Wolf's Honor

by Laylah Hunter

Dear Author,
I almost made it. I wasn’t a mile away from the edge of pack territory, but he managed to catch me. Now I’m pressed against the cold cement walls of this last hiding place. I can feel his heat behind me, his heavy breath on my neck. I absorb the pain as he wrenches my arms high up my back, immobilizing me. I wait for punishment. I’m so tired; I let my body relax into the inevitable. Running had been my last attempt at freedom. It’s been so long since I was free. Most of my life has been spent under the power-mad control of one Alpha or another, the curse of being an Omega. Everyone wants to own you, control you… use you. The image of the man behind me standing over my last Alpha, covered in his blood, eye’s glowing with battle rage; flashes through my head. That was only two days ago. In the chaos that followed, I managed to slip away. I hadn’t been out of the Alpha’s house in two years. I had hoped that no one in the pack would even remember my existence. The hard press of muscle, the scent of blood and power coming from the man behind me smothers my hope. I breathed in the scent of my new reality…

Photo Description:
A young, dark-haired man is pressed up against a concrete wall, face first. He’s held there by a taller man standing behind him, who leans into him possessively and has a hand on his forehead. The young man has his head tipped back and his eyes closed; the man behind him has an ambiguous expression that might be anger.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

Genres: M M Romance, Shapeshifters, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, Short Stories, Abuse

22 pages, ebook

First published July 17, 2015

About the author

Laylah Hunter is a third-gendered butch queer who writes true stories about imaginary people in worlds that never were. Most of hir work deals with queer characters, erotic themes, and the search for happy endings in unfavorable circumstances.

Hir mild-mannered alter ego lives in Seattle, at the mercy of the requisite cats and cultivating the requisite caffeine habit, and dreams of a day when telling stories will pay all the bills.

Reviews

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy hell, that was XXX HOT!



One word: RUTTING

I love Alpha/Omega action, especially when there's comfort/healing involved.

Only complaint: I wanted more Troy and Cory, more on-page relationship development.

Great writing, SEXY story!

[SheReadsALot · Rating 4 out of 5]

KNOTTING!



(Cupcake tells me all the time to lead with your best foot forward.)

My KNOTTING aficionados and Sterek peeps who enjoy A/B/O might like this one.

This was another one of my top prompts. Why? Alpha and damaged omega, baby! I know KNOTTING was about to go down. And this author made quite the impression last year with The Raven's Luck

I got my snacks, got comfortable...I was READY when I saw today's LOR release.



Cory is an abused omega. He has been abandoned by the humans, he's been raped and treated like property by the wolves. His old master was killed and he finally gets his chance to escape. But the new Alpha catches him. Troy, new Alpha is not an alpha-hole. He's considerate and tries to fix the damaged pack but he's most drawn to Cory.

Damaged omega who smells too good meets an Alpha who thinks before he acts? Awesome. I like the way Laylah Hunter made the pack work. There were truly a pack where all opinions mattered. I wanted more but I have a tendency to be greedy when it comes to words that are good. :D

Now the KNOTTING. Not as intense as I like it. My favorite type of KNOTTING is when the omega can feel that fat KNOT at the edge of his hole and he worries it will fit.



And then the Alpha manages to stuff that hole full. And then they're tied by the Alpha knot...*grunts*

But this was not forceful KNOTTING.

This is thoughtful KNOTTING.

Cory blisses out into omega heaven for a while, content with the world in new and wonderful ways as most of his world narrows down to Troy’s marvelous cock working his ass. It starts to thicken at the base, like they always do, and Cory feels it when Troy lets go with a strangled snarl, slams in hard, and his cock starts to pulse with hot waves of release.

Still good.

Of course I'd read about 200 more pages of these words. But for what was given...I was satisfied.



My thanks to the author and the team behind this event.

[Rosa, really · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I've been ruined by one too many fanfic ABOs.
The heat needed to be heatier and the rut needed to be ruttier. But cute nonetheless.

Thank you for the free read!

[Dalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cory is an abused runaway Omega. When he's near the edge of a pack territory a new Alpha named Troy manages to catch him. Cory thinks he'll never be free again, but Troy turns out to be nothing like his previous power-mad Alpha.



It's a sweet and hot A/B/O story with knotting. I want more!

[* A Reader Obsessed * · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply put - this was pure A/B/O heaven.

Must be all those primal urges and instincts that overpower logical thought. The wanton need that makes both the alpha and omega helpless is always compelling.

As I've said many times before, there's just something about this trope that does it for me, and thankfully, this was no exception!

[Emma Sea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very sweet.
Thankyou to the author.

[Jilrene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh. My. Fun, sexy, and too short. I would certainly buy a sequel. ;)

[Optimist ♰King's Wench♰ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted it to be a little... rougher.

