Trent

Halloween has always been a night I take for myself. On that one night, I cut loose with a mask hiding my face, and head to the gay bars. I can dance and flirt and maybe get laid, just one guy in a crowd of guys like me. They don’t know I’m a werewolf. My pack doesn’t know I’m gay. Every year, I grab onto my night of freedom and enjoy it hard.

Until this year, when my Alpha tells me I have to shift into wolf fur and go trick-or-treating with the pack kids. I’m supposed to wag my tail and charm the humans with “Operation Werewolves Make Good Neighbors.”

This was not how I wanted to spend my Halloween, but I’m just pack Fifth. When Alpha says “Hop,” I ask “How high?” So here I am, out with the kids, playing a happy, furry Warg, when I hear a little girl crying. And in saving her, I set a chain of events in motion that will upend my entire life. When Halloween is over, I’ll have to figure out who I want to be, in a world not made for gay werewolves.

Unmasked is a stand-alone story in the Hidden Wolves universe, set thirteen years after the main series, as werewolves and humans are learning to live side by side.

Two huge mistakes. One second chance.

Griffin

Musics a harsh mistress, if you want to make a living by her. Years ago, when I was on my way up, I met a man. Sparks flew, hearts leaped, you know the song. But I was chasing my dream all across America, and Lee was tied to our hometown. Hell, I was too old for him anyway, even then. So I left, and the connection wed had withered and died, except sometimes in the lyrics I wrote. Now Im back home and Ive met him again at the lowest point in my life. Hes still gorgeous and kind, but Im battered and faded and paying for my mistakes. He can do way better.

Lee

When I was twenty, I thought the hardest thing Id ever do was watch Griffin Marsh walk out of my life. Well, newsflash, fate always has more crap waiting for you. I spent more nights than I want to remember torn between hating him for leaving and wishing I could've gone with him, but life went on with the good, the bad, and the ugly. Now Griffins back and hes a silver fox, still unfairly hot and talented. I lost my sister years ago, and my life is far less complicated. But, despite Griffin's current disaster, hell be heading off soon to concerts like Rocktoberfest and the wide musical world. Letting myself fall for him again would mean another round of being left behind. Im not going to do that to myself, no matter how much I want to erase the shadows from Griffins eyes.

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.

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 couldve taken Sherman down, no sweat. Rob couldve 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 were 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. Troubles afoot, the local lone wolves need help, and Im 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 mightve 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 44,000 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.

Alan

I didnt think two cars slowing down behind me as I jogged along our country road were a problem. Im just an ordinary third-grade teacher. Well, also a sorcerer, but I dont really use my powers. Even when my familiar, Sunny, said, I dont like this, and winged off to fetch my boyfriend, I wasnt really expecting trouble. But then guys with guns jumped out and arrested me. Now Im locked in a prison hours away from home, my magic is suppressed by a blocking bracelet, and they laugh when I ask to see a lawyer. Scary stuff, but Sunnys no ordinary bird and Jason will never stop trying to find me. I just hope they arrive in time. I just hope they arrive…

Jason

As a small-town firefighter, Ive had my share of terrifying moments, but watching Alan be grabbed and driven off in an unmarked car is high on that list. Especially when the agency that supposedly arrested him tells our lawyer theyve never heard of Alan and have no idea where he is. Thats not an arrest, its an abduction.

Im no superhero and Alans friends are two Healers, an elderly and confused sorcerer, and a small bird. But were not going to just sit around and let anything happen to the man we all love. And in a stroke of luck, Errante Ames Carnival of Mysteries has appeared again. If Errantes willing to help us, well have a far better chance of rescuing Alan. But if the Carnivals here, with its power and wild magic, that also means the stakes may be higher than any of us realized.