Navigate
Follow Me
Join my Mailing List
Or Subscribe to my Blog!
-
Recent posts
Archives
Categories
- ►About my Romance Books(805)
- Ares(4)
- Ascension(45)
- Avenged by an Angel(2)
- Awakened by a Demoness(6)
- Bewitch(36)
- Bitten by a Hellcat(12)
- Blood Lust(4)
- Calistos(1)
- Captured by her Cougar(1)
- Claimed by a Demon King(31)
- Claimed by her Cougar(2)
- Covet(42)
- Crave(24)
- Craved by a Wolf(1)
- Craved by an Alpha(15)
- Craved by her Cougar(2)
- Dark and Dangerous(18)
- Dark Angel(1)
- Enslave(18)
- Esher(2)
- Fallen Angel(1)
- forbidden blood(54)
- Haunted by the King of Death(5)
- Heart of Darkness(59)
- Hellcat(2)
- Her Avenging Angel(19)
- Her Dark Angel(46)
- Her Demonic Angel(40)
- Her Fallen Angel(25)
- Her Guardian Angel(39)
- Her Sinful Angel(1)
- Her Warrior Angel(27)
- Her Wicked Angel(39)
- Hunger(24)
- Hunted by a Jaguar(18)
- Hunter's Moon(32)
- Inflamed by an Incubus(1)
- Kissed by a Dark Prince(38)
- Love Immortal(47)
- Marek(1)
- Marked by an Assassin(6)
- Masquerade(44)
- Of Blood and Snow(29)
- Possessed by a Dark Warrior(5)
- Prophecy Trilogy(42)
- Scorched by Darkness(1)
- Seduce(29)
- Seduced by a Demon King(1)
- Seventh Circle(3)
- Taken by a Dragon(12)
- Tamed by a Tiger(2)
- Tempted by a Rogue Prince(24)
- Treasured by a Tiger(1)
- Turned by a Tiger(3)
- Unchained by a Forbidden Love(9)
- Unleash(48)
- Valen(1)
- Vampire for Christmas(14)
- When Darkness Falls(3)
- Winter's Kiss(8)
- ▼About my Romance Genres(934)
- ►About my Romance Series(774)
- Audio Books(1)
- Audiobooks(5)
- awards(4)
- bestseller(15)
- ►Blog Book Tours(135)
- ►Book Retailers(60)
- book reviews(15)
- character interviews(36)
- character profiles(1)
- Courted by her Cougar(1)
- covers(27)
- ebooks(36)
- ►Excerpts(158)
- facebook fan page(5)
- ficlet(1)
- formats(16)
- free stories(49)
- Frequently Asked Questions(2)
- Future Releases(2)
- giveaway(106)
- guest blogger(39)
- indie publishing(5)
- Inspiration(7)
- Manday hotties(199)
- Miscellaneous(65)
- new release(150)
- paperbacks(17)
- ►Releases by Year(174)
- reviews(23)
- Sensual Saturday(6)
- Sensual Sunday(48)
- Six Sentence Sunday(6)
- snippets(52)
- soundtrack(6)
- special offers(24)
- Teaseday(82)
- Wallpapers(12)
- writing(55)
- ►About my Romance Books(805)
First in Series
Category Archives: vampires
Hunter’s Moon – vampire / werewolf romance novel – chapter 3
I’m still celebrating the release of Hunter’s Moon, my latest werewolf romance book / vampire romance book. This is a novel in the Vampires Realm series, but you don’t have to read the other books to understand what’s happening in this one. The books in the Vampires Realm are connected by world rather than story arc. My latest offering is chapter 3 of this novel. If you want to read chapters 1 and 2, just click on the “Hunter’s Moon” tag on this post.
Hunter’s Moon
F E Heaton
Having witnessed vampires slaughtering his werewolf pack during their escape from the horror of the compound where they had been held captive, Nicolae’s hatred of the species burns deep in his veins. A century has passed since that night and the months in which he travelled to the Canadian wilderness to escape it, but the nightmarish visions and his failure as an alpha still haunt him, forcing him to live alone and keep his distance from other werewolves.
When a night hunt with the local timber wolf pack leads to a run-in with unfamiliar hunters, Nicolae tracks the scent of blood permeating the forest to an injured woman and races to save her, but has he made a terrible mistake in doing so? When she attacks him, revealing her true nature, he can’t believe his eyes or the fact that he can’t bring himself to kill her. She’s beautiful, and a vampire.
Tatyana is on a mission. Far from home and bearing a heart filled with grief, she’s intent on killing the hunters she’s tracking, but her plan didn’t include being shot with poisoned arrows. When she comes to in the presence of a glowering handsome male werewolf, she isn’t sure what to expect. His dark demeanour and cold tone warn her that he isn’t like the subservient werewolves she’s used to, and that she might not be out of danger yet, but she doesn’t let it discourage her. Working with him to discover why the hunters have come to Canada, she attempts to shatter his antiquated opinion of vampires, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it becomes to battle the forbidden hunger he stirs in her.
Will Nicolae be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and his memories, and embrace his desire for a vampire? Can Tatyana face her fear about the Law Keepers and risk her heart and her life for the sake of forbidden love? When they discover what the hunters are after, will they be able to stop them before it’s too late?
ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Excerpt
The drive down through the forest to town was quiet. The track only led to Nicolae’s cabin and he never had any mail or deliveries, and people rarely came to visit. It was better that way. He got everything in town and in person. The last thing he needed was someone witnessing something they shouldn’t have at his cabin.
It was even more imperative to keep them away now that he had a vampire for company. When she came around, she would be unpredictable. Her thirst would drive her to kill and he didn’t intend to break his promise to the local pack. As long as he was looking after her, she wasn’t going to bite a human. He would keep her contained. When she had healed and given him what he wanted, he would drive her into Calgary and dump her there.
He pulled into a space on the main street and put the Jeep into park. There were only a handful of white-washed wooden or red brick stores lining the short strip of road, and only a few dozen more houses than that in the town. Most of the locals were here for the same reason as he was—it was quiet and beautiful. Half of the population were retirees, and the rest were farmers, hunters, and people who ran small businesses or stores. A woman with several young children passed him by. The local school had barely enough students for one class but they ran it anyway. This was a town that liked to keep to itself, and it was part of the reason he had chosen to remain here. It was peaceful and he intended to keep it that way.
Nicolae stepped down from the Jeep and closed the door. He nodded to a few people he recognised as they passed him by and then headed for the local stores. He needed a few things while he was down in town. It had nothing to do with avoiding the hospital.
The sun was barely up but the stores were already open and doing business with some of the older residents. He greeted several of them and helped reach goods on the taller shelves whenever he was called on, gaining a few youthful smiles from the female retirees. He flashed them a smile each in return. They probably thought it was wrong of them to want to flirt with a man his age. If only they knew how old he really was. He had known most of them all their life, but they thought he was the grandson of the man they had known as youths. The hardest part about living in a community was reinventing himself, especially if it required a new name or physical change. It was the price any immortal paid for blending in with humans. At least he was back to his real identity again now and had been for the past ten years.
He stocked up on herbs, fresh bandages, larger sticking plasters, and other necessities, paid for them and then found himself standing on the pavement between the parked cars and the stores. He clutched the brown paper bag under his arm and stared at the white two-storey building at the crossroad ahead of him.
He needed a reasonable excuse for being in the hospital. There was a high likelihood that someone would recognise him in the corridors and wonder why he was there. Who would be on duty at reception today? If luck were with him, it would be Lisa. She always had a smile for him. He could flirt with her until an excuse came up in the conversation.
Striding towards the small hospital building, he considered what he would do if the receptionist today was Neil. Flirting was off the agenda then. Neil liked to talk sports. Cross-country running in particular. Nicolae could probably convince him that he’d injured himself running on the mountain. The right side of his chest ached. He shifted the bag of groceries he held in that arm and frowned. He already had the perfect reason to be at the hospital. Would anyone there believe him if he said the claw marks were from a bear attack? Would the doctors insist on taking a look? If it was Lisa on reception, he might be able to convince her to keep it quiet and to let him sneak in under the pretence of getting some medicine. She would do anything for him.
He moved the groceries over to his left arm. It wouldn’t do to walk into the hospital using an arm he might have to complain about.
Nicolae stopped at the entrance and held one side of the glass double doors open for an elderly couple. They smiled at him and he watched them for a moment as they walked down the street. Disgust settled hard in his stomach, weighing it down and keeping his feet planted to the pavement.
The hospital was small, like everything else in town, with little more than a dozen beds that would all be full come the thick of winter. Some of the more fragile elderly residents would spend Christmas there, protected from the bitter cold and sharing each other’s company over the festive season. The rest of the beds would be full of those who had injured themselves working in the treacherous conditions. He was vile and cruel to be considering stealing blood from people who needed it more than the vampire in his cabin did, especially when he couldn’t offer his in return. These people had given him a home, a place where he could be free, and now he was using their trust against them.
He let go of the door, turned his back on the hospital, hung his head, and closed his eyes. If he didn’t get blood for her, she could take weeks to heal. He didn’t think that he would last that long. The way he felt around her sometimes disturbed him. Something about her made it difficult to remember that she was a vampire. He needed her gone. He didn’t want to feel anything for her. Not concern, or compassion, or anything stronger. Even a small amount of blood could speed the recovery process and get her out of his cabin sooner.
A small amount was all she would get then.
Nicolae strode into the hospital, wincing for effect when he pushed the double doors open with his right hand.
He looked up, a smile plastered on his face, and instantly set eyes on a wall of four men dressed in black at the reception desk. He would recognise their scents anywhere.
Nicolae lowered his head on instinct, so his dark hair hung forwards and brushed his forehead, and moved quietly across the busy reception towards a corner from which he could observe them unnoticed. He chose a seat beside a man reading an old magazine and settled down, placing his brown bag of groceries on his lap.
Lisa was sitting behind the curved pale wooden reception desk, her chestnut hair tightly twirled in a bun and a look of exasperation on her pretty face. Her blue eyes were cold even as she smiled.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t see that anyone was brought in last night.â€
“Check again,†the leader said and leaned on the counter above her. Lisa looked down at her computer. Nicolae stared at the leader.
He looked close to forty, with cropped fair hair that was receding on top. The stern set of his expression hadn’t changed since last night. A muscle in his jaw ticked as he waited. The remaining three hunters were all younger than their leader. The one who had shot at him was in his thirties, dark haired and slimmer than the rest. The other two had light brown hair and looked similar, although there was at least five years age difference between them. Brothers?
The leader tapped on the counter.
“No one was brought in last night.†Lisa looked up at them.