I liked it but I think an opportunity was missed.

Thanks to the author and their team for participating in the LOR event.

[Meep · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to the author for participating and offering this freebie

It was okay. To be honest ask me tomorrow and I'll have forgotten it, but if you're a fan of insta-insta shifters and Alpha/Omega verse with compulsory sex scene - then you'll be happy.

For me the past jerkiness was too unspecific to have great impact. Past alpha was a bad man. So now we know.
The new alpha troupe who have appeared from nowhere aren't given any background to explain their different attitudes.
The larger world is unexplained beyond that humans kill wolf-shifters.
There's no getting to know each other -the biggest whine from me- I think they have one short interaction past meeting. It made the turn around from powerless victim too sudden suddenly a voluntary whatever - mate? sex-relief? it came from nowhere and smacked of gratitude or even self-preservation -an alpha who doesn't rut goes mad, that'd equal consequences-

Also Cory wasn't by any means the only Omega, why was he considered special?

Cory and Troy - I was calling him Tory all through the fic!

It's a short story the writing is good, but it needed far more development to gel it together for my taste, but that's me, I'm sure many will greatly enjoy this alpha/omega romp.

[Kristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why did this have to be so short?!?!



Corey has no fight and no trust left in him. As an Omega he's suffered untold abuse from his past Alpha, and he's expecting no different from his newest leader, Troy. But Troy is determined to be a fair and much better leader than the past, and only time will tell if he can mend the damage the previous Alpha inflicted.

This ends on a rutting, knotting, happy note, but the journey to get there? Gosh I wanted more. I wanted to see those times where Troy was gentle and Cory began to trust more and more. Like all good things, this ended too soon.

Still, sexy as hell!



My thanks to the author for their effort and participation in the Love is an open Road event.

[Finnegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cory is an Omega wolf, abused by power-mad alphas. His pack was taken over by a new Alpha, though. And Troy is nothing like the alphas he knew: he is kind, protective and honourable. Slowly but surely Cory is learning to trust again.

It was a nice, low-angst read - all the abuse suffered by Cory was alluded to, never described. And the hesitant feelings developing between Troy and Cory was nicely done, ending with a solid HFN.

I love the alpha/omega trope, and would have gladly read more about this pack. Thank you to the author for taking part in this years DRitC event.

[Makhda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very sweet. :)

Thank you so much to the author and the team behind this story. <3

[Ami]

Thank you so much to the author who have participated in this event

Um ... is it bad if I say that I already don't remember what the story is all about?? I read it last night, went to bed, and now I'm struggling to find out what to say in this review space. I think there's an abused omega, an Alpha, and a jerk. Wait, there is also a kind of sex frenzy or something, and that Alpha needs to mate the omega. But that's it. I don't even remember their names!!

Other reviewers mentioned sexy, steamy, and sweet. You just have to believe them instead. Because, this is one the short story that just doesn't make an impression on me *shrugs*

Note:
Per my own policy, any story from this year's event that I can't give 3* rating to, will be left unrated

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The softer side of shifters.

Sweet short with a hurt/comfort theme in a A/B/O universe. The new alpha is nothing like the old alpha and most are happy about that. Quick diversion with some sexy times.

Thanks to the author for participating in the MM Group's 2015 DRitC event, Love is an Open Road

[Lori S. · Rating 2 out of 5]

No character development and in the end it was all about the pheromones. I wanted more actual interaction between the characters with developing feelings and proof that there's more to a mating than scent. I skimmed the last bit.

[Lilia Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great example of why I love this event: start with a sexy picture and a cool prompt, and voila--this terrific little story now exists. Many thanks to everyone involved.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love Is An Open Road event. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!

Ohmygod, YES!!! to this pic! Although Cory said he's been dealing with this for 10 years, since puberty, but that kid looks about 16 max. I liked the story, it was a good solid short. Although certainly would have been improved with a little more length to add some more meaningful interactions between Cory and Troy and show the trust building up.

I certainly don't mind that the author doesn't give us gratuitous details about Cory's abuse, but the implication is that the omega's are basically treated as sex slaves for all alpha's. Which means he experienced ten years of rape and abuse. The closest we came to feeling this was in Cory's desperation to escape in the first scene, but the emotions and attitudes never quite felt as strong as they should in the rest of the story. Including when Cory and Troy finally came together.

Of course it's great that Troy was careful with him, but I didn't feel that desperation of rutting and heat that I'm used to in A/B/O stories. Again, if we'd had more time with Troy gentling Cory and them spending time together, then we could've gotten a more intense mating and felt sufficiently like Cory had gotten past his previous abuse. As it was, it all went a little too easy.

But an enjoyable and light read, and 22 pages is the perfect length for a lunch break read.

[Meags · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars

That was really enjoyable - equal parts sweet and hot.

