To Protect and Mate [Wolves of Emerald Valley 4] (Siren Publishing Classic ManLove) Read online

  Wolves of Emerald Valley 4

  To Protect and Mate

  As an Omega wolf who’s been held captive as a vampire’s blood slave for five years, Jerry doesn’t trust people easily. He has a problem coping with his new life and, to top it all off, bumping into an Alpha werewolf with luggage of his own doesn’t help.

  Colton’s one of the five lone Alphas in town and the best friend of Jerry’s brother. Jerry knows he’s not mate material, but when the heat between them becomes too hot to ignore, can Jerry take a chance at love?

  When ex-special forces paranormal soldier Colton returns to his hometown, the last thing he expects is to find his mate. Jerry is gorgeous, sweet, and perfect for him in every way. Colton knows Jerry is his to claim and mate, but Colton has to deal with demons of his own.

  Will their pasts get in the way of their happily ever after?

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 26,063 words

  TO PROTECT AND MATE

  Wolves of Emerald Valley 4

  Jane Perky

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  TO PROTECT AND MATE

  Copyright © 2017 by Jane Perky

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-398-6

  First Publication: June 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  During the day, Jane is a teacher, wife and mother. At night, Jane’s a scribbler of erotic gay romance. She can’t enough of demanding alphas, werewolves, and happily-ever-afters.

  For all titles by Jane Perky, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/jane-perky

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Landmarks

  TO PROTECT AND MATE

  Wolves of Emerald Valley 4

  JANE PERKY

  Copyright © 2017

  Prologue

  Three months ago

  By the time I’m done with you, no one would want you. Eduardo’s voice echoed in Jerry’s head.

  Jerry shivered, clutched at the ragged blanket, and wrapped it around his skinny frame. The piece of cloth didn’t provide any comfort, so he tried to shut up the voice in his head, but it was always there, whispering. Eduardo, the vampire king who had held him captive, hadn’t just stolen his life, but the bastard’s words lingered in his head.

  As an Omega wolf, Jerry had been taught by his former pack that the only way to survive was to find a strong, caring mate to look after him. Omega wolves were capable of giving a dominant shifter male natural-born children, but they were also weaker than the average werewolf, just a little stronger than a human.

  Jerry fingered the vampire bite marks on his neck, his arms, and felt a wave of sudden disgust. Eduardo hadn’t stolen him away, but in a way, the bastard took everything from him. Eduardo and his vampires strolled into his hometown, murdered every member of his pack. Lee, one of his dead brother’s friends, had a plan to get him out, but Jerry couldn’t leave the other surviving Omegas to the mercy of the vampires.

  So Jerry had screwed up Lee’s plans and volunteered to be Eduardo’s blood pet to save the others. Look where that had gotten him. Now, he was nothing, a slave who provided sustenance to the vampires, a captive.

  He glanced at the other occupants in the cell they shared, three humans and two shifters. Humans died easily under the care of Eduardo’s vampires, but shifters lived a lot longer. Sometimes, Jerry envied the humans, although thinking that way sometimes appalled him. Time flowed differently when one was in a prison cell.

  Jerry didn’t know how long he had been there. He even started blaming Lee, wished he’d care for his own safety instead, but that was bullshit. Jerry was here, out of his own doing. He had volunteered but regretted that decision every day. The only indication time moved was when the vampires woke at night and opened the cells to feed. The highlight and nightmare that was his life.

  It was quiet outside the thick metal cell door, which meant it wasn’t sunset yet, but Jerry knew it wouldn’t be long before the pale monsters came out to feed. Normally, Jerry was past caring. He waited to die like the rest, hoping Eduardo would make a mistake one night and drain him dry. Jerry had no reason for living. He was only glad his older brother, Rob, was dead and didn’t know how Jerry had ended up in this miserable hellhole.

  Lately though, Jerry had been having strange dreams, wonderful ones. He was in wolf form, although he hadn’t shifted since his captivity. Jerry wondered if he still could, but the wolf had retreated inside of him, buried so deep, where no one would fight it. In those dreams though, Jerry was a wolf, and another werewolf, bigger and more powerful, ran alongside him, not chasing him but accompanying him as an equal.

  Jerry shut his eyes, seeing that great but terrifying beast, one with a dark blond pelt and mesmerizing amber eyes, possessive yet protective at once. His mate, or he imagined the other werewolf being his mate. What a laugh.

  Who would want used goods, a broken Omega, who’d been a blood slave for vampires?

  Even if Jerry every got out of this place—unlikely, but Jerry could dream—most shifters would consider him tainted. He’d been desirable once, good-looking. Before the bloodsuckers had come to town, a lot of dominant wolves in the old pack hoped to catch his attention, considering him the ideal mate. Jerry had the same physical features as Rob, dark-haired and green-eyed, but most people considered Rob a rough copy.

