A Warrior's Choice [Warriors of the Light 18] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove)

by AJ Jarrett

  Warriors of the Light 18

  A Warrior’s Choice

  Fourteen years ago, Kayson Langley stood back and allowed his fated mate’s family to be slaughtered. He’s regretted it every day since but he was only doing what he had to, to survive and keep Kevin safe.

  The nightmares never stop. All Kevin Stewart wants is to find a little peace and nail every Dark Warrior to the wall, ending their lives. It’s the least they deserve for destroying his life.

  Mysterious disappearance and murders has Kevin going undercover to find those responsible. Deep down he knows evil is involved. The last thing he expected was to see Kayson again. The very man he hates with a passion saves his life and confesses a truth that Kevin doesn’t want to believe.

  Kayson is willing to walk away from everything he’s ever known to be with Kevin. But will his past let him or will the greatest evil of all take what he holds dear?

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 56,302 words

  A WARRIOR’S CHOICE

  Warriors of the Light 18

  AJ Jarrett

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  A WARRIOR’S CHOICE

  Copyright © 2017 by AJ Jarrett

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-657-4

  First Publication: October 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 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.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  AJ Jarrett currently lives in the Midwest with her husband and four children. A lover of M/M romances, she has started writing her own stories for others to enjoy. She loves her characters to be antagonistic toward one another but ultimately find their happily ever after. She believes love can be found in the craziest of places, and a little humor along the way never hurts. To her, there’s nothing sexier than two men finding their soul mate in each other and falling in love. When she isn’t chasing around her kids, she can be found sitting on the couch with her trusted laptop, giving life to the voices in her head.

  For all titles by AJ Jarrett, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/aj-jarrett

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Epilogue

  Landmarks

  Cover

  A WARRIOR’S CHOICE

  Warriors of the Light 18

  AJ JARRETT

  Copyright © 2017

  Prologue

  “Seriously.” Kevin groaned. He dropped his pencil then rubbed his hands over his eyes. He could swear that his eyeballs were starting to cross. “When will I ever use this crap?” Kevin stared down at his algebra homework. It still made no sense. It was like reading Chinese or something.

  “You promised me you would at least try, sweetie. I’d hate for you to have to do it again next year.” His mom’s words replayed in his head.

  “Why do I make these promises to her?” Kevin picked up the pencil again. The last thing he wanted was to have to take algebra for a second time.

  So far Kevin’s freshman year of high school had been going great. Well, on the social aspect of it. He had a ton of friends, the girl of his dreams was finally acknowledging his presence. But his grades, not so much. He was on the football team and the baseball team but if he didn’t get his math grade up from a D to a C he’d be sitting the bench until he did so.

  Kevin glanced at the clock to see that it was just after six. He pursed his lips as he turned to look at the door. He’d been up in his room for close to two hours. His mom was supposed to call him down for dinner thirty minutes ago. Time must have gotten away from his mom and him, too. Hard to believe he’d been so engrossed in his algebra homework.

  “Yeah, right,” Kevin scoffed. He flipped the book closed and stood up. He headed for the door and pulled it open. He jogged down the stairs and jumped from the last two to land hard on the wooden floor.

  The sun was starting to set and he glanced around to see that his parents hadn’t bothered to turn on any lights in the front room or even the dining room. The only light he saw spilled out from under the kitchen door.

  “Mom! Dad!” Kevin called out but got no answer. That was odd. He walked toward the kitchen and put his palms on the swinging door and prayed he wasn’t about to walk in on his parents making out like a couple of teenagers again. A shudder ran over his body. “I’m about to walk in the kitchen, make sure you’re decent. I don’t need you scarring me for life.”

  Kevin pushed open the door and froze. Standing in front of him was a tall man with short black hair. He was wearing sunglasses. The man had his mom’s back pressed against his chest, holding her in place with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. His mom had tears streaming down her face. His father was sitting in a chair, face hardened in anger but Kevin could see the fear in his eyes.

  “What do we have here?” the man said as he smiled at Kevin. “Another Clawson family member. What a day this is.”

  “Son, run!” his father shouted at him but Kevin couldn’t move. Terror held him prisoner where he stood and he had never felt so helpless or more like a coward. “Kevin.” His father’s voice broke him from the trance he was in. “Get out of here now.”

  His father lunged at the man holding his mother but the man was prepared for him. The tall man wrapped his pale fingers around Kevin’s father’s neck and laughed. The sound was sharp and loud and it made Kevin’s ears ring. He lifted his father up off the floor, his feet dangling in the air.

