Now Available as a Box Set! Shapeshifter Romances, Series 1 by Linda Mooney

Now Available as a Box Set! 

Shapeshifter Romances
Series 1

By Linda Mooney

Paranormal/Fantasy Romance
Word Count: 147K
$5.99 e

Featuring:

From Out of the Shadows

Croat was a Lupan, one of the half-man, half-beast creatures long thought to be extinct or fabricated from fairy tales. Lupan were folklore, nothing more than a myth.

Tora was a Sensitive. Her kind really existed, and normal people feared Sensitives because it was common knowledge that all Sensitives were evil and practiced the dark magicks.

Captured and thrown together inside Baron Agrino’s dungeon, they discovered a connection between them that defied all reason, and a love that transcended all boundaries.

Qitirin

Scarred and traumatized, ex-Marine Sergeant Joshua Cobb can no longer function amid normal civilization. He's retreated to the mountains of Alaska to live in solitude, where he can battle his personal demons in peace.

He has no idea that the injured wolf he rescues will become more than a companion. It will also save his life, and show him a love he only believed was possible in fairy tales.

Slash

Officer Sonia Sparrow is an introvert of sorts, spending her workdays on the force, and her off days alone. But lately it seems she’s acquired a new partner. A dog, that she’s dubbed Slash, keeps showing up in the nick of time to save the day.

Michael Masson, a former Marine, is looking for a quiet life, but he can’t help the desire he still has to serve his country. Having been burned in love once before, he’s vowed to never show his other side to anyone else. Instead. he chooses to spend his life roaming the country and not getting close to anyone. But when he spies the female police officer in trouble, he can’t just sit back and let it happen.

Excerpts and Buy Links: https://lindamooney.com/BoxSets.htm 

HERE BE NEWS for March 4, 2019

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In Case You Missed It:

Monday, February 25 - 
"HERE BE NEWS" - All the latest from the gang at Here Be Magic, including a new release and a contest.

Tuesday, February 26 -
“WHICH APOCALYPSE?” – Author Cindy Spencer Pape talks about “end of the world” scenarios and humanity’s greatest characteristic.

Wednesday, February 27 -
“ACT THREE” – Author PG Forte is feeling Zen about her birthday and her new phase of life – and you can help her celebrate by entering her ebook giveaway!

Thursday, February 28 -

“PROCRASTINATION AS AN ARTFORM” – Are you just stopping to smell the roses? Or are you avoiding something? By author Jenny Schwartz.

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Sales, Contests and Events:
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Image: Bigstock.com

EBOOK GIVEAWAY

Author PG Forte is feeling pretty Zen about her birthday and her new phase of life – and you can help her celebrate by entering her ebook giveaway! 

You could win your choice of one of her awesome backlist titles.

Enter the Rafflecopter HERE or go to PG's terrific "Act Three" blog post.


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Win a paperback!

Dani Harper's been working on cleaning out her office since the beginning of the year - and was surprised to discover a box of Changeling Dream paperbacks! 


Check out her latest post and enter to win a signed copy!

https://herebemagic.blogspot.com/2019/02/bring-it-backlist-changeling-dream-by.html

Bring It Back(list): CHANGELING DREAM by Dani Harper + a Giveaway

CHANGELING DREAM

In times of stress Jillian Descharme has always found calm in her dream of a great white wolf with haunting blue eyes. But she is startled when the visions return and this time seem so real. Late at night he comes to her, speaks to her, touches her. It’s almost as if he’s alive…

“An absolutely fantastic read.”

~ Joyfully Reviewed

Thirty years ago, James Macleod lost his wife and unborn child to a killer bent on destroying the Changelings. Though he longed for death, his animal instinct fought for survival and James has been a wolf ever since. Yet now a woman has reawakened the man in him, taming wild instincts but arousing still wilder needs.  With his ancient enemy hunting the legendary white wolf, James must fight for new life, new hope, new love.

"Harper’s changelings are among the best in the genre."

 ~ RT Book Reviews

With his ancient enemy hunting the legendary white wolf, James must fight for new life, new hope, new love.

