Rise to Love [Rise of the Changelings 1] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove)
Rise of the Changelings 1
Rise to Love
It has been three years since the discovery of nonhumans. Vampires and shape-shifters, commonly known as changelings, have come out, and the world still doesn’t know what to do with them.
When Dorian is asked over for dinner by a coworker, he has no clue that he has just been nominated as a possible mate to the local werewolf changeling pack’s alpha. But before he can fully protest, the government has secretly put together an extermination list, and the alpha is their number one target.
Alpha Enrique Marcelo has just turned thirty-five, and his pack insists he find a mate. Rick wants no part, but he gives in, agreeing to choose one of the nominees as his mate.
Never before has a human been nominated.
But before Rick can decide, three changeling juveniles are murdered, one of them his nephew, and he and Dorian are accused of the crime. They must flee in order to clear their names.
While on the run, Rick learns about not only the conspiracy to frame him for the murders, but that the government is secretly putting together a Death Squad to exterminate the entire nonhuman population.
NOTE! You are purchasing Siren’s newest imprint, the Siren Epic Romance collection. This is Book 1 of 7 in the Rise of the Changelings series. The series shares an overall story arc with many crossover characters playing major roles in each book. These books are not stand-alone and should be read in their numbered order.
Genre: Alternative (M/M or F/F), Paranormal, Vampires/Werewolves
Length: 75,056 words
RISE TO LOVE
Rise of the Changelings 1
Lynn Hagen
SIREN EPIC ROMANCE,
MANLOVE
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Siren Epic Romance, ManLove
RISE TO LOVE
Copyright © 2013 by Lynn Hagen
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62241-941-8
First E-book Publication: February 2013
Cover design by Les Byerley
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
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Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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RISE TO LOVE
Rise of the Changelings 1
LYNN HAGEN
Copyright © 2013
Chapter One
Dorian Campbell stared at the newspaper in his hands, still not believing what he was reading. It had been three years since the discovery of vampires and shape shifters—or as the shape shifters preferred to be called, changelings—and the media continued to make those who weren’t human breaking news.
It baffled him.
Not the media coverage. Dorian knew that the frenzy would continue for years to come.
No, what baffled Dorian was the whole walking dead and changing into some furry animal. It boggled the mind that they really did exist. He couldn’t understand how that was possible, yet was truly intrigued by the very idea that nonhumans walked among them.
It was true that he had always wished for more in life, wished for something more than the mundane. His homelife wasn’t bad, but Dorian sat for hours on end, gazing at the stars, wondering if there was more to life than what he had going for himself.
Which wasn’t much.
Glancing at his hand, Dorian tried to imagine it changing into a furry paw or watching long black talons slowly slide free from his fingernails.
He just couldn’t.
He wasn’t going to deny he was curious. The concept of watching someone change into an animal was both frightening and intriguing.
Dorian sat on the fence in his opinion of nonhumans. He was neither for nor against them existing. If they didn’t go all Wes Craven on anyone, then they needed to be left alone. He just hoped he never saw a human changing into an animal firsthand. Dorian wasn’t too sure he wouldn’t pass out or ultimately embarrass himself by pissing his damn pants.
Then there were vampires.
The concept of having one of the living dead nearby did not intrigue Dorian in the slightest. He shivered at the thought of a vampire wanting to suck his blood. The whole idea just flat-out scared the shit out of him.
Maybe he should start wearing a cross.
It couldn’t hurt.
“What do the newspapers say today?” his coworker Jayson asked as he leaned against the deli counter. The man was a jerk, but Dorian tried his best to get along with those he worked with. He had to be around Jayson his entire work shift. It would make his job harder if the man knew just how much he irritated Dorian. He wasn’t foolish. Looking at the man standing a few feet from him, Dorian knew that in today’s world, there were more people who were so hate-filled than not that it was becoming the norm.
Jayson was a prime example.
“It says here that some activist groups want vampires and changelings to have rights. They think nonhumans should be allowed to vote and have equal employment.” Although, if the changelings were here all along, just hiding their true identities, then they already voted and had jobs. He guessed the protest was for the ones who had been outed. Not all c
hangelings came forward and stated they were shifters.
In fact, Dorian had learned that hundreds of thousands—that staggering number alone gave him pause—were hiding who they were so as not to be persecuted or fired from their jobs. The numbers were unconfirmed, but nonetheless speculated.