They were after the vampire. Nicolae kept still, watching them, studying how they moved and putting their faces to memory. They weren’t armed today. Even the knives were gone from their belts. No one would have batted an eye at someone armed with a hunting knife in this town. In fact, the locals in the hospital seemed to be staring because there were four men in fatigues who looked like hunters but were lacking the appropriate arsenal.
He had come into town on several occasions with his black rifle and no one had cared. Some of the men had even stopped to talk to him about the model.
“Any other hunters that live in this area, on the mountain perhaps?†The youngest man stepped forwards and gave her a wide smile. The other three men backed off a step as though giving him room to work his magic on Lisa.
Nicolae smiled. As if she would go for such a weak male.
Her gaze slid to him and then back to the young hunter. It seemed someone had noticed his entrance.
“There’s only a few people who live on the mountains around here, and they only come into town every few months. They keep to themselves,†she said with a widening smile. She was talking about him now. “I doubt they would have been out hunting last night. I could call the police. They might be able to help you find your missing person.â€
She lifted the phone receiver to her ear.
The leader reached over the counter, took it from her and set it back down on the cradle. “It won’t be a problem. We’ll find her. Thank you for your help.â€
He signalled to the group and they led the way out of the hospital. Nicolae stood, walking into the middle of the room, and watched them get into a large black four-wheel drive. They reversed out of the parking space and took off towards the road out of town, in the opposite direction to his cabin.
“What was that all about?†Nicolae turned with a smile and walked over to Lisa. He placed the bag of groceries down on the counter and leaned against it at an angle on his right elbow. His shoulder ached, reminding him that it was supposed to be his excuse. He would have to think of another now. Something trivial that wouldn’t prompt Lisa to call in the doctors.
She smiled up at him, her blue eyes bright, no trace of coldness in them now. “They came in asking about a woman. Said that they’d been separated on the mountain last night.â€
Separated? More like evaded.
Nicolae leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Can you help me out?â€
Lisa mirrored his move, bending forwards and giving him a view right down her tight white uniform dress. “Name it.â€
He rubbed his jaw on the right side and pouted. “I think I’m getting an infection. Can I borrow some antibiotics? It’s aching like crazy and you know I hate dentists.â€
Lisa smiled, blushed, and touched his hand where it rested over his cheek. “I’ll play doctor with you, Nic.â€
He grinned. “I much prefer the nurse’s uniform on you.â€
Her blush deepened, turning her cheeks rosy. She stroked her fingers down his hand. “Sometimes I think it’s that accent of yours that makes everything you say sound so damn sexy. Where are you from again?â€
“Here… via Romania,†he husked and held her gaze. Her pupils dilated and she wet her lips. He was a bastard for flirting with her to get his own way, but he needed that blood and she’d had her eye on him since she’d turned twenty-one a few years back.
Lisa sighed, propped her chin up on her hand, and continued to smile. She swept her finger across his lips. “You could be a vampire with that accent.â€
Nicolae laughed, took hold of her hand and pressed a chaste kiss to the back of it. “You read too many novels. I’m not a vampire.â€
A pregnant woman came up to the counter, her hand resting over her swollen abdomen. Nicolae looked down at it, sensing beyond the loose layers of warm clothing to the rapid heartbeat within her womb. A boy. There was strength in the beat of his heart and his signature on Nicolae’s senses. The mother’s gaze shifted to him and Nicolae raised his eyes to meet hers. A touch of colour swept over her cheeks when he smiled.
“He’ll grow up strong.†The words left his lips before he could consider the consequences.
A quizzical look crossed the woman’s face and then she smiled and fondly stroked her belly. “He already kicks and fights like a bear.â€
Nicolae held his smile, relieved that she hadn’t asked how he knew the child within her was a boy. He glanced down at her stomach again and frowned. Life. Small and precious. Impossible for his kind to achieve. His fingers curled into fists. All his kind and the vampires could do was steal life and replace it with a never-ending existence.
No. His lot in immortality was not as cruel as that the vampires’ bore. An image of the female vampire flickered into his mind and his focus moved to the distant cabin and where she lay in his bed. At least his heart still beat, his blood still raced, and he could still function as a human if he chose such a life for himself. She had no pulse, no life in her veins, and had no choice but to seek blood as sustenance, and hide from the warmth-giving sun for fear of it destroying her. She was condemned by the light, and destined for Hell on death.
“Nic? You spacing out?†Lisa’s soft voice swept the image of the vampire away and he looked at her, battling the strange feeling of compassion that had come over him again. “That tooth must be killing you. Don’t take too much or the docs will notice. You owe me.â€
Nicolae recovered, winked and grabbed his groceries. He casually walked away, towards the pale corridors that led down to the small operating rooms, shaking off the feelings his thoughts had evoked. He looked back when he reached the door to the blood bank. His senses reached out, mapping everything and everyone. No one was coming. He slipped inside, shut the door, and turned around.
Rows of dark red plastic bags filled the shelves in the cold pale blue room. His gaze scanned them, reading the different blood groups. He wasn’t sure what type she liked.
Nicolae couldn’t believe he had thought that.
He didn’t care what she liked. She would get what she was given. He stormed forwards, snatched two bags at random, and stuffed them into the grocery bag. The labels on the packets read ‘O Rh D Positive’. He hoped that was common enough that the hospital wouldn’t notice it was gone.
A brief pause at the door to make sure that he was still alone and then he was striding along the corridor towards the reception. He winked at Lisa again as he passed and headed straight for his black Jeep. The sun was up now, shining brightly down on the world but doing little to warm it. Clouds beyond the distant white-capped mountains warned that snow was on its way. Nicolae chucked the groceries onto the passenger seat of the Jeep, shut the driver’s side door, and started the engine.
He was alert throughout the drive back to his cabin, his mind going over everything he knew about the hunters and putting it to memory. They had headed towards the outskirts but he doubted it was the last he had seen of them. They were intent on finding their prey. Would they check all the cabins on the mountains, cold calling in the hope that someone had found her and not reported it to the police? Would the hunters have even tried the police station? The leader had left quickly after Lisa had mentioned calling them. They wanted to avoid the local law, which led Nicolae to suspect that either they had criminal records or were wanted men themselves.
Would they come knocking on his door?
He hoped they wouldn’t.
Was there a way he could throw them off her scent altogether?
The sun was bright today and the clouds lingering beyond the mountain range wouldn’t reach them until the afternoon, if at all, but the woods on this side of the valley were dense. It would have been easy for her to find shelter somewhere in the pines or in the rocky peak where there were caves. The hunters weren’t going to give up their search until they found evidence of her demise at the hands of the sun or the poison. Vampires disintegrated on death. If he took her clothes and the crossbow bolts, and laid them out in the glade, would that throw them off her scent?
He doubted it.
Did the hunters know how long it would take for the poison to kill her? It was a strong poison, and they knew that they had badly injured her with the darts. But they were still looking for her. His fingers tightened around the leather steering wheel and he frowned at the track ahead. All he could do was keep her hidden and hope that the hunters would give up their search and leave the area. If they were still here tomorrow, he would strip her and toss her clothes in one of the caves on the mountain. It would be believable that she had hidden and died there.
The cabin came into view ahead, standing in a clearing he had cut in the forest decades ago. The logs were dark now, ancient, causing the small single storey house to blend into the trees surrounding it. He had always been happy to see his home in the past, but not right now. Saving the vampire had complicated everything.
Nicolae parked the Jeep, grabbed the grocery bag and approached the cabin. He cautiously opened the door and peered around it. She was still asleep. He closed the door behind him, went into the kitchen and put the blood into the refrigerator, and then came back and stoked the fire. He glanced at her. She was lying in the same position that he’d left her. The black medicine had bled through the bandages around her stomach and across her left shoulder, forming dark patches on both. His gaze lingered on her bra-clad breasts. He wasn’t sure how he would react to the sight of her naked if he had to strip her. He didn’t even want to consider it, or the hushed voice at the back of his mind that whispered he would enjoy it. He forced his eyes up to her face. Blood still stained her lips. He laid his hand on the bite mark near his throat. It still stained him too. She had bitten him, scratched him, and he still couldn’t bring himself to hate her as she deserved. What was wrong with him?
Nicolae went to her and touched her forehead. She didn’t stir. Her skin was cooler beneath his fingers. He tentatively brushed them across her brow, clearing the wavy lengths of her fair hair away from her face. She was pretty when she wasn’t trying to bite his head off. His blood had dried in the cracks of her lips. Before he could think about what he was doing, he ran the tips of his fingers over them. They tingled at the feel of her soft skin and he fought the rising warmth inside his chest and the fascination she caused and snatched his hand back.
Without looking back at her, he stalked across the room, took his black rifle down off the wall and went out into the woods.
It wasn’t difficult to pick up the trail of the deer. He focused on the combined scent of the herd, using it to purge the vampire’s softer scent from his mind, and followed it down through the trees towards the valley bottom. His head cleared as he tracked them, thoughts of the vampire drifting away, and he found some peace again. The deer would be grazing at the forest fringe now, far down in the valley. It would take him a while to walk there but he didn’t care. He slowed down, meandering through the trees, enjoying the cold and silence. The longer he was away from the cabin, the better.
It felt good to get back to basics and breathe the crisp fresh mountain air. Animals scurried through the undergrowth around him. Birds sung in the trees, calling to each other. The sound of distant cars carried on the chill breeze. He paused to soak everything up and then glanced at the sky through the bare branches above him. The sun was moving overhead. He must have been wandering in the woods for almost two hours now. He couldn’t delay any longer. It was dangerous to leave her alone. He wasn’t sure when she would come around.
Nicolae started down towards the valley again, his focus shifting back to the deer, and tracked them. He slowed his pace when he reached the edge of the forest and then crouched behind a tree.
Several deer were grazing at the start of the valley near the woods around two hundred metres upwind from him. Their heads bobbed up and down, ears twitching at the slightest sound. Nicolae shouldered his rifle and used the sight to scan over each animal. An old buck looked straight at him. Adrenaline and the desire to change rushed through him, sending his heart thundering. He suppressed it and put his finger on the trigger instead. He wasn’t here to hunt. Not like that.
His breathing levelled.
He squeezed the trigger and the shot echoed around the mountains. The deer disappeared from view in the sight. The herd ran. Their panic sent another burst of adrenaline through his veins and his body coiled in response, flooded with a primal desire to chase them. The smell of blood filled his nostrils next and he fought to keep his composure, battling his nature. His bones shifted and fur swept across his shoulders beneath his black shirt. His teeth extended. He kept still, breathing slowly, waiting for his instincts to lose their grip on him.
