Talia chuckled and pulled me to my feet. “Tormenting yourself with possibilities will not solve anything, Miss. You have to allow yourself to live while you search for answers or else your entire life will have been wasted on wondering what could have happened. I am filled with regrets and I do not wish the same for you. Take your time and figure this out. Have courage. I have faith in you.”

  I smiled for Talia’s sake and we joined the rest of our ragtag group in the entrance hall. I half expected Neco and Darris to wear dresses because of their unusual sense of humor, but they were donned in some nice suits that complimented my dress. Nico, Darris, and Talia pulled me into a group hug until I couldn’t hold back the laughter. The goofy brothers released me and pushed me towards the door to lead my small group out into the courtyard.

  My heart raced a mile a minute as I caught sight of Elosel talking with Reyez. I all but swallowed my tongue. Only Talia’s grip on my arm kept me from tripping over my own feat. I knew then that I didn’t deserve him or the life he was offering. I didn’t deserve this scarred, broke, beautiful, intelligent man that commanded a legion of shifters. He wasn’t a coward like I was. He didn’t run from his problems and make excuses for himself, but I was guilty of all of those things.

  Even so, nothing stopped me from tearing up when his eyes sparkled with happiness. His smile slid from his face and he made his way over to me in three loping strides. I didn’t fight back when I was hoisted up against his chest. I tangled my arms around his neck and met his kiss halfway. The doubts and questions began to fade and the whooping cheers around us helped to drown out the voices in my head that told me to run from this intense man. Elosel set me on my feet without breaking the kiss and swiped my tears away with his thumbs.

  I tried to flatten the lapse of his jacket where they had crumpled, but he kissed me like he needed me more than the air in his lungs or the blood in his veins. Glitch and Reyez were forced to pull us apart and I saw the churning vortex in his eyes once more. Only I involved that response in him and I soaked it up like a cat sunbathing in a windowsill. “You look beautiful.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered shyly. “I’m pretty sure you’re wearing more lipstick than I am now.”

  Reyez whipped out a pocket hanky and tossed it at Elosel. “Clean yourself up, brother. I mean damn that kiss was hot, but no need to start wearing makeup. Actually...now that I think about it, makeup might help that illness that’s got your face looking like that.”

  “Burn!” Glitch snorted and high-fived Reyez.

  Along with those two wayward souls, Elosel had Kira stand in as an honorary groomsman. I pushed up onto the tips of my toes and whispered, “I think at this point we should just call them wedding people. Seems like neither of us are any good at following traditions.”

  Elosel chuckled at my lame joke and joined his posse at the end of the aisle once more. The Priestess from the temple gave him a very disapproving look and I watched him shift uncomfortably. Glitch elbowed him in the side as the music began to stream through unseen speakers like at the commons. My footfalls fell in perfect synchronization to the song we chose for that special moment. Just seeing Elosel at the end of the aisle caused my chest to ache.

  I wanted to run to him as he had done, but I feared embarrassing myself by tripping over the hem of my dress. Nothing in the world could have stopped him from kissing me again when I made it to the end. “How did I do?” I asked.

  Elosel

  In all my life, the gods had never warned me of her beauty…

  Annalice alone had the power to ruin me with just a flutter of her lashes or the curl of her smile. The taste of her kiss caused fire to race down my spine, but I pulled away before we gave the pack an unseemly performance. Anna was flushed from head to toe and I adored every second. Glitch and the rest of the pack cheered as Reyez popped a bottle of champagne with a shout of approval. Our pack was small, but our family was growing. One by one, members of the Blueblood pack made their way over to officially welcome Anna into the fold.

  She kept her expression impassive aside from the polite smile, but I knew her better than that. I could smell the salt of her unshed tears and I was attuned to the rapid rhythm of her heartbeat. My fingers laced with hers just as an explosion rocked the earth. Glass rained down upon the courtyard as the windows shattered. Anna and I were separated. I searched for her in the chaos, but saw nothing. Hideous creatures screeched as they attacked the compound.

  Reyez fired his weapon, but the creatures were too fast.

  I grabbed Talia and pulled her behind one of the columns. “Where’s Annalice?!”

  Blood poured from a cut on the poor girl’s head. “I-I don’t know, Your Majesty. One minute she was right beside me and then...someone hit me. I don’t know. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Oh, Anna! I should have helped her.”

  “Listen to me, Talia. I need you to help get the Omegas and the children through the portal. Take them to the Lunar Glade with the Priestess, she’s the only one besides me who can open the gateway. Go now!” I scoured the courtyard for Glitch and spotted the hacker climbing up the side of one of the buildings. She tore down one of the cameras that had been installed and suddenly security drones flew out of her lab near the temple.

  Larine and Kira were at my side instantly. “We need to get you out of here, My Liege.”

  “Not without Anna.”

  “There are too many of them,” Larine argued. “She could have ran when the explosion hit.”

  “Anan would never leave the pack defenseless. She’s one of our best fighters. Find her.”

  Annalice

  My body ached in a way I hadn't realized was possible. When I tried to defend Talia, something hit me hard enough to send me flying into a brick wall.

