Title: Darkness Threatening
Author: Dirk Greyson
Series: Yellowstone Wolves
Genre: M/M, Paranormal Romance, Shifters
Publisher: Dreamspinner
Press
Release Date: Feb 3 2016
Edition/Formats Available In: eBook & Print
Blurb/Synopsis:
Fredrik is back from college and trying to
stay out of his power-hungry brother’s way, until his brother takes a prisoner
for his pleasure. Unable to tolerate his family’s cruelty, Fredrik overcomes
his fear to help her escape back to her pack. There, he meets Christopher, and
their instant attraction tells him Christopher is the one. However, since the
threat of his brother remains, Fredrik is reluctant to pursue a relationship.
Christopher is still figuring out his place
in the pack and has been living on his own to avoid making waves with his
brother, Mikael. Now he’s met his soulmate, and he’ll do anything to take care
of his love, including rejoining the pack.
With coaxing, Fredrik accepts his feelings,
and Christopher’s pack gives him the home he’s never had. But Fredrick soon
realizes he should keep running. His brother is on his tail and will stop at
nothing to obtain the power he craves, especially when he realizes the source
of the power could be Fredrik himself.
Book Links:
Amazon
Dreamspinner Press
Book Links:
Amazon
Dreamspinner Press
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Excerpt:
“I don’t give a shit about what they taught
you at that ridiculous school,” Juneau yelled as he stood from the table and
stalked over to Fredrik, who was determined not to show fear in any way. Juneau
might be his brother, but there was absolutely no love lost between them. “I
don’t know where you learned that being a fucking fairy who takes it up the ass
was all right, but in this pack, it certainly is not.” Juneau backhanded
Fredrik across the cheek, sending him reeling in a circle.
Fredrik caught the table to keep from going
down to the floor. “Screw you, Juneau. You’re the one who doesn’t know shit
about anything. I am who I am, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about
it. Dad is dead and you’re living in this shithole cabin on the edge of nowhere.”
He stood back up.
“Are you challenging me?” Juneau growled.
“Because I’ll gut you like a rabbit if you ever talk to me like that again.” He
stepped closer once again.
“Yeah, I know. You’re the alpha… of
nothing.”
“I’m your alpha and don’t you forget it. I
may be living in this piece of shit, but I won’t be for long.”
“Where is everyone else?” Fredrik meant it
dismissively, but the stare he got was cold enough to freeze water on the
equator.
“They’re coming. Those loyal to Father were
scattered after his downfall last summer, but I’ve put out word to those who
were most loyal. They’ll all be here in three days, and then I’ll start
building my own pack, taking back what should have been mine in the first
place. And you, dear brother, will stand at my side, keep your smart mouth
shut, and do what I say. There will be no weakness in this pack, and that means
no males taking it up the ass. You will mate and have litters of pups. We need
our numbers to grow as quickly as possible.”
“Why would I want to go along with what you
want?” Fredrik was surprised at himself and wondered where he found the courage
to speak up. He’d always been the quiet one. Their father, Anton, hadn’t been
interested in anything that didn’t involve fighting, brute strength, and power.
Those three things were all that had counted, what he’d lived for, as essential
to him and his wolf as oxygen.
“Because I’m your alpha and a hell of a lot
stronger than you. And because I’ll kill you slowly and painfully if you
don’t.” Juneau stood and glanced at the nearest chair, then back at him. He
glared at Fredrik with the intensity of one of the lasers he’d seen at school.
“I’m waiting.”
Fredrik picked up the chair and brought it
to his brother, who sat as though he were a king. But there was no kingdom. When
their father lost his challenge to Mikael Volokov, the alpha of the Old
Faithful pack, everything changed. They were outcasts—all of their father’s
family was—tainted with his dark madness and obsession with power. Fredrik had
been the only one to escape much of the fallout because Anton had sent him to
college. He’d said he wanted Fredrik to learn the ways of men and the outside
world, probably so he could extend his power there was well. Thankfully, his
father had provided enough money for him to almost finish school. There wasn’t
quite enough, though, and that had given Juneau power. If Fredrik wanted to
graduate, then he had to submit. This discussion was the culmination of that
decision—one Fredrik now realized could be the biggest mistake of his life.
Fredrik had thought he was out of the
family and had gotten away from them. This was not the life he wanted, and his
father’s death had raised the possibility of him just fading away. He’d hoped
he could find a new pack and start a whole new life. Now that wasn’t to be.
Tuition increases had left him with little choice but to approach his brother,
and now he was stuck.
“You’ll live in this house, where I can
keep an eye on you. The room you’ve been using will be your home.” Juneau
looked up, and the woman who had been working at the stove, doing her best to
look the other way and pretend she saw and heard nothing, rushed over and
placed a plate in front of Juneau. He didn’t acknowledge her in any way other
than with a glance before he began to eat.