Jayson rolled his eyes, his typical response to most things. “It’s hard enough finding work as it is, and now there will be dead people and animals on unemployment along with half of America.”
He didn’t like Jayson’s narrow-minded thinking. The man sometimes said the most inappropriate things. Dorian tried to keep an open mind, and he succeeded most of the time, but Jayson was a lost cause. The only reason he talked to the guy was because they had to work together.
But he agreed that jobs were scarce enough. Dorian held a college degree and was working at a deli in a large supermarket. Every day he came to work only reminded him how screwed up the economy was.
And now it could possibly get worse.
Although Dorian really couldn’t see a vampire working the deli counter in a supermarket. Instead of the vampires serving the customers, he could just see the customers running out of here screaming because a vampire wanted a sample. Yeah, the thought was totally wrong, but again, vampires creeped Dorian out.
He folded the newspaper and set it on the counter. “I heard that Tino went to one of those fang parties last night.” They were the newest rage since vampires had come out into the public eye. From what Dorian understood, vampires had some sort of aphrodisiac in their saliva, giving their victims a rush while the vampire took his or her fill.
The thought wasn’t too pleasant to Dorian. He was fully against taking any kind of drugs that weren’t medically necessary. Now there were fang addicts cropping up everywhere. The thing most of the addicts loved about vampires biting them was the fact that the wound healed, giving no indication that they were ever bitten in the first place.
He guessed it beat track marks or getting caught with drug paraphernalia, but an addict was an addict in his book. There was no grey area. Addicts were a waste of life. So he wasn’t completely open-minded. Sue him.
“Cherry said that Mr. Marcelo was changeling,” Jayson continued as he wiped down the prep area. “Do you think our district manager gets furry and howls at the full moon?”
And then there were the rumors. Fearing the unknown, everyone accused someone who didn’t fit into society’s idea of “normal” of being either a vampire or changeling. The Goths had it the worst right now, but they weren’t the only ones. There were plenty of people catching slack these days, and a new test had been made to detect abnormalities in the blood.
It wasn’t supposed to be used when hiring, but Dorian knew that it was.
“Cherry also thinks her cat was reincarnated. I wouldn’t put too much stock in anything she says.”
“But I did hear that the government was forming some sort of special operations group, or SOG, because some bible-thumping groups are boycotting blood banks and vet clinics. They are getting pressured by corporate America as well to do something about the nonhuman problem.”
Jayson was such a gossip whore. Dorian wasn’t sure what to believe half the time. The man truly believed those trashy tabloids and watched E! News all the time. Trying to convince the guy that Elvis wasn’t abducted by aliens was useless. Dorian honestly believed the man would rather follow the tabloids than eat.
“You see the headlines today?” Cherry asked as she walked out of the kitchen, carrying a freshly made bowl of potato salad in her hands. Dorian watched as she set the bowl in the display case and then turned toward them. “I told you Mr. Marcelo was changeling. He was talking with our supervisor this morning. I heard him say he would vote to give those creatures rights. Who would do that unless they were one of them?”
One of them.
Dorian mentally shook his head. Race was no longer a factor in society. Now it was humans versus nonhumans. It was almost as if they were invaded by aliens. That was how people were acting. Fear was like a wildfire spreading throughout human society. People were acting as if the boogeyman had come out of the closet or crawled from under the bed to live among them. In some ways, they had. Not too much was known about the nonhumans.
And then there was Dorian’s favorite. Cops carried around small handheld devices that could be used similar to a glucose machine, only the reading let the cops know if the blood was “normal” or not. No one knew what to do about the revelation that humans weren’t the only ones inhabiting the planet anymore.
Congress was locked in battle. Immigration was stumped. Employers were clueless. It seemed everyone was confused as hell, and things weren’t getting any better. People were being attacked, accused of being one of “them.” Not only was a new form of addicts cropping up, but so were hate groups.
Society had gone into total chaos over what to do about the nonhumans, and Dorian honestly didn’t know what to think of it himself. It had been three full years, and it was still front-page news.
Maybe the public wouldn’t fear nonhumans so much if more were known about them. But then again, if more were known about them, Dorian had a feeling the fear would only escalate.
Having knowledge was a double-edged sword for both sides, and Dorian wasn’t sure if a solution was coming anytime soon.
