I love the cover the fabulous Reese Dante has created for me.
Blurb:
Still
suffering from nightmares due to the abuse he endured at the hands of
his previous Alpha, Tommy Morgan is trying to come to terms with life
and a newly found mate.
The last thing Benjamin Taylor, Panneath Alpha of Australia, expected to find was his other half, bloody and broken at the hands of another Alpha. Now months later Ben is more than happy just to sit at his mate’s side while he gets his life together again and begins to accept their mating.
Threatening e-mails though, set to put a hold on their happiness as someone wants revenge for the death of Alpha Kegan Wallis.
Excerpt: (Please note I'm yet to complete edits so please forgive any errors)
The last thing Benjamin Taylor, Panneath Alpha of Australia, expected to find was his other half, bloody and broken at the hands of another Alpha. Now months later Ben is more than happy just to sit at his mate’s side while he gets his life together again and begins to accept their mating.
Threatening e-mails though, set to put a hold on their happiness as someone wants revenge for the death of Alpha Kegan Wallis.
Excerpt: (Please note I'm yet to complete edits so please forgive any errors)
Tommy grunted once again as Gregory and Barry’s
fists met his flesh. He gritted his teeth refusing with everything he had to
let the scream that desperately wanted out past his lips. He could feel his
flesh split again and again as they continued to work him over. All the while,
his Alpha—the one man he should have been able to count on to protect him—paced
back and forth, shaking his head when Tommy refused to answer any questions
about his brother’s whereabouts.
"Tell me where he is and this can all
stop." Alpha Wallis nodded in the direction of his Betas and they took up
the fight once again.
Tommy could feel the tears slipping down his cheeks
as he was pummelled over and over again. He bit down so hard on his lip he
tasted blood when a well-placed shot to his side had him hearing—and feeling—a
rib or two breaking under the barrage.
It wasn’t fair. Even if he did know the location of
his brother, there was no way he would give it up after everything Declan had
said to him. Tommy still didn’t know exactly what had happened between his
brother and his Alpha to cause the man to run but whatever it was—by Alpha
Wallis’s reaction—it wasn’t good.
Tommy’s arms ached from where they had been tied
above his head. The cuffs binding his hands to an adjustable chain hanging from
the ceiling were cutting into his wrists. Tommy could feel the blood slowly
dripping down his arms. He was stretched until he was forced to stand on
tiptoes in order to be able to get a small measure of relief for his arm.
His entire body throbbed in pain. He didn’t think
there was a single area that hadn’t been intimately introduced to the fists of
the Betas. The blows were a constant barrage, never seeming to stop for very
long. Tommy could feel the swelling around his left eye and the split to his
lip.
He would have shifted had he not been in so much
pain and strung up like a Christmas turkey. The cuffs around his wrist were too
tight, and due to the pain currently racking his body, his wolf had curled up
in a corner. Only an Alpha could get him to shift in his current state and he
highly doubted Alpha Wallis was about to do that.
"Tell me where the fuck I can find Declan,"
the man practically screamed at him, small amounts of spittle flying from the
corners of his mouth.
Tommy resolutely kept his mouth shut. He wasn’t in
any fit state to answer the man’s questions, not that he would've if he could.
All of a sudden blinding pain seared through his
body, radiating upwards from his leg. He had no idea what the hell they had
done but it was successful in finally getting something to pass Tommy’s lips.
He screamed.
Tommy sat bolt upright in bed, his heart pounding frantically
as he tried desperately to cut the scream off that was currently pouring from
his mouth. His body throbbed with the remembered pain of the blows he’d endured
at the hands of his previous Alpha and Betas.
The sheets below him felt damp with sweat, the acrid
smell of it penetrating his sluggish brain.
Slowly, his heartbeat and his breathing began to
return to normal. It wasn’t until a couple of minutes had passed that he
noticed a body sitting on the bed beside him. His heart rate increased again,
suddenly pounding out a staccato rhythm in his chest, fear gripping him and making
it impossible to move.
The deep, soothing, whispered words finally
registered and Tommy started to relax again.
"Shh, pup, everything’s going to be okay,
you’re safe now. No one is ever going to hurt you again," Ben murmured
over and over.
The deep rumble of his mate’s voice calmed his body
faster than anything else possibly could. Tommy knew the man was his mate. He
had figured that out a couple of weeks after he had woken up at his brother’s
house. Yes, it had taken him some time, but he finally was able to recognise his
feelings for the big strong man for what they were. This didn’t mean he was
ready to jump into bed with Ben, far from it.
Ben seemed to understand that fact and never pushed.
It was times like these that endeared the man to him all the more. He sat
beside Tommy on the edge of the bed with a cool damp cloth, wiping over his
sweat-soaked skin, his other hand rubbing soothingly along his arm. The touch
alone brought him more comfort than he really wanted to admit to at that
moment. All the while that deep sexy voice whispered words of safety to him,
helping to combat the remembered fear and pain that had been almost
overwhelming.
Tommy knew Ben had taken to spending most of his
nights in one of Declan and Liam’s spare rooms, even though the man must have a
house of his own. Tommy hadn’t seen it so he was just assuming. Whenever Tommy
woke in the middle of the night, Ben always seemed to be there, by his side, to
help calm him back down. Tommy wasn’t entirely sure how many times he had
flinched away from the large man in fear and honestly thought the bigger man
must have the patience of a saint to still be here, night after night. He was
grateful though.
"Better?" the soft rumbly growl came from
beside him.
Tommy nodded his head, not sure if his voice would
work at the moment or not. Tommy reached out tentatively and placed his hand
gently on Ben’s forearm. He needed the connection at the moment. Just that
little bit of added touch had waves of peace and calm trying to crash over him.
He knew it was Ben’s doing but he wasn’t about to complain.