Tag: Weres

Flash: Turn Around Don’t Drown

Erin Penn Leave a comment

ID 216511405 © Kirsty Nadine | Dreamstime.com

I grip and release the steering wheel again, the plastic-leather-wrap creaking just loud enough for me to hear it over the old F150 engine. Keeping my eyes firmly on the road barely visible through the sheets of rain blowing sideways, I allow a corner of my awareness to confirm my boyfriend still had his gun pointed at me from the passenger seat. Anger burns in my belly.

“Just a little further,” he said. “The boys can take care of you.”

He loves me. I told my mom. If we are to have a future, I must let him know.

She is gonna get a decade of I-told-you-sos out of this.

If I get out of this.

“You don’t have to do this.” I say to the windshield, puzzling out a rise ahead. One headlight is out, I meant to get it fixed for the past month, always something if you know what I mean, but the one that did work was coming through the storm like a camp. Something is gleaming to the side of the road on a pole. RR inside a circle. A railroad crossing.

“Yeah I do. Things like you are poison.” Jason shook his head. “I can’t believe I let you touch me. Kiss me.”

Feeling is mutual, pig. Feeling is now very, very mutual.

I slow as my truck climbs the embankment. Living in Texas as long as I have, my trust of the roads during heavy rains rivals my present trust of relationships. For good reason. The other side of the long division between cotton fields caused by the embankment reveals a churning vista of water.

“Keep going.” He waves the pistol like an idiot.

Pressing firmly on the brake, I crack a smile and say. “Nope.”

“Fuck, you. No. Get moving.”

A chuckle escapes. “Turn around, don’t drown.” I indicate the water ahead, previously blocked from our side of reality by the three-foot high embankment acting like a dam. “Not happening.”

“You drive a god-damn truck, keep moving.”

“It ain’t a tall truck. The spark plugs could get wet. Pretty sure the water is above my running boards.”

“Deal with it.”

I shrug. “Your funeral.”

“No, it will be yours. Keep moving.”

“I like this truck.”

“It’s a piece of shit.”

“But it is my piece of shit and paid off.”

He pokes me with the gun. “Drive.”

I could grab the gun. Probably. The new moon had me at the lowest of my powers. Even so, I still move faster than most humans.

It likely didn’t have silver bullets. Except, maybe.

I release the brake and go down into the flood waters.

The truck lifts and moves sideways as soon as we get off the embankment. There is no river nearby, but we are effectively in a river.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He raises the gun for a head shot while bracing himself for the recoil against the passenger side door.

“Me, nothing. Just doing what you told me.”

The truck is floating, I have no control. I take my hands off the steering and release my seatbelt.

I can smell the sudden change of his emotions and slam myself forward into the steering wheel. The driver’s side window shatters, and the back of my head burns. The ringing in my ears makes me want to howl. I twist into him, the hot muzzle blistering my hand as I grab for it. I feel the blood free-flowing down the back of my head. Or it could be the pouring rain. Nope, the rain is making the injury burn. I wish I could call my claws, but a palm slam into his nose will have to do.

The crunch is satisfying.

The truck tilts to his side with the change of occupant positions and continues to tilt, sliding us both along the bench and increasing the instability of the vehicle. At least his window is whole and the seal is holding for now. The engine sputters to a stop as water gets into the compartment.

The gun goes off again. Idiot. He takes out the back window since I had twisted the muzzle away from me, and water, real water, not just rain, starts flooding in. I yank the gun hand into the waterfall; hopefully the powder will stop working. Not sure modern guns have that weakness, but here’s hoping. The blisters heal under the flow of water; the back of the head does not.

Silver bullets. Bastard.

The steering wheel and gear shift had interfered with my grappling, but the slide takes me beyond them and I am now on top of him. With my free hand, I grab his throat and hold him under the stream of water. He fights like a drowning man.

I don’t have size or strength on him. Not when Luna is napping. But gravity and position are on my side.

Plus I have fought before. Fought for my life before.

Jason’s last fight likely was on a school playground.

Instinct has him change his grip on the gun, and I yank it away and toss it out the back window.

Pulling up my legs, I climb on top of him. His seatbelt holds him in place, water up to his neck.

“Help me!” he begs.