  Jerry had been vain. Spoiled by his brother, Lee, and his old pack, and now he was nothing.

  Bitterness filled him. Why did he start having these awful dreams? Fantasies like that could kill, because Jerry had lost all hope a long time ago. Now, these stupid visions filled his nights with longing. Most of the time, Jerry didn’t want to wake up, hoping in some way that being a vampire’s blood slave was all a nightmare and his real reality was that perfect vision.

  “Something’s happening outside,” one of the shifters whispered.

  Jerry opened his eyes. The guy was rig
ht. He heard gunfire, probably from one of the guards Eduardo hired to keep watch over the coven house when the vampires were asleep. Then a powerful howl followed and all the hairs on his arm rose. It was definitely the sound of a werewolf. Who was the intruder, an enemy of Eduardo’s perhaps?

  All Jerry knew was he and the other slaves had been moved a lot of times. Eduardo had many enemies, but the accommodations of the blood slaves were the same in any new location—bare, windowless cells. When they moved, the slaves were drugged, and the next time they woke, they were in a new cell.

  Maybe Eduardo had finally gotten careless. Maybe Jerry’s dreams were telling him that his life in this hellhole was about to end, but that couldn’t be. Maybe this was all illusion, because what was the point?

  Even if Jerry got out, bleak cold reality waited for him. No one would want a used-up Omega. The first few words Eduardo had whispered in his ear echoed in his head. The vampire had certainly ruined Jerry. Jerry huddled against the wall, pulling the blanket around him. The other captives did the same, terrified of what was coming. It might even be worse. What if the intruder merely wanted Eduardo and left all of them to die?

  Jerry heard more shouts from outside, more bullets. Then the door creaked opened, and he sucked in a breath, anticipating the worse.

  Chapter One

  Present

  “What can I get you?” Jerry asked the customer in front of him.

  He waited a few seconds for the guy to peruse the menu. There weren’t a lot of choices at Burgers and Bacon. It was like any fast food outlet in town. He patiently waited.

  When it took too long, Jerry realized the man wasn’t looking at the menu above his head. The guy stared at something on side of his neck. Jerry looked down, nearly panicking when he saw an old vampire bite mark showed through his collar. Feeling self-conscious, he tugged it down.

  “Look, it’s cool, man. I’m also a donor,” the guy said, grinning, and showed off a bite mark on the side of his arm.

  Jerry stiffened, unsure of what to say. Three months since Lee and Lee’s vampire mate had rescued him from Eduardo’s coven, Jerry wasn’t doing any better or adjusting to normal life. It didn’t help that Lee’s mate, Magnus, was the king of the Nightshade Coven, which was the dominant paranormal group in town, along with a resident wolf pack. Magnus was Eduardo’s brother but was the exact opposite of Eduardo. In fact, Jerry had altered his hatred for vampires, thanks to Magnus, but that didn’t extend to the rest.

  Magnus ran his coven differently, taking not blood slaves but volunteer donors, but Jerry still cringed away from anything related to vampires.

  “I think I’ve seen you before with Magnus,” the guy was saying, giving him a speculative look.

  Jerry never liked any attention directed at him and didn’t respond. Bringing his personal life to the workplace wasn’t wise, and besides, he had no personal life to speak of. Speaking to other shifters was hard, and the other shifters in town viewed him with a mixture of curiosity, pity, and disgust. Magnus was a friend, a good listener. Lee was a little different, pushy. Then again, Lee seemed to take his role of adoptive big brother seriously.

  “Do you want to order? Sorry, but there’s a line forming behind you,” Jerry said.

  The guy looked apologetic.

  “Jerry, Mr. Gibson wants to see you,” called Cherry, another coworker.

  “Can you take over for me?”

  At her nod, Jerry let her take over cashier duties and walked past the kitchen and into the corridor leading to the boss’ office. His palms started to sweat. Jerry didn’t want to lose this job. He hated the scouting process and loathed to explain why he’d gone missing for five years and what he’d been doing.

  Jerry clenched his fists by his side and felt the phone the back pocket of his jeans vibrate. To distract himself from thinking about the worst, he saw a message from Lee, asking about his dinner plans. Lee and his friends were five loner Alphas who’d lived at Emerald Valley when they were younger. The murder of a friend had led them back to their hometown and they eventually settled here.

  Still, being around five growly Alphas wasn’t his ideal way to spend dinner. Jerry always found excuses to refuse. He quickly typed Lee a response.

  Jerry: Is dinner just with you and Magnus?

  Realizing he reached the manager’s door, he tucked his phone away and knocked politely.

  “Come in.”

