by Sam Hall
I wavered, then stepped back, feeling suddenly empty. My head felt too big and too full to be supported by my neck. But I didn’t have to.
Strong arms went around me, holding me up as I collapsed, taking the burden from me.
I watched as the circle broke and men surged in from everywhere, moving as one to take the scraps of Rick, then carrying them forth. The gates that were always locked were flung open, and a long, long pathway lead towards a point of light in the distance. There were people all over the place as I was carried along, pouring through the gate, spreading through the trees that filled the cordoned off area. Huge Tirians that apparently lived in this fenced off area poked their heads out from between the foliage.
“They’re the ones who cannot shift back,” Noah said when I stared. “Sometimes trauma…it keeps them in Tirian form, and they live here. We care for them.”
They were skittish, flinching away if people got too close, but eventually, they joined the procession as well.
They walked and I was carried until finally, the brightness resolved itself. Looking like a doorway of standing stones within its irregular arch was a pool of blue light, and beside it stood two people.
“Lou and Allen,” someone near us murmured. “What are they…?”
They didn’t answer, just stood there waiting, their faces and colouring so close as to appear like identical twins. Impassively, they accepted the remains of Rick’s body, nodding to us, then each other, before they tossed it through the glimmering gate.
The crowd cheered and clapped, the freaky fucking mood of the night fading away until it was just night time and I was bone tired. But I got Peter to put me down so I could stand on my own two feet.
People stood around, gossiping and discussing what had happened for a bit, and we were forced to share what we could about what we had seen and done, though all of us were closed lipped about Lonan and Sen.
“How are you all?” Ophelia had asked when she’d approached. “That was tough, Flick, but worthy. Beasts like Lonan feed on sadism and pain. He used your ex-husband to do that, then hoped to use Sen.”
“You saw that?” I asked. She nodded. “So the matriarchs did as well.”
“There will be some blowback from this, but I will deal with it. Go home, be with your son and each other, then come and see me in a couple of days.”
I groaned at that.
“You didn’t think you’d get off that easily, did you? Family therapy this time, I think.”
“What school of psychology do you—”
Noah’s question was cut off by a great crack at the gate, the blue light within it bursting outwards, forcing everyone back. But as it died away, there he lay. It appeared the gate had reciprocated our gesture, thrusting a man back through the gate. Quite a different man, he had long black hair and didn’t seem to be wearing a whole lot, sprawled out onto the dirt as he was.
“Father!” a childish voice called out, and Kiralee weaseled her way through the crowd, her mother hot on her heels.
“Sylvan…?”
Arelia’s face contorted as I watched. Pain, need, and disbelief all wrestled with the main player—fear. Finally settling on hope, she crouched down, placing a hand on the fallen man’s hair. He groaned in response, a soul deep sound of pain.
“I must go,” Ophelia said. “But congratulations are in order. You’re free, Kade is free. You have your whole life ahead of you now.”
I looked around at my pack, my eyes tugged to each and every one of them, and smiled.
“Let's go home.”
What comes next?
So, what will happen with Sanctuary? Will Flick bite Noah and Sen? What about Sylvan? Is he really dead? I don’t have a whole lot of answers for you right now, but here’s what’s planned:
● Noah and Sen’s HEAs. These will be short stories/novellas that you’ll get for free when signing up for my newsletter
● At least one more book to resolve the White Wolf/Branwen storyline. This will be Arelia, Sylvan and Kiralee’s story. There’s obviously a lot still to resolve there, so that will come.
Possible spin offs/ancillary books in the Pack Heat series:
● Shaun’s HEA is planned BUT for those of you who want him to die in a fire, it will be a separate book that you can read or give a miss if not keen.
● I am interested in doing at least a short story about Grace, Max, Rhydian, and Grey, looking at how they work through the trauma of what has happened. This could potentially be quite a sad and intense story, but I’ve definitely got ideas for this.
● A series of light and fluffy ‘human woman comes to Sanctuary and finds her pack’ romances. These would be shorter and much lower on the drama. Think Gilmore Girls rather than Lord of the Rings!
● Possibly some other spin offs for other minor characters. If there’s people you’ve liked and want to see get a HEA, let me know!
Other upcoming releases
Upcoming NEW Shifter series
Sexy new faerie rockstar series. Books 1 and 2 out now!
Stalk me!
Stalk me!
Facebook author group: Sam’s Hall of Heroines
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2356697491274667/
Come and see teasers and me explain what the hell was going on in my head when I was writing that.
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/samhallauthor/
Teasers, WIPs and pictures of my animals here!
Acknowledgments
This book was made possible by a few things:
My partner, Matt. In some ways he’s the model for Noah, though he’s as vanilla as they come! But he was the one who taught me about a whole other way of viewing male love interests and functional relationships
My therapists! It took a long while, but I found a few good ones who really helped me declutter the chaos my upbringing created
Teaching. If you ever want to get a sense of the breadth of human experience and paths taken, go into teaching!
To my author group: you guys are amazing. I have this massive crew of support people to toss ideas around and give me feedback, so thank you!
To Belle. She read the first version of this book and helped me see its merit.
Editing was done by the lovely Meghan Leigh Daigle. She’s amazing and if you’re looking for an editor, she’s your girl. She brought her A game at the last minute, so thank you!
https://www.facebook.com/Bookish-Dreams-Editing-105567517555119/
Cover was created by the amazing team at Mibl Art
https://miblart.com/
Special thanks to Richelle, Jennifer and Jess. Jess had to have some really tough conversations with me which helped the book find its feet. Jennifer was an amazing pace reader and cheerleader. Richelle was Sen’s big supporter, so he’s here because of her!
To the amazing betas, Mollie, Rebekah, Teresa and Carol. Another brutal deadline and you got in there and made it happen, so thank you!
About the Author
I grew up in that bit of Australia you saw in Crocodile Dundee. Yup, I have seen saltwater crocs in the wild, have held a koala (the 70s, when stressing wildlife for the kiddies was still cool) and have swatted an insane number of hand sized spiders (they think I am their queen and are always wherever I am!). I have a gorgeous child with ASD, a super supportive, truly awesome partner and so, so many animals. Seriously, there are double the pets to people.
Being a little baby writer, trying to make her way in the big, crowded, world of self-publishing, reviews are our lifeblood. Seriously, we’re sitting in isolated rooms wondering what the hell we are doing with our lives, so chuck a review on Amazon or Goodreads and I will loooove you!
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