True Knight

by Patricia Logan

  True Knight

  The Prequel to the Prosper Woods Chronicles

  by

  Patricia Logan

  My name is Romeo Harmon and I’m the new sheriff of Prosper Woods, a small California town smack dab in the middle of the sequoia forest. People around here tell me the town hasn’t changed a whole hell of a lot since power lines and telephones were installed. It’s a quaint place with a movie theater that shows the old classics, a saloon with a decent choice of beer, a general store with a grumpy old coot behind the till, a gas station with a pimply young mechanic, and a bed and breakfast that attracts tourists and vacation money.

  I think I’m gonna like it here.

  My name is Vincent Lasco. I’ve searched a long time to find a new place to settle down. Because of what I am, I need to pull up stakes and start over every twenty years or so—before people realize that I don’t age anymore. Prosper Woods has everything a man like me could ever want. Though there aren’t many humans, it doesn’t really matter. I’m so old, I don’t need to eat very often and there’s no reason to expose myself to the locals whom I hope to call friends some day.

  I think I’m gonna like it here.

  There’s newcomers in town. Prosper Woods is a nice place as long as you’re passing through. I wonder how long these folks will stay once they find out what’s really going on here. Somehow…

  I don’t think they’re gonna like it here.

  (True Knight is the prequel to the Prosper Woods Chronicles and includes an excerpt from True Mate, the first book in the new series)

  True Knight

  Copyright 2021 Patricia Logan

  All rights reserved

  Edited by: Liz Bichmann

  Cover Design by: AJ Corza

  Formatting by: JP Adkins

  AuthorPatriciaLogan.com

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  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 one of their finest agents, Lincoln Snow, who will hunt you down, and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000!

  Remember:

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places, is purely coincidental. This book contains material that is only suitable for mature readers. It contains scenes of a sexual nature between two consenting men.

  People are saying wonderful things about Patricia Logan:

  "Patricia Logan smells of old poo and doesn't wear pants… but her ability to weave perfectly real and sensual love stories into stories full of intrigue, suspense and the trials and tribulations of everyday life, pulls you in and makes you forget her personal hygiene." ~ Lisa Worrall

  "Author Patricia Logan writes from the heart, sucking you into her story from the first page. She pulls no punches, telling gut wrenching heartfelt stories with a reality that makes you feel you are right there. Her kind of emotional honesty is rare and essential to great writing." ~ Jean Joachim

  "Patricia Logan possesses the one key ingredient at her stage of writing that so many authors don't and never will; an editor who can translate her cirque du soleil act of random contortionist word tappings into something presented as popular m4m prose. History will remember her fondly without the fondling, however, when someone eventually revisits her first drafts and realizes she's really written a cookbook titled "How to Serve Me'…. and a Delicious One at That!" ~ Kage Alan

  "Reading a Patricia Logan book is not something to be taken lightly, the hotness contained within combined with multiple piercings can result in sudden breakage of certain adult toys making rapid trips to X rated shops a necessity! AND she will refuse to take responsibility for the added expense!! Oh and despite the hordes of Navy SEAL's, Cowboys, leather, whips, ropes and other convenient methods of restraint, there are never enough firemen in her books. ~ Petronella Bond

  “Patricia Logan is a walking contradiction that may be baking cookies with her grandchildren one moment and writing an e-stim sounding scene the next. Known famous as being a cat lady, she picks up more and more strays as she goes along through life. I am just happy to be one of them. ~JP Adkins

  Trademarks List – True Knight

  ampm: BP America, Inc.

  Apple watch: Apple Inc.

  Chevy Blazer: Chevrolet

  Desert Eagle: Magnum Research, Inc.

  Glock: Glock Ges.m.b.H.

  Harley: Harley-Davidson, Inc.

  Heinz: H. J. Heinz Company

  Honda Civic: Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

  Hoover: Techtronic Industries Company Limited

  Jacuzzi: Jacuzzi Inc.

  U-Haul: U-Haul

  Vans: VF Corporation

  Zoom: Zoom Video Communications

  Trademarks List – True Knight

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  A Special Look At True Mate Prosper Woods Chronicles Book 1

  Other books by Patricia Logan:

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Prosper Woods Chronicle. Letters to the editor:

  “Last night we spotted us some roosters doin’ it in the bleachers at the little league baseball field. Maybe it’s just me but I think this whole town’s goin’ to hell.” Signed, “Fowl Ball.”

  Greg

  I loped through the forest with my packmate at my side. Stopping, I lifted my muzzle to the full moon and howled. When I glanced back down again, I realized Sam had run on without me. I kicked up my heels, scenting our prey ahead as I raced to catch up with my best friend.

  “Sam! Wait!” I shouted.

