Katie rubbed her mitten-covered hands over her legs. “You mentioned the old wolf dens near the spot your dad used to take you camping.” The slight pull of her mouth told him just how exhausted she was. Katie had been elated at the idea of seeing dens, even ones that were no longer in use. Seeing her weak smile was all the heads-up Alan needed to know she required rest. “I’d love to camp near them.”
“Anything you want,” he said, doing his best to ignore the way she bit at her lower lip.
Anything you want? What? How can I be whipped when I haven’t even sampled the goods?
He groaned and then coughed in a quick attempt to hide it. Alan wasn’t the type of man who followed a woman around aimlessly, bending to her every whim. Well, at least he never thought he was the type to do that. Katie had a way of leaving him tongue twisted and his chest tied in knots at the idea of her being unhappy. Only Katie possessed that certain something that left him longing to touch her, or to even be in the same room with her.
Alan poked the fire with a long stick for a while, unsure how much time had passed, and pretended to be more worried about keeping the fire going than the fact Katie was now watching him closely through tired eyes. She watched him often when she assumed he wasn’t looking. He used to wonder what she was thinking, but anymore he had to fight to keep from tackling her to the ground and sinking his cock into her. She had no idea his feelings ran so deep. Hell, up until he’d caught the scent of another man on her some six months ago, he didn’t even realize what he felt for her was so intense.
Jealousy is funny like that.
Alan had thought she was a fling. Minus the actual sex part, of course. A temporary obsession because she represented everything he couldn’t have—a beautiful, intelligent, human female for his own, to take as his mate, his wife and the mother of his children.
Temporary my ass. I’ve been hot for her for years.
The pack had a strict no-mating-with-humans policy and anyone who didn’t adhere to it found themselves on the receiving end of what they could only hope was a quick death. Not to mention the human involved was sentenced to death as well. Humans were to have no knowledge of their kind.
End of story.
No exceptions to the rule.
The council members had laid the laws of the pack down long ago and each generation followed it to the letter. Any who didn’t paid the ultimate price. He’d seen a werewolf punished for crimes against the pack when he was just a boy and the memory stuck with him. Seeing a man hung naked by his feet from a tree and ripped to shreds by shifted wolves wasn’t something he was ever likely to forget.
While Alan was more than willing to forfeit his own life for a night of passion with Katie, he wasn’t ready to sacrifice her life as well. Granted, he wasn’t heavily active in any pack, not even the one he lived closest to now, but still, going against the grain was deadly. Shifters of any kind were more common than humans would want to believe. In the city he bumped into at least one shifter a week. Hell, he’d even had a house party once and one showed up. The chick had been some sort of cat shifter and looked as if she wanted to gouge his eyes out. Being part wolf left the feeling totally mutual, so Alan didn’t take it to heart. Though, he did have his carpets and furniture steam cleaned to get the smell of cat out of them once she was gone. There was really nothing worse than cat hair stuck to his suit, then his sofa, then his bedding. Sleeping with her would have at least given a good reason for it. As it stood, the bitch just seemed to shed a lot as she'd wandered around his place snarling.
If he did give in and claim Katie as his own, the risk of another shifter discovering what he’d done was too great. If they caught the scent of his mark, it would only be a matter of time before news of his deed reached the head of the local pack. Within an hour, someone would be sent to eliminate Katie.
I won’t risk her.
Katie’s eyelids drifted downwards and she rocked slightly. Afraid she might fall face first into the fire, Alan drew upon his supernatural speed and moved next to her. Had she been awake, he would have never risked moving even a tenth as fast as he could. There would be no explaining away something like that. It wasn’t like he could slap a pair of glasses on and assume a new identity, or rush through a telephone booth to shift forms.
Real life wasn't like the movies. And secret identities required more than capes. They required never revealing one's self.
Alan pulled Katie into his arms, inhaling her sweet scent and groaning inwardly as his cock twitched. It had been a long hike up the mountain. He could hear her tiny breaths as she'd hiked behind him, smell the light sheen of sweat upon her skin and vividly picture himself licking it off her.
