reaches us, he says, “Guess what?”Declan crouches down and says, “What is it?”“I won the scavenger hunt!”“That’s great buddy.”Talon turns to me and says, “Did you make cupcakes?”Grinning at him, I ruffle his hair and say, “I sure did, kiddo and I didn’t use magic.”He grins at me and says, “Can I have one?”Nodding I say, “After dinner.”He hugs me and says, “You’re the best,” before running off to join his friends.Pride fills me as I watch him play with his friends.Declan puts an arm around my shoulders and says, “He adores you, love. You know, he told me he wanted to be you when he grows up.”“You’re kidding right?”“Nope. It was part of a school assignment. The teacher asked all the students what they wanted to be when they grew up and said to draw a picture for them. He drew you. I have it inside somewhere.”“Why didn’t I know about this?”“You were on a job and I forgot to tell you?”Raising an eyebrow, I smirk at him and say, “You forgot huh?”“Okay, okay, I was a teensy bit jealous so, I didn’t say anything.”“A teensy bit jealous?”“Okay, a lot jealous. He’s your perfect mini me and I swear I think he loves you more than me. I want my own mini me.”He says that last bit with a pout and I shake my head. “No.”“Come on, love, I want another child.”“No. Ask me again in a hundred years, maybe by then I’ll have forgotten what it feels like to be pregnant.”“You’re stubborn.”“Damn right. Trust me sweetness, if I could pass this ability to you and have you carry our next child, I’d do it in a heartbeat. But, I can’t so you’re just going to have to wait.”“Fine, but know this, I won’t give up trying to convince you.”“Looking forward to it, sweetness.”

Hello lovelies, so, I was originally supposed to do an Easter themed freebie short for you guys but I couldn’t choose a couple to revisit. So, instead I thought I’d do something a little different to maybe answer some questions I know you lovelies have. What sparked this decision was a conversation I had with a new author who only has three books out but is dipping her toes into a different genre with her next book and with that toe dip, comes the worry/fear that no one will like it. It happens to all of us, and the one thing I tried to stress upon most with her is that you can’t please everyone. There will always be someone who doesn’t like what you’ve written and if you worry about it too much, it’ll stifle your creativity. Which, made me think of a review I got on my first MM book a few years ago. It wasn’t a bad review, the reader enjoyed the book, but the part of the review that stuck with me was this: Asphalt Bay, Really? And at first, I was confused, but then it hit me. This reader thought naming my series Asphalt Bay was odd. And that reminder is what sparked this post. So, I’ll be explaining my reasoning behind the name and maybe answer some questions as to why that I know you lovelies have but never ask. That’s the goal of these posts. Think of it like a Q&A, if you read this, and have something you’d like to know, about me or my guys, submit any questions to me on Facebook or through the contact page on my website and I’ll answer them in the next post. Now, let’s talk Asphalt Bay. Asphalt Bay was the kickstart to my MM writing career. Originally, I was writing MF romance but it didn’t feel right. I’d been reading and enjoying both MM and MF books for years and thought MF contemporary was the way to go. Then I stumbled across and MM writer of paranormal stories whose books became an instant favorite. All it took was me telling her about the story I had in my head and she encouraged me to listen to the voices telling me what to write. Not only did the first book in the Asphalt Bay series come from that conversation, but a flame of passion for the genre was ignited that has sparked a number of different series and books. I also gained an amazing friendship out of it with the author who encouraged me. Anyways, when I was in the early stages of writing An Alpha for the Demigod, I knew I wanted it to be a series of at least four books. With that decision came the need for coming up with a series title. I had a very long list of different names but I didn’t want to be like everyone else. When it comes to paranormal series, especially one that revolves around wolves, you tend to see a lot of series names that have a name for water/land in it along with the words Moon, Silver, Wolf, or other words associated with the myths about werewolves and shifters in the title. I didn’t want to be like everyone else. I wanted my titles to be so unique that when you search them, they’re the only ones that pop up. So far, I’ve succeeded in doing that. Now at this point, I bet you’re wondering why in the world I chose a word like Asphalt to be in my series title and that’s an easy answer. My parents. I have the best parents anyone could ask for. They’re extremely supportive of my writing and were there for me when I decided to quit my job as a hair stylist to pursue writing full time. So, naturally when I switched genres I wanted to honor their support and love of me somehow. For almost thirty years, my parents have worked in the asphalt business and I thought using Asphalt in the title would be a great idea. I’ve also done the same thing with another series of mine Paranormals of Rockydale. There’s a Rockydale Quarry that provides the stone and such the company my parents work for uses to make asphalt. So now you know. I hope you enjoyed reading this post and getting a little bit of insight into how my mind works. And remember, if you ever have any questions for me, feel free to submit them via my author page on Facebook or the contact page here on my site. Links below. Have a lovely day lovelies, and I look forward to hearing from you ;)Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ezradawnauth... case you missed it, here's the link to The Mistake, my most recent release and a spin-off story of the graveyard shift series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RC6RHRP

(This short story previously appeared on Stormy Glenn's ManLove Fantasies Blog for Fall 2018)Chapter OneNavarro“Let’s start our own crime family.”My friends look at me with shocked expressions.Reese, the mother hen of our group says, “You can’t be serious.”“I am. Face it, when done right, crime pays, and we need the money. We can’t stay holed up in this warehouse barely scraping by with what little money we earn from the jobs we manage to pick up. Living on the streets like we do means we know things others don’t. Sure, it’ll be hard, but if we make the right connections we can live the life we want. Earn what we want. We’re barely making minimum wage by working under the table and now that we know Eli is sick I’m not going to sit around and let him die because we can’t afford his medicine. So, are you with me or not? If not, I’ll fight my way into an existing family on my own, but I’d rather do it with you guys. We’re all we’ve got.”Calvin says, “If we do this, you’re the boss. We’ll only take orders from you and no one else and we should probably start out with some ground rules. Drugs fucked up my real family and I refuse to deal with that shit.”“I promise, we won’t deal with anything like that. No drugs, no people. Anything else is fair game.”Leo says, “But those are the big money makers. Are you sure we can survive on guns and gambling alone?”“We could probably make a nice living off contract killing too.”All of us turn to Troy with a raised eyebrow. He shrugs and says, “If we’re going to be into organized crime we have to get used to killing since we might come under threat. Getting paid for it just seems practical.”Nodding, I say, “If we’re going to be contract killers too then we only go after the bad guys. We have to draw the line somewhere so I’m drawing it at killing or harming innocents. I also don’t want to let vile people join us. Anyone with a criminal record involving rape or pedophilia is not someone I want around.”Troy nods. “I agree.”Reese sighs and says, “So, where do we start?”“First, I think we should decide who will be what and once we’ve got that settled, we go downtown and see this guy I heard about who teaches martial arts to street kids like us for free. After that, we’ll have to put ears to the ground and find out who the gangs in the area have connections to. Once we’ve got the information we need, we’ll recruit the people we need to steal their connections and take out the rest. It’ll probably take a few years, but I have faith we can do it.”Colby who has been silent until now, says, “Rome wasn’t built in a day. I think the same can be said for a criminal enterprise. If we play our cards right though and learn everything we possibly can from the martial arts guy, I think we can take control of this city’s underground within the next three years.”