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Authors: Lia Davis
Divided Loyalties
An Ashwood Falls Novel
By Lia Davis
Divided Loyalties
An Ashwood Falls Novel
By: Lia Davis
Published by Fated Desires Publishing, LLC.
Copyright 2013 Lia Davis
ISBN: 978-1-62322-066-2
Cover Art by Scott Carpenter
Formatted by
IRONHORSE Formatting
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All characters in this book are fiction and figments of the author’s imagination.
Divided Loyalties
Trained to hunt rogues and protect the human race from the threat of shifters, Christa Baker is beginning to rethink her career choice. Especially when her niece and nephew—who she’s raised on her own—end up in the crossfire. Now she’s looking for a way out and disappear off Shield’s radar for good. She never thought her out would be a gorgeous wolf who kidnaps her after raiding Shield HQ.
Hayden Raines has always followed the rules. As the Ashwood Fall wolf Marshal, he has to set the example for those working under him. When he sets his sights on the beautiful human hunter things go downhill, fast. Fate has a funny way of turning things inside out—because the woman he kidnaps, the enemy he might need to protect his family from, just happens to be his mate.
Warning: Contains one woman on a path she’s not ready for, a man who thought things would be different, and a heated exchange that turns out to be the best thing ever.
Dedication
To the man who is my lover and best friend. Thanks for allowing me to dream.
Acknowledgements
I love the Ashwood Falls world, the characters, and the adventures. The series has taken off beyond what I could imagine. I have my readers to thank for that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for loving the series as much as I do.
I also want to thank my street team for always being awesome and for showing your support in everything you do for me. Love you guys.
Table of Contents
Alpha –
Leader of the Pack
Marshal (First born no matter the sex) –
Leader of the enforcers and sentries. The Marshal will also step in to aid the Alpha in his duties when needed. If there isn’t an heir then a Marshal is appointed by the Alpha
Beta –
Second born to the Alpha and/or second in command to the heir/Marshal. Generally takes care of Pack issues.
Enforcers –
Enforces Pack laws and secures the safety of the den.
Sentries
– Generally guards the outer boarders of the Pack property. They can be called in to aid an enforcer in fighting and enforcing the law.
Trackers
– Skilled in tracking down rogues and eliminating them
Den mothers/maternal females
– Strong and protective, yet not dominate by nature, they watch over the youth in the Pack. Generally work in the nursery and schools and other programs where the children and teens are concerned.
Justice
– Pack lawyer with the special psychic ability to read memories through touch in order to place fair judgment on the accused and see the intent of outsiders that come to the den.
Empath
– Can connect to the Pack though their emotions and offers comfort when needed and advices the Alphas and Marshals of potential issues between Pack members.
Scribe
– Keeps the Pack history through the rare ability to pick up visions through touch. The ability works on objects and people. Many are loners and only like the company of other Scribes.
Rebels
– There are two groups: shifters and humans. Shifter rebels had banned together to stop the Onyx and other rogues by force. Human rebels had banned together after discovering the shifter communities and seek to destroy all of them, good or bad.
Council of Elders
– Past Alphas and Marshals that form a united ruling body over all Packs to ensure the laws of secrecy from humans are kept and enforced.
Keegan Andrews
- Formal leopard Alpha, now an Elders of Ashwood Falls. Father of Baline, Alec, Shayna, and Ana. Mated to Addyson Lewis. Story told in Surrendering to the Alpha
Addyson Lewis
- snow leopard and Pack Scribe. She has no surviving family. Mated to Keegan Andrews. Story told in Surrendering to the Alpha
Blaine Andrews
– Formal leopard Marshal, now the leopard Alpha. Keegan’s eldest son. Brother to Alec, Shayna, and Ana. Mated to Graham Griffin and Cameron Nickels. Story told in A Mating Dance.
Cameron Nickels
- black jaguar, a Sr. enforcer. Sister to Jared Nickels. Mated to Blaine Andrews and Graham Griffin. Story told in A Mating Dance
Graham Griffin
- Puma, architect by trade. Son of Sarah Matthews. Nevan Matthews’s stepbrother. Story told in A Mating Dance
Alec Andrews
– Leopard Beta until another one can be appointed and the new leopard Marshal. Brother to Blaine, Shayna, and Ana.
Shayna Andrews –
White tiger
.
Keegan’s adopted daughter. The Pack princess and a den mother. Sister to Blaine, Alec, and Ana. Story told in A Tiger’s Claim.