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THE CHANGELING SERIES centers around the Macleod family, four brothers and two sisters. Long-lived and able to become wolves at will, their kind call themselves Changelings. Centuries ago, they were forced to flee the wolf exterminations in Scotland and start a new life in the wilderness of northern Canada.

Today, that wilderness has been largely settled, and an entire community has sprung up around the Changelings. The Macleods and their pack live as humans most of the time, hiding in plain sight. They have jobs and pay bills and go to school and mow the grass and do all the things that humans do. But don’t make the mistake of thinking they’re tame…. There are sacred places in the hills, and wolves rule the forests at night.

The Macleods seem to have the best of both worlds — yet there are still dangers lurking for their kind. And love, when it arrives, brings dangers and complications of its own. The two highest laws in the Changeling world are never harm a human and never turn a human against their will. The wolf within, however, has its own primal rules. If a Changeling’s life is in danger, the wolf will emerge to defend it. It will also rise to the surface, unbidden, to defend a mate at all costs. Because Changelings mate for life!

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DANI:  DANI:  I’ve been working on cleaning out my office since the beginning of the year and just before I called in the heavy equipment, I discovered a box of 12 Changeling Dream paperbacks! (Only I could lose an entire box of books…)

But wait! My disorganization could be your gain. Enter through the Rafflecopter below, and you could be one of a dozen readers to win a SIGNED paperback copy (plus a set of my bookcover postcards and a couple of bookmarks). Open to USA residents only.

You can see all my books at www.daniharper.com or go to my Amazon Author Page.

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Where Are They Now? #CougarFalls

There's nothing quite so frustrating for an author (yes, I'm now speaking for all authors, LOL) as having a book that's been published and then disappears, no longer available for purchase anywhere. It's almost spooky. A book graveyard without the headstones, books lost!

I've been dealing with this issue for the past two years! As the publishing world has changed, many small press houses have disappeared, taking with them their authors' works. In many instances, the publishers have relinquished the rights to these works back to the authors. Great! But that means it's then up the author to get that work back out.

In my case, I had 25 titles with Samhain, 6 from Ellora's Cave, and 18 with Loose Id. Of those, I've released 24. 8 more will release in two weeks, but I've still got a ways to go, and it's frustrating.

I hear from readers who are confused and eager to read those books, and I feel the same way. It takes time and money to get new covers, more edits, and formatting. Granted, my edits are light since these books have already been professionally edited, but still. They get looked over. And the problem with these re-releases is it interferes with the creation of new books, thus I'm writing less this year and re-editing more.

But the good news is that I'm seeing, not just with me, but across the board, familiar authors and titles who have re-released titles under their own name or with a different publishing house.

What books are you waiting to read that are no longer out there?

***

And coming back to life October 16th, my Cougar Falls shapeshifter romance series! Yea! Only 17 more titles to re-release. LOL

RACHEL'S TOTEM

Cougar Falls #1

Mountain man or mountain lion? In his case—one and the same.

When Rachel arrives in Cougar Falls for a reading of her aunt’s will, she finds herself in a strange little town. The fantastic tales that the townsfolk tell about a clan of people who can shift into animals are nothing but folklore. Aren’t they?

Burke is taken with sexy Rachel, even more so when she shows signs of possessing Ac-Taw blood. But this puts her in more danger than she knows, danger that only increases the urgency to mark her as his own. Rachel comes to realize she’s inherited much more than just property. She has also inherited a destiny to protect her newfound home, and her new love.

For the Ac-Taw aren’t just legend-they’re real.

Read More

What WEREWOLVES have to do with Christmas...

Image: Bigstock.com

Of all the folklore surrounding this holiday season, the last one you'd expect involves werewolves. In fact, there are MANY old legends and beliefs connecting werewolves and Christmas!

A common belief in many countries on both sides of the Atlantic was that a person could become a werewolf if someone cursed them. And the person doing the hexing was often a priest or even a saint, punishing you for real or imagined sins!

Repeatedly failing to attend annual confession at Easter or Christmas was a trespass likely to result in a lupine curse...