“Then we’d better get started.”By the end of the night, everyone has a role to play.Chapter TwoNavarroThree years later…The last three years have been an uphill battle, but we finally have complete control of New York City’s underground. Nothing happens here without our say so. We’re still dealing with stragglers from the dismantled gangs but it’s nothing we can’t handle now that our numbers have grown by taking in the members of the gangs we stole connections from. The battle we’ve been fighting all morning with a small group is nearly over. Most of them are dead or dying, and the remaining ones who are still trying to put up a fight are moments away from losing. Glancing around the room for any more threats, I catch sight of one of the downed men pointing a gun at Troy who is currently tangling with their boss. I move without thinking. For years, I’ve hid my feelings towards him in favor of protecting our friendship but, knowing he’s about to die has me running towards him before I can even blink. As Troy’s opponent hits the ground, it gives the other man a clear shot. Shouting, “Look out,” I shove Troy out of the way seconds before a shot reverberates through the warehouse.Feeling warmth run down my cheek, I touch my face and find my fingers are stained with blood. Looking down at Troy, I see the stricken expression on his face. I manage to pull out my gun and shoot the idiot who dared to target Troy. Winking at Troy, I say, “I’m glad you’re okay.”Troy jumps from the ground and shouts, “Why the hell would you do that? We’re supposed to protect you not the other way around! For fuck’s sake he shot you in the head!”“It only grazed me, I’m fine. Head wounds bleed a lot.”“You shouldn’t have done it.”“I couldn’t just let you die.”“It comes with the territory. Someday, one of us is going to die and you won’t be able to stop it. When it’s your time, it’s your time.”“Won’t stop me from trying.”He throws up his hands in exasperation and says, “Fine, you want to jump in front of bullets trying to save us all, I won’t stop you but don’t expect me to be there when your stupidity finally kills you.”Troy turns and starts walking away while I stare after him wide-eyed. Stepping forward, I go to chase after him, but Reese’s scream stops me in my tracks. Turning towards the sound, I see Reese on the ground with a knife in his leg while the huge guy he was fighting comes charging at me with an aluminum bat. Pulling out my gun, I fire the last three bullets at him, but he keeps coming. Is this guy on steroids or what? He’s like the fucking Hulk. Grabbing the knife, I keep in my boot I only have a split second to use it. I block the first blow, but the second clocks me in the temple with the force of a battering ram and my vision swims. Gripping the knife tightly, I slam it forward into the guy’s neck, twist, and pull, severing his carotid artery. Blood sprays from the wound and I smile as he hits the ground. A wave of dizziness hits and the last thing I see is the ground coming up to meet my face.Chapter ThreeTroyFive years later…“I think we should let him go.”Turning toward Reese, I glare at him and growl. “No.”“It’s been five years Troy. If he was going to wake up, I think he’d have done it by now. It’s time to let go.”“No. He’s still in there. His brain scan shows activity. Unless that suddenly changes, we’ll continue to have the medical staff we hired take care of him. We’re alive right now because of him. It was his idea that brought us to where we are now. I won’t give up on him without a fight and you shouldn’t either.”He sighs and says, “You’re right, I’m sorry. The meeting with all the underbosses starts in twenty minutes. I expect you to be there this time since you’re technically the boss while Nav is out of commission. I know you want to be here with him, but we can’t risk you missing another meeting. It’s sure to cause dissention in the ranks and the last thing we need is a mutiny especially on Halloween when we’ve got a big party going on this evening.” “I’ll be there.”“You’d better, or I’ll drag you there by your ears and that’s not a sight you want the underbosses to see.”“I get your point.”“Good.”Reese exits the room, and I sigh. Rubbing a hand over my face, I try not to let my thoughts wander back to that day. It’s something I’ve had to do often lately. I wasn’t meant to be boss. Navarro has always been the leader from the time we all found each other on the streets to when we gained control of New York’s underground. I’ve never been good at handling people and I’m thankful for Reese’s help, but I miss Navarro. Miss his laugh, his grin, those twinkling blue eyes of his. But most of all, I miss his fierce protectiveness and the longing looks he’s directed at me when he thought I wasn’t paying attention. The truth is, I always paid attention and I can’t shake the feeling that saying his stupidity will kill him is the last thing I’ll ever say to him. If that’s the case, I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself. That day still haunts me.After hearing Reese’s scream, I turned around just in time to watch as Navarro grappled with the behemoth Reese had been fighting. Seeing him hit the ground after the blow to the head caught up with him was the scariest moment of my life. In that instant, I understood how he felt when he got shot to save me. If I could’ve gone back to before I lashed out at him for protecting me, I would’ve. Instead of saying he was stupid for doing it, I would’ve taken him into my arms and kissed him as a way of thanking him. Given half the chance to do it all over again, I’d tell him how I felt from the beginning. Feeling tears spring to my eyes, I quickly wipe them away. It wouldn’t do to go to a meeting of the underbosses all red-eyed and puffy.I stand and lean over to press a kiss to his forehead only to find a pair of crystal blue eyes watching me. Staring at him wide-eyed, I watch as he mouths the words you’re beautiful when you cry but I think I like your smile a lot more.Seeing his lips form a grin, I laugh. Leaning over him, I gently wrap my arms around him and say, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”He makes a writing motion with his hand, and I grab the notepad and pen I keep by his bed for such an occasion. Handing it to him, I watch as he scrawls a message across it and turns it toward me.How long?“Five years.”What happened?“You suffered a major head injury. It caused you to slip into a coma.”How is everyone?“They’re fine. We all are.”And the organization?“Still going strong. We’re the largest criminal outfit in the states and even have branches overseas.”You’re kidding right? “Nope, not kidding. We’ve gone worldwide.”Who is the boss?“You are. I’ve just been keeping your seat warm until you decided you wanted to wake up and take it back.”I love you.Stroking his cheek, I try not to cry. Jesus, I’ve turned into an emotional wreck. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.Pressing my face into his neck, I whisper, “I love you too.”Checking my watch, I lean away from him and say, “I have a meeting with the underbosses in five minutes. Reese will have my hide if I’m late again. I promise I’ll be back soon. In the meantime, I’ll have the doctor come in and check you over.”Giving into the urge I’ve suppressed for the longest time to protect our friendship, I press a soft kiss to his lips and say, “I’ll see you soon.” Heading for the door, I stop and say over my shoulder, “I forgot to tell you, you’ve woken just in time for your favorite holiday. Happy Halloween.”EpilogueNavarroAlmost Three months later…After months of physical therapy to get my muscles back into shape after they atrophied, I’m nearly back to full strength. My therapist doesn’t recommend I fight anytime soon but I can do normal tasks. Waking up after a five-year coma to find that I’m the boss of a worldwide criminal enterprise was surprising to say the least. But, I wouldn’t change anything. We’ve invited all the underbosses to the main house in Philadelphia, NY, for a New Year’s Party and I’ve finally managed to greet them all. As the clock nears midnight, I set off to search for Troy. I want my midnight kiss. After I get it, I plan to drag him into my bedroom and have my wicked way with him. Two months of teasing touches and heated kisses have left me with a constant case of blue balls. Since I made sure to get the all clear from my doctor Troy won’t be able to say no. And if he tries? Well, let’s just say, ball gags were made for a reason.Grinning to myself at the idea of gagging him to get my way, I head for the back patio. Shivering at the burst of cold air, I quickly close the door and hug myself to brace against the cold. Troy is leaning on the railing, gazing up at the stars. The moon is full and casts a glow across his face. Stepping up behind him, I wrap my arms around his waist and say, “What are you doing out here? It’s almost midnight.”“I just wanted some fresh air.”“Well, it’s freezing. Come back inside.”He shakes his head and says, “I want to stay out here for a while.”“Are you sure?”“I’m sure.”“Then I’ll stay with you.”“You don’t have to.”“I want to. Besides, I can’t have my kiss at midnight without you unless I just kiss myself.”Troy laughs and says, “How would you kiss yourself?”“I’d stand in front of a mirror and kiss the reflection.”“You’re crazy.”“You know what they say, one person’s craziness is another person’s reality.”He snorts, “Yeah, your craziness is my reality.”“Admit it, you love my craziness.”“I love all of you. I can deal with the crazy because it’s you.”“Aw, I love you too.”Hearing the crowd inside begin counting down, I move in front of Troy and pull his face towards mine. “Better make it good. It’s the first kiss of the New Year.”He grins and says, “You know with us, it’s always better than good.”“Yeah, it’s down right phenomenal.”“Exactly.”When the countdown reaches one, Troy presses his lips to mine in a teasing dance that speaks of more to come. Grinning, I feel excitement surge through me at the thought of what will happen later. I can’t wait. He’ll have no idea what hit him.Troy looks at me with a raised eyebrow when we pull apart, and says, “What’s that grin for?”Chuckling, I pat his chest and say, “You’ll see.”The End

