by Fel Fern
Darkfall Mountain Pack 4
Alessio’s Fall
Werewolf Beta Alessio Esteban believes rules exist for a reason…until a one-night-stand turns out to be more than he bargained for. A powerful hunter with a submissive heart, Kelias Cervantes is Alessio’s perfect match, but Kelias comes with strings attached. The heat threatening to erupt between Alessio and Kelias is undeniable, and Alessio can’t help but lust for the forbidden.
As a half-blood demon raised by a fanatic group of human hunters, Kelias is the best in his field. He has one job. Assassinate the Beta of the Darkfall Mountain Pack and cripple the pack’s power structure. Failure means death, but the last thing Kelias wants is to kill Alessio. Kelias knows he shouldn’t want Alessio this much. He has trouble refusing the domineering Beta but he simply can’t abandon all his beliefs and the only family he’s ever known. Will accepting Alessio’s mating call trigger their fall?
Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 23,926 words
ALESSIO’S FALL
Darkfall Mountain Pack 4
Fel Fern
EROTIC ROMANCE
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Erotic Romance ManLove
ALESSIO’S FALL
Copyright © 2016 by Fel Fern
E-book ISBN: 978-1-68295-055-5
First E-book Publication: February 2016
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2016 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
ALESSIO’S FALL
Darkfall Mountain Pack 4
FEL FERN
Copyright © 2016
Chapter One
Kelias Cervantes feinted to the left and let his opponent’s blade score a line of blood on the side of his neck, before recovering. Elbowing him hard, Kelias knocked the air from his lungs and made him drop his knife. Vince grunted and forced himself back on his feet, when the bell sounded.
“Time out. This round goes to Kelias,” the handler monitoring the practice ring announced.
“Good fight, brother,” Kelias said. He sheathed his blade and offered Vince a hand up. The human spat at him and slapped his hand away.
“Brother? You might live with us, eat with us, but you are not our brother, demon.” Vince got up. Kelias tensed, wondering if Vince would pull something on him, but Vince only picked up his knife and walked away.
The practice hall rang with shouts and battle cries. Every column in the room was dominated by the crimson banners of the Order of the Knife, an organization of hunters sworn to hunt down the supernatural.
Like always, Kelias didn’t let Vince’s words bother him. Shrugging, he stepped out from the circle to let the next combatants through. Kelias’s younger self would have been bothered, would have done his best to prove to the rest he was like them, but his adult self knew better. He was a child of rape. Kelias’s mother had been one of the Order’s hunters. She’d been taken by a surface-level demon, and died giving birth to Kelias. Instead of ending his life, Kelias’s mentor, Rayne, decided to keep him. Train him in the arts of his mother.
The other hunters might work with him when needed, but they didn’t bother disguising their disapproval and hate. To them, Kelias belonged to the same species as the monsters they hunted.
“Don’t let Vince bother you,” Seb said, thumping his back.
One of the few humans who accepted Kelias, Seb was a childhood friend who was also mentored by Rayne. Seb had been with him through thick and thin, and was the only hunter Kelias trusted with his back.
Seeing the cuts he sustained, Seb winced. “That looks nasty, even with your regenerative abilities. Let’s head to the clinic, patch you up, and get some grub.”
“Hot food sounds good,” Kelias agreed. They exited the training halls and headed for the private clinic.
Hunters clung in groups, speaking in low whispers. Some gave Kelias looks when they passed by, but they were probably just looking for a random supernatural target to vent their anger on.
The complex Kelias and the other hunters grew up and trained in was a vast estate located in the mountains, far from the eyes of their enemies. Despite their impenetrable stronghold, he could sense the tension emanating from his brothers and sisters. A month had passed since they lost a large number of hunters to a bloodthirsty wolf pack, but everyone keenly felt the loss.
“Have the elders decided what to do with the Darkfall Mountain wolves?” Kelias asked.
Seb shook his head. “No word yet. Good news though. Assignments have started coming in again. What do you say, Kel, in the mood to hunt down some nasties?”
Kelias did. He was itching to get out, away from the compound, and lose himself in the thrill of the hunt. After the Darkfall incident, tempers flared and people liked picking random fig
hts. Being one of the few hybrids there made Kelias an instant favorite to pick on. Thanks to Seb, Kelias came out of all his “accidents” alive.
