Feral is the day, p.1
Feral is the Day, page 1
Copyright © 2021 by Leeah Taylor
All rights reserved.
No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
Cover Art by: Love Drunk Premades
Editing by: Quell T. Fox- IDK Author Services
She may be my mate but she was never mine to claim…
Berkeley is my best friend. I’ve loved her my entire life. But she’s always belonged to our best friend, her mate, Carver. And I made my peace with it.
It was my secret to keep.
It was my choice to protect them.
Because I love them both.
Berkeley and Carver are all I have left in this ruined world and I won’t risk losing them over a mate bond. But in one moment it’s no longer a secret.
It changes everything.
There’s no going back.
But we’re stranded and hunted in the middle of nowhere. I’m not sure which will break us first— the mate bonds none of us saw coming or Tristan and his pack of Ferals ravenous for vengeance?
Feral is the Day is a steamy MFM shifter romance and the second installment in the Feral Night World trilogy. This book does feature sensitive situations that may make some readers uncomfortable.
Contents
1. Chapter One
2. Chapter Two
3. Chapter Three
4. Chapter Four
5. Chapter Five
6. Chapter Six
7. Chapter Seven
8. Chapter Eight
9. Chapter Nine
10. Chapter Ten
11. Chapter Eleven
12. Chapter Twelve
13. Chapter Thirteen
14. Chapter Fourteen
15. Chapter Fifteen
16. Chapter Sixteen
17. Chapter Seventeen
18. Chapter Eighteen
19. Chapter Nineteen
20. Chapter Twenty
21. Chapter Twenty One
Thank you for reading!!
Feral is the World Sneak Peek
Routine.
A balance of expectations and consistency.
I’ve always thrived on it but this world we live in now doesn’t lend itself to routine and consistency. Learning to live by the moment suits this life now. But when small opportunities creep in for routine, I appreciate it. Even if it is because Carver is gone more than he’s home.
I curl up on the edge of a large rock just outside the entrance to the mountain. The blanket wrapped around me barely fights back against the cold seeping in. It’s exactly the winter we expected. Freezing and hard. But it doesn’t stop life from going on. Nobody is hiding in the mountain from the plummeting temperatures like we anticipated back at the school.
Livestock still needs tending. Greenhouses are still producing. It’s no longer survival but living.
Even in twenty below.
And like clockwork, any minute Carver and Cooper will appear just beyond the gate after another five day hunt. The obsessive need to find Tristan and exact revenge is seated deep within Carver. Finding me bloody, beaten, and naked with him standing over me left a nasty, lasting mark. One my alpha can’t seem to let go and move on from. There’s no talking him down. There’s no talking to him at all about it.
The crunch of footfalls in the snow makes me straighten up and hold tighter to the blanket, trying to ward off the rapidly falling temperate. When I lay eyes on my favorite but worn and tired smile though, I forget about how cold it is as the gates roll open.
He hasn’t shaved and the thick stubble only makes him more handsome. Sexier. He’s my best friend. My mate. I’ve known him my entire life. Even then, my heart skips and races. I smile like a giddy school girl, too.
He’s a second chance I don’t deserve.
Carver smirks. “You’re wrong.”
“Says you.” I wrap my arms around his neck and melt into his chest. It’s home. The place I crave most. “Rough trip?”
“Long trip.” He presses a kiss to the mate mark, then to my cheek, and finally he captures my lips. Now he’s home. “And I missed you.”
A wet kiss lands on my cheek as Cooper passes us and I can’t help but giggle. “Missed you too, spitfire.”
Carver glares before cracking a smile.
“Well, let’s get you out of these clothes and the last five days washed off. Remind you what home feels like.”
A playful growl rolls through his chest as he gathers me up in his arms. “Remind me of a few other things too.”
“Yeah, shower first, stinky.”
He hugs me into his side with another kiss to my temple. “Just getting clean to get dirty again.”
“At least you’ll smell better doing it.”
There’s a measure of relief each time Carver comes back from a hunt. Eyes light up through the community as if they expect the worst every time. I know I do. I’m convinced he’s going to leave on one of these trips and never come back. He just can’t let it go.
Tristan has to pay and it’s Carver who’s determined to make him. I wouldn’t have such an issue if it didn’t make him so obsessive. We found each other, joined in a traditional pack ceremony shortly after and then his focus became Tristan.
I’ve tried to let Carver do what he feels he needs to do. If there’s anything I’ve learned about him it’s once he’s set on something, he doesn’t relent until he has it. But now it’s a new year and I’d prefer to start it fresh with him. Leave the past in the past, including Tristan.
“Anything exciting here?” Carver asks, steering me toward the hot springs.
I know he has a lot of dirty ideas swirling his mind too.
“The doc is pretty sure we have a flu thing going around.”
Carver drags a hand down his face and heaves a sigh. “I swear it’s every year and every year is no less rough than the one before.”
“It’s just a handful of people. Maybe we caught it before it could get bad.”