I don’t bother answering as I stand to get out the driver’s side window. I wasn’t up to fighting the flood waters coming in the back window, not with a head injury. I may have deliberately stepped on his face, pushing him underwater, as I climbed up and out of Old Sally.

Standing on the driver’s side of my truck, I look out into the storm as the vehicle rotates around in the flood. I can’t make out where the railroad embankment is, any trees, houses, anything.

Wait.

God bless America’s thirst for oil.

A crude oil pump is in the direction my truck is traveling. When the truck is as close as it is going to get, I jump as close as I can to the scaffolding. The flood grabs me like a riptide, but I manage to grasp the metal structure.

Only three days a month when I can’t shift and Jason had to choose today. The River Wolf in me, descended from generations of wetland canines, bolsters my strength as best she can. I pull out of the waters enough to wrap limbs around the metal bars. The back of the head still burns, but I am safe.

Well, safer.

Stable?

The water will subside at some point.

After catching my breath, I wiggle out my cell phone from my back pocket to see if survived.

Maybe a bag of rice could save it. I shove it back into the pocket.

It was going to be a long night.

(words 1,133; written 9/28/2024; first published 11/17/2024)

Flash: Oghan’s Return

Erin Penn Leave a comment

Image by Lance Reis on Unsplash

The woman approached Mave confidently, a raptor on her glove. Around the high-flyer gathered many of the younger members of the aerie, tired one and all from a day on the ground in the fields; the group rested, taking advantage of the large boulders removed from the farming soil and laid alongside the workable plots. Several peach trees among the rocks provided covering from Brita for those who wanted shade after a long day of summer work, while the rest soaked up her warm rays laying upon the boulders.

Though outnumbered, the pale female, unmarked on chest by hint of feathers which decorated the raptor shifters’ arms and bodies, carried no scent of fear.

She carried barely any scent at all, only of the sea after a storm. Salt, water, ozone, and death recently raised from the depths. “Oghan said you were the one to talk to.”

“Oghan?” Mave sat forward from where she had been leaning against her nestmate, Bryce, to study the raptor. “You came back.” The stone wizard had disappeared at the Aviary Gathering, a loss to their clan. His return was most welcome but would no doubt come with costs. Magic never flew a straight path.

Bryce spread his hand against Mave’s back, like a wing of support.

“What do you need to discuss, traveler?”

“I would like to join the aerie.”

(words 226; first published 12/17/2023 – inspired by a Facebook visual prompt for a writer’s group; aim is about 50 words, but I decided to link it to the Raptor by the Sea series.)

Raptors by the Sea Series

  1. Raptors by the Sea (9/10/2023)
  2. Outside the Aerie (11/19/2023)
  3. Oghan’s Return (12/17/2023)

Flash: Raptors by the Sea 2 – Outside the Aerie

Erin Penn

Photo by John Bell on Unsplash

After her late return at sunset, Mave had to sneak out of her parents nest before Brita did more than pink the edges of the world. She flew hard and fast to be over the horizon before the morning hunts and harvests began.

Her adventures were coming to an end, her parents made that clear last night after the aerie meeting when yet again her suitors laid valuables at her parent’s feet and Mave remained empty-handed. Killean and Fion preened and pecked, nearly coming to blows. Dahee and Oghan let the hunters courting her act like groundlings, hoping the idiots would take it one step too far and eliminate themselves. Excellent artisans both, they couldn’t compete physically for the hand of the heir presumptuous, putting them a little lower in the bidding war status.

As the Clan leaders, once behind closed doors, Donal and Kiera let her know a choice would be made at the next clan meet in three sunsets or they would make it for her. The strife must end.

All four suitors brought something to the nest, but all lacked the mud to hold it together somehow. Her parents preferred Fion, but the very loyalty to the Clan that made him attractive, also meant he didn’t question. As her husband, she would need him to question her decisions. Plus his attitude toward the unchanging made him problematic.

Killean flew the highest and furthest of the male hunters, but his drive and hers clashed like Nephele and Aquine during hurricane season.