In 14th century Normandy, the varouage was an excommunicated person who became a werewolf between Christmas and Candlemas or during Advent. During this time, the sinner was either redeemed – or doomed to belong to the devil and run as a wolf forever. (By the way, in Finland, if you were lucky enough to break the spell, you were still stuck with a wolf’s tail for the rest of your life!)

Curses abounded for anyone with the misfortune to be born on the wrong day. In Italy, it was bad luck to be born on the winter solstice, December 20-21, and a sure way to become a shapeshifter. In many other European countries, such as Poland, it was believed that children born on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day automatically became werewolves when they grew up. In Germany, a child was still in danger of becoming one if he or she was born during the 12 nights of Christmas, which run from December 25 until the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6.

Image: Bigstock.com

Whatever the country and the legend, it was generally agreed that the lupine curse was some sort of divine punishment for blasphemy, as the hapless baby was viewed as competing with the Christ child! Many kinds of rituals were vigorously performed for the first few days after Christmas to help the infant avoid his wolfish fate

In Romania, this legend went a step further. Children conceived on Christmas Eve were cursed to become werewolves because their parents were supposed to have abstained from sex at that time!

Winter solstice (which falls about December 21^st), was traditionally celebrated as the first day of the 12 days of Yule. The veil between worlds was thin during that time, and people stayed indoors at night because supernatural creatures were out and about – and that included werewolves!

In 1555, Swedish archbiship Olaus Magnus wrote “The History of the Northern Peoples”, in which he said that at the festival of Christmas, there was a strange conversion of men into wolves. “There is a gathering of a huge multitude of wolves which have been changed from men, and which during that night rage with such fierceness … that the inhabitants suffer more hurt from them, than they ever do from natural wolves, for these human wolves break down doors … and descend into cellars where they drink out whole tuns (sic) of beer or mead.” 

Magnus goes on to describe a high stone wall where the werewolves would afterwards gather, and eventually compete to leap over it.”

Image: Public Domain

The concept of werewolves waiting at the wall was illustrated by Maurice Sand in his 1858 lithograph of Les Lupins (shown above).

Physician Casper Peucer recorded a similar legend of mass lycanthropy in 1560 in Livonia (now Estonia and Latvia). “At Christmas a boy lame of leg goes round the countryside summoning the Devil’s followers, which are many, to a general conclave… The human form vanishes, and the whole multitude become wolves… They fall upon herds of cattle and flocks of sheep.” The entire transformation, he wrote, lasts twelve days: “…at the expiration of which the wolf skin vanishes, and the human form reappears.”

Image: Bigstock.com

On the flip side, there were some beliefs in the notion that the sheer holiness of the Christmas season would suppress a werewolf’s transformation, enabling him to walk freely among men without fear of his animal nature getting the better of him. After this blessed period of dormancy however, werewolves in January were all the more active and aggressive.

In some parts of Poland, it was believed that werewolves only transformed into their animal form twice a year: on Midsummer Day and on Christmas. In Slovenia, the Twelve Days of Christmas were also known as Wolf Days. The original story was that the Wolf-Shepherd, or Master of Wolves, was active during that time and could do the most damage then. Later, the story shifted so that St. Blaise (Saint of the Wild Beast) became the Wolf-Shepherd. It was his job to summon the wild wolves, and then to banish them for a time, thus preserving the herds of livestock from predation.

One final, rather odd, holiday superstition also comes from Slovenian folklore. Farmers would make a special effort not to leave manure lying in the fields over the Christmas season by plowing it into the soil. Apparently one of the easiest ways a werewolf could make his transformation was by rolling in manure!

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Book 1 of the Haunted Holiday Series by Dani Harper 

A Yuletide Paranormal Romance

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/HOLIDAY-SPIRIT-Haunted-Holiday-Book-ebook/dp/B013Z0F31M

5 stars ~ JUST LOVE MY BOOKS ~ “One of my top ten holiday romances ever.”

4.25 stars ~ NIGHT OWL REVIEWS ~ “An excellent combination of sizzle and emotion.”

5 stars ~ REDZ WORLD REVIEWS ~ "Action, adventure, and a whole lot of love inside.”

