Author Name: A.C. Katt
Book Name: Marking Kane
Series: Werewolves of Manhattan
Book: Four
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
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