ANCIENT SENTINEL

  ANCIENTS RISING SERIES

  KATIE REUS

  Ancient Sentinel

  Ancients Rising Series

  Copyright © 2023 Katie Reus

  Cover art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs

  Editor: Julia Ganis

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.

  Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  CONTENTS

  About

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Dear Readers

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Complete Booklist

  He never expected her…

  Jaguar shifter Ren never thought he’d fall for anyone again—not after the last woman he opened his heart to tried to cut it out. Literally. But the moment he met Grace he fell hard and fast for the sweet human. Except she’s made it clear she’s only looking for friendship, and he wants it all.

  But he’ll do anything to claim her heart.

  Grace officially has a crush on her friend—a quiet jaguar shifter with kind eyes and deadly skills. However, he hasn’t given any indication he wants more than friendship. So she vows to move on—until they’re given an assignment by their Alpha. When they’re stuck together under the same roof, sharing one bed, it becomes impossible to hide her attraction. But then an unknown threat surfaces, putting Grace’s life in danger, and Ren will stop at nothing to protect the woman he knows is his mate.

  CHAPTER ONE

  As Grace reached the bottom step into the foyer, her sister Luna was stepping out of the living room. She narrowed her eyes at her sister and a split second later they both sprinted for the kitchen.

  “Ha!” Grace made it inside a moment before Luna—and found their older sister Jo, and Jo’s mate Cas, making out by the coffee pot. “Ugh, you guys!”

  Luna sidestepped her and practically shoved Jo and her dragon mate out of the way as she dove for the pot. “Snooze you lose, sucker,” she said, practically cackling as she started pouring herself the last of the coffee pot.

  Grace glared at her sister, no heat behind it. “At least start another pot.” She was verging on whining but didn’t care. She needed coffee stat—because she was on a mission.

  Today was the day.

  Yep. It definitely was.

  Grace was tired of ignoring her feelings for her friend Ren, tired of pretending they didn’t exist. She needed to get whatever this weirdness was out of her system. Which meant she actually needed to talk to Ren. And then maybe…get him inside her. Which sounded super dirty but whatever. She wasn’t going to get over the jaguar shifter anytime soon.

  Not when she saw him practically every day—and wanted way more than friendship.

  Before all that, however, she needed coffee. Her liquid courage to pump her up.

  “You’re such a baby,” Luna grumbled, practically shoving her mug at her, but her mouth curved up into a grin. “I know you need it more than me, especially today.”

  “Why especially today?” Cas frowned as he looked between the two of them.

  Grace inhaled deeply, took a sip of the perfectly doctored coffee. She and Luna drank it exactly the same, because they were both awesome. Three sugar scoops and two pours of creamer. Well, milk, since that was all they could get after The Fall. After taking a sip, she shrugged at her brother-in-law.

  “Come on, why?” He looked at Luna now.

  “None of your business,” Luna said with a grin as she started scooping out coffee grounds for a new pot.

  “I’m part of the family now.” The giant dragon looked almost hurt as he glanced between all three of them, his gaze landing on his mate. “Don’t I get to know family stuff?”

  Jo’s eyes were wide as she looked at Grace, her expression pleading. “Come on, he’s not going to say anything.”

  “Fine, but keep it zipped.” She motioned a zipper across her lips. “And no big brother over-the-top stuff, okay?” She’d quickly learned that once he was officially mated to Jo, he’d slid into a protective big brother role with ease—and dragons were already overprotective on a regular day.

  He frowned, but nodded.

  “I’m going to maybe…see if…” She cleared her throat.

  “Oh my God, she’s going to put herself out there with Ren,” Luna said in exasperation.

  His frown deepened as he slid a casual arm around Jo, pulled her close.

  Grace was so glad her older sister had found such happiness—and with the sweetest, if deadly, dragon.

  “Put yourself out there?” he asked.

  Jo nudged him. “She’s going to make a move on him.”

  “I’m not making a move. I’m just…testing the waters. Seeing if maybe he’s interested in me.” She was still figuring out the logistics. Because she’d never actually asked a guy out. Men or males had always asked her out. But she was impatient and needed to know if the spark she felt for him was just one-sided. The uncertainty was killing her.

  “He’s interested.” Cas nodded in assurance. “Most definitely.”

  “Really?” The jaguar was impossible to read. He was around all the time, the best listener, but…he’d never, ever made a move, or even hinted at wanting her. And from what she understood of shifters, they had no problem just going for what they wanted. Cas was a little different in that he’d been worried about how Jo would react to the knowledge that he was a dragon—since their parents had been killed by dragons in The Fall. He’d dragged his feet making a move.