I would love to see this fleshed out and developed into a bigger story. I really liked Troy and would love to hear more about Cory's abusive past (I make that sound like I'm eager to see more pain. No - I just think it has the makings for a great hurt/comfort story).

Great writing, too.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was awesome!

Cory is an omega. Troy is an alpha.

We have HOT HOT sex. With…. knotting.



Well, something like this.

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay! loved it. Loved the sexual tension and the budding trust these two develop. Like everyone said this would have been sooo good if it was longer!! I also would have liked to hear more about Gregor and what he did as alpha.

[A.J. Ridges · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars - Really great shifter short story. I loved the alpha and omega roles. I've wanted to read the story for this prompt since I first saw it posted. Thanks Laylah Hunter for doing a great job with it!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, but perfectly formed. I loved this ABO universe, loved the characters and loved the story. I just wish it was tons longer because I'm greedy like that! Thank you for this story.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need MORE!

Loved this sweet, steamy story, but I needed more Troy and Cory.

[Aimee ~is busy sleeping~]

<2 stars...Thanks for the contribution to the event. But I guess I've been spoiled by too many Ao3 fics. And Kari Gregg (To Tame a Wild Human). This was too tame for me xD

[Pixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had passed this book over because I don’t really get into the whole shifter/paranormal thing. But two things happened that made me absolutely need to read this with everything that I am. First Dani reviewed it and said RUTTING. Listen I didn’t realize that word turned me on either until she typed it in her review but seeing it there all caps and bold I thought “huh, so dirty….I should read this”. Next GR was apparently malfunctioning today because when I attempted to read it for an hour GR was unable to pull the page up. Yes so for an hour I was passionately waiting to read about rutting and had to wait.

There are some things about the book that moved it from a two star to a three for me. First off there was no sex while shifted. I can’t get into that. I’m sorry, I too feel like a little bit of a freak failure bordering on vanilla with my desire to only read about sex between actual humans. Next was the fact that while the basic instinct was to get all animalistic and claim some ass by force Troy was actually a pretty caring and gentle guy. I do wish it was longer though and a little more descriptive (talking about the sex scene here…obviously not that vanilla).

[Rayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great shifter story. Started out intense and raw then ended sweet.

[ConM · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet.

[Trix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Quite good! I think this would have been even better, had there been more room to develop.

I wanted to get to know Cory and Troy better. As it was, I felt like they were pushed into these standard roles.. Cory, the frightened and abused omega and Troy, the honest alpha, always doing the right thing. It wasn't a bad thing. But more character development would have made it easier to emotionally attach to them.

Reasons why this gets 2 stars only:
- When I saw the picture, I thought the author would make it part of the main scene. I would have wanted to see them move from a bit of roughing against the wall to the sex itself;
- While I appreciated the time period lapsed between Troy taking over the pack and the two of them getting together, as a reader, I didn't have enough time to accommodate to the new lifestyle and the workings of the pack, let alone the attraction sizzling between Cory and Troy. So, emotionally, they just jumped at it, while chronologically, it might have been a couple of months since they knew each other;
- I could have done without the attack in the bath. Troy and Cory were already drawn to each other other. It would have made a better scene to have one finally take the step towards the other.

Despite the nagging above, the story was ok and I'd definitely read the sequel or extended version, should there be one.

[Malinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars

This was a pretty good story. I liked Cory and Troy and the story was good if a bit shorter than I would have preferred. This is the first story I've read by this author and I liked it well enough that I'd be willing to try more of her work in the future.

This is a short story that comes into a wolf pack a couple days after it's gotten a new Alpha. Cory is an Omega in the pack and all his past Alphas have treated him horribly and took sex from him whenever they wanted it, no matter what he wanted. When Troy killed Cory's old Alpha, Cory tried to escape the pack territory, preferring to die rather than go on with his current life. Troy catches him and promises that things will be better under him. Things do get better and by the end of the story, Cory and Troy are tentatively starting a relationship together.

This was an enjoyable story. I liked the characters and how things worked out but would have liked more. Still, the story didn't feel stilted or too short...it's length worked but I just liked the story and would have liked more. Considering Cory's background, I'm not sure if things would have gone so quickly between him and Troy but the fact that Cory made the choice to move things forward made it work for me. Overall, this was a pretty good short. :D

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time constraints either those of the writer or those required to get a story edited and uploaded, means that the works presented for the summer reading programs are often shorter than us greedy readers would like. That is the case with Wolf's Honor. I would love to read more about Troy & Cory and what happens next.

Laylah Hunter did a great job. I liked the character and especially liked Troy's humanity. He didn't allow the animal side to overtake him and showed honor, compassion and caring to Cory and the pack.


Thanks Laylah for giving us a great story. I will definitely be on the lookout for more of your work.