The Deadly Reckonings is the first book in an all-new epic adventure
fantasy series called The Tribes of Feralis.
An
animalistic world. A forbidden passion. A brutal contest.
The
old Alpha's time is coming to an end, and the Deadly Reckonings are swiftly
approaching. The victor of these brutal trials will become the new Alpha and
rule over the four allied tribes of Feralis.
Devlin,
a young man with the animal aspect of a golden lion, dreams of shaping a better
world and taking control from the power-hungry clutches of the cruel and
dominating Reptilia.
Riva,
a princess of the exiled Skylarian tribe, is doomed to be bound to her father’s
preferred suitor.
Their
worlds collide and Devlin’s animal immediately recognises her for what she is
- his true mate.
But
their tribes are enemies. They should never have met. Their love is forbidden.
Follow
Devlin as he faces the Deadly Reckonings, testing his nature and limits against
other competitors, merciless monsters, perilous terrain, and his own desperate
hopes.
Can
he be victorious and claim the status of Alpha? Can he dare to reach for a
woman who does not belong to him?
Or
will a mortal foe, a misfit sister, and even fate itself stand in his way?
Available
NOW on PREORDER
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B7RKYYKL/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7RKYYKL/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61850754-the-deadly-reckonings
Netgalley:
https://www.netgalley.com/catalog/book/264798
Author
bio:
We are twin sisters and we come from Bolton, a friendly
town in Lancashire, UK. We would love to tell you about all the unusual jobs we
have had and the wacky adventures we had on our way to becoming authors, since
that is what other authors seem to do in these bios. Unfortunately, we are
somewhat lacking in that respect. However, our birth was very eventful as
neither our mother nor the midwives attending realised that she was having
twins until just after Rebecca was born! Our aim is to make our writing as
surprising and marvellous as that!
We have always loved escaping into the limitless worlds of
the written word and remember first writing stories to each to other as very
young children in old exercise books. We self-published our first books,
thrilling suspense duology, Dark Betrayal and Dark Secrets. We are thrilled to
be with Odyssey Books for our latest labour of love, epic, romantic fantasy
trilogy, The Tribes of Feralis.
If you come to read about the
animalistic world we have created, you may gather that we are "cat
people". We grew up with a lovely little tabby who was an intrinsic part
of our childhood. Now Rebecca has a socially awkward but loving female cat
called Maisie and Victoria has two beautiful, big, ever-hungry male cats called
Bert and Ernie!
Social
links:
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mailing list here:
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Website:
https://beccabentley.wixsite.com/heaptwins
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Extract:
Devlin considered her. She sounded
sane enough, even though he had to strain to catch her meaning and had the disturbing
feeling she was laughing at him. Her comment drew his gaze to her garment. Still wet, it clung to the delicate
curves of her body, which he couldn’t
help but admire. This time, when his eyes came back to rest on hers,
he caught a blush rise up into
her cheeks, contrasting starkly with her milk-pale skin.
The effect was ingénue and
radiant and Devlin was taken off guard for
a second time. The features he’d prematurely considered bizarre and disturbing, he was led to concede,
were, in their
own way, astonishingly beautiful.
She shivered, whether from cold or his
intense regard He couldn’t be sure. She dropped her hand. He suddenly realised
how thoughtless he’d been. Here she was dripping wet and clearly chilled, and
all he’d done was gawp at her like a mindless idiot! The problem was, he didn’t
even have a cloak to offer her, as all his clothes were as wet as hers.
“You’re cold,” he
said. “Do you have anything dry to wear?”
Her eyes widened
in surprise with these, the first of his words to her. She perhaps found his accent
as odd as hers was to him. She shook
her head.
He laughed. “Funny that,” he said, looking
down at himself. “Neither have I!”
She began to laugh along with him. This made him feel good. When they stopped, he couldn’t stop himself from staring at her again. She nervously
turned her head away, looking
toward the forest, as if considering flight after all. He frowned. What sort of woman was she and where had she come from?
“You’re not from around here, are you?”
he asked. She shook her head again.
Devlin still thought
she might be some kind of madwoman, but she was clearly in need of a meal as well as a change of clothes, seeing how skinny she was. Perhaps she had taken his fishing
rod with a view to fishing for herself. But why was no one protecting her or looking
after her? One thing was certain: he couldn’t leave her out here alone.
She was far too young and defenceless.
“Why don’t I take you to my home, so we can both change
out of these wet things and have something warm
to eat? Gone are my chances of catching a fish for
breakfast, but we have some oatmeal and my sister should have
something that will fit you.”
She shook her head in
alarm and backed away from him.
Her reaction to his offer confused him, but
then what had he expected? She wasn’t exactly
normal by any stretch.
“It’s very kind of you,” she said slowly,
recognising the need
to do so, given
their disparate ways of speaking, “but I’m fine. I’ll just be on my way.”
“And where might that be? Where do you live?”
When she didn’t respond, he pressed:
“Have you run away from home?” This
seemed to him the only logical explanation for her silence and solitary state.
She bit her lip and lowered her head, which
he interpreted as an affirmation.
“You can’t stay out here on your own, you know. It’s dangerous.”
Her head came up at that and she challenged,
“I’ve made it on my own this far.”
