Cover Reveal and Manuscript Monday: Omega Enslaved (Lost Wolves Book Four)

Here it is -- the book that everyone some people have been waiting for! I know I delayed the release of this series for Alpha's Reign, but I hope you won't hold that against me. 

It also took me months to come up with a title. At first I was like: Alpha's Blood. But that was too unromantic, even if Lucien is called the Bloody King (because he's a thinly disguised Vlad Tepas as a sort of modern day wolf shifter instead of a vampire). What can I say? I like history. And Alucard from Hellsing. Don't judge me!

Sexy Alucard by DocOck-Wolf17

So, after an extra long wait, here's a look at the cover for the new Lost Wolves book: Omega Enslaved. Felix Underwood is the omega in question. He's a con artist and a sometimes assassin. He's got issues. One of those issues is Lucien. And Interpol. And a crazy human who's collecting shifters for nefarious reasons. 

Cover time: 

For MS Monday, here's a peek at their first meeting. It doesn't go well. Also, this is unedited and subject to change a bit. 

Lucien opened the door and peeked inside.

The omega leaned against a pipe, his hands cuffed above his head.

Definitely not like the other pups.

For one, he was over twenty while the other shifters were all under sixteen. Next, he was still asleep, his head lulled to the side and great black smears of dirt and grime covered his rough cheeks. He also had a day’s worth of brown stubble. For another thing, he smelled divine. The scent reminded Lucien of the rain in Paris, thick red wine and a little of blood. All things he enjoyed, more or less.

Finally, this omega was dressed well. The pups wore nothing but dirty rags or things that they’d probably filched from the bin, but this wolf wore a new trench coat. Khaki, which went well with his brown hair, and a pair of dark jeans, also new. The shoes were unfortunate, but nobody was perfect.

Lucien’s heartbeat quickened as he crouched beside the omega, and the dull sensation of a thread tightened in his chest.

Strange.

His fingers tingled, urged him to touch the sleeping wolf’s cheek. But that was a good way to lose a finger. Instead, he nudged the omega’s hip with his fist.

The wolf’s eyes snapped open, blinked, and focused on him. Wide and brown and draped in thick lashes.

Lucien’s mouth went dry, and the thread squeezed until it dripped with blood.

“Oh, hell,” the wolf muttered, and he sounded as if his mouth were as dry as Lucien’s felt. His accent was British. High born, but with a tinge of something underneath. A hesitation that gave Lucien pause.

“Not quiet. We’re at sea. Now, who are you, and what are you doing here?” Lucien asked. Best to give the wolf a chance to tell the truth. Not that he’d take it, but the courtesy was offered nonetheless.

The omega pressed himself against the wall and slowly sat up. “Felix Underwood. Who are you and what have you done to me?” the omega said and managed to look pulled together even with the black grease marks on his face and his straight hair an unruly mess. He stuck his chin out and squared his shoulders. Haughty little bastard probably knew how good looking he was, with those gently bowed lips, just full enough to bite, and the rugged cut of his jaw.

Lucien smiled and put his fangs on display. He was the alpha here, yet this omega didn’t seem to get that. “Drop the act. You weren’t captured with the rest of the pups. Arno doesn’t go after shifters your age. I’ll ask one more time: what are you doing on my ship?”

Felix, if that was this omega’s real name, looked at the heavy steel door behind Lucien, then scowled. 

“What do I get for telling you anything? You’ll kill me either way, right?” The posh British accent dropped to something gruffer. Less refined.

Now Lucien had something to work with. “Tell me the truth and you’ll live. Lie to me, and yes, I’ll kill you as slowly as I can. I have ways. What do you say, omega?”

To Lucien’s surprise, Felix’s face didn’t drain of color. Odd since that’s what most humans and shifters did when Lucien threatened them, even if they didn’t know of his reputation.

The omega laughed. Either this wolf was always crazy, or he’d gone mad at some point inside that crate. He licked his lips and glared. “All right. I’ll tell you the truth. You’re a sick fuck who buys innocent pups on the black market. I hope this ship sinks with all of us on it, and you drown. Slowly. Then a shark can swim by and eat what’s left. How’s that for the truth?”

Lucien fought to contain the surprise on his face. That a fellow shifter would jump to such conclusions wasn’t unforeseen, but to have said those words when Lucien was trying to do the exact opposite, raked across his skin. It burned. “You know nothing, omega.”

Felix climbed to his knees. His pupils were still dilated and he swayed, but he didn’t seem to notice. Or, if he did, he didn’t care enough to lean against the wall. “I know enough. What do you do with them? Fuck them? Use them as slaves? Come on, why don’t you explain your sick hobbies and try to justify it by saying you’re giving them a better life. That’s what you think, isn’t it? You’re saving them from the streets. You bleed kindness. Taking in homeless children and providing for them while stealing their souls. Well, they’d be better off dead than with someone like you.”

Lucien’s blood seared in his veins, and the pounding in his chest doubled, as if two hearts beat there and not one. His skin tingled with anger and something else – something foreign and decidedly uncomfortable. Of course this omega didn’t speak the truth. Lucien was nothing like Arno, but a sliver of it was buried in his words. He was using these young shifters for his own means. Taking them in. Allowing them to join his pack so they could fight for his kingdom’s survival. It was true enough that it dug into Lucien’s flesh.

He lunged forward, fingers snaked around Felix’s neck and slammed the omega into the wall. He squeezed until Felix sputtered, and the sensation pressed into Lucien’s throat, like someone strangled him instead of the other way around.

What the fuck?

He dropped the omega, and Felix bent over. Coughed. Sucked in several breaths. But when he raised his head, his eyes still burned with the kind of hatred that Lucien usually tossed at men like Arno, and this was aimed at him. Squarely and surely, and that stung worse than any words could. But why should he care what some random omega thought?

He was a king. A ruler. An alpha.

“I rescued those pups from the man who wanted to sell them. I am going to save them, and they are not slaves to me or anyone else. Learn your place, omega, and tell me why you’re here before I toss you overboard and am done with it. Who do you work for?” Lucien snarled, and leaned in so close his nose brushed the omega’s.

Felix’s eyes widened, and he took a sharp breath. “You think I should believe you?” he asked, voice raspy.

“Yes, because I will toss you overboard. Who do you work for?”

“No one. I came on board to save my sister,” the omega growled.

Lucien blinked and moved back. The dual heart beats didn’t quicken, even the one he assumed belonged to this omega. Was this some cruel joke the moon goddess decided to play on him or was he reading the signs wrong? There was only one way to find out.