Acceptance

By Jess Buffett and Tamsin Baker

Will Summer has been in love with Axel for as long as he can remember. He’s about to give up hope when he hears the shifter has found his true mate and is ready to claim them.

As the new Alpha of the Woodland Leap, Axel has waited a long time to be able to claim his mate, Will. However, tensions begin to rise when the Witches and Hunters reappear and seem to be searching for Will.

As a long-kept secret threatens to tear everything apart, can Will learn to accept the truth and come to terms with a power he never imagined possible?

Reader Advisory: This Paranormal Gay Romance by Jess Buffett and Tamsin Baker, contains one sexy, determined Alpha, one bad-arse mate, and graphic man-on-man sex that will keep you coming back for more. 37,000 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: Luminosity Publishing LLP
• Release date: Jun 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370686544

Jess Buffett

Jess Buffett was born and raised in New South Wales, Australia. She is a mum of two, married to her high school sweetheart.Jess is a hopeless romantic who is a huge fan of M/M and M/F Romance. With a happy ending—anything with hunky men in all their glory, whether they be shifters, vampires, cowboys, or the boy next door.A caffeine addict who shamefully can’t make a decent cup of coffee to save her life. Jess believes in soul mates, happily ever afters, and in love at first sight, but that sometimes people need a second or a third for the brain to catch up.

Book preview

ACCEPTANCE

Australian Alphas 1

JESS BUFFETT & TAMSIN BAKER

Will Summer has been in love with Axel for as long as he can remember. He’s about to give up hope when he hears the shifter has found his true mate and is ready to claim them.

As the new Alpha of the Woodland Leap, Axel has waited a long time to be able to claim his mate, Will. However, tensions begin to rise when the Witches and Hunters reappear and seem to be searching for Will.

As a long-kept secret threatens to tear everything apart, can Will learn to accept the truth and come to terms with a power he never imagined possible?

Reader Advisory: This Paranormal Gay Romance contains one sexy, determined Alpha, one bad-arse mate, and graphic man-on-man sex that will keep you coming back for more…

ACCEPTANCE

Australian Alphas 1

JESS BUFFETT & TAMSIN BAKER

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WWW.LUMINOSITYPUBLISHING.COM

LUMINOSITY PUBLISHING LLP

ACCEPTANCE

Australian Alphas 1

Copyright © June 2017 JESS BUFFETT & TAMSIN BAKER

ISBN: 978-1-370686-54-4

Cover Art by Jess Buffett

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

No part of this literary work may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without the written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To all the readers who love a little Aussie with their romance… This one’s for you…

Love Jess and Tamsin xxx

CHAPTER ONE

What the hell am I doing here?

Palms damp and sweat dripping from his brow, unease settled inside Will Summer like sediment in the bottom of a wine glass. He smiled awkwardly at those who caught his eye as he made his way to the furthest corner of the room. Mentally counting to ten, he took a deep breath to settle himself.

It looked like everyone from the Woodland Lakes Leap, had crammed into Alpha Woodland’s four-bedroom house to welcome home their son—a hero, a soldier.

Axel.

As the only human in the room, he knew he stood out like a sore thumb. With all the peculiar looks people were sending him, he must have had a neon sign flashing over his head saying, I don’t fit in. Stare at me.

Damn, he didn’t need this. His nerves were already too tightly strung.

You look like you’re about to pass out, dude. Joel chuckled, his eyes dancing with amusement. His best friend had actually dressed up for the evening wearing slacks of all things and a, clearly new, stark-white dress shirt.

What’s wrong, Joel, couldn’t get mummy to iron your shirt for you?

It still had the folded packet look, which was so unlike his friend.

Joel ignored his jibe, continuing on as though Will hadn’t spoken. I haven’t seen you this bad since the night you found out why I growl in my sleep.

That made Will smile. He remembered the night he’d discovered the Woodlands’ secret like it was yesterday. Finding out one’s best friend could shift into a snow leopard was a hell of a thing for an eight-year-old, but he’d eventually gotten over it.

Finding out that, of course, had led to discovering an entire world of shifters and that his friends belonged to some sort of Leap. And they weren’t just run-of-the-mill shifters. Oh no, they were, in fact, the Alpha family. It had been pretty mind-blowing to learn that in this new, crazy world, his best friend was like royalty.

Of course, Joel had always been a royal pain in his arse, but the whole shifter thing had taken it to the next level.

Luckily, Joel’s dad, Larry, had been there in the house when his son unexpectedly shifted in front of Will. The Alpha had been able to calm Will down and explain who they really were. Which he’d done well, because after he’d gotten over the initial shock, Will hadn’t been afraid.

While he may have learned over the years that some of the things that go bump in the night were real, he knew humans were capable of causing just as much harm.

My father taught me that.

Shaking himself out of those negative thoughts, he glared at his friend.

Shut up. I’m not that bad, he grumbled.

Joel rolled his eyes. Uh-huh.

Are you sure I should be here, man? he asked his friend for the third time. He was too damn nervous to come up with a more witty repertoire. I mean, this seems like a Leap thing, and I’m not Leap.