  He entered and when Mr. Gibson gestured to the chairs in front of the desk, Jerry sat, unsure of where this was going.

  “I’m going straight to the point, Jerry. I’ve heard you’ve gotten another episode this week.”

  Episode. That was what Mr. Gibson called his nervous breakdowns.

  “I can’t help it,” he mumbled.

  “Calm down, Jerry. I heard the customer started it, became verbally abusive toward you. Do you know the werewolf?”

  Jerry chewed on his bottom lip. He knew news of what had happened in his shift yesterday would come to Mr. Gibson’s attention one way or another. Mr. Gibson was a former boxer, a human in his late thirties who didn’t tolerate bullshit and valued honesty.

  Jerry had been kicked out of a few jobs since he’d moved into town. He really hated needing to search again. For one, he didn’t have plenty of experiences, and he didn’t do well with stress.

  “I don’t know the guy, never met him.” It was the truth.

  Jerry kept the bullying and sneers he’d gotten from members of the local wolf pack from Lee and his friends, because he knew Lee and his friends usually resorted to violence to prove their point. Jerry preferred to be under the radar, but shifters knew when one of their kind was tainted. They called him vampire bait, even though Jerry was no longer one. Magnus was a gentleman, and whenever Jerry was over at Magnus’ coven house, needing someone to talk to, Magnus kept his vampires away from Jerry.

  “For someone you’ve never met, Dylan said the man sure shouted a couple of extreme comments about you.”

  What did Mr. Gibson want Jerry to say? His past wasn’t some huge mysterious secret. Jerry never advertised it, but all people had to do was look at the healing bite marks on his body. A shifter doctor Lee and Magnus had taken him to assured him all the bites would fade with time, but once a vampire marked its food, the scent would linger.

  Not that it mattered. Jerry doubted he’d catch the interest of any potential mate soon. Gods, he hated it when Lee always nudged at him to start living normally, to date. Was that a joke? How could anyone want him after what he’d been through?

  “Did you always have these—” Mr. Gibson hesitated on saying what his other coworkers would usually say. “—shakes?”

  Breakdown was the better word, but he’d shut down when the werewolf had started hurling insults when Jerry told him to fuck off. Normally, Jerry tried his best to let hurtful words bounce off him, but he was testy lately. It didn’t help it was close to full moon season too—in other words, mating season for shifters, a time unmated single shifters took advantage of to be promiscuous.

  Realizing Mr. Gibson wanted an answer, he responded, “Sometimes, especially when I’m under stress.”

  Mr. Gibson pursed his lips. “I’ve heard rumors circulating about you in town, Jerry. Do you think I wouldn’t find out?”

  Jerry froze in place. He didn’t think it necessary to put on his resume he’d been a vampire blood slave. What they wanted were practical skills, didn’t they? Besides, his past was none of his employer’s business, unless it affected his performance, which admittedly happened a few times. Lee kept pushing him to see a therapist, but Jerry had been against seeing someone who wanted to take a good look at his head and tell him what he already knew—that he couldn’t be fixed.

  “Am I fired?” he finally asked with a heavy sigh.

  Jerry could plead, offer to be better, but he’d had enough of being at the mercy of someone else. No matter how many times he begged, the vampires wouldn’t listen and made feeding times hurt.

 
“All right,” Mr. Gibson finally said. “I’m giving you another chance. You’re not my best employee, but I can see you’re struggling, making an effort.”

  “Thank you. I promise you won’t regret this.”

  Mr. Gibson looked at Jerry a little longer, which made him nervous but thankfully dismissed him. Jerry exited the office. Suddenly, it was hard to breathe. Was it going to be like this all the time? The walls around him suddenly felt imposing, caging him and his wolf in. Jerry gasped, leaned against the nearest wall for support. Jerry needed some air. He stumbled back to the cashier.

  “Jerry, you ready to take over the cashier again?” Cherry asked, spotting him. “Lunch crowd is about to come in, and no one’s minding the fryer.”

  Jerry sucked in a breath, staring past the counter and into the doors leading outside. His wolf didn’t want to be around this constricted space which smelled of grease, meat, and people. Sweat coated his back and front. His uniform started to feel constrictive, his skin itchy.

  “Jerry, are you all right? You look as pale as a ghost,” Carlos, another coworker, asked, concern in his voice.

  “I need air,” he whispered. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “Are you taking an early lunch break?” Cherry asked, annoyance in her voice, but he had no time for this. It felt like he was going to explode soon if he didn’t get out.

  Jerry sprinted over the counter, surprising a customer holding a tray, and bolted out the doors. A light breeze caressed his face and sunlight—sun he’d been deprived of for so long that sometimes humans thought he was a vampire, not a shifter. Jerry received odd looks on the street. Two men in mid-conversation stared at him.