Tuesday Tales – Picture Prompt

by Sarah | Aug 11, 2013 | Books, The Tribe, Tuesday Tales, Writing

The prompt this week is this picture.

This is much much later in the story…like the next book. I wanted to give you all a happy-ish moment, though.  😉

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

Velli leaned on the railing and closed her eyes. The waves lapped the shore of the hotel’s beach in a soothing rhythm.  With her magic the ebb and flow of the waves touched her deep down in her soul with its ease and normality.

The door to the balcony slid open, and then closed. She never heard the footsteps, but Kane’s warmth enveloped her within seconds.

He kissed the top of her head. “Feeling better?”

“For now.” She sighed and leaned against him. “I’m ready now.”

His whole body stilled, not even a finger twitched on her hand. After several long minutes of silence he spoke into the silence. “Do you mean what I think you do?”

“Yes.” She disentangled herself from his arms. Grateful he didn’t protest the action, she moved to the corner of the balcony. The last thing she needed was to be touched as she told the story.

“You’re going to tell me what happened to you, then. All those years ago.”

Fear wrapped itself around her vocal chords as it always did. Shame burned tears against the back of her eyes, and flooded her cheeks with heat. All she could do was nod. Every time she’d tried before things had gone so wrong. Still, after all he’d done for her, and the knowledge that he was her mate, and his Wolf was Tala’s, if Tala survived. “I’m going to try, but you have to let me talk. I have to finish.”

“Whatever you need, baby.”

She bit down on her tongue in hopes that the pain would overcome the indignity. When he leaned on the railing beside her, still not touching, she took a ragged breath. The story she’d buried deep began to come out too fast to stop. “It was just before my sixteenth birthday…”

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Tuesday Tales – Smooth

by Sarah | Aug 4, 2013 | Books, The Tribe, Tuesday Tales, Writing

The prompt this week is Smooth.

Velli has an intentional vision that leads her in an odd direction, and leaves her with more questions than answers, as most visions do.

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

The earth dropped out from under her and she fell. She landed with a grunt on a patch of grass. All around her stood tall walls of deep charcoal. With one touch to the smooth barrier of the closest wall she guessed some sort of metal.

A long howl sounded nearby, one so familiar her knees buckled at Tala’s sudden attempt to escape her bindings. “Easy, Tala. I don’t even know where we are.”

You fool. It is a vision.

“No. You’re the fool. It’s a vision, so that is not really Kane’s Wolf, just our interpretation of him. Whatever this is means something.” She turned a circle and noted four breaks in the wall like paths. “Could this be a maze?”

Our magic is not working.

“No, it isn’t. Not in here. We’re meant to try on our own, I guess.” Velli stepped toward the nearest opening. “What is it they say about mazes? Always go right and you’ll never go wrong?”

Without further delay she raced into the opening. At every corner and junction she turned right. Every time she’d made a dozen turns or so another howl echoed through the maze.

After she’d gone what she gauged to be a mile, she paused at a cross-junction. This time she waited for the Wolf’s cry to wrench the air. When it did, footsteps drew near. Rapid, small footsteps paired with heavier beats. Something small, smaller than a wolf, and something else. The sound muffled like a paw, but didn’t sound much like a Wolf.

To her left a flash of white fur appeared, rapidly followed behind by much larger gray fur. An albino fox tore past her, and the snarling lynx chased it without hesitation. Fear over both the creatures spurred her to follow and she tore after them.

Even in her human form she’d always been fast, but she could hardly keep up with the disappearing animals. They disappeared from view after two dozen turns, and Velli spun hopelessly at a junction.

A high pitched canine yelp was immediately followed by a feline shriek. A low deep growl echoed through the metal paths, one that was pure Kane. Both canine and feline whined before the air stilled again.

“Kane.” Velli whispered. “Where are you?”

His deep growl resonated from behind her. When she turned, the black Wolf had his teeth bared in a nasty snarl.

“It’s me. Kane.” She knew better than to show fear. Even though it was against her very nature, she knelt down until her head was lower than his. In this case he was allowed dominance. Her magic wouldn’t work, and her Wolf was bound. “It’s Velli.”

Teeth snapped in her face, deep snarls echoing in her ear. A whisper of a shout entered her mind, one that was not Tala. It had to be Kane’s Wolf. Betrayal.

“No.” She whispered. “I’m trying to find you.”

A sniff at her neck was the only warning before he bit down hard.

Velli fought against the urge to cry out in pain.

You will destroy them. Selfish. He bit harder and flung her against a wall before he turned and raced away.