  He turned to look over his shoulder, hearing me call out though the words weren’t spoken aloud. He bared his fangs and lolled his tongue in a wolfish grin before turning on the steam and eating up the ground with his big paws. The scent of our prey was closer now and I could hear the pattering feet racing ahead of us, the beat of the hare’s heart racing. The scent of terror bled off the smaller animal.

  I bounded through the undergrowth and smacked into the side of a tree. I was thrown to the forest ground where I rolled several times… head over tail, right into a ravine. When I came up for air, I glanced up to the embankment where Sam stood on all fours looking down at me. His yellow eyes glowed brightly as he sat back on his haunches and laughed wolfishly through heavy panting breaths.

  “Fuck you! I didn’t see it!” I said to him.

  He threw back his wide furry gray head and howled with peals of laughter. I got to my feet and bounded back up the side of the ravine, hitting his sitting form with all of my strength, taking us b
oth to the ground. He was still cackling as we rolled in the soft grass. I got him beneath me and straddled him from behind, sinking my fangs into the nape of his neck as I held him in place. His big gray body vibrated with laughter even though the rest of him was still… waiting for me to release him.

  “You’re such a klutz, Greg. Get the fuck off me.” There was still laughter in the voice I heard in my head.

  I waited a few more seconds before relaxing my jaws and climbing off him. I wasn’t an alpha. I was a beta just like him but I was bigger and stronger and we’d played this way since we were pups, always trying to outdo the other whether it be strength or brains. He got to his feet and turned to me with that smile that was so hard for me to ignore. Sam was my best friend. He had been ever since we were little, growing up together in the same pack.

  Sam had been my champion when I was called the runt of the litter by other wolves, but as I’d grown into a larger wolf than any others in our pack, Sam had remained by my side when others tucked their tails and ran away from me. Their taunts of how stupid I was had lessened over time and eventually, they’d stopped completely. My size as the largest in our pack, taller in stature in human and wolf form, served to make even the most vicious of them back away. I wasn’t sure if it was the presence of the gray wolf at my side that did it but whatever made them leave me alone, worked for me.

  I spent the balance of my adolescence unbothered by the idiots who wanted to taunt me and call me stupid. I knew I wasn’t smart. I’d had trouble in school. I still couldn’t read very well. Sam always told me that it didn’t matter… that my heart was what was important.

  I lifted my snout and took a long whiff. The rabbit was long gone, having taken the moment of my greatest embarrassment, as I’d smacked into the tree, to escape. I glanced back down at Sam. “He’s gone. I think we’re done hunting for the night.”

  Sam nodded his big head and then changed to his human form. I did the same, looking down at his naked body from my taller human form. My change was fast… much faster than Sam’s which sounded painstaking as his muscles stretched and bones broke, realigning. As werewolves, we healed fast and when we changed, the pain receded almost instantly. Still… for a short moment during the change, the pain was excruciating agony. Thank heavens it was fast.

  Our alpha’s change was even faster. He’d once said that he experienced no pain at all during the change because it was instantaneous. Floyd Reardon, our alpha, also had the middle form—half human, half wolf—which he could bring out any time, not only during the full moon. Apparently all alphas had the ability to hold this form while the moon was full. It never failed to freak me out when I saw it. It was like watching one of those old horror movies and probably the coolest fucking thing I’d ever seen in my life.

  Sam lifted his face to mine and grinned. I smiled back and slung a long arm over his shoulder, turning us back to the clearing where we’d left our clothes. It was a long walk back in bare feet but I didn’t care.

  The moon was full. Sam was with me. All was good in my world.

  Ricky

  “Fuck, that was too close!” I shifted out of my fluffy form and back into a brown-haired boy of seventeen. I started heading for the lane at the top of the hill where I’d left my clothes and parked my 1992 Chevy Blazer. My ride looked a lot like the deputy’s even though I’d bought this one from old man Thompson right before he died; the deputy’s Blazer was only a few years old.

  I approached the road and looked side to side, lifting my face to the sky to take a long whiff of what might be hiding in the forest. I’d somehow outrun the wolves and I could no longer pick up on their scent. I was alone here and satisfied that I couldn’t be found out. I emerged from the cover of trees, headed toward the Blazer, and reached into the cab where I’d left my clothes. As I hopped into jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, I heard a twig snap behind me. I spun around instantly, nose twitching, searching the tree line for predators. I scented nothing, but the overwhelming feeling of being watched was almost too much to take.

  Still, there seemed to be nothing there. I saw no glowing eyes, smelled no scents but those of the sequoias, and listened hard for heartbeats, hearing nothing but the wind as it whispered through the leaves. Prosper Creek was filled nearly to overflowing with snowmelt at this time of year but the sound of water rolling over its bed of river rocks held no secrets either. Oddly, I still felt eyes on me.

