Moon BloodThe First Blood Son (Book 3) Carol McKibben BlurbAn Ancient Evil Seeks to Seduce the First Blood Son of the Original Vampire Hybrid wolf Moon and her shifter friends fight to prevent her human vampire master, Kane, from falling into the clutches of an ancient evil being. Multiple attempts to assault her sire, while he sleeps, pit them against one with power greater than they possess. An assist from a onetime enemy might be the solution if their new-found ally doesn’t kill them all first. While Kane and Moon unravel the mystery of the nighttime evil, the master vampire is drawn to a beautiful redhead that strains his current relationship with werewolf leader Zandra. At the same time, Moon feels attracted to the woman’s strange black wolf. To make matters worse, Zandra and her brothers face berserkers, a flesh-eating faction of shifters, that challenge their support of the first blood son and his kindred hybrid wolf. When they turn to Kane for help, he proposes a solution that will forever alter them. Trust and loyalty are the keys to their salvation as they battle all manner of evil. Perception and devotion could win the day as these paranormal beings fight for life, love, and family once again. Inside ScoopCarol confirms there will be two more books in this series! My Review**NO SPOILERS** Right from the start, we have peril and action. The danger is ethereal and a more cunning, sinister evil is after Moon and all she holds dear. The perspective of a dog has always seemed natural in these books and I can imagine being part of the wolf pack vampires in the story. That's right WOLF PACK VAMPIRES. That's what they have become. Each book deals with mythology and there are usually Greek Gods spinning the mayhem, but this time Christian myth and lore are front and center of the story. And the enemy is something even Kane has never dealt with. It kept me on my toes and I loved the cute scenes of Moon breaking up the levity of the story. I will warn that while the story is complete, there is a lead into book 4. I wouldn't call it a cliffhanger, but more an enticement for the next story and where it will lead. I Would Recommend This to Fans of:Vampires Wolves Hybrid Vampires Mythology ExcerptI awoke to pressure on my chest just as night descended. Invisible hands stroked my back and legs. I startled onto four paws, my claws digging into the bedding. The dark room where Kane, Zandra, and I slept gave no clue to an intruder. The air smelled bitter. Even though I was a vampire, and my body wasn’t affected by heat or cold, a shift in the air dropped the temperature so that puffs of breath from my low warning growl clouded to steam. The pressure of a presence lingered around me. Hands tried crushing me down. Peering through the pitch black with my enhanced vision, I saw that my sire Kane struggled against something. He pushed his hands up as if something pressed down on him. “No!” he shouted and jerked into a sitting position. His ankles bashed against one of the tall bed posts. I realized at once that what I had felt was not directed at me but to Kane. Zandra, who now shared the bed with us during our daytime rest after our tumultuous battle with the berserker werewolves, bolted upright at the sound of her lover’s voice. “What?” She rubbed her eyes and blinked at the first blood son of Brogio, the original vampire. “Was it a nightmare?” “I don’t have dreams or nightmares.” Kane brushed a long strand of his dark-brown hair from in front of his brown eyes. Confusion spread across his strong chiseled facial features. Zandra placed an arm around Kane’s broad shoulders and pressed a cheek to his. “Tell us.” I lay down, crawled to his feet, and licked the top of one of them. Pressure descended upon me. I could feel hands on me. Kane nodded at me as the automatic lights began to glow indicating that night was upon us. “Something held me down… hovered… I was paralyzed. Fingers probed at me. Lips kissed me… everywhere.” Kane ran his hands over his eyes. “I… pleasure… but fear at being so completely in the grip of another. When I opened my eyes…” His abrupt halting of the story shot me a mental picture of beautiful Selene, Brogio’s wife. Since Kane made me kindred, we have been connected. I feel what he does. I hear his thoughts as he does mine. This connection is advantageous, since I’m a female hybrid wolf and can’t vocalize my thoughts. I directed my opinion to him. You will never open your heart to Zandra because Selene still lives there. He hesitated to continue so he wouldn’t reveal his unrequited love for a woman who was the light mirror image to Zandra’s dark reflection. Where