She hadn’t slept well the night before, tossing and turning before waking with a scream lodged in her throat. She then went on to obsess about his safety, doing a complete head-to-toe check over him prior to leaving for their camping trip. It was cute in a “fuck I’m hard again” kind of way.
Alan had tried to talk Katie into letting him drive his SUV, but she’d insisted on roughing it. That was almost laughable. Katie was a city girl, having only experienced nature while visiting a strip of grass labeled a park. Dragging her into the Tennessee Appalachian Mountains in search of red wolves was ludicrous. These mountains, the ones his father often brought him to, were downright dangerous, regardless of the fact they were no longer frequented by weres—just regular wolves. And even those had been reintroduced to the area because of hunting and other environmental factors.
Alan hadn’t really turned his back on his father’s pack so much as he shunned the idea of being part beast, part man. Sure, by all outward appearances he was human and he wasn’t a slave to the cycles of the moon like some werewolves, but that didn’t make being what he was any easier. The memory of looking at himself in the mirror, after a night of feeding off deer while in wolf form, still disgusted him. It had been over fifteen years since he’d last set foot in the mountains, and as much as he hated to admit it, he missed it. He missed the fresh air. The freedom to shift at will and run wild. Having others around who understood what his body was going through. But mostly, he missed the bond he’d once shared with his father. The minute Alan refused to accept what he truly was—a werewolf destined to one day be on one of the ruling councils—his father took it personally, turning his back on Alan and the “human” life he wanted so desperately to lead.
Alan graduated, went off to college and never looked back. His mother called often enough, doing her best to make small talk—all the while the unspoken hints that she wanted him to find a nice she-wolf and settle down hung in the air between them. At times it was so thick he screened his calls, unable to hear the disappointment in his mother’s voice when she asked if he’d claimed Katie yet and he said no. Confessing Katie was human wasn’t something Alan wanted to do. It would crush his mother.
So far, Alan had become quite the accomplished liar in regards to Katie and his mother. He managed to sneak in affirmations of his mother’s suspicions of Katie being a shifter as much as possible, while leading Katie to believe his mother had little to no interest in his life so she would stop asking to meet her.
If news spread back to the pack that he was practically living with a human female, and had been for the last several years, they’d naturally assume he was fucking her. They’d also assume she knew his secret. Katie would be in danger and that wasn’t something Alan would ever permit.
Katie blinked up at him as he rocked her gently before the fire. “Mmm, why aren’t you tired?” She stretched. “You know, you’re in incredible shape and I have yet to see you workout. Is this how you do it? Do you sneak away and hike when I’m not looking? Your backpack weighs a ton. I tipped over trying it on, remember?”
I’m not tired because I have you in my arms and I’ll be damned if I sleep the moment away.
He shrugged and let a lazy smile dance over his face as he remembered the stunned expression on Katie’s face as she fell over, hitting the groun
d under the weight of his pack. Her shoulders had been pinned to the ground by the straps, reminding him of a turtle on its back. It also left her in prime position to receive him, so as funny as it was, Alan had no choice but to get her off the ground quickly or chance mounting her.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s all this fresh air. And I wouldn’t suggest trying to slip my pack on up here. If you tumble, you may never stop.” He chuckled even though for one brief second the threat of her doing just that hit him hard. Overreacting seemed to be reserved for anything to do with Katie. With anyone else in life, Alan could really give a shit. He had to take a calming breath and remind himself that Katie was safe.
Katie purred as she stretched against him. The very sound drove spikes of need through his system, leaving his skin prickling with the urge to shift into wolf form and forever claim her as his own. He tipped his head back, trying, and failing, to block the scent of honeysuckle and roses—the scent of Katie. She fit in the crook of his arm, her body molded to his, reaffirming what the man in him believed, she was made for him.
If only that were true.
Alan steeled himself against her allure and eased her to the ground, careful to pull her backpack close to act as a pillow. “Rest for a bit while I finish checking the map and repacking the gear.”
“No, I want to help,” she said, her voice slurred with sleep.