  The sounds of my bones popping and creaking as I climbed to my feet were sickening. I blinked through the film that covered my eyes and shuffled through the fray, but the dress kept causing me to trip. I reached down and tore the skirt until my legs could move more freely.

  “Elosel!” I shouted. “Talia!”

  The pack was in a panic. They trampled over one another and shifted to defend themselves. Those disgusting hounds showed no mercy as they attacked shifters of all ages. Nico and Darris helped the children and the elders, but many of the fighters training at the barracks had been brutalized. My stomach roiled at the stench of blood and that foul odor that surrounded the tainted wolves.

  But I didn’t give up searching for Elosel.

  Light glinted off of metal and I scrambled for a sword that had been discarded in the fight. A hound attacked, but I rolled to the side just in time. I swung the blade and eyed the group of mangled beasts as they surrounded me. One lunged. I ducked and kicked another away with my heels. Two attacked at once and I was knocked to the ground, but I held a firm grasp on my sword. A hound leapt on top of me, jaws snapping as acidic drool burned against my shoulder.

  I held it back with my forearm and buried the sword in its belly. It burst into flames, covering me with ashes. Larine was cornered nearby. I shouted to get her attention and tossed her the sword. When I was distracted, something else tackled me to the ground. It happened so quickly that I hadn’t seen anything. Larine made her way over to me. “The King is looking everywhere for you.”

  “Where is he?”

  “By the library last I saw. He’s searching for a weapon and refuses to leave unless we have you.”

  “I’ll go get him.” I ran towards the library, ducking and dodging the hounds as they came my way. Teeth clamped around my ankle and I screamed. The pain was unreal. I kicked and punched the foul creature until it released me. My fingers brushed against a stone and I used it to bash the hound over the head until it went limp. Blood poured down my ankle, but I climbed to my feet anyway. I limped across the courtyard, careful to stay in the shadows lest one of those things attack again.

  The wound was already festering.

  Elosel came into my line of sight and relief swept through me. But my path was blocked. Alryn’s face contorted into a snarl of pure contempt. “You disgust me, Annalice. Time after time you keep getting knocked down and yet you refuse to stop fighting. Is that stupidity you learned from the humans or fae ignorance?” he asked mockingly.

  My gaze darted over to Elosel once more. I thought I could make it. If I could just get past Alryn...I sprinted, dashing towards Shifter King as the wound in my ankle burned something fierce. Alryn manifested right in front of me.

  He lifted his hand and cast a spell.

  The last thing I saw was a flash of red before the world went black. Somewhere in the distance, someone screamed my name.

  Thank You for Reading!

  Thanks so much for reading Her Shifter King, the first book in my new Moon Cursed Series.

  If you are dying after that ending, don’t worry!

  Book two is being written as we speak with book three to follow soon after. Be sure to sign up for my email and check out my new hot Paranormal Romance Series, Avalon Academy.

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  FREE Preview - Avalon Academy Book One

  Prologue

  A scream caught in my throat at the sight of the bleeding men at my feet. Hoarse moans and gurgling sounds came from two. The third lie dead in the corner.

  I knew he was dead. Nobody could live with the wound in his chest. A large hole was

  gaping open and blood pooled around him. Given the amount, he had bled out. The man to my right gurgled once more before falling silent. His throat had been slit.

  “H-help,” the remaining man with jet black hair groaned as his hand extended toward

  me.

  My mouth opened, but words didn’t come out. Hand to my throat I tried to make sense

  of why I couldn’t speak.

  “Ex-cal…” his words trailed off as he took his last breath.

  Darkness crept in around me, suffocating. My body shook in fright.

  Was it my turn to die?

  Chapter One

  Whispers.

  As I walk the halls of the pretentious Avalon Institute, all I hear are low conversations. Secrets whisper back and forth from one student to another. That’s nothing new for Avalon, the elite school for the magically gifted, but today, I didn’t have patience for it.

  After that horrible dream, my mind is playing tricks on me. Whispers are normal. What had me on edge as I look around, watching my classmates share secrets behind covered lips, was their demeanor. Why did I feel all eyes on me, as though the whispered words held my name? They couldn’t. I never gave my peers reason to talk about me. My group of friends is small and our idea of a fun Friday night is to hole up in the rec hall for a game of Hearts or to watch the latest favorite TV series.

  Unless they know about you and Lance.

  My inner voice is an annoying bitch at times, reminding me constantly when I’m wrong. The truth is, I did have secrets, and if the school found out, it would be enough to trigger this type of reaction.

  I thought once high school was over, I’d no longer be subjected to gossip and all the other juvenile shit, but that was a pipe dream. Even in an elite institute for magical abilities, childishness can’t be avoided. Especially at Avalon, where only two hundred sorcerers study and everybody knows everybody’s business.

  Shaking off the paranoia, I took another look. They weren’t watching me, every eye darted nervously, watching their surroundings. Whatever they were saying, they didn’t wish to spread like wildfire through the halls of Avalon, and that was enough to put anyone on edge. Rumors are par for the course, but this is something else entirely. They look… scared.

