New release - Placeless

Yesterday, the next story in the Bay Wolves Series came out. Placeless is the story of Keaton McGrath, one of the wolves that were rescued in Boundless, and how he struggles to find a home in San Francisco. It's part of the California Dreamin' pax, so if you head over to the Amber Pax blog this week, you can read how more about all five stories in the pax and have chances to win the collection for free!

Keaton McGrath had been a werewolf for only a few weeks when he was kidnapped and put into service for anyone willing to pay for his company. Now, a year later and rescued from that life, he’s trying to figure out how to be both human and wolf in a world that doesn’t want him. His only escapes are nightly runs, a chance to let loose the energy of the animal within, but when one of those runs ends with him finding a hurt girl in the park, he can’t control his wolf’s fury when he smells her attacker nearby.

Barely keeping himself from killing the man, Keaton calls 911, then leaves before he can get linked to the crime scene. His hopes to remain anonymous are dashed when Scotty Trumbauer, a local blogger and independent wolf activist, finds him out. Though Keaton’s warned that Scotty is bad news, the chemistry between them is too powerful to ignore, especially when Scotty leaps to defend him.

Keaton just wants to do the right thing without putting the people he cares about in danger. He has to learn, however, that a wolf is stronger when he’s not alone...

Cover Reveal - Placeless

In October, Placeless, the second of the Bay Wolves series comes out. It's the story of Keaton McGrath, one of the wolves rescued in Boundless, and how he's adjusting to life in San Francisco. As of this weekend, I officially have a cover!

That smiley fella you see is not the troubled Keaton, but instead wolf activist Scotty who ends up helping to teach Keaton that a wolf is stronger when he's not alone. I love how Scotty's hopeful, optimistic nature counters Keaton's more melancholy ways. I'm really looking forward to sharing their story when it comes out!

Another snippet from Placeless

I'm so excited about the direction the next Bay Wolves story is taking that I'm sharing another snippet. This is when the narrator, Keaton, first runs into Scotty.

* * *

The nearest theater was the AMC on Van Ness, an easy jog in my current state. I loved the fact that it was a converted building designed to fit into the architecture of the neighborhood instead of screaming modern movieplex. The individual theaters weren’t large, and you had to take an escalator to get up to the top floor which was a pain in the ass if you were running late, but during the day, it wasn’t busy, so I could sit in quiet and enjoy whatever I wanted.

Needless to say, I went a lot. I’d always loved the escapism of Hollywood, imagining myself up on the big screen as I went to audition after audition. Now, I viewed it all with a sense of sad nostalgia, because the odds of me ever acting again were pretty much nil.

As I paid for my ticket, a guy got into line behind me. He was shorter than me, probably five-eight at best, with windblown black hair and dark eyes partially obscured by heavy-framed hipster glasses. The clothes were pure hipster, too, his jacket hanging open to reveal a flat stomach and slim hips. When our gazes met, he smiled, and for a split second, I got distracted by how damn pretty it made him. He might be older than me by five or six years, but before I’d been changed, I would’ve hit on him at a bar in a heartbeat.

The corner of my mouth lifted before I turned back to the cashier. A second later, a wave of arousal hit my senses.

My breath caught at how intense it was. Being able to smell other people’s desires had overwhelmed me at first, especially when I got rented out during my captivity. I didn’t want to know how badly those men and women wanted me, especially when I was shifted. Rather than make me feel desirable, it reminded me I was a creature to them, not a man. I’d learned how to tamp down my disgust, both with them and myself. It made living with it easier. A lot easier.

Since I’d been freed, I was too much of a loner to find myself around people who’d find me attractive. Corey didn’t, but then Corey was straight as far as I could tell. Nobody in group was interested in me in that way, either. That was the sum total of my human encounters for the most part.

The man behind me thought I was hot. Very hot. And knowing that might’ve been the first thing to make me feel human in a very long time.

My gait was looser as I strolled inside and headed for the concession stand. I ordered popcorn with extra butter and a large soda, during which time my admirer from the ticket booth showed up to buy his own movie snacks. The smell of him was stronger than the food, and my dick began to harden against my thigh.