“No. Wait. Who?” She stumbled to her feet, but didn’t bother to check her neck. It would ache for days in the real world, but no blood would fall. Not in a vision. Once she felt steady on her feet again, she ran after him.

He stayed close enough that she always saw his tail rounding a corner.

With one last turn the maze opened up into forest. Her heart ached at the familiar trees and paths of home. “Home.”

The Wolf stopped and his head lowered. Pain first. We will all suffer.

“I already am. Please, Kane. I must find you.”

It’s too late.

“Too late for what?” Velli didn’t have time to chase him, her arm was snagged. When she spun to face her attacker, she found her childhood friend, Melik.

His dark visage twisted in disgust. “You aren’t welcome. Be gone.” The words bellowed out and the scene wavered with the force.

Around Velli the world spun in circles until she began to slide down the tornado of green.

She dropped to the ground softly in an unfamiliar yard. Mountains spread out behind a simple house. Woods surrounded a small stretch of land. The home was unfamiliar but she knew without a doubt whose it was.

“Kane.” Velli rushed toward the house. Something made her stop before she got there, a sound. A Bobcat.

Velli walked to the edge of the driveway. Down the hill sat a pond, and there Kane stood at the edge. A Bobcat crept toward him and rubbed his leg with her forehead.

“Hello, little one.” Kane touched her forehead, but otherwise didn’t change his stance. From what she could tell, he faced west. West. Maybe he was looking for her.

“Kane.” Velli called out. When he didn’t turn, she leaped off the edge of the hill and tore through the weeds toward the pond. “Kane.”

The Bobcat stiffened and hissed.

“Kane, please. Hear me.” Velli burst out of the weeds, but the short strip around the pond suddenly seemed a mile wide. “Kane.”

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Tuesday Tales – Bargain

by Sarah | Jul 28, 2013 | Books, The Tribe, Tuesday Tales, Writing

The prompt this week is Bargain.

Everyone was so anxious to see where Velli was. This probably doesn’t answer any of the questions you wanted answered – and likely raises more. 😉

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

“Drop her.” The voice she recognized as the boss’s rang through the air.

The goons took him literally and she hit the gravel hard. Each little stone forced its way into her flesh like thousands of hungry little birds. It was just pain, nothing near as bad as she’d lived through already.

“Wake.” The boss’s words carried the same buzz of magic that Bacey’s had earlier.

This time she let herself sneeze. She grunted as she pushed herself up on her hands. “Damn it, Bacey. You could have just asked nicely.”

“Bacey isn’t here.” The boss stayed in the shadows, while she’d been dropped in a circle of light. “It’s just you, me, and these two thugs, of course.”

“What is this? A bad gangster movie? What are you going to do next, beat answers out of me?” She got to her feet and brushed the dust off her jeans. “Magic wasn’t needed just because I was grumpy about being interrupted.”

“Magic was needed—and as for beating you up, let’s see how you respond to my questions first, shall we?” He circled around the edge of the light. One of his hands came into view and it was black as coal. A wave of power came at her, one that was old, ancient even.

Velli obliged him and stumbled back to her knees. With a grumble, she wiped the small stones from her palms. “Once again, unnecessary. You aren’t Shifter, what are you?”

“It doesn’t matter. You are. You also know the ancient.”

“You’ll have to be more specific. I’ve known a lot of really old farts in my time. No joke.” She got herself back to her feet. Last thing she’d do was kneel to this guy.

“You know who I mean.”

Despite her efforts to not react, her eye twitched. She forced her lips into what she hoped was a playful smirk to cover her nerves. “Nope, sorry. I told you, I know too many old farts.”

“The Healer.” He stopped in front of her again. “Kane.”

“Who?” She wondered how in hell he knew Kane, and how he knew she knew him. Another wave of magic whipped around her and she obligingly dropped to her knees again. Until she knew more what she was dealing with, she needed to play this right.

“You shouldn’t nap at work. You talk in your sleep. I know you know him. I know him too, have for some time, did you know that?” He started to circle her again. “I know all about your little Tribe. How they pitifully cling to the old ways. It will get them destroyed.”

She’d said the same thing to the Elders, but now she rebelled against it and leaped to her feet.

“Where is Kane?”

The interruption of her attempted irate protest caught her off-guard. She blinked and shook her head. “I don’t know.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not.” As he began to circle her again, she pivoted to follow his path. She had no idea where Kane was, and for the first time that day she was glad. Last thing she needed him to know is she thought she had a way to reach him.

