Today I'm pleased to invite my hugely prolific friend
Jennifer Denys to my blog. She has a new novella out on Monday 4th February, the first in a series about werewolves - and she's here to talk about their kinkier side. Because, you know, just turning into a wolf is
way vanilla these days ;-)
Take it away, Jennifer!
‘How does werewolf BDSM differ from human BDSM?’ That was the issue I had to address when I decided to write a story set in a werewolf BDSM club (named
The Haunt – in fact, the entire series is going to be based in this club), particularly as I have indicated that, like with humans, BDSM can be frowned on by their own people.
Hmm. That certainly got my mind working overdrive. For a start I made it that sex in public was allowed since sex is certainly not allowed in public in the UK, and probably most places around the world. Having said that in the human world in this book sex is not allowed publically, and that is one of the reasons the location of the club is secretive (in a shadowy forest) and they keep humans away from their venue.
So when we first venture into the club there is a couple copulating on the floor of the club while others are watching – werewolves into BDSM are exhibitionist and they like to watch others having sex. But a mysterious Shroud acts as a warning of the impending arrival of humans. And into this scene comes the (human) heroine and the Shroud works its magic and forces the couple to turn human, much to their annoyance as they prefer to have sex whilst in wolf form.
And that is something else I had to be careful about – avoiding bestiality, which is a very grey area! Shapeshifters can have sex while in animal form but not humans and animals so my werewolf heroes (yes, there is more than one, this is a ménage a cinq story!) never have sex with the heroine whilst wolf.
However, their wolf forms were another way I could make it different, having lupine women taller, leaner (and without breasts while animal), so when our heroine turns up and she is shorter and more voluptuous, the men are very interested, even though she is fairly ordinary compared to other human women. I also played on the language as the heroes use the term ‘bitch’ frequently to mean a female as we would a female wolf. It isn’t derogatory (or not much) in werewolf communities.
But that wasn’t enough, so what was it about BDSM that differed other than greater exhibitionism and physical attributes? Well, I decided to go with it being rougher to fit with the notion of them having an animal half to their personalities, so punishments for bratty behaviour might include clawing and biting, or being chained up. As half animals, being restrained in this way is very humiliating; even though submissive werewolves enjoy bondage, it is altogether different when they are chained to a punishment post like a dog and jeered at.
I still had to be careful though, and make sure that the tenets of BDSM were followed to a reasonable degree (although I do make a point of stating at the beginning that it is not intended as a true portrayal of BDSM). So there are passages where the Dominant werewolves check with the submissives that they consent to what they are about to do to them. However, there are some evil werewolves who practise dark BDSM. But you’ll have to read the book to find out more about them!
Needless to say that, since they have an animal element to their personalities, there is a lot of fighting (usually in wolf form) and all of it over a woman, although, of course, that isn’t any different from humans! But I mentioned earlier that it is a ménage a cinq story and I have three beta wolves forming a pack and fighting an alpha wolf for the right to the human woman. Being a ‘wolf’ story it gave me the opportunity to play with the idea of alphas versus betas.
As for the title,
Collared by Wolves, I was pleased with this as it is the human in this particular story in the series who is the submissive and the one who will be collared. I loved the idea of twisting the notion of it always being the animal who wears a collar and having the human get collared instead.
If this has piqued your interest then
Collared by Wolves is on sale from 4 February from
http://www.bookstrand.com/jennifer-denys in a variety of e-book formats including PDF, or from Amazon in early March.
Blurb:
Natasha Talbot, an ordinary human wanting more out of life, ventures into a forest where a club is holding submissive trials, not knowing this is where werewolves practice BDSM.
While at the club Natasha is fought over by two lots of men. Griff Seamer is an alpha werewolf with a reputation for being a rogue. He doesn’t hesitate taking on Ford Chaplin, Max Holman and Callum Lane, three beta wolves who formed a pack as a way of getting the submissive women at the club who normally prefer the alpha men.
During the fight Natasha becomes aware of their shifter natures and runs away. But is she more frightened by the BDSM or their animal aspects? Determined to try again she returns a few nights later, but when she is kidnapped by a pack who like the darker side of BDSM her four men realize they have to work together to rescue her.
Excerpt:
A girl stood in the doorway. A human girl. Griff turned to look at her and saw her face was transfixed by the sight of the naked couple rolling around on the floor.
