After your kind responses to my teaser from this upcoming box set, I thought I'd share some of the other authors and their offerings to Alpha Shifter Seductions. Today, Kim Faulks shares the first part of her piece, Savage.Kim is an Aussie girl who loves stories about the underdogs and the things they've done to survive. Nothing is off limits in her books. She loves writing bad guys just as much as heroes and finding that point of no return. Her books are usually hot, action-packed, and always... always dark.
Be sure to get your copy of this box set on pre-order and take advantage of the $0.99 price.
Alpha Shifter Seductions will release on September 29th.
Guard held up a hand, then glanced toward the building and the pen door behind me.
Fight the change, and run.
Those words ran through my head as the blast of sirens filled the air. I wrenched my head to the left and took one last look at my home. Yellow flashing lights strobed against the side of the building and splashed onto the ground. They were coming. I lunged forward, teeth bared, growing like the beast inside and barreled Guard into the fence. The beast took over. His whimpers echoed inside my head. His breath was hot against my neck. I wrapped my legs around him, riding him to the ground as I speared claws into the soft, vulnerable cavity of his belly.
He grunted and cried out. I mashed my mouth over his and swallowed the cry. I was the beast they made me, the beast born not just from who I was, but what they made me.
I stumbled to the fence and focused on the wire, gripping the strands with one hand while I clawed the ground with the other.
Dogs barked in the distance, their howls savage and hungry. I glanced toward the horizon. The granite mountain pierced the sky with a towering peak. I shuddered as Guard’s voice wormed its way inside my head. The dead wait for you there.
Stars sparkled above. I settled on the bright glint of the North Star.
Keep me away from the mountain. Keep me safe.
My fingers trembled, buckling under the dirt. Nails tore. The sharp pain brought tears to my eyes. The clang of metal bars echoed behind me, speeding my heart and sending tremors through my hands. Guard would search the cages first, then the halls and the stairwells. Eventually, they’d look outside.
They’d hunt me then, and lock me away until I died.
My vision blurred. I risked one quick glance behind me. Guard lay quiet, one leg bent, the thick tread had once left patterns in the ground. But not anymore. Not anymore. The other leg splayed outwards, I glanced to his crotch and the dark wet patch between his legs. His blood was on my hands, his skin under my nails. His chest no longer rose under the uniform. He was still and silent. Part of my pack… that’s what they’d told me.
Guard was his name and he was part of my pack.
A snarl tore through my head. I gripped the bottom strands and bent my knees, driving my body upward. My fingers burned under the strain, swelling around the taut strands until the dirt gave way.
Cold seeped into my skin as I hit the ground. I shoved the dirt aside until the hole grew wide enough for me to try to get through. I shoved my head forward, chin tucked, eyes closed. Jagged edges wound through my hair, tearing strands as I shoved through. Gravel filled my mouth, coating my lips. I inhaled dirt as I kicked against the ground, driving my body through the fence and out the other side. A twang sang through the wire as I released it. I scrambled to my feet.
My feet slipped on the sodden leaves, so I ended up crawling more than I walked. Rough branches slapped my face as I grabbed branch after branch, using fallen trees to pull myself up the steep incline. Fallen trees gave me something to hold onto. My heaving breaths were white in the cold air, burning my chest and stealing the moisture from my mouth. The sirens faded behind me. I dared not turn around. That place was no longer my home. Those I left behind weren’t my people.
My steps speared through sunken holes, jarring my ankles and knees. I slid backward more distance than I gained as I raced for the peak. A howl ripped through the air. The faint sound brought tears to my eyes.
Not a dog.