He’d done everything in his power to get out of this event, but his best friend had called on the promise he’d made ages ago. To come to the welcome home party and celebrate his brother Axel’s return.

The hell you aren’t part of this Leap. You’re one of us even if you are a weak little human, so it’s fine, Joel replied, thumping him on the back with a wink. Will lurched, the force of his friend’s gesture sending him forward.

Hey!

Damn, sorry, dude. Sometimes I forget.

Will grimaced. He hated being so much weaker than his friend. It’s all good. But maybe I should just g—

Nope, his friend said, cutting him off. I’m going to get us a drink and see what's taking Axel so long to make an appearance. I really hope he’s okay.

Will frowned in confusion. What on earth could be wrong? The Axel he knew was invincible. Why wouldn’t he be?

I remember my uncle telling me what my dad was like when he came home. Joel shrugged, an uncomfortable expression on his face as his lips twisted into a grimace. He had a hard time getting back into things, and then having the whole Alpha thing to deal with on top of everything else… It was a lot, you know?

They’re going to wait until he’s settled in before making him Alpha, right? Even as he asked, he wasn’t so sure. The Leap ran like a well-oiled machine, and the Alpha stood at the helm, controlling the whole thing. The Alpha needed to be strong, fierce and able to handle anything that got thrown his way.

And if that meant taking over the Leap as soon as he got home from war, then that was what he had to do. Will didn’t think shifters believed in post-traumatic stress syndrome. Even if it was possible that many of them suffered from it—they always saw themselves as invulnerable, impervious to harm of any kind. But what did that mean for Axel coming back from war? Would he be expected to forget everything and act like he always had?

I doubt they’ll wait, Joel muttered, glancing around the room before pinning him with his gaze. Look, I’m going to go find him. Don’t go anywhere. Got it? He could read the threat in Joel’s silvery blue eyes. His best friend would just hunt him down and drag him back kicking and screaming if he made a run for it.

He waved his friend away with a roll of his eyes. Why did a powerful shifter like Joel need him for support anyway? Yeah, yeah. I promise.

The thing that made his discomfort so much worse was that he couldn’t tell Joel why he was so reluctant to be there. Will had hidden his desire for Axel, Joel’s older brother, fairly well over the years, which meant Joel had no way of knowing how Will felt. When Axel appeared tonight he’d go insane, he knew he would.

He was well and truly in love with Axel Woodland.

Which meant he was well and truly fucked.

He knew how these things worked with this particular Leap. Had been ensconced in the family for decades. An Alpha came home after serving their country and took over. When this happened, the Leap expected the Alpha to mate, regardless of whether or not they had found their true mate. Will thought it cruel to force such an important decision, but the shifters did not.

Which was just plain dumb.

Sometimes Will thought the only things the shifters understood were responsibility, obligation, and honor.

His gut rolled, and he groaned.

Damn, just the thought of having to witness Axel pledge himself to someone else made him feel sick.

Even so, a tiny, twisted part of him wanted to know who the love of his life would settle down with.

I can’t do this.

Pushing past the people congregated near the back door, he slid outside, into the cool, crisp air. The smell of eucalyptus from the gum trees planted out back hitting him like a solid wall of smell and texture. He shivered, only then remembering that he’d left his jacket inside.

Nice one, dumb arse.

Refusing to go back inside, he glanced around the yard he’d spent most of his childhood in. A strip in the middle of the lawn was still worn from where they’d created their own cricket pitch. There had been a few games of Aussie Rules as well, but with Will’s smaller frame, he hadn’t played much. He’d preferred to sit and watch Axel strut his stuff.

Moving closer to the edge of the patio, he spotted a lorikeet’s nest hidden in the bottlebrush tree. It hung over an old, worn down playhouse he and Joel used to hide in. Whenever one of them had done something wrong, and usually it had been Joel, it would be the first place they ran to. And every time, Axel would find them there, not long after.

Something flickering to his right caught his eye, and he turned to see the light in the shed lit up. Someone must have left it on. He smiled as the memories flooded back in. As silly as it sounded, he and Joel loved playing in there as kids. Occasionally Axel would join them, but he was much older, and so hung out with friends his own age most of the time. The idea of playing Bushrangers or Knights in Shining Armour hadn’t appealed to him.

When Axel caught them in there, re-enacting one of their many battles, his features would soften, his lips tilting into a fond smile. Will had often thought that Axel got as much enjoyment out of watching them carry on as they did, as he did in playing it.

Even before he’d been old enough to understand what it meant, Axel’s grin would make him pause and take his breath away. He used to imagine Axel as his knight, saving him and taking him away from the troubles he faced with his mother’s death and his father’s unreasonably deep hatred.

He sighed, knowing that such dreams had been ridiculous then, and amazed at how, even now, the idea had appeal. But he had to be realistic, that outcome would only ever be found in his fantasies.

Another shiver racked him. He had to get out of the cold. He wasn’t going back into the party, and he couldn’t go home. Only one place to go.

Will stepped off