Helping

  The Prince Ascending Series, Book 1

  There I was, driving into my parking garage, when my entire world changed. I nearly ran over the girl as she lay bleeding in the filthy alley. The lovely little lass had been set upon by a werewolf. My WORST enemy in the pack, no less.

  I might have a wild Irish temper from my days growing up in Dublin, but my werewolf one is worse. That bugger is going to pay for what he did to Alanna, one way, or the other.

  Yet strangely enough, his vile actions have a silver lining, for the girl is perfection, inside and out. I've envied the leader of the werewolf hunt Michael the hot passion he has with his gorgeous partner Celeste. At last, I might be that lucky myself, as I help Alanna cope with her shifting day and night.

  The trouble is, she's in such turmoil after her change, I don't know if she's going to kiss me, or kill me.... And I certainly never knew I could be so primal in the lust I feel for her.

  As I help stabilize Alanna's fearsome powers and get ready to introduce her to the rest of our pack, the big question is: will she want to become the mate of one of the other werewolves? Or can I convince her I'm the only Alpha male she'll ever need, in bed and out?

  Sensuality Rating

  The story contains some topics, thoughts and language.

  About the Author

  Kelsey Carter is a paranormal romance writer, and the author of the Reconnected series of novels, The Alpha Ascending Series, The Hawk Ascending Series, The Bear Ascending Series, The Justice Ascending Series and The Prince Ascending Series. In her spare time, she works with a range of charities, including animal rescue.

  About the Prince Ascending Series

  Irish werewolf Fergus's life is turned upside down when he rescues Alanna from a dark alley after she's been turned. That one act sets them on the most shocking path of mystery and adventure as he moves ever closer to his destiny: to become the prince of his clan.

  Note about Cliff-hangers

  This is a series of 4 books, with a cliff-hanger ending in each of the first three, and a stunning conclusion to the series at the end of the fourth. Readers who are not fond of cliff-hangers can read at their own discretion.

  Helping

  The Prince Ascending Series, Book 1

  Kelsey Carter

  HerStory Books

  COPYRIGHT 2022 by the author.

  All rights reserved.

  Published by HerStory Books

  New York, NY 10011

  Please visit HerStory Books, https://herstorybooks.net for the latest titles, newsletter with free books, and more.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  Note:

  This is a stand-alone series, but for fans of Kelsey Carter, it begins chronologically between The Bear Ascending and Justice Ascending Series, and takes place in the world first created in The Reconnected Series. Enjoy visiting the werewolf pack (again), and meeting more magical beings.

  CHAPTER 1

  Man, was I tired. The pull of the full moon rising was luring me to the woods, but between work and the grind of daily life, I couldn't wait to get home to collapse in my flat. Talk about a party-pooing werewolf.

  Bed. I couldn't wait.

  But it sure would have been nice to have someone in it with me....

  Not even for the sex, though it sure would have been awesome. No, even a cuddle would have been great at that point.

  But being a werewolf makes relationships complicated at the best of times, let alone having to explain you need to go on 'business trips' every month for several days. And come home filthy, exhausted, and totally shagged out from doing the wild thing so much if the females of the pack proved eager and willing, which they often were, and I couldn't resist the powerful mating instinct of our kind.

  I tried to be a gentleman about the whole thing in my human and in my werewolf form, and not take advantage. Consent all the way. On BOTH sides, for some of the females in our pack were simply NOT my type.

  Tiffany was a complete fluff-brain, as plastic as a Barbie doll, and just as smart. She wrapped herself around me like a vine every time I saw her. Or was that an octopus with lots of sucking. I would usually pretend I saw something juicy to hunt for dinner, and run the other way.

  Martha was ALWAYS up for sex, but I liked my women a bit more hard to get. And a little less like a horny NFL linebacker when she decided to tackle you for a boink.

  Fortunately, the other unattached males of our pack were more than willing to romp in the woods with the females for 5 days and nights straight. But I have a real life, a good business now, thanks to the leaders of my werewolf pack, and, surprisingly, a sudden longing to settle down and enjoy the comforts of a nice home with a good, though not TOO good, woman.

  Be careful what you wish for, Fergus, popped into my head as I turned down the alley leading to the entrance to my garage. The place always stank like piss and bleach, which my heightened werewolf sense of smell found really offensive.

  But tonight, blood was in the air, and worst of all, the piss was from someone I knew all too well, but wished the hell I didn't....

  A movement out of the corner of my eye stopped me in the nick of time, just before I ran the poor girl over. I finally spotted the black hair, clothes, the river of red pooling under her left shoulder.

  DAMN. I hit the speed dial to call my Alpha at once. This was BIG trouble I was never going to be able to handle on my own.

  "Artem? I need emergency care and blood. A girl's been bitten."

  "What the--"

  "You'll see and smell it when you get here. I need to get her out of this filthy alley now before anyone sees her and starts asking questions."

  "The cavalry are coming. Fifteen minutes. Leave your door open."

  "And, um, fresh clothes please, if your wife doesn't mind. And if one of her sisters is coming, a, well, a rape kit."

