Broken (52 page)

Thanks need expressed to Obsidian Dawn,
www.obsidiandawn.com, for brushes used in the creation of Broken's
cover.

Finally, a big thanks to the bloggers who've kindly
reviewed Broken and Torn, done interviews and otherwise gone over
and above by sharing their platform.

About the Author:

Dean started reading seriously in the second grade
due to a competition, and has spent most of the subsequent three
decades lost in other people's worlds. After reading several local
libraries more or less dry of sci-fi and fantasy, he started
spending more time wandering around worlds of his own creation to
avoid the boredom of the 'real' world.

Things worsened, or improved depending on your point
of view, when he first started experimenting with writing while
finishing up his accounting degree. These days Dean has a wonderful
wife and daughter to keep him rather more grounded, but the idea of
bringing others along with him as he meets interesting new people
in universes nobody else has ever seen tends to drag him back to
his computer on a fairly regular basis.

Keep up to speed on Dean's latest
projects at
 
http://www.deansonlinefiction.com/
 
or
follow him on Twitter @Writer_Dean

Torn Excerpt

The silvery light of a nearly-full moon
should have been comforting. For most people it would've been
peaceful even, but it pulled at my anger with surprising strength
as I bounded across the arid Southern-Utah terrain.

Darkly-furred, four-legged shapes ghosted
through the darkness on either side of me as we slid between the
softly-glowing pillars of trees. Jasmin, arguably the closest thing
I had to a best friend, dove through a latticework of light and
then it was my turn to feel the undergrowth grasping at my fur in
an effort to slow my progress.

The warm evening breeze carried a host of
aromas too subtle for mere human noses to identify. In our
four-footed forms each molecule was unconsciously sorted and
cataloged, leaving us free to concentrate on the elusive scent of
our prey.

The other pack, a portion at least, was less
than a mile away, far enough into our territory for it to be a
killable offense if they were caught. They'd become increasingly
arrogant over the last few months, but coming in close enough to
threaten our families was a whole new level of provocation. Even
their leader, Brandon, wasn't usually so bold.

A stray eddy of wind played across my muzzle,
and I knew they'd made their first mistake. I pressed into my
second in command for a moment, conveying an order through posture
and motion, and then nipped at Jasmin's heels, the two of us
stretching out in a full sprint.

Free from the others, Jasmin and I streaked
through the night with a speed the rest of our pack couldn't have
matched. Jasmin pressed at my flank, curious at my decision until
she caught the scent, and then an answering growl made its way past
her fangs.

The trap was clever, but the other wolves
didn't know the terrain well enough. I let my beast bubble up from
the corner of my being where I usually kept it chained. Between one
moment and the next, I went from running on four legs to two. As my
transformation ended, a six-foot tower of muscle and claws sprang
from the shadows. I ducked Vincent's first blow and retaliated with
a gash that opened one side of his chest nearly down to the
bone.

A dark-furred form leaped at Jasmin, but the
other wolf mistimed the spring. Most of the other pack didn't
appreciate just how nimble she was. Jasmin dodged to one side and
then the two of them were circling, looking for an opening.

Vincent, the other hybrid, attacked with the
strength and fury that'd earned him the position of second in his
pack, but he hadn't been expecting to face me in this form. As a
wolf I weighed in at a solid two hundred pounds, but would've still
given up more than a hundred pounds to him.

Now I had at least six inches and
seventy-five pounds on my side of the equation, and he was the one
pressed onto the defensive as the fight progressed.

I caught flashes of action from the other
fight as we circled each other. Jasmin sprang at her opponent,
catching her behind the shoulders as Vincent reeled away from me in
a shower of blood. I'd finally managed a deeper strike on his
arm.

The high-pitched scream of pain as Jasmin
began trying to crush her opponent's spine was answered by
rapidly-approaching howls. Vincent attacked with renewed strength
at the promise of reinforcements.

I was bleeding in a dozen places now, but the
rage insulated me from pain and weakness. Both sides of my nature
were united in hating Vincent. If I ever did manage to kill him, my
questionable humanity wouldn't grieve. The world would be better
for his absence.

I could hear the other pack now, panting with
exertion, our friends hot on their heels. Vincent overreached in
his effort to claim the kill, and I sunk my teeth into the muscled
flesh of his shoulder as I finally made it around behind him.

My claws sank into his arms and legs as I
repositioned to snap his neck, and then a hammer blow of weight
struck me across the shoulders. Knocked loose from Vincent, I spun
around in time to tear Simon from the air as he leaped at me again.
It was the perfect opportunity to end a life nearly as evil as
Vincent's, but one of the recent arrivals had bowled Jasmin
over.

Leveraging a frame that was more than capable
of picking up a small car, I threw Simon into the whirling ball of
flesh and fangs. He didn't hit hard enough to snap his neck, but he
knocked the other wolf off of Jasmin, and then Vincent was back on
his feet.

The rest of the rival pack, save for Brandon
their leader, came streaming past, but they didn't help their
fellows swarm Jasmin and I over. None of them even slowed. Vincent
took an angry swipe at the last, a small female, and then our pack
burst from the trees. A second later, our enemies were in full
rout.

Splintered
Excerpt

Alec had been promising to take me somewhere
new for nearly a week, but pack business kept getting in the way.
I'd been expecting some posh restaurant in Vegas or maybe LA. The
world kind of becomes your oyster when you've got your own jet.

The last thing I'd expected was a picnic up
at the top of the mountain that cradled the Graves' estate between
large, rocky spurs. It was perfect.

For Alec money was nothing more than a useful
tool, but he understood I still wasn't comfortable having that tool
used to purchase me things I didn't really need.

