Shifters, Beasts, and Monsters Read online

  Shifters, Beasts, and Monsters

  The Alpha Paranormal Collection

  There's an alpha male lover that roars in the heart of even the most dangerous and mystical of creatures - 13 Beauties meet their Beasts in these hot paranormal novellas by 15 of your favorite bestselling romance and erotic romance authors, including several NY Times and USA Today bestselling authors.

  Love, Lust & Luck By Terry Towers writing as Elixa Everett (NYT/USAT)

  When called to the aid of a beautiful woman down on her luck, Shamus is surprised to discover that he and Suzanna are destined to be together. Lifetime unions between mystical beings and humans have been unheard of... until now.

  Moan For Bigfoot by Virginia Wade (NYT/USAT)

  On a weeklong outing in Mt. Hood National Forest, what begins as a flirty, fun-filled trip soon turns into a nightmare, when an ape-like creature encounters a group of campers.

  Ravaged by the Rainbow by Skye Eagleday (NYT/USAT)

  Shakyo’s ceremony has called forth a tentacle monster which seeks those exactly like this innocent virgin. She felt nothing could be worse until her hated enemy suddenly appears--her tribe's head medicine man who has accused her of witchcraft.

  Bad Wolf by Savannah Reardon

  Nikki has the hots for sexy alpha werewolf, Zane, and she wants him for more than just his body. However, vindictive alpha-female, Sara, stands in her way. Can Nikki win her man, or will she get eaten by the Bad Wolf?

  Monstrous Obsession by Giselle Renarde

  Artemis has never relied on a man for anything. When she moves in with her biker boyfriend Budd only to find his creaky old house haunted by a possessive incubus, can she learn to accept help from the man who loves her... before it's too late?

  The Zrakon's Bride by Linda Barlow

  Are maidens still sacrificed to sea monsters? Kate discovers a Scottish village where they take the ancient legends seriously. And a modern Highland laird who likes his sacrificial treats bound to a rock.

  Breeding with the Beast Parts I and II By Jessi Bond

  Captured by the fearsome beast, Beauty imagines she'll do anything to escape his clutches - until she learns he is an ordinary human, who can only be freed from his terrible curse if she agrees to bear his child. Will Beauty find it in her heart to free the beast?

  The Demon's Plaything By Natalie Deschain

  When an agent offers to take on Elizabeth as his client, she has no idea what she's in for. He's an incubus, a demonic creature that offers fulfillment of her innermost desires in exchange for her very soul.

  Wolf Mountain by Aya Fukunishi

  High in the mountains above a remote ski resort, Aylen and Emily peer through their binoculars at the distant wolf pack. Why are they not mating? What scent have they caught on the wind? Why do these wolves seem... different? It won't be long before they discover the terrible truth...

  Mated to the Minotaur by Audrey Grace

  Fossilized remains of the Minotaur have been uncovered in Crete, and journalist Emily Worthington is off to get the scoop, along with handsome intern Jason. She discovers that he is descended from the Minotaur, and Emily is understandably perturbed. But things take a turn for the erotic when Jason starts to shapeshift into one...

  Bought by the Wolf King by Francis Ashe

  When kind, innocent Jovena’s family farm is threatened with bankruptcy, she hatches a plan to sell herself into the harem of King Morzan, ruler of an exotic eastern kingdom who is surrounded with mystery, shadow and rumors so unbelievable they cannot be true – rumors of werewolves.

  In Her Dreams By J.E. & M. Keep

  I felt invisible until a dominant incubus offers me sweet surrender and affection like I’ve never known. He makes all of the pain go away. For the first time in so long I feel loved and desired...

  Sold to the Dragon by Christie Sims & Alara Branwen

  Kara was delighted when her father told her that their family's money troubles were over. However she was upset when he said it was because she'd been sold to a dragon! Will Kara ever be able to come to love this beast?