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BRING IT BACK(LIST) - "First Bite" by Dani Harper

A reluctant hero.

An unwilling heroine.

And a new pack of Changelings in a darker paranormal tale that brushes the edges of horror.

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FIRST BITE is 1st in the Dark Wolf Series
Image: Bigstock.com

Geneva “Neva” Ross doesn’t want to die. But now that she’s been turned into a werewolf against her will, she’ll do anything to protect her family and friends … even if that means taking her own life.

Too bad Travis Williamson saw her jump. A lone Changeling with a dark past, he feels compelled to use his powers to save her. The last thing he expects is to feel a connection to the strong-willed woman. And when Neva is hospitalized, Travis risks everything to kidnap her, knowing the approaching full moon will put everyone in jeopardy.

Bickering constantly to hide their growing attraction, Travis and Neva run from the authorities—and from Neva’s sinister sire, Meredith de la Ronde. Meredith is determined that Neva will join her murderous wolf pack. Or die.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE -- 

This was a really different style for me, and not a story I planned. But on a lengthy stopover in the Sea-Tac airport, the characters started talking to me and WOULD NOT SHUT UP.

I had my laptop open as usual, working on another book entirely, but the characters of First Bite were among the most insistent I’ve ever met! The result was that I left Seattle with the entire first chapter and a rough skeleton of a story I’d never imagined writing. 

As I continued work on this novel, the hero and heroine, and even the villain, continued to surprise me -- and I had to run to keep up with them at times!

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Excerpt from FIRST BITE

Available on AMAZON in ebook,
paperback, and audiobook

“Come with me if you want to live.”

Neva stared at the enormous hand the stranger extended her. Her gaze followed the black leather–clad arm up to the massive shoulders, the strong jaw, and the thick lock of wavy blond hair hanging over his dark glasses. “You have so got to be kidding me,” she said.

He shrugged. “I always wanted to say that line. Except I’m not kidding.” With his other hand, the big stranger plunked a flower arrangement of purple irises and orange chrysanthemums on the bedside table. He yanked the tiny card off it and stuffed it into his jeans pocket, but not before she read, To our valued employee, Bob.

“You stole somebody’s flowers?”

“Camouflage.” He opened and closed the drawers and closet. “No clothes left, huh? Guess you’ll have to come as you are.”

“Why would I go anywhere with you? I know what you are.” She practically spat the words at him, even as she grabbed the remote from the bed and poised her thumb over the red button for the nurses’ station. “You’re one of them.”

“Yeah, well, I know what you are, too, sister.”

Of course he would know, but it still stung. She didn’t want to be like him or any of the rest of the damned creatures under Meredith’s thumb. “Look, I know who sent you. And I can give you twice what she offered you.”

He laughed at that. “Trust me, nobody could pay me enough to come here. It stinks.”

“What about your pack leader?”

“I have no pack. I’m just here to spring you.”

Something like hope stirred inside her and she pushed it down hard. Not only was this a werewolf she was dealing with, but he had screwed up her plans once already. She wouldn’t be fooled. “Meredith won’t like it,” she tested.

“Who?” He slid the sunglasses down his nose, revealing vivid blue eyes that studied her as intently as she was studying him. “Look, if you have a gripe with somebody, that’s your problem. I’m here to get you out of here. Period.”

From the set of his mouth, he looked like he was bracing himself for an argument. She was all set to give him one, too, then realized this was exactly the opportunity she needed. “Okay.”

“Look, we both know you can’t stay—what?”

“I said okay. I want to go. Go ahead, get me out of here. You messed up everything the other night and you’re responsible for me being in this place, so you owe me, mister. Let’s go.”

“Wait just a damn minute.” He pulled the sunglasses off completely then and pointed them at her. “I saved your frickin’ life, lady. If anybody owes anybody, it’s—”

“Just get me out of this hospital and we’re even.” She started struggling to her feet as he opened and closed his mouth, obviously at a loss for words. He recovered enough to offer his big hand again and this time she took it and used it to pull herself up, finding herself standing almost nose to nose with him. Or rather, nose to chest. Neva was tall herself, but this guy was huge. She eyed him warily. “No funny stuff. Get me out of here and we’re done.”

