The Odds Maker

Love or survival? Sometimes, the answer is a lot

harder than it would seem.

One thing’s for certain—having the names

Wright, Justice, Salvation, Might and Defeat sucks,
big time. Not only does it make them the butt end
of jokes, but it also sounds like something a
romance writer with an overinflated ego would
name the characters of their books.

Then again, Subject 198′s children have little

choice in any matters, let alone their names. Bred
and  born  in  a  lab,  they’re  a  mutation  of  shifter
mixed  with  human.  They  are  also  the  last  secret
the  human  government  holds  about  the  shifter
world and their most dangerous weapon.

The last thing they need is for Wright to spot a

certain Wolf halfling—one that  is so cute,  Wright
doesn’t  even  notice  that  Wolf  walks  with  a  limp
and has worse asthma issues than a nerd from an
eighties  movie.  Finding  a  mate  is  something  his
owners have forbidden Wright from ever doing.

So just how does one go about leaving a branch

of the government that doesn’t allow anybody to
leave—that is unless they are in a body bag?

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this
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fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions,
and do not participate in or encourage the electronic
piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the
author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
places, and incidents either are products of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is
entirely coincidental.

The Odds Maker

Cover art by Martine Jardin

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the
reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in
part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden
without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books

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Author’s Note:

I have some good and bad news. The bad news is
that Braxton’s Salvation will be coming out on
December 1st instead of November 15th. I feel like
a donkey’s butt for letting you guys down. I was
just released from the hospital, yet again, due to
complications from exhaustion.

Fret not, however, I will have something for

you today. It will just be a small 5K release with a
portion going to the Ruth Ellis Center, which
many of you know is one of my favorite charities.

Normally, I would just give something like this

away  as  a  free  read—however  this  time  of  year,
the  Ruth  Ellis  needs  as  much  help  as  they  can.  I
don’t  need  to  tell  you  how  cold  the  Michigan
winters can get and we need to get these kids to a
warm, safe place.

I decided to give you a sneak peek into

Braxton’s and Wright’s story. It’s a scene that
would have been cut from the original, so it’s a
unique look. I hope you enjoy, and thank you.

Love,
Stephani

Chapter One

t said a lot that even though he was still stuck
with a stupid moniker like Wright, he’d

actually drawn the lucky stick when it came to
names. Wright was so just so wrong—hardy, har,
har—in so many ways.

If people weren’t asking him where his plane

was, they wanted to know if he had a twin named
wrong. That was humans for you—they just liked
to think they were so damn funny.

Little did they know there was very little in the

world that was humorous.

``No, the world was really hell, and heaven was

just a place for dreamers or the saps who actually
believed there might be a place where happiness
and peace could be found.

But back to the name thing. He had the

tendency to digress from time to time. His four
other siblings were all younger than him, and they
were Justice, Salvation, Defeat and Might, all of
them born in that same exact order.

Since Defeat was actually a girl, Wright might

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have felt bad for her, had she not been such a
hardass. Not only did she hold rank over him, but
she could obliterate all four of her brothers when
it came to weapons and hand-to-hand combat. Be
it because she was a Panther shifter and limber as
hell, or because she was just plain mean, she could
beat the snot out of most anything she came
across.

Wright doubted that even she would be able to

save them from their current predicament.

He was behind the wheel of a nice GTO. While

he should have been savoring the ride, instead, he
kept glancing into the review mirror.

Defeat reached over from the passenger side

and punched him in the arm—hard. “Keep your
damn eyes on the road and let me worry if we
have a tail or not.”

Wright hissed in pain. “Damn, for somebody

who is half-human, you sure hit hard.”

The last comment was uncalled for and almost

cruel. Especially since they were all very sensitive
about being half-human, let alone half shifter.
Stuck between both words, they didn’t belong in
either world.

“Stop it,” Justice sighed from the back seat. “In

case you’ve forgotten, we’re all the same type of
genetic freaks.”

A Tiger shifter with dark hair and sapphire

eyes, he was the most serious one of the bunch.

The Odds Maker

Might liked to joke that the only time Justice had
ever smiled was when Justice found out a new
Doctor Who was coming on.

Wright growled and looked once more into the

review  mirror,  only  this  time  it  was  to  glare  at
Justice.  “Thanks  for  filling  me  in  on  that  one,
Captain Obvious. I was beginning to wonder why
we  escaped  that  nice,  cozy  lab  and  were  running
from  the  military.  Here  I  thought  it  was  because
Might had tried to bring an underwear bomb onto
a city bus.”