  But Grace had never doubted that Cas was into Jo. Yet even though Grace had been around shifters for a while now, she was still human. It wasn’t as if she could scent Ren or anything so she felt as if she was at a disadvantage. Like, maybe she was missing something.

  “How do you know?” Luna asked as she waited for the fresh pot of coffee to percolate.

  Cas blinked. “Ah…I just do.”

  Grace sighed. That was not helpful and she didn’t want to waste any more time, especially since she had off work today. “Thanks, Cas.” She patted his forearm gently, then hugged both her sisters. “Wish me luck.”

  Butterflies were basically living inside her as she grabbed her bicycle and headed out. After The Fall most people in the New Orleans territory either walked or biked. There were still cars—though they were all magically powered for the most part. But Grace liked biking everywhere, had painted her bike neon purple and teal and had a wire basket in the front that held anything she needed. She stayed within the territory for the most part, and if she needed to go anywhere too far she had friends she could ask for a ride. Or heck, Cas could just fly her if she was desperate.

  She’d adjusted to this new life fairly quickly, embraced it really. Her Irish grandmother would have it no other way. You pivot in life if necessary or you are destined to be miserable. One of her grandmother’s common sayings.

  Something Grace wholeheartedly believed. Which was why she was kicking her own butt for waiting so long with Ren. It had only been months but still, she knew how fragile life was. If he didn’t want anything more than friendship with her, then she’d deal.

  Or…she’d drown herself in ice cream.

  Whatever.

  But she needed to know.

  Today was one of those perfect spring days, flowers blooming and birds chirping like little demons as she made her way through the Garden District. The closer she got to the home Ren shared with his two friends Griff and Hyacinth, the more her anxiety ratcheted up.

  What was she even going to say to him? Ask him out? That was…a foreign concept to her. And how would he know she meant for a date anyway? She’d have to specify, and the thought of his rejection was terrifying.

  She now lived in a world where she was aware of actual dragons—she lived in the same house with one—and the male she was seriously obsessed with could turn into a deadly jaguar, but she was more scared of his rejection.

  “You’ve got problems,” she muttered to herself as she biked by a park filled with kids and parents. A few cubs were in animal form, wolf mostly, utilizing the jungle gym, and it was beyond adorable. She loved seeing all the species interacting, knew that this territory had fared a lot better than many. At least that was what she’d been told from friends in other territories.

&nb

sp; As a plant geneticist, her professional circle was small and she was thankful that many of her friends had survived The Fall as well. Strokes of luck more than anything—they’d been in the right territory at the right time. Her parents hadn’t and…that was something she wasn’t going to think about.

  Not today when she was feeling wild and brave.

  And terrified.

  She forced herself to slow her pedaling as she reached the crosswalk before Ren’s street. Maybe…she would just see if he wanted to go for a walk or have brunch or…something. She’d figure it out.

  As she passed people she recognized, she waved, breathing in the scent of the magnolia trees, grounding herself. It didn’t help much; her heart rate kicked up a thousand beats as she reached the end of the street.

  Only one more left turn and then his house was two down. She was almost there. And now she was worried he’d be able to hear her crazy heartbeat.

  Wait, could shifters do that? Oh no, she wasn’t sure. She knew they could scent stuff, so she was really careful to keep her thoughts in check when she was around Ren. Which was a major effort in self-control.

  When she felt her phone buzz multiple times in her back pocket, she stopped and leaned her bike against a nearby oak tree and pulled it out.

  Go get some! From Luna.

  Then, You got this! from Jo, a few seconds later.

  She laughed when even a text from Cas popped up. Though his was much more formal. You should not lack in confidence, little sister. You can do this.

  Dang it, now she really couldn’t chicken out. She was just gonna rip off the bandage. Tell Ren how she felt, that she liked him. Liked him, liked him.

  Heart still a wild beat in her chest, she left her bike where it was and headed down the sidewalk. As she approached, she saw Ren step outside his home through a cluster of azalea bushes blooming pretty pinks.

  Yep, her heart was going to explode at this point. Tall and lean with bronze skin and a charming, easy smile, Ren was gorgeous. She hadn’t even noticed him the first night he’d been at her family’s house, but she’d sure noticed him later when he’d saved her from a crazy vampire. And she’d been noticing him ever since.

  She took a step forward, raised her hand to call out to him, but froze when she realized he wasn’t alone.

  A tall female with jet-black hair was with him, turning toward him…hugging him.

  And Ren was hugging her back, the embrace looking so intimate. As if…the female had stayed the night. It was pretty early, and there was no reason for a female to be at his place so early other than one thing.