(This freebie previously appeared on Stormy Glenn's ManLove Fantasies Competition for Fall 2018)Chapter OneKevinWhose idea was this again? Oh right…mine. Why did I think creating a motorcycle club with the guys was a good idea? Because tequila and my ‘never back down from a challenge’ personality don’t mix. I have to admit though the patches look good. Dean’s wife did a great job with it. The top rocker simply says, ‘The Saints’ and the bottom rocker says, ‘Nevada’. The club logo in the middle is a skeleton dressed as the pope with one bony hand raised as if to perform the catholic cross gesture. It looks badass and while I’m hesitant about stepping into the role as club president, this was my idea and I have to step up to the plate. Not that I like being the boss of people, but this is what I get for letting my mouth run off.Being a nomadic group of paranormals has its perks. What I mean is, since each of us will live for centuries, not putting roots down anywhere means we don’t have to worry about changing identities as often because we don’t stay in one place for longer than a year. The only time we’ve ever stayed longer than that was when one of our group found a fated mate. Well, that was before I went and suggested we settle down here and form a motorcycle club. I’m the only single guy remaining. As a warlock, I have to look at a person’s aura to find my mate. If it matches mine exactly then that person is my fated mate. After centuries of looking, I’m not sure I’ll ever find the person fate designed for me. A warlock’s lifespan depends on his magical ability. The stronger the warlock the longer the life and because I’m relatively strong, I could live for more than a thousand years. I’ve actually heard of the most powerful warlocks living upwards of ten thousand years.Looking around the table at my friends, I hold up my cut and say, “Why don’t we put these on and go for a ride?”Dean grins and says, “Sounds good. I fixed the Bluetooth in our helmets, so we can communicate again.”“Then let’s go.”Standing from the table, I lead them out of the conference room we added to the bar we bought that’ll serve as our clubhouse when the additions are finished. We’ve hired a contractor to add rooms for members to sleep in if needed. The conference room addition was the first to be finished and while the backside of the place is off limits because the construction crew is still working we still have access to the rest of the place. There’s only five of us not including mates and I’m hoping once we’ve built up a reputation that more people will want to join us. Since paranormals have been exposed to humans for over ten years, we won’t have any issues with humans joining the club. While bigots will always be around those who accept paranormals outweigh the ones who don’t.Climbing on my bike, I pull on my cut and my helmet then wait for the rest of the guys to do the same. Once we’re all ready to go, I pull out onto the road first, leading the pack as a club president should. About two miles down the road, we reach an intersection. The light is green on our side and I roar through not hearing my friends telling me to look out before it’s too late.When I come to, everything hurts. I feel something warm staining my shirt and it’s hard to breathe. I can’t move either. Opening my mouth, I try to speak but nothing comes out. Faintly, I hear Dean’s voice saying, “Stay with us Kev. Help is on the way, stay with us.”He sounds so far away, and I try desperately to hold on, but the darkness pulls me under. Before I completely pass out, I feel my magic well up from inside me, creating a healing stasis field. It’s happened before but only for minor injuries and lasted about two hours. This time, I fear it’ll take years before I’m back to my true self. At least, it’s warm and comforting. Better than being cold.Chapter TwoKevinThirty years later…What is that noise? It sounds like someone is throwing a party, only their choice in music leaves much to be desired….Monster Mash? Really?Cracking open an eye, my gaze lands on an unfamiliar ceiling. Seeing ‘The Saints’ logo on a banner attached to the wall, I know I’m probably in one of the rooms we had built at the clubhouse. Spotting the Halloween decorations surrounding the room I think to myself, Damn…it’s Halloween already? How long was I out? The last thing I remember is Dean screaming at me, telling me to look out and then everything went black. Did I crash? I must’ve. Looking down at myself, I spot the faint blue glow of my stasis field retreating back into my body. Feeling the sudden urge to go to the bathroom, I’m thankful for the decision we made to put attached bathrooms in all the rooms, so no one would have to share the ones in the bar itself. I’m also thankful that my stasis field works like a freeze chamber and I have no need for food or bathrooms while inside it. Hell, it basically stops time while I heal so my hair doesn’t grow either regardless of the length of time I spend in stasis. Hearing my stomach growl, I chuckle to myself and head for the bathroom.Once I’ve finished using the bathroom, I walk back into the bedroom and search the drawers. Finding clean clothes, I lay them out on the bed then search the bathroom for shampoo and soap so, I can shower. Finding everything I need, I turn the water on and wait for it to heat. Stepping under the spray, I nearly groan out loud. Feels so good. I make quick work of washing up and after enjoying the warm spray a little longer, I shut off the water and step out. Grabbing a towel from the rack, I dry myself off and get dressed.When I step out into the hallway, I quickly realize that while the room I was in is like the ones my friends and I commissioned for our clubhouse, the building is not the original one. I have no idea where I am. Seeing the Halloween decorations everywhere, I follow the hall of rooms to a set of stairs. Across from me, another set of stairs leads to a separate hallway. Jesus, this place is a fucking mansion. Looking over the railing, I see a ton of people in costumes milling about, while ‘I put a spell on you’ blares from the speakers. A lot of the men are wearing cuts, and as I walk down the stairs, I count more than fifteen. Guess the club grew in my absence.Sneaking through the throngs of people, I make my way to the backyard and freeze when I take in the sight there. Hundreds of people fill the large expanse of lawn, most of them wearing cuts over their costumes. Feeling a pair of arms squeeze me from behind, I look over my shoulder and grin. “Dean. It’s been a while. What’s going on here?”He hugs me tighter and says, “I thought I scented you in the hallway when I came out of the bathroom. Fuck, I’m so glad you’re awake. As for what’s going on here, it’s a club party. All the charters that could make it are here.”“What do you mean, charters?”“You’ve been in stasis for a long time. The Saints have spread. We have charters all over the US and a number in other countries. We’ve created an entirely new hierarchy. Our original five is still based in Nevada but we have international authority because we’re the mother charter. The first. The second club that popped up, is based here in Oregon and has national authority in the US. There are more national presidents overseas and under those national presidents we have the individual club presidents. With us being international, the national presidents consult us if they have problems they can’t handle on their own.”“That’s a lot to take in. Just how long have I been in stasis?”“Thirty years.”“Jesus Christ. It’s been that long?”“Yeah…what happened to you man, was brutal. We thought you were going to die. Hell, you were nearly split in half and your leg was crushed under the bike. If your magic hadn’t put you in stasis, you’d probably be dead or at the very least, missing a limb.”“What happened?”“A drunk driver blew through a red light and collided with you. We tried to warn you, but it was already too late.”He holds out a leather bundle and says, “Here. When I scented you in the hallway, I grabbed this from my bag. I carry it with me everywhere just like I always bring you everywhere because I’ve been hoping you’d wake up and I knew if you did, you’d want to see a familiar face.”Taking the cut from him, I admire the familiar patches and spot the new president patch. Instead of simply saying president, it says, Intl. President. As I slip it on, Dean says, “I’ve been holding your position as international VP hoping you’d one day wake up and take your rightful place.”