Chocolate Damsel. A.C. Masons

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       CHOCOLATE DAMSEL

      A.C. MASON

      LYRICAL PRESS

       http://lyricalpress.com/

      KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

       http://www.kensingtonbooks.com/

       To my supporting and gracious critique partner, whom I am blessed to have, Anastasia Massiah.

       Acknowledgements

      

      My fabulous and talented editor, Mary Murray makes my strange worlds glimmer and shine. Without you, my commas would run amok. Your hard work and belief in my stories radiates through the final product.

       Foreword

      I stumbled across the Shunu, one of three sons of a God known by some of the Turkic peoples, while doing research. Shunu is a lupine–relating to a wolf or wolves–deity and my shifters are his descendants. From that grew the mythology of the Shunu race ancestry. In Chocolate Damsel and Chocolate Temptation, we journey back to the 1940s, as Nazi Germany invades the European Nations. Given my own family survived the occupation of Belgium and my growing up hearing stories of those frightening times, I wanted to expand the reach of their voices.

       Chapter 1

      VanWolf stared up at the waxing gibbous moon. Energy buzzed in the hot night air. The near full orb’s phase denoted the period when the ritual of the Alpha’s alternate could be performed. The only choice he had was picking someone to lead the pack after his death.

      “Why won’t you put me in play?” Cathen, the strongest of the betas and rightful heir of the pack, scuffed dirt beneath his boot. Only recently had he agreed to take the role of Epsilon-Beta, bearer of the eclipse and holder of Shunu limitations.

      “I need you here protecting the pack females and young. I can’t be worried about their safety too.” No other option made sense. The pack’s future must be kept safe. Better they get used to Cathen being in charge since soon he’d be Alpha.

      “All this talk of your death is upsetting everyone.” He rubbed his forehead.

      VanWolf’s sister had made the point exhaustingly clear. But the events to come could not be changed. “I’ve seen your wife.”

      “You’re changing the subject.” The chateau loomed behind his broad shoulders.

      “I am.” Lectures from his sister were enough. “Shoot me.” It would get the dying part over with. What was with everyone, wanting to hand-wring over every decision? He wouldn’t leave things in the air just to give them a false sense of safety. That was part of his role as Alpha.

      “Go on, was this one of your foretelling dreams?” Cathen grinned. Long ago, he’d stated he’d be a lone wolf, but lately, he chased less and less tail. Finally he sought his louve–female counterpart.

      “Yes, last night.” Though much of foretelling dreams were fuzzy, VanWolf was always left with strong feelings, impressions and sensations.

      “Human?” A glint shone in his amber eyes.

      “I can’t be sure.” Uniqueness surrounded the woman’s aura. “She’s different, but not like us. Copper.”

      “That’s vague even for you.”

      Fire lit the night sky in a blaze. Nazi troops approached. Soon Paris would be taken. What nonsense and terror to inflict on others. War was upon them.

      “It’s not going to be easy. There is another male who will find room in her heart, but once she accepts her fate you’ll both find joy.”

      “Sounds like more trouble than I need.” Cathen exhaled. “You know how I feel about males fighting over a female.”

      “I wish I had more answers for you. You’re going to have to let her go to truly win her heart.”

      Cathen’s jaw tensed. “How will I know when I meet her?”

      VanWolf smiled. When he’d met his beloved, something inside him had changed. “You’ll know.”

      “Are we going to talk women or get on with this?” Cathen cocked his eyebrow.

      VanWolf shook his head. With the invasion looming over Paris, aggression over a woman seemed sadly misplaced. However, once a Shunu decided on a mate nothing could change their heart or mind. He removed his shirt, as did Cathen, and withdrew the knife from his boot, then sliced open his palm. Blood pooled in his hand. He pressed the blade above his heart and cut. A red stream dripped down.

      The ritual would relieve some of the pressure on VanWolf’s shoulders. It seemed only fitting after Cathen had turned on his own brother, the previous Alpha, that he take on the role of the Epsilon-Beta.

      “Are you ready?” VanWolf took a deep breath.

      Cathen held out his hand.

      The tip of the blade met with Cathen’s flesh, piercing the tissue. Dark liquid gathered behind the movement of the point.

      “I carve your vessel to receive part of me.” He retracted the knife, then wedged the tip into Cathen’s pec above his heart.

      “I take onto me the thread that binds our pack through the link I share with you.” Cathen pressed his hand over the opening above VanWolf’s heart.

      Light burst forth from the cells of their beings when VanWolf forced his bloody palm onto the gash in Cathen’s chest.

      “Upon my death all that is my charge shall be yours to protect.” VanWolf floated into the air as divine energy shot through him into Cathen, lifting him.

      “Upon your death, I accept all that is yours as mine to defend.” White and blue mist traveled through the ghost-like matter of Cathen’s form.

      It was done. Energy drained from VanWolf as he landed, crouched in the grass. The role of Alpha was either taken by ending the life of the current one in a challenge to the death, or by the ritual and passed on. Death was the key to becoming Alpha. Not that he feared the afterlife. He looked forward to joining his beloved. His head pounded.

      “I feel as though you just knocked me in the head with the butt of a rifle.” Cathen buttoned his shirt.

      “Welcome to the amazing world of responsibility. Where no matter what you do someone is angry with you. The pack’s emotional state is giving you that horrid pain.” All of them were on edge because they sensed what was coming.

      Cathen stepped to the river’s edge and stared at Paris. “It won’t be the same.”

      “It never is.” VanWolf headed back up to the chateau. He sensed his sister, Griselda, waiting impatiently.

      The air held the toxic odor of oil and gunpowder. He entered with dread.

      “You did it. Didn’t you?” Griselda slipped in front of him, the long white braids framing her face looking even paler against the cobalt blue dress she wore.

      “Why you insist on asking questions you know the answer to eludes me.” He continued down the hall to his room. The scent of mating filled the hall with alluring propositions. Henna opened the mated pack members’ door and slipped in front of him. Inside Kirsa lay naked, sandwiched between Berend and Deiderich. Both pumped into her. Kirsa’s head rested on Deiderich’s shoulder as she cried out in ecstasy. Their bliss reminded him of how long he’d gone without. Communal living and loving wasn’t for everyone, but once paired, most Shunu shared amongst each other.

      Henna’s satin nightgown gaped open, revealing the hard tips