“Kelias and Sebastian, just the two hunters I’ve been looking for.” At Rayne’s voice, they turned. Their iron-haired and hard-eyed teacher looked a lot older than Kelias last remembered. “Come with me.”
“Do you have a job for us, Master?” Kelias asked, unable to keep the eagerness out of his voice.
That made Rayne smile. “Always looking for a fight, aren’t we?”
Seb snorted. “Of course. Ridding the world of one paranormal menace at a time, isn’t that our motto?”
“You’re running out of cash to finance your gambling,” Kelias pointed out, grunting when Seb playfully jabbed at his shoulder.
Rayne looked sober. “This isn’t a game. The elders asked for volunteers for a high-risk mission. I volunteered the names of my former students.”
“What kind of mission? Retaliation against the Darkfall werewolves?” Kelias might not always feel welcomed, but the organization was the only home he’d known. Like every hunter there, he wanted to avenge his fallen brothers and sisters.
Rayne nodded. “Come.”
They followed Rayne past a maze of corridors and into the private office of one of the Order’s five leaders. Head Hunter Jacob Skinner had been Rayne’s teacher in the past, and a formidable killer in his time. Kelias wasn’t surprised Jacob would want to organize the hunt.
“Rayne, thank you for bringing your chosen hunters. Have a seat, Kelias, Sebastian.” Jacob Skinner might be in his fifties, but nothing about him was fragile or weak. Kelias and Seb sat. Rayne lingered behind them, his presence a comfort.
“What’s the job?” Kelias asked, cutting straight to the point.
To his surprise, Jacob burst out laughing. “Blunt, I like your half-demon already, Rayne.”
Rayne shrugged. “I have trained my hunters to the best of their abilities. I called them students once, but they are professionals in their own right.”
Jacob nodded and then slid two folders across the desk. Kelias picked it up and flicked through the pages. Inside were names and information related to members of the Darkfall Mountain Pack. The little town of Darkfall had a reputation in both the human and supernatural community. Ruled by a vicious werewolf pack, the shifters took pains to remind outsiders they weren’t welcomed on their land. The Order of the Knife considered their territory neutral—they left the wolves alone, until the hunt for a vampire target went haywire.
Kelias’s gaze fastened on one particular photo. His special mission, or rather his sole function, according to the file, was to focus on taking out this one shifter.
“Alessio Esteban. Position—pack Beta, approach with extreme caution,” Kelias read out loud. The man in the grainy black-and-white photo certainly fit the bill. Dark-haired, huge, dangerous, and not to mention he could rip out Kelias’s throat without much effort.
“Alessio is currently standing in as pack Alpha while his brother goes on a little honeymoon trip with his new mate,” Jacob explained. “The Esteban siblings have led the pack for years. Together, they are a formidable unit. Apart, we shall see. Now is the perfect opportunity to strike.”
Kelias looked over at Seb, whose file contained the photo of a woman in her midtwenties. Michella Esteban, Alessio’s sister and the pack’s Gamma. The Order planned to sever the head in one strike. Kelias heartily approved.
“So fast and silent kills?” Kelias asked.
Jacob drummed his fingers on the desk. “I’m sure Rayne has mentioned this is a high-risk, high-reward task. We’re only sending out a five-man task force, with you and Sebastian taking point. Are you two ready to take on this assignment?”
Trading grins with Seb, Kelias turned his attention back to Jacob. “We’re your guys. We’ll bring back the heads of these wolves.”
Jacob smiled, showing them a white row of teeth. “Perfect. On behalf of the council, I trust you two won’t fail us, because there is no room for failure. If either of you are caught, it’s game over. We cannot afford to waste any more talent and resources on this unsavory incident.”
Incident? Rage hit Kelias in the chest. He seethed. Four teams perished during the Darkfall incident. Hunted down like animals, their bodies butchered beyond recognition. Did the lives of their brothers and sisters—for all of them were orphaned siblings in the Order, mean nothing to Jacob and the other four leaders?
The Head Hunter’s lips twisted to a sneer, telling Kelias he disapproved of his reaction. A good hunter never showed weakness and an excess of emotions easily gave him away. Kelias knew he possessed that little flaw, but still, the cold-hearted bastard could have said something decent. Would it kill Jacob to show some sympathy and not refer to their fallen like disposable tools?
