Redemption
Authors: Cara Carnes
Tags: #paranormal shifters, #Dystopian, #romance, #wolves, #dragons
Redemption
Book 1 of The Rending
Cara Carnes
Copyright © 2015 by Cara Carnes
All rights reserved.
Warning: No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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Book Cover Design by Scott Carpenter
Editing by Heather Long and Raelene Gorlinsky
The Rending Glossary and Characters
Proclamation To The Paraspecies
Adrik
—Quadrant Alpha Wolf for quadrant A.
Alliance
—Impure resistance forces formed to protect Hell’s Highway borders from the NAH and succubae.
Alpha Commander
—Head Alpha appointed to represent shifter species at Command Central.
den
—term for either a dragon’s familial bloodline or those with whom they’ve chosen to align themselves.
golden dragons
—considered the strongest of the Paraspecies because they possess all powers of the other species—healing, telepathy, shielding, mage and succubae abilities.
gryphons
— possessing powerful shielding abilities, they are the appointed protectors of the ancient bloodlined golden dragons.
Hell’s Highway
—a corridor between the NAH and the Others where the Impures have been forced to reside.
Hell’s Playground
—lawless land south of Hell’s Highway where the dregs of all factions reside in a kill-or-die existence.
Impures
—humans deemed by the NAH to be genetically impure and therefore unsuitable to reside with humanity.
King Bredon
—ancient bloodlined golden dragon who ascended the throne after King Sashi and his family were slaughtered.
King Sashi
—ancient bloodlined golden dragon who unified all the Paraspecies before The Rending occurred.
King Trent
—half golden, half red dragon who ascended the throne after King Bredon was killed in a battle at Rum River.
King Varden
—succubae king who masterminded The Rending in order to destroy golden dragons and force the Paraspecies to recognize him as the supreme leader.
NAH
—Northern American Humanitarians—human governmental body who quarantined all humans found to be genetically impure and then unified with the succubae to destroy the Paraspecies.
Outlands
—an area south of the Paraspecies lands where all Paraspecies who chose not to fight in The Rending relocated to.
Outsiders
—Paraspecies who chose not to fight in the decades-long war, The Rending, when King Sashi was killed.
Pack
—a term for a wolf’s family or chosen group.
Paraspecies
—term to refer to all species of non-humans: gryphons, succubae, mage, dragon, big cat and wolf shifters.
Quadrant Alpha
—appointed commander of the quadrant, or territory. There is one dragon and one wolf Alpha in each quadrant.
red dragons
—powerful telepaths who are known for their fierce battle skills.
Redemption
—a safe haven created within Quadrant A by Adrik’s pack with the specific purpose of assisting the Impures trapped within Hell’s Highway.
Rum River
—a savage battle that occurred within the Forbidden Zone where King Bredon and his entire squadron were slaughtered.
sentinels
—second in command within the quadrant. All packs/dens contain six sentinels charged with security and daily pack/den life.
Shifter Council
—an appointed body of species representatives who make critical decisions that would affect the future of the Paraspecies. Created by King Sashi to ensure a unified foundation for all those charged to protect and lead.
Succubae
—able to drain energy from living beings, they are considered the bottom feeders of the Paraspecies. They now reside in the Succubae Stronghold, located to the north of Hell’s Highway. They feed by hunting the Impures.
The Rending
—decades-long war between the Paraspecies and the NAH/succubae, started by the slaughter of King Sashi and his family.
white dragons
—possessing rare healing abilities, they are peaceful creatures who remain off the front lines as much as possible.
For more information, including the most up-to-date glossary, check out
www.therendingseries.com
My dear brethren,
I accept my duty to assume the throne as King with a heavy heart. My soul bleeds for the loss of Bredon—my friend, my Alpha—the king who salvaged us from the internment camps two decades ago and led us to victory in The Rending.
Everyone knows King Bredon was a formidable force on the battlefield, but he was so much more. He was the destined mate to King Sashi’s daughter and the eldest son of the fiercest warrior any of us knew. The first strike that nearly destroyed our kind killed all those Bredon held dear.
His bravery in the midst of his loss has served as a beacon for us all. Few could imagine losing our bloodline, our den and our destined mate and her entire family in such a gruesome manner. The fact he honed such despicable suffering into a weapon is a feat I pray to follow.
I will not rest until I know what recently occurred at Rum River. I battled alongside Bredon as a fledgling, perfecting my skills beside a man destined to be my king one day. But I am not the warrior Bredon was. I must ask for your assistance, and patience.