“How did this happen?”“You mean, how did we spread so far?”“Yeah.”“Well, after your accident, we were all feeling a little lost, so we took a road trip. We put you in the back of a van and took turns driving it. At one point, we ended up in Oregon. After we’d been there for about a month, we helped another nomadic group like ours who’d recently settled outside of Portland rescue one of their own from a local gang that didn’t like the fact that a paranormal gang was moving in on the outskirts of their territory. Once the dust settled, Slade the leader of the group asked if we’d be willing to let them become a new Saints charter so if either of us ever needed anything we’d have a group to back us up. We continued travelling across the US after that and by helping others, the name of The Saints spread. We went international when members of some of the charters banded together to go help paranormals in other countries. Now, we’re about fifty charters strong and continue to grow.”“I never thought my idea to form a motorcycle club with my friends would go so far, but I can say I’m glad it did. Knowing that you guys built this by helping others makes me think fate had a hand in what happened to me.”“Everything does happen for a reason.”“Now, I think you better introduce me around because I’m starting to feel like a fish out of water being surrounded by so many people I don’t know.”Dean laughs and says, “Come on then.”Chapter ThreeSlade“Are you listening to me, Slade?”Tearing my gaze from where the International VP is leading around a gorgeous stranger I’d love to get to know, I glance toward Zed, the president of the New Mexico charter. “Yeah, Zed, I’m listening.”Zed grins and punches my arm. “You’re a terrible liar Slade. Someone caught your eye, huh?”Dropping my empty beer bottle in the trash, I grin at Zed and nod. “I think I’m going to go say hi.”He throws his head back and laughs. “Go get him tiger.”Rolling my eyes, I stroll through the crowd toward Dean and the stranger. Dean spots me coming toward them and grins. “Yo, Slade! Come here for a sec, there’s someone I want you to meet.”When I reach them, a scent tickles my nose, like evergreen trees after it rains. Mine. Grinning, I shake Dean’s hand and say, “It’s good to see you again, Dean. Now tell me, who have you brought with you?”My intentions must be written on my face because Dean laughs and says, “This is Kevin, our International President.”Glancing at Kevin with wide-eyes, I turn back to Dean and say, “Seriously?”Dean nods. “Seriously.”Turning back to Kevin, I hold out my hand and have to fight the shiver of pleasure that runs through me when he takes it. I watch his violet eyes roam over me and wonder if he recognizes what we are to each other. Everyone in The Saints knows the story of our International President being a warlock who has been in stasis for years since a motorcycle accident nearly killed him. I never thought he’d end up being my mate although I’m glad for it. It’s a good thing he woke up when he did otherwise I might never have known.A grin crosses Kevin’s features as he steps forward and says, “Why, hello there, Tigger. I think we have something to discuss.”Feeling warmth spread through me at the nickname, I wink at him and say, “I think you’re right, Houdini.”Kevin loops an arm through mine and whispers in my ear, “I woke up in an empty room upstairs, care to join me there so we can discuss things?”The way he purrs the word discuss, makes me think we won’t be doing much talking, which I have to say, is more than okay with me.Leaning towards him, I nip his ear and whisper, “My bed is bigger.”He smacks me on the ass and grins. “Lead the way, Tigger.”Laughing, I press a kiss to his cheek and wink, leading him toward the house. “Your wish is my command, Houdini.”“If I said my wish was to bend you over the nearest flat surface and have my way with you, what would you say?”“I’d say, that better be a promise you plan to keep, Houdini.”His violet eyes darken with lust when he says, “Oh, I intend to, Tigger. I intend to. But first, I think I need to taste those lips of yours.”Grinning, I lean toward him and say, “Taste away.”The first brush of his lips against mine is electric and I find myself anxious for more. After tonight, we’ll have the rest of our lives together to experience everything and I can’t wait.The End

*This story involves some of the characters from my Graveyard Shift series. Hope you enjoy it!*Small Town Holiday FunGideonEach year, on almost every holiday, the town of Phantom Creek hosts a type of fair event that includes carnival rides, parades, live music and a ton of other events for the townspeople to have fun with. For the entire day, the street is closed off along with all the stores and businesses in town. Vendors line the streets with tents to sell their wares and there’s a play area for the kids where they can get their faces painted, and squeal on the carnival rides. There’s even a fireworks display scheduled at the end of the night. Which isn’t surprising. You can’t have a fourth of July celebration without fireworks. This is my first year attending the town’s parades with my mate and son. Anakin is only a few months old but with his magic abilities and penchant for mischief, it’s like dealing with a curious toddler only, he’s an infant.Making my way through the crowd with the cotton candy my mate asked for, I head for the play area where Ethan is supposed to be. Somehow, my poor mate got saddled with entertaining all the young children while their parents shopped around. When I left him, he was answering the frequent ‘why’ questions young children are prone to asking. I was tasked with procuring junk food for all the little ones and have an armful of cotton candy to show for it. It’s a child favorite…besides, I can only carry so much. If I tried to get funnel cakes and snow cones too, I’d have needed four extra arms. When I reach the play area, I’m surprised to find all the kids running around playing while my mate looks around frantically and tugs at his hair, a panicked expression on his face.One child spots me and shouts, “Yay! Cotton candy!” Then rushes over with the other children before I can ask my mate what he’s so panicked about. After I’ve passed out all the cotton candy, I walk over to my mate, who is looking more panicked by the second. “Ethan love, what’s got you so worked up?”He turns to me wide-eyed and says, “I can’t find Anakin. He’s just a baby. HOW COULD I HAVE MISPLACED A BABY!!??!!”Trying not to laugh, I stroke his arms in an effort to calm him down. My mate is so frazzled from dealing with the other children he seems to have forgotten that Anakin is sleeping in the carrier attached to his chest.“It’ll be alright.”“No, it won’t! I lost our son. Again. What kind of father does that make me? What if he was kidnapped while I was preoccupied with the other children? How can I handle having another in the future when I can’t even keep track of the one we’ve got now?! Especially, if the next one inherits my abilities again and starts teleporting themselves to unknown locations when I’m not paying attention.”Leading him towards a bench, I sit him down and say, “Honey, you’re an amazing father and I know you won’t have any problems with any children we have in the future. Anakin is too young to know what him disappearing does to you. When he’s old enough to know that it’s not a fun game he’s playing and is actually something that causes you to worry about his safety instead of having fun, things will change. This time, I think you got overwhelmed a bit by the number of children, that’s all. If I had to keep track of fifteen children plus Anakin, I’d have lost one or two myself. Stop worrying and look down.”Ethan looks down and sighs in relief at Anakin’s sleeping face, then he grins and says, “Well, at least he didn’t teleport himself into the fridge for a bottle this time.”Laughing, I say, “I still can’t believe he did that.”“I know! I was on my way to the kitchen to get it and I guess he decided he couldn’t wait long enough for me to bring it back and decided to get it himself. He was not happy with it being cold.”Hearing a noise, I look down to find Anakin watching us with those pretty eyes of his. Grinning at him, I nudge Ethan with my elbow and say, “I think he knows we’re talking about him.”Ethan looks down and laughs at Anakin’s wide-eyed expression. “Looks like it.”“There you guys are!”Ethan and I turn towards the source of the voice and find Dimitri walking towards us with his mate Mufasa, and a young man with black hair.When they stop in front of us, Dimitri pushes the young man forward and says, “Look who I found.”Grinning at the young man, who I now realize is Dimitri’s mysterious assistant Stefan. “Stefan, good to see you.” Then turning to Dimitri, I add, “What did you do to get him to venture out?”Dimitri grins and says, “Bribed him.”“With what?”“The best sushi money can buy. His animal half wouldn’t let him refuse.”Turning back to a blushing Stefan I say, “I’m glad you decided to come. You can’t spend all your time in the morgue after hours where none of us can see you.”Stefan’s blush deepens, but he stands tall, grins, and says, “Maybe now I can get rid of that god-awful moniker you guys gave me.”Dimitry bumps Stefan’s shoulder with his and says, “Hey ‘The Ghost’ isn’t that bad!”