#MFRWHook – I Don’t Know Who to Believe

Book Hooks is a weekly meme hosted by Marketing for Romance Writers as part of the MFRW Authors Blog. Readers can jump from one author to another who share hooks from their current WIP (work in progress) or any previously published books.

For this week’s edition of Book Hooks, I give you a teaser from Twisted Beauty, a m/m dystopian romance that is now 50% off at Extasy Books.

His community or his enemy. He can’t have both.

Deep in the badlands, long after the fall of modern civilization, Hunter patrols the area as the war chief for his Lakota community. His latest mission is to hunt down a marauder who robbed his neighbors of their precious goods. He’ll act as this man’s judge, jury, and executioner.

Having lost everything at his former Ojibway encampment, Chassis is far from home. He wanders the badlands, a grim reaper bringing death to those with what he needs to survive. But there is one man courageous enough to challenge him.

When the duo faces off, neither expects the sizzling chemistry to erupt between them, nor for their duel to touch what both have denied themselves. Now they must choose to either remain together and sacrifice their beliefs, or go their separate ways, losing what they’ve spent their lives searching for—love.

Genre(s): M/M Dystopian Romance, LGBTQ+, First Nations Romance, Native American Romance
Heat Rating: Level 4 (violence, dubious consent)
Publication Date: November 3, 2023
Publisher: eXtasy Books

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“Hands up. Now.”

Chassis’ eyes widened. He wanted to whip on his heel, but if Hunter hadn’t picked him out in the dark, any fast movement might end with a bullet between the eyes. His nose twitched at the lovely scent coming to him on the light breeze. “It’s me,” he said softly.

“Ch-Chassis? What’re you doing here?”

Chassis pivoted to Hunter creeping toward him, not making a sound with his boots on the rocks.

“I should ask what you’re doing way out here. I didn’t think you ever left the canyon without being accompanied by someone.”

“I needed to get away and, uh, think.” Just as fast, Hunter raised his gun, pointing it at Chassis’ head. “You’re the reason I’m out here. He’s dead.” His upper lip twitched at the corner. “Why’d you do it? Why? After I bargained for your—”

“Wolf, you probably won’t believe me, but your lover ordered them to kill me.” Chassis raised his hands so Hunter understood he had no tricks up his sleeve.

“Who?” Hunter kept the gun raised.

“Tracker and Renegade. They were going to kill me once they reached my camp. Tracker admitted this to me.”

“Wh-what?” Disbelief coated Hunter’s question. Then he narrowed his brows. “You’re imagining things. They’d never outright murder anyone. Ever. We’re warriors. Not vermin who kill for the sake of killing. Like you.”

Chassis winced at the accusation. “I don’t kill for the sake of killing either. But I had no choice. I told you, Tracker admitted to me the truth. He had to or he woulda ended up as roadkill, too.”

The gun trembled in Hunter’s hand. “They’re blaming me. They’re blaming me for Renegade’s death. Every single soul in my community hates me.”

“Isn’t this what Justice wanted? For you to be completely reliant on him? For you to have no option but to stay with him?” Chassis didn’t dare lower his arms.

“What’re you talking about?” Suspicion replaced the despondency in Hunter’s tone.

“If Tracker admitted I was supposed to die, as ordered by your lover, what else is Justice responsible for? Maybe your uncle’s death? Funny how he died in a road battle accompanied by Tracker and Justice—the best of your warriors. Perhaps Justice saw his opportunity to get what he wanted.”

“Wh-what? Never,” Hunter vehemently declared. “He never would’ve used his positionfor personal ambition. It’s a position of trust. Of loyalty. It’s not one of glory.”

“For you it is, but not for him. Why else did he refuse to train you how to drive? Tracker knows how to drive, doesn’t he?”

Hunter’s lips moved into a straight line.

“I bet all the front-line Akicita know how to drive except for you.”

“I see.” Hunter glanced into the darkness and then glanced back at Chassis. He lowered the gun. “Yeah, they do.”

“Justice can’t use the excuse of devoting your training to tactical because he also knows how to drive, doesn’t he?”

“He does.” Hunter’s shaking hand almost sent the gun to the ground.

“Why do you think I came back?” Chassis eased forward. “If I was a monster killer, wouldn’t I have simply stripped the chase car of everything valuable to me, dumped it somewhere, and gone on my way? I came back for you, Wolf. There’s no reason for you to remain here.”