He took advantage of her distraction to study her, noting that she was reasonably pretty, if red-faced at this moment, as the couple pulled apart, swearing volubly, and the girl became aware of their private parts in their full glory. He smiled wryly as she clearly attempted to halt her shock from showing, but not achieving it
It was illegal for sex acts to be performed in public, but this club, commonly known as “The Haunt,” managed to stay secret from the human authorities, partly because of the mysterious Shroud. No one knew where it came from other than it had been spoken about for generations. But also, due to the remote location in a forest a long way from human habitation, not even near any werewolf homes, it had been possible to stay secret. He chuckled to himself. “Deer Park” was a misnomer as there weren’t any deer there, not where wolves lived.
This venue was necessary as it was the only place he knew of where werewolves like he could act out their darker BDSM needs, ones that were frowned on even within the wolf community. Of course, they could go to a human club offering this lifestyle in a town or city, but none of them could turn into their animal selves there.
Shaking his head he chuckled at image of human Doms peeing in their pants at sight of a werewolf sub turning wolf as he whipped her. And, in any case, wolf BDSM sometimes differed from that practiced by humans, being more violent, more exposed. One big difference was that sex in public was not only allowed here, but expected. If someone wanted to be private, they went to their own homes.
He could never understand why the clubs he visited in the city had “private” rooms. If one was into the lifestyle, then that indicated a certain degree of exhibitionism, surely. It was only laws, human ones, that forced people with his type of sexual inclination to consummate their acts behind closed doors. Thankfully he wasn’t human.
Narrowing his eyes, Griff studied the girl more closely now that her shock was dissipating. At first she looked like she was going to turn tail and run out of there. In fact, the few humans that had ventured over the threshold had done just that, and she was obviously human. Apart from the warning of the Shroud, he could smell her from here. Like wolves, he could smell another animal a mile away, and she had an almost alien scent. It was amazing to him that humans didn’t have stronger olfactory senses or they would have realized centuries ago that werewolves really existed. He may be part human, but Griff was very much aware that all werewolves had a unique scent like every other animal.
Looking at the girl, he deemed that she was average height and figure for a human. Lupine women were generally taller and leaner than their human counterparts. But what stood out was her glorious red hair, dark red, not the pale, wishy-washy blonde red that he personally disliked. It fell over her shoulders, gently curling at the ends.
His cock surged up in desire. “Down boy,” he growled softly. There was no way he was getting involved with a human. In fact, most wolves stayed clear of the human species. Apart from the threat of exposure, it was too much trouble as couplings of this nature generally split up, the human being unable to accept the animal side of a werewolf’s nature. Not that these sorts of relationships happened very often. The Shroud made sure of that.
The girl still hesitated in the doorway. He could tell from her expression that she was undecided about entering. Not surprisingly considering the hostile vibes that were being emitted from around the room in her direction. He was stunned when she steeled herself and came forward. Admittedly she walked slowly, but she did step into the lion’s den, or more appropriately, the wolves’. Griff mentally sent a nod of applause in her direction. It took guts to come into a venue like this, even more so if one was a different species. Not that she knew that.
He watched curiously as she glanced around. He wondered if she was looking for someone specifically but decided probably not when the first person she approached gave her the cold shoulder turning his back on her. Her shock was evident, and she vacillated, looking down at something she held. Griff shifted on his feet to see what it was, and it seemed to be a piece of paper. Lifting her head, she tried another person. He didn’t reject her, just glared at her, and Griff saw her step back. Her expression was getting anxious.
Uh-oh.
Griff could see her looking in his direction. Breaking eye contact, he leaned his head back to tip some more of his vodka down his throat hoping to show his disinterest.
It didn’t work. She walked up to him.
Hell!
“Um, excuse me, s–sir. Can you tell me where I am supposed to go?” Her voice was surprisingly deep—and husky. His cock throbbed in his tight jeans at the alluring sound, and he had to alter his stance to relieve some of the ache. He tried to concentrate on what she had said instead.
Go? What did she mean?
He must have been showing his confusion on his face because she thrust her piece of paper toward him. Frowning, he reluctantly took possession of it, scanning it quickly wanting to get rid of her.
“Submissive Trials,” it said.
What on earth?
It wasn’t the suggestion that submissive trials would take place in this venue. In fact, they often did as wolves as much as humans had their Masters, Doms, subs, and switches, but how on earth had she got a copy of the notice?
He rested an elbow on the bar as he glanced at her face again. Her green eyes showed her earnestness. He smiled as a wicked thought came over him, and he couldn’t resist the temptation to set the cat among the pigeons. Talk about throwing the poor girl to the wolves. Oh, he was going to enjoy this.
Buy at
Bookstrand