“It’s not great either. I’d have preferred Phantom or something way cooler than just ‘The Ghost’. Someone lacks imagination.”With a grin, Stefan elbows Dimitri letting us know exactly who he’s talking about. It’s obvious that once he gets to know the rest of the guys, he’ll fit right in.Ethan chooses that moment to say, “Speaking of the other guys, where are they?”Mufasa says, “They’re getting ready for the fireworks display. They got a bunch of food from the vendors and are waiting for us to join them. Apparently, it’s never too early to pick a good viewing spot.”Laughing I say, “You got that right. The fireworks will be starting soon anyways so let’s hurry and join them.”Letting Mufasa and Dimitri lead the way, I take Ethan’s hand in mine and follow them to the park where the fireworks will be let off. Everyone from the mortuary is sitting at a spot on one of the hills surrounded by tons of food.Dimitri introduces Stefan around and once the good-natured ribbing is out of the way, we sit down to enjoy our meal before the fireworks start.Zephyr is the only one missing, so I ask about him.“Has anyone seen Zephyr?”Jericho says, “I don’t think he’s coming.”“Why not?”“He seemed really on edge about something when I saw him at his flower stand earlier. When I asked him about it, he said it was nothing, but I could tell he was lying. I know he’s one of the most secretive out of all of us, but I think he’s really struggling with something.”Nodding in agreement, I say, “I think it has something to do with his animal half. I don’t even know what kind of shifter he is, but I can tell by his actions sometimes that it’s a dangerous animal spirit. It seems to be a large influence on his personality and despite inviting him out to shift with us, he never does. I think he might be something as rare as you Jericho.”Jericho nods. “It’s possible. It would explain his reluctance to shift with the rest of us but it’s not like it’s a secret that we’re all sort of rare too so I kind of feel like that’s only a small part of the larger picture.”Triton says, “Enough about that. We can spout theories about Zephyr all night and it still wouldn’t change the fact that we hardly know anything about what goes on in his head despite being friends with him and working with him. He has his pride and will probably try fixing his issues on his own before daring to ask for help. Throwing around ‘what ifs’ isn’t going to help the situation any. When Zephyr is ready, he’ll come to us. In the meantime, it’s the fourth of July, we’re supposed to be having fun not discussing gloomy things like our friend shutting us out about what’s going on with him.”Nodding, I say, “You’re right.”“What are you guys talking about?”Turning towards the voice, I see a disheveled looking Zephyr walking towards us with a beer in his hand. “We were talking about you actually. Jericho didn’t think you were coming.”Zephyr plops down on the ground next to Triton and says, “I wasn’t planning to since I had the stand to run but I sold all my flowers and despite feeling exhausted, I wanted to spend some time with you guys. It’s been too long since I did so.”“Anything you want to talk about?”He shakes his head and says, “Nah. It’s personal bullshit. I’ll be fine. Eventually.”Dimitri says, “Ooh….I get it. You had another bad break-up huh?”Zephyr sighs and says, “Yeah. Apparently, I’m ‘too much’ whatever that means. I know I can be intimidating because my animal half influences my personality, but I’d like to think that despite that, someone will love me as I am. It didn’t happen this time around unfortunately. You know what they say, plenty of fish in the sea. So, don’t worry about me guys. I’ll be just fine after I’ve drowned my sorrows with comfort food and alcohol.”Darius grins and says, “In that case, you should probably get yourself a plate now, before my mate takes it as a sign you don’t want any and scarfs down all the good stuff.”Jirga elbows him and says, “Hey! I don’t ‘scarf’.”Darius laughs and says, “You do so.”Jirga folds his arms and says, “Fine I ‘scarf’ but at least I wait until I’m sure everyone has had their fill before eating the rest.”“Tell that to the bucket of baby back ribs you swiped at the last barbeque we had. No one even had a chance to smell them before you whisked them off.”Jirga sighs and says, “Fine…you win. But at least I didn’t swipe the entire bowl of macaroni salad like I wanted. I let everyone else have some. I’m improving…promise.”Darius pats Jirga’s arm and says, “Says the guy who just grabbed the whole bucket of chicken wings while everyone else was talking about Zephyr.”Jirga blushes and says, “You saw that?”Darius nods and I can’t help laughing. Soon everyone has joined in. Even though it was at Jirga’s expense, we needed the laugh to lighten the heavy mood caused by discussing Zephyr’s potential issues. Hopefully, Zephyr will find his fated mate soon and will no longer have to worry about being ‘too much’ for others and instead can focus on being ‘just enough’ for his mate.Looking around at our little group, I’m happy to see every member of my makeshift family having fun. With some of us already mated, I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of them living happily in mated bliss.A loud boom sounds over-head and I look up to see red sparks falling through the sky. Grinning at the sight, I pull my mate closer and settle in to enjoy the beautiful display with the men I consider family even though we work together. If the fates are watching, I hope they won’t wait too long to provide the rest of my family with mates.The End(Keep an eye out for Zephyr’s story titled The Florist. Now available at all major retailers)

Aiden"Are you sure this is a good idea?""What are you talking about?""You know, letting War host Christmas dinner this year. He's not exactly known for his cooking skills. Even his magicked food doesn't turn out." Death laughs and says, "I think that's why Tao said his mom would be doing the cooking. Tao would do it himself but he's about ready to pop. He actually said that if War told him to relax and put his feet up one more time he'd throttle him." Laughing I say, "I understand what he's going through. Guess we better get going then." Death opens the door for me and says, "After you love." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Famine"Leo! Have you seen the diaper bag? We can't leave without it." Leo walks into the room carrying our son. "It's downstairs. I just finished packing it with the formula and an extra bottle just in case he decides to melt it again." I laugh and say, "Hey that wasn't his fault. How was I supposed to know Dragons matured early? I didn't know that burping him might cause him to breathe fire." Leo kisses my cheek and says, "We'll get the hang of it. He is our first child after all. There'll be a lot of things we don't know but will learn in time. Parenting has it's own learning curve. Now, Craven has been fed and should sleep the entire trip to your brother's place. I'd let you teleport us but with Craven being a newborn I don't want to take any chances so we'll fly." I grab the little backpack thing Leo got me for such occasions so I can strap Craven to my chest and follow him downstairs. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~PestilenceArariel comes running into the room panting harshly. "Pestilence, Jaharan! I have amazing news." Jaharan and I walk over to him, "What is it? Tell us." Arariel smiles and says, "I located that doctor friend i mentioned the one who works with paranormal gay couples to create a child from both their DNA. He's willing to mix all three of ours together for our surrogate so we don't have to choose. Our child will likely be a hybrid though because of it. That's not saying he or she will get all of our powers but it's probable that he or she will have at least two out of three." With a grin i pull both my mates in for a hug and kiss. "That's amazing. I can't wait to tell everyone the good news. How soon can we start the insemination process?"Arariel says, "As soon as we decide on a surrogate." Jaharan says, "Then we better finish screening them." I laugh and say, "After Christmas dinner." Arariel says, "If we want to make it on time we have to leave now." I nod and say, "Let's go then."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~WarIt's a disaster..... Tao's mom had to take his father to see the doctor when he fell off a ladder and broke his leg. Sure, being a shifter it would heal but the bone was protruding from the side of his leg and needed a doctor's attention. She left Tao and i in charge of dinner. Not that we'd told anyone else about that. Tao was going to cook but in his condition i wouldn't let him anywhere near the kitchen and now, i kind of wish i'd at least let him supervise. Hearing voices, i groan.....shit my brothers are here. Death walks into the kitchen followed by the rest of the family...."What the hell happened in here?" Pasting a bright smile on my face i grab the pan in front of me, turn and say, "Exploding turkey anyone?"