  Table of Contents

  Wolf Mountain by Aya Fukunishi

  The Zrakon's Bride by Linda Barlow

  Love, Lust & Luck by Terry Towers writing as Elixa Everett

  Moan For Bigfoot by Virginia Wade

  Bad Wolf by Savannah Reardon

  Ravaged by the Rainbow by Skye Eagleday

  Monstrous Obsession by Giselle Renarde

  Breeding with the Beast Parts I and II by Jessi Bond

  The Demon's Plaything by Natalie Deschain

  Mated to the Minotaur by Audrey Grace

  Bought by the Wolf King by Francis Ashe

  In Her Dreams By J.E. & M. Keep

  Sold to the Dragon by Christie Sims & Alara Branwen

  Wolf Mountain

  By

  Aya Fukunishi

  CHAPTER 1

  THROWN TO THE WOLVES

  ‘OK, now keep your eye on the big one over there. You see her?’

  Emily peered through her binoculars, carefully scanning the clearing below. After a few moments a dark, hulking creature flashed into view, in sharp contrast against the deep white snow. ‘You mean the big one prowling by the trees?’

  Aylen nodded her head. ‘Yeah, that’s the one. She’s the alpha female. See, you can recognize her by the way she’s curling her tail to expose her genitalia. See the way she’s presenting herself to the alpha male? That means she’s recently entered her estrus cycle, and she’s getting ready to mate.’

  ‘But they’re not mating, right? That’s what you said earlier?’

  Aylen looked thoughtfully through her binoculars and frowned. ‘No, they’re not. We can’t figure out why the alpha male isn’t jumping her. He should be fucking her five ways from Sunday by now, but she’s been presenting for three days and he hasn’t so much as glanced in her direction. She’s getting pretty desperate. See how the little one over by the tree is bleeding? That’s what happens when momma wolf doesn’t get her cock.’

  ‘That’s weird. Do you think the alpha’s sick or something?’

  ‘I don’t know, maybe.’ Aylen began to pack her gear into her duffel bag. ‘We don’t know all that much about him, to be honest. He showed up about six months ago out of nowhere, just wandered into the middle of the pack and tore the throat out of the old head of the pack.’ Aylen paused, remembering the scene. The wolf had strolled through the pack without a hint of fear or hesitation. She’d almost screamed when the attack came. She’d never seen such speed and ferocity in a wolf. The old alpha didn’t even have time to defend himself.

  Aylen looked thoughtfully at the mountains. ‘I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something different about this pack. It’s not just the alpha acting unusually. They’re all a little off. It’s almost as if they’ve caught the scent of something more attractive. Whatever it is, I’m a little worried. Until the alphas mate, nobody mates.’

  ‘What? Why not?’

  ‘That big alpha will kill any male who tries to fuck before he’s had a piece of the action. It’s a dominance thing. I tell you, though, he’s gotta mate soon. The little guys won’t wait for ever, and if he doesn’t let them get some action tonight they’re gonna start challenging him. He’s too strong to lose, but it’d be a bloodbath. He could kill half the pack without even trying.’ Aylen snorted through her nose. ‘Typical guys. OK, Em, you ready to go?’

  ‘Sure.’ Emily slung her backpack over one shoul
der and adjusted her jacket. ‘Let’s roll.’

  Aylen slid through the hatch of the high hide and climbed easily down the ladder towards the thick snow. She moved quickly and smoothly down to the snow, as if she’d been born for the mountains. Aylen was completely at home after five years of working as a ski instructor and, more recently, assisting a professor conducting a study on the local wolf packs. She’d been raised out here in the back country, in one of the few remaining Native American settlements in the state.

  Emily, on the other hand, descended the ladder slowly and carefully, as if fearful that the rungs would break beneath her. She was the epitome of a city girl, unaccustomed to anything beneath her feet but the sidewalk. She’d met Aylen a few years earlier while on her first and only skiing holiday in the mountains. Emily had proved completely unable to pick up any of Aylen’s instructions – hell, she could barely attach her skis without help - but the two had struck up an unlikely friendship in the bar at the foot of the slopes.