His blood settled and his wolf side receded.
Nicolae lowered the gun and stood. The deer lay on the grass in the sun. No heartbeat. A clean kill. It had lived a good life. A long life. He slung the strap of his rifle over his shoulder and walked out into the valley, skirting along the tree line to the dead buck. The rest of the deer had scattered into the forest on the other side of the narrow strip of green land. He picked up the carcass and hauled it onto his left shoulder. The wound on his throat burned under the weight of the animal. Nicolae gritted his teeth and started back up the hill towards the cabin.
He moved swiftly now, quickly covering the distance, and was almost there when he heard a vehicle in the distance.
The sound wasn’t coming from the road.
Nicolae doubled his pace, keeping a firm hold on the deer over his shoulder. His heart pounded when he could see over the crest of the hill and onto the plateau where his cabin stood. A familiar large black vehicle dwarfed his smaller Jeep. His senses placed the hunters a short distance away, near to his home.
In his territory.
A low growl rolled up from his throat.
Nicolae rounded the corner from the rear of his cabin and the hunters stopped in their tracks and moved towards him instead.
“A fine kill,†the leader congratulated and Nicolae cast a glance over him before continuing towards the cabin.
He dumped the dead deer down on the porch but kept his rifle over his shoulder. No movement or sound came from inside the small building at his back. Either the vampire was still unconscious, or she knew the hunters were outside and was sensible enough to recognise that she was in danger.
Nicolae turned to face them, stepped down off the porch, and wiped his bloodied left hand on his dark blue jeans.
“Can I help you?†he bit out and the men looked at each other.
The leader smiled at him.
Nicolae narrowed his gaze and straightened to his full height. His fingers flexed around the strap of his rifle.
“We were just in the area and wanted to look around. Good hunting last night.â€
Nicolae shrugged his broad shoulders. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t hunt at night. I don’t have the vision for it.†He jerked his head towards the deer. “As you can see, I prefer to hunt in daylight, when it’s safer. There are a lot of wolves on the mountains and most of them don’t take too kindly to hunters in their territory.â€
The group nodded in agreement. Their smiles were just a little bit too polite to be real. He held the leader’s gaze. In broad daylight, Nicolae could see that he had been mistaken last night. None of the hunters matched his build. The leader was shorter than him by around two inches and packed less muscle, and didn’t have the advantage of preternatural strength.
“This may seem unusual… but… have you seen a woman?†The one who had almost shot him stepped forwards.
“Plenty in town today, but none you can buy if you’re talking about that sort of thing.†Nicolae closed his fingers over the rifle strap and eyed each of them in turn, assessing the possible outcomes of a fight. They seemed calm enough on the surface, but the youngest hunter’s heartbeat was off the scale and the one he suspected was the man’s brother had returned to the truck and was looking in the back of it.
“It’s not like that,†the leader said, his smile fixed in place. He slung an arm around the youngest hunter’s shoulders and brought him forward. “We were separated from his girlfriend in the woods and he’s worried that she might have hurt herself.â€
Nicolae pursed his lips, scratched his jaw, and then shrugged. “Maybe she went down the other side of the valley. There’s a town there too. Bigger than the one nearest here. She might have made it to the road and caught a lift.â€
The leader eyed him closely.
Nicolae remained calm, muscles tight beneath his black shirt, ready to act if it came to it. He could shoot at least two of them before the fourth man could draw a weapon from the truck, and could change into a wolf in seconds and savage the rest before they could attack. The clothes would hinder him but he’d torn the shirt off his back plenty of times in the past. It would add barely two seconds to his transformation. He casually held the leader’s gaze. Until they made a move, he would feign innocence. He was used to playing a role. He’d done it his whole life since moving to Canada. It was the only way to get some peace and ensure his safety.
“If you don’t mind, I have business to take care of, but I hope you find that woman.†Nicolae turned towards the dead deer on the porch and froze, his blood screaming. His left hand went to his rifle. He slowly faced the leader again. “Was she armed?â€
The leader nodded.
“Crossbows too?†Nicolae said.
The three men frowned at him. Nicolae nodded towards the fourth man standing at the back of the black truck. He had armed himself and had the crossbow casually trained on Nicolae while acting as though he was just checking it over.
“I’m surprised you could catch anything with one of those. It’s a cruel way to kill something.†Nicolae swiftly shouldered his black rifle and aimed it at the leader, staring down the line of the barrel at the spot between his eyes. “I prefer a quick kill. If you get what I mean?â€
The leader nodded. Nicolae’s heart slammed against his chest. He hated hunters almost as much as he despised vampires. He didn’t lower the rifle, not even when the men took the hint and piled into the truck. It reversed, turned and headed down the track towards town. When he could no longer sense or hear the vehicle, he relaxed and slung the rifle over his shoulder. He grabbed the hind leg of the deer, dragged it around the back of the cabin and left it on the patchy grass in the clearing. The sun had passed its zenith. The days were growing shorter. The wolves would come in a few hours, with the start of sundown.
Nicolae rubbed his eyes and sighed. No more excuses. No more reasons to avoid the cabin. He took the long route in, going back around the front, and opened the door.
The vampire stared at him through wide dark brown eyes.
“I can smell blood.â€
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Stay tuned for a fourth and final excerpt from Hunter’s Moon…
Posted in Hunter's Moon, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance
Comments Off on Hunter’s Moon – vampire / werewolf romance novel – chapter 3
Prophecy Trilogy – Vampire Romance Book extended excerpt
I have created an extended excerpt PDF for Prophecy: Child of Light, the first novel in the Prophecy Trilogy and also the Vampires Realm series which I write as F E Heaton. You can download this long sample of my epic vampire romance book direct from my website. It’s 21 chapters in total, around 75000 words, which is around the length of an average novel in itself. What’s even better is that this novel is only $0.99!
Download the first 21 chapters of Prophecy: Child of Light – http://www.felicityheaton.com/long-excerpts/prophecy-child-heatonFE.pdf
Prophecy: Child of Light [book 1]
F E Heaton
A girl unlike any other girl, a vampire unlike any other vampire, Prophecy lives life in the dark until the night she breaks the rules. Leaving the family mansion to hunt for the first time, she encounters Valentine, a vampire from her family’s enemy and a man who will change her life forever.
Suddenly at the centre of a prophecy, she is kidnapped by Valentine, the man who should have been her executioner, and forced to run with him in order to save herself. Required to work together, the tension between them builds as a dark evil threatens to destroy the world, their families and the Law Keepers attempt hunt them down, and Prophecy discovers that her feelings for Valentine control her new found power.
When the truth about her is revealed, will Prophecy be strong enough? Will they discover a way to save the world from Hell? And will they finally see past the hatred bred into them by their families and surrender to their love?
The first of the Vampires Realm novels being written by five star author Felicity Heaton, Prophecy: Child of Light, is part one in an epic tale of love and war that is sure to capture your heart and leave you craving more.
ebook price: $0.99
genre: paranormal vampire romance
length: 135000 words
rating: sultry
released: March 2007
Book 1 in the Vampires Realm series
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Prophecy:%20Child%20of%20Light%20[book%201]
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0035LDNV4/
Barnes and Noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Prophecy/Felicity-Heaton/e/2940000801048/
Fictionwise.com: http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook44209.htm
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Prophecy-Child-Of-Light/mix-rDOnD6cECkGermYtAHD9Dw/page1.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/prophecy/_/R-400000000000000248920
Posted in extended excerpts, paranormal romance, Prophecy Trilogy, urban fantasy, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm
Comments Off on Prophecy Trilogy – Vampire Romance Book extended excerpt
Hunter’s Moon – werewolf romance book – chapter 2
To continue the celebration of my new release, here’s the second excerpt from Hunter’s Moon, my latest werewolf romance book / vampire romance book. This is a novel in the Vampires Realm series, but you don’t have to read the other books to understand what’s happening in this one. The books in the Vampires Realm are connected by world rather than story arc.
Hunter’s Moon
F E Heaton
Having witnessed vampires slaughtering his werewolf pack during their escape from the horror of the compound where they had been held captive, Nicolae’s hatred of the species burns deep in his veins. A century has passed since that night and the months in which he travelled to the Canadian wilderness to escape it, but the nightmarish visions and his failure as an alpha still haunt him, forcing him to live alone and keep his distance from other werewolves.
When a night hunt with the local timber wolf pack leads to a run-in with unfamiliar hunters, Nicolae tracks the scent of blood permeating the forest to an injured woman and races to save her, but has he made a terrible mistake in doing so? When she attacks him, revealing her true nature, he can’t believe his eyes or the fact that he can’t bring himself to kill her. She’s beautiful, and a vampire.
Tatyana is on a mission. Far from home and bearing a heart filled with grief, she’s intent on killing the hunters she’s tracking, but her plan didn’t include being shot with poisoned arrows. When she comes to in the presence of a glowering handsome male werewolf, she isn’t sure what to expect. His dark demeanour and cold tone warn her that he isn’t like the subservient werewolves she’s used to, and that she might not be out of danger yet, but she doesn’t let it discourage her. Working with him to discover why the hunters have come to Canada, she attempts to shatter his antiquated opinion of vampires, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it becomes to battle the forbidden hunger he stirs in her.
Will Nicolae be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and his memories, and embrace his desire for a vampire? Can Tatyana face her fear about the Law Keepers and risk her heart and her life for the sake of forbidden love? When they discover what the hunters are after, will they be able to stop them before it’s too late?
ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Excerpt
Nicolae set the woman down on the bed in the corner of his small cabin and went to the fire next to it. He threw some logs onto the dwindling flames, took an iron from the rack, and stoked it, knocking the ash down into the grate. Every muscle in his body ached as he moved, stiff with cold. The flames burned more brightly, warming his bare shins and his hands.
He glanced at the vampire and then stared into the fire. What had he been thinking? Even if he could save her, she wasn’t likely to share information with him. Vampires didn’t like werewolves prying into their business. He had learnt that the hard way, with lashings and beatings that had left him numb to anything other than pain.
He shrugged those memories away and focused on the fire. She was dredging up things that he wished he had forgotten long ago. Focus on the small things. It helped him most at times when he couldn’t control the onslaught of images. Small things were a distraction. They kept his hands busy while his mind sorted itself out.
The fire crackled and popped as the flames greedily devoured the logs he had placed onto it. He prodded them with the iron, turning them so they caught on all sides, waiting for calm to fill him again. Warmth stole through his body, the fire chasing the cold from it, and a sense of peace followed. He placed the iron back in the rack of tools beside the fire.
Near to the vampire.