I’m hopeful at least.
“Yeah, doc says that every year before we end up with fifty-seven people spiking fevers and puking.”
“That’s specific.”
“Well, last winter was rough.”
He strips out of his gear once he’s in the warm cavern. Nobody else really uses this particular hot spring. Our place also isn’t anywhere near the rest of the community. Most everyone else lives on the other side of the common room. I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose. Aside from sharing any kind of space with me and Cooper when we were kids, Carver likes to keep to himself. Which I never understood since he’s an alpha, but it suited him. He gives orders when needed. Makes the harder decisions as expected. But otherwise, he’s the chill Carver I remember.
“Be a miracle you don’t get sick working down in the infirmary.” Carver stops at the edge of the pool, peering back at me. A lopsided grin on his lips when he catches me checking out his ass. It’s a damn good ass. “Any chance I can convince you to stay away from it?”
A smile slowly creeps up on my lips. We can certainly negotiate. “I don’t know. Is there any chance I can convince you to take a week off to keep me well and distracted?”
He sighs with the weight of it all seeping out between us. It’s a fine line he balances on. All anyone ever sees is his strength and leadership. It’s in these moments, when it’s just me and him, I see his vulnerabilities.
“Berkeley—”
“Are you any closer to finding him? And be truthful…”
Carver shakes his head and a hint of his guilt pings through me. I never asked him to do this. I never asked him to exact revenge. In fact, I asked him to give it up.
“He’s a ghost.”
I take my shirt off and toss it to join his. “Then there’s no more reason to keep up this brutal cycle.”
Every reason he has ready to fight me on it is there on the tip of his tongue. I can feel it warring in him. Stuck between reigniting this war between us again, and just conceding, finally. Tristan isn’t going to be found until he’s ready to be found.
It’s that simple.
“There’s every reason.”
Is he really going to go with declaring war? We’ve been down this road already and the reason he’s allowed to go on these five day long trips but comes home per our agreement. If I wasn’t adamant about it, he’d have left nearly three months ago and still be out there now.
“There’s more to stay and if you force me to list them, I may just go sleep in that infirmary.”
“I don’t want to have this argument again.”
I smirk, stepping out of my jeans. “Then let’s not and let me win for once.”
“Ha, I’m pretty sure you won the last one.”
“Eh, I think we tied. You get to go off on your grudge missions and I still get you home a couple days a week.”
My eyes drift down his chest, brow perking when I reach his delicious V and then I cross my arms. Why do we always end up arguing naked? How am I supposed to stay mad at him and keep a straight face while his cock is getting hard and bobbing along to our debate?
“You know what, if we’re going to fight, put your clothes back on.”
Carver has the nerve to smirk and cross his arms to mirror me. “It’s more interesting this way.”
“No, it’s distracting. Your dick is dangling there like it’s going to get its turn to say something.”
His smile grows. “Because it is.”
There’s no arguing
with him. Between his smart mouth and greedy bobbing cock, I can’t keep a straight face. I reach for him, catching him by that cock and a sound rolls through his chest with a warning darkening in my favorites blues.
“I’m asking for one week. Nothing more. Not for you to give up the pursuit completely.” I nudge him down a step into the water. “I’m asking you to spend some time putting that pup in my belly like we talked about.”
Not that we haven’t been trying with absolutely no luck, but everyone and their brother has had plenty of advice about it.
Patience.
It’ll happen when it happens.
Stop trying then it’ll happen.
It’s only been three months, you’re rushing.
God, I’ve rolled my eyes more times than I can count in the last three months. My sex life and reproductive organs have been the topic of too many conversations.
“Sounds like a challenge.”
I push him down another step with my firm grip. “If that’s what it’ll take.”
“Well, spitfire.” He tucks the hair out of my face before cupping my cheek. “I can’t take that challenge with your death grip to my cock.”
“One week. Home.”
“I’ll make you a deal. One more trip.” He holds up a finger before I can get a word in. “One final trip and if there’s nothing, not one whisper of proof he’s anywhere out there in the shadows, I come home and stay home, work on putting that pup in your belly.”
There really is no denying those bright blue eyes gazing down at me. I hadn’t planned on this becoming a negotiation and yet here we are. So much like Carver. He won’t be outdone, not even by me.
But not this time.
“Fine, but I'm going.” He goes to make his argument but I grip a little tighter and square up to him a bit taller. “Deal?”
“You have to listen to me.”
I bite back a giggle. “Okay.”
“Berkeley…”
“Okay, I’ll listen.”
He shakes his head. “No you won’t.”
“I’ll try.”
Who am I kidding? I won’t and we’ll both end up bullheaded in the middle of snow and Ferals because it’s who we are. Heat prickles through me as his alpha ebbs against my wolf and she’s awake, alert, just waiting to go ass up.
Flecks of black darken his gaze. “You mind giving my cock back, baby?”
My mouth runs dry. “Depends. Do we have a deal?”
“Depends.” His lips drag up my jaw to my ear. “If you can listen and let go of my dick.”
