Contest & Excerpt - Protective Mate

So, I'm not sure if any of you guys are interested, but I have this book coming out. Protective Mate is book 3 in my Holland Brothers series and is set for Re Release on Saturday 25th January. Like the first two this book has been revised and expanded and has gone from 25k to 50k. This makes it my longest book yet.
Simply leave a comment and let me know which of the brothers is your favourite. You don't need to tell me why. :)

I'll draw two lucky winners on Friday and once again you get the choice of PDF, ePub or Mobi formats. 

BLURB:
Life isn't meant to be easy, but for Zachary Bennet the
last two years have been downright hell. The one shining light in his life, his
precious daughter, Hayley. Deciding he needs a clean break, Zack gets a new job
in a small town called Leyburn in the hopes they can settle down and live a
peaceful life.

Between worry over one
brother's increasingly erratic behaviour and constantly walking in on the other
two making out with their mates, Simon Holland is ready to pull his hair out.
All he'd ever wanted in life was a mate and a family. When his wish is finally
answered with Zack's arrival, Simon finds out firsthand how far hate and bigotry
can drive some people. But life wasn't meant to be easy and Simon would protect
what was his to the end.


EXCERPT:
Prologue
 
First day of high school and Zack was still feeling
overwhelmed by everything. He'd been at the top of the food chain in primary
school, a big kid. Now he was starting at the bottom again. High School had not
only a completely different feel to it, but also a different program and Zack
knew it was going to take some time to get used to
it.

Zack shouldered his school bag and headed in the
direction of an empty table across the quad so he could sit in peace and eat his
lunch. Luck wasn't with him though as just as he was about to sit down he was
nudged in the side by someone else trying to sit in the exact same
seat.

 Zack looked up expecting to find a bigger kid about to
tell him to buzz off. Instead he found himself staring at a pair of the
brightest green eyes he'd ever seen, a cute nose and a smiling
mouth.

"Sorry. I didn't see you there," the girl said waving her
book at him. Zack understood. He'd been looking in his backpack for his lunch
and wasn't paying attention to what he was doing
either.

"Me too," Zack said as he turned to start walking
away.

"Hey, you don't need to go. The table is plenty big for
the both of us." She waved at the remaining empty
chairs.

"I wouldn't want to disturb you." Zack
said.

 "Nonsense. Name's Sarah Stewart. Who are you?" she asked
as she took a seat and stared at Zack, waiting for him to sit down and start
talking.

 "Well, I'm me, obviously," Zack replied with a straight
face.

 Sarah giggled and the ice was broken. By the time the
bell rang to signify the end of lunch they had become fast friends and by the
end of the week they were
inseparable.

 Their high school years flew past with the two of them
sharing everything. Including Zack's biggest
secret.

The evening of the first full moon after Zack turned
sixteen he and Sarah were lying on the floor in the lounge at his place, doing
their homework. Zack's entire body heated, like his blood was boiling, then his
arms started sprouting fur. He'd looked over at Sarah, saw her wide eyes staring
back at him and said the only thing he could think
of.

 "Please don't scream." He hadn't expected this to happen
quite yet and he hadn't planned on his human best friend being there when he
changed forms for the first time in his life. He really hoped Sarah could deal
with what was going on because he couldn't lose her as a
friend.

Sarah's eyes widened even further as his words
registered, then his bones started to reshape, Zack's face elongated and before
he knew it, he stood on all fours tangled in his jeans and shirt and staring at
his best friend as she looked back at him in complete wide-eyed
shock.

"Holy shit!" Sarah said
breathlessly.

 Zack's mother came through from the kitchen. "Honey,
would you two like—" her question cut off when she noticed Zack. His mom stopped
in her tracks, mouth hanging open. Gathering her wits quickly she looked at
Sarah to gauge her response to what she'd just witnessed. "Sarah, honey, are you
  okay?"

 "That is so fricken' cool!" Sarah turned and quickly
picked up her homework before waving it in front of Zack's face. "Come on Zack!
Be a good boy and eat this for me. That way I don't have to do it and I'll have
such a good excuse."

