by Crystal Dawn
Table of Contents
Book 1
[RL1]
[RL2]
[RL3]
Zodiac[RL1][RL2][RL3] Shifters Series
Book 3
Pegasus in Peril
A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Capricorn
By Crystal Dawn
@ Copyright 2017 Crystal Dawn
Cover by Raven Blackburn
Editing by Eagle Editing
Proofreader Tammy Payne
This book is a work of fiction. All contents, including names, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to persons, living or deceased, or to businesses, locations or events are completely coincidental.
None of this work may be used, reproduced, exchanged or transmitted by anyone, except the person the book was purchased for. Any reproductions of this book in any part or any form must be done with the express written permission of the author or not at all.
The thing about Capricorns…
A mountain goat, the very embodiment of stubborn, is the symbol for this Earth sign. They push their way determinedly to the top letting no obstacle stand in their way. This unrelenting drive for success can sometimes alienate family and friends.
Often considered stable and serious, there are of course exceptions to every sign. The term salt of the Earth might apply to most Capricorns. They are the most serious, hardworking, and responsible among most groups. These are the calm ones, those that work the hardest and don’t let themselves be ruled by emotions, but what happens when love enters the mix? You can be sure they will be cautious, more so than any others.
They make good managers and leaders. As such, they stick to it until the goals are met, or the solution is found. Their stubbornness, toughness, unyielding spirit, and methodical approach are their best points and those that drive their families and friends crazy. Generally, they are fair while also being demanding.
There is a tendency under some circumstances to be pessimistic and even melancholy which can lead to depression or mood swings. When dealing with supernaturals, meeting and rejecting or being rejected by their fated mate can bring out the negative aspects of their personality.
Two Capricorns together? Usually, a spell for disaster unless the love runs deep and they are fated, mates.
Phoenix Under Fire:
Book 1
A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Aries
There is a battle brewing, and the witches are looking for allies. Annie's father plans to force her to mate a male of his choice at the behest of his brother. She wants her fated one and casts a spell to find him. Problem solved, right?
Ramiros wakes up with sand up his nose. What happened to his nice comfortable bed? When he finds the person who dumped him on the beach thousands of miles from home, there will be hell to pay. He almost felt sorry for the fool who'd chosen to mess with a Phoenix.
As this book ends, it leads to Dragon in Distress which is more enjoyable and easier to understand if read after Phoenix Under Fire.
Dragon in Distress
Book 2
A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Virgo
Sophie needed to find her fated mate to avoid being forced to mate someone of her Uncle’s choosing. Her cousin spells for her fated one, but an angry dragon shows up. This wasn’t at all what she expected.
Knossos wakes up, and he’s not in his lair anymore. Someone has dared to summon him out of his slumber. The guilty party turns out to be his fated mate, so he can’t burn her to a crisp. He wasn’t really ready for this, so what’s a dragon to do?
Pegasus in Peril
A Zodiac Shifters Paranormal Romance: Capricorn
Meeting Herkules at a dinner at her sister’s place had been weird. They’d gotten along so well. Too well maybe. But now he didn’t write or call. Had she been wrong? Was he not her mate and he’d realized it first? Or was he like Gertie’s mate, unwilling to settle for just one female?
Herk was taken with the female, but he couldn’t give in. He’d even considered going ahead with it. But these were dangerous times and claiming a mate just wasn’t in the cards. He looked back regretfully before he flew away.
Will love escape them or will they do what they must to claim their own little piece of happiness?
Prologue
In the dark ages, humanity turned from the gods and the magical creatures. When this first came about, they were hunted and destroyed. Dragons, unicorns, Phoenix, Pegasus, and other kinds hid in various places.
Unicorns and Pegasus hid in plain sight blending in with the large herds of horses that roamed the plains of the US. They lived in their horse forms with a little glamour to hide their wings or horns, whichever the case might be. They ate grass except on those rare occasions that they turned to their human forms to party and relieve themselves with human females.
Sometimes they were in animal form so long, they almost forgot they had another form to make use of. They hoped for change, but things only got worse. Now they were called to take part in a war that might destroy them all. Herakles had found his mate, but how could he in clear conscious claim her when the most dangerous times of all were soon to be upon them?
Chapter 1
The Zodiac
Pru sat at the table in a foul mood which was nothing unusual of late. She’d turned to the stars to help her reclaim the male she wanted and needed more than anything. The newspaper smeared her fingers black as she read the news under her sign again.
“What the fuck does this mean? ‘You will get a pleasant surprise in the mail’. I never get the mail. This is a bunch of hogwash!” Pru cursed.
Annie flushed at her sister’s foul mouth. This was a new thing where Pru was concerned. Herakles was gone and couldn’t be found. He and Pru had hit it off, or at least they seemed to when they’d met at a dinner party Annie and Ram had held. Pru had wanted more, expected it even. The male had seemed agreeable, attentive to the extreme at the party. Now he was in the wind, an apt saying for a Pegasus.