How can I resist? “And if I don’t?”
“Then you don’t go and that week I’m staying home you won’t be able to sit.” A sharp sting spreads over my ass cheek. I swear my wolf has the nerve to whimper and offer us both up to him. “I think it’s in your best interest to listen to her.”
“I’ll start listening when we step outside those gates.” I shrug, craving his handprint seared into my flesh and the other hand slipping around my throat. “In the meantime, you’ll just have to work all that defiance out of me.”
He nods, grazing my lips with his. “That so?”
“I think it’s the least you can do.”
“Berkeley?”
“Carver?”
A smile spreads over his lips. “I love you but I’m about to tear this ass up.”
He’s adorable. “And I look forward to seeing you try. Welcome home.”
I should know better than to negotiate with my spitfire when she has me by the dick. I can’t blame her though. The last few months have been rough. The snow, cold, and Cooper have seen me more than her and I know it’s taking its toll.
On her.
On me.
On us.
It’s my fault and none of it is fair to her.
I was prepared to call off the search for that piece of shit anyway, but damned if I didn’t have fun watching her let her little alpha out to play. Berkeley has always had a bit of alpha in her and when it slips out to dominate me and my alpha, it’s all I can do not to really tear her up from head to toe.
But I’ll give her this win. Sunday morning, bright and early, we’ll leave together on one last hunt. If at the end of the five days we come up empty handed, I’ll drop it. For her. For my sanity. Tristan is out there and I don’t doubt the asshole is watching while we chase our tails looking for him.
I glimpse back at Berkeley curled up in the middle of the bed and she’s hogging every blanket like always. This trip was rough. Winter isn’t cutting us any breaks. It’s cold and brutal. Paired with an ache in my core from missing her and it was a bear of a trip.
Cooper felt it.
Shepard felt it.
Everybody felt it.
It made the whole trip unbearable.
I yank on a T-shirt and make my way down to the common room. Cooper is at one of the tables with a mouthful of god knows what. I swear if the man isn’t sinking his dick somewhere, he’s stuffing his face with food.
“You hungry too?” Donna asks, coming from the direction of the kitchen.
I half shrug before nodding. “Yeah, a little, but—”
She points to the table. “Sit.”
“Really, Donna, I can—”
Her brow goes up. “I said sit.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
And I sit my ass down. Cooper is laughing and I’m too tired to even care.
“Where’s Berkeley?”
He’s not asking. He knows where she is. Cooper is just being a pain to be a pain.
“What has you in such a good mood?”
Cooper shrugs. “Nothing.”
“Ha, which girl was blind enough to welcome you home?”
He smirks before shoveling more food in his mouth. “No one.”
The problem with being the alpha is I can feel when someone is bullshitting me. It’s not an inkling or maybe they’re lying, I just know it. Cooper is full of shit.
“Come on, who is it?”
“Know that cute brunette who came with Berkeley from the school?”
“Josie?”
He nods and shovels another spoonful of Donna’s home cooking into his big fat mouth.
“You better not hurt that girl or it’ll be Berkeley you deal with and me who’ll kick your ass when I have to deal with her.”
Cooper laughs. “Strictly sex. The woman is unbearable.”
“I heard that and fuck you too,” Josie mumbles in passing then flips him off.
“Says the one who—”
“Cooper, just—” I sigh, shaking my head. “Keep eating.”
Donna brings me a full plate minutes later and my mouth waters. Sometimes, with a plate of her food in front of me, it’s easy to forget we’re living in the end of the world but not when she still manages fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and greens like nobody’s business. I also never thought we’d grow potatoes either but here they are on my plate.
“Berkeley coming down? She’s gotta be starving too,” Donna says.
The fork pauses at my lips. “She didn’t eat dinner?”
“Nope. Offered her a plate but she said she wasn’t hungry.”
It’s probably my fault. She’s there like clockwork every Thursday evening, at the same spot, waiting for me. More reason to shift my focus from Tristan to her. No reason for her to lose sleep and miss meals because of it.
“Thanks, Donna. Mind making up one more plate?”
She gives me a warm smile. “You know I don’t.”
I’m not sure when the woman sleeps. She’s always in the kitchen and it’s a revolving door of food for every shift of the mountain. We have night owls, early birds, afternooners, and everything in between. Donna always has a plate ready to go of whatever she can pull together.
I freeze when I feel eyes on me and look up to find Cooper staring at me.
“What?”
“You caved.”
“Caved to what?”
“To Berkeley.”
“Pfft, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He drops his fork to cross his arms and lean back in his chair. “The hell you don’t. You caved.”
God, I hate he knows me—hell, both of us—this well.
“One more trip and then that’s it.”
“Just like that? Going to let Tristan go and move on?”
“Yep.”
“No, you’re not.”
I drop my fork to cross my arms now. “Why not?”
“Because he touched what’s yours, nearly broke her and no Carver Moore I know is going to let any son of a bitch who tries live.”