“Fuck off,” Might snarled.
The comment might have actually come across

as mean had the Eagle shifter not been a blond
haired, blue eyed shrimp.

They all shared the same mother, subject 198.

but  they  had  different  fathers.  Not  that  it  really
mattered who in the fuck their parents were, since
they’d never met them. Since the beginning it had
only been the five of them against the world. Even
when  they  were  babies,  their  nannies  had  been
instructed  to  never  show  any  affection  or
attachment—or else. Wright never found out what
the  or else  entailed  for  the  woman,  but  he  would
bet it wasn’t a pleasant experience.

“Tell me again why we’re going to a shifter sex

club?”

Salvation

asked.

“Not that

I’m

complaining—it’s been so long since I’ve been
screwed my dick has dust on it.”

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Wright closed his eyes and slowly counted to

twenty. The third oldest, Salvation was by far the
least mature. With blond hair and brown eyes, he
was a rare Falcon shifter. Oops…make that half
Falcon, half human.

Defeat whipped her head around, her raven

hair  smacking  Wright  in  the  face.  “How  many
times do I have to tell you? We have a contact in
there  who  is  going  to  give  us  new  identification
papers. That way we will be able to blend into the
human  population.  We’re  going  to  be  in  and  out
of  the  club  quickly,  so  I  don’t  want  to  find  you
getting up close and grind-tastic with any guys in
there.”

Salvation wrinkled his nose. “Like I would

want anything to do with a full-blooded shifter.
That kind of thing is more Mouse’s kind of thing.”

Might curled his lip up. “Stop calling me by

that stupid nickname. I knew I should have never
let you watch the Cartoon Network.”

“You should have never let him watch TV,

period,” Wright groused. “You know how much
stuff like that can distract him.”

“Who said I’m distracted? I just like to have

fun. At least I’m not a bore like this one,” he
hooked a thumb in Justice’s direction.

Justice whipped out a butterfly knife. “Shove

that thing in my direction again and you’re going
to lose it.”

The Odds Maker

Wright let out a sigh as an ache built up in his

head. Just because Justice was the most sensible of
them all, didn’t mean he was any less violent or
deadly. He just usually needed a reason before
killing.

“All of you knock it off before I beat your heads

in,” Defeat snapped.

The three highly-trained killing machines who

were crammed into the back seat of the car
immediately sobered up and dipped their heads in
respect. “Yes, Defeat.”

She ran a hand through her hair. “Damn, I love

you all, but sometimes I could just kill you.”

Wright found himself nodding in agreement.

Even  though  he  knew  they  would  never  actually
go  through  with  it,  things  would  be  much  easier
had it just been he and Defeat.

He pulled up to the sex club. The outside

wasn’t  too  impressive.  It  looked  small,  slightly
rundown  and  past  its  prime.  The  only  thing  that
indicated  that  it  was  high-end  was  the  long  line
outside and the bouncer guarding the door.

“What if they smell the human on us?” Might

asked as he nibbled nervously on his bottom lip.

Wright parked the car and turned it off. “Have

they ever been able to smell it on us?”

“No, but there could always be a first time. It

would suck if that time were to happen in the
middle of a club full of the bastards,” Might

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worried.

Might’s fears were valid. The one thing their

trainers had always told them was that shifters
hated half-breeds, and if they were ever
discovered they would be culled quicker than one
could say please—or meow, for that matter.

Or perhaps, since Wright was a Wolf, the better

word would be wolf.

“They can’t smell it on us because the bastards

are too arrogant to suspect that their precious gene
pool could ever mix with humans,” Defeat said as
she got out. “If they ever detect any human on us
they probably think it’s only because we’ve been
hanging out in public too much.”

Wright agreed that she had a point there. That

still didn’t stop him from arming up a bit before
they headed to the door. Defeat led them straight
to the bouncer.

“Keevar is expecting me,” she told the burly

man.

When the shifter stepped to the side and let

them  in  without  a  word,  Wright  was  once  again
amazed  at  his  sister’s  skills.  She  was  sometimes
scary  when  it  came  to  stuff  like  that.  She  had  a
way  about  her  that  made  people  feel  like  they’d
better obey or else. Hell, she could probably even
order  Republicans  and  Democrats  to  get  along  if
she set her mind to it.

Once they walked inside, the sex club looked

The Odds Maker

exactly like Wright had imagined. All around the
large open area, shifters were in various stages of
foreplay or fucking. Some of them were in the
booths that lined the walls, a few on the dance
floor, and there was even a trio going at it against
a wall.