“You never bothered with horoscopes before,” Annie observed. Sipping her coffee, she felt helpless to aid her sister. To meet your fated mate and be rejected was worse than a slap in the face. The male had been handsome too. The tall, dark saying had applied completely. Annie would say he was almost as handsome as her mate, Ram.
Herk, as he’d said to call him, was muscular and had dark brown hair. He wore a mustache when she’d met him, but his friend had mentioned he wore a beard sometimes and also shaved bare at times. His eyes were brown in both his forms, human and Pegasus. As a Pegasus, he was white as snow, and his wings were huge. He was the grandson of the original Pegasus who had flown away with Hercules to wherever the old gods had retired to.
Now they ran with the wild horses on the Great Plains. Annie grinned as she remembered the story Sophie had told her about how she had met Herk.
“Let’s go see if the pegasus are where you last saw them,” Sophie demanded of Knossos the dragon she eventually mated.
“Aw, hell. Why not? Give me your hand.” Knossos said, and she did so they flashed to the Great Plains where the wild horses ran.
“Some of these are pegasus’?” Sophie questioned.
“At least a tenth of the herd. The leader is Herakles. He’s the grandson of the original Pegasus.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Not even a little bit. Want to meet him?” Knossos asked, and she later realized there was mischief in his eyes.
Sophie hesitated before she nodded. Suddenly she disappeared and reappeared on the back of a huge white horse. He reared, and her eyes nearly popped out. “What do I do?” She yelled at her future mate.
/> “Grab the flowing mane on the very top of his head!”
“I don’t see it!”
“It’s there. Just reach over where it ought to be.” Knossos instructed. Sophie did, and now she was riding his neck as she held tight to that part of his mane.
Herk ran, and his hooves thundered as he moved like wildfire across the plain. Sophie had described how terrified she was. Had she flown off, she would have been trampled to death by his hooves and those of the others running alongside him. Herk came to an abrupt stop, but Sophie hung on with all she had. Her fingers hurt, she held on so hard.
Herk bucked higher and higher each time, but Sophie was stubborn, and she didn’t want to die. Her fingers gripped the mane so tightly if she fell it would be because it was ripped out by the roots. Herk seemed to come to the same conclusion. He stopped and morphed into his human form. With no mane to hold on to, Sophie slid off him. When he turned to face her, she stared in shock. The male was gorgeous.
As entertaining as Annie had found the story, she was glad it had been Sophie, her cousin, rather than her that had ridden the pegasus. She never told Pru that story for fear she might be jealous. Annie was mated to Ram, a phoenix, and she wouldn’t want to hear about another woman riding him in either form either.
“Males are assholes,” Pru muttered before taking a bite of her stack of pancakes. Anger and frustration had added to her appetite. She ate twice the food she normally ate, but her anger burned off the calories. There had been no weight gain.
Annie’s appetite was better too, but her reason was that she was eating for two. That was also why she was craving pickles and sardines. Not by themselves, she was adding them to things she would normally consider disgusting. Sardines and vanilla ice cream or pickles with jam sandwiches.
Her baby would probably come out screaming for sardines with its milk. Annie had never liked sardines at all before. Pickles were okay, but not with ice cream. That was just weird. Whatever, her biggest concern was Pru. Her attitude grew worse with each passing day, and there was no Herk in sight.
It reinforced the fact that most males were indeed assholes. Luckily she’d gotten a gem. Even Knossos who’d seemed rather bad at first had turned into a great guy. She’d worried about Sophie for a while, but her cousin had tamed the dragon. Unfortunately, a Pegasus who hid was hard to tame. Herk might be the biggest challenge for the females in her family to date. It was a good thing the females in her family took on challenges successfully all the time.
Now that they were done eating, she wasn’t sure what she should do. Normally, she ate breakfast with Ram at the Phoenix HQ. Since Pru had been rejected by Herk, she had made an attempt to see her a few times a week to try to cheer her up. So far, it wasn’t working. Had Ram rejected her, nothing could have cheered her up either. Somehow they had to get that damn pegasus to come back and claim his mate.
Annie didn’t understand how anyone could turn from a fated mate anyway. The drive to be with them, the need to protect them, and the overwhelming desire to claim them had to be painful to ignore.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Sis. It will turn out alright. Sometimes all it takes is time.” Annie said, and she prayed to the goddess she was right.
Pru shot her a look. “Yeah, right. See you tomorrow.”
Annie felt bad as she left her parent’s house. Just when things seemed to be getting better for everyone, this happened. Now she had to leave to do the work she still carried out for her family. The baby bump that Ram found so cute didn’t yet interfere with the work she had to do. Sophie’s magic had improved, and she now took on some of the load Annie had before she’d mated. That was because Ram wanted her to drop to four days a week as soon as they mated. Soon she would drop to three. Two would follow that then finally one just before she was off to have her baby.
