Book Name: Marking Kane
Series: Werewolves of Manhattan
Book: Four
Series is best read in order – His
Omega, Remy’s Painter, Scarred Mate, Marking Kane
Release
Date: March 4, 2016
Blurb:
Gabriel Martin has hope. Three of the Alphas on the council
have found mates in the past year and a half. Returning to New York from
Atlanta, he comes across a human who has been raped in an alleyway. The human
is his mate, Kane Brady.
Kane has been teaching at the local high school and refuses
to rubber stamp the education of their star basketball players—almost paying
the price with his life. He’s unusual as he’s a Human Omega but he can’t be
intimate with Gabriel because of his horrific experience.
It’s up to the Alphas and their Mates to help Kane recover
and accept all that it is to be with Gabriel.
Pages or Words: 51,655
Categories: M/M Romance, Paranormal,
Shifters (Wolf)
Excerpt:
First Week in December Friday
The faculty room at New York City’s McClellan High School
reeked of industrial strength cleaner, sweat socks,
and chalk. The walls were made of dirty beige concrete blocks and the linoleum
was beginning to crack. Today it was empty save for Coach Tom Hughes and Kane
Brady, the junior year English teacher, who were involved in a heated exchange.
“Neither Johnny Sanders nor Deon Jackson
did the work. They didn’t turn in one homework assignment all semester, they
refused to take all of their tests and didn’t even bother to do their term
papers. I have to fail them.”
“Do you realize that Johnny is the power forward and Deon is
the point guard for McClellan High School’s
basketball team? This year’s team has a shot at the state championship.”
“Tom, they’re not here to learn to play basketball, they can
do that on the street or at the Y. They’re here for an education and they won’t
get one if we continue to pass students along without them doing the work
required to get a passing grade.”
“Are you telling me physical education isn’t important?”
Coach loomed over Kane, who was only five-foot-six.
“Physical Education is as important as English is to their
development. If they failed to show up for your class, sat on the sidelines for
every exercise and disrupted the class on a regular basis what would you do? I
know you’ve failed students.” Kane’s eyes blazed.
“I didn’t fail our two, star
basketball players,” the Coach huffed.
“Talk to them about what happened. I didn’t want to be
unreasonable so when I realized they were on the team and failing my class, I
told the boys in November what they had to do to pass. I also told their
parents. They didn’t do it. They didn’t turn in one missed homework assignment
or the term paper I assigned in September.”
“They don’t have time for all that shit, they have to
practice. The other teachers go along. This is your first year here. You fail
Deon and Johnny and you’re out on your ear.” Coach drank the sludge they called
coffee and stared at Kane pointedly.
“And I’m out on my ear if these kids don’t pass the
standardized tests at the end of the school year.”
“There are ways of getting around that.” Coach Hughes was
trying to physically intimidate him, and Kane wasn’t buying it.
“So which do you suggest, do
I sacrifice their education so they graduate without being able to read passed
a sixth-grade level? Or do you suggest I fail them and give them the incentive
to pass next semester so they can play ball?”
“These boys can get scholarships for college if they play,”
the coach said belligerently.
“And if they don’t do the work here, their professors will
fail them because they can’t keep up and they won’t be able to play or pay for
the education they were promised.” Kane was practically begging the coach to
put the kids and their futures first.
“They have difficult lives at home.” The coach got
sanctimonious.
“No, they don’t. They
have both of their parents and both sets of parents work. Deon’s father is a
policeman and Johnny’s mother is a nurse. I’ve spoken to them and they agree
with my decision. Their boys have gotten out of hand. They are aware that their
sons have not done any school work for the past two years, with the school
turning a blind eye. As I said, I have their full support. The parents would
rather have their sons educated than have them only know how to play
basketball.”
“They don’t have the mental capacity to do the work.”
“I’d like to see you tell that to their parents. If they were incapable of doing the
assignments, I’d suggest putting them in a remedial class, but they can do the work, they just refuse to do it.” Kane glared
at the coach.
“One way or another, you’ll pay for this. Those kids were my
ticket to coaching college ball and I’m not going to lose out because of you”,”
Tom shouted. Kane shrunk back. The coach
was six foot six and about two-hundred fifty pounds to his one-forty soaking
wet.
“Get them another student to tutor them. If they catch up,
I’ll change their grade,” Kane offered.
“Fuck you, Brady. Either you pass both Deon and Johnny, or
you’ll pay the consequences. This is what happens when you let fags teach school.”