I'd set out determined to hike the whole way
up to the top, but I was still a little weak. Apparently everyone
had been right about just how much blood I'd lost the night our
pack had destroyed the local rival pack. They'd been trying to
absorb Alec's pack for the last several years and he hadn't really
had any other options, but I knew he still felt uneasy about what
had happened.

With his superhuman hearing and sense of
smell, Alec knew I was struggling before I even did. He waited
though until I finally admitted how tired I was, and then he
scooped me up and effortlessly jogged to the top of the peak.

"Are all of you shape shifters such showoffs?
At least the change in altitude should bother you a little."

Alec smiled as he came to a stop at the very
top and set me down. I waited for a couple of seconds for him to
respond and then shrugged and looked out over the arid, Southern
Utah landscape.

The view literally took my breath away. I
hadn't realized we were quite so close to Zion National Park with
all of its incredible greenery. The stark contrast between the
desert and the lush vegetation was striking.

"Not a show off, just really eager to get you
up here so I could watch your face when you first saw all of
this."

Alec had unzipped his backpack and started
emptying it while he spoke. Working with his usual speed it was
only seconds before he had a blanket laid out. He handed me a
bottle of water and then helped me down.

"You weren't kidding when you said this place
was special."

Alec smiled and then wrapped me in a light
blanket. The heat had finally relented slightly. Not enough to
actually make it comfortable, but this high up it was actually a
little chilly. If I hadn't spent the last several weeks living in
the air-conditioned haven of Alec's house, the cooler temperatures
at the top of the mountain would almost have made the trip
worthwhile all by themselves.

"I've been wanting to bring you up here for a
while. I used to come up here a lot when I was younger. It was kind
of an escape after everyone started gaining their wolf form. We
were all so closely matched sometimes it seemed like we were always
scuffling to establish who was dominant."

He'd sunk down beside me while he was
talking, resting with his hands behind his head so he could look up
at the few thinly-stretched clouds. I took the opportunity to move
closer, cuddling up next to him. I didn't bother looking up at the
sky. Truth be told, I had all the beauty I needed right in front of
me.

His slight start as my head came to rest on
his arm was disappointing but entirely predictable. He adjusted my
blanket slightly so it was between us and then pulled me closer. He
was perfectly happy to touch me as long as there wasn't any actual
skin on skin contact. Every time I pushed for more he backed away
or found somewhere else he had to be.

"That must have been rough. There are a lot
of strong personalities down there."

Alec's chuckle wasn't really amused. "You
could say that. At first it seemed like things changed up on a
daily basis. Then Jasmin manifested her royal wolf form and things
settled down a little."

We were venturing into unknown territory for
me. Alec was usually so careful to keep me sheltered from his
world.

"Was Jasmin dominant then? I mean if she was
a royal wolf and you hadn't manifested your hybrid form yet did she
win all of the fights?"

Alec rested his cheek on the top of my head.
"Not exactly. If she'd been a little more heartless she probably
could have killed me and cowed the rest of the pack. Even then
though, it was becoming pretty clear that we couldn't have two
separate packs in such close proximity. The need to keep the pack
strong meant that even though she pretty much ran the show most of
the time there was the occasional thing that I'd just refuse to
back down on."

His muscles tightened unconsciously, like
maybe he was remembering past pains. "She'd rip me up one side and
down the other but on the most important stuff I'd simply out
stubborn her. When the dust settled usually I at least got a
compromise we could both live with."

I hugged him tighter for a second. "That
sounds a lot like what you guys do right now, just the other way
around."

"Yeah. That's about the size of it. She's
still hiding something from me, but I'm not willing to bleed her to
try and get an answer, not when odds are she'll just refuse to tell
me anyways."

That was edging towards a secret that wasn't
mine to tell. "Let's talk about something happier."

He looked at me out of the
corner of his eye. He'd probably heard my pulse spike. Sometimes
the fact that he was a shape shifter instead of just a normal boy
was pretty inconvenient. Of course if he wasn't a shape shifter,
then he wouldn't really be 
Alec
.

"Your mom is likely to be back in town pretty
soon. Her latest contract has about run its course and it's looking
like I'd have to throw a whole bunch of money at her if I wanted to
keep her in Europe."

"I'm not so sure that's really an improvement
in topics."

"You don't want to see your mom?"

"It's not that, it's just that I know we're
not going to be able to spend as much time together. It's not like
she's going to let me sleep over."

Alec shrugged. "I can arrange for her to stay
away for another month or two, but with the kind of disposable
income she'd get out of the deal it's very possible she'll fly you
out there."

"That settles it. Bring her back home. Even
the prospect of less time with you is better than being sent out of
the country and not seeing you at all."

Alec's smile nearly made me cry. "You know it
might be for the best. You need some time to get your bearings
again. Going cold turkey is generally the best way to kill an
addiction."

We'd been through this more than once since
he'd killed Brandon. He'd been so sure he was going to die that
he'd relaxed his normally rigid rules. Since then he'd done
everything possible to keep me at arm's length. Everything short of
sending me away.

Growing up with the example of his mother was
a powerful object lesson regarding what happened to humans that got
involved with shape shifters; but given enough time, I'd exploit
that tiny piece of him that wanted exactly what I wanted.

"Unless you're sending me away there's no
point in having this conversation. I'm exactly where I want to be.
It's not like I'm throwing myself at you this very second. Have you
come up with an explanation for that yet?"

Alec stared back up at the clouds rather than
meet my eyes. "Not yet. D...my best guess is maybe that you've
realized your best bet at getting what you want long term is to
pretend like you're not impacted."

"Please. Do you really believe I have that
kind of willpower?"

"After the things I've seen you go through
I'd never doubt your willpower, Adri."

It was rare that I suffered from a panic
attack in Alec's presence but the reference to what I'd lost,
combined with my dreaded nickname nearly did the trick.