Nicolae moved it to the other side of the fireplace, away from her, just in case she woke in a bad mood. It wasn’t the first time he had seen a vampire close to death. Experience made him wary. They were unpredictable and savage when dying. Their survival instinct made them deadlier than they were under normal circumstances.
He didn’t fancy being skewered by a fire iron. It would be one hell of an ending to what was turning out to be a bad night.
His gaze shifted to the short arrows still protruding from her body. Would she resort to using them to defend herself? He had wanted to wait until they were safe in his cabin before removing them but now he wondered if it had been a wise decision. The shock to her body would rouse her and the main room was small. It would be difficult to evade any attack she made. He frowned. Unless he added a certain herb to the medicine to knock her out. It had been a long time since he had made such a drug, but most of the ingredients grew in the woods on the mountain, and others were probably in his store cupboard. It was amazing what simple herbs could become, and how much they could affect a vampire.
Or a werewolf.
The same single herb would knock him out cold too. He had used it before, to escape the hell of his past and give himself peace and a dreamless sleep. It worked far better than the alcohol he had tried before it.
Nicolae went and stood over her. His palms sweated and he flexed his fingers to ease the tension building inside him. He hesitated and then leaned down and placed his hand on her forehead. Still cold. Good. He had time to create the drug.
His gaze flickered to the arrows. She was going to bleed badly when he removed them.
Her hand clamped down on his arm. She yanked on it, causing him to stumble onto the bed, and sprung at him. Her canines sunk into his left shoulder near his neck and sharp claws seized his other arm. Pain blazed outwards from the point where her fangs penetrated his flesh and he growled when she gave a sharp pull on his blood.
A split second later, she recoiled and snarled, backing into the corner of the bed furthest from him.
Nicolae’s hand flew to his shoulder, covering the wound, and he was at the other end of the tattered brown couch in front of the fire before she could attack again. Blood pulsed through his fingers, warm and filling the small room with the heavy scent.
She growled, exposing long bloodied fangs, and swiped at the air in his direction.
Nicolae pinned her with a cold glare. His neck ached, sending deep throbbing waves of pain through him, and he applied more pressure to the wound. Anger coiled tight in his stomach. Strangely, the emotion wasn’t in response to what she had done. It was aimed at himself. He was stupid for letting her get to him, for allowing his guard to slip around a vampire for even a fraction of a moment. He knew better than that.
The woman looked down at herself and her orange eyes narrowed on the darts. She growled again. Nicolae reached for her but wasn’t fast enough. She tore the bolt from her chest and roared. The agony in her cry echoed on her pale face. It contorted as she tipped her head back, her fangs bared and eyes screwed shut. He backed off again when she snarled in his direction and dropped the arrow onto the bed. She wavered, her lids drooping, and clawed at the wound, bloodying her fingers. It had been foolish of her to remove the bolt. Her heart might not beat but she could still die from blood loss. The arrow had been stopping the wound from bleeding.
Blood slid down her jacket, soaking into the black material and sticking it to her skin.
She eyed the second dart.
Nicolae shook his head, his heart pounding at the thought she might try to remove it too. She was breathing. A clear indication that she was younger than he was. Most vampires over the age of two hundred overcame their instinct to breathe. If she was younger than one hundred, the combination of blood loss and poison could easily kill her before noon.
Her orange gaze lit on him, briefly scanning his face before falling to his hand where it covered the bite mark on his left shoulder. She looked away, casting her eyes downwards, her blonde hair falling to cover one side of her pale face.
Her move irked him.
Was she disgusted by the fact she had bitten him? She had recoiled the moment she had tasted his blood.
The moment she had realised what he was.
Well, it sickened him too. He was disgusted at himself for letting it happen and disgusted by her reaction.
She snarled when he moved a step closer.
He ignored her. She had caught him off guard and it wouldn’t happen again. If she attempted another attack, he wouldn’t hold back. She wasn’t strong enough to fight him. He would have her unconscious before she could touch him.
“What the hell are you doing here?†It was difficult to keep the sharp edge of anger from his voice when his shoulder was burning. She glared at him, eyes narrowed and full of fire. He tamped down his emotions, struggling against their surging tide within him, and managed to soften his tone. “Why are there hunters after you?â€
She growled the moment he mentioned them. Her gaze darted around, taking in everything and then fixing on him again. She huddled into the corner and bore her fangs.
It was pointless trying to question her when she was like this.
She wavered again, slumping against the wooden logs of the cabin wall and breathing hard. Her face screwed up and she whimpered. Nicolae had never heard such a pathetic sound, not in all his years in the compound or after. Her breathing quickened and she reached for the dart puncturing her stomach.
Her fingers closed around it.
“No.†Nicolae dashed forwards, his hand outstretched.
The vampire snarled, her expression full of fury and darkness, and he backed off again when she released the dart. Her fingers shook. Anguish shone in her eyes. She yelled and banged her head against the log wall, hard enough that the structure trembled. Nicolae lunged for her, catching her right arm, but he wasn’t fast enough to stop her. Her head hit the wall again.
She collapsed into his arms, her forehead against his cheek, as still as a corpse.
Only corpses didn’t have body heat.
And neither did vampires normally.
Nicolae touched her face. Her fevered skin explained why she had taken such desperate measures.
The poison was killing her.
She had wanted to end her suffering.
Given the choice between a slow painful death as poison destroyed him and he bled to death or being blissfully unaware of his end, he would choose to knock himself out too.
Nicolae laid her down again, careful to avoid disturbing the remaining crossbow bolt. The lengths of her blonde hair stuck to the beads of sweat on her face and spilled over her shoulders. He picked up the bolt she had removed and sniffed it. It still smelt like the drug that hunters in Europe often used on her kind. He rested his palm on her forehead. She was burning up. It wouldn’t be long before the poison killed her. He had to move swiftly if he wanted to get answers to his questions.
If he wanted to save her.
He paused, looking down at her peaceful face. She looked so small and vulnerable, and felt so weak on his senses. It all spoke to him, coaxing a response that he hadn’t anticipated. He really did want to help her. He wanted to help a vampire, and he had the terrible feeling that it had nothing to do with information. He wanted to stop her from suffering.
He went into the small kitchen, turned on the single naked light, grabbed a pair of dark blue jeans off the pile of washing and slipped them on. Blood eased down his chest from his throat. He washed the dirt off his hands in the sink and then the blood off his chest and throat, dried himself with a tea-towel, and then took the medical kit down from one of two wooden wall cupboards. He didn’t have a single sticking plaster large enough to cover the wound so he covered each puncture mark with a separate plaster. The wounds would bleed through. He checked how many plasters he had left in the box. Enough to last until the bite started to heal. It could take days. Vampire bites were a bitch.
Nicolae smiled grimly, briefly picturing returning the favour and biting her. Werewolf saliva was a pain to vampires, making his bite far worse than hers was. She would take weeks to heal if it got into her system. He shook the image away and focused back on healing her. She was already on the brink of death. Biting her would tip her over it.
The store cupboard near the back door of the cabin produced most of the herbs he needed to make the medicine that would cleanse her body of the poison. There was one vital ingredient missing. He opened the back door and stopped on the porch when he found himself face to face with the grey alpha timber wolf.
The wolf’s yellow eyes held his.
Silent communication passed between them through a connection he had forged with blood.
“No. She isn’t human.†Nicolae closed the door behind him. He strode barefoot into the woods, his gaze scouring the ground for the remaining herb.
The wolf kept pace with him. Nicolae glanced at him, stopped and nodded.
“I know what I said. That was a long time ago.†He sighed when the wolf looked up at him, and crouched so he was level with it. It was best to face such questions in this way. He never liked to look down on the alpha. The wolf was king here. “I’ll find the hunters. They won’t harm the pack. She won’t harm the pack. Vampires are not interested in animal blood.â€
The alpha snarled.
Nicolae felt his reservation deep in his own blood.
“She won’t attack humans either. There won’t be a chance for the humans to mistake her marks for a wolf attack. The pack will be safe. I’ve always kept my word, haven’t I?â€
The alpha huffed and looked skyward. The full moon shone down on them both, instilling a sense of peace in Nicolae as the rays caressed his skin. Long fingers of silver-lined clouds drifted below it, stretching across the horizon, and the snow on the distant mountain peaks shone ice-blue in the clear light. The scenery was beautiful and never failed to soothe him on nights like this, and he had never needed its calming effect more than he did now.
It offered him respite from the storm of his emotions, a balm that eased the darkness from his heart and cleared his mind of the insidious words whispered by his lingering desire for revenge.
His problem was with the Tenebrae, not the Nocens. No matter how much the presence of a vampire in his cabin, in his life, angered him, he would remember that it was not her kind he sought revenge against, but that of a bloodline who was likely also her enemy. The European bloodlines had often feuded in the time he had lived there, fighting for power amongst themselves. It was possibly still the case now. Vampires never learned. Never evolved. They remained constant—aggressive, vicious, cruel, and heartless.
He would see that when she woke, and it would clear away the strange sense of concern he felt towards her. Once she had answered his questions and was back on her feet, she was gone and out of his life.
Nicolae held his hand out. The grey wolf nuzzled it and then trotted into the woods. It looked back at him from the fringe of trees.
Nicolae nodded. “I have not forgotten.â€
He watched the alpha go. Had he come all this way just to ensure that Nicolae wouldn’t forget their bargain, or had he truly been concerned about the woman?
He found the herb near a thicket of saplings he had planted last year. Small and black, it looked like nothing more than a dark variety of clover. He had always found it odd that such an inconspicuous plant could knock something as powerful as a vampire or werewolf out cold. It was this herb alone that would do such a thing. The rest were to stop the poison and help her heal. He picked some and took it back to the cabin.
His mind wandered as his fingers made quick work of measuring out the herbs on the kitchen counter. He paused to touch the plasters on his throat. What was she doing here? A pure European vampire outside their home continent was virtually unheard of. They never left it except for rare times when they were visiting another bloodline, and that couldn’t be the case this time because there were no vampires in these parts.
That was exactly the reason he had chosen to come here.
And it was exactly the reason he hadn’t suspected she was a vampire until she had attacked him.
It had shocked him.
He hadn’t seen a vampire since escaping Europe.
Nicolae placed half of the herbs and a small amount of water into a pan and heated them on the stove. He took two squares of muslin and made a poultice with the remaining mixture, folding them neatly so none of the contents would spill out. The brew in the pan didn’t take long to come to a boil. He turned it down, letting it simmer.
