Destined Predator
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FROM POPULAR AUTHOR OF LGBT+ ROMANCE BAILEY BRADFORD
Book two in the Wild Ones series
Never in his wildest dreams.
Rhett Tucker, a rough, tough, meat-and-potatoes Wyoming rancher, has just about accepted that shifters exist. His little brother Jack is now mated to one, Ben, whose family are the only coywolf—wolf-coyote hybrids—shifters in existence.
Rhett's also accepted the fact that he's gay, even if he's never been with a guy. What he can't deal with is Ben's big brother, the swaggering, dominating, permanently smirking Casey. The head of the Akers pack might be their alpha, but he's not Rhett's and never will be.
Casey has never met a challenge he didn't leap at, and he sure wants to jump the handsome rancher's bones. He sees that under all the bluster, Rhett yearns to submit, and Casey's more than happy to fulfil Rhett's needs...when the stubborn man's ready to admit to them.
But when both humans and coywolves are under attack, there's no time for Rhett and Casey to do anything but join forces to find out if the inter-shifter battles are starting up again, or if the pack and the Double T Ranch are facing a new and deadly enemy.
One thing's for sure—any relationship between Rhett and Casey is gonna be wild.
Bailey Bradford
A native Texan, Bailey spends her days spinning stories around in her head, which has contributed to more than one incident of tripping over her own feet. Evenings are reserved for pounding away at the keyboard, as are early morning hours. Sleep? Doesn't happen much. Writing is too much fun, and there are too many characters bouncing about, tapping on Bailey's brain demanding to be let out. Caffeine and chocolate are permanent fixtures in Bailey's office and are never far from hand at any given time. Removing either of those necessities from Bailey's presence can result in what is known as A Very, Very Scary Bailey and is not advised under any circumstances.
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Destined Predator - Bailey Bradford
Pride Publishing books by Bailey Bradford
Single Books
Breaking the Devil
Dark Nights and Headlights
Texas and Tarantulas
Belt Buckles and Cowboy Boots
Something Shattered
Yes, Forever
The Jasper Soul
Southwestern Shifters
Rescued
Relentless
Reckless
Rendered
Resilience
Reverence
Revolution
Revenge
Reluctance
Renounced
Retrograde
Southern Spirits
A Subtle Breeze
When the Dead Speak
All of the Voices
Wait Until Dawn
Aftermath
What Remains
Ascension
Whirlwind
Love in Xxchange
Rory’s Last Chance
Miles To Go
Bend
What Matters Most
Ex’s and O’s
A Bit of Me
A Bit of You
In My Arms Tonight
Where There’s a Will
My Heart to Keep
Leopard’s Spots
Levi
Oscar
Timothy
Isaiah
Gilbert
Esau
Sullivan
Wesley
Nischal
Justice
Sabin
Cliff
Mossy Glenn Ranch
Chaps and Hope
Ropes and Dreams
Saddles and Memories
Fences and Freedom
Riding and Regrets
Broncs and Bullies
Hay and Heartbreak
Vaqueros and Vigilance
Spotless
Hide
Hunt
Home
Heart
Mystic Tattoos
One Too Many
Coyote’s Call
Off Course
In from the Cold
Blue Moon Rising
Valen’s Pack
Run with the Moon
Exodus
The Vamp for Me
My Life Without Garlic
Don’t Stake My Life on It
Sunshine is Overrated
Don’t Drink the Holy Water
The Trouble with Mirrors
That’s One Cross Vamp
Power
Exchange
Submit
Dominate
Calendar Men
Mr. January
Mr. February
Mr. March
Mr. April
Mr. May
Mr. June
Mr. July
Mr. August
Mr September
Mr. October
Mr. November
Mr. December
The 13th Month
Wild Ones
Destined Prey
City Shifters
Bearly There
Harey Situation
Mossy Glenn Ranch
Chaps and Hope
Ropes and Dreams
Saddles and Memories
Fences and Freedom
Riding and Regrets
Broncs and Bullies
Hay and Heartbreak
Vaqueros and Vigilance
Fire and Flutter
Dragon Dreams and Fairy Wings
Wyvern Ways and Elven Magic
Anthologies
What’s his Passion?: Unexpected Places
What’s his Passion?: Unexpected Moments
Racing Hearts: The Lonely Ones
Wild Ones
DESTINED PREDATOR
BAILEY BRADFORD
Destined Predator
ISBN # 978-1-83943-133-3
©Copyright Bailey Bradford 2021
Cover Art by Claire Siemaszkiewicz ©Copyright June 2021
Interior text design by Claire Siemaszkiewicz
Pride Publishing
This 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.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Pride Publishing.
Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Pride Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.
The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.
Published in 2021 by Pride Publishing, United Kingdom.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors’ rights. Purchase only authorised copies.
Pride Publishing is an imprint of Totally Entwined Group Limited.
If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as unsold and destroyed
to the publisher and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this stripped book
.
Book two in the Wild Ones series
Never in his wildest dreams.
