Feral Dawn Read online

  Feral Dawn

  Lee Colgin

  Copyright © 2020 by Lee Colgin

  ISBN 978-1-970161-03-8

  ISBN 978-1-97016-04-5

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  Cover design by Natasha Snow: www.natashasnowdesigns.com

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  Editing by Jenni Lea

  Proofreading by Lori Parks

  Formatting by Leslie Copeland

  www.lescourtauthorservices.com

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  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Content Warning

  Feral Dawn

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Epilogue

  Also by Lee Colgin

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Huge thanks to my critique partner Kat Silver for the heaps of help she gave me on this story.

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  Thank you to Stephanie Briarton for all the great catches and suggestions. I couldn’t have done this without you both!

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  Thank you to all my scribophile buddies who read this early on.

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  Finally, my thanks to all the readers out there who make this possible. You guys are the best.

  Content Warning

  This story contains violence and adult scenes intended for mature readers.

  Feral Dawn

  A vampire, guilty of killing his own sire, is left for dead in the territory of a lone wolf. When Hugo stumbles upon Ivan, he’s faced with an impossible choice: leave the injured vampire to perish in the sun’s rays, or take him to the home he’s lived in alone for the last decade.

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  Ivan, bleeding and helpless, must trust this mysterious werewolf to protect him and nurse him back to health. He learns Hugo is on his own, cast out from his pack and cut off from his family.

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  Hugo saves his life, and Ivan will do anything to return the favor—even take on the rogue alpha terrorizing Hugo’s childhood pack.

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  Can an outcast werewolf and a disgraced vampire find love, or will an old enemy tear them apart?

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  Feral Dawn is a 26K MM paranormal romance featuring a vampire who will do anything to protect those he loves, a shy werewolf willing to take a risk, hurt/comfort, and a touch of violence for readers who love a good fight scene.

  1

  Ivan

  Claws dug into his flesh, his jailers’ hands gripped firmly under each armpit, the last of his blood drained from both wrists—these were the least of Ivan’s problems.

  Soon, the sun would rise and bring Ivan’s death along with it. What could he do? Starved and weak, hope felt further away than the sun itself.

  The jailers threw him to the ground and left. Ivan hadn’t expected parting words from the duo. They’d done what the vampire council told them to do and hadn’t asked questions. Ivan would have cried out for help, but a painful dryness constricted his throat after one hundred days with no blood.

  All because he’d killed his sire.

  The law was clear: death by starvation and exposure. Ivan’s time had come; alone in the woods in the middle of nowhere, helpless and with precious few minutes until dawn. The only thing left to do was burn.

  Creatures stirred around him. The pitter-patter of rodent feet shuffled through fallen leaves. He could smell their blood, and no matter how revolting, Ivan wanted it. But he was too young and not powerful enough yet to call them closer. One would have to stumble over his mouth for Ivan to get a bite.

  The cold ground chilled him to the bone. Exhausted, he used the last of his strength to roll onto his back so he could look death in the eye. It would be nice to see the sun once more. To feel its golden rays warm his flesh before searing it off. Towering pines soared into the sky. How long would their shade protect him? How much of the day would he witness before his demise?

  He should never have killed Goddard. He should have warned Ivy instead. Told her to get out. Save herself. Then Ivan wouldn’t be in this mess to begin with.

  Ah, but his sister wouldn’t have left without him. He’d done what he’d needed to do. Nothing could save him now. Curse vampire society and their asinine laws.

  Already the sky lightened in increments. Black became navy, and navy would soon burst into orange, pink, and purple before the inevitable blue set in. Pine needles glistened with morning dew, their smell vibrant in the crisp morning air.

  Panic set in. Ivan was shocked he still had the energy for it. Maybe he could bury himself in the earth. With every bit of power left in his pitiful body, he dug at the soil but could barely move his arms. Without any force behind the movement, the act became laughable. He hardly shifted the leaves—no way he could excavate a hole big enough to save him.

  Resigned to his fate, Ivan focused his gaze on a bird’s nest cradled in branches high in the canopy. Abandoned and half wrecked, the nest would fare better than Ivan come sunup.

  At least he would face death knowing he’d saved Ivy from a fate worse than his own. Any vampire made by Goddard was doomed to suffer, and Ivy would have had it worst of all. He’d done the right thing, and his death wouldn’t be in vain.

  Light began to bounce through the shadows, elongated tendrils reaching for Ivan’s legs.

  Very little time left.

  If only he could say goodbye to Ivy.

  Tell her he loved her.

  One last time.

  Heat crept along Ivan’s skin.

  HUGO

  Deer were most active around dawn, so Hugo routinely rose early to hunt. Waking up with the forest and stalking his breakfast usually calmed his scarred soul. But not this morning. His peace was disturbed by the sound of two pairs of flapping wings, shuffling footsteps, a thud, and another whoosh of the wings.