He hesitated, his brow furrowed. “Anyone in their right mind would be happy to get out of here, but you’re a little too keen. You thinking of trying to off yourself again?”

“That’s none of your business. Are you going to help me get out of here or not?”

The frown deepened but he didn’t argue further, just put his sunglasses back on. “Can you walk?”

“Not fast, but yeah.” Okay, technically she’d only shuffled around her room and limped partway to the nurses’ station once. She had no idea if she’d hold up any further than that, but she wasn’t going to say so. Instead, she pulled the ties of her bathrobe tighter and grabbed her cane.

He placed himself on her left, her arm and leg casts against him, and threw an arm around her, his big hand curled around her waist. “What’s your name?”

“Why’s it matter?”

“Well, if we’re stopped, it’ll look pretty suspicious if I don’t know my own cousin’s name.”

Cousin. Well, it was lot better than pretending to be his girlfriend—she wouldn’t have to feign affection. After all, if he was her own cousin, Alec, she would have punched him rather than hug him just out of childhood habit. “I’m Neva. So who the hell are you, anyway, the werewolf police? Why do you keep interfering in my life?”

He was silent for a long moment. “Travis. No. And goddess only knows.”

She swung around and thumped the center of his chest with a right hook, which was all she could reach from the awkward angle. It was a point in his favor that he didn’t let her fall—she’d overbalanced and would have done a fine face-plant if he wasn’t hanging on to her.

“What the hell was that for?” he demanded.

“Luck.”

“Must be extra good luck since you already stabbed me in the same frickin’ spot,” he muttered. “Lean on me,” was all the warning she got before he abruptly propelled the pair of them sideways through the door and down the hall. 

Available in Kindle, paperback, and audiobook at

https://www.amazon.com/First-Bite-Dark-Wolf-Book-ebook/dp/B00BI4W7G2 

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See all of Dani Harper's books 
on her Amazon Author Page

https://www.amazon.com/Dani-Harper/e/B004FD8RV2

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LEGEND.  LORE.  LOVE.  MAGIC.

Bringing ancient faery legends into modern-day America...

Watch for STORM CROSSED, releasing January 9th!

Available now for pre-order in ebook, paperback, and audiobook.

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BRING IT BACK(list) - Changeling Dawn by Dani Harper

Image from Bigstock.com

When you sit down to write a novel, especially one that's part of a series, you usually know who the hero is going to be. 

I was just getting started on Book 3 of my wolfen shapeshifter series, following up on the Macleod family from Changeling Moon and Changeling Dream. As I began to type, it felt as if everything was going according to plan:

Kenzie Macleod belongs to a long-lived family of Changelings who can turn into wolves at will. They were forced to leave Scotland when wolves were being exterminated there, and those terrible times have left her with a serious distrust of humans....

That’s as far as I got when up popped Josh Talarkoteen. I’m pretty used to it – many of my characters simply walk into my brain anytime they feel like it and start talking to me. But this guy was something completely new. Oh sure, I got his resume loud and clear – tall, handsome, wildlife expert, Afghanistan veteran, member of the Tahltan tribe – but it was the fact that he was 100% human that caught me off guard.

“I want in on your new book,” announced Josh. “I want a chance with Kenzie.”

I blinked. “I’m not sure that would work. You’re not a werewolf.”

“Your Changeling world has plenty of mixed couples.”

I can't believe I said it, but I did... “Yeah, but so far the humans have been women.”

Third in the Changeling Series, 
but this story can stand alone.

“Seriously?" The look he gave me made me want to smack myself in the head. "What difference does that make?" he continued. "The human women in your stories are strong and smart, and more than a match for the werewolf men,” he said. “So why not give a regular guy a chance with a shapeshifter gal?”

“Look, I admit that you’re great-looking, but isn’t it going to be tough to impress a woman who can turn into a wolf? I mean, how do you compete with that?”

“You mean the fact that she’s faster, stronger and can leap tall humans in a single bound?” Josh laughed. “So what? No hero worth his salt would be threatened by that. And besides, I’m looking to win her heart, not throw down with her in a cage fight!” 