Selene’s long hair is silver, Zandra’s is silky brown. The shape of Selene’s silver-blue eyes is the same as Zandra’s golden orbs. Selene is fair. Zandra is olive skinned. Other than that, they have the same tall height and slender figure. Selene, once vampire, had been restored as a human like her husband, Brogio, the first vampire. Zandra, like Kane, is the first born, not of a vampire but of the original werewolf. “What? What did you see?” Zandra pressed her strong fingers into Kane’s arm as if to squeeze the answer from him. He sighed. “A beautiful blonde woman who smiled at me. But then her face turned a demonic red, and her beautiful teeth became fangs. Bat-like wings sprung up from her back, and I felt talons dig into my arms and legs.” “My gods, what a nightmare. Anything else?” Zandra rubbed Kane’s arm which showed no marks or signs of attack. “Yes. She declared she would take my soul, but stopped. The smile faded from her horrible face, and she whispered a dawning realization.” “Whispered what?” Zandra leaned back to look at him. Kane smirked. “She said, ‘but you have no soul!’” Zandra laughed. “Well, that’s no big news.” She took both her hands and rubbed his head, making a mess of his shoulder-length hair. “Okay, so you had a nightmare. You should interpret the monster as me and realize that the message is that we need to have more sex.” Kane joined in her laughter, and I relaxed a bit. “Maybe,” Zandra stood up on both knees revealing her naked body while mocking a menacing face, “you’re afraid I’ll go all werewolf on you in the middle of sex.” Kane grabbed her and tumbled her under him as they both screamed in laughter. Disgusted and not wanting to observe what I knew was coming, I jumped down from the bed, nudged the bedroom door open, and padded into the hallway. They might be able to laugh it off, but I could feel in my bones that something else was coming for him, for all of us. ∞ As I stepped into the night, Zandra’s numerous brothers stood watch outside Kane’s Tuscany wine estate chateau. They kept vigil to guard against a rogue band of werewolves who might try to take revenge on the slaughter we had dealt them the previous week. Kane had devised a clever plan to destroy thousands of berserker wolves dead set on destroying him, the new leader of the vampire nation. We expected retribution from other nations for the death of their Italian kindred. All Zandra’s brothers were large, hulking versions of her olive complexion and dark-brown hair and eyes. I spied Zeb, the eldest of the brothers, as I stretched my sleep away. He stood near a large cedar tree. Eyes that had previously held distrust now softened as he glanced at me. I had proven my affection for his sister, whom he loved above all others. Zachary, the next eldest brother, slinked quietly toward me from the nearby vineyard. He stopped just short of Zeb and grabbed a fly from the air and crushed it. Zale followed, nodded, and grinned. His charm softened his ruggedness. “All quiet this day and night in the fields, Zeb.” “Don’t state the obvious,” Zeb quipped at his brother. He had no time or tolerance for charm. Zale smiled and rubbed my head and then sat next to me on the ground. Shy Zander joined us from the entrance gates to the estate, followed by Zeno and Zindel who caught up to him and poked fun at their quiet brother. “It’s a wonder Zander could see anything coming.” Zeno jabbed his brother in the ribs. “Yeah,” Zindel rubbed the shy one’s head, “he’s always looking down at his feet.” Zander brushed his brothers away and scooted over to lean against the front door with arms crossed. Zeno and Zindel were full of pride and fierce in battle. All the brothers were forces with which to be reckoned, but Zylon’s appearance would terrify little children. He resembled Kane’s descriptions of battle-scarred Vikings. He silently moved from behind the cedar tree and startled me. Second only to Zeb in size, I had watched him break enemies in half with his bare hands. Zane’s casual stroll from the forest reminded me of his deceptive demeanor. He appeared to not pay attention but became an obvious predator when the opportunity became available. As Zohar and Zoltan joined us from the back of the estate, I thought how much alike all the brothers appeared, but how their difference in character was marked. Zohar’s nod as he approached was nonchalant and carefree. His inner spirit embraced freedom and fun. Zoltan’s sensitive eyes met mine as he grinned at me. I had liked him the moment we met. He was the baby of the family, and I knew him as the kind one and my favorite of the brothers. The front door