Diary of a Wolf: A Gay Shifter Romance

by Hunter, Troy

  After a moment of groveling, I hear Kenneth howling. Given the ferocity of it, I can tell he’s initiating his transformation back into a human. What’s he going to say to me, now that I’ve thoroughly made an ass of myself? “Grow up, Eustace,” or “Stop crying and fight Elias with me.”

  To my relief, he doesn’t say either. Instead, he places his hands over my shoulder and gently rubs my biceps. “Eustace.” I take a take breath and look up. Kenneth looks down at me on his knees, naked like me. “You’re not going to lose me. Not now, not ever. I’m yours for as long as you’ll have me.”

  The yellow-eyed lycan brings his hands to my face and wipes my tears away. “As for your transformation, I think the intensity of your emotions might’ve triggered it. It’s happened to me before too.” Kenneth then drags his hands back down to my arms, snaking them underneath my armpits. Applying only a little force, he pulls me back up, so I’m at eye-level with him.

  “Elias can wait. For tonight, you’re the only man I want to spend my time with.” His right hand touches my face, fingertips rubbing softly into my cheek.

  My gaze never leaves his bright yellow eyes, which stare at me like I’m a framed masterpiece in an art gallery. I feel I may lose myself in his gaze, but I do not fear it. If anything, I welcome the risk with open arms.

  Kenneth pulls me in for a soft kiss, which I accept eagerly. My hands press into his exposed chest, immediately feeling the impact of his strong heartbeat. He does the same for me, keeping his right hand on my cheek. The warmth radiating from his palm gives me goosebumps, as if I’ve been waiting for him to touch my chest for some time. Maybe I have been and I just didn’t realize it. Or perhaps I’ve purposely pushed it to the far back of my mind.

  Our lips part momentarily and our eyes open. My ears pick up on Kenneth’s breathing, which is a bit labored. I’m sure his thoughts are trapped in a perpetual whirlwind with everything that’s been dropped on his plate during the last month. No, more like the last three months. I never wanted to be another complication for him. He has enough burdens already.

  As if he were reading my mind, Kenneth seals the gap between us once more. This time, however, he presses both his hands into my chest and slowly pushes me down to the ground. At this point, my own breathing begins to lose its consistency. It only gets worse when Kenneth climbs over me and sensually drags his hand up and down my stomach.

  I break the kiss, catching the breath he’s stealing from me. “I-I’m sorry,” I gasp faintly. “I’m not used to this kind of…you know.”

  Eloquent, Eustace.

  Bravo.

  Kenneth gives me a breathy chuckle as he locks his gaze with mine once again. “Don’t apologize, my love. I’m a little out of practice as well,” with these words, he plants a small kiss on my neck.

  My toes curl at the contact. “C-Could’ve had me fooled.”

  Kenneth chuckles again and softly buries his face in my neck. I quickly feel the slight suction coming from what feels like his nostrils. He smells something on me, but what? Does it offend? Before I can ask, another gasp erupts from within me whenever the tip of his nose drags itself up to the back of my ear.

  “You smell amazing,” he murmurs, a hint of moaning mixing in with his words. That’s one of my questions answered, at least. And I’d be lying if I said his tone wasn’t arousing me a bit. Kenneth pulls away to look into my eyes. “I can smell the pheromones on you. Sweet, with a touch of spice.”

  I breathe heavily, my front teeth occasionally nibbling on my bottom lip. He knows precisely how I feel. To try hiding it anymore would be a lost cause. “C-Can I…touch you, Kenneth?”

  A growl spills from his throat but he continues to look at me with hunger in his eyes. “Please do.”

  I smile sheepishly at the lycan as my hand caresses his stomach.

  Kenneth’s eyes close at the touch, his mouth hanging open slightly. The lower my fingers travel, the faster he exhales his breaths. “Oh, Eustace.”

  My heart pounds like a drum within my chest. Kenneth’s sounds bring me peace. When he’s moaning to my touch, I know he’s not spending his time obsessing over danger. I know he’s not torturing his sanity by cramming his nose in my diary. He’s with me, letting blissful sensations overtake him.