  I put my head down. Curiosity be damned, I need to stay on track. My nineteenth birthday is approaching, and I had yet to come into my abilities. Coming from a long line of powerful sorcerers, all eyes at Avalon were on me and so far, I’d been one huge fucking disappointment. The heir of two powerful bloodlines is expected to be great. It’s too much pressure for any eighteen year-old, but I’m not a normal teenager. I have magic running through my veins—dormant or not.

  “Did you hear the rumor?” my best friend Lance asks, sidling up next to me, brushing his hand against mine. I look around nervously, making sure nobody saw. He’s getting bolder. and given the strangeness of today, it wasn’t helping my already teetering nerves.

  “Careful,” I hiss. “Someone might see you.”

  Lance narrows his eyes. “Okkkay. Back to the rumors.”

  I groan. No matter how hard I try to focus, I always get diverted, and Lance is always the culprit. We’ve been best friends since birth as our families were close friends. We both knew the pressures of being D’Morte and Druitt heirs. He knew all of my secrets and I knew his. He’s been the one constant in my life. It’s hard to keep friends when the bulk of the Earth’s population is human. Lance and I had grown up going to private magical boarding schools and thankfully, we both chose Avalon out of the three magical institutions post high school.

  And lately, we’ve started…more. More touching. More kissing…

  “Gwen, are you listening?” he asks, pulling me out of my wandering thoughts.

  No matter the gossip, my eyes are firmly attached to his lips. The need to get lost in Lance for just a little while was making my upper thighs squeeze together, desperate for release.

  “Nope. Haven’t heard a thing,” I say as I continue to walk at a steady speed. I need the sanctuary of my room, where I could take care of the burning need growing inside of me.

  “You’re kidding. Gwen, this is the biggest news of the century,” he whispers, sounding far too serious for this early on a Monday.

  I eye him warily. It’s been some time since I’d heard him this excited from gossip, which can only mean it really was big news.

  “Spill,” I request, ready to dive headfirst into whatever shit show was occurring.

  He leans in close, which has me leaning in the opposite direction with a raised brow.

  We were still in public. Grabbing my hand, he walks us out of earshot into a near-empty alcove. Lance was not normally one for theatrics. He tends to blurt things out without a care of his surroundings. Not this time.

  In the safety of the abandoned alcove, I grab his collar and slam my lips to his. He groans, running his hands down my backside, pulling me into him. Our tongues tangle together as I yank on his unruly blonde hair. For a hot second, I don’t care that we were still in a hallway that anyone could walk down. I want – no, need – him to touch me.

  He jerks back all of a sudden, leaving me breathing heavily and feeling deserted.

  “Whoa. What’s gotten into you?” he chuckles.

  “Come here,” I grit through my teeth.

  “Gwen, not now,” he says, a tad harshly. “Three Knights were killed this weekend.”

  It feels like he’s doused me with a bucket of cold water. All the need from moments ago disappears, goosebumps forming in its place.

  “What?”

  My dream came swiftly to the forefront of my mind. I had dreamed of three dying men on the same night that three Knights had been killed. Could it be that I dreamed of the Knights?

  No. Fucking. Way.

  It couldn’t be. That would mean that my powers were coming to me and they were stronger than anyone could’ve ever imagined. Nope. It had to be a coincidence. One didn’t go from nothing to suddenly having Sight.

  “Yeah. It’s a bit much to take in,” he says, sounding grave.

  That was a massive understatement. This wasn’t just gossip, this was murder.

  “How? When?”

  He lifts his hand as if to say, ‘one can only guess’.

  “They were traveling together to help with the Trial of Crowns for St. Laurence Academy. It supposedly happened there.”

  “At St. Laurence.”

  It wasn’t a question. I’m blown away. It’s bad enough that three distinguished Knights, tasked to keep all sorcerers safe, had been murdered… but at one of the schools? Who would do such a thing?

  “That’s what they’re saying,” Lance states.

  “Who’s saying this?”

  Lance’s hand gestures around. “Everyone.”

  I consider telling Lance about my dream, but that would be crazy. If I had dreamed about the Knight’s death, that would make me one of the most powerful sorcerers in a millennium. Given that I’ve yet to have smaller abilities surface, the likelihood of me channeling Sight, Teleportation or Astral Projection—as it could’ve been any of those—was not good.

  “Wow. I-I’m not even sure what to say,” I let out the breath I had been holding. “The council must be going crazy.”

  The council consists of members from the most powerful magical families. They’re the equivalent of our government. They reign over all of us and the Knights are essentially their muscle. They are the protectors. If three were killed at once, something huge is happening.

  “Three knights slain… of course they’re going bat shit. It’s the worst crime against the council in centuries. Your dad has to be losing his mind.”

  The mention of my father has my stomach dropping. He’s an elder on the council, just like his fathers before him. He’s a master enchanter, which makes him one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world. The D’Morte line has always been powerful.

  Until me.

  “I can’t believe my mom hasn’t called. If something this big has happened, I’m sure he’s already been dispatched to St. Laurence.” I huff. “She should’ve told me. I’m sure she’s a wreck. She can’t go a week without him.”

  Lance grimaces. “She’ll be lucky if she sees him in the next year. It’ll be all hands-on-deck trying to figure this one out.”

 

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