(Apologies! I know this freebie is about two months late. I moved into a new house and because of that I got a little behind on my freebies so I'm trying to catch up now. Here's a double feature Halloween themed freebie. Hope you enjoy it! Keep an eye out for the winter theme one coming soon in the next few weeks!)Howl-o-ween HowlidayWyatt"Come on love, we're going to be late!" "Hold your horses hot stuff. A masterpiece this good takes time. I'm almost done." Rolling my eyes, I check my watch one more time and pray that my brother in law won't be too upset about our tardiness. My mate does love to go all out for the holidays. This years costume is supposed to be a surprise so i have no idea what he's going as. Last year, we coordinated costumes but after sitting in a chair for two hours while he glued whiskers to my face and did my makeup, I decided this year I'd let him do his thing and I'd go as something simple. Pretty sure Tyr called it Lumerjack Chic. All I had to do was buy an ax at the hardware store to go with the flannel shirt and jeans. After Declan took over as Alpha and his son Talon was born he decided to bring back the Halloween howl-ithon. It's basically a festival that lasts all night on Halloween. It starts with a pot luck dinner and everyone dresses up. The kids go from house to house on pack lands, trick or treating and once the fun activities are over, we let our wolves out to run. Back in the old days we'd go around scaring the local villagers and what not, it's what inspired the legends about us but then we realized secrecy is our best ally and that tradition is no longer celebrated. I check my watch one more time and roll my eyes. "Come on Tyrant! If you don't get your fine ass down here in the next thirty seconds I'm leaving without you!" Boots thump on the stairs as my mate makes his way down. "I told you I was almost done hot stuff. Let's go." Looking up from my watch, i can't help but gape as i take in my mate's costume. Six inch spiked platform boots cover his feet and are almost knee high. He's wearing skin tight black leather pants, and a just as tight black muscle top. His fingernails are painted the usual black and he's got silver jewelry donning most of his fingers. Completing the look is the long black wig and the face paint. The makeup is so perfectly done there isn't a single line out of place. You can tell he spent hours getting it right. With a smile i say, "So which one are you?" He rolls his eyes, "The Starchild apparently since I play bass. This is the last time i coordinate costumes with the guys. I wanted to dress as Gene but Kira got dibs on that one." I take his hand and say, "Well, i think you look great. I can't wait to peel those pants off you later." He waggles his eyebrows at me. "Oh really?" "Yeah.""Well, let's get going then. We wouldn't want to be late for the party Lykos is throwing. You know how he gets." "I am aware love." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Lykos"Has anybody seen Declan?" The group i'm currently addressing shakes their heads in the negative. Growling, I say to myself "If he doesn't show up in the next five minutes i'm going to hunt his ass down and it won't be pretty." Talon, my gorgeous little one looks up at me and says, "What's ass?" Fuck....Declan is going to kill me for teaching him another curse word. By the time he's in school the kid is going to be a potty mouth. Oh well, guess i better teach him when not to use those words. It'll be a lot easier than trying to get him to stop saying them. Smiling at my son i say, "Ass is a bad word. You shouldn't use it until you're older." "Kay." Whew...dodged a bullet there.Declan finally makes his way through the crowd and says, "Sorry i'm late, got held up in a meeting. Thank you for kick-starting the festival in my place. Have you eaten yet?" "Yes. The trick or treating portion of the night is about to start and i didn't want to take Talon around without you." "Okay. Let me just grab a bite to eat real quick and we'll go.""Okay.""Hey.""What?" He pulls me in for a kiss and says, "I missed you both." "We missed you too. Go grab some food. We'll wait here."Looking around the crowd, i spot Wyatt and Tyr crossing the lawn. Wyatt dressed as a Lumberjack and Tyr dressed as one of the guys from KISS like the rest of his bandmates. Kira and Josh are sitting at a picnic table eating, Josh is dressed like the terminator while Kira is dressed like a KISS member. Caleb and Law coordinated costumes and are playing one of the many games we have set up. They're dressed like Batman and Mr. Freeze because obviously one of them refused to be the other's sidekick. It's kind of funny. Now that everyone has arrived we can get this party started. Clearing my throat i use my godlike voice to shout, "All right everyone! The trick or treating will begin in a few minutes then after that is over, everyone who is participating in the howl-i-thon portion will shift. The howl-i-thon ends at dawn and remember do not enter town! Scaring villagers is a tradition that went out of practice a long time ago and we will not be picking it back up tonight. With that, Happy Halloween and Have fun!!" I take one of Talon's hands while Declan takes the other and we walk together to the first person giving out candy. Talon trips over a stump and yells, "Ass!" Declan looks at me with a raised eyebrow, and i cover my face with a hand, trying not to laugh. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Devil's Night BashDeath"Are you sure you want to go?" Aiden smiles excitedly. "Of course! I've never been to one of your bosses parties and my parents already offered to watch the kids. Let's go have some fun!" I laugh and say, "Okay sweetheart. Prepare yourself though, Hell is a lot different than here and the trip won't be easy on you." He pats my cheek and says, "I know. You've explained it multiple times. Let's go."I wrap my arms around him and use my powers to teleport us outside of Lucifer's castle in Hell. There's a throng of people already making their way inside and I find myself hoping that this year there isn't an all out orgy like some years before. My brothers couldn't make it this year. Famine just had a kid, Tao is due any day so they couldn't make the trip. Pestilence and his mates are screening surrogates so they aren't in a partying mood, too focused on starting their family. Which is great, I'm glad my brothers are finally starting families of their own, still it would've been nice to have someone I know around. Besides old friends i don't really associate with anymore. Oh well, my mate wants to have fun and Lucifer does throw one hell of a shindig. I hand the demon guard our invitation as we enter the castle. The place is literally hopping with people. Music is blaring through the halls, food is being passed aroundon trays along with drinks. Demons and other creatures alike are all dressed to the nines. Lucifer himself is seated on his throne at the front of the large room. If i;m honest i'd say the man looks bored. He's wearing his usual attire of black leather pants and black muscle top. His long black hair is pushed back from his face, showing off his horns, He's resting his head on a fist as he stares out over the crowd. A glass of wine is held in his other hand and he has a leg thrown over the arm of his throne. I can't help but feel like he's throwing this party just because he always throws one. It's not something he actually wants to do. His expression gives nothing away but his eyes, his eyes tell a different story. Guiding my mate through the throngs of people I head straight for the throne. "Evening old friend." Lucifer smiles and says, "Death! I wasn't aware you were coming tonight, please join me. Let's chat." He snaps his fingers and a chair appears next to him. I take a seat and pull my mate into my lap. Lucifer says, "And who is this?""This is my mate, Aiden." He takes Aiden's hand and kisses it. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Thank you for taking such good care of my horseman." Aiden laughs and says, "It's nice to meet you too." With the introductions out of the way, I turn to Lucifer and say, "So, old friend, what's on your mind? You seem a bit distracted." He sighs and says, "So you noticed? Figures it wouldn't escape your attention. I'm tired is all. Lonely and tired. I'm thinking about leaving Hell for a little vacation and letting my princes run things for a bit." "Where will you go?" A mischievous grin crosses his features as he says, "I'm thinking Muspell. Hear that place is hot." "Well, I hope you find what you're looking for there. If you'll excuse me, I promised my mate a night of fun." Lucifer laughs and says, "Of course, enjoy the party. We'll talk again soon.""See you, old friend." As I lead Aiden back down the stairs toward the throng of people, I hear Lucifer shout behind me, "Hey! Stop calling me old!"~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE ENDI hope you've enjoyed these two freebies and again I'm sorry for the delay on them. Please keep an eye out for the Winter one ;) I haven't decided what it will be about yet but I'm thinking a snowed in type story will be what I'll be going for. ;) It should pop up in the next few weeks once I get it written.