  “I like that.” The man chuckled. “You have a little fight in you. But let me ask you this, Mr. Clawson.” The man tilted his head to the side and sniffed around Kevin’s mother’s neck. “Will it really help you save you
r family?”

  The man didn’t wait for his father to say a single word. He opened his mouth and two sharp teeth hung downward. Kevin wasn’t sure what he was seeing. The only thing he could think of was vampire but they weren’t real. He buried his face into Kevin’s mother’s neck and the scream that his mother made did have Kevin moving. He ran toward his parents and the man. He wasn’t sure what he’d do but he had to do something.

  Just as Kevin was close enough to touch his mother a hard band of steel wrapped around his stomach, jerking him back. Kevin gasped. It wasn’t a piece of metal stopping him but a man’s arm. A thick and strong arm. Kevin scratched at the man but it was no use. He wasn’t strong enough to get free no matter how hard he kicked his legs out or punched at the offending arm holding him prisoner.

  Kevin watched in horror as the light started to fade from his mom’s eyes. Her body hung limp in the man’s hold. She did look over at Kevin and mouthed “I love you” then she was gone.

  “No!” his father shouted. The sound was like a knife in Kevin’s chest. It hurt physically because he knew she was gone and so did his dad.

  A cool hand covered his eyes and turned him away from the sight before him. Tears spilled from Kevin’s eyes. He could hear his father’s choked sobbing.

  “Now it’s your turn.” Kevin cringed at the sound of the man’s voice. Kevin reached out to hang on to the hand covering his eyes. He wasn’t sure why he did that but he was afraid.

  “It’s going to be okay,” the man whispered in his ear. “Don’t listen to that. Only listen to the sound of my voice. It’s going to be okay.”

  Kevin shook his head. No, nothing was ever going to be okay again.

  “Okay, Kayson,” the man said as a loud thud hit the floor. Kevin didn’t need to see it to know it was his father. “Give him to me. It’s little brother’s turn to die.”

  The arm around him tightened and Kevin started to shake. He was going to die. It seemed every memory he had ever had flashed before his eyes and it didn’t seem like enough. His life had been so short. But without his parents, did he really want to live? Then an image of his brother Matt filled his mind. He felt true sorrow for his brother. He’d be left alone in this world.

  “No,” the man holding him said in a low deep voice. It sent a chill through Kevin. He wanted to run away but he couldn’t help but hold on to the man.

  “No,” the other man said in a mocking tone. “Do you want to do the honors then?” The man laughed.

  “No.” The grip on Kevin’s chest loosened but not enough for him to get away. “I want to keep this one.”

  “You sick son of a bitch.” The other man, the one who had killed his parents, laughed. “All right. I’m good with that. Now where is mommy or daddy’s phone? Let’s get Matt over here. I got plans for him.”

  Kevin pushed the hand away from his eyes and turned his head to see his parents’ lifeless bodies on the floor. Kevin’s hands fell to his sides and he suddenly felt very cold. It was as if it was the middle of January having to shovel the driveway in the waning light of day, snow freezing to his face. That type of cold. His eyes grew heavy. “Mom. Dad,” he mumbled.

  It seemed that time froze or did it move faster? Kevin wasn’t sure. Before he knew it, he was being pulled back into the kitchen. He wasn’t sure when he’d been taken out of there. The constant was the man, Kayson, heavy arm wrapped around him. Kayson seemed to be a grounding force that kept Kevin from floating away.

  His mind was a mess. Was it true? Were these men vampires? Kevin couldn’t get his brain to wrap around any of this. He was scared, heartbroken and mad.

  He could hear his brother’s voice and that seemed to wake Kevin from his stupor. He fought against the strong hands holding him in place but he was no match for Kayson.

  “Matty,” he screamed the moment he saw his brother. When he called to his brother the man who had killed his parents turned toward him. Kevin’s eyes widened in shock at seeing the black filled eyes. That wasn’t normal and Kevin already knew deep down they weren’t dealing with normal human beings. But he still pleaded for his brother’s life. The other man thought it was funny and seemed to gain pleasure from their pain. He was a monster.

  The man leaned in close and bit Matt the same way he had done to his parents. Kevin fought. He yanked and kicked against Kayson’s hold on him, trying to get away. His face was damp with tears and his body hurt from all the fighting. That coldness came over him again as he watched the only remaining family he had left fall lifeless to the ground. This was it. All Kevin could do now was wait to die, as well.

  “Grab the kid and let’s get out of here.” The man kicked Matt as he walked away from him.

  Kevin sobbed and weakly reached out toward his brother, his hero, the man he looked up to. He was gone now and Kevin was left to fight alone.

