The Panther's Favorite Bully

By Ezra Dawn

(This is a paranormal short story and is part of a series. The Venetian Hills series interconnects with the Asphalt Bay series. In order to understand events in this book, it is recommended that you read the first six Asphalt Bay books as well as the other three Venetian Hills books before this one.)

Kuro Delane is a panther shifter and the head tracker for the Venetian Hills pack. He’s also an assassin who only works for victims to get justice when the system fails them. What no one knows is that Kuro wasn’t always the person he is today. At one point in time, he was fun loving with dreams of becoming an artist. That was, until an act of violence by the one person who was supposed to love and protect him above all others, snuffed out the light within him and his passion for art along with it.

For years, Benji DeRozan, -a cougar shifter- has regretted his choice to succumb to peer pressure instead of protecting his friend. Nothing made him regret his choices more, than finding out his friend had disappeared with no word as to where he was going. So, without any other options, Benji started searching for any sign of Kuro. He wanted the chance to apologize, even if it meant taking a beating but before Benji could get close to finding answers, he was kidnapped and tossed into a lab to be experimented on.

Kuro decided a long time ago that he’d never forgive Benji and the other men who harmed him, but when Benji is discovered in a lab with other paranormals, Kuro offers to help Benji get better. Benji has his work cut out for him if he wants to earn Kuro’s forgiveness. The question is, will he succeed or will Kuro’s attitude cause Benji to give up on ever making things, right?
(Warning: Contains sexual content and explicit language. Not recommended for those under the age of 18.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ezra Dawn
• Release date: Aug 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463517482

Ezra Dawn

Well Ezra isn't my real name obviously but I liked the name so I decided to use it. I live at home with my five dogs and one cat. I started out writing hetero romance novels but it wasn't where my heart lied. I adore all things paranormal and M/M is by far my favorite genre so I decided to start writing Paranormal Romances. There's a guaranteed happy ending with each of my books even if it may take some time for my guys to get there. I love each and every character on the page as if they were my own children. It sounds weird but that’s how I feel about them. ? I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember but only started actively pursuing it as a career three years ago when I decided to stop working in a salon and pursue writing full time. Since I published my first book in 2014 I have written and released nine other books with many more to come. My current list of projects is longer than my arm so I look forward to writing and creating new stories for my readers to enjoy ?

Book preview

The Panther’s Favorite Bully

© 2019 Ezra Dawn

eBook ISBN: 9780463517482

ISBN-13: 9781086458220

Cover art created by JeB Designs

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All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced in any form or by any means without express permission from the copyright holder. This book contains sexually explicit content which is suitable only for mature adults.

Books by Ezra Dawn are only available through Amazon, and Smashwords distributed retailers. (iBook’s, Kobo, Barnes and Noble, local libraries, etc.) If you are reading this book elsewhere, please note, it is an illegal, pirated copy, uploaded without my permission. I, the author, nor the distributors, received payment for the copy, and if prosecuted, violation comes with a fine of up to $250,000. PLEASE do not pirate books!!

#piracyistheft

#notavictimlesscrime

About the Book

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Epilogue

Playlists

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Other Books by Ezra Dawn

Contact the Author

(This is a paranormal short story and is part of a series. The Venetian Hills series interconnects with the Asphalt Bay series. In order to understand events in this book, it is recommended that you read the first six Asphalt Bay books as well as the other three Venetian Hills books before this one.)

Kuro Delane is a panther shifter and the head tracker for the Venetian Hills pack. He’s also an assassin who only works for victims to get justice when the system fails them. What no one knows is that Kuro wasn’t always the person he is today. At one point in time, he was fun loving with dreams of becoming an artist. That was, until an act of violence by the one person who was supposed to love and protect him above all others, snuffed out the light within him and his passion for art along with it.

For years, Benji DeRozan has regretted his choice to succumb to peer pressure instead of protecting his friend. Nothing made him regret his choices more, than finding out his friend had disappeared with no word as to where he was going. So, without any other options, Benji started searching for any sign of Kuro. He wanted the chance to apologize, even if it meant taking a beating but before Benji could get close to finding answers, he was kidnapped and tossed into a lab to be experimented on.

Kuro decided a long time ago that he’d never forgive Benji and the other men who harmed him, but when Benji is discovered in a lab with other paranormals, Kuro offers to help Benji get better. Benji has his work cut out for him if he wants to earn Kuro’s forgiveness. The question is, will he succeed or will Kuro’s attitude cause Benji to give up on ever making things, right?

(Warning: Contains sexual content and explicit language. Not recommended for those under the age of 18.)

This book is part of an interconnecting series with a villain plot that spans multiple books! It was written with the intention that the books would be read in a certain order. If you start from this one, you’ll be confused! Below is the correct reading order.