opened suddenly, and Zander fell backward. Kane prevented Zander’s fall by catching the shifter by his collar and glanced around at everyone. “Come inside and have a meal as my small thanks for your daylight vigil.” He opened the door wide for all to enter. As the brothers trudged past Kane and Zandra toward the dining room, Zohar threw out a suggestion. “I think we should attend the Lucca Summer Festival tonight. We need a break and some fun.” “Always the fun,” Zeb grumbled. “Why expose ourselves to a public attack?” “Berserkers aren’t going to attack us in a public square,” Zachary, the logical one, mumbled. “Yes!” Zandra whirled around and gave Kane her best puppy-dog eyes. “What fun. I read this year Ringo Starr, Roger Waters, and King Crimson will perform in an all-star band.” We joined the group in the dining room just as James, Kane’s silent and ever-present servant, set down a glass of human blood for his master and a bowl of the nectar on the floor for me. I half listened as I lapped up what I considered to be God’s gift. James stood next to me against the wall to make himself unobserved and waited for me to finish my meal. “What I’d like to see,” Kane quipped, “is Joe Perry and Alice Cooper team up with that pirate actor Johnny Depp.” He swallowed his blood meal in two large gulps. “They’re supposed to create ‘Hollywood vampires’ or so the advertisements say. Might be fun after the morbid days we’ve spent of late.” I licked my chops and sat back on my haunches. Finally, I had learned to control the euphoria that overcame me after drinking blood. In my earlier days as a vampire, that was not the case. In the beginning, gorging on human blood would almost knock me out. James bent, picked up my bowl, and made himself scarce. An odd duck, his mild personality, medium build, and nondescript features fooled many into thinking he was harmless. People underestimated James at their own peril. “Oh, yes. I’d love to see that.” Zandra placed a quick peck on Kane’s pale cheek and sat down to dig in to a breakfast of steak, bacon, eggs, potatoes, biscuits, and pancakes that would have choked a lumberjack. “It is only a little over an hour’s drive from here,” Zachary mumbled with his mouth full of steak and bacon. “I’ll go only if Kane lets us ride in the limo,” Zeb announced as he licked the grease from his fingers. Kane smirked. “Do you actually think that all of you will fit in one car, limo included?” Zachary interjected, “Would not the limo and the town car work? Kane, you can take Zandra and Moon in your sports car.” After a lot of boring banter, much of which I ignored, it was settled, and we were off. Despite the fun atmosphere everyone embraced, a growing fear gnawed at the bottom of my stomach. I shot Kane a mental message. I fear danger awaits us at this event. Let the brothers and Zandra go, and let’s stay here. Kane shot me a look. You worry too much. If danger awaits us, it will be met in kind. I wondered if an evil he had yet to meet and overcome might take him by surprise. ∞ The festival music hurt my ears. I longed to return to Villa Chiantigiana, Kane’s wine estate. To block out the blaring noise, I closed my eyes and thought of the place I now called home. I visualized its green, hilly panorama and vineyards, as well as the surrounding forest as far as the eye could see. As it was in the Chianti Hills, Kane said it was in the heart of Tuscany, just a short distance from Florence. Rows of ancient cypress trees lined either side of the long drive through the fields I loved to explore up to the estate house. The big nineteenth-century stone villa had a red-tiled roof. I was grateful that my vampirism had cured my color blindness. My favorite game was to run past the fifteen bedrooms on the upper floors, leap down the circular staircase, scamper over the black-and-white marble entry, scoot through the hall out to the pool, and dive into the water. James failed to find this amusing, particularly when I shook off on Kane’s beautiful dark-stained cypress wooden furniture in the den. I also loved to explore the rooms that Kane ordered me not to disturb, like his large library and study or the laboratory filled with experiments at different stages that tickled my nose and made me sneeze. Sometimes after quenching my bloodlust, I’d climb to his rooftop balcony with a star-watching telescope or snoop through the inside of the many bedrooms filled with paintings and sculptures. I loved to roll around on his expensive antique rugs. Whenever James caught me, he would chase me down into the large den with a huge fireplace and a room-long bar. I longed to snooze by the