~ NEW ~ EXCERPT BELOW ~
Ever since the time of Romulus and Remus, wolves have ruled Rome. With the city under threat, the Guardians of old have called in a new generation of shifter protectors - warriors who have sworn off love. That is, until destiny brings in a woman one lone wolf can’t resist…
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Sergio kept his voice low as he
followed Lena up the stairs to her apartment. “I came to warn you. Vicente is
bad news.”
Lena snorted. “No kidding.”
“I mean, really bad news. Dangerous.”
“Yes, I gathered. Mafia-style danger,
am I right?”
Sergio froze at the reference, then
tugged at his collar. “I suppose you could say that.”
At the top floor, she kicked aside a
pair of boots and nervously fumbled to fit her key into the apartment door.
Finally, she got it in, then hesitated.
“Look, I appreciate you coming and
all…”
He shook his head. “It’s not only
that. There’s the other night, too. You need help.”
*I do not need help,* her eyes blazed, but a split second later, her shoulders drooped
and she crossed her arms, unconsciously giving herself a hug. Yeah, she knew
what he meant. Shifting. Or semi-shifting in her case. What exactly was her
story?
Four stories below, the handrail
creaked as her landlady leaned out for a better look. Lena wavered, then
finally motioned Sergio into her apartment. It was a cramped, one-room place,
with peeling paint, a tiny kitchen niche, and water stains down one corner.
Still, golden light streamed in through double glass doors, and outside, the
narrow ledge of a balcony overflowed with plants. All in all, the apartment
toed a thin line between bohemian charm and run-down tenement.
Lena went to the balcony door and
gazed over the terra-cotta roofs. “The other night, you changed into a wolf.”
“Shifted. You shifted too. Well,
almost. It seemed to me you were…new to it.”
Lena burst out laughing, though there
was no humor in the sound. “You could say that.”
“It’s never happened before?”
She shook her head, eyes still
semi-focused on the view. “Never. Well, not before I came to Rome.”
He frowned, wondering what had set it
off. Most shifters experienced their first change in puberty. Lena was in her
late twenties or early thirties. Why had it happened to Lena so late?
“Your parents didn’t prepare you?”
She snorted. “My mother has no clue.”
“What about your father?”
The set of her eyes hardened. “I
never met him. He wasn’t interested in a family.”
Sergio frowned. Most shifters were
deeply committed to their mates and offspring. What kind of lowlife had the man
been to abandon his own daughter?
“Anyway,” she said a little too
breezily. “He’s never been part of my life.”
“What do you know about him?”
She shrugged. “Enough.”
“Maybe not enough.”
Her soft features folded into a deep
frown. “According to my mother, he was a rich jerk who led her on. When he
first found out she was pregnant, he seemed okay with it. But when he found out
the baby — me — was a daughter, he paid my mother to disappear. Paid her, like
a call girl or something.” Her tone was bitter — an echo of her mother’s, no
doubt. “Obviously, a daughter wasn’t good enough for him.”
Sergio frowned. Female dragons were
so rare, the majority of male dragons mated with humans or shifters of a
different species, and they always rejoiced at the birth of a daughter.
Lena sighed. “He died not long after
my mother left Italy. Before I was born, in fact. And we did just fine without
him.”
That last part sounded a little
forced, but Sergio moved on to a different clue.
“Your mother is from Italy?”
Lena nodded, looking out the window.
“From Rome. But when she got pregnant, she moved to New York, where her sister
lived.” Another sigh. “My mom was so ready for a new start, she didn’t even
speak Italian to me. Only a few words, and mostly when she got mad.” Lena’s
lips curled in a sentimental smile. “I only started learning in college.”
“And you only started shifting now,”
Sergio murmured, more to himself than to her.
“Only since I moved here. For years,
I felt like Rome was calling to me. Now…” Lena gulped, then gave herself a
determined shake and stood taller. “Anyway, I can manage.”
There it was again — that
tough/not-so-tough exterior. That painfully thin layer barely concealing a cry
for help. But where should he start?
Gently,
his wolf murmured.
“Well, you did the right thing,
staying out of sight,” he offered. “You can’t let anyone see. No humans,
anyway.”
Her eyes dropped to her hands, and a
pained expression came over her face.
He nearly continued with something
like, Why the hell did you fight it so
much? But that wouldn’t help. Instead, he went with, “The thing is to shift
quickly.”
She scowled. “Or not to shift at
all.”
That had never occurred to him. To
never have the freedom to let his second soul out? To deny himself the chance
to howl and trot around on four feet?
“It won’t work,” he warned. “Like
trying not to sleep. Sooner or later, shifting will just happen. The trick is
to control it.”
Lena flexed her fingers, frowning.
“How?”
Sergio stepped closer. “By choosing
when and where you want to shift. By giving your beast permission or holding it
back.” Slowly, gently, he covered her trembling hands. “By understanding what’s
inside you and what it needs.”
She didn’t shrink from his touch,
though her hands continued to tremble. “What do I have inside?”
A dragon,
he nearly said. But that seemed a bit blunt, so he cast around for a more
helpful answer. Sooner or later, she would fully shift, and it could be a
disaster — for her and for shifters everywhere. The Guardians could have her
killed, lest she betray all shifters. The risk was that great.
His inner wolf growled. *So, we teach her. Protect her. Stay close by
her side.*