 It's been a while since I've done a First Chapter Friday post, but since there are many stories I haven't posted about yet, and I'm trying to link excerpts to my book pages, I thought I'd start these posts again. Today's First Chapter Friday is from the second book in my Shifter Towers series. There were many real-life events, conversations, and experiences that inspired this story. In Mink Omega in Hiding, a bear shifter longs for his fated mate whom he hasn't seen since they attended college together. And one day, the mink shifter shows up on his doorstep, looking for a place to hide out.  Enjoy Roan's POV in the first chapter of MINK OMEGA IN HIDING...As a child, I often believed standing on stage performing for enraptured spectators would be the best feeling in the world. I was so wrong. My audience twenty years later consisted of drunk and horny wolf shifters waiting for me to sway my hips and peel my clothing off one piece at a time. Even though I knew they were there, I couldn’t look at any one of them. If I did, I would freeze, be completely unable to perform. Instead, I imagined stripping for someone else, someone from long ago. Thoughts of my first love helped me through work, and every day at home when Tuan wanted me to perform sexual favors for him and several of his gang members, or decided he wanted to remind me of his dominance with his fists. Memories of my first love helped me through it all. He’d never loved me back. Not in the way I’d wanted him to. But he’d always treated me as an equal, even if he was an alpha and I was only an omega. I pictured him sitting in the front row, weaved my hips around to entice him, make him want to claim me. I teased him, showing flashes of skin before lifting my shirt off. Then I slowly rolled down my pants, a little at a time before I bent over in front of him, giving him a view of my bare ass. Ignoring the catcalls, I imagined his deep voice encouraging me, telling me that I was a good omega and how much he loved me. And then my performance was done. “Oh, you were so good, baby,” Pog, one of Tuan’s minions called from the audience. He’d arrived later than usual tonight, though I wished he hadn’t shown up at all. “Let’s go to a private room where you can grind that pretty little ass over me.” Swallowing the bile that tried to escape, I grabbed my clothes from the stage and ran off. Tuan insisted that I didn’t give private dances at work. Not when he wasn’t there to profit from it. Besides, it was my last dance for the night, and I had to rush to get dressed and catch the last bus of the night that went past the club. After saying good night to some of the other dancers, I pulled the strings on my hoodie a little tighter and pushed open the door of the employee entrance. Escaping out into the muggy night, I headed for the bus stop. My shift was over, though I wanted to go home as much as I wanted to stay at work. Tuan would want the same thing every guy who came into the club longed for. My body. But, for once, I wanted to feel like I was appreciated for more than the shape of my ass and sway of my hips. I wanted to have an intellectual conversation instead of hearing, “Hey, baby, come and sit that pretty ass on my lap.” Yet I had nowhere else to go. No one else to depend on. Not even myself. I reached the stop as the bus pulled up. Getting on, I found a single seat in the middle. Perfect. I pulled my hood over a little more so no one would recognize me. Even in sweats and a hoodie, I often got recognized by my face. Though it seemed no one ever looked there while I danced, they obviously did at some point during my routine. Could and did spot the mole on my right cheek from fifty feet away. Didn’t matter. I still wanted out. My tips were slowly adding up, but not yet enough to afford my own place. Why had I become involved with a wolf omega who was the leader of the worst gang in all of Gitown? What had I ever seen in him in the first place, giving up a promising future to be with him? My parents were right when they’d objected to him. But it wasn’t until they were killed in a car accident that I realized how right they were. Now I had no one else to depend on. No one to help me leave his clutches. After transferring onto my next bus, I heard my phone ding, indicating a text. I rolled my eyes as I pulled it from my pocket. Probably Tuan wondering where I was even though he knew my shift ended at midnight and how long it took me to get home. No, it was from an unknown number. I froze at the single word on the screen. Run What did that mean? And who had sent it? No one had my number except work and Tuan. He’d made sure of that. My hand holding the phone shook. Should I believe what the message said? Had something happened? Or was it a threat? Tuan had a lot of enemies, some of whom had found me at the club. Thank goodness the bouncers there were armed for such occasions. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe someone had texted the wrong number. The message was meant for somebody else. Suddenly the volume of the voices on the bus heightened. I glanced out the window to see what the excitement was about then realized how close to home I was. I yanked on the stop-request cord then carefully headed for the exit. And that’s when I noticed the lights. Blue and red. All flashing. My home was surrounded by police cars and crime scene tape. Then I recalled the message. Run. It was meant for me. But who had sent me the warning? I returned to my seat, not budging when the bus stopped. “You getting off, sweetheart?” the bus driver called. I ducked low in my seat. “Uh, no. Not yet. Forgot I had to pick up some groceries before I go home.” The driver knew I lived in the neighborhood but not which house. Tuan had me circle the block and enter through the back gate. Paranoia, I’d originally believed, but now I was thankful for the stupid tactic. No one on the bus knew the house they were all staring at, wondering what had happened there, was my home. A place I doubted I could return to. Though I didn’t want to anyway. I crossed my arms and rocked my right leg back and forth, trying to prevent the fear swirling in my stomach from consuming me. I had to find somewhere to go, someone I could trust. But that wasn’t anyone or any place in Gitown. Shit! All my saved money was hidden in a canister tucked under a loose floorboard in the back of my closet. I had only the one hundred dollars in cash I’d made tonight, money Tuan would have taken the instant I walked in the door. It wouldn’t last me long. But I refused to return home. I had to figure out where to go. I wasn’t going down for whatever Tuan got himself involved in this time. I always minded my own business for that reason. Yet, I was sure Detective Merida would find any excuse to interrogate me. That couldn’t happen. I needed out of the city. And fast. When the bus reached the main terminal, I rushed off and headed to the station for the out-of-town routes. The arrival/departure screen indicated several buses would be leaving at six a.m. But I didn’t want to wait around the station for the next few hours. I knew what happened to people who were found here in the middle of the night. Especially omegas like me. Tuan had told me stories, been involved in many of the attacks. I needed to go somewhere now. One bus on the platform was boarding passengers. Its sign read Saramto. A ten-hour drive to a place I hadn’t been in years. A city that held so many good memories. But with the way I’d left, would the memories have washed away, be long forgotten? Would he remember me? Would he even want to see me? Heck, I didn’t even know if he still lived there. But I had no other choice. I went to the ticket booth. “How much to get on that bus to Saramto?” The woman behind the plexiglass and metal bars looked up. “One way is fifty dollars. Round trip is eighty.” I counted out the right cash then slipped it into the metal bowl on the counter. “One way, please.” The agent didn’t say a word, just took my money then printed off the ticket, which she dropped into a slot in front of me. Grabbing the piece of paper, I rushed onto the bus. Thankfully, it wasn’t crowded. In fact, there were maybe ten other passengers. I took a seat two behind the driver, the aisle seat. When the bus finally got going, I moved to the window, but I didn’t want anyone to dart on at the last minute and sit beside me. Finally, the bus departed the terminal and, within a half hour, Gitown was behind me. A place I never wanted to return to. And never would. Even if things didn’t work out in Saramto, I wouldn’t have any money to get back. I could only hold onto the hope that an old friendship would remain true even after so many years. Otherwise, I was doomed. MINK OMEGA IN HIDING (Shifter Towers #2) by Jessica E. Subject
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 Excerpt from ONCE UPON A DANCE CLUB WISH by Jessica E. SubjectMake a wish? What I really wanted was a stable job and relationship, to no longer have to move every time one coupling ended or another began. I took a deep breath as I stepped out into the cooler night air. “I wish I could find a man who would love me and whom I would love for the rest of my life.” Suddenly, a wave of vertigo hit me, as if I’d been knocked off-balance by an invisible force. The door slammed shut behind me, quickly blocking the loud music from inside. I squeezed my eyes shut, willing my senses to right themselves again. I needed to be fully aware of my surroundings out in the alley. I’d only had one drink. Yet, when I opened my eyes, the sight before me left me even more confused. Instead of escaping into the alley behind Hung, I’d somehow ended up at the edge of a forest. Behind me, the emergency exit in the large brick building had disappeared, giving way to a meadow of tall grasses that swayed in the breeze. Plus, it was daytime. It should be dark. The moon should be out instead of the sun. Shit, had that punk slipped me something, leaving me in a delusional state? A couple steps into the forest, I sat on a fallen log. Probably not the best decision with white pants on, but none of it was real anyway. With my eyes closed, I massaged my temples and took a few deep breaths. That’s when I noticed a difference in the air. In an alley, I expected the combined scents of exhaust, sewage, and a sampling of many food sources. Yet, wherever I’d ended up smelled of moist earth and vegetation with slight floral notes blown in from the meadow. I can’t really have ended up here, right? Then, blurry and glowing like a mirage, I spotted a figure walking toward me. A man, naked in all his glory. With his thick thighs, warm-brown skin, and a lightly haired wide chest, he was quite a sight to behold. Yes, definitely a dream. 
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AuthorJessica E. Subject is a USA Today bestselling author of Sci-Fi and Paranormal Romance. Please note: Some links contain affiliate links.
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