The liquid gradually turned black. He took the pan off the heat to cool. A faint smile curved his lips as he remembered learning how to make the medicine. He had always been good at making remedies and antidotes from plants. His sire, the previous alpha of his pack, had taught him everything he knew. Over the years, Nicolae had honed his skills and passed the knowledge on to others. The local werewolf pack was one of them. It was easier to treat injuries or ailments themselves rather than relying on human doctors and risking exposing their kind. While their bodies were closer to a human’s than a vampire’s was, they were still different enough that a doctor might notice, especially when it came to their blood. Just like the vampires, werewolf DNA mutated during their turning. While their blood would appear similar to human blood under a microscope, laboratory tests would reveal a startling difference.
Nicolae stared at the liquid and then dipped his finger in to test the temperature. Warm and cooling fast.
How many times had he made similar remedies for his pack? Never in his life had he thought he would end up using his skills to help a vampire.
He poured half of the liquid out into a shot glass, placed the two poultices on a plate, and tipped the rest over them. He hadn’t made much and for good reason. The dose had to be small and strong. Vampires couldn’t ingest solids or most liquids other than blood. She could react badly if he gave her too much. A single potent dose would have to do.
Nicolae placed everything onto a tray, picked up the medical kit, and carried them both through into the main room of his cabin. He set the tray on a small coffee table next to the worn couch and put the medical kit down beside the bed. She hadn’t stirred. She lay straight as a rod on the dark bedcovers, her face ashen but beaded with sweat. The only hint of colour on her lips was his blood.
He nudged her leg with his bare foot.
She didn’t wake.
Picking up the shot glass from the tray, Nicolae stared at the black liquid that filled it close to the brim and then at her. This was not going to go down well.
He knelt with his right knee on the bed and his left foot on the floor, and checked that his footing was sure so he could brace himself if he needed to. She still didn’t wake. With his heart in his throat, he carefully lifted her head off the bed with his left hand and cradled her. Nothing. His heart trembled. He sighed out his breath and wet his lips at the same time as he brought the shot glass to her mouth. He tipped it enough that a single drop of liquid touched her lips and slipped inside.
She jerked awake, retched and then coughed violently. Nicolae evaded her first swipe but the second caught him across his right shoulder, almost knocking the glass out of his hand. He tensed and held his breath, taking another hit as he tried to avoid spilling the precious liquid. His patience snapped and he snarled, grabbed her shoulder with his left hand and slammed her down onto the bed. He pinned her there with his full weight. She wasn’t strong enough to fight him but she struggled regardless, thrashing around on the bed and hissing at him.
“It will stop the poison.â€
She stilled. The wild edge to her amber eyes gave way to awareness. They flickered to the glass. She slowly opened her mouth.
Nicolae stared at the tips of her fangs and swallowed. If she was doing this just to lure him into getting close to her so she could bite him again, he was going to knock her out the old-fashioned way—with his fist. He edged the glass towards her, cautious now, his gaze constantly monitoring her for a sign that she was going to attack.
She didn’t.
The glass reached her lips. He tilted it and tipped the entire contents into her mouth. She grimaced, looked as though she was going to throw it up, and then swallowed. A second later, she shuddered and relaxed beneath him.
Nicolae waited.
When his heart had calmed and his senses no longer screamed danger, he took his left hand and lifted her right eyelid. Black greeted him. No trace of colour or white remained.
He blew out a long sigh and sat back on his leg, staring at her. His broad shoulders slumped and he lowered the glass to rest on his knee. The drug would keep her under for hours in her condition. Without fear or an ounce of care, he took hold of the arrow in her stomach and yanked it out. He tossed it away to join the other one on the floor. Her black jacket and shirt followed it. Blood stained her torso. He went to the kitchen, filled a bowl with water, grabbed a cloth and came back to her. He cleaned around the arrow wounds and left the rest of the blood. She could wash up when she regained her strength. He eyed her black bra. He wasn’t about to remove that and he’d have to in order to clean her.
Nicolae ran a hand over his messy dark hair and sighed again. What was he doing? Helping a vampire. He shook his head at the thought, let alone the reality. She wasn’t that bloodline though, and she had information. It had to be done. Regardless of how he had felt earlier, this wasn’t about helping her. This was about protecting his life here and the local wolves. When the hunters were gone, then so was she, and she could go to Hell for all he cared.
He applied a poultice to each wound, rubbing it over her skin to clean any poison away and then pressing down so the liquid seeped into the holes. It was a struggle to bind the wounds when she was lying down. He bound her waist first, raising her off the bed each time he needed to pass the bandage underneath her, and pinned the end of it in place. Her shoulder was more difficult. He slipped the strap of her black bra off over her arm and then bound the wound as best he could, keeping his eyes off her breasts. When he was done, he put the bra strap back in place on her shoulder and then checked both of the bandages were tight enough. Her fevered skin was damp beneath his fingers and it was difficult to remember that she was a vampire. She was so soft. How long had it been since he had touched a woman?
Nicolae reminded himself that she wasn’t a woman.
Vampire.
He would do well to remember that.
His gaze crept up over her torso, skimming slowly across her breasts to her face. Waves of her blonde hair cut across it, wild and beautiful.
Not beautiful.
Vampire.
He brushed the hair from her face, following the strands down to the ends where they were stained crimson, and then stopped himself. What the hell was he doing?
Nicolae tossed everything back onto the tray and carried it into the kitchen. He slammed the tray down on the counter and then gripped the edge of it and stared out of the small dirty window at the dark clearing. The alpha was right. This woman didn’t belong here. He needed to get her away from him as soon as possible. He should have left her in the woods.
He pushed away from the kitchen counter and rubbed his hand across his face as he paced the cramped room, the tiles freezing beneath his feet. It took barely two strides to reach the other end. Not enough distance to clear his head. The cabin felt too confined, suffocating him.
Nicolae yanked the back door open, quickly took the steps down from the porch, and stopped when he reached the dirt. The feel of it beneath his feet, cold and hard, was nothing like the feeling it evoked in him. He felt calm and warm, soothed by the earth and the scent of nature in his lungs. He took a long slow breath and scrunched the dirt with his toes. It grounded him.
A desire to run in the woods swept up inside him.
He paced the clearing instead, letting nature flow through him, giving him some peace and respite.
He needed to get rid of the vampire but he couldn’t until she had healed. It could take days for her to regain enough strength. Unless she drank blood. She would heal more quickly with fresh blood in her body.
Nicolae touched the claw marks that cut across the right side of his chest. They were already starting to heal. He had no blood to offer but his own and she had made it clear she didn’t want that.
He would never give it to her anyway.
He tipped his head back and stared at the indigo sky above the trees. There would be blood in the local hospital. The thought of taking from them turned his stomach. They had been good to him in the small town down in the valley and winter was coming. It was a dangerous time of year, when snow isolated the area and accidents were commonplace. They would need all the blood they had. He couldn’t take from their precious supplies.
Nicolae went back into the main room of the cabin, his gaze coming to rest on the vampire. He had to. He didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t like him. Animal blood wouldn’t do her any good right now. It had to be human, or close to human, if it was going to replenish what she had lost. The local werewolf pack wouldn’t help. Even if they did, she would probably reject the blood because of its taste.
He sat on the arm of the couch and stared at her in silence. Minutes passed, ticking away, and he didn’t move. His thoughts leapt back and forth between getting her blood and leaving her to heal without it, a constant war in his mind that only ended when he felt the sun rising. He lifted his head and looked at the wall above the fireplace, sensing beyond it to the lightening world outside.
He rubbed his face again, scratching the dark stubble that lined his jaw, muttered a curse, and went into the kitchen. He tugged on a white t-shirt, a thick black button down shirt and a warm pair of socks. He was still debating whether he was really going to go through with it when he was jamming his feet into his black boots. It was one thing helping her heal, completely another to steal for her, especially from people he knew and cared about.
“Damn it.†Nicolae grabbed the keys to his Jeep and left the cabin, locking the door behind him in case she woke when he was gone.
Or someone came knocking.
The hunters were still out there.
Instinct told him they would meet again.
Sooner rather than later.
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Stay tuned for a third and fourth excerpt from Hunter’s Moon…
Posted in 2011 releases, Hunter's Moon, new release, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance
Comments Off on Hunter’s Moon – werewolf romance book – chapter 2
Hunter’s Moon – werewolf vampire romance novel out now!
 Hunter’s Moon, my new werewolf / vampire romance novel in the Vampires Realm series is available now as an e-book for only $2.99. What are you waiting for? Here’s the book blurb and excerpt to entice you into purchasing.
This book will be available soon on Kobo, Barnes and Noble Nook, Sony Reader, iBookstore, and Fictionwise. I’ll post links as soon as the book appears at these places.
I will also be making this book available in paperback format and will post links as soon as it’s available.
Hunter’s Moon
F E Heaton
Having witnessed vampires slaughtering his werewolf pack during their escape from the horror of the compound where they had been held captive, Nicolae’s hatred of the species burns deep in his veins. A century has passed since that night and the months in which he travelled to the Canadian wilderness to escape it, but the nightmarish visions and his failure as an alpha still haunt him, forcing him to live alone and keep his distance from other werewolves.
When a night hunt with the local timber wolf pack leads to a run-in with unfamiliar hunters, Nicolae tracks the scent of blood permeating the forest to an injured woman and races to save her, but has he made a terrible mistake in doing so? When she attacks him, revealing her true nature, he can’t believe his eyes or the fact that he can’t bring himself to kill her. She’s beautiful, and a vampire.
Tatyana is on a mission. Far from home and bearing a heart filled with grief, she’s intent on killing the hunters she’s tracking, but her plan didn’t include being shot with poisoned arrows. When she comes to in the presence of a glowering handsome male werewolf, she isn’t sure what to expect. His dark demeanour and cold tone warn her that he isn’t like the subservient werewolves she’s used to, and that she might not be out of danger yet, but she doesn’t let it discourage her. Working with him to discover why the hunters have come to Canada, she attempts to shatter his antiquated opinion of vampires, but the closer she gets to him, the harder it becomes to battle the forbidden hunger he stirs in her.
Will Nicolae be able to overcome the darkness in his heart and his memories, and embrace his desire for a vampire? Can Tatyana face her fear about the Law Keepers and risk her heart and her life for the sake of forbidden love? When they discover what the hunters are after, will they be able to stop them before it’s too late?
ebook price: $2.99
genre: paranormal werewolf romance
length: 65000 words
rating: sultry
released: February 2011
Book 9 in the Vampires Realm series
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Excerpt
Crisp air rushed through Nicolae’s black fur in a constant stream, shifting with him as he wove through the dark forest, keeping pace with the bulk of the local timber wolf pack. The group ahead of him, led by the grey alpha, snarled and played, riding up on each other’s shoulders as they ran. Nicolae bounded after them, his paws pounding the uneven ground and his footing sure. He ducked under a low branch and then leapt over a fallen tree, landing softly in the fresh leaf litter on the other side. Mountains stretched into the distance before him through the woods, their craggy peaks highlighted by glowing white snow. The fat moon flickered between the bare branches above him and called to his blood.