Rhett Tucker, a rough, tough, meat-and-potatoes Wyoming rancher, has just about accepted that shifters exist. His little brother Jack is now mated to one, Ben, whose family are the only coywolf—wolf-coyote hybrids—shifters in existence.
Rhett’s also accepted the fact that he’s gay, even if he’s never been with a guy. What he can’t deal with is Ben’s big brother, the swaggering, dominating, permanently smirking Casey. The head of the Akers pack might be their alpha, but he’s not Rhett’s and never will be.
Casey has never met a challenge he didn’t leap at, and he sure wants to jump the handsome rancher’s bones. He sees that under all the bluster, Rhett yearns to submit, and Casey’s more than happy to fulfil Rhett’s needs…when the stubborn man’s ready to admit to them.
But when both humans and coywolves are under attack, there’s no time for Rhett and Casey to do anything but join forces to find out if the inter-shifter battles are starting up again, or if the pack and the Double T Ranch are facing a new and deadly enemy.
One thing’s for sure—any relationship between Rhett and Casey is gonna be wild.
Dedication
To all wild things. Let your hearts sing.
Trademark Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
49ers: The York family
Animal Planet: Discovery, Inc.
Avengers: Marvel Comics
Chargers: The Spanos Family
Coke: The Coca-Cola Company
Dodge: Stellantis N.V.
Dodgers: Guggenheim Baseball Management group
Explorer: Ford Motor Company
Giants: John K. Mara and Steve Tisch
Glock: Glock Ges.m.b.H.
Harley Quinn: DC Entertainment
Instagram: Facebook, Inc.
Justice League: DC Comics, Inc.
Mossberg: O.F. Mossberg & Sons, Inc.
Mule: Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.
Padres: O’Malley Group
Rams: Stan Kroeke
Silverado: General Motors Company
Tahoe: General Motors Company
Chapter One
Man.
Rhett Tucker, co-owner and boss of Wyoming’s Double T ranch, stared at his reflection in the shaving mirror.
He bobbed down to his right, so his face showed in the corner with the splintered crack. He blinked, then studied his altered image, seeing his strong jaw elongated to exaggerated proportions and, when he ducked lower still, how his hazel eyes fractured and his short dark hair looked long and bushy, like a pelt.
Monster.
No. That wasn’t right. Wasn’t fair.
Beast.
He closed his eyes, but it didn’t stop him seeing beasts, the coyote and wolf shifters who’d fought a turf war on Double T land, or the biggest beast of all of them, the one his foreman Ernesto had turned into. A terrifying, giant wolf-demon hybrid out of a nightmare who’d slayed and slaughtered—
Nope, not going there. Tucker bent from the mirror to the sink so he could scoop water onto his face, splashing at any leftover shaving foam then patting with a towel to remove the last traces. He even wiped behind his ears and wriggled the corner of the towel into them, first one, then the other.
Go with cologne? He did have a bottle, and it was a scent he liked, but it’d been a present from his ex-girlfriend, Olivia, and it felt plain wrong to wear it on a date with someone else.
Rhett straightened his shirt—he should have ironed it. Bathroom steam never works,
he reminded himself, needing to fill the silence. The sound of his voice didn’t work to plug the gap, and he circled back to what had been consuming him since he’d found out…that shifters existed.
He prided himself on being a plain-thinking rancher like his father, one who believed in what he could see and touch, like his land, or his cattle. And now, that included people who turned into animals. Who were animals. Some were murderous, terrifying monsters, and some were, if not angels, then more on the side of good as they went about their lives. Oh, and his brother had fallen hard and fast for one.
And if I can’t handle that, I’ll lose my little brother.
The thought of losing Jack made Rhett’s hands tremble as he tossed the wet towels into the hamper. His chest seized, making him sit on the edge of the tub to catch his breath. He’d accept anything he had to if it meant keeping Jack in his life. They’d only just started growing closer as brothers recently, when Jack had come home after years of them barely staying in touch because he’d lived and worked in New York City. Rhett wasn’t going to mess up again and let Jack get hurt—not by him, and not by anyone else.
I won’t fail him this time, like I did before because I didn’t want to tell him the truth about myself. Because I didn’t want to accept it, either.
Before he could continue his silent castigation, laughter rang out in the hallway, and the bright, joyful sound went a long way to drowning Rhett’s fears.
Hearing Jack so happy was worth anything. Even the scariest monsters in the world couldn’t have kept Rhett from leaving the bathroom so he could see his brother smiling, eyes crinkled at the corners, his mouth in a wide grin, arms around his boyfriend, Ben. Ben the coywolf shifter.
It didn’t matter if Ben was a shifter, not when he was looking at Jack the same way Jack looked at him. Only thing I can do is plow through my fears—or bury ’em as deep as possible. Jack deserved that, and maybe, although Rhett didn’t know him well, Ben did, too. That was what he wanted to believe, anyhow.
Hey, Rhett.