He was totally right of course. I did a quick mental inventory of the books on my keeper shelf – and realized that there were more than a few heroes I loved who were not the magically-endowed half of the couple. I’d just never written about that situation before. 

So Josh got his chance in CHANGELING DAWN. He proved to be one determined man, and everything a hero should be.

As for me? I learned to never judge a man by his species.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Run…

Shadow and moonlight merge beneath her bare feet, the forest floor blurring as she flees the dogs and torches. Werewolf, monster–those are the names given her kind by the humans who hate them.

Hunt…

Kenzie Macleod has spent her whole life hiding what she is, and she’s not about to open up to any man, even one as powerfully attractive as wildlife expert Josh Talarkoteen. But legend says that a Changeling cannot escape the call of her true mate, even in the wilderness of backcountry Alaska.

Mate…

An isolated archeological site, a terrified Changeling cub, a shadowy research facility–as Kenzie and Josh face the ultimate betrayal, his obsidian eyes promise untold pleasure and hint at dark secrets of his own. . .

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

PURCHASE LINK -
https://www.amazon.com/Changeling-Dawn-Dani-Harper-ebook/dp/B005JSZOOA

See all of Dani Harper's books on her Amazon Author Page -
https://www.amazon.com/Dani-Harper/e/B004FD8RV2

Watch for the newest installment of the Grim Series, releasing January 9th!

BRING IT BACK(list) - Changeling Dream by Dani Harper

Tragedy has driven James Macleod's
human self deep inside his wolf.
Can Jillian Descharme convince it 
to come out?
Image licensed from Bigstock.com

In times of stress Jillian Descharme has always found calm in her dream of a great white wolf with haunting blue eyes. But she is startled when the visions return and this time seem so real. Late at night he comes to her, speaks to her, touches her. It’s almost as if he’s alive…

 “Powerful and uplifting…”

—The Romance Studio

Thirty years ago, James Macleod lost his wife and unborn child to a killer bent on destroying the Changelings. Though he longed for death, his animal instinct fought for survival and James has been a wolf ever since. Yet now a woman has reawakened the man in him, taming wild instincts but arousing still wilder needs.  With his ancient enemy hunting the legendary white wolf, James must fight for new life, new hope, new love.

“An absolutely fantastic read.”

—Joyfully Reviewed

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Personally, I really
wanted a WOLF on
the cover, but sometimes
you have to go with
what the Publisher wants.

Changeling Dream is Book 2 in my shapeshifter series, but it was actually the story I wrote first. The book made a brief but successful appearance as Heart of the Winter Wolf, before Kensington Publishing proposed a three-book contract, with a renamed Heart as the middle book—like the icing in an Oreo cookie!

Note: Although it's a series, I designed each book to stand alone. So you won't get lost if you read them out of order. 

The Changeling series centers around the Macleod family, four brothers and two sisters. Long-lived shapeshifters who can change at will, the Macleods seem to have the best of both worlds. But the wolf within has its own primal rules. If a Changeling's life is in danger, the wolf will emerge to defend it. It will also rise to the surface, unbidden, to defend a mate at all costs. Because Changelings mate for life!

This is the trailer I made for the series:

"Harper’s changelings are among the best in the genre." 

—RT Book Reviews

PROLOGUE 

              Tendrils of smoke rose ghostly white against the night sky like escaping spirits. Two days had passed and the house had collapsed to one side in a heap of charred beams and ash. No human could have survived such devastation.

              James Macleod was not human.

              Far beneath the blackened beams, he lay burned, bleeding, and broken. Close to death but as yet unable to embrace it. Now and then, he broke the surface of unconsciousness, only to be dragged under again by relentless agony and despair.

              The waning moon hid its face as James opened his eyes at last. For a fleeting moment he thought he was blind, then realized night had fallen, although which night it was he had no idea and didn’t care. He was still alive  –  barely  –  and didn’t care about that either. His broken ribs screamed at him as he began to cough up more blood and soot, but this time oblivion stubbornly refused to take him back.