  I didn’t take the time to slip into my tennies. Instead, I ran around the front of the car, yanked the door open, and jumped into the driver’s seat, shoving the key into the ignition. Something with no scent was out there. I didn’t know what it was, but it was something I’d never encountered. I pulled the car out onto the road and hit the gas pedal with my bare foot, churning up a cloud of dust and gravel. I looked into the rearview mirror and confirmed there was nothing following me.

  Something had been there.

  I just knew it in my little bunny bones.

  Chapter One

  Prosper Woods Chronicle. Letters to the editor:

  “Last night I looked through my window and was almost certain I saw a racoon with yellow eyes staring at me as I bathed. I find it very disturbing that the townsfolk continue to put up with these pests as we groom sensitive areas. Someone should do something.” Signed, “A concerned shaver.”

  Romeo

  My first impression of Prosper Woods, California was that it was exactly as I’d hoped. As I drove my old pickup down main street, headed for the sheriff’s station, I passed a gas station, a local bar, and the general store. A man stood on the sidewalk outside the store, sweeping. He glanced up at me as I passed and instead of returning my friendly wave, he glared at me and huffed.

  Well then.

  I parked in front of a brick building and shut off my truck, looking through the windshield at the sign which read Prosper Woods Sheriff Station and smiled. It had taken me a long time to make the decision to leave Los Angeles which had been my home for the last thirty-two years. I sure hope I made the right one. I swung the door to my pickup open and stepped out, stretching my back and legs as my feet hit the asphalt.

  Prosper Woods, California is located in the great sequoia forests north of the twin national parks, Sequoia and Yosemite. It is a very small town—population 1,593 at the last census—and from the little I’d seen of it so far, the town has retained the feel of stepping back in time to another era. I had a feeling living here was going to be a life changing experience for me. I was excited.

  I reached into the bed of my truck and plucked my duffel from the back, turning as I heard a door squeak on hinges that sounded like they hadn’t been oiled in a good long while. When I glanced over, a woman stood there with her hands on her wide hips and to my relief, I was greeted with a smile. The screen door to the sheriff’s office banged shut behind her.

  “Hey there,” she said, “are you Romeo Harmon?”

  I grinned back at her, taking several steps toward her with an outstretched hand. “I am, but please call me Rome. You must be Sally?”

  “Sally Winters, your deputy.” She shook my hand with a strong grip as she craned her neck up to look me in the eye. “Tall drink of water, huh?”

  I smiled. I was taller than most men at six three but not as big as some of the guys I’d served with overseas. I let go of her hand with a short nod and her apple cheeks blushed bright red to match her hair.

  “Well, come on in. It’s a bit chilly out here and I just brewed a fresh pot.” She stepped aside with an elegant flourish of her hand toward the creaky screen door.

  I pulled the door open and stepped back like a gentleman, letting her walk past me into the warm office. It smelled of cinnamon orange potpourri and fresh coffee. I was grateful. My last cup had been nothing more than dregs from the ampm where I’d gassed up two hours before.

  “Are you used to the altitude?” Sally asked. “Most folks new to town find it a challenge until they get used to it. Pretty sure if you’re not used to i
t, it’ll take some time for you too, Sheriff. Anyway, let’s get that coffee.”

  I followed the little chatterbox to the back of the small station realizing that my new deputy didn’t really want me to answer her questions. I wondered whether she was the type who liked to hear herself talk just for the sake of it. We turned down a hallway and the coffee scent got stronger. She threw a smile over her shoulder as she stopped at an open door.

  “This is the breakroom,” she said. “Not much since it’s only you, me, and Precious most days. Dave comes in three days a week but that’ll be your call, obviously. He wants more hours but most of the time, Prosper Woods just isn’t a hub of crime if you know what I mean.” Sally grinned at me again and then turned, walking over to a cabinet, and pulling out a mug. She set it on the counter and reached for the pot, pouring me a cup, and then returning the pot to the burner. I gratefully accepted the brew from her hands as she gestured to a refrigerator which looked like a 1950s throwback.

  “Creamer and half and half are in there. We didn’t know what you’d want so Precious stocked up for you. She also brought these from home. She’s quite the baker. Doesn’t like chocolate for some reason but the general store carries the boxed brand if you like those.” Sally reached for a tin with brightly painted pictures of cookies on the outside.

  “I’m sorry. Precious is who?” I reached for a sugar cookie as Sally opened the tin for me. It smelled delicious as I bit into it.

  “Oh, sorry. Precious is our dispatcher. She does all our regular filing as well as handling the phones. She’s been with us about six months. Just sent her down to the post office to pick up mail and drop off bills. If we wait until Jedediah brings it around, it’ll take all day and I didn’t know how much you wanted to do today if anything. Maybe you just want to settle in and we’re fine with that.”