Nicolae obeyed.
He raced with the pack down the slope towards the hidden glade in the forest. Leafless trees gave way to tall pines that towered above him, blocking the light, and his eyes adjusted, the dark world around him sharpening and his senses following suit. Cool fingers of wind caressed his ears as he headed in amongst the pack and joined in their play, enjoying the clear wintry air and the bright night with them. Several younger wolves in the pack snarled and nudged him, and he playfully responded, gently shouldering them as they ran and fighting for dominance. He let them win even though they were far smaller than he was.
Nicolae wasn’t interested in gaining rank within the pack. He was here to enjoy the moment and the company. Running with the timber wolves under a full moon excited him, took him away from the complications of the human world and set him free. There was nothing in the world as exhilarating as surrendering to his true nature.
Animal sounds filled his ears, undetectable to the humans who lived in the rugged mountainous region of Canada. The deer down in the valley ahead were moving, heading for a safe place to spend the night. He could picture them now as they waited nervously in the shadows of the trees around the glade, alert and aware of the wolves that ran in the dark forest. They would move and make it out onto the narrow strip of grazing land between the banks of woods at the valley bottom before the wolves reached them.
Tomorrow, there would be reports of a wolf attack on the deer, and how the Casey’s horses had panicked, and Nicolae would have to pretend that it startled him to hear such a thing.
That he hadn’t participated in the hunt and the kill of deer.
That he wasn’t a wolf.
A burst of wings broke the silence, owls fluttering from their roosts and heading high into the sky. Hungry wolf eyes instantly tracked them for a heartbeat of time and then the pack moved on, their focus returning to playing and hunting the deer. The day birds settled down in their nests, safe from predators for another night, unbothered by the wolves running below.
The pack began to streak ahead and Nicolae returned his attention to them. His blood rushed and his heart thundered. He felt wild. Alive. The leaders were dark blurs in the distance, almost blending in with the night, silent predators built for this terrain. Younger wolves jostled for position nearer to him. He raced to catch up, the cold air burning in his lungs and a sense of freedom flowing through him.
A howl cut the night and the wolves shifted as one, turning right towards the mountain, away from the glade and the grazing land beyond. Something had caught their attention. The howl came again and Nicolae listened this time, deciphering it. Wolf-speak was old and varied from pack to pack, but he had studied this one closely, and long enough that they had accepted his presence on the mountain. They no longer feared him. It had taken him a century of working with each generation, but he had gained their trust and their friendship, and had learned how to communicate with them.
He pounded up to the peak of a bare hillock, threw his head back, and howled at the moon through the barren trees.
The answering call told him why the wolves were now running with intent.
There were men on the mountain.
Men who didn’t belong there.
Nicolae ran down the other side of the hillock and rejoined the wolves, running close to them now, amongst the pack. The sense of calm and playfulness disappeared. The wolves were hunting, a sliver of fear flowing through the entire pack, alertness that called to his instincts. He focused on the woods ahead, mapping them and monitoring for a sign of the men. It was unusual for hunters to come onto the mountains at night, especially when winter’s grip was closing on the area.
A distant noise snapped the group to attention. The alpha snarled. Nicolae stretched his superior senses farther ahead of them. They whispered of danger. He sniffed and caught the scent of men on the wind. No one that he recognised. The grey alpha snarled again, this time in Nicolae’s direction. Nicolae answered with a growl. There was no reason to fear the humans.
He would protect them if it came to a fight.
He doubted that it would. Humans rarely hurt the wolves and never bothered him. They were probably looking for deer. He glanced at the moon. It was late to be hunting, and not just in the year. The sun had set hours ago and midnight was approaching. What prey were they after? The bears were already heading into hibernation, and deer didn’t come this far up the mountain in winter. The only animals up here were small game and the timber wolves.
A trickle of fear slithered down his spine. His hackles rose in response.
Were they after the wolves?
Nicolae snarled, sending a message to the pack.
They turned and moved in a silent dark stream down into the valley, away from the hunters. Nicolae lumbered onwards alone, towards the hunters he could sense in the distance. It was rocky ground where they were and the sparse trees would offer him little cover, but it was a risk he had to take. If the hunters saw him, he would head back down towards the valley, where the forest was thicker. He had to make sure that these men weren’t a threat. He needed to protect the wolves.
Nicolae slowed to a trot as he reached the stony ground and lowered himself until his softer stomach fur brushed the leaf litter and rocks. He crawled forwards, moving as quietly as possible, stalking the hunters. They stood in a clearing, the moon highlighting them with threads of silver. Nicolae stopped behind the broad trunk of the nearest tree, as close as he could get without them noticing him.
Their murmured conversation masked the sound of his soft huffs. His heart thumped against his ribs.
Four men. Dark haired. They were difficult to make out even in the moonlight. He could tell they were tall, and that the two who had their backs to him were broad built, possibly even bigger than he was in human form. Their black fatigues caused them to blend into each other and the woods beyond, and he couldn’t make out any of their faces or the builds of the other two men.
“I’m telling you she’s gone down towards that valley,†one of the men whispered, his accent local sounding enough. He was Canadian at least. Nicolae couldn’t see him clearly from his position behind the tree and bushes, but he couldn’t risk moving.
“Did you see how she moved? I’ve never seen something move that fast. Is that normal?†This voice had a tremor in it that spoke of inexperience and fear.
What were they hunting? Referring to animals as female was nothing new to him but it didn’t sound as though they were hunting bear or deer. Were his suspicions correct and they were after the wolves?
Nicolae looked down towards the valley. The local timber wolf pack were all there and most of them had been with him all night. The distant howl that had alerted them to the presence of the hunters had been a scout. It hadn’t given word of an altercation with the men. If there had been one, the wolf would have reported it to the pack.
He glanced the other way, towards the peak of the plateau and his cabin. Beyond it was the settlement. Were they hunting his sort of wolf? Impossible. No one in these parts knew of the werewolves. They lived quietly amongst the humans, blending in and keeping to themselves. None more so than him. He didn’t belong to that pack. He didn’t belong to anyone.
He cast his gaze over each hunter in turn, scrutinising them with his senses and putting their scents to memory. What were they doing on the mountain? One of the men looked in the direction of the valley and Nicolae stilled. They weren’t dark haired. They were all wearing black woollen hats, and the one he could see had night-vision goggles on.
Nicolae shuffled back a step and hunkered down when the man turned towards him. Even the bushes around the trees had lost their foliage this far up the mountain. If he moved so much as a millimetre, the man would spot him through the infrared goggles. His heartbeat doubled and it felt impossible to keep still. He wasn’t sure what sort of weaponry they had, but with the goggles, the men already had the advantage. They would be able to see him at a distance. There would be no quick escape into the darkness. Anticipation sent adrenaline to his muscles and they coiled in readiness. The wolf pack howled in the distance. The man turned away. Nicolae dared to peek through the twigs of the bushes at the men.
The one who had looked towards him was facing the others again, his hand hovering on the hilt of a vicious-looking hunting knife that hung from his utility belt. Nicolae glanced at the man next to him. A similar knife hung from his belt. Were they armed only with knives? He tried to see their hands but most of the men had them in front of them, or the bodies of the others hid them. They started talking again, calm and unfazed by the surrounding darkness and distant wolf howls.
Something about them didn’t feel right. Their poise, their calmness, set them apart from the casual hunters that often came to the area, and gave him the impression that they were experienced in night manoeuvres and possibly trained in combat. In fact, he would hazard a guess that either they were in the military or they used to be. The only one who didn’t feel like a threat was the one who was afraid. His heart pounded faster than the other three men’s did, pushing at Nicolae’s desire to attack. He clawed for control, his focus turning inward for a moment as he struggled against his animal instincts.
“I say we go down.†The one in the middle of the group this time. His agreement with the first voice caused a murmur to run through them. The three men who had spoken turned towards the fourth, tallest, man.
The man stepped forwards, into the clearing, and Nicolae got a good look at him. The cold calculating edge to his expression warned Nicolae that this man was more than a hunter of animals. He had seen such faces before, in his past, on merciless killers that were acquainted with death and cruelty, and revelled in it.
Nicolae slunk further into the shadows, battling dark splintered memories that branded his mind with horrific images of violence and bloodshed, and seared his body with fierce pain. Each scar on his skin turned to flame beneath his black fur and he fought the urge to snarl. It had been so long since he had relived the nightmare of his past that he had forgotten how to deal with the pain. It threatened to cripple him, to force him from his animal state and expose him to the hunters. He battled the memories, using every ounce of his strength and willpower to remain hidden and as a wolf, but his control began to slip.
Screams taunted him, pleas for mercy and desperate cries for protection. His muscles bunched tight, bordering on cramping, and his heart wrenched in his chest as he relived everything in such vivid detail that it felt as though he had been transported back to that time, to the hellhole in which they had tortured him and his blood kin. Images of them swam in his mind, shifting in and out of focus, bloodied and beaten, eyes full of despair that turned to hope as they fell on him. He felt himself reaching out to them even though he couldn’t move, trying to grasp the fragile visions as frantic need to comfort them flooded him. They slipped through his fingers, faces turning hollow and emaciated as they screamed, clutching themselves. His limbs shook, weak down to his bones, and he tried to shun the images, not wanting to witness their deaths again.
Not wanting to relive the horror of his failings.
He ground his teeth, biting down hard until his sharp canines cut into his gums and the taste of blood flooded his mouth. The metallic scent brought darker memories with it. They crowded his mind, driving him to the edge of despair, and threatening to break his hold on his wolf form. He couldn’t lose it here. The hunters would see him. They would kill him before he had a chance to fully transform and escape into the woods. He would expose everyone to danger. He fought to remain focused, clamping his jaw and sucking in deep gulps of night air through his nose. The crisp edge to the air and the scent of the woods grounded him enough that he could shift his focus to the present and his surroundings, pushing away the terrifying memories.
“We go down,†the hunter said at last, snapping Nicolae back to them and giving him a point of focus to hold on to, helping him clear his mind.
He breathed hard, gradually bringing himself back under control. The smell of the night soothed him and his pulse began to level again, his blood no longer blazing in his veins.