  Since then Emily had visited at least once a year, and in the bar she’d shown herself to be much more adept at picking up hot young college girls for Aylen than she’d ever been on the slopes. Aylen might have been self assured and in her element on the mountain, but when it came to approaching women she was painfully shy. Emily, while straight herself, had no problem flirting with the young co-eds before skillfully guiding them in the direction of her hot Native American friend. ‘Trust me, ladies,’ she’d joke. ‘Once you go Injun you never go back. Just make sure she doesn’t try to scalp your pussy.’ Tasteless? Sure, but it made Aylen laugh, and she never complained about the girls.

  Emily finally reached the ground and sank deep into the snow. Aylen had already clipped her skis to her feet, and Emily leaned back against the ladder as the dark skinned girl helped her with hers.

  ‘Honestly, Em, when are you going to learn to do this yourself? You’re like a kid.’

  Emily smiled girlishly and pecked Aylen on the cheek. ‘Yeah, but you love to take care of me don’t you, Ay? Without me to dote on you’d have nothing to do but watch wolves fuck all day.’

  Aylen laughed and helped Emily to her feet, wrapping her arm around her waist until she’d steadied herself. In the years since they’d met Aylen had often fantasized about the cute little white girl, and more than once she’d used the mental image of a naked Emily laying back on the rug in the high hide to... help things along. She knew Em didn’t swing that way and she’d never dream of risking the friendship by making a move on her, but you can’t blame a girl for dreaming.

  ‘OK, little Em, let’s get the hell out of here. Last one to the bar buys the first round.’

  Aylen turned easily on her skis, pointing herself downhill and pushing herself off on her poles. Emily, clumsily turning as if walking in clown shoes, followed a moment later. As she dug her poles into the deep snow and slowly slid down the slope she saw that Aylen was already way ahead. Once again, she knew, she’d be paying for the drinks.

  In the distance a lone wolf howled.

  *

  Aylen tugged off her hat, allowing the wind to whip through her long, dark hair. She loved the feeling of speed as she shot down the mountain, skimming gracefully across snow that shimmered with color in the light of the setting sun. This was her favorite part of the day, in that brief moment of exhilaration on the empty slopes before sliding up to the doorway of the warm, friendly bar. In that moment between the magical solitude of the mountain and the promise of a cocktail among friends in the small, cozy bar she felt that things just couldn’t get any better. It was as if the stars had aligned, and the gods chose to bless her with a perfect life.

  Aylen knew that Emily would be far behind her, gamely crawling down the mountain at little more than walking pace, but that didn’t matter. Emily always told he she could ski ahead as fast as she wanted, just so long as she paused every so often to wait for Em to catch up. There was little danger up here anyway. The tourist slopes off to the east were where the inclines got really steep, but here between the monitoring station in the high hide and the bar at the foot of the mountain it was a gentle, easy run all the way down. So easy, in fact, that the resort had never bothered to open this run to the public. The snowfall was too irregular to keep it open through the season, and every so often there’d be a clearing without a flake of snow. The skiing wasn’t great, but at least it meant Emily would be OK.

  Aylen was a third of the way down the mountain before she paused for a break to wait for her friend. A few hundred meters above her she could see Emily clumsily edging down the slope, her skis pointed inwards so she didn’t get much above jogging pace. Aylen shook her head and laughed. This is a girl who goes skydiving every other week, hurling herself out of a plane with nothing but a silk canopy strapped to her back, and yet she’s terrified of the bunny slopes.

  Aylen squinted up the slope and frowned. For a brief moment she’d swear she’d seen something dart through the trees a little ahead of Emily. It could have just been snow falling from a branch, but she couldn’t tell. Whatever it was, it was gone now. Aylen shook her duffel bag from her shoulder, loosened the strap and reached in for her water bottle.