“I like this place,” Might cooed with a wicked

grin.

Savior rolled his eyes. “Shocker!”
A big muscle bound guy crooked his finger at

Might. The Eagle took a few steps forward before
he stopped and shot Defeat a pleading look. She
let out a relenting sigh. “Fine, Keevar, did say that
he wanted to talk to me alone since he doesn’t
trust or know you guys.”

The fact that she was letting Might slide on this

one  wasn’t  a  shock.  She  always  did  have  a
tendency  to  spoil  the  youngest  sibling.  Might
waltzed  up  to  the  bigger  man,  who  grabbed  him
by  the  front  of  his  shirt  and  led  him  to  the  back
rooms.

“How come he gets to get lucky and we don’t?”

Justice pointed out, reasonably.

“Because he won’t cause a scene like Salvation

will. The last time I gave you free rein, I found you
on top of the bar screwing two twinks.”

“You won’t have to worry about that

happening here,” Salvation sneered. “That one
time was with humans. I wouldn’t touch a shifter

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if my life depended on it.”

“That still doesn’t mean I don’t have that image

you and the bar guys imprinted on my brain,”
Wright agreed with a shudder.

“So what are we supposed to do while you talk

to this Keevlar? If you think we’re going to take
off and leave you alone with him, you’re wrong,”
Justice spoke up.

Defeat cocked one finely arched black brow.

“Do you doubt my ability to defend myself?”

Justice met her gaze. “No, but you’re still my

sister and I’m protective of you. I don’t care if you
like it or not.”

The corner of her lips twitched liked she was

trying to hold back a smile, be it because
somebody finally dared to speak up, or because
Justice was coming out of his self-imposed prison.

“Okay, stay close to the office. Just pick some

booths, spread out and pretend you’re here for a
drink,” she comprised.

Salvation gave a look of disgust to the room. “I

don’t think anybody comes here for dinks.”

She gave him a mocking pat on the cheek. “Just

try to pretend for me.”

With those parting words, she went to the back

office and entered. Left with no other option, the
brothers did as ordered. They separated and tried
to make themselves as inconspicuous as possible.

Wright still couldn’t shake the gut feeling that

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Two

right gave the closed office door one last
worried glance before he turned away and

headed for the bar. There was only one other
shifter sitting there.

The man—or perhaps better term would be kid

since he barely looked legal—had brown hair and
was scrawny as could be. Usually, Wright
wouldn’t give that kind of man a second look, but
for some reason the shifter intrigued him.

Gone were all the worries about Defeat and her

stubbornness, Might and his sluttiness, Salvation
and his mouth, Justice and his shell. All that
mattered was getting to know that small shifter.

Wright gave a shake of his head. He had no

right  even  thinking  about  meeting  somebody,  let
alone hooking up with a guy. He should keep his
mind  on  their  safety  and  nothing  else.  While  he
might  be  second-in-command,  he  was  the  oldest
and felt a responsibility to them all.

Then the smaller shifter glanced over at him

The Odds Maker

and Wright forgot how to breathe, let alone think.
The  man’s  brown  eyes  held  such  sadness  and
hopelessness in them, yet they were still sexy—so
much  so,  that  Wright  found  himself  walking
toward  the  other  shifter  before  he  even  realized
what  he was doing. He even ran a hand through
his dirty blond hair in a nervous gesture.

“My name is Wright,” he offered.
He knew it was a huge mistake to use his real

name, but he found that he didn’t want to deceive
the other man at all. Which was stupid. After the
night  was  over,  Wright  would  never  see  the  kid
again,  A  thought  that  made  Wright  much  sadder
than it should have.

“I’m Braxton,” the kid replied.
“What are you drinking?”
Wright winced as soon as the words were out

of his mouth. He could have thought of at least a
thousand other better pick-up lines than that one.
Braxton still smiled, though.

And what a smile it was. All bright and

adorable, it seemed to light up the dingy bar. The
kid even had dimples.

“Just some cola,” Braxton replied.
“Please, tell me that it’s because you don’t like

the hard stuff and not because you’re underage,”
Wright blurted.

A heat came over Braxton’s face. “I’m perfectly

legal. I know I may look small because I’m weak

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and shit, but you don’t need to rub it in.”

As Braxton spat those words out, he ran a hand

over his leg in an absent-mannered way. It made
Wright aware of two things—Braxton was injured
there, probably permanently, and he was very
self-conscious about it.