1. An Alpha for the Demigod (Asphalt Bay One)

2. The Enforcer’s Secret Vampire (Asphalt Bay Two)

3. The Beta’s Poison Bite (Asphalt Bay Three)

4. Taming the Feral Tiger (Asphalt Bay Four)

5. The Alpha’s Master (Venetian Hills One)

6. The Second’s Cursed Mate (Venetian Hills Two)

7. The Doctor’s Demon Prince (Asphalt Bay Five)

8. The Leopard’s Twin Troubles (Asphalt Bay Six)

9. The Beta’s Second Chance (Venetian Hills Three)

10. The Panther’s Favorite Bully (Venetian Hills Four)

Most shifters shift into their animal forms at puberty when the child in question is twelve or thirteen. But it didn’t happen that way for me and my best friend. We were neighbors. Our houses were side by side. Our parents were the best of friends so naturally, we became friends too. Things were different in our pride. We lived in a small town where the human population was only about a hundred. The humans weren’t stupid though. They knew we were shifters and in a small town like Agra, where everyone knew everyone’s business, loyalty won over fear. The humans kept our secret, so, instead of living separately for our own safety, we mingled with the humans of the town and even went to school with them. Though living in an area at the heart of the ‘Bible Belt’ made things difficult for someone like me, who was so obviously gay.

When we were younger, my friend and I were thick as thieves, but as we got older, and started high school, we began to grow apart. At least, when we weren’t on pride lands. At school, we weren’t part of the same crowds. I leaned towards the arts and he leaned towards sports. He was the All-American jock and quarterback for the football team, while I was the skinny twink who expressed myself with pride through color. At school and in town, we never exchanged more than a few pleasantries. It was as if I didn’t exist. But, at home -when he wasn’t having his football friends over-, things were normal. It hurt to be treated that way by someone I loved. Especially, since I’d kept my feelings for him buried deep so, he had no way of knowing that I wanted to be more than friends.

Everything changed on that day. It was the Friday before the big homecoming dance during our junior year in 1989 and I’d finally convinced my parents to let me dye my hair pink. I’d shifted for the first time the night before and was excited to be able to tell my friend about it, despite being disappointed that he didn’t show up to celebrate my seventeenth birthday with me. Over the years, I’d heard a number of insults about my sexuality from some of the students. My biggest bullies though, were a group of guys from the football team. Guys my best friend started spending a lot of time with when he made the team. I could understand wanting to fit in and make friends with your team members, but when those team members are bigoted assholes their influence can change people.

I saw it first-hand how much another person’s opinions can affect someone else. Dying my hair pink and wearing the neon green skinny jeans I fell in love with at the mall with my red glitter converse and black muscle shirt was a bad idea. An idea that seemed to be the last straw for the bullies who liked to try and make my life hell. They’d never done more than push me around and insult me, but that day, they did more and when my friend, -who I quickly realized was my fated mate when he got close enough- joined in, something inside of me died and I’ve never been the same. A week of agony later, I left the only home I’d ever known and never looked back. I should’ve known running from the past wouldn’t work for long. Fate loves to get her way and thirty years later, the past I tried to escape comes barreling into my present.

When I left my hometown at the age of seventeen, I had nowhere to go so, I made my way to the town where the shifter council’s headquarters was located. Using the allowance money, I’d been saving I bought a bus ticket and never looked back. When I arrived on the council’s doorstep, I begged them for a job, and they tested me to see where I’d fit best. I spent a week in each job they assigned me as sort of an apprentice until the last test led me to train with the new recruits that would potentially become enforcers. I took to it like a duck to water and after my week was up, I was officially placed with the recruits to finish my training.

I spent ten years as an enforcer before being scooped up by the Paranormal Council and undergoing more training to become one of their fixers. I was with them for another five years until one case where there was more than one person doing the abusing but, I was only assigned to take out one and couldn’t disobey my orders. Letting the other two go free left a bad taste in my mouth and I returned to headquarters knowing leaving the other two alive was a bad idea. A sentiment that was proven to me a week later when the council received word that the other two had slaughtered the victims that reported the abuse.

I went to the council that same day, made them an offer they couldn’t refuse then I hunted and killed the two that got away. I’d always been a good tracker and my training as an enforcer and a fixer only honed those skills so locating them was easy. I’ve spent the past fifteen years as an assassin for hire. The offer I made to the paranormal council that day is still in effect. They give me the jobs they’re unable to do anything about because they’re bound by the laws they created, and I carry them out. Every time I do a job, I leave a few business cards behind that circulate among the victims and bring in more jobs the council doesn’t assign.

As long as I give the council all the info on the target afterwards and pay them ten percent of my fee, they pretend I don’t exist and neither do my actions, so I’ll never be arrested. It makes the council sound corrupt but, they aren’t. I’m what you’d call a necessary evil, but what gives the council the confidence to trust me and look the other way is the fact that the people I go after are bad seeds who abuse and harm the innocent and can’t be brought to justice for it by the paranormal council unless it’s reported to them and has enough evidence to back the claim. I ended up in the Venetian Hills pack before it was located in Venetian Hills. Back then it was called the Topeka pack located in Kansas and funnily enough, was about four and a half hours drive from my hometown.

At the time, I’d been travelling from job to job as a hitman for hire, never settling down for more than the time it took to execute my target and move