  Hugo waited in stealth. By the sound of it, those wings were larger than any bird. Gargoyle perhaps? Dragon? Vampire? Probably vampire—their species were more numerous.

  Hugo didn’t know, and he tried not to care. He wanted to be left alone.

  When the silence had returned and the day began to dawn, Hugo crept forward. Curiosity warred with common sense. He could investigate. Or he could get on with the hunt. There were no deer to be found here. The other side of the mountain might prove more bountiful.

  Giving in to temptation, Hugo inched toward where the sound had come from, stealthy on four legs, ears alert for any sign of danger. Closer and closer until his snout picked up a whiff from upwind that confirmed his suspicion.

  Vampire.

  Were they gone now? He’d heard them fly away, though the scent loomed strong, copper spiked with adrenaline. He should turn around, head back to safety.

  Hugo pressed forward.

  With the sun rising overhead, what harm could a vampire possibly do? And the intruder was too close to his home for comfort. Hunting could
wait.

  Between the thick columns of tree trunks and branches heavy with pine needles, Hugo got his first glimpse.

  A man lay supine on the forest floor, vulnerable to the elements, and from the looks of it, severely injured. Dark hair, longish, matted with grime. Dirty clothes. Bloody hands—no, the blood came from his wrists. That explained the scent. It smelled like a fresh kill, but this vampire wasn’t dead. Not yet, though he would be soon if Hugo didn’t intervene.

  The man clawed at the ground to no avail.

  Hugo deliberated.

  Let him die? He didn’t know this man. Didn’t owe him anything. But could he live with himself if he stood idly by while another suffered?

  No.

  Save him? How? Vampires burned in sunlight, what could he do?

  The stranger’s screams pierced the serenity of the dawn and startled Hugo to a swift decision. Launching himself forward in a powerful leap, Hugo landed next to him. He gazed down. If anything, the fear in the injured man’s eyes only increased.

  With no time to comfort him, Hugo shoved the vampire over, clamped his large jaw around his nape and dragged him deeper into the shadows.

  The vampire didn’t react beyond a whimper. Maybe he couldn’t.

  Hugo pulled, struggled, wrenched his charge beneath a dense copse of trees before letting go and stepping back.

  With a shake, Hugo settled his fur back into place. He sat on his haunches and stared at the man. Sharp pale cheekbones, a straight long nose, thin lips, and fierce hazel eyes that stared back even though he looked on the verge of death.

  Hugo didn’t want him to die. He smelled nice. Though dirty and covered in his own blood, there was something about the vampire Hugo couldn’t put his finger on. He wanted him to live.

  They couldn’t stay there long. Even in this heavily shaded spot, the sun would make its way high into the sky and strike this vampire down.

  The man tried to speak. A whispered, “Please,” and maybe “help,” so weak as to be difficult to decipher.

  How? Hugo wanted to ask, but couldn’t. Not as a wolf. And he hadn’t shifted to his human form in six, seven years? He couldn’t remember.

  The vampire would need shelter from the sun. Hugo’s home, built into the side of the mountain, would suffice. But he couldn’t drag him that far. He’d barely gotten him to the shade without breaking skin, and the last thing the vampire needed was another wound.

  To help, he would have to shift, and he’d have to do it now. The other form could carry this man to safety. The trip would be dangerous for the vampire with the sun waltzing ever higher in the sky.

  A deep breath.

  A bone-crunching change as he forced the mutation on his unwilling body.

  His warm fur receded in favor of sensitive, exposed skin. Strong forelegs turned slowly, painfully into arms he’d had no use for in years. Snout became nose, tail vanished, ears that could hear a deer a mile away became ears that would be lucky to recognize a footfall next to him. A considerable loss. But a necessary one.

  When it was done, Hugo stumbled on only two legs. It had been so long since he’d walked upright, he’d lost the knack for it. He tried again, with more success. Balance would return in time. He knelt carefully and scooped the vampire into his arms. No use explaining, and he didn’t feel like talking anyway.

  The man was nearly as big as Hugo, but it didn’t matter. There was no time to dawdle; he needed cover now. As fast as he could manage—keeping careful to stay beneath the canopy of evergreens—Hugo ran home.

  As he brought his charge into the sanctuary of his own lair, a flutter of nerves bloomed in his stomach and spread throughout his chest.

  Hugo hoped he wouldn’t come to regret this decision.

  2

  Hugo

  Placing the vampire in his own bed, a simple pallet on the ground, Hugo was at a loss. What should happen next? The man needed medical care, rest, and most importantly, blood. That part Hugo could manage, but it would require leaving.