  Eager to repay the favor in greater magnitude, Kenneth suddenly grazes his fingertips over my genitals. A loud gasp leaps out of my throat, admittedly embarrassing me a little. My lover doesn’t seem to mind, luckily. If anything, he seems to find my reaction all the more arousing.

  “Am I allowed to touch you, Eustace?”

  I nod quickly, clenching my teeth hard. “Y-Yes, please.”

  Kenneth grins down at me as his fingers begin teasing the underside of my shaft. I squeeze my eyes shut as I await his grasp. Blood rushes to my sensitive area at a quick pace. This must be my body’s way of telling me I’ve been deprived of intimacy for far too long.

  Once Kenneth finally does grab a hold of my appendage, my mouth opens wide as a pleasured moan explodes from my vocal chords. “God, Kenneth.”

  While his hand slowly strokes me, I simultaneously feel a trail of kisses being planted from my heart to my neck, telling me my lover is willing to multi-task. Dear me, what did I ever do to deserve someone as amazing as Kenneth Adelbrecht?

  Losing myself in the moment, I surprise the young Adelbrecht by reaching for his own appendage. As soon as I grab hold of it, he jerks upward mid-kiss. “Agh…Eustace.”

  Not willing to miss this opportunity, I catch his lips with mine.

  What transpires next is the two of us working together to sate our depravities. Kenneth’s grasp tightens as it speeds up. My moans are now sounding more like breathless pants, an occasional cry to happiness ringing in Kenneth’s ears. Meanwhile, my hand starts slow, so I can’t build upon his ecstasy. I want him to feel the same pleasure he makes me feel.

  “Don’t stop. Oh Kenneth, please don’t stop,”

  He obeys my request and speeds his pace up even more. His strokes are now so fast that his knuckles are spending less than a millisecond at the base of my genitals. I don’t think I can last much longer but I’m going to try my best. My own pace speeds up as well, now moving at a steady pace.

  “E-Eustace. Eustace.”

  Taking his words as encouragement, I nod and speed up even more. Before long, our hands are going at the same pace. I’m cross-eyed by this point, tunnel vision taking its toll on me. Our moans are now coming out as a chorus of nothing but our names, shouted to the heavens above.

  “Kenneth. My love, Kenneth!”

  “Eustace! Eustace.”

  With one final blissful scream, my climax comes first. With as long as it’s been since the last time I’d experienced an orgasm, it feels more like an explosion of fluid shooting out of me. As I look up to see the damage, I see it’s coating Kenneth’s lower stomach. A satisfied sigh rumbles in my throat as I work on finishing Kenneth off.

  “Oh my…I’m…Eustace, I’m…” Before my lover can finish his thought, his seed draws a line across my torso. It begins from my navel and goes up to my right nipple. His semen is hot against my skin, the smell bringing me to the edge of nirvana.

  Once the afterglow finally hits him, Kenneth lowers himself down to the ground with me. “By the Great Wolf, Eustace. Mercy me.” The lycan wraps his arms around my torso and plants one more kiss on my neck. “And to think I’m rusty.”

  “You call that rusty?” I remark playfully as I snuggle closer against him.

  “I do. I used to last loads longer.”

  His comment makes me giggle. “Oh, really? Well then. It looks like you need to get back into fighting shape.”

  Kenneth gives my mid-section a squeeze. “I plan on it, my love. Don’t you worry.”

  His words make me smile, but they also bring me back to reality. A strategy to improve his stamina isn’t the only thing Kenneth has to plan. He’s also got a fight with a mad sorcerer to attend to. There’s no telling what Elias has been sch
eming over the last few decades. I doubt he’s been conducting too many experiments, given the exclusivity of his resting place.

  Despite that fact, I know Elias Adelbrecht. He’s bound to have something cooked up for Kenneth. What that something is…I shiver at the thought. All I can hope is that Kenneth is prepared for the worst.

  “Please survive the day, Kenneth. Don’t let Elias take your life.”

  My lover loosens his hold a little but tightens it back after a moment to ponder his answer.

  “Of course.”

  16

  To Kill a Beast

  Kenneth

  Present Day Stagwood Grove, Spring 1874

  Eustace and I cuddle for the remainder of the night. He convinces me I’ll be a much better fighter once I get some rest. Considering our little heart-to-heart was well after midnight, I find myself unable to disagree with him. After all, sleep deprivation can be equally as powerful as ancient magick.

