Hyden's Law

By Hurri Cosmo

Graham's had it with Alphas. His experiences with them have been disastrous at best. Even with ones that didn't tumble him into the nearest bed. So when the chance to move in with another Omega comes up, Graham grabs it. But Graham's never seen an Omega so big. Plus, he seems to be able to push buttons only an Alpha has. Except trust is something that comes easily to Graham. Hyden says nothing about being an Alpha – so he must not be. Right?

Hyden has just met his fated mate, Graham - in the middle of a territorial war. Not the best timing. But now that Graham's here, Hyden can hardly let the little pup escape, which is what he will do if he finds out Hyden is an Alpha. With the Mating Moon scant days away how will Hyden convince the smaller Graham that not all Alphas are selfish bastards? And he's going to have to because blood fever will not be ignored and Hyden can already feel it taking over his senses. Once it does, there will be no turning back. Hyden might have to resort to handcuffing the pup in order to make sure he doesn't bolt off into the night. Hmmm. Not a bad thought. He might have to do that anyway...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hurri Cosmo
• Release date: Feb 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311033222

Hurri Cosmo

Hurri Cosmo lives in Minnesota where she holds tight to the idea that there, where it’s cold a good part of the year, she won’t age as fast. Yep, she avoids the truth as much as she avoids mirrors. But one of the reasons she loves writing is reality doesn’t always offer up a “happily ever after” and being able to take control of that is a powerful lure. Being a happy ending junkie, writing just makes them easier to find. Oh, she doesn’t mind “real life” and she does try to at least keep it in mind when she writes her stories, but she truly loves creating a wonderful couple, knowing they will fall in love and have their HEA. Every - single - time. And, of course, that is exactly the reason she loves reading this genre, too. Give her a glass of red wine, some dark chocolate, and her computer, whether she is reading or writing, and she will entertain herself for hours. The fact she actually gets paid to do it is Snickers bars on the frosting on the cake.

Book preview

Chapter One

The man standing in the doorway was bigger than Graham had thought he would be. The ad had said the owner of the house was an Omega wolf shifter, and they tended to be smaller, like him. At least that was what he had known all of his life. But the man with amazing blue eyes gazing down at him right then looked more like all the Alphas Graham was trying his best to avoid.

What can I do for you, little one? the large man asked, his beautiful mouth just shy of a smile.

Oh. His voice sent shivers up Graham’s back. He knew his own mouth was hanging open as he stared up at the gorgeous shifter. Um… Damn but he was nice to look at. Except, Graham did need to stay on task. Only minutes ago, he had walked timidly up to this door, having been lost twice already, and knocked. And in the pouring rain, he was praying this finally had to be the right address. I… Achoo!

The big man chuckled. Why don’t you come in first? You look like you’re freezing. He stepped back, allowing for Graham to enter the house.

It was October and there was a definite icy nip in the air, a sure sign winter was once again barreling down on them. With no umbrella, he wasn’t even sure he owned one, Graham was soaked and chilled to the bone. Doing this apartment search by bus and on foot made him feel like a drowned rat. And fighting a bad cold was not helping in the least.

I’ll drip all over your floor. Oh that smile was addicting because there it was again and Graham was finding it incredibly alluring. It was so strange, though, since he didn’t even know the guy’s name. But he had taken cold medicine earlier, which tended to make him a little loopy so that was probably the deal.

It’s okay, little one. It’s only water. Now come inside. The man reached out and took a firm hold of Graham’s arm, and when he did, Graham immediately relaxed and obeyed the command. Another strange thing since the guy wasn’t Alpha and usually he saved all his mindless obedience for Alphas.

The house was beautiful. Of course, he knew from the exterior of the home it would be. Large and impressive, Graham had been excited when he first thought this might be the address he was looking for; it would be good to finally live in a nice, safe place. With another Omega this time. Away from Alphas. Strictly away from Alphas, just like Marie said.

But why someone who could afford a place like this would need to advertise a room for rent was beyond him.

