Word Count: 45000
Summary: Can I be both Alpha and the man Rob needs me to be? I spent nineteen years rebuilding the pack I took from our abusive Alpha, with my bondmate Melody as my wife, and my best friend Rob at my side as Second. Then I lost Melody and the child we hoped to have, and my world crashed down on me. I holed up, grieving and fighting conflicting impulses, until my Third, Sherman, got tired of my apathy and Challenged me for pack Alpha. I could've taken Sherman down, no sweat. Rob could've wiped the dirt with him. What held us back was the memory of one night when we were both seventeen, and three decades of not giving in to impossible dreams. If we were free, away from the violent homophobia of the packs, maybe we could finally be more than Alpha and Second. So I suppressed my Alpha instincts and walked away. Rob, as always, came with me. Now we're in my truck, heading west into the mountains. Just David and Rob, two men trying to figure out what we can be to each other. Until we stop in a small town for a meal, and someone who smells like a wolf steals my truck. Trouble's afoot, the local lone wolves need help, and I'm discovering that once an Alpha, always an Alpha. But if we get entangled with a new pack, does that mean any relationship Rob and I might've found has to be lost again to werewolf laws? Set in 2010, a year before Unacceptable Risk in the bad old days of the packs, this is a Hidden Wolves universe standalone 45,000 word novella with new characters. Content warnings for grief, past pregnancy loss, past abuse, past captivity, and violence. Contains the added bonus 5K short story Toby, Doyle, and the Cats.
Word Count: 73000
Summary: Perry's mother told him he'd develop the superpower of flight, like his grandfather. She even named him Peregrine, so folks would call him "The Falcon." Spoiler— they don't. Because when he did come into his power, all he got was the ability to change colors. Not even himself, like some kind of Chameleon Man, but the color of objects. He can de-pukify the shade of his bedroom curtains, turn a bully's sweatshirt pink, or even turn a red traffic light green. (Not a good idea.) He hasn't told anyone except his disappointed mom about his power. What would they call him? The Interior Decorator? Back in high school, under stress, he did convince his power that transparent was just another color. Now that ability's sometimes fun in an illicit way. Then one morning, in the mailroom at work, he turns a cardboard box transparent and sees a bomb inside. And Perry's ordinary life explodes. Sergeant Deckard of the Nova City Bomb Squad never thought much about superheroes, or supervillains for that matter. He has plenty of work with ordinary humans and their explosives. Until he and his bomb-sniffing dog, Nix, get called to a possible-explosives situation in a highrise mailroom. The guy who reported the bomb is a nerdy twink in dark-framed glasses who pushes all of Deck's buttons. When he finds out the young man has a weird superpower and may be the target of a villain, every protective instinct comes into play. Deckard's goal is to keep his job, his dog, Nova City, and Perry intact. His libido can just sit down, shut up, and take a number. But as their attraction gets hotter and the villain closes in, their future might be blown apart before it even has a chance to start. Transparent Is a Color is a part of the multi-author Subpar Superheroes MM romance series. (Content warning for abduction, parental emotional abuse)