Seb squeezed his arm in warning, shaking his head. Pushing past his blinding anger, Kelias chewed on Jacob’s words. Failure in their task meant death, a fate their kind accepted. Live for the hunt, die for the cause, but Kelias didn’t have plans on dying soon. He looked at the man in the photo again. Alessio Esteban. Kelias wouldn’t breathe easy until he slit the bastard with his silver-edged blade.
Chapter Two
“That’s it for this week’s pack meeting,” Alessio Esteban said.
Shifters rose, exiting the restaurant at his announcement. Others finished off their pizza and beer—the benefits of the pack leaders owning a pizzeria—while a few stragglers lingered to discuss personal issues they didn’t want to bring out earlier. Alessio left the drifters to Michella and the other enforcers. He pulled a chair and slumped. One of the restaurant’s long-term employees and fellow pack members, Milly, handed him a beer.
“Thanks, doll.” Alessio sipped his beer. After the last of the wolves left, Michella joined him.
“Gee, big brother. Thanks for sitting in for Sergio,” Michella said sarcastically.
Alessio grinned. “I imagine you liked hearing the Joneses bitching about the family of tabby shifters next door.”
She rolled her eyes. Once the door shut, until only the pack’s five enforcers and they were left, she dropped her voice. Having grown up together, Alessio was pretty close to two siblings, so he recognized when something was on Michella’s mind. Their parents died in car crash when he was fifteen. Sergio was seventeen and Michella had only been twelve. They would have followed Patrick and Lindsay Esteban, too, if hadn’t been for the former Alpha of the Darkfall Mountain Pack, who took pity on three orphaned human children.
“Trouble?” he asked.
Things had gone quiet over the past week. A relief, given they had to make amends with the Silverback wolves, a rival pack. Sergio took one of their male Omegas instead of mating the bride the Silverback Alpha picked. It would have escalated to a war, too, but the Alpha died, and one of his enforcers took his place. Thank God, Hale Silverback was easier to deal with, because after their skirmish with the Order of the Knife a month ago, they needed a rest.
“Remember what happened to the rest of the Order?” Michella asked.
Alessio groaned. He had a feeling she would bring up something bad. “I do. Please don’t tell me those fuckers hadn’t learned their lesson.”
Calling the Order an organization was a laugh. Made up of human fanatics who nearly perfected the art of killing their kind, the hunters were also well financed and equipped with military-grade weapons. The pack didn’t have a problem with them in the past, until they crossed the boundaries and went after one of the pack’s members and his vampire mate.
They spared the rest of the hunters who surrendered, but the Order didn’t tolerate failures. Instead of welcoming back their members, they eliminated them and made it look like a shifter kill. The memory made Alessio’s stomach churn.
“Let me guess. The higher-ups of the Order made it seem like we’re the bad guys?”
Michella nodded. “I’ve recently gotten word from some of our allies the Order is planning something. No cle
ar details yet, but they’re doing things low-key this time round. Sergio says to watch our back. If things become worse—”
“No,” Alessio interrupted. She blinked at him. Having lived in his brother’s shadow for so long, Alessio always had to prove himself. Sergio placed him in charge and he didn’t plan to screw this up. “Both of us are enough to handle these bastards.”
Michella frowned, studying him carefully. Damn it. Alessio hated it when she did that. Michella might be Sergio’s and his baby sister, but her additional psychic gifts made her seem older.
“Very well,” Michella eventually agreed. “We’ll see how it plays out, but, brother, promise me you’ll be careful?”
Alessio snorted when Michella nodded to two of their enforcers.
“Will you make Jared and Jane’s job difficult?”
“Did you have to ask?” Alessio asked, not liking the need for bodyguards.
“Let’s keep our guard up,” Michella suggested.
Not wanting to end the day with a fight, Alessio agreed. He needed some air. Private time in his second form and the luxury of not being bogged down by human affairs and politics.
“I’m going for a run,” he told the siblings after Michella left.
Jared and Jane traded worried looks. Alessio sighed. The two enforcers were orphaned shifters that he, Sergio, and Michella practically raised as their own kids. No doubt Michella picked them knowing Alessio was a little soft around the edges when it came to them.
“Fine. Tail me, but keep a distance.” At their nods, Alessio got into his car and drove out to the outskirts of town.