fire in the den and relax, if just for a while. Loud cheering startled me from my reflection. Kane and Zandra had split up from the brothers who each had found companionship with the local women who appeared enthralled with them. Sitting next to Kane, I glanced at my sire and Zandra as they relaxed in front of the stage and focused on the vampire act. Still concerned for their safety, I wandered away through the crowd hoping to find a quiet place to observe them and watch the crowd. Before I had gotten some fifty feet, a large black wolf blocked my path. His iridescent green eyes held mine. The attraction between us surprised and distracted me from the shocked crowd surrounding us. As a hybrid wolf, I can pass as a white husky, much like my biological father, Snow Blood. But this full-blooded wolf caused quite a stir. Glancing around, I noticed people backing away as a dazzling woman emerged through the crowd. Her approach was like one I might have in a dream. Her boots made no sound on the cobblestone street, and she appeared to glide rather than walk. I couldn’t take my eyes from her. Long, wavy, red hair hung past her waist. Her piercing green eyes matched those of the wolf. Tight leather pants, a low-cut matching black vest, and knee-high boots covered her silky skin and flaunted her flawless curves. The men in the surrounding crowd appeared dumbstruck at the personification of female sexuality that she exuded, but the babies and young children began to scream. Their cries shook me out of the trancelike effect she’d created on me. My hackles rose, and a shiver ran through my entire body. She stopped and frowned at the wolf. “Samil, naughty boy. Thought I’d lost you.” She glanced toward me, and I sensed feigned surprise. She stretched her hand out. “Whom have you discovered, Samil? How beautiful you are, my hybrid girl.” I shrank from her touch and backed away. The black wolf called Samil moved with me and kept his shimmering eyes on mine all the while. Kane’s voice shot through my brain. Moon, where are you? I am here, Master. Kane parted the crowd and stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the woman. “Selene?” He shook his head and blinked, trying to hide his shocked expression. He swayed and then steadied his body. The silence grew uncomfortable as my master’s eyes locked with the stranger’s. At last, he blinked again and appeared to break the woman’s controlled stare. “I’m sorry. I thought you were someone that I know.” I padded to my sire, ignored Samil’s intense stare, and stood next to Kane. The woman approached as the crowd around us began to dissipate. She held out her hand to my sire. “I am Lilith. This is my wolf Samil. We came across your lovely hybrid and thought to return her to her owner.” Kane smiled and took the woman’s hand. “Kane de Medici, madam. Thank you for stopping to help my disobedient pet. I cringed at the name calling, but shot a warning. Beware of this woman. She gives me the creeps. Quiet, Moon. I sat back on my haunches and wondered why an age-old vampire always appeared to be ruled by his mating desires. As if on cue, Samil moved to sit next to me and lick my face. He stood just as I did, and I searched his green eyes for some sign of danger. I saw conflicting good and evil in them and backed away. Again, I warned. This is the danger I feared for us. Buy LinksAuthor BioCarol's love of animals, especially dogs and horses, is obvious in everything she writes. When Carol isn’t feeding her horde of canine rescues, she’s out riding her beloved Friesian on the plains of Texas. Her love of animals leads her to write through a dog's eyes. Carol’s message is clear. "If a dog can love us unconditionally, why can't we do the same with each other?" And, her paranormal stories are often filled with characters that might be the most difficult to love.
Carol's writing career began at 14 years of age when she started telling her stories to Labrador Retrievers, Basset Hounds, and any stray that happened by. It wasn't long before people stopped to have a listen as well. Now, Carol writes for people and speaks to large audiences, dogs included. Contact Carol at http://www.carolmckibben.com or join her at https://www.facebook.com/CarolMckibbenAuthor Comments are closed.
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Welcome to The Enclave Thanks for taking a look at my little hodgepodge of a blog. The format and subjects of my blog has changed through the years as it's my log of S.N.McKibben's writing journey. You've now been sufficiently forewarned, happy reading! Categories
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