  Unfortunately, the racing thoughts in my head keep me from enjoying a full eight hours of slumber. Every time I close my eyes, all I can see are the various scenarios of what may happen inside that chapel. Will Elias be much more powerful than how Eustace described him? Or will he be a withered skeleton, only barely clinging onto life? Perhaps he’ll be just the same as he was back then? I don’t know what to expect and, come morning, I’m ready to just get this fight over with.

  Once the sun rises, Eustace and I walk side-by-side to the chapel. A flurry of wild thoughts going through both our minds. We’re not sure how this day is going to end. Hell, we’re not even sure if we’ll leave with our lives intact. But we accept this as a risk we must take. If I don’t investigate the crypt of Elias Adelbrecht, I won’t be able to find the cure to Eustace’s curse. If we fail to defeat my great-uncle, we won’t be able to leave Stagwood Grove.

  So with one last kiss from Eustace, I run up to the front door of the chapel.

  As I approach the chapel in my human form, I quickly notice a distinct marking shining on the door. A star with multiple zig-zags through it, like the tattoo on Eustace’s arm. Elias has personally marked it for those whom he wishes to sacrifice. The Adelbrecht-Bertram Pact, as I’ve personally labeled it. Great-Uncle thinks he’s going to sap my soul from my body, but I won’t allow it. My will is too strong to fall victim to such lunacy.

  “Let’s do this, Elias,” I mutter aloud as I press my palm against the rune.

  Within seconds, I hear an ominous voice inside my head.

  “Ah, Kenneth Oswin Adelbrecht. My great-nephew. It’s an honor to meet you.”

  I swallow hard. It looks like this fight might occur sooner than I originally thought.

  “Good morning, Great-Uncle. At long last we meet.”

  The somber voice chuckles. “Indeed. I trust that you know what awaits you once I meet you face-to-face?”

  I take a deep breath, bracing myself. Steady your nerves, Kenneth. You’re doing this for you and Eustace’s future.

  “I know what you plan to do to me. I also know what you’re planning to do with Eustace. But more importantly, I know I must kill you if I want to free those who have been imprisoned at your estate.” I take another breath. No turning back now. “And so I’m here to prepare you for your descent into hell.”

  Elias is silent for a moment, probably waiting for me to change my mind. When it doesn’t happen, he speaks again. “You do realize you cannot defeat me. A mere lycan such as yourself has no concept of the magick I’ve spent centuries perfecting.”

  My nerves threaten to emerge, but I suppress them. “Your magick is outdated. Your science is folly. This is a new generation and I will show you the errors of your ways.”

  He laughs loudly in my head. “Very well. Have at you!”

  Before I know it, the door to the chapel shoots open and knocks me to the ground.

  Eustace quickly rushes to my side. “Are you okay, Kenneth?”

  With a small groan, I sit myself back up and nod. The force of the door might’ve jarred me a bit, but I’ll survive. It’s going to take more than a door to beat me.

  Suddenly, the laughter that had been present inside my mind is now being projected in front of me in the form of one of the most frightening creatures I’ve ever seen. Dressed in a long cloak there emerges what I can only describe as the living dead. The being is humanoid for the most part, but his flesh is practically gone. His skin barely hangs off his cheekbones and his wild tuft of hair looks to be on the verge of falling out.

  My jaw drops open, eyes big as moons. “Wha-What the…” Now I know what it looks like to be alive for almost three-hundred and seventy years. If I have to choose between a young death and looking like that, I’d gladly accept death as a personal mercy. I may dig the grave myself.

  Eustace wraps his arms around me tightly, his body shaking viciously. “K-K-Kenneth…”

  Elias released another hellish laugh, making my lover shriek and press his face into my collarbone. I know how much Eustace fears my great-uncle. He’d written in his diary time and time again about how cruel and evil Elias was fifty years ago. Back then, the sorcerer looked like a crazy old man. But now? I can’t even imagine what’s going through his head, now that his captor is a reanimated corpse.