“Be careful who you accuse of being changeling, Cherry,” Dorian warned. “If he isn’t and you have him fired, you are only lending to the bigotry of society.”
Cherry snorted. “What do I care? Vampires are dead people and changelings go against nature. If he isn’t, then he has nothing to worry about.”
It amazed Dorian the view some people had when it came to someone different. True, he wasn’t sure how he felt about all of this, but jobs were hard to find. She was fucking with someone’s bread and butter. How could she feel so blasé about accusing someone without proof?
“Here he comes,” Cherry whispered and then took off toward the kitchen. “You better watch out. If he bites you, that’s dick and donuts.”
Dorian still didn’t understand what that meant, but he saw Mr. Marcelo heading toward the deli counter. The man didn’t look like a changeling. But then again, a changeling looked like a normal human being.
That was what pissed a lot of humans off. It was the fact that they couldn’t tell right away that had them accusing everyone and their mother of being a furry creature or one of the undead. Vampires were easier to spot, though. They were pale, only came out at night, and had fangs. It was also reported that their hearts no longer beat in their chests and that they didn’t have to breathe. But again, those were just rumors.
Still, Dorian so never wanted to run into a vampire. He didn’t want to find out if the rumors were true or not.
The district manager smiled politely at Jayson and Dorian, but walked right on by without saying a word.
“That was close,” Jayson said as he stopped looking busy for Mr. Marcelo’s benefit. “Did you get a chance to see if he had canines?”
Dorian walked away from Jayson before he punched the guy. Jayson was a first-rank idiot. He was starting to sympathize with Mr. Marcelo on the simple fact that Cherry and Jayson were out to get the damn man fired for no other reason than agreeing that the nonhumans should have rights.
Dorian walked down one of the store aisles, going outside for his break. He wasn’t about to sit in the back of the kitchen and listen to any more gossip. He had read and heard enough for one day.
“Hey, Dorian!” Miguel called to him as Dorian took a seat at the picnic table out back.
Dorian smiled. He liked Miguel. The guy was sweet and polite every time he talked with the stock boy. “What’s up, Miguel?”
Miguel took a seat at the table, pulling his lunch from a brown paper bag. “My family is having a dinner tomorrow. Do you want to come?”
Dorian strummed his fingers on the picnic table, wishing he had taken his break in the men’s bathroom. It would have been quieter. Hiding
in a stall didn’t seem like a bad idea at the moment.
This wasn’t the first time Miguel had asked him over. The man seemed hell-bent on becoming Dorian’s friend. They were cool at work, but Dorian didn’t hang out with anyone he worked with.
Jayson and Cherry had cured him of that impulsive need.
He felt awkward as hell now sitting here knowing Miguel wanted to be outside-of-work buddies. “Maybe some other time.”
“Ah, come on. You tell me this reason every time I ask you over. Do you have something against me?” Miguel bit into his apple, eyeing Dorian, already looking dejected. The kid was nice, but Dorian didn’t know him that well. He couldn’t understand why Miguel was so eager to hang out. Besides the fact that he didn’t know the guy, Dorian was at least six years older than Miguel. The stock boy couldn’t be any older than eighteen. They wouldn’t have anything in common.
Dorian shook his head, jerking it quickly from side to side. “Why do you want me to come, Miguel? It’s not like we really know each other.”
Miguel shrugged, tossing the apple core aside and unwrapping his sandwich. He took a bite, chewing meticulously before answering Dorian’s question. “You don’t call me names like everyone else.”
Dorian felt sorry for the guy. He was short for a man and didn’t speak the best English. He had heard a few of his coworkers mocking Miguel when the guy wasn’t around. Dorian had told a few people off, and since then, they didn’t talk about Miguel in front of him.
He wasn’t stupid enough to think the cruel teasing had stopped, though. Dorian inwardly groaned at what he was about to say. Being a sucker for the underdog, he knew he was doomed. “Fine, but I’m not staying long.” Dorian wasn’t sure why he had agreed, but seeing the long face on Miguel and knowing he didn’t have too many friends tugged at his conscience.
“Thanks,” Miguel said, his expression becoming lighter as he took another bite of his sandwich and then pointed at Dorian. “I like you.”
Dorian chuckled. The kid was too easy to please. What harm could come from one evening of dinner? Dorian had suffered through worse things, like listening all day at work to Jayson gossip about everything he had heard and read about. “Make sure you give me the address and let me know what time to be there.”