  The attack came so quickly that Aylen barely saw it. The wolf bounded from the treeline towards Emily, judging its angle so that it would match her trajectory. From the other side of the slope a second wolf exploded from the pines, closing in on Emily and preventing her escape. Aylen watched in horror as Em panicked, wobbled on her skis and fell, tumbling head over heels down the slope. Her skis broke off her shoes and she rolled until she reached the larger wolf, the first to emerge from the treeline. The beast reached down and slowly, almost casually, closed its jaws over the girl’s neck.

  ‘No, no, God please no!’ Aylen was babbling, her mind racing. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared, frozen by terror and guilt, at Emily’s limp body. The wolves padded to her feet and gripped her by the legs. She was dragged to the treeline, and in moments she was gone. The girl hadn’t made a sound from the moment the wolves appeared, and her body was limp as she was dragged to the treeline.

  Aylen dropped to her knees in the snow, weeping uncontrollably. Her breath caught in her throat and she wanted to scream. Her tears melted the snow beneath her head, and she –

  She heard a growl behind her.

  *

  Aylen awoke in darkness. The sun had fallen, but there was no moonlight. She opened her eyes and was panicked to discover she couldn’t see a thing. Oh my God, I’m blind! She whimpered quietly to herself, not thinking straight. Slowly – too slowly - her eyes began to focus, and she began to see faint shapes above her. Something glowed in the darkness, like distant light on rock.

  Cave, she thought. I’m in a cave. How did I get here?

  Her memories came back, fuzzy at first. The enormous wolf had been standing behind her, growling menacingly while several more watched silently from the trees. She’d tried to run, but before she’d managed to make even her first step the wolf had been on top of her. She remembered the crushing weight force the air from her lungs and bring tears to her eyes. She was sure she’d die before the wolf even had a chance to take the first bite. She’d... yes, she’d hit her head on a rock. She remembered bright red blood soaking into the white snow in the moments before she passed out. Now her mind was beginning to clear she felt the pain quickly returning. Aylen reached her hand to her head and winced as she felt the sore lump under her hairline, hidden under some sort of fabric. It took a moment for the thought to surface from the muddy waters of her mind. Bandage?

  Her heart soared. She must have been found! Maybe Emily was alive as well! Somebody must have bandaged her wound, and that meant rescue; civilization; safety. So why was she in this cave? Where was her rescuer? Had he gone to find help? To tend to Emily? Why would he leave her unconscious in a cave? Aylen stood slowly on weak, rubbery legs, hitting her head on the rock as she rose, and slowly worked her way through the blackness towards the dim moonlight outside
the distant mouth of the cave.

  She emerged into the relative brightness of the moonlight and froze in shock. In her haste to escape the cave she almost walked straight into the pack, their dark, muscular forms prowling through the white snow. She almost yelled when she saw Emily lying in the clearing in front of the cave. The poor girl was moving slowly, as if waking up. Aylen wished she could rush to her to check her injuries, but from here, at least, she didn’t appear to be bleeding.

  Aylen froze in fear as two wolves slowly padded into the clearing and circled the girl, and a chill ran down her spine as they began to growl. She knew at any moment they would pounce, and the last sensation Emily would feel, if she was unfortunate enough to be conscious, would be jaws closing over her flesh. Aylen scanned the ground for something she could use as a weapon. A thick branch or a sharp rock would be little match for two full grown wolves, but she had to do something to save her friend. She just couldn’t live with herself if she knew she’d abandoned Emily to her fate; if she fled like a coward to save her own skin. Her eyes danced about the clearing in a desperate search for anything she could use to fight off the wolves, but the ground was bare.

  A deeper growl emerged from the undergrowth, and the wolves fled as a chill climbed down Aylen’s spine. She raised her head and instantly saw why the wolves ran so quickly. It was the alpha male, padding slowly towards Emily across the clearing. The huge creature stopped at her feet and watched her silently. Aylen thought it looked almost friendly, like a family dog, but only until she saw its jaws. The coarse hairs around its mouth glistened with beads of saliva and its yellow, intelligent eyes narrowed as it silently studied Emily’s body.