  Good. Sharing the small space with the man felt claustrophobic. He cast another glance at the sleeping form.

  Don’t die while I’m gone.

  Hugo shifted back to the comfort of the wolf and took off into the woods for sustenance. Dashing over the ridge and to the far side of his mountain, he gave himself over to the chase, preternatural sense of smell working fiercely to catch the scent of prey.

  Losing himself to the deadly predator he’d let reign over his life for nearly a decade, Hugo became the animal. And the animal could hunt. Within minutes he found himself nipping at the heels of a doe fleeing for her life. One leap and Hugo had her. She crashed down as his jaws crushed her throat with a satisfying crunch. Her suffering was short—her death a natural link in the food chain.

  Now the hard part.

  Generally Hugo ate where he killed and left the carcass for the scavengers. Today he’d need to drag the whole animal to his den before the blood grew cold.

  With a snarl he sank his fangs around the slimmest part of her neck and began the awkward task. Hugo was a massive wolf, strong and powerful, but this shape wasn’t meant to carry weight great distances. He dragged. He pulled. He shoved.

  He made it fifteen paces.

  Reluctantly, he forced another shift. The human was better equipped for this type of work, loathe as he was to assume that form.

  Grabbing the hind legs in hand, Hugo pressed uphill over the ridge and almost a mile back to his home. Back to the vampire who desperately needed blood.

  The effort had him huffing by the time he hauled the doe through the entrance and to the bed. Beads of sweat dripped from his face, down his chest, in places he forgot existed.

  The vampire, though barely strong enough for consciousness, watched him through dull hazel eyes. His intense gaze sent a tingle through Hugo’s spine and raised the small hairs on the back of his neck. Suddenly aware of his nakedness, he gestured to the deer, then the vampire, before shifting back into the safety of the wolf.

  “For me?” the vampire managed, his voice raspy and tired.

  Hugo gave a sharp bark of confirmation.

  “Thank you.”

  When the vampire struggled to simply turn on his side, too far from the deer to drink, Hugo realized he’d have to help. With a friendly snuffle—he didn’t want to scare the man—Hugo climbed onto the pallet behind him and gave the vampire a push, supporting him with his flank so he could drink.

  And drink he did, without hesitation. Hugo heard it. Great gasping swallows. A coppery scent filled the air as the slurping continued.

  How much blood could one vampire hold?

  More than one deer’s worth.

  Relaxing against Hugo, the vampire abandoned his meal to glance at his rescuer. Hugo met his gaze, hazel eyes locked on brown.

  The vampire cleared his throat. This time when he spoke, his voice was stronger, deep, filling the small space with its robust but gentle tone. “Thank you, beautiful wolf.”

  Hugo blinked. Snuffled.

  “I’m Ivan.” He placed a hand on his chest. “I owe you my life.”

  Hugo’s thoughts scattered. He had no idea what to say. At least in his wolf form words would not be expected. He grabbed a blanket with his teeth, laid it by Ivan’s side, and left the pallet to drag the deer out and away from the house.

  Task done, he returned to find Ivan asleep. Good. He needed the rest. Maybe tonight he would explain how he came to be left for dead in Hugo’s territory.

  Hugo curled up in the corner, wrapping his tail over his snout to settle in and keep watch. He had so many questions. Nothing remotely this important had happened in his life since…

  Since he’d been banished from his pack.

  He didn’t want to think of that. Not now, and not ever. No, he’d think of Ivan. Handsome Ivan with his dark hair and green-brown eyes like the forest, come from the sky and left to die alone.

  What mysteries did Ivan’s life hold?

  IVAN


  Ivan stirred, waking as the sun went down, disoriented and weak though still better than he’d felt in weeks. He flexed his feet, stretched his back, and yawned before opening his eyes to the rustic and cozy home of the werewolf who’d saved his life.

  The incredibly handsome, muscles stacked on muscles, baby-faced, brown-eyed, adorable werewolf who’d saved his life.

  Ivan thought him captivating. How much of the attraction was real, and how much was because the wolf had saved him from certain death at the last possible second?

  He’d been terrified at first. Had thought for sure the enormous wolf planned on eating him alive. But then the beast dragged him to safety, and Ivan realized he’d been spared.

  He owed the wolf, that much was certain. What was he doing here all alone? Werewolves were pack animals. They needed regular social interaction to thrive, yet this wolf seemed to be isolated.

  Ivan scanned his surroundings. Earthen floors and walls, sparsely furnished with a seat, an old table, a counter, wood burning stove, and sink for the kitchen with several cabinets overhead. All of which had been covered in a thick layer of dust and appeared to have been unused for years. No pictures, no books. Practical items only. What did the wolf do to pass the time, all alone like this?