The entryway was beautiful. Shiny hardwood-covered floors extended into a huge living room where a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows looked out onto a perfectly manicured back lawn. Even in the rain, it looked bright and beautiful. The living room itself held two amazing, oversized, overstuffed, white couches sitting opposite each other. A large blond wooden coffee table sat between them. A magnificent fireplace graced the wall to the left with a couple of chairs sitting in front of it. Off to the right of those couches and beyond three thick pillars separating the two rooms, was a large black dining table adorned with high back, black padded chairs, of which, Graham counted twelve. Beyond that was a huge, open, sleek, black-and-white, gleaming kitchen. Pristine and luxurious, Graham’s heart sank. This had to be yet another mistake. Either the address was still wrong or there had to have been a typo in the amount of rent the ad stated.

The ad his good friend had slipped to him.

*   *   *   *

Come on, Graham. You deserve better. Marie had been his neighbor and friend for the last several months and had seen what Graham endured throughout their friendship. I know we Omegas naturally crave to obey whatever an Alpha says, but like me, it’s time you took a break from Alphas. Here’s an ad I found in the paper. It’s an Omega who is renting out one of the rooms in his house. It sounds like a perfect opportunity. It’s on the other side of town, away from Jake, and it’s near your new school.

Ahhh. Away from Jake. Big, bad Jake. Motivation indeed.

At first, Jake had made Graham weak in the knees. But it was probably just his desire to be on them whenever a large commanding Alpha was around. He didn’t understand that need, his strong craving for a forceful personality. But once Jake figured out Graham’s particular emotional kink, he made hard-core use of it. And Graham loved it. At first. Problem was, Jake started inviting his crazy Alpha friends over to watch the show. A show that everyone eventually became part of. All Alphas did it. That’s what Jake said. And certainly Graham had been a firsthand witness to that statement being true. But still, why the hell would Jake think Graham wanted to do those things with anyone else?

And then shifting? It wasn’t allowed. Not with Jake, anyway. Jake would run off with his buddies, commanding Graham stay behind. In fact, Graham had only ever seen Jake’s wolf once and it had been that first time, when they met the night of a Mating Moon. As Graham’s small white wolf was running from a couple of Alphas, he had smacked into Jake. The big Alpha faced down Graham’s chasers who, simply looking to get off under the moon, quickly moved on without a fight. There was all kinds of fresh meat to be had, Graham wasn’t the only unmated wolf out there.  

After they left, Jake had turned to Graham and shifted to his human form, then insisted Graham do the same. After looking him over, Jake took Graham home with him and Graham’s running under the Mating Moon days were over. Things had happened so fast that night Graham had trouble remembering what Jake’s wolf even looked like, other than he had been big and dark and powerful, and had been able to protect him. Why Jake wouldn’t allow Graham to run with him again was something he never figured out.

It wasn’t that Graham loved Jake or anything. He honestly didn’t think he did. It had only been infatuation back then. They weren’t Fated Mates: that was for sure. It was just that Graham wanted to belong to someone. An Omega needed that. Being in a strong relationship with an Alpha, even if it wasn’t a sexual one, was the top priority for any Omega. Oh. And living in a pack? It was a dream. The way Graham understood it, although he didn’t get out much, pack living was outdated. Even so, he still had to have a least one fundamental connection to another powerful wolf shifter.

But the problem was, it made Graham a bit stupid when it came to making life choices. Like the time he moved in with an Alpha named Charlie Warrens. The man was a maniac, not really caring who he had sex with. It meant Graham had to share, and with women, too. Had Graham truly been in love with Charlie, he would have been upset about it, but he also understood that Alphas tended to be in a constant state of arousal. He had talked himself into simply ignoring Charlie’s behavior. Again and again. It wasn’t until the girls he brought home started thinking Graham was available that he had to get out.

Shortly after that, he'd moved in with Hank Reddings, an Alpha who was not gay, which was just fine with Graham. He still needed to be close to the man. He did everything for him, too. He cooked and cleaned and worked his ass off at a low-end job to help with the bills. Hank took enthusiastic advantage of him. Sometimes to the point of making fun of him in front of his many female visitors. And their reaction to meeting him ranged from not caring in the least that the help even had a name, to Get out now, you pervert! Are you going to stand there and watch?

Fuck, no.

It had been Marie who actually took any interest in him at all. He met her during one of Hank’s orgies. She was another Omega with a deep desire to belong to and please an