Poppy Dennison Is Here Today On the “Belligerent Beta” Blog Tour, And There’s A Giveaway!

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED

Accidental Alpha Blurb: A quiet life. A break from the dangers of being a cop. Yep, Lex Tompkins has his future all worked out. That is, until fate—or rather the stray toddler from the house across the street—bites those plans in the ass. Well, technically Lex’s neck. Suddenly, he’s transformed into the Alpha of the secret werewolf clan hiding in the perfect, out of the way neighborhood of Lex’s dreams.

Now Lex is the unlikely leader of a dysfunctional pack… except for Spencer Robinson, the one shifter Lex can’t seem to keep his paws off. Will Spencer be able to teach Lex how to embrace who he has truly become?

Because accidents happen…

…but fate marks its own territory.

Belligerent Beta Blurb: When a human is chosen to lead the pack instead of him, Beta Dan Keller struggles to find his footing in a rapidly changing environment. Committed to his pack and not one to turn away from a challenge, Dan follows his Alpha’s request and works with Nathan Ross, the new pack Omega. Though he is initially concerned that Nathan’s weakness will harm the pack, Dan learns there is more to the shy wolf than meets the eye.

As Dan struggles to balance his growing feelings for the young wolf with his responsibilities to his pack, new threats emerge and Nathan’s loyalty is questioned. Not understanding the basics of being a wolf leaves Nathan vulnerable and the pack at risk. Can Dan embrace the true role of a beta so he can protect the man he has grown to love and save his pack?

Excerpt: They went out Lex’s back door and into the yard, where they’d set up a makeshift workout area. Typical gym equipment didn’t cut it for them. Dan could easily lift twice the amount a human his size could manage. If pushed? Triple. However, strength wasn’t what he focused on with Lex. The big stuff was flashy, sure, and at the beginning the alpha had wanted nothing more than to test the limits of his strength. Lex learned the hard way that mastering the day-to-day tests took more skill. Things like taking a glass out of the cabinet without squeezing so hard it shattered, or how to touch other members of the pack without hurting them. They’d had a couple of close calls with Lex hugging a bit too hard. Their alpha was a hugger. Luckily, Dan managed to escape having one so far.

Dan rolled his neck around his shoulders to loosen up while Lex knelt and tightened the laces on his sneakers. He’d broken Lex of the habit of changing before working out. Who had time to change out in the real world? He still chuckled over the time he’d beaten Lex while wearing flip-flops. The alpha’s tantrum had brought the entire pack running. The alpha and beta took their positions at the start of the modified cross training course they’d created together. The alpha hadn’t managed to beat Dan through the course yet, but Dan wouldn’t try the flip-flop trick again. He’d hate to break his winning streak.

“On your mark, get set, go!” Dan shouted the moment Lex stood back up. They leapt into action. First came the tire lift. The old airplane tires weighed in at almost a thousand pounds each. Dan had hunted them down on the internet. Lifting the weight of the tires tested their strength; controlling the fall took more skill. Lex had practiced the challenge daily since Dan had introduced it. Now, they each flipped their tire, keeping them on the designated path until the end line.

“Ha!” Lex yelled as they finished at the same time.

Next, came a series of posts buried in the ground at different heights. Dan had salvaged some old telephone poles after the phone company converted them to metal. They leapt onto the first post, set about five feet in the air, and caught their balance. Dan leapt to the second, still slightly more agile than the alpha, but not by much. He landed on the next post, about four feet away and only three feet from the ground. Lex rushed his jump and toppled off his second post.

“Fuck!”

“Go back,” Dan reminded him. “Focus.”

Lex ran back to the starting post and jumped onto it again. Dan waited. If he went ahead, the entire point of the lesson would be lost to Lex rushing to beat him. Dan didn’t need to prove his skill to Lex; he was stronger, faster, and had a lot more control. He’d also been born a wolf, which gave him a hell of an advantage. Lex leapt again, this time sticking his landing on the second post.

Dan turned his attention to the third and final post. Sitting seven feet high and about ten feet away from the second post, this one challenged even Dan’s skill. He crouched down and pushed off, locking his gaze on his target. He landed, wobbled for a second, and then gained his balance. He looked back and watched as Lex repeated his motions and landed beside him on the final post.

“Hell yeah!” Dan bounded from his post and ran to the next challenge. They’d constructed two salmon ladders high on another set of phone posts. Dan jumped up and grabbed the metal bar hanging between the two posts. Prepping for his first pull-up, Dan took a deep breath and flexed his arms. At the last moment, he lifted the metal bar and hooked it into the next set of notches several inches above. He continued, focused on each new set of notches, and made it to the top of the obstacle before doing one final lift and dropping to the ground with the metal bar still gripped in his hands.

This time, Dan didn’t wait for the alpha; he wanted Lex rushed to see if he could focus for the final test of the challenge. Footsteps pounded behind him as Dan ran the hundred or so feet to where one final post remained. He jumped up, grabbed the china tea cup perched on the post, and landed safely on the ground with the cup cradled in his hand.

Lex landed beside him, the telltale crunch of porcelain showing he’d failed the final task.

“Fucking hell. Son of a bitch. Shit!”

“Think fast.”

Dan interrupted Lex’s tantrum by tossing his cup at him. Lex took a step back and caught the delicate china safely in his hands. He held it up for Dan’s inspection and grinned.

“Better,” Dan said and reached out to thump Lex on the shoulder. “The hardest thing is the transition between. You’ve heard people say they didn’t know their own strength? You literally don’t know how strong you are. Your body isn’t accustomed to it yet, but you’re getting better.”

Lex nodded, but his attention had turned toward the house. He grinned and took off at a jog. Dan followed behind and realized Mia had arrived with little Aidan. The toddler had the alpha wrapped around his finger.

About Poppy: A sassy southern lady, Poppy Dennison developed an obsession with things that go bump in the night in her early years after a barn door flew off its hinges and nearly squashed her. Convinced it was a ghost trying to get her attention, she started looking for other strange and mysterious happenings around her. Not satisfied with what she found, Poppy has traveled to Greece, Malaysia and England to find inspiration for the burly bears and silver foxes that melt her butter. Her love of paranormal continues to flourish nearly thirty years later, and she writes steamy love stories about the very things that used to keep her up all night. If her childhood ghost is lucky, maybe one day she’ll give him his own happily ever after.

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