Love's Misconception Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  1

  2 ~ Drake

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7 ~ Drake

  8

  9 ~ Drake

  Sneak Peek: Shifters for Sale

  Find A New Series To Love…

  Or A Different Genre…

  Sneak Peek: Alone

  About the Author

  Other Titles by Flynn Eire

  A Supernatural Script Inc. Book

  Normal doesn’t describe the lives of most vampires compared to the outside world, but London Aberdeen is especially queer... Pun intended. Gay son of a councilwoman, embarrassment of his well-to-do family, and tainted warrior. That’s who he is in Seattle, so when his family’s solution is to send him to Nowhere, Wyoming, he doesn’t fight it, looking for a fresh start.

  Except then he walks into a nightmare of people wanting him to rat on his last camp and others with old scores involving his mother trying to be settled through him. Hell of a first day.

  Drake Shannon needs only one glimpse of London to appreciate he’s someone spectacular. Sure, maybe he lures the new warrior in with the dogs he trains, knowing everyone opens up at the love of furry friends. But Drake’s insightful like that and quickly realizes London hasn’t had much normal. Which is why when London’s past comes back to haunt him, all Drake wants to do is help. But will misconceptions of what love is ruin everything?

  1

  I flinched as he slapped my ass hard, wondering why he always did that after sex. Then again he was a total dick.

  “Get dressed. We’re about to land,” he informed me. I nodded and managed to get my legs to work, making my way to the bathroom so I didn’t show up to my new camp smelling like sex.

  Unfortunately he hadn’t been kidding and we landed while I was still in the bathroom. As I said, total dick. I really hurried after that, worried what else he might pull but then remembered he had to refuel for the flight back. He was already off the plane when I grabbed my bag.

  “Have fun with your own kind, queer,” he muttered to me as he stared at his clipboard, not even giving me a look. Yep, that was his way of a goodbye. I didn’t even bother answering, glancing around and figuring where the main building was to head to.

  So why have sex with someone who was such an asshole?

  For one, I didn’t screw his conversational skills… It was has big cock I liked. And normally he kept his mouth shut during the sex.

  Two, I was being reassigned to the gay camp as people now called it, so for all I knew… Well, I didn’t know so I really didn’t want to risk never having sex again, so yeah, I took the dick’s offer and let him bang me on the flight over, ignoring his closeted issues.

  Three, I just really liked sex so I very rarely said no.

  I slung my massive duffel over my shoulder, almost finding it funny how it was over four feet tall and could stand on its own if it didn’t have all my worldly possessions in one damn bag. That I didn’t find funny. Or that I’d been transferred here to the middle of nowhere.

  As I reached what looked to be the main building, which would house the command center, a bigger guy came bursting through the doors, focused on me—and not happy.

  “You won’t ever replace him. You got that?” he hissed at me, fangs out.

  “Shane, back off,” a deep, calm voice ordered from the doorway. My gaze snapped to his, and the vampire exuded leadership and age. “It is not his fault. Someone was going to take Kevin’s spot. We knew this.”

  “It didn’t have to be an outsider,” Shane rasped before turning away. “You should have told me it was going to be an outsider, Alexander.” Then he stormed off, and I didn’t look at him nor at Alexander who I knew was the head of the camp.

  I looked longingly towards the airstrip, wondering if the plane from my old camp had taken off yet and if maybe there was a way to convince them I’d been kidding that I was gay so they’d take me back. Was I willing to be in the closet? I sighed, knowing that answer.

  “Debating if you should run?” Alexander asked me quietly. I glanced up at him and nodded, never willing to lie.

  Then again, that was how I ended up here.

  “Don’t. We are a good camp. We lost one of ours in an attack—Kevin. I do not normally get this personal about my warriors or with our new people, but Shane started this. He lost his best friend and someone he loved dearly. He’s grieving.”

  “I’m sorry for him,” I muttered, my heart going out to the guy. “It probably doesn’t make it better for him knowing I don’t want to be here.”

  “You do not want to be here?” Alexander asked, surprise written all over his face.

  “Oh shit,” I hissed, letting my head drop back on my shoulders. “Of course those assholes wouldn’t have told you they transferred me here against my will. Right, because what were they going to tell you officially? They sent me to the Queer Camp because I’m one of you?”

  “They call us what?” he roared, and I actually took a step away from him as my head snapped back up, eyes going wide as my heart raced in fear.

  “I’m in hell,” I whispered, backing away even farther. They had no idea of their reputation.

  Alexander took a few deep breaths, studying me closely and probably taking in the way I was making myself a smaller target. I wasn’t a fool. I was a warrior for like two seconds and Alexander was a legend. I was dead if I pissed him off. Very, very dead.

  “No, this is good. We need to know these things. We are secluded from the gossip and cut off here. Come, we will talk in my office before lunch, and I’ll show you around.”

  I blinked at him a moment, my new gift telling me more than I wanted to know and I was too upset to close my mouth. “You don’t normally show new warriors around. You just want me to spill everything to you.”

  “That and you have not had the best welcome and you have not been a warrior that long,” he agreed with a firm nod. “Plus, my mate, Dimitri, will be at lunch, and he is better with putting people at ease than I am. A buffer, if you will.”