Nicolae looked up at the moon through the trees, needing to see it and see that he was free. His past laid thousands of miles away and a hundred years ago. Out here in the wild, he was free of the world that had once enslaved him. He was free of the vampires.
Two of the men moved past the one who Nicolae had decided was their leader. They brought their night-vision goggles down over their eyes and shouldered weapons that caused Nicolae to hesitate. The fourth man moved and did a sweep of the area.
Nicolae stared at the crossbow and the shiny tip of the dart aimed straight at him, his breathing faltering at the sight of it. The man moved on, scanning behind the group, and then followed them down into the woods.
Bows?
When was the last time he had seen a hunter use a bow? He couldn’t recall one in recent years. Everyone used high-powered rifles with accurate sights now. Even he did.
The timber wolves howled in the valley.
Nicolae tried to make out what they were saying but it was difficult with the men distracting him. He crawled through the undergrowth, tracking them from a distance. Whenever one of the men turned his way, sweeping the area with their crossbow, he flattened himself against the ground and waited. Their progress through the forest was slow but they were heading towards the wolves. If they came too close to the pack, he would break cover and head down to warn them.
The hunters maintained their silence as they wove through the woods, giving Nicolae difficulty. It was hard to move without making a sound when the leaf litter was so deep and crisp. He placed each paw carefully, moving with stealth and keeping far enough away that they wouldn’t hear him.
“I still say that she went up,†one of the men whispered after they had been walking for over twenty minutes and Nicolae caught sight of the leader through the dense tree trunks.
The man held his hand up in a fist and the group halted. Nicolae stopped too, one paw in the air. It trembled with the exertion of holding it there. He gradually lowered it to the ground, holding his breath as he did so, and then exhaled when none of the hunters looked his way. The leader turned towards the man who had spoken and something silent passed between them.
Nicolae knew a threat when he felt it. It seemed the man who had spoken did too because he bent his head and remained silent as the group continued down towards the glade. Nicolae reached out with his senses, searching for both the wolf pack and the prey of the hunters. Could it be a bear?
They had talked about her being quick. Bears were fast when they had to be. He’d been on the receiving end of a few charges in his lifetime. They weren’t as fast as wolves though.
He sensed the timber wolf pack on the grazing land far below. The alpha howled and Nicolae paid him no heed, only using the sound to confirm their position on his senses was correct. He couldn’t feel any other animals besides a few birds and small creatures. The high-tech crossbows these men were packing said that they weren’t after prey smaller than a wolf, not unless they enjoyed a challenge. Even then, they would probably go after big game. Hunting large animals with only a bow would be more exciting and dangerous. A challenge most hunters would relish. Which brought him back around to bears.
The men stopped a few hundred metres up the mountain from the glade. Their leader raised his goggles, looked towards the rugged horizon, and then turned towards the other three.
“She might have gone to ground.†It was the one who had almost seen him. The leader looked thoughtful, his face shadowed and difficult to make out.
Two of the men he hadn’t got a good look at earlier were in broken moonlight now, their night-vision goggles pushed up on their foreheads. They were young, one of them around his late twenties and the other into his thirties. Nicolae suspected it had been the youngest man who had sounded scared. The other one had a hard set to his jaw and coldness in his eyes. The sort of look a man got after seeing a lot of death.
Nicolae had that look sometimes.
“I shot her.†There was certainty in the man’s gravelly voice. None of the others looked as though they were about to doubt him.
Nicolae sniffed, trying to catch a scent on the chill air. If they had shot whatever animal they were after, then it would be bleeding. He would be able to track it.
“The poison will take care of her in that case.â€
Nicolae froze. Poison? He looked at the bolts loaded in the crossbows. Just what was it they had shot and now wanted to find? Hunters didn’t normally poison their prey.
Not unless their prey was strong enough to survive arrows and bullets and come after them. He shook that thought away. There was no reason for him to get jittery. In the century he had lived in the area, not once had anyone attacked the werewolves.
“I don’t want to risk it. I want to find her.†The leader this time.
The alpha wolf howled again and Nicolae listened.
Blood.
They were hunting something.
Nicolae tensed, torn between breaking cover and heading down to see what the wolves had smelt, and remaining to listen to the men and ensure they left the mountain.
He raised his nose to the breeze and sniffed. He could smell it now, sharp and coppery, coming up from the valley.
A bolt zipped past him, thudding into a tree barely inches from his nose. Nicolae ran, keeping his rear down and weaving through the narrow gaps between the trees to cover himself. Another bolt narrowly missed him.
“Don’t waste ammo unless you’re sure it’s what we’re here after,†the leader said.
Nicolae pounded through the forest, away from the men and down towards the valley. He picked up the scent of blood and followed the trail. It grew stronger, fresh and sharp in the clear air, cutting through it. He sniffed the ground at intervals, trying to see if the animal had bled onto it so he could investigate the scent and determine what sort of creature it was.
The pine trees grew dense around him as he neared the glade. Their scent obscured the subtler one of the blood, making it impossible for him to tell what it belonged to. It didn’t smell animal.
It wasn’t werewolf.
He rounded a tree and spotted something in the clearing ahead.
Human.
The timber wolves broke out of the woods on the other side to Nicolae, heading for the body. His heart slammed against his ribs and he crashed through the undergrowth and out into the glade. He dashed across the open ground, passing the body, and leapt into the group, snarling and snapping at them, driving them back. His teeth clashed with those of the more persistent wolves but he was careful not to draw blood. His attack wasn’t about hurting them. It was purely to force them to leave the human alone. It was to protect them. If they ate the body, the locals would hunt them down and slaughter them all. He couldn’t allow that to happen.
The alpha growled.
The rest of the pack cowered, lowering their rears and bowing their heads. Some of the younger ones at the back whimpered and whined.
The grey alpha came forward, smaller than Nicolae but bigger than the other wolves, and stared at him.
Nicolae breathed hard and held the alpha’s yellow gaze.
The pack was hungry. With winter setting in, it was important that they fed well, but he couldn’t allow them to harm this human. The alpha didn’t move. Nicolae could understand his need to protect his pack and provide for them.
He huffed, turning the air misty for a second with his warm breath, and then came to a decision. He looked deep into the alpha’s eyes, communicating with him alone. He would hunt and leave them a deer at his cabin in exchange for the human. Was that acceptable?
The alpha wolf stared at him a moment longer and then turned and trotted silently into the forest. The pack followed.
Nicolae huffed again.
He would do as he had promised and give them a deer as soon as he could go out and hunt. During harsher winters, he often provided for them. Wolves were a proud race, just like their werewolf brethren, but this pack no longer took offence at his offerings.
Nicolae knew the pain of not being able to provide for the pack, of failing in his duty to protect them, and because of those experiences he knew that he had asked a lot of the alpha tonight. He was grateful the wolf had chosen to accept the deer and, to show it, he would find the largest one he could.
He turned and sniffed his way back to the human. She lay on the leaf litter, motionless and pale. Covered in blood. It had a strange smell. Some part of it was human but the scent was different, familiar. Was it the poison that made it smell so wrong?
The woman’s eyes were closed, her fair hair spread across the ground in a golden wave. Moonlight shone down into the glade, the bare branches of the trees splitting it into bright shafts that bathed her. He sniffed again and listened. No heartbeat but he couldn’t be sure. Twin darts punctured her black fatigues, one in the left of her chest, up from her heart, and the second in the right side of her stomach. Could she have survived that?
He caught the scent of the hunters on the darts.
Why had they killed her?
She was dressed like them.
Nicolae listened again for a pulse. None came.
There were some things that he couldn’t do as a wolf. He shuffled back a few paces to give himself more room and then focused. His bones popped and body twisted, the black fur on it slowly disappearing as he transformed back into his normal form. He grimaced and growled quietly, containing his pain for fear of alerting the hunters to his presence. He wasn’t sure if they had gone and he wasn’t sure if the woman was dead. He couldn’t let either of them know what he was. His ribs stretched and his limbs cracked back into human forms still covered in patches of fur. It swept backwards, towards his shoulders, revealing deformed fingers that pushed out into normal shapes. His muzzle compressed, his teeth receding, and he moved onto his hind legs, standing with a wobble. Pain ripped down his spine with the final shift of his bones beneath his now human skin, and he bit back his desire to throw his head back and scream out his agony.
Nicolae clenched his fists and breathed deep, waiting with closed eyes for the pain to pass and his heartbeat to level again.
Centuries of life as a werewolf and whenever he spent too long in his animal form, he still felt the pain as he had during the first change.
The moment it subsided, he crouched beside the woman, naked and unashamed. He touched her throat. She was cold and he couldn’t feel a pulse. Dead.
He ran his hand over his messy dark hair and frowned, thinking over what he should do.
His gaze assessed the two darts. Blood saturated the black material around them. He touched it, brought his fingers to his nose, and sniffed. He could smell the poison. Strong. Why had the hunters killed her? If he had found her before coming across the hunters, he would have said they had belonged to the same party. Only this woman wasn’t armed.
Nicolae looked around the clearing for a weapon.
When he looked back at the woman, she was staring at him with dark eyes.
Her left fist flew towards him.
Nicolae rolled backwards into a crouch, barely avoiding the punch. She lunged, trying to grab him, gasping and wheezing. Blood pumped from around the arrow in her abdomen. The dart must have punctured her lung.
His gaze met hers again and he froze. The words of warning to keep still fled his lips.
Fiery orange eyes pinned him with the deadliest of stares.
Nocens.
She bore her fangs and Nicolae backed away, his eyes still locked with hers, panic sending an icy wave through his blood.
What was a vampire of the Nocens bloodline doing in Canada?
She snarled and then slumped backwards, hitting the dirt hard. Nicolae didn’t move. He couldn’t tell if she was dead or not but he wasn’t about to risk his neck by checking her. His gaze darted between the arrows. There was a lot of blood on her, and around the glade. The arrows were poisoned. He dragged in a shaky breath.
The scent of her blood hit him and, now that he knew why he recognised it, he couldn’t bear the smell.
Nicolae shook his head at the first assault of memories, desperate to keep them at bay. He wasn’t there now. He was free. He had paid for it in blood and death, but he was free. The images came, relentless, horrifying visions of violence and pain, punishment in dark barred corridors, screams that echoed through the entire compound. He fell forwards, breathing hard, clawing the dirt into his fists and holding on. Cries. Blood. The sting of the whip against his back. He arched forwards and growled, his teeth elongating. The laughter of his cruel masters. His neck burned, aching under the pressing weight of an iron collar. The humiliation of his brethren.