              Evelyn. He couldn’t see her beneath the debris, but he could just reach her delicate fingertips. They were cold and unyielding. He felt again the slash of agony in his heart that was far greater than the pain in his body. She had been human. Vulnerable, both she and the child within her, his child. He had failed them both, failed to protect them, failed even to discern any danger to them. He had been moving the cattle to summer pasture in the deep coulees along the river when a calf blundered into the fast-moving water. Saving the young animal and regrouping the herd had set him back an hour, then two. Just two scant hours in which all that was dear to him was left defenseless.

              He'd known at once. James had barely turned his truck for home when cold terror suddenly clawed his heart and his wife's voice echoed briefly in his mind. Gunning the old pickup, he'd kept it on the rough dirt road by sheer force of will. Faster, faster, heedless of the rugged terrain. He had to get home, had to reach her. When an axle broke, James left the crippled truck and raced flat out, first on two legs, then on four.

The house had been strangely dark when he reached the yard.  Evelyn always left a light on for him. Always. And then he had spotted the smoke churning from an upstairs window. He caught no stranger’s scent as he ran into the burning house, as he shifted shape and shouted for his wife. He had smelled blood, however, mixed with the thickening smoke. He followed the metallic tang of it straight to the dining room, knowing and not wanting to know that it was her blood. And that there was far too much of it. Dear God. James had squeezed his eyes shut against the ugly gunshot wounds that had stolen her life even as he cradled her small body against him. She was gone. Their child within her, already loved, was gone as well.

              It was his fault, all his fault, although James had no idea who had done this. Few people could even find his ranch. It was remote, all but hidden, with the nearest neighbor miles away. He knew no enemies in this country, yet in his shattered heart he also knew it was no random act that had taken his loved ones from him. He should have known better. He should have known. His family’s entire sept of Clan Macleod had been forced to leave Scotland more than two centuries earlier, when fear of Changelings caused all wolves to be slaughtered to extinction there. Why had he thought it would be better here, safer now? Why had he assumed humans were any more civilized now, any less driven by fear and hatred of those who were different? But then there had been Evelyn, and she was wholly, completely human. Evelyn, who embodied all that was good about humanity, who knew what he was and accepted him, who loved him with a heart that was bigger than she was. Evelyn who had just paid for that love with her all-too-human life.

              Already half-mad with pain and grief, his own human side wanted nothing more than to follow his loved ones. Changelings were long-lived and tough, gifted and powerful. But they were not immortal. And not immune to bullets even if they weren’t silver. Evelyn’s killer had still been in the house, waiting for James, and James hadn’t known. Perhaps he hadn’t cared then either. The last thing he saw was his whole world in his arms  –  then nothing.

Left for dead. Now, his Changeling nature was automatically trying to heal the horrendous wounds, weakly attempting to regenerate burned skin and tendon, repair and replace broken bone. But with so much damage and so little energy left, the process was winding down before it had really begun. Soon it would stop altogether and he would get his wish.

              For one clear moment that wish coalesced in his mind  –  a soul-deep desire for death. James embraced it without reservation, forgetting that his inner wolf was driven by a powerful and primitive instinct to survive. Without warning, fresh agony suddenly slammed into him from every direction. His heart was being squeezed through his ribs, his very bones felt as if they were exploding. The animal within had gone completely wild. Unbidden, it frantically clawed its way to the surface.

              Dark clouds diffused the moon, hid the massive wolf that crawled out from under the charred wreckage, veiled the singed white fur in shadow. Sides heaving, the creature limped on three legs to the edge of the clearing and collapsed. James lay there for a long time and regarded the wreckage. Fists of sorrow beat inside him, but his lupine eyes could not weep. Instead, a cry of anguish was ripped from his throat, gaining in strength as it sliced through the silence. It rose and became an ululating howl echoing over the ruins of his home, his heart, his life.

              As he howled out his grief, the sky cleared. The moon was far from full but still it blanketed him with pale silvery light, lent him its peculiar strength that only Changelings knew. James stood. So his wolf nature wanted to survive? Then it could damn well do it without him. He would set it free and never walk upright again.

