Please note that all following excerpts are spoilers and should be read after Alter. Additionally, the following excerpts are written in present tense rather than the past tense that the series is written in. Enjoy!

There are three excerpts, very short and sweet. More may be added in the future and they will be available in the paperback version!!

Excerpt One: Just after the phone call with Jade

RUNO

I stare at the phone after hanging up, Finn all but singing in my damn head from hearing his baby girl. We had been eager to hear from Jade but didn’t think it would take as long as it had for her to reach out. Then again, Jade was a stubborn woman and she had probably been holding on as long as she could.

A grin splits across my lips as Slash nudges my shoulder. “Your daughter sounded adorable.”

“She is!” I grin, clutching the phone in my hands. The past five years have been difficult, my alters disappearing and meshing with my main self at times. Other times, I don’t know where I am or which of us is present. It’s been pretty confusing but our men have been there every step of the way.

Funny enough, I always come back to reality when Slash or Samael is killing someone or the sweet taste of lungs hits my tongue.

“Hey, killer, what’s going through that head of yours?” Samael purrs as he comes up on my other side. He stares over my shoulder at the beautiful picture of Echo one of Samael’s guards sent the other day. Her head is angled back, her lips parted with glee, those mismatched eyes Killian used to wear staring at me.

She’s definitely my kid. Our kid.

“She’s beautiful. I wish I could meet her.” I run my finger along the screen. “But I have no idea what I would do with her. I’d be no better than Dad.” My face scrunches up as I think about the man who had been playing with me just as long as I had been playing with him. That fucker was still locked up, Primrose a skeleton of a town it used to be.

Dad had tried to explain his way out of it but he was right. I had won. It didn’t feel as great as I wanted it to but that was behind me now.

Now, my only job was to enjoy every day until my last.

Aeron hums from the kitchen, drawing my attention to him. “First off, dinner is ready. You haven’t eaten anything all day, sweetie.”

My nose scrunches up in disgust. “Don’t fucking call me sweetie, baby girl,” I throw back at him. The awful pet name came about the last time I fucked him and he squealed when I hit the right spot. His face flames bright red and if Samael wasn’t already shoving me in a seat to eat dinner, I would absolutely do a replay.

Slash snorts as he slides in across from me. “I know that look, Runo. All I ask is that you let me watch. I’ve never heard him make a sound that delicious before.”

I grin. “Sure, and then maybe you can bring out the knives again. The new one…”

Samael shuts us all done. “No sex talk at the fucking table. And Runo, Slash, both of you are fucking banned from using knives. I am not stitching up anyone this weekend.”

“Awww,” I purr, leaning over to Samael as I push my bottom lip out in a pout. “You’re just want to be part of the fun, don’t you?

Samael turns toward me, his eyes much darker than they were a few minutes before. “No, the last time I stitched you up, both of you went too fucking far and you lost too much fucking blood. Both of you are in an entirely different world when you get into that headspace. So, no more knives. Not right now. Please.”

The fear in his eyes claws at what little emotions I have before I nod. “Yeah, yeah, I can get behind that.”

Aeron calls from the kitchen, “You better be getting behind me!”

Excerpt Two: Eight Years After the End of Alter

DARK

Fucking finally. I’ve been waiting for a chance to drive this meat machine. It hasn’t been entirely Runo’s fault, we’ve been crumbling. However, I’m so fucking excited to finally have a date with our men.

Except, in order to keep this plan under wraps, I have to keep pretending to be Runo.

Which… during dinner, is difficult as fuck.

Runo: Just don’t think about what you’re eating.

Finn: It tastes pretty good actually.

“It’s disgusting, is what it is!” I whisper yell to them, staring at the cut of meat Aeron just slid in front of me. It looks delicious and it smells divine but I can’t imagine stuffing that in my mouth. It’s got those little mashed potato balls and the sauteed string beans that I absolutely fucking love, though.

“Not hungry?” Slash purrs from across the table. He leans forward, drawing a gasp from me as I feel his foot sliding up my inner thigh. And when he places his toes against my cock, I have to keep from completely melting beneath his touch. He frowns and tilts his head because Runo would never submit like that.

I manage a wiry grin before cutting off a piece of meat and stuffing it in my mouth. Ew. I’m eating people.

Runo: You’re actually eating the hack who lived down the street. You know the one who yelled at Samael for driving too fast around the corner?

My nose scrunches up as I chew, bile rising at the back of my throat. I’m mad that it tastes good and more mad that I like it. I blame it on Runo and Finn that we’ve been eating this for nearly ten years.

However, when I gag, my men know it’s not Runo. If we don’t enact this plan immediately, the fun will be over. I place my fork down and look up, quietly dabbing at the corner of my mouth with a napkin. “We had a plan. Whoever can guess who I am gets one wish.”

Our men are suddenly alert, each of them looking at each other before Aeron guesses. “Dark.”

I grimace, realizing the error in my ways. He always could tell us apart. And he’s only gotten better over the years. “Um…”

Runo: You suck at this game.

Killian: You just didn’t teach him well.

Runo: Shut the fuck up.

Aeron snorts. “I get one wish, right?” I brace myself for something awful or him asking me to cook dinner but what comes out of his mouth is not what we expected. “I want to watch Runo fuck Slash. No cheating, no switching alters. Dark, I love you but I want to watch the two of them duke it out.”

