Moon Scorned
Marty Mayberry
(Raven Moon Wolves, #1)
Publication date: January 5th 2022
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult
I fell hard and fast for the son of an elite wolf pack. Then he rejected me.
Asher was my fated mate, and he took off when I needed him most, rejecting me and my inner wolf. Then my half-sister is murdered at an exclusive college that’s enshrouded in magic and secrets. When the school offers me a scholarship, I accept and move onto campus. I’m going to find out who killed her, then rip them apart. And if I run into Asher while I’m there? He’ll learn I’m no longer his sweet little thing. He’s about to taste the fury of a wolf shifter scorned.
Everly’s everything to me, but to protect her, I had to shove her away. If I go near her, the Drudge Pack will discover who she truly is. My father—their enforcer—will kill her. But when she shows up at Ravenmire College, my inner wolf hungers. I’ll do anything to keep her safe—even if that means sacrificing myself and betraying my dangerous family.
—
EXCERPT:
Asher stood beneath a long-needle pine. When I paused, he strode forward, letting the moonlight touch his gorgeous features. He cupped my face with his warm hands.
Likes him, my wolf sighed.
“Missed you,” he whispered.
“You, too.” My heart rate picked up to double time.
His lips captured mine, softly at first, then harder and with growing need.
I wasn’t sure where this was going between us, but I did know one thing. Cats might rule and wolves might drool, but Asher was my catnip. Whenever he touched me, I purred.
“Jeez,” Shorty groused through the screen door of the food truck behind me. “Don’t be doin’ any of that crap so close to my truck. Go on with you. Take a walk on the beach or something. Kids.”
Pulling away from Asher, I snorted out a laugh. I gazed up into his warm brown eyes that sparkled solely for me and held out my hand.
“Take a walk with me, Ash?” I asked coyly. He told me I was the only one who could call him Ash.
He took my hand and tugged me close, wrapping his arm around my waist and holding me against his warm frame.
Likes, my wolf sighed again. Likes him lots.
Asher guided me around the truck, across the sidewalk, and out onto the sand.
During the day, crowds of humans mobbed Old Orchard Beach. Once the sun had set and the tourists headed to their rented condos and hotels, the locals could breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy the quiet. And late at night, especially when the moon bathed the sky with her milky gaze, wolves like me and Ash could run.
I kicked off my shoes and shimmied out of my jeans and long-sleeve shirt—I wisely wore thin shorts and a tank underneath.
Asher watched, his smoldering eyes tracing my every curve as I moved. We’d come close to going all the way but hadn’t done it yet. I wasn’t sure why I resisted. He made it clear he wanted to. The heat simmering in my veins told me I did too. I guess I wanted to wait. We’d only known each other for a few months.
He had to leave for college soon, but he said he’d come back for each of his breaks. We had plenty of time to do things then.
“Shift?” he asked.
Yesss, my wolf sighed. She rose and stomped her paws, eager.
The first time I shifted, it felt like my skin turned itself inside out, ripping muscles, tendons, and breaking my bones to morph five-four, skinny old me into a gorgeous white wolf with steel gray tufts on her ears and the tip of her tail.
Go for it, babe, I told my wolf, stepping back in my mind.
She leaped forward, jumping into my skin.
Ash joined us, and I could feel his grin as our wolves touched noses then rubbed necks.
Likes so much, she said. She gave him a wolfy grin and raced toward the water, charging a wave and yipping with joy. He followed, only a bit more sedate.
When she kicked up her feet and ran through the shallows, he kept pace, nipping at her ruff and huffing with pleasure.
They ran for what felt like forever, and it recharged my soul. Shifting might turn me inside out, but it put me back together again after, making me brand new.
My wolf flopped on the sand and rolled, shimmying her back to scratch an itch. Asher’s wolf stood nearby, watchful. As protective as Ash.
Time’s up, I finally said. She’d run and play with him all night long if I let her. I wanted to, but Ash would leave for college in three days, and I needed to be with him more than I wanted to breathe.
We morphed back.
Ash gathered me into his arms. His kiss drank me in as the final push settled, turning me back into what I was before. My wolf changing back to me. His wolf into him. Us.
I moaned, pressing myself fully against him.
We eased apart, and he took my hands with that special gleam in his eyes he shared solely with me.
Things couldn’t get any better than this. Sometimes, I dreamed we were fated.
A feeling I couldn’t define sped across my skin, leaving goosebumps behind. I told myself it was nothing. The wind with a hint of the crispness of fall. A bit of stray magic lingering in the air.
It couldn’t be us.
Nothing would come between me and Ash.
Author Bio:
Marty writes young adult fiction with plenty of suspense and romance, plus a touch of humor. When she’s not dreaming up ways to mess with her character’s lives, she works as an RN. She lives in New England with her husband, three children, three geriatric cats, and a spunky Yorkie pup who keeps her on her toes.
She also writes adult contemporary romance and romantic suspense under the pen name, Marlie May. Marty/Marlie was a 2018 RWA ® Golden Heart ® Finalist in contemporary short and romantic suspense.
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