JoshKira and I have been together for over a year now. After my brother had his son Talon, I realized Kira and I never talked about whether or not we wanted to have kids. So, a few months ago I brought up the subject and somehow that conversation led us here. We've kept it a secret that we've decided to try for a family. Until now. Although, us moving into a bigger house might've been a clue. For the past month or so Kira and I have gone back and forth about who to choose as a surrogate and in the end we haven't been able to decide. Lately, he's been joking about asking Lykos which is insane. Lykos will skin him alive just for thinking that he'd ever bear another child. That man doesn't handle child birth well. We're at a standstill now with this decision and I'm half afraid that we're so far away from being on the same page with what type of person we want as a surrogate that it'll never happen for us. Maybe we should wait a few more years. I'm just not sure anymore. Sighing, I continue to mindlessly stir the spaghetti sauce distracting myself from my thoughts. Kira chooses that exact moment to walk in. He smiles and says, "Something smells good." "I'm making spaghetti. It's almost done if you want to have a seat." He sits at the table while I drain the pasta and pour it into a bowl with the sauce. Once that's done I place the spaghetti on the table with the bread and sit down. We serve ourselves but before I can take a bite, Kira clears his throat and says, "I asked Lykos to be our surrogate." My mouth drops open in shock. "You did what?! What did he say?!""Well first, he punched me in the face then he grabbed a pair of tongs and a frying pan from the kitchen and told me to drop my pants. I've never run away from someone so fast before in my life." I bite my lip to contain my laughter. "I told you it was a bad idea." He shrugs, "Well, I thought I'd try at least." "Maybe we should wait." His eyes widen. "Are you having second thoughts?""No but we can't seem to agree on one person so maybe we should wait." Suddenly, he's standing behind my chair with his arms wrapped around me. "I don't like fighting with you so if you want to wait, we'll wait but I would love to have a mini version of you running around. I know I've been difficult lately but it's only because I want the person carrying our child to be someone we can trust. We can't pick someone on a whim. This person will be carrying a shifter and later on, a vampire. We can't pick someone who is going to expose us to the world." "I know that. I just never expected it to be this hard." He gasps like he just had the greatest idea and says, "Why don't we talk to the Doc about it? I'm sure he'll be able to point us in the right direction. We've been running with the idea that our surrogate needed to be human but a shifter will do the job the same way." With a smile, I turn in my chair to place a kiss on his lips. "You're right. I'll call the Doc in the morning." "Just wait and see, pretty soon we'll be parents." "I can't wait."Smiling he says, "I hope we have boys, I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a girl." I laugh and say, "Me either but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

(Warning: This story takes place in the skipped time period between the final chapter of An Alpha for the Demigod and the Epilogue of the same book. *Appeared in Stormy Glenn's Summer ManLove Competition*)A Demigod's Shifter WeddingChapter OneLykos “Just remember sweetness, this was your idea.”Declan turns to me and says, “I’m aware of that love, but I didn’t think my mother would go overboard with the arrangements.”“Well, you are the first of her sons to get married. Of course, she’s going to go overboard. Everything must be perfect. I’m just glad my mother won’t be back from her cruise until the day before the ceremony. Could you imagine if those two were planning this thing together?”He shudders. “Ugh, I don’t even want to think about it. Maybe we should elope.”“And have your mother and mine rain hellfire down upon our heads? No thanks. Those two are scarier than my uncles when angry. Which is saying something considering my uncles are who they are.”He rubs his hands over his face and says, “I can’t believe I agreed to this. Have you seen the setup outside? It’s beyond extravagant.”I move behind him and begin massaging his shoulders. “I know sweetness. I’ve seen it.”“I only wanted something small, you know? Family and friends; but I’m pretty sure my dad sent word to everyone he knows. Last I checked, we had two outside packs attending, plus some unaffiliated paranormals up north, and an entire coven! Fates, thinking about it makes my head spin.”Leaning in, I run my nose along his neck and whisper, “You know, we can have an intimate ceremony now then give your mom the extravagant ceremony she’s planned later. Or, I can find a way to take your mind off things for a while.”He gives me his best puppy dog look and says, “Is there a third option?”“Oh, so he wants to have the cake and eat it too?”  I pull him in for a heated kiss and whisper, “I’m sure we can work something out.”Taking his hand, I lead him into the bedroom and push him onto the bed. “How long has it been since we’ve done this sweetness?”His gaze turns smoldering as he says, “Six hours, twenty-two minutes, and forty-six seconds. Not that I was counting.”Biting back a laugh I say, “Of course not.”Suddenly, there’s a vicious tapping on our bedroom window. Groaning, I look over and see Declan’s mom waving, trying to get our attention. Sighing I say, “Sweetness, your mom really needs to learn a thing or two about boundaries.”“I know. On the bright side, at least she didn’t walk in on us this time.”“Ugh. Don’t remind me.”He flashes me a wicked grin and says, “Still don’t want to elope?”“Don’t tempt me. This ceremony gets any crazier and I might risk the wrath of both our mothers.”“Think we should see what my mother wants?”“I suppose so.”I look over at the window where his mother is still waving and point towards the living room, she gives me a thumbs up and disappears. It’s like the woman has a sixth sense for when we’re about to have sex or something. Lately, she’s been popping up at the most inopportune times and most of the time it’s for something involving the wedding that could’ve waited. I never thought agreeing to marry Declan would be so much of a headache. We’re already mated and that’s enough for me but I think my Alpha lover wants to be tied together in every way possible. Truth be told, I don’t mind the idea of marrying him. It just means we’re bonded together in more ways than one. Still, I wonder what his reaction will be when I tell him I plan to hyphenate our last names. Hehe, I can almost picture the look on his face. Man, it’s going to be priceless. Hmm…that reminds me, how should I hyphenate our names? He’s technically the Alpha so my name would go first however, I think it would roll off the tongue better if his were first. Decisions, decisions. Fuck it, I’ll flip a coin. Heads, his name goes first; tails, my name goes first.As I make my way into the living room I take a quarter from my pocket and toss it into the air. “Damn, it’s tails.”Declan comes up behind me and says, “What’s tails?”I look over my shoulder at him and say, “I flipped a coin to see whose last name would go first. Heads for yours, tails for mine. It landed on tails. After we’re married our last names will be Cassidy-Devine.”He raises an eyebrow at me. “You want to hyphenate our names?”I fold my arms. “Yes, I do. We’re equals in this relationship, aren’t we?”He nods. “Of course we are.”“Then we’re hyphenating. I just get the feeling that if I drop my last name everyone is going to think I’m your bitch and that shit is not happening.”He laughs and says, “Babe, you’re nobody’s bitch. Too much of a badass.”I step into his personal space and wrap my arms around his waist. Waggling my eyebrows I say, “My badassery can’t be tamed.”He lets out this adorable little snort as he shakes his head while trying not to laugh. “Nope, it sure can’t.”His mom clears her throat and says, “Sorry to interrupt you two but we have a situation on our hands.”Declan turns to face her and says, “What situation?”She sighs. “It’s a disaster. The flowers that were delivered aren’t the ones I ordered. The shaman who was supposed to officiate was in a car accident two states over and can’t make it. Half the glassware arrived broken, we don’t have enough chairs, and to top it all off your father invited people I wasn’t aware of so I didn’t order enough food to feed everyone.”She collapses in one of the chairs and says, “I’m sorry. I wanted you two to have the perfect wedding but now it’s ruined.”I crouch in front of her and say, “Don’t you worry about a thing. We can fix it.”She wipes away a tear and says, “How? It’s a disaster!”I pat her knee and smile, “We call in the cavalry.”Opening the mind link between us, I reach out to Declan and send him a message.What do you say sweetness? Shall we go all out? I’ve got my uncles on telepathic speed dial. We’ll have the biggest wedding this side of the millennia eh?Let’s do this shit.I knew you’d say that.Well, I can’t let my mother’s hard work go to waste. Not when she put her heart and soul into it. It may not be what I had in mind but it doesn’t matter. As long as I get to call you my husband at the end of the day I’m happy to comply with whatever my mother has planned.Well then, let’s get this party started.Chapter TwoDeclanI’m really starting to think we should’ve just eloped. I love my mom to death and I’d do anything to make her happy even if it means going through with this god awful extravaganza of a wedding. However, I believe calling in Lykos’ family might’ve been a bad idea. Things started off well and good but after three days of them all being in the same area everything has started to fall apart.First, Poseidon tripped over a chair and dumped a bucket of ice all over Zeus. Zeus retaliated by dunking Poseidon in the bowl of cake batter. Hades sat in a lawn chair and watched the ensuing debacle with an umbrella cocktail in his hand. Well, until Zeus and Poseidon decided to team up and Hades got the short end of the stick when they decided to dump the living lobsters my mom ordered for the reception dinner all over him. I have this gut feeling that the three of them are going to take their pranks too far and do more harm than good.Suddenly, I hear an ungodly yowl and look towards the sound. Lykos has Zeus, Hades, and Poseidon in front of him and they all look like they’ve been struck by lightning.His gaze turns menacing as he says, “Alright you three idiots. Stop fighting! You’re here to help with the wedding preparations not destroy them. Do I need to remind you what happened the last time you three went on a rampage in the same place? Dinosaurs went extinct! The humans think it was a meteor but we all know it was you three bozos! Now clean up your act or so help me, I’ll disown all of you.”Lykos storms off muttering something that sounds like, “Damn imbeciles, older than I am and still act like a bunch of children when they get together. Sometimes, I can’t believe we’re related.”My mother comes out of nowhere and says, “What are you doing? Go get dressed! People will be arriving soon.”