  “Does my appearance unsettle you, great-nephew?” he asks, an otherworldly echo accompanying his words. I growl loudly at him as my inner wolf readies itself for combat. Eustace tightens his hold on me, further burying himself. “That’s quite alright, as your insistence to rely on the mutt in the sky unsettles me.”

  The beast within is desperate to come out and teach this bastard a lesson. Elias Adelbrecht has had a helping hand in causing every atrocity committed in Stagwood Grove. Going one further, Eustace has found undeniable proof that Elias is the reason why our kinfolk are scattered so far away from each other today. He’s not only defiled the sacred teachings of the Great Wolf on multiple occasions, he’s also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of lycans, possibly thousands, depending on the nature of his earlier experiments.

  No matter where this man goes, he only serves to create problems for everyone else.

  I fear I may not be able to provide a death for him befitting of his crimes.

  “Kenneth…Kenneth.”

  My beloved’s sobs bleed into my skin. Despite our talk last night, it appears Eustace still isn’t confident in our chances of survival. I wish I could convince him everything’s going to be fine, but I know well that he won’t listen. But I need him to listen, just this once. “Eustace, come now. I need you to let go of me.”

  He fiercely shakes his head, now tightening his hold so much that I’m struggling to breathe properly.

  “I-I have to do this, love. Y-You know that.”

  Still, Eustace refuses to let go.

  Elias watches this and cackles evilly. “What? Your husband doesn’t want you to fight?’ The mad sorcerer then sticks an arm out and curls his fingers up. “I know how the mangy mutt operates, Great-Nephew. I will fix this for you.”

  Fix?

  What does he mean by…

  “No, wait.”

  My great-uncle ignores my protests and snaps his fingers. Just like that, Eustace is ripped away from me and flailed into the chapel.

  “Eustace!” I return to my feet and sprint after cursed man. But to my horror, the chapel door closes right as I arrive. I try to pry the door open, but it won’t budge. “Eustace, can you hear me? Are you okay?” I don’t hear a response, making me feel like my stomach has been set on fire.

  Eustace is locked away in the old chapel.

  I can’t free him.

  He’s trapped in there.

  Elias finds great amusement in this predicament, his laughter sending a chill down my spine. “Death be handed to the lycan. I shall deliver you your end.”

  Pull yourself together, Kenneth. You can’t let the evil fiend win. Remember who you’re fighting for.

  Wasting no more time, I initiate my transformation.

&
nbsp; And so the time has come at long last. The moment in which evil is struck down, not by the hands of justice, but by the paws of blood, bloodlines. I know not what tricks this corpse has up his sleeve but I’m doing my best to remain vigilant. If I let him catch me off my guard, Eustace and I will both be finished.

  As my wolf form emerges, I confidently roar before I lunge at the rotting sorcerer.

  “Hmph. Pathetic hound.”

  Just as I leap into the air, Elias claps his hands. The next thing I know, a sharp pain is surging through all four of my legs. I fall to the ground with a pathetic whimper, limbs practically numb. What’s happening to me? What kind of black magick is this? How am I supposed to fight against it?

  “What’s the trouble, mutt?” the sorcerer taunts, standing above me. “Having second thoughts? Have you finally gotten it through your thick, primal skull that beast is meant to serve man? That beast has always been second to man? That beast will always be second to man? Don’t think you’ll be seeing an afterlife once I’m through with you, dog.” Elias then kicks me hard in the torso, making me wail loudly. “Servants, hold his chains.”

  My chains?

  Servants…

  I slowly turn my head, heart stopping when I see what the mad sorcerer refers to. Not only are all four of my legs bound by round, bright auras, they appear to have been conjured by none other than the Norris family. I’m not sure who’s got control of which leg, but Mister Norris appears to be the only one using both hands to focus his powers. I want to scream at all three of them. I want to ask them why they’re doing this. Why are they still helping this madman?

  But then I remember what Mister Norris had told me in the laboratory. They’re bound to this estate, just like Eustace and I. Elias is the one who created the Norrises. He gave them their powers to serve him and protect his secrets. They are his puppets, and puppets never disobey their master.

  So there’s really no hope then.

  I look at my immobile feet and howl sorrowfully.