  He swore under his breath. "A doc will be there in an hour tops. Do NOT take off her clothes or wash her, even if she begs you to."

  "I won't. Nate's told me enough about his days on the force for me to know. See youse soon."

  The girl had by now crawled up to the car and planted one bloodied hand on the window. It was brave of her considering she couldn't possibly know if I might be even worse than the foul bastard who had attacked her.

  But she might already be turning werewolf enough to the point where she would try to put the bite on ANYONE in order to feed. Or she could be nearly dead if she'd lost blood faster than the change could take her. Which was a pity, for she'd barely started to live her life, I guessed as I took in her petal-soft skin, wrinkle-free, her wide-eyed innocence.

  If she was already turning, well, the poor thing. The instinct to get blood no matter what screamed through you when you first transformed, a craving the likes of which I'd never encountered until I'd been attacked myself about a year before.

  I suppose the closest I could describe the sensation was what some of my old friends had told me about their craving for heroin, no matter how hard they tried to kick the habit.

  I opened the door carefully so I didn't knock her flat, and picked her up. She was tiny in my arms, delicately boned. She seemed exhausted, maybe even on the brink of death.

  But looks could be deceptive. She immediately went for my neck.

  I snarled at her. In my sternest tone, I said, "You are a mere child. I am your Alpha. I will protect you, but you do NOT bite and feed on anything other than game animals like deer or moose from now on, do you hear?! And only during the full moon."

  She closed her mouth and went limp in my arms, sobbing.

  I pulled the car key out of the ignition, shut the door, and hit the fob to lock it. I could move the vehicle later, once she was being take care of by the Emergency Werewolf Team, or EWT, as we had taken to calling them.

  I got a better grip on the wee lass and began to carry her towards the garage elevator that led to the upper floors of my apartment building.

  "My God, what's happened to me?" she wept.

  "You've been bitten by a werewolf and are starting to shift shape. It's hard at first, I know. I wasn't turned all that long ago myself. But we have a good pack here. You'll be welcome, once you get over the ordeal and feel safe enough and brave enough to come out with us.

  "No pressure, though. I'll keep you fed for as long as it takes until you're ready to join in the hunt and hang with the others."

  "Thank you. I thought I was crazy. One minute he was trying to, um--" She gulped. "And the next, he bit me in the shoulder, pissed all over me, and stormed away."

  "You did so well fighting him off."

  She sighed. "Plenty of practice, sadly. At least in recent days. The knee in the nuts will usually work once, maybe twice. Then you have to get creative."

  "Oh, girl, what the hell?"

  "Long story."

  "So your attacker tonight didn't manage to, erm--"

  "No, thank God," she said vehemently. "I didn't come all the way to Montana to escape one pervert only to be raped by another. I'm still a virgin, just."

  "Rare as hen's teeth, in my experience," I dared to joke. "Good for you."

  The elevator door dinged open. I put my key into the slot for the 7th floor, turned it, and hit the button. Then I cradled her against me, and finally got a look at her in the blaring overhead light.

  My God, she was perfection, in spite of everything that she'd been through. Jet black hair, pearl white skin, lapis blue eyes that looked aged before their time.

  "How old are you, girl?" I gasped, horrified at my suspicions, and the massive erection that leapt to attention the moment I saw her face.

  "I just turned 21. The bouncer and the bartender both carded me."

  "Wow. Apart from the eyes, I wouldn't put you above 18."

  "Thanks, I think."

  "And why are you here?" I asked as the door pinged open. I pulled out my elevator key and carried her down the hall to my corner flat. Apartment, Americans called it.

  "New job. Supposed to be starting on Monday, at Apex Insurance. Now look at me! I can't turn up at work like this and wanting to go for people's jugulars!" She started to sob again.

  "Easy now. One step at a time. Where are you living?"

  "That grungy motel next to the IHOP, until I can afford better."

  "Ah, yes, the place that rents rooms in 15-minute increments. Lovely," I grumbled.

  "I didn't know to start with, I swear. And it's not like I can afford much better until my first paycheck comes through. Even then, it's going to be a bit tight. I do have my own car, though, and it's still packed with most of my stuff."

  "Where is it now? You didn't drive to that bar, did you?"

  She shook her head. "I would NEVER drink and drive. No, the reason I'm here wasn't the bar, really. The fact is, I've parked here in the garage of this building because it looked, well, safe compared to the motel lot. You have good security on this block. The building is new. Not a lot of tenants, so plenty of empty spaces for me to choose from without someone towing me. I had hoped to keep my things here until I could get a bit more settled and get together a deposit for an apartment."

  "Yes, the security IS good, and the flats here are affordable. It was an old office building they've renovated. I just moved in myself about a month ago. I love the quiet. There's like one other person on this floor and she's a crazy cat lady, not a party animal."

  Though the cats might go even MORE nuts with more werewolves in the building….

  I put her feet down long enough to dig the keys out of my pocket, unlocked the door, then picked her up again and brought her straight into the guest bedroom on the left.

  I yanked down to the foot of the bed the star-patterned coverlet. I had been given it by my Alpha Artem and his Cheyenne wife Jaci as a housewarming present. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, until now....