“Mom, isn’t it a little early for that? The ceremony won’t start for a few more hours.”She gives me her signature ‘mom’ look and says, “Don’t argue with me. Go get ready and don’t you dare try to sneak in a quickie with Lykos either. Save it for after the wedding.”I roll my eyes and say, “Yes master, I mean mother.”She smacks me upside the head and says, “Don’t be a dick.”I stare at her wide-eyed.She raises an eyebrow at me and says, “What? Don’t look at me like that. Go get dressed.”To avoid being smacked again, I head for my parents’ house to get ready. My mom insisted on Lykos and I being separated. She’s all about tradition. Hopefully, I can find something to do to pass the time. Heh, maybe I’ll play cards with my little sister. I’ll cheat her out of all her candy bars. Is that evil? It is, isn’t it? Too bad. I’m going to get those candy bars.Four Hours Later….My sister is pissed at me. I beat her at cards and stole all her candy bars. She’s not happy about losing. She’s sitting across from me in her pink dress with her arms folded. Her expression is like an angry pouty face. It’s cute but funny at the same time. My dad walks in the front door dressed in a tux and says, “Did you cheat your sister out of her candy bars again?”“Maybe.”“That’s just messed up son, taking candy from a ten year old.”Shrugging I say, “I’m saving her from cavities.”He nods slowly and says skeptically, “Sure you are. Anyways, your mom told me to come get you. Everyone has arrived.”“So it’s time then?”“It is.”I stand and stretch, letting my muscles pop after sitting for so long. “Well, let’s go then.”Lykos and I plan to walk down the aisle together so when I get close to the tent where everyone is waiting I stop and wait. My dad and sister go on ahead to take their seats. Lykos is walking towards me from the direction of our house where he’d been sent to change into his own tux.When he reaches my side he takes my hand in his and says, “You look delicious in a tux sweetness.”Smiling I say, “Yeah? So do you.”He kisses the back of my hand and says, “You ready to do this?”“I was born ready.”He flashes me a wicked grin and says, “What was it you said earlier? Oh yeah, let’s do this shit.”Letting out a bark of laughter I say, “Yeah, let’s do this shit.”I squeeze his hand and we walk side by side towards the tent. My mother has outdone herself. Everything is done in shades of blue and white; silk and lace. The entire place looks stunning. As we step onto the platform at the end of the aisle I realize who our officiant is.I look at Lykos with a wide-eyed expression and whisper, “Seriously? Zeus is our officiant? Is he even qualified?”Zeus leans in and says, “I got certified for the occasion. Don’t worry you’re in good hands.”Sweet mother of mercy, kill me now.Lykos barks out a laugh but covers it with a cough. I must’ve projected that last thought. Oops.He smiles at me and says, “It’ll be fine sweetness.”“I hope so.”Zeus clears his throat and begins his spiel, “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of these two men. I’m skipping over the ‘speak now, hold your peace’ part because these two are already bonded and this ceremony is really just a formality. So, let’s get right to it. Do you Declan Devine take Lykos Cassidy to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for better and for worse, for as long as you both shall live?”“I do.”Zeus turns to Lykos and says, “And do you Lykos Cassidy take Declan Devine to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for better and for worse, for as long as you both shall live?”Lykos nods and says, “I do.”My best friend hands me Lykos’ ring and Poseidon hands Lykos mine. I slip the ring onto Lykos’ finger and he does the same to mine. After we’ve exchanged rings Zeus says, “Join hands please.”I take Lykos’ hands in mine as Zeus begins tying our hands together with a red rope. “This rope symbolizes the string of fate that ties you together. May your bond remain strong and unbreakable; may you always remain united as one; may your love conquer all who would oppose you; and may you also have many happy years to share. With this, I bind you together for eternity as husband and husband. Alpha and Alpha Mate. You may kiss.”Leaning in, I press my lips against Lykos’ to the sound of loud cheering from our family, friends, and allies.The kiss quickly becomes heated but since I’d rather not give everyone here a show, I pull away.Lykos flashes me a wicked grin and says, “You’re stuck with me now sweetness.”I grin and say, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”The End

Death"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I turn to face my mate. "What are you talking about?""Getting everyone together for a fourth of July picnic. Is it a good idea?" Shrugging I say, "It's a holiday sweetheart. We haven't had everyone gathered together since New Years. It'll be fun." He crosses his arms and raises an eyebrow at me. "Fun you say? You do remember New Years right?" I nod. "I do.""Then you'll remember that the four of you together plus Famine's pranks resulted in a food fight that would rival a world war! It took me months to get the gravy stain off the ceiling!!""I know that but honey."He points at me and says, "Don't you 'but honey' me! The four of you and explosives in the same vicinity is not a good plan!" Stepping forward, I put my hands on his shoulders and begin rubbing his arms. "Honey..."He looks up at me and says, "What?""Relax. It'll be fine. It's only a picnic. I'll make sure everyone is on their best behavior."His gaze narrows. "How are you supposed to do that when you're just as bad?""Come on, I'm not that bad.""Tell that to the washing machine." "Hey, that has nothing to do with this." He bites back a smile and says, "Oh really?" "It wasn't my fault!" "So, the washing machine ended up in a tree on its own then?" I cross my arms and say, "It was War's idea. He wanted to see how far we could launch it." Aiden pats my shoulder and says, "See? Point made. Let's just try to keep the damage to a minimum." "Party pooper." "We're parents now. We have to set a good example for our son." "Babe, he's seven months old. He's not going to remember any of the shit we do until he's older. Besides, where's the fun in that?"He sighs and says, "I give up. Our son is going to be a delinquent." I pull him into a half hug and kiss his cheek. "Aww honey don't look so depressed. Not all delinquents are bad." He runs his hands over his face and says, "I mated a maniac." "Yes but I'm a loveable maniac."He smiles and says, "Loveable indeed." Famine"Come on Leo we're going to be late!" He makes his way down the stairs and says, "Keep your pants on I'm coming." I lick my lips and say, "Are you sure you want me to keep them on?" He lets out a growl and says, "Don't tempt me or we'll never make it to the picnic." Suddenly, his expression changes and he says, "Maybe we should skip the picnic.""Why? We haven't seen everyone at the same time since New Years."He steps forward and puts his hands on my hips. "I don't like that you have to glamour yourself." "It's only for a little while. I don't care if humans do know about paranormals. Male pregnancy isn't something they see every day and I refuse to put our little one at risk." He strokes my cheek and says, "You're right. Come on, let's get going. We don't want to be late." War"Tao! Have you seen my pants? I could've sworn I laid them on the bed." He steps out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his hips. "Nope." "You're lying to me aren't you?" "Yep." "Tao, where are my pants?" He stalks across the room and says, "I'll tell you later. After I've had my way with you."I lick my lips and say, "As much as I would love for you to have your way with me we'll be late for the family picnic if we don't hurry." He pushes me back on the bed and says, "Then we'll be late." "Mm sweetheart, I like the way you think." Pestilence"How's everything coming?" Arariel looks at me and says, "Everything is ready. Jaharan went to get more ice. I'll fire up the grill when everyone gets here." "Sounds good. I can't believe they left me in charge of setting this up." Arariel puts his arm around my shoulders and kisses my cheek. "Don't worry about it. Everything looks great and we have a prime viewing spot for the fireworks. It'll be fun.""If you say so." He smiles and says, "I know so. Now let's finish patting out these burgers everyone will be arriving soon. Speaking of, I can see Death's white hair from here."I turn around and sure enough, Death is strolling across the parking lot with my nephew strapped to his chest and Aiden at his side. Leo and Famine arrive a few minutes later which leaves War and Tao unaccounted for.Death looks around and says, "Anybody seen War? He's usually the punctual one. I'm surprised we beat him here." Famine laughs and says, "Do you really have to ask? He probably decided an afternoon romp with Tao was worth being late for."Appearing out of nowhere with Tao in tow War says, "How did you know?"Causing everyone to at the picnic table to erupt into laughter including me.Death says, "Well now that everyone has arrived let's get this party started." With a wicked grin he snaps his fingers and War yowls and jumps up from his seat as firecrackers begin to go off in his back pocket. He shouts, "I'm going to get you for that you little bitch!" He snaps his fingers and a cannon type firework appears in his hand. Pointing it at Death he lights the fuse and says, "It's on now." Aiden shakes his head and says, "And so, it has begun."