Dragon's Moon
Authors: Lucy Monroe
“Lucy Monroe captures the very heart of the genre.”
âDebbie Macomber, # 1
New York Times
bestselling author
Moon Burning
“A sizzling storyâ¦Fast-paced and intriguing.”
â
Joyfully Reviewed
“I really adore this series and
Moon Burning
doesn't disappointâ¦Ms. Monroe is an incredible author.”
â
TwoLips Reviews
Moon Craving
“[A] sexy, stay-up-all-night read.”
â
RT Book Reviews
“A book that will grab you right from the beginning.”
â
Romance Reviews Today
“Ms. Monroe captivates the readers with her spine-tingling explosive action and highly intense, sensual love story.”
â
Fallen Angel Reviews
Moon Awakening
“Simply awesomeâ¦Stunningly sexy and emotionally rivetingâ¦Easily one of the best paranormals I've ever read!”
â
Joyfully Reviewed
“A sensual, humorous story with intriguing and entrancing charactersâ¦Outstandingâ¦I'm looking forward to future stories.”
â
Fresh Fiction
P
RAISE FOR
L
UCY
M
ONROE AND HER NOVELS
“[A] wicked and wonderful temptationâ¦Give yourself a treat and read this book. Lucy Monroe will capture your heart.”
âSusan Wiggs,
New York Times
bestselling author
“Lucy Monroe's romances sizzle!”
âJoAnn Ross,
New York Times
bestselling author
“If you enjoy Linda Howard, Diana Palmer and Elizabeth Lowell, then I think you'd really love Lucy's work.”
âLori Foster,
New York Times
bestselling author
“Monroe brings a fresh voice to historical romance.”
âStef Ann Holm,
USA Today
bestselling author
“Lucy Monroe is an awesome talent.”
â
The Best Reviews
“A fresh new voice in romance.”
âDebbie Macomber
“Romance as only Lucy Monroe does itâ¦Joy, passion and heartfelt emotions.”
â
The Road to Romance
“A perfect 10!”
â
Romance Reviews Today
“An intense, compelling read from page one to the very end. With her powerful voice and vision, Lucy packs emotion into every sceneâ¦[A] sizzling story with tangible sexual tension.”
âJane Porter, bestselling author
“Lucy has written a wonderful full-blooded hero and a beautiful, warm heroine.”
âMaggie Cox,
USA Today
bestselling author
“A charming taleâ¦The delightful characters jump off the page!”
âTheresa Scott, bestselling author
Berkley Sensation titles by Lucy Monroe
TOUCH ME
TEMPT ME
TAKE ME
Children of the Moon Novels
MOON AWAKENING
MOON CRAVING
MOON BURNING
DRAGON'S MOON
A CHILDREN OF THE MOON NOVEL
Lucy Monroe
BERKLEY SENSATION, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) ⢠Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England ⢠Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) ⢠Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) ⢠Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhiâ110 017, India ⢠Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) ⢠Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
DRAGON'S MOON
A Berkley Sensation Book / published by arrangement with the author
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley Sensation mass-market edition / September 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Lucy Monroe.
Excerpt from
Warrior's Moon
by Lucy Monroe copyright © 2012 by Lucy Monroe.
Excerpt from
Ecstasy Under the Moon
by Lucy Monroe © 2012 by Lucy Monroe.
Cover art by Gregg Gulbronson.
Cover design by George Long.
Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author's rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
ISBN: 978-1-101-58146-9
BERKLEY SENSATION
®
Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
BERKLEY SENSATION
®
is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10Â Â Â 9Â Â Â 8Â Â Â 7Â Â Â 6Â Â Â 5Â Â Â 4Â Â Â 3Â Â Â 2Â Â Â 1
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
For my mom, my greatest fan and supporter while she lived, missed more than I'll ever be able to put into words now that she's goneâand still one of my greatest inspirations to write. I love you, Momâ¦but you knew that and know it still.
THE BEGINNING
M
illennia ago God created a race of people so fierce even their women were feared in battle. These people were warlike in every way, refusing to submit to the rule of any but their ownâ¦no matter how large the forces sent to subdue them. Their enemies said they fought like animals. Their vanquished foe said nothing, for they were dead.
They were considered a primitive and barbaric people because they marred their skin with tattoos of blue ink. The designs were simple at first, a single beast depicted in unadorned outline over their hearts. The leaders were marked with bands around their arms with symbols that told of their strength and prowess in battle. Mates were marked to show their bond.
And still, their enemies were never able to discover the meanings of any of the blue-tinted tattoos.
Some surmised they were symbols of their warlike nature and in that they would be partially right. For the beasts represented a part of themselves these fierce and independent people kept secret at the pain of death. It was a secret they
had kept for the centuries of their existence while most migrated across the European landscape to settle in the inhospitable north of Scotland.
Their Roman enemies called them Picts, a name accepted by the other peoples of their land and lands southâ¦they called themselves the Chrechte.
Their animallike affinity for fighting and conquest came from a part of their nature their fully human counterparts did not enjoy. For these fierce people were shape-changers.
The bluish tattoos on their skin were markings given as a right of passage when they made their first shift. Some men had control of that change. For others, the full moon controlled their change until they participated in the sacred act of sex. The females of all the races both experienced their first shift into animal form and gained control thereafter with the coming of their first menses.
Some shifted into wolves, others big cats of prey and yet others into the larger birdsâthe eagle, hawk and raven.
The one thing all Chrechte shared in common was that they did not reproduce as quickly or prolifically as their fully human brothers and sisters. Although they were a fearsome race and their cunning was enhanced by an understanding of nature most humans could not possess, they were not foolhardy and were not ruled by their animal natures.
One warrior could kill a hundred of his foe, but should she or he die before having offspring, the death would lead to an inevitable shrinking of the race. Some Pictish clans and those recognized by other names in other parts of the world had already died out rather than submit to the inferior but multitudinous humans around them.
The Faol of Scotland's Highlands were too smart to face the end of their race rather than blend. These wolf shifters saw the way of the future. In the ninth century
AD
, Keneth MacAlpin ascended to the Scottish throne. Of Faol Chrechte descent through his mother, nevertheless, his human nature had dominated.
He was not capable of “the change,” but that did not stop him from laying claim to the Pictish throne (as it was called then) as well. In order to guarantee his kingship, he betrayed
his Chrechte brethren at a dinner, killing all of the remaining royals of their peopleâand forever entrenched a distrust of humans by their Chrechte counterparts.
Despite this distrust but bitterly aware of the cost of MacAlpin's betrayal, the Faol of the Chrechte realized that they could die out fighting an ever-increasing and encroaching race of humanity, or they could join the Celtic clans.