  I was all for a buffer… Not so much for telling him everything I knew about what people thought of his camp. That sounded as much fun as pulling out my eyelashes one at a time.

  But still, I followed after him, because—well, it wasn’t as if I had many other options. I ducked my head as we walked through the command center to his office, wondering how many had heard the commotion outside or simply wanted to catch a glimpse of the new guy. Either way, part of me couldn’t bear to handle coming to terms with really getting saddled at one of the most remote camps, and knowing the people in that room were all the personal interaction I would have.

  Well, them and others at the camp, but still there was a cap on how many adults I could ever interact with face-to-face and that disturbed me greatly, being locked in like that. It actually made me feel quite claustrophobic even though the camp was rather large.

  Alexander walked into his office and stood holding the door open, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk. “So why don’t you fill me in on how the son of a councilwoman really ended up away from the West Coast camp where his father and family are from, and what is going on and being said about our camp.”

  I sat down and flinched when he closed the door, wondering if it was my coffin instead. What he was asking me to spill wasn’t… It just didn’t happen. People didn’t honestly tell such things to people they didn’t know. I had figured they knew I was being shipped off to the camp in Nowhere, Wyoming, for a reason. I mean, hadn’t all of them?

  When I didn’t say anything, Alexander sat down on the edge of his desk on the same side as me and studied me closely. “You are fright
ened. I can understand that.” He rubbed his chin for a moment and then tried again. “Has your gift appeared?” I flinched, but quickly shook my head. Maybe a little too quickly, but I figured the situation would make it understandable for me to be nervous all around. “Mine is a simple one, a good one for someone in charge. I can tell the character of a person.”

  “Good to know who you can trust,” I hedged, already knowing that about him, but not much else besides he was a legend and mated.

  “Yes, which is why I know I can trust you, London. I realize you do not know that you can trust me yet, and I understand that will take time. But know we have someone who is Wyrok stationed here, and his gift is to make people talk when they might not want to. So if I truly was not someone you could trust, as head of this base, I am well within my rights to call him in here and have him question you for the information if I know you are keeping something from me.”

  As I said, I was in hell. Maybe he wasn’t a bastard for immediately yelling at me or calling in whatever guy to get what I knew out of me, but he wasn’t exactly a sweetheart for intimidating me with the news of what could be done to me at any moment.

  I looked away to some stupid motivational poster that was matted and framed on his wall, tacky, generic decorations that showed me what I was probably in for my whole time there… And then I told my new commanding officer what he wanted to know, like a good little soldier, spilling my guts, a total snitch that would end with me being hated by my old camp in Seattle and my new one here when word got out.

  It took a while, especially with how Alexander took notes and asked to check names to confirm information, so by the time it was over, I was completely raw, exposed, and my insides hurt. As well as my eyes from holding back the tears at how violated it made me feel to have to walk in and divulge all of that—all that personal information.

  “Thank you, I know that was hard and I appreciate—”

  “If I could please get my room key and temporary assignment now, sir,” I choked out, wondering if the punishment of being caught going AWOL would really be worse than what I’d be facing from now on after word of this got out.

  He was quiet a moment and then moved in front of me, and I heard his heart rate pick up when he finally saw my face. “I promised to feed you after your trip. You need to know where the cafeteria is and it is lunchtime. Dimitri will be waiting. We should go.”

  I opened my mouth to argue but he quickly opened the door and walked out as if knowing I would follow even if he ran there now. Which of course I did because what other option did I have?

  This is hell. I’ve been assigned to hell for being gay and now I’m a gay snitch. Just fucking shoot me. The first guy I met already hated me. Maybe he’ll toss a grenade into my bunk because I took his dead boyfriend’s place, which wasn’t my fault either. I shook my head, grabbed my bag, and hurried after Alexander, thinking I deserved a bit of hell after being so crass and heartless about what Shane was going through.

  2 ~ Drake

  I just about choked on my food when the most gorgeous man ever walked in with Alexander. Six-two, lean, so possibly a newer warrior if he hadn’t filled out much yet, light auburn hair that he kept a bit longer and let fall in his face, but then he peeked out from behind it and glanced around, and I saw the most stunning true sapphire eyes… And that was it. My heart raced and my cock swelled.

  “Shit, the new guy’s fine,” Lynx groaned from next to me. Unfortunately Jeston and Cornelius turned around and checked him out too.

  “Dibs,” Jeston blurted.

  “You can’t dibs on the new warrior. He’s not shotgun of a car,” I growled, totally pissed off, but mostly because I hadn’t thought of it first. With this group, it would have been the smartest thing to do.

  “He’s right, we should flip for him,” Lynx snickered, shaking his head. “It’s up to the hottie who he wants to play with. I swear, any new guy coming in or post-trans that’s not an idiot has way too many horny warriors sniffing around to deal with. I can’t believe Philo plucked Norris right up the second he pretty much got on the market.”

  “You don’t want to keep anyone. You just want some variety and to test-drive them all,” Cornelius drawled. Lynx shrugged, definitely not denying it, but I had a feeling there was more to the story than that. He never talked specifics, but some of the time it seemed as if he was nursing a broken or rejected heart, like he was trying to move on instead of really just having fun like he tried to play it off as.