Fredrik stifled a cringe. He’d been
sleeping in that room for two nights. Well, there had been very little
sleeping, given the fact that his brother spent much of the past two nights
making as much carnal noise as possible. Juneau was insatiable and had sex with
as many as three females a night. Like their father, he felt it was his duty to
father as many pups as he could. He was the alpha male, and, as such, he had
the pick of anyone he wanted.
“Hearing how a man behaves will be good for
you,” Juneau continued, pulling Fredrik out of his thoughts. “You will also ask
permission before you leave the compound, and you will talk to no one unless I
expressly permit it. Somehow I will make a real man out of….” He waved his hand
in Fredrik’s direction. “This.” He shook his head. “How you ever came from our
father is beyond me.”
The door opened and Yuri, his brother’s
beta and partner in crime and punishment since they were children, strode into
the room and sat.
“Inge,” Juneau said. It was the first time
his brother had used the woman’s name since Fredrik had been there. At least
Fredrik knew what it was now.
She made up another plate and set it in
front of Yuri. Fredrik was starving, but he made no move to sit. The idea of
sharing a meal of any kind with his brother was about as appetizing as eating
mud between two pieces of crap.
“Dimitri called, and he has a surprise for
you,” Yuri said gleefully, his eyes filled with evil mirth.
Fredrik went cold, wondering what Yuri and
his twin brother were up to. Yuri and Dimitri were two peas in a pod and
thought alike. Truthfully, it was more likely that they shared a single brain
between them. Neither was at all bright, but they were ruthless and believed in
taking what they wanted.
“He’ll be here in an hour.”
“What kind of surprise?” Juneau snapped and
blew a breath out his nose. “Sit down!” he demanded, and Fredrik did as he was
told.
Inge brought a plate for him. He smiled at
her and thanked her softly. Inge actually looked as though she wasn’t quite
sure how to process the simple politeness. She eventually nodded and scampered
away like a scared deer.
“He said that it was an accessory for your
bedroom and that you were going to love it.”
Fredrik managed to keep from cringing. God
knew what his brother’s demented cronies had come up with now, but it couldn’t
be good. He ate, but the food tasted like nothing at all. Fredrik was eating
only to eat. Tasting what was in his mouth was nearly impossible. He was a
prisoner here; that was all there was to it. He needed to figure out a way to
get out of here, and he needed to do it fast.
When he was done, Fredrik took his plate to
the sink and made to go to his room. He needed to get away.
“Sit back down,” Juneau said, and Fredrik
sighed and sat once again. “Our time is coming very soon. I can feel it. The
packs that splintered once Father died are still trying to get on their feet.
Volokov is stretched way too thin, and while all those new alphas may have
voted him as high alpha or whatever they’re calling it, he can’t be everywhere.”
Juneau grinned.
“What are we going to do?” Yuri asked,
rubbing his hands together. “I want to get my hands on him alone, just for a
few minutes.”
Juneau jumped to his feet, his chair
tumbling backward to the floor. “Volokov is mine, pure and simple.” He gripped
the edge of the table and leaned closer to Yuri. “You got that?”
“Yeah, of course,” Yuri said, baring his
neck slightly.
“Good. He killed my father, and I’m going
to get back everything my father had and more, because I’m going to get Old
Faithful too. All of it.”
Yuri showed some intelligence—or maybe it
was simple self-preservation—and nodded, and Juneau slowly sat back down.
Fredrik wanted to ask how his brother
thought he was going to bring that about. The other packs had united under
Volokov, and they were stronger now that they had one person they all trusted.
But Fredrik said nothing because he didn’t feel like getting hit again.
He ended up sitting at the table for
another hour listening to Yuri and Juneau talk over all their grandiose plans
that meant absolutely nothing. Juneau was as ruthless as their father, but he
was also crazier, if that was possible.
A truck pulled up outside; the deep rumble
told him it was big, probably to compensate for something. When the clatter
stopped, a door squeaked open and closed, followed by another. Then Dimitri
slithered in like the snake version of a wolf that he was. Where Yuri was
strong and tended to stomp, Dimitri was sneaky and stalked around behind
things.
“I got you a present,” he said to Juneau. “You
want me to deliver it?” He smiled, showing off his missing front tooth. It made
him look more like a yokel than his brother, but looks were deceiving.
“Sure.” Juneau sat back and waited while
Dimitri went back out to his truck.
Fredrik was ashamed, but he turned to watch
as well. He swallowed hard and nearly vomited his lunch when he saw Dimitri
come in carrying someone over his shoulder. It was a girl, probably about
sixteen, and she was a pretty young thing. Definitely a wolf, and a strong one.
~ * ~
Author Information:
Dirk is very
much an outside kind of man. He loves
travel and seeing new things. Dirk
worked in corporate America for way too long and now spends his days writing,
gardening, and taking care of the home he shares with his partner of more than
two decades. He has a Master’s Degree
and all the other accessories that go with a corporate job. But he is most proud of the stories he tells
and the life he's built. Dirk lives in
Pennsylvania in a century old home and is blessed with an amazing circle of
friends.
Author Links:
Twitter
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