We have survived more in the past couple of decades than our ancestors could’ve imagined.
When the Paraspecies unanimously agreed to align ourselves under the golden dragon King Sashi over two decades ago, we could’ve never predicted the unmitigated gall of succubae King Varden. His kidnapping of Sashi’s mate and children halted forward movement for two years. A weaker warrior would’ve surrendered to Varden’s demand to cede the throne, but Sashi protected us from the succuba’s tyrannical reign at a colossal loss to us all. When we located Varden’s compound, our actions had consequences many of us still feel.
I was there the day The Rending began, watched as Sashi held his dead mate and mourned the ashes of his children. Though we defeated Varden, he had already exposed our kind to humanity’s government, the NAH—the North American Humanitarians—the human purist group determined to purge anyone not ideal per their interpretation, including their fellow humans with “flawed” DNA.
Although he’d lost his mate and children, King Sashi was determined to protect us, his people. We had expected a confrontation with the NAH, but we could’ve never envisioned the voraciousness of the fateful attack on us three days later. It was a rare event—almost every ancient bloodlined golden dragon was present to mourn the loss of the Queen. A mourning species was easy prey for the NAH and succubae. The slaughter left few of the amassed alive and began the decades-long war known as The Rending. I hold the day we lost so much as a reminder. No matter how impossible the fight may seem, it must continue.
For King Sashi. For his family. And now for King Bredon.
We mourned the loss of our pure-blooded dragons, including King Sashi, as we were bombed as well. Those fortunate enough to survive bled and suffered in internment camps, watching brethren be slaughtered for the NAH’s twisted agenda.
The loss of Sashi, his mate, and their children catapulted our warriors into a primal need for vengeance. I believe with all my heart this feral instinct drove my predecessor. Bredon mourned the loss of his destined mate and her family and weaponized his rage into a palpable toxin our enemy couldn’t withstand.
Many of us bled in battle as we purged the world of every succuba and NAH soldier we could, with a common goal—secure our people. When the treaty was struck to end The Rending, we learned the value of compromise. None of us wanted to be confined to the lands west of Interstate 35. The solution, however, ensured not only our kind’s security but the protection of the unfortunate humans betrayed by their own kind.
Let us never forget how the NAH rounded up their own people and tested them. Herded like cattle into internment camps like the ones we were in, these humans (Impures) were as innocent as we were. Their only crime was anomalous DNA.
We must now endeavor to heal from yet another terrible loss, that of King Bredon. We must remain vigilant in aiding the Impures—the unwitting buffer between our kind and the enemies determined to slaughter us. Their survival ensures our safety. They are in Hell’s Highway, the corridor between our border (Interstate 35) and the NAH’s perimeter (Interstate 55). Their protection is imperative while we move forward. Their unfortunate existence within this lawless region is threatened by the NAH to their east, the succubae to the north who prey on them and the vile region of Hell’s Playground to the south. No matter the threat to our people, I vow to maintain the provisions and medical attention they receive in the bartering town known as Redemption within Quadrant A.
Many of you may not be aware of the increased threats within Quadrant A. Wolf Alpha Adrik and Dragon Alpha Daryn have been tremendously successful in keeping the region secure, but recent threats require more attention.
Our feral brethren, who preferred to relocate to the Outland region to our south rather than align with King Bredon during The Rending, have begun infiltrating the border. This compounds the already complicated protection of the area surrounding Redemption.
The success of the quadrant and the efforts within Redemption require that I call on you to assist in securing the threatened regions along the border we share with Hell’s Highway.
Let us embrace one another as we mourn Bredon’s loss. Our warriors are fueled by a need to avenge his death, but I pray we all temper the thirst for revenge with vigilance for what must be done. The success of a united Paraspecies was my dear friend’s greatest wish. Together we will ensure its success and heal.
Onward,
King Trent
Three years ago
Mira’s finger itched to pull the trigger. Eron might be her older brother, but he’d proven to be dumb, trusting wolf shifters with their camp location. Great. It had taken months to get everything functioning. Now they’d have to rip it all up, trudge to a new location, fight whatever freaks got in the way.
The last thing Mira wanted was more fighting. No one in Hell’s Highway had gotten the memo about The Rending’s end. The bloody war between the Paraspecies and the fucking purists leading humanity’s NAH may have officially ended, but the humans stuck between their newly established lands still suffered like they had for two decades.