Travis Hunter
– wolf. Formal Alpha to Hunter Ridge until Onyx invaded the den and destroyed his Pack. Now the Ashwood Falls Pack Tracker. Father to Jocelynn, aka Josie, and son to Robyn Hunter. Story told in A Tiger’s Claim.
Jared Nickels
- black jaguar, Pack Justice, brother to Cameron.
Zorana (Ana) Darwin-Andrews
– leopard. Daughter to Keegan.
Kieran Michaels
– Leopard Elder of Ashwood Falls. Formal spy inside the Onyx den. No surviving family.
Luna Raines
- Wolf Alpha. Mother to Hayden, Dane and Tanner. Mate is deceased
Hayden Raines
, Wolf Marshal. Brother to Dane and Tanner. Mated to Christa Baker. Story told in Divided Loyalties.
Christa Baker –
Human mate to Hayden. Formal rebel hunter. Caretaker to her twin niece and nephew, Brenna and Bryce. Story told in Divided Loyalties.
Dane Raines –
Wolf Beta and an enforcer. Brother to Hayden and Tanner. Son to Luna.
Tanner Raines
, a wolf sentry. Brother to Hayden and Dane. Son to Luna.
Danica Welsh-Matthews
– Leopard Pack Healer. No surviving family. Mated to Nevan Matthews. Story told in Winter Eve
Nevan Matthews
– Human Pack Empath. Stepson of Sarah Matthews and stepbrother to Graham Griffin. Mated to Danica. Story told in Winter Eve
Something didn’t ring right with Christa Baker as she sat in the conference room listening to the new leader of Shield rattling on about rogue shifters. He said they were growing in numbers, yet he hadn’t provided any physical proof. Sure a few humans had gone missing, most of whom were homeless, and according the police, their disappearances weren’t that unusual.
She failed to see his point because shifters were born, not created. So why would they need to kidnap humans?
Her new boss had gone on and on for the last several weeks about an increase in shifter sightings. Again, no proof. Christa had checked.
She could pull up anything from the Internet. Social networks like Facebook and YouTube were the best places to look for the weird and unusual.
There hadn’t been a human attack by a shifter since she’d killed the beast in her home eight years ago. It had been her first encounter with what she now knew was called a mutant, a half-animal, half-human creature with no regard for life—its own or others’.
However, Vance Miller believed a civil war was raging among the breeds that had spilled over into the human world. There was something he’d left out, something bigger than he wanted her and the others in Shield to believe. So what if the shifters were at war with one another and killing themselves? Was it the mutants? If so, then they deserved what they got. They’d created the damned creatures; they could all go to hell as far as she cared.
It wasn’t Shield’s place to get involved in the shifters’ civil war. Shield was a human-run group of rebels that went above the law to protect mankind from the were-kind or shifters, as they liked to be called. She didn’t care what they called themselves as long as they left the humans alone. So far, in the eight years she’d been with Shield, the shifters had. However, there was the occasional mishap—like the mating-gone-wrong situation her sister had suffered.
Mary didn’t have the chance to run when her mate turned on her in a fit of jealous rage. Or at least that’s what Christa believed happened. Her niece and nephew, fraternal twins Brenna and Bryce, had been only eight at the time and thankfully not at home to witness how their mother died.
However, Christa had been the one to ID the body.
From that day forward, Christa had fought for Shield to protect humans from the shifter races.
Up until a few months ago, Shield hadn’t attacked innocents or started wars between the shifters, but then Vance had stepped in as the new leader of Shield. He’d changed the way the others thought, more like manipulated them into believing his load of bullshit. She wasn’t sure how he’d done it, but the others just bowed down to him and believed every lie out of his mouth.
How could they be so blind to his cause?
Then again, the other soldiers couldn’t detect a shifter like she could. Sure, they all had training to know what to look for. Eye color was the biggie. Most shifters had an unusual coloring, and when they were challenged or provoked, their eyes seemed to glow. Plus the pupils were reflective like the animal that lived within.
Christa had lived with two shifters for the last seven years. She’d been there when Brenna and Bryce shifted for the first time. She’d also helped them control their wolves, thanks to the information her sister had shared with her when she was alive.
“My sources tell me that the rise in shifter attacks points to a hybrid Pack of wolves and leopards called Ashwood Falls,” Vance said then tapped on the table to get her attention.
She met his gaze and held it until he looked away, but not before she caught the flashing shift of color in his irises. Satisfied she wasn’t being paranoid about what he was, she asked, “How trustworthy is this source? Why haven’t we heard about attacks from our police contacts? It should be all over the Internet.”
Vance set his jaw and turned away from them to study the map on the wall. “The shifters are very good at hiding these things from humans. You, of all people, should know that, Christa.”