Dahee made amazing nests, and baskets, and his gardens grew the tallest, but flying to the meeting cave challenged him; he often joined the unchanging climbing ladders. As the highest flyer, would he grow jealous of her over time? Every mixed couple, raptor and unchanging testified this end. Nuala, a recent widow and a somewhat better flyer, would be perfect for him once she finished mourning, although they hadn’t landed on the same tree to realize that yet.

That left Oghan, a deep cave. His stone magic would make her nest strong, but he had no down. All rock, no soft. He was a welcomed advisor, nearly five rotations her senior; she could only see him at her side at the clan meetings, not in her nest. But if she was forced to choose one of the four, he would be the one she would dance for if only so her aerie didn’t lose his wizardry at the Aviary Gathering next spring. He wanted a mate, and he would build his nest where he found a female willing to fly with him.

The landscape shifted below from prairie scrub, to a short strip of green with trees and fields dotted with groundling houses, then quickly to rocks and sea. Mave banked west toward yesterday’s cove hoping her searching had landed her a fifth option.

Bryce sat at the bottom of the wind-scraped tree them met at yesterday, with a small pile of fish beside him. He may fail at flirting, but the man knew how to start a courting. Mave approved with a loud cry, gliding through the coves unpredictable winds, she transformed as she landed.

(words 529; first published 11/19/2023)

Raptors by the Sea Series

  1. Raptors by the Sea (9/10/2023)
  2. Outside the Aerie (11/19/2023)
  3. Oghan’s Return (12/17/2023)

Flash: Raptors by the Sea

Erin Penn

Photo from Unsplash

The endless blue where the sea met sky brings Mave around for another soar on the updraft from the overheated air baking above the beach sands. She could stay up here forever, at least the part of her which flies begs her to. Enough human remains to acknowledge the fatigue, and monitor the time in form to nudge her into finally landing on a dead tree hanging over the cliffs protecting the isolated cove.

Transforming into her birth form, the female shifter leans against the denuded trunk. Far below the waves race up the shoreline, the cove’s sandy beach disappearing under the incoming tide. Soon she would need to return to the Tower Aerie; at least this time, her explorations brought her to a place she would be flying east. Last adventure had her flying into the sun during the final hours of the day.

A second raptor, a black version of her white and tan bird, flies over the western cliffs. With a scream, it dives into the ocean and comes up with a fish, then turned her way. Concentrating on the food in its claws, it doesn’t notice her partially hidden by the trunk until the creature’s wingspan is spread for landing on the branch.

It caws, and banks too late, making an undignified startled landing, before the being transforms into a man, the fish falling back into the ocean beneath them.

“A little help here,” he says, holding onto the branch one handed until he swings the other to hug the branch from beneath. Mave laughs and walks the branch to where he is holding on, feeling no give in the dead wood nor hearing any cracks. As a bird shifter, his arms would be stronger than his legs. He didn’t need any assistance, and she tells him as much.

Flashing a smile, he says, “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” before he twists up, his muscles rippling across his arms and bare torso. Once on the wide branch, he stands easily, looking down at her, his height a hand’s width taller than hers. “Bryce, High Cliffs Clan.”

“Mave, Stone Tower.”

Bryce’s black eyes darken to raptor pupils, his smile widening. The limited size of the branch has Mave taking a step back to lean against the trunk.

“A bit far aflight for one of the plains folk.” He closes the distance, resting an arm against the trunk.

She could see the feather pattern lining his arm, looking like a tattoo against the human skin.

“I needed to think.”

He moves close enough, Mave could feel the heat radiating off Bryce. His hands smells fishy, but his hair and skin smell like wind and sea.

“About what, my pretty bird?”

Mave rolls her eyes. “Oh goddess, please.”

“Too much?” Bryce backs up.

“Your clan short on females?” Mave shakes her head. “Have you had any practice at all with flirting?”

“Actually no for both.” Bryce sits down on the wood, picking at one of the few pieces of bark the prevailing sea winds hadn’t stripped from the tree. “All the women ahead of me are happily paired off, and all those younger than me are too much younger than me, if you know what I mean. So, we got women, just none I could practice with. All I got is pretty much what Mom and Dad say to each other. And I just tried one of Dad’s favorite lines.”

“Oh, no.” Mave, covers her mouth to hide her laughter. “Your parents are complete corn-balls. You are so screwed if you must court at the Aviary Gathering next Spring.”