  “It’s going to be okay, Kevin.” Those cool fingers wiped at the tears running down his face. Kevin looked up at Kayson. The man was so tall and wide. He could probably snap Kevin in half if he wanted to and at that very moment Kevin welcomed death. He had nothing more to live for. “I’m going to take care of you. No matter what, I’ll always protect you.” Kayson did something that shocked Kevin. He smiled. Kevin wasn’t sure if he was comforted by this or terrified. “You’re mine now, Kevin, and I protect what is mine. I’ll never let you go.”

  Chapter One

  Twelve years later

  Kevin jumped up, yanked from his peaceful sleep by the same recurring nightmare he’d had for the past twelve years. Sweat dripped from his head and his body was shaking with a slight chill. It was always the same. No matter how hard he tried not to think about the past, his mind while in rest always returned to that time in his life. Kevin had given up years ago on escaping the nightmares. This was his reality and he better get used to it.

  The alarm blaring to life had him jerking to the side, his hands raised as if ready to fight. Kevin chuckled to himself and rolled his eyes. One would think after twelve years he’d not be so terrified about what happened but it was as if it had only happened yesterday. Those men, the vampires that took his parents from him, were the boogie men that kept him up at night. Hale was a monster with no soul. He took everything from him but Kevin refused to let that man have his future.

  Whenever Kevin thought of why his family had been slaughtered if pissed him off more. It was all due to some petty jealousy. His brother Matt had befriended the man Hale had loved. That friendship cost Kevin and Matt their family and Matt his life. His brother was now one of the very things he feared the most. Kevin overlooked that though. He loved his brother and he was a good person, vampire as it was now.

  The whole vampire thing had not been an issue until Matt had met Colby. Colby being the one man that Hale wanted but couldn’t have. Colby was a nice man, and he felt bad for what happed to Kevin’s family and felt responsible for Matt becoming a vampire. When Hale had bitten Matt and drained him dry, no one, not even Matt, had realized he’d survive. From what Kevin had been told, Matt had tasted only a drop of Colby’s blood earlier in the day and that was enough to bring him back to life. So, when Hale thought he’d killed Matt, he’d only made him stronger and harder to kill. Small miracles.

  “Everything’s going to be okay.” Kevin took a deep breath. “I’m going to get through this. One day at a time.” He said the same thing he’d been telling himself for the past twelve years. He’d like to think it helped and life was getting better but he wasn’t sure. The pain he knew would never go away but lately something else seemed to be lacking in his life. A hollowness seemed to be spreading over him and he felt truly lonely. He wasn’t alone, of course. His brother Matt and his mate Wes only lived a few blocks over from him and he saw them every Sunday night for dinner. He had friends and he had his work. Yet something seemed to be missing from his life.

  That dark period in his life seemed like so long ago but only yesterday. His entire world changed in an instant and it wasn’t fair. In a blink of
an eye he lost his parents, his brother, and became the prisoner of some sick freak. Granted after everything was said and done, he hadn’t lost his brother. Matt risked his own immortality to save him. Kevin had been held by Kayson for less than a week but that was long enough to scar a person. Kevin was damaged in a way that could never be repaired. This was his life now.

  Kevin threw off his blankets and scooted to the edge of the bed. He stood and stretched his arms over his head and yawned. His muscles pulled and tightened and his back popped as he reached toward the ceiling. Kevin headed toward his bathroom, reaching down to scratch his balls, naked as the day he was born. He was twenty-six now and he loved living alone. Clothing optional all the time and he could make any mess he wanted but he had learned the hard way that living like a pig was disgusting.

  He switched on the shower and brushed his teeth while waiting for the water to warm up. Kevin stared at his reflection, ignoring the dark circles under his eyes. He debated about shaving the scruff that had grown in but decided against it. The facial hair made him look tougher and mean, and for his line of work he needed to display that image at all times.

  After his parents had been murdered and Kevin had been reunited with his brother, Matt and Wes decided to move to Texas. Kevin was happy to go and have a chance at a fresh start. It didn’t keep the dreams from happening or the fear that he always felt that they would be discovered from plaguing his every thought. Even now he was worried that Hale would find them and this time kill them all.

  It was funny, though. Kevin was terrified to come face to face with Hale. The man haunted his nightmares constantly and so did Kayson but not as badly. Kayson stood by and did nothing to help his family yet Kayson wasn’t cruel like Hale. There were times when he was alone with Kayson that it seemed as if the man was doing his best to be kind and gentle. Dare he think it friendly. It was quite the mindfuck on a fourteen-year-old kid and even more so when he thought about it now.