“What do you want? I’m in no mood to bargain. You’ll tell me what I want to know, or you will regret it.” He remained hidden deep in shadow, never allowing her to see his face.

“I want nothing.” She stopped turning, stopped fighting. Just then she was done playing the game. The exhaustion hit her harder than she’d ever expected and she dropped to her knees. “I can’t give you the answers you want. I don’t have them.”

“I don’t believe you.”

She kept her gaze focused on the hands folded in her lap. “I don’t know. I left. He might be there, he might be somewhere else entirely with his mate. I simply don’t know.”

“We’ll see about that.”

Before she could consider what he meant, a bright flash of blue light blinded her. A sharp pain burned from her eyeballs through her brain before the world went black.

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Tuesday Tales – Picture Prompt

by Sarah | Jul 21, 2013 | Books, The Tribe, Tuesday Tales, Writing

The prompt this week is this picture prompt.

Well, this is much much later in the story. We are off the reservation now and on Kane’s land in Virginia where he is with his charge, Lily–and Velli’s best friend, the man she was arranged to be married to (and did) on the reservation.

Velli is…well, not there.  So much has happened that you all missed, but needless to say, Kane is searching for her.

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

“You were gone for a while.” Reed’s voice echoed through the trees on Kane’s right.  The man wasn’t in sight, but Kane guessed he was farther than the voice indicated. A touch of magic could do great things when used right.

Kane finished pulling on the pants he’d left in a cubby hole at the end of the lane that led to his driveway. To the left was a rolling open field that led into the foothills.  It was bordered with a useless barbed wire fence due to the wolf rumors in the area.

To the right was his land. The woods between his home and civilization lined the lane so thick, his driveway was almost completely hidden down toward the end of it. He loved the privacy it afforded. Especially since the owner of the land beyond the fence was one of those survivalists that had decided to live off the land in preparation of the inevitable apocalypse. The man kept to himself and as long as Kane stayed off his land, he wasn’t dinner for the freak.

“Any luck?” Reed’s question was pointless.  If luck had been on Kane’s side Velli would be with him, or he wouldn’t be home.

Still, Kane had begrudgingly started to like the guy, so he allowed himself to respond with only a moderate amount of sarcasm. “Yeah. She’s in my pocket. Oh wait, until I put my pants on I didn’t have one.”

“Classy. Just tell me what happened.”

“The Wolf took me west. Every time I tried to head north back to Canada, he pulled me west. We ended up in Colorado before whatever connection he felt disappeared again.” Kane tugged on his boots and started down the lane toward his driveway. “Her Wolf is dying. We keep losing the bond.”

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Tuesday Tales – Court

by Sarah | Jul 14, 2013 | Books, The Tribe, Tuesday Tales, Writing

The prompt this week is Court.

I’m actually much farther than this in the re-writes, but Jean was curious what Velli looked like, so I brought out this excerpt from earlier in the story.  It actually fit with the prompt already, but it’s a little longer…

At this point Kane has been on Tribe lands for only two days…and hasn’t yet met Velli properly…and he still isn’t going to 😉

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

Through the woods echoed the faint sounds of cheering. Men egged on a mock battle.  The grunts and hits mixed into the cheers of at least two dozen men. Those in battle were holding court over more warriors than Kane had anticipated.  Curious at how well the warriors handled themselves, Kane moved toward the battle.

Using years of skill to remain undetected, he got close enough to see and hear that one of the warriors kept a strong lead.  He circled around until a clear shot of the two in battle made him stop short.

It wasn’t two Warriors battling.

It was just one Warrior and that woman.  The one that had captured his attention at his arrival and remained in his periphery like a ghost since.  Without a doubt the woman had an advantage over the trained Warrior. With an easy grace of movement she laid the Warrior out for loss.

It surprised him for the mere fact that she was almost child-like in size.  In fact at first glance that’s what he’d thought she was.  So short that he imagined her nose would barely touch his chest.

The height didn’t matter, her body and her disposition were all woman. Now as she battled he took another extra few minutes to admire that body again.  Even in battle her feet were bare, leading to slender ankles and lean calves.  Instead of a traditional dress she wore skins mirroring white man style.

Small shorts that exposed most of her legs. Every twitch of the strong muscles in her thighs when she kicked her opponent was on display. For a brief moment his mind latched onto the thought of how those strong legs would feel clamped around his waist.

He pushed aside the thought to continue his perusal.  And there was plenty more to see. The top she wore wrapped tight around her chest, and cropped short just below her breasts. The bare flesh of her stomach showed not a lick of fat, just more lean muscle.