Blood ran in a fetid river before his eyes, trickling over damp dark stones and along the gutter in front of the cells, mixing with faeces and urine. Shackles clanked in the dim light. Bars rattled under the duress of a fruitless attack by a prisoner.
He wasn’t there.
Nicolae yelled his rage at the starlit sky. It burst from him, desperate and feral in its sound, and echoed around the distant mountains. A disconsolate howl from the valley answered him. The alpha. The sound of it and the message it contained soothed him and granted him relief. He shut the pain down, clearing his mind of the past and focusing on the present, but there was no comfort in it now.
His gaze snapped to the vampire.
He pushed himself back onto his feet and stood over her, staring with hatred burning in his gut. The hunters were still searching for her, and it wouldn’t be long before they reached where he was. They would finish her off. If she managed to survive both the hunters and the poison until daybreak, then nature would take care of her. The sky was clear. When the sun rose, it would spill into the glade. She wouldn’t be strong enough to escape it. Her kind deserved to feel pain.
He would never involve himself with vampires.
He strode away from her.
No matter how beautiful they were.
That thought arrested his steps. He frowned over his shoulder at her. The cold air curled around him, chilling and stiffening his bare body. He stared at the vampire and then at the horizon through the trees, and realised with self-loathing that he wasn’t strong enough to do it. As much as he despised her kind, he wasn’t a monster like them. She wasn’t the same bloodline as the ones who had enslaved him. She had done nothing to deserve his bitterness. If he left her, it would plague him and he would regret it. If he needed a reason to help her, he would do it for the sake of information about the hunters. They had to be the reason that she was so far from home.
Nicolae went back to her. She looked small and fragile as she lay on the dirt. Her appearance belied her true nature but it couldn’t fool his senses. When she had come around, he had felt her strength. Was she strong enough to fight the poison? He placed his palm against her forehead. She wasn’t burning up yet. If the poison was the type most vampire hunters used, then there was still time to help her.
Part of him said to leave her. Her kind had given him nothing but pain. She should feel it in return.
He couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. Watching a dying vampire succumb to the sun and poison would be a petty form of vengeance. His heart had let go of his desire for revenge almost fifty years ago now, cleansed by his quiet life in the wilderness. Only the nightmarish memories kept it alive in him.
Nicolae sighed and picked her up, shifting her into his arms and cradling her against his bare chest in a way that didn’t disturb the bolts. If she woke again, he would drop her in a flash and distance himself. He doubted that she would though. She had probably used the last of her strength fighting him.
Was he really going to do this? If he brought her into his home, if he helped her heal, then he would be helping the enemy.
In times of war, it was acceptable to help the enemy of your enemy. The hunters had tried to kill her. They were a threat to everything he had built here, and everyone that he knew.
He had to help her.
Even when he knew it would place him in danger.
The hunters were after her.
They would be after him too now.
Available from:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Hunter’s%20Moon
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004P5NQ0W/
Posted in 2011 releases, Amazon Kindle, Hunter's Moon, new release, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance
Comments Off on Hunter’s Moon – werewolf vampire romance novel out now!
Editing Forbidden Blood – Vampire Romance Novel
Last week I was mostly editing Forbidden Blood, an upcoming vampire romance novel that should be out around the end of April 2011. Originally, I had intended it to be a light edit, more like a polish than anything else, but it has turned out to be more like a full edit. There’s quite a bit I want to add to the story, layering in more description and information so readers will get more out of the story, and intensifying certain scenes between the vampire hero and human heroine. Because I’m doing a full edit on the story, I was behind schedule at the end of the week. It’s difficult to measure how long edits take, but usually a full edit takes me around the same amount of time as it took to write the first draft, or maybe just a little less.
On Friday, I had reached page 74 out of around 270, and had added around 6000 words into the story. On Saturday, I had an ear appointment in the city, so I went to the area where my husband works (he works on Saturdays) afterwards and went to Starbucks there. I spent 8 hours in Starbucks and managed to get 56 more pages edited, reaching my page 130 goal. It doesn’t sound like much progress, but I actually edited 25000 words of the story, and the amount of words added reached 10000, so the story was then at around 118000 words long.
Sometimes editing is slower than we like it to be, but I guess it’s the price we pay for being thorough. Adding in extra details and information, or improving characters, always takes time, and when I see how many words I’ve added to the story (considering that I’m also taking words away too), I don’t feel as though I’m on a go-slow.
Saturday was an interesting test though. I had wanted to see how many pages / words I could comfortably edit in a full working day ahead of my turning full time author at the end of February. It was good to see that when I’m editing quite harshly, really taking time to craft the words and sharpen the story, that I could get through that many pages. I don’t intend to edit for 8 hours a day though. It was more like seeing what I could accomplish with 4 or 5, as I knew that eight hours would be extremely tiring, and it was. At the end of the evening, I was completely bushed, not fit for anything other than laying on the couch staring at the TV. That’s not how I want to feel at the end of the work day when I’m writing, so I’ll cap my editing at around 4 or 5 hours a day, dependent on how much work I have to do. If I’m pushed for time and desperately need to get an edit turned around quickly, I now know that I could spend a week in Starbucks doing 8 hours a day and get it done (most of my novels are around 80000 to 125000 words).
Unfortunately, it means I’m miles behind on my other work–interviews, articles, guest blogging, sending books out for review, and building my author platform, amongst other things. I have a lot to do between now and Feb 10th when I have my ear op, including preparing content for my Vampires for Valentines month over at the Vampires Realm blog – http://vampiresrealm.blogspot.com – that will see a daily post of goodies for everyone to read in the lead up to the release of Hunter’s Moon.
I’d better get my head down today and crack on with these edits then!
Posted in 2011 releases, forbidden blood, Hunter's Moon, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm
Comments Off on Editing Forbidden Blood – Vampire Romance Novel
My next romance novel…
Well, I finished the polish phase of Hunter’s Moon, the next Vampires Realm novel, at the weekend and sent it off to a few kind readers who offered to run their eyes over it and offer me feedback. I have a few questions about it and just want to make sure that it’s perfect before unleashing it on the world.
This week I’ve been doing two things: Reading and getting sick.
I started the week with the intention of doing a read through of Ascension and then starting the polish edit on it. Unfortunately, it’s just not sitting well with me. I feel there are quite a few things that need addressing and the writing needs a good buffing up session throughout the book. The trouble with Ascension is, I started it as a short story intended for the Nocturne Bites line by Harlequin. They rejected two of my stories, and I felt this one really had a novel feel about it, and I wanted to extend it. I gave it out to around 30 readers, who mostly came back with the same feeling–it should be a novel not a short story. I never sent it to Harlequin, and instead extended it. I think in the extension process, I flipped back from trying to write for Harly to writing like my normal self. This means that the two styles don’t quite mesh. So, Ascension needs another draft before it can be polished.
Which is why I’m now reading Forbidden Blood.
Forbidden Blood is a vampire romance with a twist. Not quite traditional, but nothing I write ever really is. It also has a nicely tortured hero. I have a thing for writing those too. I’m banking on it being in better shape than Ascension, as I wrote it more recently, and therefore it will only need a polish as opposed to another draft. I’ve already done a second draft of the novel, and afterward I thought of a few things I could do to improve it. I have to add those into the story, but I don’t think it will be difficult to work them in. I’ve only read around 20 pages of it so far. It reads well, with the odd thing I want to smooth out or improve.
Of course, I’m also touting a beautifully ugly cold right now, so chances are nothing I read is going to feel amazing because I’m so under the weather and just feeling vaguely cruel towards my stories because of it. I want to be able to sit down and just spend the whole day working on the stories and getting them into top shape, but that’ll take weeks and I want to get the story out at the end of March.
At this rate, I’ll be moving another release date. I’ll have to do it if I don’t feel I have enough time. There’s only 3 weeks until my ear operation now, which probably isn’t enough time to do another copy edit on a book and then have time to proof it. We’ll see! I do love a challenge.
Posted in 2011 releases, Ascension, forbidden blood, Hunter's Moon, paranormal romance, urban fantasy, vampire romance, vampires, werewolf romance, witches
Comments Off on My next romance novel…
Winter’s Kiss – vampire / werewolf romance book available in paperback!
Winter’s Kiss, part of my Vampires Realm series, is now available in paperback on Amazon.com. You can get your hands on this vampire / werewolf romance book for only $7.99! At the moment, it’s only available on Amazon.com, but it will go global within the next 6 weeks. I’ll keep you all posted.
Winter’s Kiss
F E Heaton
The tales of the mansion near Nika’s remote Russian village say that its lord drinks blood to live and that the guards are dead men walking, but that doesn’t stop Nika from falling for one of them—a man who seemingly hasn’t changed in twenty years, a man she wishes would be hers. One snowy spring night, her world and his collide when she is attacked by wolves and he rides in on a black horse to rescue her. But her knight in shining armour is far from saintly. He is a vampire, and she is becoming a werewolf, and love between such species is forbidden—the penalty death.
Winter is a commander of the Validus, the most powerful vampire bloodline in Europe. Faithful to his family and his lord since his turning one thousand years ago, he follows the law to the letter and places duty above all else, but his resolve is about to be tested in the most painful way and his world shaken beyond salvation. The girl he watched grow into a woman, a woman who has stolen his heart, is now a werewolf and his dream of making her his has been shattered. Only vengeance can be his now or the Law Keepers will hunt him down and kill both him and Nika.
But Winter’s plan to take Nika home to her family fails and his heart demands that he protects her, both from the werewolf who bit her and from himself. She tempts him more than he can bear and it isn’t long before he finds himself treading the knife’s edge between upholding the law and succumbing to desire.
Nika does everything in her power to convince Winter to stay with her, to go against the laws and risk death, but in the end will she have done enough? Will the nights they spend together change his heart and his mind, or will she spend eternity dreaming of Winter’s kiss?
ebook price: $3.99
paperback price: $7.99
genre: paranormal vampire / werewolf romance
length: 78000 words
paperback purchase link:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1456489895/
e-book purchase links:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.com/ebooks.php?title=Winter’s%20Kiss
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Winters-Kiss-Vampires-Realm-ebook/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Amazon Kindle UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Winters-Kiss-Vampires-Realm/dp/B0035LDN4Q/
Kobo: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Winters-Kiss/mix-SbRY0TdPE0-Zl8QkcSDTzA/page1.html
Sony Reader Store: http://ebookstore.sony.com/ebook/f-e-heaton/winters-kiss/_/R-400000000000000254325
Also available at iBookstore
Posted in paperbacks, paranormal romance, vampire romance, vampires, Vampires Realm, werewolf romance
Comments Off on Winter’s Kiss – vampire / werewolf romance book available in paperback!