Ben gave him a nod before pulling a face at Jack. Oh, what’s your brother gonna think, huh? Him all neat and tidy like that and look at you, with your JBF’d hair.
He knuckled into Jack’s messy head.
Jack snorted and wiggled his butt. I’ve got a JBF’d something all right, and it isn’t my hair.
Jacky-boy, behave!
Ben pretended to fan himself. You’ll have your big brother blushing.
Maybe you should be the one blushing,
Rhett replied, standing his ground as he always did, even in this new situation. If it’s done right, ya can’t walk for days, and here’s Jack looking ready to go line dancing at Bard’s Saloon, so…
He looked Ben up and down, pursing his lips in concern as fake as Ben’s shock of a moment ago. I’d hate to think you weren’t treating Jack right.
"Hey!" Ben’s indignation sounded more genuine now, and he pouted when Jack started chuckling, glared when Rhett sniggered too, then joined in.
Rhett didn’t know which of them laughed the loudest, but by the time he’d gotten his amusement under control, his sides ached, and he was shaking his head. Aw, man. Y’all are something else.
He went to walk off.
Rhett.
Jack calling his name stopped him. You doing okay there?
Jack asked. They might not have been close in recent years, but they’d grown up together and each was hard to fool.
I…
Rhett chewed on his bottom lip a second. Got some stuff spinning my gears up here.
He tapped his head.
Ben gave him a cool look from where he stood so close to Jack that Rhett couldn’t have swiped a credit card between them. Stuff like wanting reality to go back to the way it used to be?
As life should be for a solid, no-frills Wyoming son of the soil who didn’t believe in mumbo-jumbo. Well, that was the question he’d already answered for himself before he’d left the bathroom. Rhett hitched his thumbs through his belt loops and tipped his head back to look down at Ben, slow and easy. I wouldn’t change anything about this world that makes my brother light up like he does around you.
Aww.
Jack’s eyes teared up and he hugged Rhett and, after a second, another pair of arms snaked around them—Ben joining in, too. It took a few seconds, but Rhett relaxed into the group huddle. Well now. How ’bout that.
Ben was the first to pull away. I have to go. We got a pack run scheduled.
Can’t keep your alpha waiting,
Jack replied.
Yeah, just like your big brother’s word is law too.
Ben wrapped a hand around Jack’s neck to bring him in for a smacking kiss. He slapped Jack’s ass then strolled down the short corridor to the front door, touching the first two fingers of his right hand to his forehead in salute as he went.
The lame joke barely registered with Rhett. His mind was busy thinking about Ben’s oldest brother and alpha of the Akers coywolf pack. Casey. That perma-smirking, cocky, swaggering— Taking in a deep breath, Rhett wrenched himself back to the here and now.
Hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave,
Jack called after Ben, tilting his head to take in Ben’s rear view, then laughing when Ben slapped his own ass and made a sizzling noise.
Ben didn’t close the door properly after him—Rhett had been meaning to plane it a little smoother, to stop it sticking—so Rhett walked over, intending to close it. Instead, he pushed the door open wider to get some air, never mind that he’d been outdoors all day. Jack joined him, leaning against the other side of the jamb like they were bookends.
You really okay?
he asked, side-eyeing Rhett. ’S’okay not to be, after all…that.
That,
Rhett echoed, looking out over Double T land. "’S’funny—when I run into something new to handle on the ranch, I ask myself, ‘What would Pa do?’ and I usually find the answer, the way forward, you know? Only for ‘that’, well, I got no idea what he would do."
I didn’t know him as well as you did,
Jack replied, his words coming slowly. "And I guess I’ve learned more about him since coming back, if not from you, then from people’s stories and memories, here or in town. But I don’t think he’d have known what to do if he discovered shifters existed and that his younger son is destined mate to one of ’em."
Y’all might jus’ have the right of it there, son,
said Rhett, his impersonation of Chauncey Tucker’s measured, guarded speech so accurate that it set them both laughing again.
Jack twisted around and took one of the framed photos off the hall table. I swear, you hold this up in front of your face when you do that, we’d fool anyone he’s still around!
Ah reckon we abou’ might,
Rhett couldn’t resist saying, Chauncey-style, as he took the picture to return it to the table. He studied it. He looked like Chauncey—no-time-to-fuss short dark hair and a big and burly frame, although his eyes were a hazel blend of his pa’s brown and his mom’s green—and was like him, too, in his focus on the ranch and the land.
I’m more like Mom.
Jack followed Rhett’s line of sight to where the portrait of Lorraine Channing Tucker gazed down at them from the wall.
True, he had her large, dark-lashed green eyes and more delicate bone structure. Lorraine had been a beauty, with her high cheekbones and wide, full mouth, and Jack shared those, too.
Jack had always liked the formal-looking painting of Mom, in a silk evening dress she rarely had occasion to wear. Remembering how as a kid, Jack had used to exclaim "Portrait pose!" whenever Mom happened to be half-turned away and looking back at him, the same position she’d been put into for her painting, made Rhett laugh.