              The wind picked up. Although only three legs would obey him, the white wolf began to run. Run, to outpace the agony that could rip and tear a human heart. Run, to outdistance the human grief that could not be borne. Run, to be as the moon, a swift white shape gleaming in the night. Run, to be a wolf and only a wolf.

              As he raced away into the welcoming arms of the night, James was only fleetingly aware that he had just buried his human self alongside Evelyn. And then he was aware of nothing.

.....................................................................

PURCHASE LINK -

 https://www.amazon.com/Changeling-Dream-Dani-Harper-ebook/dp/B004NEW71E 

See all of Dani Harper's books on her Amazon Author Page -

 https://www.amazon.com/Dani-Harper/e/B004FD8RV2

Oh Ye Magical Beasts We Call Shapeshifters

There's a magic to animals, a purity of spirit that's captivating. They live to survive and procreate the species, and typically malice isn't in an animal's makeup.

So taking a beastly nature and inserting it into a human being makes for some fun stuff. You get the inner core needs of survival mixing with human goals, attributes, and untruths--perceptions as we see them.

I'm a huge fan of shifter stories for this reason. Taking the purity of the beast and shoving it into the chaos of man, then watching my creation adapt, overcome, and hopefully, fall in love.

My Circe's Recruits series takes the shapeshifter subgenre and turns that paranormal aspect on its side. Genetic manipulation, mating heats (and yes, I know mating heats have been done. I also started writing this series back in 2007), and a pack mating mentality all come together to make one tight, fierce family.

Circe's Recruits 2.0 are the new and improved Circs--shapeshifters. They look mostly human. They blend. And this time they're psychic as well. Fangs, claws, and a dire need to procreate make the Circs a pack that will move heaven and earth to protect their own.

The series unfolds in the next four months (Circe's Recruits 2.0: Gideon, is available now).

If you want something different, sexy, and wild, check out Circe's Recruits 2.0. And try to see the man within the beast...

CIRCE'S RECRUITS 2.0: ALEX

Coming Aug 22nd

Neither human nor animal, but something in between. And these Circs are hungry…

Excerpt:

Alex Palmer kept his face expressionless as he watched his client conduct business. He stood to the right of the slighter man, who was seated in a ratty, upholstered chair. Joo Kim wore a cheap black suit over a white collared shirt. Sweat beaded his forehead, the air conditioning nonexistent in the cheap hotel room.

The paper-thin walls allowed the chaos from the bustling Burmese province to bleed through. Shouts, horns, and street noise competed with the loud haggling from the prostitute and her john next door, the racket a mash of Burmese and English Alex partially understood but ignored, focused on keeping his client alive.

Joo Kim finished his deal, a fair trade of guns for drugs. The opium peddler, an older American man, had connections to a little known rebel faction in a small province outside the city. The seedy hotel was the perfect place for drug deals to go down with little fanfare. Small time dealers and buyers met often at the White Orchid.

But from their spot-on intel—nice job, Carter—Alex knew the hotel had recently begun attracting some important people with topnotch security. The American government also had an investment in the situation, since they kept an eye on the volatile region. Hence Alex’s client, Joo Kim, posing as a rogue CIA drug buyer.

Normally, the muscle of their private security firm would handle a case like this. Alex was a front man, the softer, more personable aspect of the business. The one who did the meet and greet with potential clients, putting them at ease while also showing them how impressive Gideon Enterprises was using an impressive show of fang and claw.

But he’d needed to be in on this one all the way because the buyer’s contact had insider information he wanted.

Information he needed.

The emptiness inside him, the loss that continued to plague him, echoed. Loneliness, his constant companion despite being surrounded by others, festered, and it drew on the rage he kept bottled up all the time. He couldn’t think about Katie without miring himself in a guilty fury.

Pain pricked at his fingertips as claws threatened to slide free. But he got a hold of his anger and kept the raging monster inside him from showing itself, used to pretending to be normal.

Hell, he’d been born with skills ordinary people considered fiction. But after being experimented on by some really bad people, Alex had become something else. Something not quite human.

To read more, click here. 

 

About the Author

Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Marie Harte has over 100 books published with more constantly on the way. She’s a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after. Visit http://marieharte.com and fall in love.