“I could have you fired for that remark.”
The coach pushed him up against a wall, shook him and said,
“Buddy, you’re not going to be around long enough to complain.” He let Kane go
and Kane slipped to the floor.
Tom Hughes tore out of the faculty room and down the
corridor.
Kane had stood his ground but was shaking in his boots. He
wished he had someone to talk to about this, but this was his first year
teaching and since he came in August from Indiana, he hadn’t had time to make
friends. The coach had been at the school for five years. What is my word worth against his?
***
The coach approached Johnny and Deon in the locker room. “He
won’t budge. If you get your papers in, he’ll pass you, if you don’t you fail. You should have made a token effort.”
“Why should we have to be in class with a fag? Why would I
want to do work for a fag? He needs schooling of a different kind. By the time
Deon and I are through with him, there’ll
be a new teacher in English three who gets how to play the game.” Johnny’s
smile boded no good for Kane Brady.
“Yeah, let’s see how much he really likes to take it up the
ass.” Deon poked his friend in the ribs. “We’ll make it a team effort.” Deon
laughed out loud.
“Yeah sort of like a class project,”
Johnny smirked.
“I didn’t hear you say that. Remember, if you get caught, it
will go worse for you than if you fail,” Coach told them. “You’re courting jail
time and then no college or pro team will have you.”
“You’re just as guilty as we are for encouraging us not to
participate in that fag’s class and you’ve threatened other teachers before
this.” Deon spat. “This one is the first one to face you down. The fag has balls, who knew?”
“If he fails us, you don’t get to coach college ball. If we
get caught, you don’t get to coach college ball. It would be in your interest
to let us know where he lives so we can take care of business, and to provide
us with an alibi if we need one.” Johnny stood waiting for the requested
information.
“He sometimes stays late to review papers and make up his
lesson plans. You can follow him home. If you get caught, you’re on your own.”
“No, we’re not. You’re
right there with us. We told you what we’re going to do, if you don’t report us, you’re as guilty as we are. But, we all
know you won’t make any waves because you want that college coaching position.”
“All right, go, do your worst. If you get caught, I know
nothing.”
“Right…” said Deon as he elbowed Johnny in the ribs and
smirked.
***
Kane hadn’t realized it was after nine. He was grading papers.
It was easier to do that at school. Here he could spread out unlike in his
efficiency apartment. However, his apartment was only two blocks from work on
the edge of New York’s trendy SOHO and convenient to shopping. It also had huge
windows which let in more light than the usual city apartment. His was a neighborhood in flux. He lived in an old
tenement and there was a pricey new high-rise
down the block at Ten Sullivan. It was the tallest building in SOHO.
Kane sighed, gathered
up his papers, put them in his satchel and closed up his classroom.
“Good night, Ernie,” he called to the janitor as he left the
building.
“Good night Mr. Brady. You be careful. There’s a lot of snow
and ice outside and they’re predicting another storm. Schools will probably be
closed tomorrow.
“I’ll be careful. Thanks.”
***
Kane shivered in the cold. The walk home seemed more
difficult tonight, feet dragging through the snow piles with the wind gusts
almost picking him up off the ground. He kept on looking over his shoulder. Kane
was sure someone was following him. Every time he glanced backward he saw shadows in doorways.
He looked around again and watched five boys in ski masks
come out of an alley. They were walking quickly toward him, with seeming
purpose. As they got closer, he realized
that they were following him. He began to walk faster. They also picked up
speed. Kane started to run.
Meet the author:
AC Katt was born in New York City’s Greenwich Village. She
remembers sitting at the fountain in Washington Square Park listening to folk
music while they passed the hat. At nine, her parents dragged her to New
Jersey where she grew up, married and raised four children and became a
voracious reader of romantic fiction. At one time she owned over two thousand
novels, until she and her husband took themselves and the cat to New Mexico for
their health and its great beauty.
Now, most of AC’s books are electronic (although she still keeps
six bookcases of hardcovers), so she never has to give away another book. AC is
a late bloomer, however, she claims to have found her niche writing LGBT
romance.
She hangs out at ACKatt.com and ackattsjournal.com; where she
keeps her blog. To get snippets of new
releases and Works in Progress subscribe to AC Katt’s Kattery by sending an
e-mail to mlhansel@gmail.com.
Where to find the author:
Twitter: @ackatt
Goodreads
Link:
Publisher: MLR Press
Cover
Artist: Lex Valentine
Tour Dates & Stops: March 4, 2016
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