The skins strained over an ample, but not obscene bosom.  Despite the amount of skin she revealed, her chest remained covered. Perhaps in preparation for battle she had them well restrained. Not that he’d have minded seeing any slip of skin.

The male she fought charged, and she spun. She bent at the torso, her leg kicking out to catch the arm that was about to swing a knife at her. The moment she made impact, he ducked to avoid further attack, but she anticipated. She continued her spin and gripped his ankles, flipping him and herself right over top of him. Somehow in the move she managed to take his weapon and step out of the flip.

Even though she’d partially disarmed him, she tossed the weapon she’d gained to the crowd. As he hopped to his feet, she moved away to face him again.  This time she made the charge, feigning right before gripping his left arm and flipping him again.

The cheers grew intense, the exchange of bets growing with each moment of battle.

Out of nowhere the woman he’d been watching grew still.  It didn’t take any effort to figure out she’d spotted him.  There was a crooked lift of her lips, amusement dancing across her features.

Behind her the Warrior moved, and Kane had to fight back the urge to call out a warning.  Not that he had to. In the moment before the blunt edge of the Warrior’s second knife made contact she moved.

Her whole body dropped straight down before spinning around to kick the Warriors legs out from under him. It ended minutes later when the knife she’d tucked in the back of her top drove into the ground right next to the Warrior’s ear.

“Féna!” She snapped, lifting the knife for another attack.  Her knees drove into his biceps, the muscles of her thighs twitching at his fight.  “Yield!”

The Warrior’s hand tapped the ground and a brief nod came even through his frown.  The cheers of the group were mixed, a few of the men had won big on their bets.

In a rare display his Wolf growled its approval.  Never once in all of his many years had the Wolf cared one way or another for a woman.  Now he made his desire known alongside Kane’s. This woman was unique. He wondered if her Shift might be compatible with his.

Now that the group started to mingle and break up he slipped away through the trees.  Not that he didn’t want to get to know any others in the Tribe. Right now he just wanted to get his full strength and bearings back first.

Of course he also wanted to find out about that woman.  Why she alone had stirred his Wolf to attention.

“So I take it you like to watch.”

A shiver ran down his back. Her voice wove through him easily, adding to the images his imagination already employed.  “Depends on what I’m watching.”

“I see. What is it about a battle that gets you going then? Is it the men? I mean, we do have some fine Warriors.” Her light laughter teased him, “Trust me, I know.”

“It wasn’t the Warriors that made me linger.” Much as he wanted to turn around, he knew that seeing her would add to his mental imagery. It could be very detrimental to a logical conversation. If he cared about such a thing. Then again, did he really care about such a thing? Because, damn. She made it seem unimportant.

“Honest. Well, either you’re honest or you just don’t like me thinking you’re ogling men.” The light touch of her fingers to his arm sent a jolt through his entire body. What the hell was it about her?

“No. Just honest. If you were honest you’d admit that you were angling for me to watch you. From the start.” He quirked a brow, “That’s why you haven’t approached me yet. Right?”

“Oooh, conceited too.” A light chuckle reached his ears. Then she stepped around him her presence a rich heat against the sudden cold pit in his stomach.  Chocolate eyes, deeper than he’d imagined sought him out. The sun caught her hair, revealing a red undertone unexpected in a native of the Tribe. Then again, nothing about this woman was expected. “Perhaps I’ve just been very busy. There is a wedding happening very soon, you know.”

“So I’ve heard. The Chief’s son and the Medicine Man’s daughter. Quite a pairing.” Truth be told he’d met neither of the betrothed youths. Then again he’d met very few people on the reservation yet. By choice.  “Are you saying you’re involved?”

A small twitch at the corner of delicious lips belied her amusement, “Yes. I know both of them very well. The wedding is keeping everyone busy.”

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Tuesday Tales – Long

by Sarah | Jul 7, 2013 | Books, The Tribe, Tuesday Tales, Writing

The prompt this week is Long.

This week I’m starting rewrites on a story I originally wrote years ago called The Tribe.  It’s a very dark paranormal romance that really doesn’t have much of a HEA–actually, it doesn’t have a HEA, it barely scrapes out a hint of a HFN.  As it was originally written as the backstory for a series set to start several years after this one…well, the HEA/HFN isn’t something that’s easily found.

Nirvelli is by far my most damaged character yet, which makes her amazing to write…especially once Kane (see him? YUM) comes into her life and challenges her to start being better until…well, you’ll have to wait and see.

