Nine sizzling tales of gay paranormal romance! Ten best-selling authors bring you their hottest stories of shifters and the desires that cannot be denied.

“Mark of the Pack” by Arden Chase. Gabriel, a rogue omega, can’t stop running from his past—until he finds the one alpha he can’t outrun.

I knew two things immediately, by the look of the sentry on the other side of the underbrush I was currently hiding in. One, I’d veered too far north into Orion pack territory. Two, I was screwed.

Any other day, I’d shift and be past their border before they even realized they had a rogue wolf in their territory. No one could outrun me in wolf form. But I was in full heat. Not only couldn’t I shift, the sight of another wolf, even a beta, put me dangerously close to leaving my hiding place, dropping to my knees, and promising him anything to help me with this burning, agonizing need.

It wasn’t just sex. I hadn’t seen another wolf in weeks. Instinct and pack hunger got me from both flanks; it was like being sucker punched.

I eyed the thick line of trees. If I could make it there without alerting the sentry, they’d be cover on my way out of the pack’s territory. I might not be able to shift, but I’d had to learn stealth as well as speed these last two months.

I backed slowly away from the brush. No sign the sentry had heard me. I crouched, preparing to ease my way over to the trees.

Then paused at the sharp pressure of claws on the back of my neck. “Leaving so soon?”

Another sentry. Fuck. The pressure increased. She could paralyze me with one well-placed swipe.

“I’m not a spy,” I said quickly.

“Then you’re a rogue omega.” Worse than a spy, she might as well have said. “Kane,” she called, and the other sentry skirted the underbrush toward us. His eyes widened when he saw me crouching at her feet.

“He’s not one of ours, Ro.”

“I know.” The sharp points on my skin let up a little. I eased back onto my heels. I didn’t try to rise. The less I did to piss them off, the better.

“What’s your pack? Who’s with you?”

I told the truth. “Antlia pack. No one’s with me.”

Disbelief met me. “Antlia was wiped out months ago. No one survived.”

No one but me.

“Aries is going to want to talk to him.”

“Get up,” Ro said, and I scrambled to my feet, wondering if I could make a break for it—but trapped in human skin, they’d have no problem running me down.

She used her knife belt to tie my hands behind my back. Her claws still pressed against my skin. I didn’t bother fighting them. An omega against two betas? I didn’t stand a chance.

“He’s in heat,” she said, with the easy contempt of a beta for an omega. My face burned. But they weren’t immune to the effect. Her hands lingered on my wrists. I could feel how badly her claws wanted to dig in. The eyes of the other beta, Kane, were heavy on me.