 Sarah broke into a fit of giggles as Zack took a playful
bite at the hand holding her
homework.

"Zack!" His mother scolded. Gentling her tone a little
she said, "Go on up to your room Zack until you can shift back. Sarah and I need
to have a nice long chat."

 Zack looked between his mother and best friend a couple
of times, but not seeing any anger or worry from either of them he did as his
mother directed and padded out of the room. 
 

Sarah tried to get him to eat her homework several more
times after that day, always laughing at her own joke, Zack just smiled at his
friend indulgently.

After that everything else seemed like a piece of cake.
Zack confided in Sarah when he realised the boys at their school held more
appeal to him than the girls. Sarah simply hugged him and kissed him on the
cheek, said being gay didn’t matter, and she would always love
him.

 "You have to tell your parents," Sarah said as she pulled
back from the hug.

"But what if they stop loving me?" Zack asked, biting his
lip. Zack also didn't want his folks to be disappointed in him and he was afraid
if he told them he was gay, they would
be.

 "Zachary Thomas Bennet!" Sarah scolded him. Zack cringed
  slightly at the tone in her voice. "Your parents love you to death. There isn't
a single thing you could tell them that would change that fact. You remember how
wonderful they were to me when I found out your big
secret?"

Zack sighed. Sarah was right. He knew his parents loved
him. It didn't stop him from being scared
though.

 That night he sat down in the lounge room with him
parents. Zack took a deep breath and wiped his hands on his jeans, he was
sweating so much. He picked up the remote and muted the
television.

 "Zack?" his dad looked at him with a furrowed
brow.

 Zack took another deep breath and then just blurted it
out, "I'm gay."

 His mum surprised him. "Oh honey, I already knew that…
Well I didn't know, but I'd suspected for a
while."

 Zack stared at her like she'd grown another head. His
mother just smiled brightly at
him.

 Zack's dad stood from the chair he had been relaxing in.
"Come here, Zack."

His tone firm. Zack stood and slowly made his way to his
father, he didn't think his dad would hit him, that wasn't the kind of man he
was, but people had been known to do things they wouldn't normally when emotions
ran high.

 When Zack stood in front of him, George Bennet pulled
Zack roughly into his arms and hugged him. Zack stood stiff for a moment in his
father's arms before he relaxed and hugged his father back. After a time his dad
pulled back, but kept hold of his shoulders. "Your mother and I love you, no
matter what. As long as you're happy then so are
we."

 Zack nodded, a lump caught in his throat as his eyes
started to fill.

"Now, enough of this, can we get back to watching the
news?"

 Zack chuckled and nodded. "Sorry," he said lightly as he
  stepped away and turned the sound back
on.

"Nothing to be sorry about." Zack knew his dad really
meant that. He really did have the greatest parents in the
world.

 Sarah, however, kept the knowledge of Zack's
homosexuality from her parents until after they'd graduated from high school and
moved into an apartment together. Her parents, being the religious, God-fearing
people they were, were adamant Sarah have nothing further to do with Zack once
they were told.

Sarah refused and they informed her God would punish her
for associating with him. The sneer directed in Zack's direction as he
stood there and looked on was something he'd never experienced before. The utter
hatred these two people had for him was mind-boggling. All because of the sex of
the person Zack wanted to spend his life
with.

 "You can take your God and go and get stuffed." Sarah
told her parents before she turned, took Zack's hand, and pulled him out of the
house.

Zack didn't even want to contemplate what their reaction
would have been had they known he was a werewolf as well as being gay. They'd
probably have keeled over in apoplectic fits. Zack chuckled at that idea and
continued to follow his friend.

 When they got home to their apartment, Zack walked inside
and noticed a collar and lead hung beside the door. He stared at them for a
moment, they hadn't been there when he'd left that morning. Zack turned as Sarah
exploded in laughed in laugher. He stood there and watched as his best friend
doubled over in glee before he raced down the hall and slammed the bathroom door
closed. Zack shook his head, he knew after this afternoon Sarah had needed the
laugh and he didn't mind being the instrument behind that. He loved Sarah and he
had to admit the collar and lead were kinda
funny.