As always this is un-edited mostly, so forgive any errors:

Before either of the two women could express doubt a whoop rang through the trees outside.  Not a war cry, but a call of warning followed by another of greeting.

Velli leaned out the window, following the rustle of trees toward the parking lot three houses away. “Someone is here!”

“I believe Silver Fox said we were expecting a Tribe member home. Perhaps that is him. Don’t you worry, your Chief will greet him.” Elu chuckled, “My husband is looking forward to meeting this Tribe member.”

“Is that the Healer?” The butterflies that had been absent sprang to life. Something new, something different.  Now that she could get excited about. “The one that has been in the States in their military? Isn’t he the oldest living Shifter? Like over two hundred years old or something?”

“Yes. I believe that’s him. Kane was his original name, I’m not sure if he’ll be using that.  He and his mate wished to return to a Tribal home.” Snowbird kept her curiosity restrained, but her head did pop out the window to look toward the parking lot.

“His mate. Melik said she was a descendant of the extinct Asian Tribe. That’s something totally unique – alongside the uniqueness of a Healer? I have to see that!”

“Nirvelli.” Snowbird might have been shaking her head, but her smile belied the amusement she contained. “You have a party downstairs. For your wedding.”

“I’ve never been into that girly stuff, Mother. Please?” Velli clasped her hand, “Nothing new or exciting ever happens here. I just want to see what a two hundred year old man and a descendant of the Asian Tribe look like. I won’t be long. Please.”

“Oh let her go,” Elu’s soft laughter filled the moment of hesitation.  “If we were her age we’d be doing the same thing. We’ve just learned patience in our old age.”

The moment Snowbird nodded Velli leapt out the window.  After an instinctive dip into her water magic a pillow of condensed water appeared to carry her to the ground.

The lands of the Tribe held only one modernized entrance, well secluded and hidden that allowed cars to enter. Only those invited or that held magic could find it and enter without any difficulty.

The Tribe had a burning need to keep their true numbers secretive for the world not to know that Shifters were real and sheltered right here. Still they relied on the modern world for minor conveniences, such as food when theirs was low. It was the only reason the entrance existed. Otherwise the Elders would be happy to seal off the lands to outsiders completely.

By the time Velli had reached the last house between her home and the parking lot, she’d already spotted the cluster of Warriors around the arrivals.  Even though she couldn’t be called shy, something made her hold back. Lingering behind the house, she decided to observe the pair rather than seek interaction.

After all they were already surrounded and being peppered with conversation from Chief Silver Fox and her own father, Black Feather.  As the Warriors started to retreat she caught her first real glimpse of the new arrivals.

Before she could truly appreciate any appearances, the Wolf that was her companion Spirit rushed forward. Eager yipping entered her mind so fast she had to close her eyes to force back the attempt to Shift forms.

She didn’t understand her Wolf’s eagerness, even if the man was a sight to see for one supposed to be over two hundred years old.  Once the Wolf eased up, she decided to get a better look.

After mentally telling her Wolf to stay back she opened her eyes.  Hoping to keep her companion Spirit at bay for a while longer she started with Kane’s feet.

Heavy black boots, she had no doubt they were steel toe. Black jeans crept up along his calves to hug tight to well-defined thighs.  The black leather belt was just a speed bump on the way to his abs.

Even through his black shirt she could see the carved lines of his abs. His arms were folded across his chest, bare and just as well muscled as the rest of him.

Perfect.

Not so extreme that you could see veins and he looked disgusting.  No, each muscle was carefully sculpted to perfection. His chest, rock hard. Shoulders so broad.

A rough growl reached her ears, and she realized it had come from her own lips.  She cleared her throat and tried to push back her Wolf again.  Never had her Wolf cared about her obsession with men.

Velli skipped right over his face to his head, studying the thick head of black hair cut short in the style of the military.  No, two hundred years hadn’t even thinned one hair on his head.

His strong jawline was dirty with just a bit of stubble – a rarity among the Tribe – facial hair and body hair were all but non existent.  Her fingers twitched with an unexpected urge to feel the rough stubble.

Then his eyes consumed her. Strong amber-brown intensity meeting hers with unabashed fire. He’d seen her studying him.  Yet it didn’t appear to slow him down. Small movements of his body, the words formed in conversation drawing her attention to the smooth movements of his sensual lips.

The urge to Shift pressed at the back of her eyes until she had to look away. To gather herself.  She need a distraction. His companion, his mate.  The descendant of the Asian Tribe.  That would have to do. To remember that he had a mate. To see what she looked like.

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