So I've been promising everyone a new werewolf book by the end of this month. Aaaand - It's April 28th. The good news is that It's looking good! I'm working on editing and the cover so it might not be up on Kindle until the end of the week but I'm feeling kind of proud of myself.
I'm in such a good mood that I've decided to share the first chapter in Hunted, 1st book in my Chasing the Wolf series. And never fear, you're going to see a ton of Ava and Cyrus and Harry and everyone else from Paskell along with some new and very interesting characters.
There's a werewolf hunter after Maysie LaRouga, her brother and her mom and the only safe haven for them is in Paskell.
HUNTED
Chapter 1 - Running
Maysie stared at the hand drawn
map the gas station clerk had drawn for her and grumbled a word that had her
little brother Elijah’s eyebrows shooting up to his forehead.
“Maze, it’s no big deal. Let’s
just change like Mama said to do when we got this far and we can follow the
scent to Paskell. I bet if we change right now we can be there by dinner time,”
he said looking back at the gas station with a pained expression.
Maysie closed her eyes and
sighed knowing her brother was hungry but they had to save all the money they
could so they could rent a room when they arrived in town. Mama hadn't given them much money before she’d
left but she’d given them all she could. She rooted around in her backpack for
the last two granola bars. She threw one
to Elijah and tried to smile.
“Well, I was hoping we wouldn't
have to change. There’s no telling where Sawyer is. He could be following Mama’s
trail or ours.”
Elijah groaned and sat down
before opening his granola bar. “Maysie,
you know he’s not following us. We’d
sense him if he was. Now let’s stop
wasting time and just get there. I’m so
tired of hitchhiking and sleeping outside I could die.”
Maysie sat down next to her
brother and felt a wave of exhaustion hit her.
“If we change, we’ll have to leave everything behind. Traveling as wolves means dumping the
backpacks. It means we’ll be walking
into town with nothing but the shirts on our backs,” she said quietly as a
semi-truck rumbled by.
Elijah looked at her for a
moment and then glanced at their ratty backpacks that were practically empty
now. “Mama will be with us soon. She said we could tie the money in that
little change purse around your neck.
What are you really worried about?”
Maysie blushed and looked
away. There was ten years between her
and her little brother, but sometimes she wondered who was wiser. “You change all the time Elijah. I haven’t changed in three years. Not
since . . .” she paused and swallowed hard.
Elijah patted her back. “You mean, not since Jake died? Yeah, I
know. Doesn't mean you can’t though.”
Maysie let out a long shaky
breath and stood up. Elijah stood up
immediately next to her and grabbed her arm with a smile on his face. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”
Maysie snorted and tossed her
backpack in the garbage can and watched as Elijah did the same. Without another word she walked toward the
dense forest that crept up the mountains.
“I’ll change first and then you tie the money around my neck, then you can
change.”
Elijah
grinned and took the small money pouch she handed him. As soon as they were alone in the shaded
woods she stopped and looked around for a moment. She could hear the sound of birds and animals
and the wind through the trees. It had
been a long time since she’d run free in the swamps near their home. She turned and stared at her little brother
and felt the familiar kick of fierce protectiveness. Whatever they faced here
in Canada, it would have to come through her to get to him.
“Stay
close to me Elijah. I can’t protect you
if you wander off and get cornered. This isn't Louisiana. They have creatures scarier than gators out
here.”
Elijah
laughed and rolled his eyes. “I doubt
it. Come on, you’re just stalling.”
Maysie
glared at her brother and then shook it off.
He was right. She walked in a
slow circle and then closed her eyes. She did as her mother had taught her and
she focused all of her energy in her core. When she was completely centered,
she hurled all of her energy through her arms and legs and lifted her head to
the sky as she shimmered and changed into her wolf form. She howled with joy and ran in a circle
around her younger brother as he grinned and punched his arm in the air.
“Yes!” Elijah yelled and then quickly
tied the money around his sister’s neck.
When he was done, he glanced around before turning and running through
the trees.
Maysie
followed him and felt irritation at her brother’s antics. He was such a showoff. Elijah jumped as if he were diving into a
pool and landed on his feet as a wolf.
He looked back at her and she caught up to him, nudging him in the
shoulder. Within seconds they were
sprinting in the direction their noses were taking them. North, to the land of werewolves.
*Copyrighted Material*