Reaching out, Wright brushed Braxton’s hand

away. He then gave the shifter’s leg a gentle
squeeze. “Things like that don’t matter to me at
all.”

Braxton looked anything but convinced. “You’d

be the first one who thought that way.”

“Yeah, well maybe that’s because I’m not

exactly perfect myself.”

Wright winced as soon as he blurted that out.

He’d  only  known  Braxton  a  few  minutes  and
Wright  already  spilled  two  of  his  biggest  secrets.
What  was  it  about  the  little  shifter  that  made
Wright become such a trusting fool?

Braxton gave him a cold smile. “If that’s the

case, then why don’t you take me back to the
rooms so we can have some fun?”

Form the hurt look in his eyes, Braxton had no

doubts that Wright would refuse him. Well, the
shifter was in for one hell of a surprise. Wright
grabbed him by the arm and all but dragged him
to the back.

Braxton dug in his heels. “I was just kidding.”
“Too bad, because I wasn’t.”

The Odds Maker

Wright slowed down his pace when he noticed

that Braxton had a pronounced limp, making it
harder for him to keep up. As soon as he found a
free booth, Wright pulled Braxton in, then shut the
curtain behind them.

Spinning Braxton around, Wright pinned the

smaller man to the wall. Braxton’s eyes were wide,
his  color  pale  and  his  lips  parted,  but  it  wasn’t
from  fear.  The  smell  of  arousal  rolling  from  the
other  man  was  so  strong,  Wright  could  almost
taste it.

“I really shouldn’t be doing this,” Braxton

confessed.

“If you didn’t want this, then why are you at a

sex club in the first place?” Wright reached out
and slowly began to undo Braxton’s fly.

Braxton’s breath hitched, but he didn’t fight the

move. “M…my…friends dragged me here.”

Lowering the zipper, Wright asked, “Why?”
“They think I need to get out more.”
Reaching in, Wright grabbed Braxton’s cock.

Wow, it would seem there was at least one thing
that was big about the shifter.

“Then why were you sitting by yourself at the

bar?” Wright cooed as he began to slowly stroke
Braxton off.

Braxton let out a sound that was halfway

between a shout and a gasp of pleasure. “They
found some guys, so I told them to go play.”

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“That wasn’t nice of them, to leave you alone

like that. It’s a good thing I was there to help you
out.”

Using his free hand, Wright undid his own fly

and then pulled out his cock, too. It wasn’t easy,
but he managed to wrap his hand around both of
them. Using slow even movements, he began to
stroke them both off.

Braxton’s hand shot out and grabbed Wright’s

shoulders, but the move was to bring him in
closer, not to push him away.

“Why are you doing this with me?” Braxton

asked.

Wright gave a pointed look down at both of

their cocks, which were hard and leaking pre-cum.
“I thought the reason was pretty obvious. I want
you and you seem to want me pretty bad, too.”

“But…” Braxton let out another gasp of

pleasure. “You could have any guy you wanted.
You are hot.”

“I don’t want anybody else but you and I’m just

okay.”

Braxton dug his fingers in so hard it hurt. “Are

you kidding? You look just like Ryan Reynolds,
only more muscular.”

“Since I don’t know what Ryan looks like, I’ll

take that as a compliment.”

Braxton began to thrust his hips in time with

Wright’s strokes. “How can you not know him?

The Odds Maker

He’s like one of the biggest actors out there.”

Thankfully this time, Braxton didn’t seem

capable  of  asking  more  questions.  His  breaths
were  beginning  to  come  quicker  as  he  let  out  a
series of groans. Then a blush covered his face and
he  bit  his  bottom  lip.  Wright  laughed  over  the
sudden show of bashfulness.

“No reason to be shy, little Wolf,” Wright

cooed. “Do you hear that noise from the room next
to us?”

Braxton cocked his head to the side as cries as

pleasure from next door filled the air.

“Yeah, just like that,” a man moaned.
“Enough talking already. Just fuck me and

make me scream already. I’m trying to get off
here, not film a porn,” Might snapped.

“Oh, my god,” Braxton whispered. “They’re so

loud, and kind of mean.”

“That’s my brother for you. He never holds

anything back.”

“Doesn’t it bother you?”
Wright shrugged before he began to stroke

them off at a faster pace. “Nothing he does
anymore shocks me. I’ve become numb to his shit.
Now, I want you to forget about them and think
about us again, my Wolf.”

