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Book Title: Feral Hearts: Book
1
Author: Melissa E
Costa
Publisher:
Self-Published
Cover Artist: Vanesa
Gorkova
Release Date: August 19,
2021
Genres: Paranormal/Urban
Fantasy M/M Romance.
Tropes: Friends to Lovers.
Childhood friends. Gay for you. Omegaverse. Hurt/Comfort. Fated Mates.
Themes: Soul Mates,
classism
Heat Rating: 2
flames
Length: 68 683 words/176
pages
This is book one in the Feral
Hearts series.
The book does
not a cliffhanger, per se, but the story’s conclusion
won’t be reached until the end of book 3.
Buy Links – Available in Kindle Unlimited
To save the one he
loves, he must face the beast within.
Blurb
Alex isn’t a traditional alpha—he’s gentle, awkward, and
caring. He also has no desire to assume leadership of the Black Moon Pack once his father
steps down.
Talen is an omega stray, taken in by Alex’s parents and
raised as his brother. He’s also straight, emotionally damaged, and the love of Alex’s
life.
Now of age, Talen is forced into the role of an
omega—those treated little better than slaves. Worse yet, the monster inside of Alex has
awoken and set its sights on Talen. The beast will stop at nothing to get what it wants, even
if it takes the whole world down to do it.
Alex must face his worst nightmares if he ever has a chance
at protecting Talen. Is he strong enough to bring them together, or will he lose Talen along
with the pack?
This three-book series tells a continuous story with a
resolution at the end of book three.
Excerpt
Alex couldn’t believe they were going to flog Talen. Eben
stood to the side of the pillar with his back to Alex. He had been able to get Alex out of
doing the whipping.
Etched into the pillar were symbols from the old language.
A loop made of rope was attached to a minor ledge higher up in the stone. Its purpose was
for this very thing. The shaman placed a large wooden block at Talen’s feet and had him step
up onto it. Even elevated, he still wasn’t tall enough to fit his wrists through the loop, so
they told him to hang onto it instead.
Talen wasn’t wearing a shirt. His arms above his head
stretched his torso and made visible the taunt muscles of his abdomen and chest. Tiny
beads of sweat gathered on his collarbone before they rolled down his back. Whether
caused by anticipation or the blistering heat, Alex didn’t know. Talen’s left arm was no
longer hidden by his sleeve, making the slight bow in his wrist apparent for anyone who
knew where to look. A nearly unnoticeable tremble shook his shoulders. He looked so small
then, fragile, even though Talen was anything but.
One of the shamans began making a speech. Her loud voice
carried on the wind. “To speak out against your betters is the greatest disrespect you can
show to your pack.” She was lecturing Talen, but she also looked around as if talking to the
crowd, making an example out of him. A wave of nausea washed over Alex as his anger rose.
“When you disrespect your pack, you’re disrespecting yourself.”
“Stupid bitch,” Alex grumbled. “Get off your high horse.”
Even though he hadn’t wanted to watch the whipping, his feet moved on their own until he
was close enough to see Talen’s face clearly.
“Talen, for your disobedience, you will be punished by
thirty slashes to your back to be carried out by the pack leader.”
Eben held a medium-sized bullwhip.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself?” the shaman
continued. “To say to Roman, who you have disrespected by your behavior?”
For one moment, Talen looked like he would say
something, and it wouldn’t be nice. That fire burned behind his dark-hazel eyes.
Alex remembered his father’s words at dinner.
If Talen doesn’t go through with this, he might
have to find himself another pack.
As cowardly as it seemed, Alex prayed that Talen would
keep his mouth shut. Please, don’t say anything.
Please, Talen. Please don’t say anything.
Talen closed his eyes, and the tension left his body.
“Only to apologize for my insolence.” His words carried on
the mild breeze that made standing outside on this humid hot day bearable. But Alex
couldn’t care less about the wind or how good it felt against his skin. Instead, his attention
focused only on Talen. Even though Talen bowed his head, and his words sounded a bit
hollow, there was a fire to them—Talen’s voice, his spark. His energy. His will to fight. Talen
amazed him. His ability to stay himself, to not give into fear, regardless of the hell he had
been through. Alex envied him. Talen might have been an omega, whereas he was an alpha,
but there was no doubt that Talen was the stronger of the two of them.
His father got in position and raised the whip. With a loud
crack, it singed between Talen’s shoulder blades, leaving an ugly red gash. Talen’s breath
hitched. He clenched the rope, baring his teeth. Every taunt muscle on his body writhed
with each slash that marred his back. He wasn’t crying out, though. Talen was a proud
one.
Another crack.
Alex tightened his fists.
Each crack grew louder and louder. Alex’s claws dug into his
fists until tiny droplets of blood trailed down his palms.
Ten slashes into the punishment, Talen’s visible ribs heaved
with each breath. His lithe frame trembled. Then his wolf surged, forming a white aura. It
didn’t stretch out into a shadow—mostly that was an alpha thing—rather, it surrounded him
like a sphere as it had done before with Roman—a white wolf seemingly chasing its tail in an
endless figure eight. Its hazy white color made Talen appear blurry. It wasn’t large enough to
affect Eben, only a whip length away.
It reeked of agony, hurt, anger, but mostly
pain—Talen’s.
Alex turned away. His stomach clenched in knots.
Something dark grew inside of him. Blacker, thicker. As he looked back at Talen, all Alex felt
was rage.
Talen let out a scream before he bit his lip and a trail of
blood spilled down his chin. Finally, he lost the battle, and he started crying out with each
lash.
Alex’s fangs elongated. He wanted to kill them. All of them.
His dad included. How fucking dare they lay one hand on Talen? On his Talen.
About the Author
Melissa writes
character-driven fiction, and any genre is fair game. When she’s not writing, she enjoys
reading, anime, manga, and gaming. Living by the motto of trying all things twice, Melissa
has jumped out of a perfectly good plane, swum with manatees, dived headfirst into Alice’s
rabbit hole, and seduced classy ladies in 6-inch heels. A free-spirited bohemian, she
currently lives in artsy St. Petersburg, Florida, with her soulmate and their two adorably
needy cats.
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