  Whatever, that was another conversation for another day. Right then, I was focused more on the gorgeous man who looked as if he wanted to be anywhere but standing next to Alexander. As he set down his massive standard-issue military duffel bag, he glanced back at the exit longingly.

  “Dude, is he in camis?” Jeston asked quietly as the guy and Alexander made their way to the stand of trays and food lines. I sat up straighter to check and, sure enough, he was wearing boots, BDU pants, and a tan T-shirt. All I’d really caught was the T-shirt and that he wasn’t wearing shorts since the tables and people between us were blocking the lower half of him.

  “He’s transferring in from the West Coast camp up in Seattle,” Rune answered from the next table over. “They think dressing casually like we do leads to unprofessionalism and screw-ups. They wear full military gear, boots, and so do their trainees. They think hard-core.”

  “They’re dickheads,” his mate, Helios, muttered.

  I tended to agree without knowing them. While training pre-trans and our other assignments, shorts or running pants when it got colder and shirts were fine. If we were on assignment, we wore what was needed for that assignment. It varied. Why would someone need to wear specialized camouflage clothing made to fit in for certain environments when they weren’t currently fitting into shit? Seemed pretentious.

  I found myself eating slower and then even going for seconds just so I got a better look at the new guy. I had to admit that the camis were flattering, not that running shorts couldn’t be, but god, he was hot.

  “Oh, Drake, good, I was hoping you were here,” Alexander greeted, and I just about dropped my fries and burger, turning around so fast.

  “What can I do for you, Alexander?” I asked, completely focused on our new addition.

  “After he stows his gear in his new room, I was hoping you could show him the ins and outs of his new assignment. Drake Shannon, meet London Aberdeen. London, this is—”

  “Wait, new assignment?” London interrupted, focused on Alexander as his jaw clenched. “You mean temporary assignment, right? I don’t just get stuck wherever no one else wants to be here, do I? You follow the other camps’ protocols and fight for the jobs people want too.”

  I didn’t think he realized it, but his voice had been getting louder and louder as he spoke, so by the end, he was almost shouting… Which meant the cafeteria had gone completely quiet to watch the show.

  Something Alexander abhorred. He cleared his throat and studied the man. “We have recently done away with that system.” Then he nodded over at Rune sitting with his mate and the other tech geniuses. “We have some of the top minds of all our kind working our securities. I do not care their ranks, that should be their jobs. Drake here has the gift of speaking with animals, so I cannot think of anyone who’s better suited to train our search dogs. Can you speak with animals?”

  “No, sir,” London mumbled, staring down at his tray as his shoulders slumped, his hands starting to shake. Jesus, what had he been through here already? Or over in Seattle? “What is my assignment, sir?”

  “We currently have an opening for a munitions expert who would oversee all the weapons, gun range, pre and post-trans training with grenades and such. That was the position I was going to give you if you were so inclined. However, we do not want anyone here in a position they hate as could happen with the previous ranking system as well so if you want another assignment—”

  “No, thank you, sir, that one’s completely fine, happy to help,” Lo
ndon blurted, almost smiling as he sneaked a peek at Alexander but then ducking his head again.

  Seeming as if he if thought he showed any happiness, he was worried Alexander might take it away no matter what our boss had just said. That was fucked up.

  “Umm, sure, I’ll show him the gun range and lockup, whatever,” I quickly interjected. “What room is his?”

  Alexander quickly handed me a packet, looking happy and grateful to pass it off on someone. I wasn’t sure what that was all about, but I took it from him and then the man hurriedly excused himself before going over to Dimitri.

  “I’ve never seen Alexander like that. There must be something up. You shouldn’t take it personally. Maybe just a bad day for you to arrive,” I offered when London stared at his empty tray. “I’m Drake Shannon by the way.”

  “London Aberdeen, and believe me, it’s all about me. I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough. Camps can’t ever keep anything quiet.”

  I opened my mouth to disagree, but he was totally right. “We should eat. I know your first day can be hard, new group and all, so if you want, I’ll let you play with my boys?” His head shot up, eyes wide, and it took me a moment to catch on to what he thought I was insinuating. “The dogs. I’m in charge of the hunting dogs. We have only males here.”

  “Wow, it really is the gay camp. Only male dogs too,” he chuckled before turning to the counter and loading up his plates.

  “Is that what’s going on? You’re pissed you were sent here because you’re straight?”

  “No, I’m gay. I’m pissed I was sent here because of that,” he admitted. “No one should be sent off because of that even if you’re all gay here and it’s like a safe zone.”

  “No, you’re right. We had a bunch transfer out because of that when some post-trans were graduating. We didn’t mean for it to end up like this, it just kind of did.”

  He bobbed his head and kept adding to his tray, not saying anything else, then added two bottles of water and moved off to the side of the other tables. I followed him over, and his head snapped up when he realized I was still there. “You don’t have to eat with me like I’m the new kid the principal assigned you to watch over. You can just give me my room key and a map and I’ll figure it out.”