He raised
an eyebrow. “And how far is that?”
“Farther than you’ll ever know.” She began
to walk away from him.
He followed, continuing to harangue her,
exasperated by her reluctance to
accept help and shelter. All his protective instincts were suddenly kicking in. Even his cat seemed oddly agitated and anxious to assist her.
“How are you going to eat? I’ve got the fishing tackle,
remember. How do you think
you’re going to survive?”
She turned to him. “Are you offering to give
me your fishing device back?”
He growled in frustration at her then, and
his face briefly assumed its cat-like form.
Stunned, she stumbled back, her eyes large
with fright. “I don’t need your help!” she shouted.
“Leave me alone!”
She turned and ran, clearly
keen to put as much distance between them as possible.
Surely, she must have witnessed a man in his
animal form before? Or had she? He had no idea of her background or where she was from. He must have given her a
good scare. He thought about letting
her go. But he was too concerned by her stubborn refusal to acknowledge the perils of her situation. She reminded
him of someone; she reminded him of his
sister. Kyra didn’t listen
to him either and could be as hard-headed as a rock about accepting she was female and needed
nurturing. The thought of his little sister, who thought she was so
self-sufficient but still needed him in so many ways, persuaded him to
persevere. He just needed to adopt a different strategy.
Easily catching up to her, ignoring the
little gasps of distress she emitted
when she realised
he was back, he ran alongside her and said, “I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean to scare
you like that.”
She did not respond but just carried on
running, turning her head to cast accusing
glances at him, eyes still wide with alarm.
“Please,” he persisted. “Please don’t run
away. You have nothing to fear from me, I promise.”
He kept with her, smiling at her whenever
she glanced his way until she must have realised
that she would achieve nothing
but exhaustion by continuing. She finally stopped
running, frustration seeming
to have superseded fear, and glared at him.
“Why do you keep following me?” she demanded.
He smiled at her again.
“Look, as I’ve already tried to tell you,
you’re not safe on your own around
here. Who knows what monsters you might bump into?”
She must have caught his teasing as he saw
her lips twitch a little at his words. “No, who knows?” she repeated. “Mad, persistent cat men for one!”
Devlin laughed. The girl smiled tentatively
back at him. He was surprised by the
surge of joy from his cat. It seemed even his
cat wanted to please her. He much preferred this smiling girl to the frightened one.
“Come back with me, even if only for the
fishing rod, if you still want the stupid thing. You need it more than I do and
I can easily make another one.”
This was not exactly true, as he had spent
some time sourcing the right type of wood and cord, taking pride in his efforts
and resourcefulness, as he gradually improved upon its strength and
pliability.
He offered his hand, replicating her own gesture from earlier. She looked
down at it warily. Then she looked
up into his face. He could see her eyes roving over
his features, as if checking for signs of the cat he had unwisely exposed
earlier. He felt the blood
rush to his face at her scrutiny. By the Creator, surely he wasn’t blushing
now?
She must have seen something
she approved of as she slipped
her hand into his. His cat purred in appreciation. The warmth from her grip seemed to spread like some kind of contagious burn all over his body. They walked back to the lakeside, Devlin feeling
strangely lightheaded.
When they got there, Devlin reluctantly released
her hand and went to retrieve his rod
and line. He came back toward her, holding
it out to her. It was then that he realised she was crying. Why was she crying? Perhaps her emotions
were as cockeyed as his own. Whatever the cause, his heart flipped
on him and, before he could
stop himself, he’d dropped the rod and pulled
her into his arms.
She stiffened in surprise but then slowly
settled against him, like a small,
nervous animal.
Devlin stroked her long, damp tresses in a gesture of comfort and, as she nestled her head against his chest, he felt her release a pent-up breath, half sob,
half sigh. Devlin experienced an unexpected rush of hot satisfaction as her body warmed
against him and their hearts slowed in time to each other’s beat.
When she pushed away from him, he loosened
his grip but, in doing so, felt the oddest sensation from within. His animal,
already curiously roused and usually so placid in peaceful moments, protested
strongly. When she lifted her head away from his chest, the proximity of her
fascinating face and compelling scent overwhelmed him. He wasn’t sure if it was
he or the cat who governed his next move. His mouth was covering hers before
she could make a sound in objection.
As he deepened
the kiss and she submitted, Devlin felt himself losing control. The taste of her
was like nothing he had ever known,
leaving his human essence weak with gluttony and his cat crazed.
He tore himself
away from her, feeling slightly
unhinged. His cat had
attempted to dominate him, in a way that he hadn’t experienced since his turning. He shook with the shock of it. How close had he come to allowing
his primitive nature to possess him? He realised that he didn’t
even know this girl’s name.
He stepped away from her as if she was on
fire and, maybe for him, she was. Her
hair was certainly the colour of flames, he thought,
as he watched some stray dry strands dance and then settle back around her alluring face. Perhaps he should have taken heed of the warning. Red in nature
always meant stay away.
“Who are you?” he whispered.
She answered shakily. “My name is Riva. What
did you just do to me?”
Devlin almost laughed. What had he done to
her? What had she done to him? “It’s called a kiss,” he said. “It was just a kiss,”
he repeated, as if to convince himself,
as well as her, of that fact.
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