“How…ah fuck…did you know I’m a Wolf?”
That question seemed odd and should have set

off a whole slew of alarm bells, but Wright was

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beginning to get lost in his own passion. “I could
smell it on you. Just like you can smell the Wolf in
me.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s…”
Braxton trailed off, gave one last jerk, then shot

off, his hot spunk covering Wright’s hands. At the
same time, Braxton rolled his head against the
wall, the look of bliss so pure and unabashed it
had to be the most beautiful thing Wright had ever
seen.

Gods, what I would give to be able to keep him. To

have a real future instead of running around all the

time. To be normal instead of some kind of freak.

Before Wright could feel too sorry for him,

Braxton  batted  his  hand  away.  Then  the  Wolf
began to jack Wright off. Wright arched his back, a
loud  cry  spilling  from  his  lips.  He  was  sure  that
Might  would  give  him  hell  for  it  later  on,  but
damned if Wright cared, not when it felt so good
to have Braxton touching him.

“You’re so big,” Braxton breathed, pleasure

sparkling in his eyes.

The look of awe made Braxton all the more

appealing. His tongue darted out to lick his lips as
his eyes grew wider. It was almost as if he’d never
seen another man’s dick before, which was
impossible. There was no way in hell that a guy as
sexy and sweet as Braxton didn’t have men
fighting over him.

The Odds Maker

Just the thought of another person touching

Braxton made Wright want to howl in anger. A
new emotion filled him—jealousy. It was
something he didn’t experience often, but damned
if that wasn’t making him see red at the moment.

“You feel so smooth,” Braxton whispered.
Okay, that did it for him. Letting out another

loud cry, Wright shot off, making a huge ass mess
all over Braxton’s hand.

Wright only paused a moment before he

dropped to his knees. Taking Braxton’s hand,
Wright gently licked it clean before moving on to
his own hand. He even took the time to gently lap
at Braxton’s cock, removing all traces of cum.

Then, just as Wright was reaching out to zip up

Braxton’s fly, it hit him. It was so subtle that had
Wright not tasted it in the man’s cum he would
have missed it.

Braxton was a half-breed, too.

Stephani Hecht

Chapter Three

umping to his feet, Wright grabbed Braxton by
the front of the shirt and slammed him into the

wall. “Who sent you?”

Braxton let out a small sound of surprise.

“What are you talking about? I told you I just
came here with some friends, for some fun.”

“Don’t play coy with me. Don’t think I didn’t

detect you’re half human.”

“You can tell that?” Braxton asked, his face

growing pale.

It didn’t pass Wright’s notice that Braxton

didn’t try to deny the truth.

“Yes, I would have scented it sooner had it not

been for the stench of all the other shifters in
here,” Wright snapped.

“Then how did you figure it out now?” Braxton

asked. He then dropped his gaze to their hands
and understanding dawned in his eyes.
“Oh…well, that’s kind of weird and gross.”

Wright gave him a jerk. “Stop joking around. I

want to know who in the hell sent you and how

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long we have before the others show up to capture
us.”

Braxton gave a vehement shake of his head. “I

honestly have no idea what in the hell you’re
talking about. I swear. Are you half human, too?”

Wright gave a bitter laugh. “As if you already

didn’t know that one. Do I look stupid to you?”

When Braxton paused too long to answer that

one, it earned him another shake.

“Will you stop doing that?” Braxton demanded.

“I’m a Wolf, not a martini shaker. Besides, you can
get as mad as you want, but it’s kind of hard to
take you serious with your dick hanging out like
that.”

Wright hated to admit it, but the brat did have a

point there. Besides, if he let go and Braxton made
a  run  for  it,  it  wasn’t  likely  the  Wolf  would  get
very far—not with his limp. Now that he thought
more  carefully  about  it,  Wright  wondered  if
Braxton got it from creators or if he was one of the
ones  who  had  been  born  defective.  Both  options
were valid possibilities.

After zipping himself up, Wright grabbed

Braxton again. “Okay, now tell me who sent you?”

Braxton gave a shrug. “Nobody did. Why

would they? I’m just an asthmatic Halfling. I’m a
nobody.”

“So you’re actually trying to tell me that you

aren’t from the lab? Do you think I’m that

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gullible?”

“I don’t know anything about a lab. I was just

born this way. Until now, I didn’t even think there
were that many of us around. In fact, we’re the
only ones in our pack.”

“You keep saying we—does that mean there are

more of you?”

Braxton’s eyes grew stormy, making him look

dangerous for the first time ever. “If you think I’m
going to tell you anything about them, you can
just shove it. I’ll die first.”