That was a first. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been aroused of my own volition.

I stepped aside as I waited for my order, angling so I could look at him more naturally. He smiled first, which made it easier to break through my shell and smile back. It wasn’t much, probably obscenely shy compared to how confident I used to be, but considering how crappy this day had been already, I shocked myself by being able to smile at all.

WIP Wednesday

I'm just about to wrap up Placeless, the next Bay Wolves story. This one is about Keaton McGrath, one of the wolves that was rescued along with Elijah in Boundless. Keaton is a very young wolf, with issues controlling his shifts. This is the opening of the story, our first real introduction to him.

* * *

The wind whipped past my face as I raced over the wet grass, filling my lungs with the stinging air and my nose with the smells of dirt, earthworms, and the tulips and cherry blossoms that bloom so vividly in March here. The trees were a blur, obstacles to navigate through and around rather than stop and enjoy. I wasn’t in Golden Gate Park at five in the morning to appreciate the scenery.

I was here to run.

When you’re an untagged wolf in San Francisco, you take whatever you can to roam as free as you might need or want.

Though I caught the occasional scent of another wolf, I never saw one during my runs. I don’t know why. The park seemed like the perfect place to get out some of the urges that often threatened to overwhelm me during the day. They thrived on randomness, it seemed. Anything could trigger them. A beautiful blonde’s perfume. The slope of a burly stranger’s shoulder. A car backfiring. I’m sure if I brought it up in group, any of the others might be able to explain why it happened, but I would never let it get that far. They might find value in talking about the trauma that bound us together, but I didn’t. I only went because if I didn’t, Corey would find out, and since I relied on Corey’s generosity for a place to stay, I couldn’t do anything to piss him off.

He didn’t know about my runs, either. Another reason why I chose coming so early.

I blocked out thoughts about my day to day, to better concentrate on my few minutes of freedom. Here, now, I was wolf. I couldn’t claim this territory as my own, but I could pretend, and that was all I needed.

Faster.

Around the tree.

Through an unseen puddle.

My lean muscles burned as I challenged them with greater speed.

There was no such thing as too fast.

I lost all concept of time. I measured my run in terms of heartbeats and the color of the sky, occasionally tipping my nose up to see its sooty spread shift and fade. Getting caught by dawn could strip my one liberty away if someone saw me. At best, wolves were considered second-class citizens. At worst, we were feared. If the wrong person caught me out…

I angled toward the tree where I’d stashed my clothes. The worst had already happened to me when I’d been kidnapped for the sadistic pleasure of men and women rich enough to afford my company. I wouldn’t do anything stupid to risk getting trapped again.

Though shifting back into my human form was the last thing I wanted, I did it. I’d been a wolf for almost a year now, and it still wasn’t easy. Where others could change shapes back and forth at will, I had to force my thoughts to images of what I looked like standing on two legs instead of four, with bare skin instead of fur, with the face that looked back at me in the mirror instead of the muzzle I lifted to the moon to howl. Corey said going to group would help me learn how to balance the two parts of me, but what did he know? He was a lawyer, for Christ’s sake. He wasn’t even wolf. He couldn’t begin to comprehend the struggle I went through on a daily basis.

Lowering my nose to the grass, I breathed in and out, waiting for my pulse to slow. Shifting was easier that way. Adrenaline turned me into a walking time bomb. Once it didn’t feel like my pelt was vibrating in time with my heart, I let the shift begin.

Upcoming release dates

One advantage to working a lot is having consistent stories in the pipeline. Starting in July, I have a release a month coming out at Amber Allure, three of which are solo titles and one is a Jamie Craig title (my collaboration with Pepper Espinoza).

Between the Shadow and the Soul (a Jamie Craig story) - July 20

A Flight in Ice - August 17

Flesh and Kisses - September 21

Placeless (a Bay Wolves story) - October 19

There's more in that time period. I'm hoping to get one or two my older titles that I've had the rights back for a while self-published now that I know more about the process (thanks to all those panels at RT!), and like last year, I'm going to have a story in the breast cancer charity anthology, Shades of Pink. That comes out October 24.

I might complain sometimes, but I do love being so busy. :)