“Yep,” Bryce turns his smile up to her, “but maybe it will work on someone and I get something like what they have. They completely are in love and just dive into their little nothings like a fish is just three inches under water. How about you? Any male back home ruffling your feathers?”

The giggling smile erases from Mave’s face. “That is why I’m thinking.”

“That can’t be good.” Bryce face firms, his voice deepening. “Would it help to talk it out with someone with no feathers in the aerie? That is, if it is something you feel comfortable about talking outside the clan.”

“I’m in a bidding war.”

“Ugh, like cock fighting level?” At her nod, Bryce asks, “How many involved?”

She stares back out at the sea. “Four.”

“Your clan have no women at all?”

“Oh, we got a good mix, but ….” Mave pushes against the trunk to stand without leaning. “I’m the fastest, male or female, daughter of the present lead flyers, granddaughter of Stone Tower.”

“In other words, whoever wins and builds your nest, is the next leader.”

“They wish.”

Bryce chuckles. “Only the highest nest for you, and you don’t think any of them can fly that high.”

“I know they can’t. None of them have followed me out here.” She waves her arm at the expanse before them, the ocean turning slightly pink as the sun dips low to see its reflection in the waters.

“Did you want them to follow you?” He cocked his head to the side.

Mave shakes her body once, settling her mental feathers. “I don’t really know. … I really wish I knew.”

“Would you like me to follow you?”

The growl is more human than bird, and makes Mave shiver her feathers flat again. Pulling together her dignity, she dares a challenge. “You think you could?”

“Not today,” Bryce nods to the west, “I would need to let my clan know. But … tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here.” Mave steps off the branch and transforms mid-fall, skimming along the waves filling in the cove below. A shadow flies overhead. She slaps her wings against the water and pulls up to see the dark raptor circle above before heading west. Mave screeches, circling once, before heading east.

(words 980, first published 9/10/2023)

Raptors by the Sea Series

  1. Raptors by the Sea (9/10/2023)
  2. Outside the Aerie (11/19/2023)
  3. Oghan’s Return (12/17/2023)

Book Review: Technical Threat

Erin Penn

Amazon Cover

Technical Threat by Julie Trettel

BOOK BLURB ON AMAZON

His job’s at stake, but she may prove to be an even bigger technical threat to his heart.

Tarron has met his match with a ruthless cyberhacker who has a personal vendetta against the Raglan. When she breeches Westin Force’s security Tarron must move in to stop her. That proves easier said than done when his Nonna steps up to help and meddle in his love life.

Meeting his true mate was not supposed to be part of the mission. But then again, having Nonna tag along wasn’t exactly how he envisioned his first solo assignment either.

Susan Duncan had finally broken away from the miserable life she led. She had been happy away at college, but then her younger sister Sonnet disappeared. Susan dropped everything and gave up her life to support her mother and two remaining sisters. But she never stopped looking for Sonnet.

Four years passed as Susan worked tirelessly each day under the strict demands of her mother then stayed up each night searching every lead possible to find Sonnet.

Her reality wasn’t a pretty one. Her days of believing in fairytales and true mates were long past when suddenly her mysterious true mate appears and promises to rescue not just her, but her sisters as well.

Can this Cinderella break down her own stone walls to accept the help of her potential Prince Charming? Or will is she be doomed to live in the dungeons of her mother’s warped reality forever?

 

MY REVIEW

A Standard Military-Shifter Paranormal Romance that is far from Standard

Tarron has been aggressively adopted by Nonna, giving him the found-family he always needed and her a reason to keep connected with the greater world. Doesn’t matter if she is an ancient wolf shifter and he is a foxy technical wizard, together they are the family they always needed.

I SIMPLY HAD TO READ THIS ONE. Their relationship intrigued me.

Then we add a romance for Tarron on top of that as he investigates a hacker into the Westin Force system. Taking Nonna as backup because all his military buddies are busy gives them alone time until he finds his hacker, as well as a waitress who is his true mate.

This is a wonderful story about community support and found-family. About leaving abusive relationships and saving others. One of the best “standard military-shifter” paranormal romances I’ve ever read because of the relationships.

(Read through Kindle Unlimited)