Kyell Gold

While plotting a daring jewel heist, unexpected feelings turn a high-stakes caper into an even more risky game of hearts. From the author of the "Out of Position" and "Dangerous Spirits" series.

As a young wolf and the son of a barley farmer, Coryn was lured into a night of adventure and sex by a cunning rat thief, a night which left him in debt for five long years. Now the owner of a farm himself, he has paid off his debt but finds himself longing to see the rat just one more time. So he's returning to the capital city of Divalia in search of one more adventure, and gets much more than he'd bargained for...

Yilon is a young fox noble who's just come of age, in the city of Divalia, capital of Tephos. But apart from his best friend and sometime lover Sinch, he doesn't like much about living there. He only met his father, Volle, two years ago, when he left his mother and the city where he grew up. He would give anything to be allowed to leave Divalia. Or so he thinks. When a stranger arrives with a message that the Lord of Dewanne has died and appointed Yilon his heir, the young fox realizes that there are worse places than Divalia. Dewanne is one of the most remote cities in Tephos, where foxes rule, and mice are relegated to menial jobs and a slum outside the main city. Which makes it difficult for Yilon to explain why his companion is a mouse. Ever the schemer, Yilon hatches a plan to get sent home, but soon finds that even in a backwards town, there are complicated politics, ancient blood feuds, and family betrayals, old wounds that his clumsy steps have reopened. There are at least two different groups trying to kill him, and the foxes who might help him are the very ones he's done his best to alienate. Without Sinch, who's run afoul of a band of thieves in the slums and has his own death threats to deal with, Yilon will need all the stubbornness and cleverness he's inherited from his father just to survive to the next sunrise, let alone save his inheritance, his friend, and his own hide.

This collection brings together "The Prisoner's Release," the acclaimed two-part story first published in Heat #1 and #2, , along with three entirely new tales of Argaea. These stories expand upon the lives, loves, and legacies of the characters introduced in Volle, exploring new corners of a realm where desire, duty, and destiny intertwine. Inside the Cage - Jonas, a young cougar trapped in a life of prostitution at the Jackal's Staff brothel. Betrayed and penniless, he seizes a chance to escape with a charming fox merchant, only to find himself drawn into a dangerous web of lies, exploitation, and forbidden desire. When passion turns to violence and survival forces impossible choices, Jonas must rebuild his life, rediscover his worth, and fight for love in a world that profits from his body but underestimates his heart. The Prisoner's Release - Five years after Volle and a year before Pendant of Fortune, the fox spy Volle languishes in prison, accused of stealing war plans. When a young wolf guard named Streak is ordered to break him, an unexpected bond forms instead. As friendship deepens into love, the two risk everything to defy their captors and escape the web of manipulation spun around them. Home Again - After escaping imprisonment in Tephos, Volle and his lover Streak reach the capital of Ferrenis, where old allies and new intrigues await. Summoned before Captain Avery, Volle learns the war plans he risked everything to steal may have been a trap all along. Offered a quiet farm and a chance to leave the world of spies behind, Volle must decide whether peace, and love with Streak, can truly replace the life he once knew. For Love or Family - A few years after Inside the Cage, young wolf Cef, son of the powerful Minister of Defense, is tricked into visiting the Jackal's Staff brothel-where he meets Richy, a charming wolf prostitute who captures his heart. Torn between duty to his noble family and a forbidden love, Cef risks everything to buy Richy's freedom. But when betrayal and blackmail expose their secret, Cef must choose between the life he was born to and the one he truly wants.

Volle thought life as a spy-in-training was pretty easy: do as little as possible, and spend all his free time sleeping with the other young males in Caril. He never expected to be the one chosen for a critical mission to impersonate a noble in the neighboring country of Tephos--and neither did his superiors. They don't want to send him, and he doesn't want to go, but the mission calls for a fox, and he's the only one qualified. So off he goes, with a couple friends, a fake history, and very little to go on about the plot he's supposed to uncover. Now he must master the life of a noble and search for information while navigating the many pitfalls and temptations that surround him. And the temptations are plentiful: a young wolf prostitute, a shy fox courtesan, a handsome soldier. With noble friends to help him, he gains confidence quickly, but self-doubt continues to plague him. When events begin to spiral out of his control, he must discover whether he has the inner strength to save his country and his own heart. Volle (pronounced to rhyme with "wall") is the first published novel by Kyell Gold--a stirring tale of romance, espionage, and the intrigues common to both. This 317 page novel, beautifully illustrated by Sara Palmer, won the Ursa Major Award for Best Anthropomorphic Novel of 2005, and is followed by the sequels "The Prisoner's Release And Other Stories," and "Pendant of Fortune."

Now settled into the Port City gay community, Lonnie wants to pay it forward, so when he sees Scot looking uncomfortable at a huge party, he takes the white wolf under his wing. Scot, who misses the family pack he grew up with, wants to be more than friends too fast, and Lonnie's going to have to figure out how to let him down easy. But Scot brings up a question Lonnie doesn't have an easy answer for: where is his pack? Dude, Where's My Pack? is the sequel to Kyell's 2014 novella, Dude, Where's My Fox?

Rocky's climbing the tennis ranks with an eye to becoming a top ten player. He's closer than ever to bringing his sister to the States, but his old foes aren't done with him yet and his relationships only get more complicated. Headed toward his first major tournament final and a clash with the enigmatic fox he's crossed paths with so often, he'll have to learn from his past to make the most of his future.