  Throat tight, she took a step back, feeling foolish. Of course he was seeing someone. Look at him, of course he was.

  She was just grateful she hadn’t made a fool of herself, told him how much she thought about him, dreamed about him…freaking obsessed about him.

  Blinking away tears, she quickly backtracked and jumped onto her bike. She was too embarrassed to go home now.

  She needed to ride around for a while until she could face her sisters, tell them how wrong and stupid she’d been.

  How very, very stupid. Her chest ached as she rode blindly down the street, desperate to simply put distance between them. She’d built up a connection in her head, had somehow thought he was into her. She’d seen a few covert looks from him and had thought…

  It didn’t matter. Not one little bit. Because clearly she’d been wrong. He was seeing someone—and the female was gorgeous at that. Was probably a shifter too.

  Grace knew she couldn’t compete, and was angry at herself for thinking she had a chance with a male like Ren. She wasn’t quite thirty yet and Ren was at least over a hundred years old. He’d probably done and seen more than she could imagine. Of course he wasn’t interested in her.

  As another wave of tears threatened, she decided to head home after all. She wanted to curl up in her room and block out everything for a while.

  CHAPTER TWO

  At the soft knock on her bedroom door, Grace knew who it was. Mainly because Jo and Cas were gone for the evening and so was her grandmother Josephine. “You can come in.”

  Luna stuck her head in, her emerald green eyes, the same shade as Grace’s, wide. “You want company?”

  “Sure.” She paused the movie she was watching—they didn’t have streaming or anything like that anymore, but she still had a handful of DVDs. “What’s up?”

  Luna pushed the door fully open and then picked up a tray of…two cups of what were likely hot cocoa and other snacks.

  Oh hell, she could feel those dumb tears coming on again. “What’s all this?”

  “Figured it was a good night for some hot chocolate and old movies.”

  “I thought you had plans?”

  “Eh.” Luna shrugged and moved into the room, set the tray on the tufted bench at the end of the bed before she picked up one of the mugs. “I’d rather hang out with you,” she said as she handed Grace the cup.

  “I want to tell you to go out but I’m feeling lonely and selfish,” she admitted.

  “It’s not selfish to want to be with family.”

  “You’re starting to sound like Nana.”

  “Who has more of a life than us,” Luna said on a laugh as she joined her on the bed and kicked her panda-sock-covered feet out.

  Grace snickered as she took a sip of her drink, sighed in appreciation. “Want to watch this, or I can put in a different movie?”

  “Maybe something Christmasy even though it’s spring?”

  “Sounds good to me. You pick.”

  Luna slid off the bed again. “You just don’t want to get out of bed.”

  Grace snickered again because it was true.

  “So…I’m not trying to kill you with questions,” Luna said as she started perusing the movie boxes, even though she knew exactly what Grace had. “There’s a chance that he wasn’t, like, you know, with someone else. I mean, you didn’t see him kissing her or anything, right?”

  Grace took another sip, ignored the way her stomach tightened. “They were hugging—embracing. It looked very…intense. There’s no other word for it.” And she wished she could unsee it. “Look, it’s fine. I’m going to be fine. I’m just having a pity party for myself tonight but I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.” That was a big fat lie, but whatever. She was allowing herself to wallow and just veg tonight.

  Luna made a sort of clucking sound with her tongue as she slid another movie into the DVD player. “Hugging isn’t kissing, and I don’t know if I’m fully on board with the thought of him—”

  “Luna. I know you mean well and I love you, but trust me, it’s okay. He’s obviously dating someone. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I just thought I had a chance.” Clearly she’d been wrong, but at least she hadn’t confessed her feelings to him.

  Silver linings and all that.

  Luna simply shrugged and slid into bed. As she did, Grace heard her phone buzz, paused when she saw Ren’s name on the screen.

  Hey, headed out soon, wanted to see if you wanted to join? Dinner, drinks, maybe dancing at Cynara’s club.

  She blinked, then held up her phone so Luna could read it.

  Luna blinked too, snatched the phone from her and texted like a madwoman before Grace could snatch the phone back. By the time she’d set her mug down with her other hand, Luna cackled manically and tossed it to her.

  Can’t tonight, have a date, but have fun! See you later this week. Then she ended it with some kissy face emojis.

  Grace’s mouth fell open as she reread the message. “What the hell, Luna!”

  Her sister laughed even harder. “Whatever. Now he knows you’re dating too.”

  Little bubbles popped up, then disappeared, then popped up, then disappeared again. Then nothing. “I should just tell him that was you who texted.”

 

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