The tiniest of laughs escaped him. “As fun as watching you try to figure out what package of dried goods goes where is, I’m going to pass. Take a quick nap. There’s nothing else you can do to help, Katie, so rest.”
“Okay, I’ll just rest for a minute.”
End Excerpt
Mating Behavior by Mandy M. Roth
Now for Sale!
Dragon Lords Series
Michelle M. Pillow
Futuristic Romance
The four Qurilixian Princes have no problem with commitment. In one night, using the power they were born with, they will meet and choose their life mate in a simplistic ceremony involving the removing of masks and the crushing of crystals. With very few words spoken and the shortest, most bizarre courtship in history, they will bond to their women forever. And once bonded, these men don’t let go…
The Barbarian Prince
Book One
Breaking up was never so hard...
Going undercover at Galaxy Brides as one of the prospective mates to these Viking-like barbarians, Morrigan has no intention of getting chosen to stay. But when Ualan of the Draig picks her to be his wife with the aid of his mystically glowing crystal, it is all she can do to say no.
Being cursed by the Gods was never so frustrating...
Prince Ualan is like all others of his race on the male dominated planet of Qurilixen. He is raised to trust the mystic powers around him and when it comes time to marry, he is ready to follow those powers to choose his life mate. When the stubborn, yet achingly beautiful, Morrigan refuses to accept their shared fate and his supreme authority over her, it is all he can do not to break her lovely neck.
The Barbarian Prince by Michelle M. Pillow
Now for Sale!
Books by Mandy M Roth Checklist
Paranormal
Daughter of Darkness Trilogy
Daughter of Darkness
The Enchantress
Bella Mia
Cowboys and Supernaturals Series
Blaze of Glory
Parker's Honor
Clockwork Law
The Inventor's Promise
The Valkyrie Trilogy
Valkyrie
Valhalla: The Valkyrie Beginnings
The Voyagers
Birds of Prey Series
King of Prey
A View to a Kill
Master of the Hunt
Rise of the King
Prince of Pleasure
Prince of Flight
Sacred Places Series
Sacred Places
Goddess of the Grove
Winter Solstice
Immortal Ops Series
Immortal Ops
Critical Intelligence
Radar Deception
Strategic Vulnerability
Separation Zone
Lion Shifter Series for Spice Brief
Sin’s Pride
Dex’s Claim
The Zodiac Series
Pisces Phenomenon
Somber Resplendence
Pleasure Cruise Series
Pleasure Cruise
Date with Destiny
Pleasure Island
Wicked Lucidity
Loup Garou
Eternal Seduction
The Guardians
Warriors of Darkness
Demonic Desires
Solo Tu
Secrets We Keep
Trust in the Season
Ambient Light
Gypsy Nights
Going the Distance
Mating Behavior
Last Call
The King’s Choice
The Advisor’s Apprentice
Tipping the Scales
Misfit in Middle America
Futuristic/ Sci-Fi Paranormal
Project Exorcism
Paranormal Payload
Force of Attraction
Point of No Return
Civil Twilight
Cyber Sex
Prepared to Please
Denial of Service
Droid Wars
Performance Criteria
Magnetic Attraction
League of the Unnatural
Pike’s Peak
Adam's Angel
Red Light Specialists
Contemporaries
Executive Decision
Simmering Seductions
Anthologies
Ghost Cats Series
Best Intentions
Dance of Souls
Book III (Title TBD)
Talons: King of Prey
Stop Dragon My Heart Around
Black Lace Quickies 5
Ellora’s Cavemen: Legendary Tails IV
Magical Seduction
For a complete, up-to-date list, visit www.MandyRoth.com
Table of Contents
Rise of the King
Rise of the King
Rise of the King
King of Prey Series
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
*
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
*
*
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
*
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
King of Prey Series
About the Author, Mandy M. Roth
Thank you for reading this book by Mandy M. Roth
The Raven Books’ Complimentary Material
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Mating Behavior
Extended First Chapter Excerpt
Dragon Lords Series
The Barbarian Prince
Books by Mandy M Roth Checklist
Paranormal
Futuristic/ Sci-Fi Paranormal
Contemporaries
Anthologies
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