Eight years after Dev Miski's first championship game, he's back in the playoffs chasing that elusive ring. Lee is chasing a promotion, one step closer to his dream job in the world of football. But Dev has a problem with his roommate, a flirty gay bobcat, and Lee is called upon to help a family member through a difficult transition. To get through these two weeks, they'll have to remember who they are--and decide who they want to be.

When Alexei seeks the help of a ghost to deal with a swaggering bully, he gets the strength and confidence he hopes for. If in the process he hurt his best friend Sol, well, he can make it up to the wolf later. Things get worse when the ghost, an old Siberian soldier, demands that Alexei give up his gay life, which Alexei fled his home country for. The young fox is resolved to send the ghost away - until his sister, left behind with their abusive parents, falls into mortal danger from which only the ghost can save her. Now Alexei must choose between living the life he risked everything to have and rescue his beloved Caterina from death...or worse.

If Sol can just survive his last year of high school, he can escape his homophobic small town and go live with his Internet boyfriend for the summer. But when he loses his starting spot on the baseball team and converts to vegetarianism--a wolf, giving up meat --his father threatens him with a hot, muggy summer working in the peach cannery unless he gets his act together. His teammates, who suspect his sexuality already, won't make it easy for him. But even with nobody on his side but his best friend Meg (who is even less popular than he is), the teenager finds answers and solace in an unlikely place: a 1901 book about a tragic gay romance in the bohemian district of Lutece, around the famed Moulin Rouge. Inspired by the spirit of the era, Meg and Sol share a glass of absinthe, with startling effect: Sol begins to dream that he is a cabaret dancer named Niki, offered a chance to escape his difficult life through romance--at the price of his beloved art of dance. When the dreams seep into his waking life, Sol adds "going crazy" to his worries, and the problems of a couple that lived a hundred years ago to the ever-growing list of his own. To save both Niki and himself, Sol will have to learn the difference between reality and illusion, and discover what love and life mean to him.

Meg's always thought that love and ghosts are fantasies for gullible people, but her skepticism is about to be tested. As her roommates Sol and Alexei move on with their lives, the otter remains stuck in her rut, unsure what to do about her future or about her best friend Athos. He wants more than friendship from her, but she isn't sure whether she's straight or gay, let alone in love with him. Not helping are the strange trances that show her the lives of two other young girls, one who wants to be a voodoo priestess and the other who wants to to escape a Christian cult. Athos sticks by her as the trances take over her life, and Meg will have to figure out her true feelings or lose him along with everything else.

A year after escaping from certain death in a Tephos prison, Volle finds himself in self-imposed exile on a farm in Ferrenis with Streak, the white wolf who helped him escape. When a letter arrives from Volle's friend Tish urging him to return to Tephos to defend his honor against the charges of espionage that landed him in prison, Volle gives in to the excitement and intrigue of a noble's life and returns to face his accusers. He is soon enmeshed in a web of murder and intrigue set in motion by his longtime enemy Dereath Talison, endangering him and his friends. To regain the life and status he wishes for without losing the love he has, Volle must confront some unpleasant truths about himself and those closest to him, and solve a mystery that reaches far beyond a dead body, into the reaches of the heart.

Kory, a teenage otter caught between his faith and his identity, falls for Samaki, a confident black fox who opens his world to love, compassion, and self-acceptance. As he faces his mother's rejection, the loss of friends, and the struggle to reconcile religion with who he is, Kory must learn to choose authenticity over fear. Through heartbreak, hope, and forgiveness, he discovers that love-real love-is worth the risk.

When a chance encounter in a dance club leads Ty to question his sexuality, the fox keeps it secret from everyone, even his gay teammate. After all, he's in the spotlight as the newest wide receiver of the playoff-bound Firebirds, and his parents are arranging a marriage for him. He can't let a hookup with a guy mess that up. Tami's got her career planned out - until her mother makes her put her name in to be Ty's wife. Now she's juggling deadlines and a relationship that she sure doesn't need with her dream job on the line. Together, Ty and Tami will have to decide what they're willing to risk, and what they're willing to leave behind - including maybe each other. Ty Game is the newest full-length Forester Universe novel by Kyell Gold, and examines a character first introduced in the award-winning Dev and Lee (aka: "Out of Position") series.

Having left his tennis school, young jackal Rocky N'Guwe has to adjust to life on the professional tour, starting at the bottom. At least he's got the company of his mother and his boyfriend Marquize, and he can start earning enough money to bring his sister home from Africa. But between his mother insisting on coaching him and his boyfriend pulling him away from practice, Rocky's going to have to decide whether family and relationships are more important than the game he's given his life to--especially when he turns eighteen and adult problems pile onto that already-complicated life.

Danilo has found the trick to being not-straight at a Catholic University: just fade into the background. Until the day he can't anymore, and bullies chase him to the river, where he falls in. When he emerges, the year is 1508 and he soon finds himself on the run from armed soldiers with two unlikely friends. As a white tiger in the sixteenth century, Danilo would be welcomed into the oppressive Church, but as a queer person, he could be imprisoned or burned at the stake. Not a hard choice, until one of his friends lands in prison with a death sentence, and Danilo has to embark on a rescue more dangerous than anything he's faced in his life, past or present.