I pale and sit back in my chair, wondering if one of us is going to end up dead. Slash and Runo fuck all the time. It actually worries the rest of our men and the alters—except for Runo because of how bloody it gets. But having Runo fuck Slash? Someone is going to die.

The only person who fucks Slash is Samael.

I expect for there to be a fight but I’m suddenly yanked into the background as Runo takes hold of the driver’s seat and grins. “Fuck, do I get to use knives because it’s time for someone else to get stitched up this time?”

Dark: Someone is going to die.

Killian: Probably.

Dark: Why are you not more worried?

Finn & Daemon: Because it will be glorious

Killian: Have Aeron videotape it.

Aeron’s brows go up and Samael shakes his head. “Absolutely not. This is a terrible idea. Vetoed. Aeron, pick something else.”

Runo is already crawling over the table like a goddamn animal, our eyes locked on our prey. Slash is just staring, a bit of intrigue in those pretty eyes. He doesn’t move as Runo drags Slash into a possessive kiss before pulling back. “I guess it’s my turn to dish out a little pain. I promise I won’t kill you.”

Slash grins. “It would be a glorious death, Runo. Should we give our men a little show?”

I swallow carefully as Runo’s grin widens. He slides off the table as Slash stands and shoves his pants down his thighs, his cock already leaking. I can’t help but salivate, Runo following suit as we stare at the delicious length.

Aeron groans. “Not in front of my fucking salad.”

“We all know you would never eat a fucking salad,” Runo purrs as he starts to maneuver Slash to bend over the table. “Besides, you like this kind of thing at dinner.” That, I can agree with. Aeron loves to watch. Maybe crave is a better word.

I’ve watched him come untouched when Samael was fucking me while I tried to eat a few weeks ago.

“Now,” I start as I move to stand behind Slash. “Are we using blood or lube?” Slash doesn’t answer Runo. He just hands Runo his favorite little knife with a grin on his face.

Killian: Ah, kinky. Just don’t kill him. I like Slash.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Runo responds back to him.

Excerpt Three: Ten Years After the End of Alter

AERON

Runo keeps staring out the window after getting a cryptic text that means absolutely nothing to us. Ten beautiful years with our fourth has given us a lot to reflect on, even more so the moments when he just wants us to hold him as he gets locked in his head. However, more recently, he’s been repeating our words. I’ll say a word or two and he says the same.

I don’t understand.

None of us do.

And yet, he’ll cackle like there’s some joke we’ve missed out on.

“Hey… Runo? Babe?”

He twists around to look at me, looking like a kid in a candy shop. “It’s almost time, Aeron.”

“Time for what?” I inch closer, incredibly confused as he climbs off the couches and straightens his shirt. He’s oddly dressed compared to what he usually wears, our fourth donned in a collared shirt and dress pants. “Runo, you’re worrying all of us. What is going on?”

He pulls out his phone and shows me his screen with a wide smile. I stare at the numbers for a billionth time. 1117. It doesn’t make sense. It never has.

Until it does.

1117 is a date. November 17^th.

Which is today.

My brows furrow with confusion just as the front door opens and Runo looks over with glee, Slash standing there with a very strange woman beside him. She’s got several blue streaks through her hair and a wild grin on her lips that looks very familiar.

Slash steps inside and drags the woman by her hoodie inside. “I caught some riff raff snooping around. All she said is that she needs to meet Finn.”

I frown and then look over at Runo as I realize his grin matches the girl’s. And then that clicks too. Fucking hell. “Echo?” I ask. Runo’s kid can’t be any older than fifteen or sixteen at this point and she looks like a replica of her mother. However, something about her personality is 100% Runo and those eyes remind me of Killian.

I can’t tell if it’s a rouse or if her eyes are actually like that. Either way, there’s an aura about her that sometimes hovers around Runo—something almost evil rather than crazy. Twisted might be a better word.

She steps inside and flicks her hair behind her shoulder before flashing a smile. “Yeah. My stepdad kicked me out because I tried to kill the bastard. Then Mom said I was just like my Dad so I thought it was time to see the man who created me.”

Runo perks up. “I did you create you, didn’t I?” I realize that I’m staring at Finn and not Runo. Of course, he’d be present for his daughter. However, in the next second, Finn switches back to Runo. Somehow, Echo catches it.

“Fuck, who are you? Give me back my Dad.”

Runo just shrugs. “I’m your daddy now.” It comes out in this weird purr, growl that has me completely disgusted.

“Yeah, Runo, let’s never say that again. Now, Echo, I love that you came to visit your father. Truly. But how the fuck did you find us?”

We’ve moved enough to stay under the radar, especially since Samael is still fucking dead by the courts. He has new identification but we play it safe.

Echo just plops down onto the couch and crosses her leg over the other. “Easy! I just followed my guardian angel.” We all pause, confused on what she’s referring to until she pulls out her phone and swipes a few times before showing us a picture. “See? He’s one of yours. I asked him who he worked for and all that. Real easy to make him squeal. Then it was just a piece of cake from there.”

Samael grunts as he steals the phone from her. “Did you do something to him?”

“You’ve become rusty in your old age, pops. How did you think he was getting such personal updates? Really? A few voice changers and changing around IP addresses… why am I explaining this to you? It doesn’t matter. He’s fine. I just decided to come introduce myself. So,” She stands up and wipes her hands on her pants before offering her hand. “Hi, I’m Echo Matthews. And it’s very nice to meet you.”

Check out Echo’s story in Mayhem, Book One – Coming 2026!!