Tala Ridge Witch Pre-order Delivers Sept. 30, 2023
Witches take shifters as familiars?
In this gripping, action-filled young adult paranormal novel, Patricia, a young witch coming into her powers soon, stands to lose her powers and even her life, if Josh, the werewolf she met in school, doesn't help her.
But his alpha is against it. The shifter king is, too.
With the stakes so high, will Josh go against his alpha and the king to protect the girl he believes to be his future mate?
If you enjoyed Twilight or The Vampire Diaries, you'll love Witches Tala Ridge Witch. Buy now before the price changes.
A young adult paranormal shifter series, the Tala Ridge Shifter Series has no profanity or sex.
The Tala Ridge Witch Pre-order is up on Amazon, now! It it available in the following countries:
Here's a preview from Chapter 3:
Chapter 3
Mid-morning Saturday, Neesha Driscoll, High Priestess of the Dorchú Coven, poured
spell-purified water into a jasper basin, careful not to spill a drop. She’d sent
the coven to the market for spell ingredients. With no one around to observe,
she worked her magic to find the shifter she needed. Someone who wouldn’t be
missed by the wolves in the area.
Using a
silver wand with a human bone handle, she pricked her finger with the tip, let
three drops of blood fall into the water, and then gently stirred the basin
contents. Dark sparks streamed from the wand’s tip and swirled through the
water.
Muttering
a spell, her gaze intent on the image forming on the surface, a cruel smile
stretched her lips. Native shifters! Shifters of myth and mystery, unknown to
most of the unnatural world. Here in Colorado! Another incantation clarified
the image. She watched as a rare white eagle shifted into a human-looking
teenage boy.
The tip of her wand pierced the boy’s image. She whispered,
testing his innocence and magically marking him with a tracking spell. The
boy’s image jerked and shuddered for a moment. His startled eyes swept the
woods around him. When he found nothing, he shook his head, shrugged, and
walked into the trees. Neesha laughed. Wherever he went, when she was ready to
finalize preparations for the life spell, she would find him.
One last incantation and the water swirled up into a small
fount. Bursting into black flames, it sizzled into nothing. The stench of
rotting flesh and blood inundated the room. With a flick of her wrist, the air
was purified, leaving the faintest odor. Faint enough the other witches in the
coven wouldn’t identify the blood magic she’d used.
*****
Jaxon Adjuk, the son of the Eagle Congregation Elder,
hurried out the back door. His chores were done, but if his father’s second,
Evan, found him, he would be assigned more. The congregation had a meeting with
the Tala Ridge wolf shifters today at noon, but that still gave him three hours
to kill before they left. If he didn’t get caught sneaking out.
Slipping behind a Fremont
Cottonwood, he peered around the girth of the tree. Overhead, the bare branches
swept nearly a hundred feet high, giving good perch for after-flights. Right
now, though, he wanted to slip away into the evergreen forest before someone
called him back. Moving from tree to tree, he circled the cluster of houses
until he came to the back of Silana’s home.
He picked up a handful of small
pebbles and tossed them at her second-story window. A moment later, she peered
down at him, then raised the window and leaned out. “What are you doing?” she
hissed in a loud whisper.
“I’m going down to the river.
Want to come?”
His One glanced over her
shoulder, then grinned and nodded at him. “I’m coming down.”
She opened the window higher,
slipped through, and dropped. Dark feathered wings, just wide enough to let her
land safely, sprouted from her shoulders, then disappeared when she touched the
ground.
Jaxon took her hand and pulled
her into the trees. He relished her soft laughter and fought to keep angry
thoughts from overtaking his mind. Running through the forest, he finally
stopped on a boulder overlooking the river. Sitting, he motioned for her to
join him.
Silana sat beside him, leaned
back with her hands behind her, resting on the boulder, and studied his forlorn
face. Her smile dropped away. “What’s wrong?”
He blew out a loud breath and
looked at the pale blue sky for a moment. “Terrell said his king decreed teens
need to wait until they’re eighteen to join their One. My father has decided
that it’s a good idea for us to wait until then, too.”
“What? But we planned our
joining for this summer!”
Nodding, he leaned toward her
and took her left hand in his. “I know, but now we have to wait another two
years.”
“I don’t understand. It’s always
been our way to mate during the summer of our sixteenth year.”
The distress in her eyes made
him drop his gaze. “I’ll talk to Dad, again, Silana, but I don’t think he’s
going to change his mind. Dad said since we’re living in the King’s territory,
we need to follow at least some of the basic rules he set forth. This is one of
the rules the Elder…” he stressed the word, “…intends to enforce.”
“But my dress is ready.
Everything is ready!”
“I know.” He caressed the back
of her hand with his thumb. “I’m so sorry. Nagligivaget, Silana; I will
wait until the ends of time if it so must be.”
“I…I can’t bear this! To have
prepared for so long…” Pulling away from him, she leaped into the air, sifting
to her eagle, Piujuq. Screeching her anguish, she sped into the distance.
Jaxon jumped to his feet,
intending to go after her, but Galbric, his eagle, stopped him. She is
emotional. She will return when she calms.
But, he answered Galbric,
she’s hurting. I need to go to her.
It will be time enough to go
to her after she calms. Let her mourn.
Swallowing hard, he let out a
deep, shaky breath and nodded. “If she isn’t back before we leave for the
ranch, I’m going after her.”
Agreed.
With a running start, Jaxon
leaped off the boulder and winged toward home. Heartsick, not knowing how to
make Silana feel better, he shifted as he stepped onto the clearing close to
his home. A sudden force seemed to envelop him. His skin tingled with an
electric jolt.
Shaking his head, he looked
around the clearing, but there was nothing to see. He shrugged and walked
through the trees to his house. Sneaking inside, he avoided his parents when he
heard them talking in the kitchen and rushed to his room.
<
Silana wasn’t the only one upset
by the changes. Their joining had been planned since the finding ceremony on
his thirteenth birthday selected her for his One. Shutting his door quietly to
prevent his parents from hearing it, he dropped to his bed and stared at the
ceiling. Unfortunately, it didn’t have any answers to his problem, either. He
sighed. Two more years.
That's all for now.
Take care and stay safe,
