{"id":1764,"date":"2017-04-10T01:05:28","date_gmt":"2017-04-10T05:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/?p=1764"},"modified":"2017-04-02T09:45:13","modified_gmt":"2017-04-02T13:45:13","slug":"story-sample-the-captive-shifter-by-veronica-scott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/2017\/04\/10\/story-sample-the-captive-shifter-by-veronica-scott\/","title":{"rendered":"Story Sample: The Captive Shifter by Veronica Scott"},"content":{"rendered":"

Title:<\/strong> The Captive Shifter<\/p>\n

Author:<\/strong> Veronica Scott<\/p>\n

Blurb:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Concealing her own considerable magical powers, Caitlyn enters the service of the northern Witch Queen masquerading as a simple healer. Under order from her goddess, she\u2019s searching for a magical gem stolen long ago from her own people, believed to be hidden in the massive castle. The task is daunting but Caitlyn is sure she can locate the gem and escape, bringing the prize back to the temple where it belongs. Until she meets the captive shifter and her loyalties become dangerously divided.<\/p>\n

In payment for her past services to his people, Kyler the leopard shifter has entered into a life of servitude far from his forest home, allowing the Witch Queen to tap his magic to power her ever darker spells. Factions at Court are threatening to turn the Queen to the Shadow. Her increasing demands for magic will cut short his nearly immortal lifespan. Kyler\u2019s resigned to his fate until the day he crosses paths with the new arrival, whose secrets and magic entice and attract both man and leopard. Has he met his mate at last?<\/p>\n

The Queen will never willingly release him from captivity. Caitlyn\u2019s goddess refuses to grant her any delay in accomplishing her own task. Can they locate the magical gem, fight the Shadow and win free of the Witch Queen to earn the right to be together?<\/p>\n

Excerpt:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After three weeks of slow travel from her home in the South it was especially galling to be so close to missing the deadline. To literally stand on the threshold of her destination and be refused entry was unbelievably frustrating. All right, honeyed words first, then there\u2019s nothing for it but to unleash a taste of magic on him.<\/i> Pasting a smile on her lips, she stepped forward, allowing her cape to fall open, deliberately swaying her hips a bit. \u201cPlease, captain, I\u2019m sure the Witch Queen would appreciate your extra efforts to let me arrive on time. The Searchers told me every woman with power is greatly needed this year,\u201d Caitlyn said, in an effort to cajole him. \u201cHow about permitting me past the gate by myself tonight? Admit the entire caravan tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n

Grinning like a cat toying with a mouse, the officer shook his head emphatically, shaking a finger at her. \u201cAgainst the rules. We do the entire group or none. Now come back in the morning!\u201d<\/p>\n

The caravan master took her elbow, probably to escort her to the waiting wagons. Caitlyn jerked her arm free, ready to summon energy to bespell the officer into giving her entry. Folly to risk using power so soon in this place but he left her no choice. She pushed aside the next worry, about finding her way through the unknown city to the castle.<\/p>\n

A new voice entered the conversation. \u201cIs there a problem here?\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the blustering captain, the other soldiers had snapped to respectful attention and were saluting two newcomers. The first gentleman walked forward into the torchlight at the gate proper. He was older than she, dressed in black and burgundy garments projecting a subtle message of wealth and power. Attractive, if one was looking for a bedmate, which she wasn\u2019t. As the second man came into the light Caitlyn took a step back, blinking.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d never seen his like before. A shapeshifter? Why would such a rare creature of magic be here?\u00a0 The power surrounding him was palpable to one with her gifts, yet didn\u2019t flare in her second sight as it should. As if the magic was restrained but how could such a thing be possible? Dressed in a uniform similar to the officious gatekeeper\u2019s, this man was clearly a warrior \u2013 muscular, handsome, high cheekbones, piercing green eyes, long, unbound sandy blond hair. But why would a shapeshifter be in this dank, gray city? His people ran in the massive forests of the North, where their kind ruled and humans walked at their peril. A city, much less a Court with all its ritual and routine, would be the last place to find such a wild and free spirit.<\/p>\n

He returned her gaze with open appreciation. Caitlyn lowered her eyes first.<\/p>\n

Purchase Link(s):<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon: \u00a0https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B06XV1MRSR<\/a><\/p>\n

Barnes & Noble: http:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/the-captive-shifter-veronica-scott\/1126041803<\/a><\/p>\n

Kobo: https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/the-captive-shifter<\/a><\/p>\n

iBooks: https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/book\/the-captive-shifter\/id1219341280<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Author Bio:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Best Selling Science Fiction, Fantasy & Paranormal Romance author, as well as the \u201cSciFi Encounters\u201d columnist for the USA Today Happy Ever After blog, Veronica Scott grew up in a house with a library as its heart. Dad loved science fiction, Mom loved ancient history and Veronica thought there needed to be more romance in everything. When she ran out of books to read, she started writing her own stories. Seven time winner of the SFR Galaxy Award, as well as a National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, Veronica is also the proud recipient of a NASA Exceptional Service Medal relating to her former day job, not her romances! She recently was honored to read the part of Star Trek Crew Member in the audiobook production of Harlan Ellison\u2019s \u201cThe City On the Edge of Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Author Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blog: https:\/\/veronicascott.wordpress.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter:\u00a0 https:\/\/twitter.com\/vscotttheauthor<\/a><\/p>\n

Facebook:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Veronica-Scott\/177217415659637?ref=hl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Title: The Captive Shifter Author: Veronica Scott Blurb: Concealing her own considerable magical powers, Caitlyn enters the service of the northern Witch Queen masquerading as a simple healer. Under order from her goddess, she\u2019s searching for a magical gem stolen long ago from her own people, believed to be hidden in the massive castle. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,249],"tags":[281,17,19],"class_list":["post-1764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-excerpts","category-story-sample","tag-featured","tag-paranormal","tag-romance"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/VSTheCaptiveShifter.jpg?fit=216%2C324&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kq3e-ss","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1766,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1764\/revisions\/1766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kate-hill.com\/compellingbeastsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}