The surprise had been when their mother had approved of the plan. Everyone hoped others that hadn’t been trained in magic originally would be good enough to take up the slack since Sophie was expecting too now. It seemed there was a population explosion taking place at the same time as novices were finally getting training to be all they could be. It was both scary and exciting. Finding fated mates was always exciting. Expecting a baby was always a gift. The uncertain future that loomed in front of them, that was the scary part.
Annie’s work kept her busy until noon when she stopped at HQ to meet Ram for lunch. “Hey, Sweetheart. I wasn’t sure if you’d make it. I’ll order you lunch. You can help me snack on mine until it comes.” Ram said as she slid into a seat next to him.
Her baby bump was barely noticeable, but her appetite, that was king sized. She was eating like three people but not gaining much weight. She would enjoy it while she could. Normally she watched her weight because she gained easily.
“So how is Pru doing? Is she planning any nasty surprises for Herk?” Ram asked.
“Could you blame her? She has not said anything, but I’m surprised he’s not been turned into a frog or a snake already. Pru’s always been one to take action first and think later. If I was him, I’d buy some magical protection, the best available.”
“Maybe he has?”
“I hope for his sake he has. Pru can be difficult at times, and she could go into a rage. This time, I wouldn’t even blame her.” Annie admitted.
“That’s the problem, no one would blame her. I don’t really know Herk, but Knossos does and even he was surprised by his behavior. If he’s like this with women all the time, it’s a wonder he’s lived so long.”
Annie agreed. Had he made it clear it was a one night stand, no one would blame him. Instead, he’d acted completely charmed and smitten until they were apart. Out of sight, out of mind? That’s what it looked like. He’d not even bothered to send a dear Pru letter. He’d left and apparently forgotten she existed.
Pru hadn’t forgotten him, though. She’d been understandably upset, and now she was stewing. She’d be taking action, Annie was certain of that. What the action might be, she wasn’t so sure about. Did he have a reason for his behavior? That’s what everyone wanted to know. If he did, why hadn’t he just said so?
“Maybe he’s got troubles in his herd?” Ram suggested.
“It’s been two months. Those would be some serious troubles.” Annie pointed out.
“True. We don’t really know much about him or his herd. He did commit to helping with the battle ahead.”
“And how will you find him to enlist his help?” Annie asked.
“I’ll leave that to Knossos.”
Chapter 2
Jilted
So many promises as they’d played around. She’d thought he’d meant them, but she’d clearly been wrong. It had been a beautiful night when they’d snuck away from the others for a walk. There’d been little walking.
“The night sky is beautiful but not as lovely as you.” Herk had said when they paused, his eyes on her face.
“You probably say that to all the ladies.” Pru had answered.
“I’ve never needed or wanted to flatter the other females. You call to something inside me I can’t hold back.” He’d pulled her up against him, and she’d felt his need. That had called to something inside her.
They seemed to have a bond she couldn’t resist. Herk had said he felt it too. He’d pushed her against the wall and lifted her. Her legs had gone around his waist as her pussy had rubbed against his hard staff. Dear goddess, he felt so good!
Pru shook herself pushing back the memories that felt so good but caused so much pain. Everything in her life had become a conflict, but the pain won out in the end. She’d never felt better than when she’d been with Herk. It was odd since she’d not known him at all before and they’d spent so little time together. Once she’d heard it said that when you knew, you just knew.
That’s how she’d felt yet she’d been so wrong. He’d confessed to a love he’d clearly not felt. All he must have had was a desire that one time clearly assuaged. Her lover had wanted nothing more once
he’d gotten all she’d had to give. Unfortunately for her, that had included her heart.
Pru tried not to dwell on her feelings of love lost. She didn’t want to blame him and feel the overwhelming resentment and anger that came with thoughts of him. The desire to turn him into a toad or slime mold or just anything horrible that would be a suitable punishment at times was almost too much to stop.
The goddess only knew how hard she fought to stay in control and not let her wicked side take over. No, she would not let this break her. She would go through this day as if it was every other day before she’d had her heart broke in two. Dragging her ass out of bed, the shower she took helped her wake up.
Change, that’s what would help her not think about the things that hurt too much. Once she was downstairs, she looked around for a server. Seeing one, she flagged her down. The poor kid almost passed out. “Have cook fix me an omelet like Annie sometimes has.” The server nodded and rushed away.
“You probably stunted Sheri’s growth,” Annie said with a chuckle.
“Is that the new server?”
“Yes, I thought she was going to have a heart attack. At least your request was an easy one.” Annie continued eating.
Maybe ten minutes later the server brought her an omelet and OJ. That was probably what Annie usually had. “Thank you,” Pru said. Sheri rushed away.
“So what’s up for you today?” Annie asked.
“The usual big shot stuff at the office.”
“Paperwork and ass kissing?” Annie asked straight faced.
“You got it,” Pru said holding up her OJ as if to make a toast.
“Why don’t you do some field work today? They are getting behind. It can’t be fun to be stuck in the office all day.”