The stone cold look on Braxton’s face screamed

that  he  meant  that.  It  would  seem  that  Wright
wasn’t  the  only  one  who  was  protective  of  his
family.

“I swear, I have no idea what you’re talking

about,” Braxton continued. “Nobody sent me here.
Up until recently, I wasn’t even a part of society,
let alone a pack. Our parent kept us pretty
secluded.”

That would go a long way to explain a lot of

things. All of a sudden, Wright felt like the biggest
ass in the world. Leaning down, he gently brushed
their lips together.

At first Braxton jerked back, no doubt still a bit

pissed. But soon enough he had his arms wrapped
around  Wright’s  neck  and  was  returning  the
passion  and  then  some.  Braxton  even  slipped  his
tongue out.  He  let out  a  whimper  of  shock,  most

The Odds Maker

likely from tasting the combined flavor of their
cum. From the sounds of it, he liked it, too.

After they broke apart, Wright buried his nose

in the crook of Braxton’s neck. That way he could
get a really good whiff without the other scents of
the club getting in the way.

Braxton was telling the truth. He was just some

innocent sap who had no clue to just what kind of
danger he really was in.

Wright stepped back and grabbed Braxton by

the front of the shoulders, only this time his hold
was urgent rather than angry. “We need to get out
of here, now!”

Braxton shot off the cutest are-you-fucking-me

look. “I told already told you, I came with my
friends. I can’t just ditch them. It would be rude.”

Rude? They had they entire US government on

their  collective  tails  and  Braxton  was  worried
about  manners?  If  the  situation  hadn’t  been  so
fucked up, Wright might have laughed. As it was,
he  just  wanted  to  toss  Braxton  over  his  shoulder
and run.

“They’re going to want you, too,” Wright

insisted.

“Who, and why?”
Wright ignored the first question—there would

be plenty of time to fill Braxton in on that later. He
just needed to get the kid to safety first.

The sounds of screams followed by the telltale

Stephani Hecht

barking voices of soldiers told Wright they’d run
out of time.

His earpiece cracked to life, Defeat’s voice

sounding through, “There’s been a breech.
Everybody evacuate and meet at the rendezvous
point. ASAP.”

Wright tried to key up his own mic, but got no

response from her, no doubt because she was too
busy fighting her way out. Letting out a low curse,
Wright grabbed Braxton by the wrist and led him
out.

“You need to go with me, now!” he ordered.

“We can find some place to lay low before we
move on to someplace safer. Then we can leave
this town behind us.”

Of course, Braxton had to balk. “I can’t. My

friends, pack and family need me.”

Wright stopped and gave Braxton a hard stare.

“Don’t you get it? These guys would love nothing
more than to get you. Once they do, it’s not going
to be pretty, either.”

The crowed swelled as everybody rushed to the

door. Even though Wright held on tight, he
became separated from Braxton.

Scanning the room, he saw Braxton across the

way. He was with a bunch of shifters who looked
to be around the same size as him. They ran to the
door, Braxton pausing long enough to look over
his shoulder at Wright.

The Odds Maker

Salvation ran over and jerked Wright by the

arm. “What in the hell are you doing? We need to
get out of here before we get darts in our asses and
end up back in the lab.”

Wright hesitated for the first time wanting

something more than just his family.

“What in the hell is going on with you?”

Salvation asked, his brows furrowing.

“I think I just found my mate,” Wright

admitted in a shocked tone.

“You picked a hell of a time for that to happen.

Okay, then. Grab him and let’s go.”

“I can’t.”
Salvation let out a sigh. “Why not?”
“He just ran away from me.”
The corners of Salvation’s lips twitched. “I’m

going to laugh my ass off about that one, but not
until later. Right now, we need to leave this bar
and this town.”

Wright nodded his agreement. He would

leave…for now. But as soon as it was safe, he
would be coming back for Braxton and this time
nothing would stop him from claiming the man.

If there was one thing Wright was, it was

patient. Braxton was his—the Little Wolf just
didn’t realize it yet.

Turning, Wright ran out of the bar and into the

darkness, all the while, his heart aching for
Braxton.

About the Author

Stephani  Hecht  is  a  happily  married  mother  of
two.  Born  and  raised  in  Michigan,  she  loves  all
things  about  the  state,  from  the  frigid  winters  to
the  Detroit  Red  Wings  hockey  team.  You  can
usually  find  her  snuggled  up  to  her  laptop,
creating her next book.

Contact her at:
Email Address:archangelwriter@yahoo.com

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StephaniHecht

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Blog:
http://stephanihechtauthor.blogspot.com