  "What's your name, lass?" I asked as I laid her down on the clean sheets.

  "Alanna, Alanna McGrath."

  "I'm Fergus, Fergus McNally, and yes, I AM a werewolf too. Turned last year, and lucky enough to find my way here to this wilderness. Well, the forests just outside town, anyway.

  "I've put a call in to the Alpha of my local pack, Artem Bradford. He will no doubt tell the leader of the werewolf hunt, Michael, what's happened to you. They'll get a team together to patch you up and feed you. There's no need to go to the hospital and have people ask awkward questions."

  "Oh, wow, thank you. I mean, I have no idea what the hell I could have said that wouldn't have sounded like I'd escaped from a mental home. Except I've lost a lot of blood, I think."

  "The prick who did this to you turned you on purpose. He didn't let you bleed out. Fancied you, did he?" I said gruffly, sounding even to my own ears like the big bad wolf.

  "Oh, er, yes. Oh God, does that mean he wants to come back for me?"

  I nodded grimly. "To claim you once his balls aren't up in the roof of his mouth. Hence the peeing on you."

  "Oh God, what do I do? This was supposed to be a fresh start. Now you're telling me my life is over?" she wept, turning her face into the pillow.

  I dared to sit at the edge of the bed and smooth back the tumbled hair from her lovely face.

  "No, Alanna, I SWEAR, it will NEVER come to that, all right? I give you my word, and I'll even swear on the Bible, the way we Irish Catholics tend to."

  She giggled suddenly.

  I frowned. "What?"

  "I was just trying to picture a werewolf in church."

  "Oh, um, yes. A bit lapsed now that I'm living the way of the wolf. And a bit before. Young, dumb, and full of cum, that's what they would say about us young Irishmen when we first start feeling the stirrings of desire. I'll just say I was an eejit and have done with it."

  She smiled slightly. "Eejit? My gran used to say that. Idiot, right?"

  "Great. I don't have to translate everything for you the way I have to with the rest of the pack."

  "Ah yes, I've heard all about rubbers where you come from."

  I felt myself blushing. "Aye, pencil erasers, not condoms. And biscuits for cookies."

  "Yum. And Irish soda bread. Sweet with raisins, or savory with those, um, little seeds."

  "Caraway."

  "Gesundheit."

  I chuckled. "Man, you're resilient. Worst night of your life, and you're making jokes."

  She shrugged her good shoulder. "I don't really have much choice. I wanted a new life. Now you're telling me I'm most certainly going to have one. For the rest of my life."

  "Well, five days a month for the rest of your life. And really only the night of the full moon to maintain the powers in you now. The five-day period is coming soon, which includes the waxing moon leading up to it, then the waning moon leading away from it.

  "I know it's a shock, but at least you're alive, and this is actually pretty much the full moon period now. I can feel myself hankering to go and hunt, though I'm not out there because I'm knackered from work. You need it more than I do at this point. The light of the moon will help you heal a lot faster and have better senses, co-ordination and more, if you just accept it without trying to fight it. Superpowers, to a certain extent."

  If anything, she looked even more miserable. Odd, that. A lot of young people grew delighted at the prospect, once they knew what had hit them, of course. They all wanted to be a hero out of a Marvel comic these days. Eejits.

  "It also means shifting will be within your control, especially if you get emotional. The last thing you would want was wolfie PMS when you went into the ice cream store to drown your sorrows with a banana split."

  She stared at me, wide-eyed. "Oh my God, have you been spying on me or something?" she gasped, clearly scared, and angry too.

  I shook my head quickly. "No, of course not. I've never seen you before in my life. I would remember if I had, believe me. No, I can smell the banana and chocolate on you, silly. Great wolfie sense of smell.

  "It's also how I know who did this to you. Wolves aren't much different from dogs. They pee to mark their territory. Believe me, he's going to pay when I get hold of him."

  She continued to stare at me. "Why? You don't owe me anything. I'm not your girlfriend or sister."

  "No, but I did save you, and you've been treated badly. Most of the males in our pack may be a bit over the top in terms of protectiveness and, well, bossiness, but we also try to be, um, gentlemanly. Not take advantage."

  She giggled. "A gentleman werewolf. Or is it a werewolf gentleman?"

  "Whichever you prefer. But it's not just me. Michael expressly forbids us to ever turn ANYONE without his permission, and it's only ever given for a very good reason, like saving that person's life. That gob-shite had NO such permission, I can tell you that as fact. Which means if I don't make him pay, Michael surely will. Or Artem, the Alpha of our pack. Big, fierce, runs a tight ship. He is seriously pissed, I can tell you."

  "Oh, God, I don't anyone to commit murder on my behalf," she said, the tears rolling down her cheeks. "Please don't eat him."

  "No, of course not. We're werewolves, not cannibals. I just mean he'll no longer be welcome in the pack. It's a shocking thing for him to have done, break every rule of Artem's, when he's supposed to be third in command of the pack.

  "No, he's going to lose his place in the pecking order for sure, and most likely in the whole of the pack, because we couldn't have the two of you together in it, not after what he's done to you, poor thing. We can NEVER trust him around you again."

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9