Clan Beginnings: Clan and Crave - Chapter One, Scenes One and Two

 

 Pre-order now available: Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, print

Welcome to the preview of the latest Clan Beginnings book. This week, seven-year-old Imdiko Conyod's last words to his older brother Hoslek come back to haunt him.

* * * * 

“Hoslek, wait for me!” Conyod raced toward the paddock’sshimmering force field as his older brother rode chestnut-furred Ges throughthe opening he’d ordered. Another command closed it behind him.

At nine years old, Hoslek was already an accomplished riderof the six-legged kestarsh their parents bred, raised, and sold. He was also onthe bossy side when it came to seven-year-old Conyod.

“Can’t wait. Two of the mares got loose, and I have to findthem.” Hoslek spoke in a firm tone, but his gaze cut in the direction of theirhome worriedly, though the boys’ parents hadn’t yet returned from a trip to town.

“Let me go too, or I’ll tell them you didn’t properly closethe containment when you brought them in from the pasture.”

Hoslek paused for an instant before scowling. “Don’t be ajerk, Conyod. As long as I bring them home, I won’t get in trouble. Stopslowing me down.” He shouted at the paddock’s system, though the nearest tallmetal pole emitting it was mere feet away. “Corral containment, don’t unlockfor Conyod. Disable his voice commands.”

Hoslek might have been only nine, but he already had a bornDramok’s command. Conyod’s first instinct at his brother’s order was to obey.By the time he’d recovered his stubborn nature, Hoslek was galloping toward thefoothills of Mount Evar.

“I’ll tell!” he shouted after his brother, who’d alreadyspurred Ges out of hearing distance. Conyod kicked a divot into the groundwhere the passage of numerous kestarsh had worn the grass away. Even if he’dbeen able to commandeer a mount in the locked corral, he wasn’t big or strongenough to saddle them alone. He was left behind. Again.

“I’ll tell. You’ll be sorry!”

* * * *

The escaped mares returned home of their own accord at theirnormal mealtime. It was the next morning when the first searchers found Ges, viciouslyclawed and shivering, between outcroppings of rocks. The evidence of a zibger’sattack was obvious. There was no sign of Hoslek.

Conyod’s mother, who’d stayed reluctantly behind while hisfathers, the ranch hands, and local villagers spent the entire night untildaybreak searching for her eldest child, collapsed to her knees in the yardwhen her Imdiko mate Sema brought the horribly injured Ges home. Semadismounted and held her, his arms wrapped around her shaking shoulders. He wasforced to remain at her side for the rest of the rescue attempt…which mostacknowledged was now a recovery effort.

Conyod’s other two fathers continued the search. “We won’tstop until we find him,” Nobek Vel vowed.

Hoslek’s body wasn’t recovered. Like hundreds of riders,hikers, and adventurers who’d dared the mountains brooding over the plain, hewas never seen again. In the end, even Vel was forced to admit the child wouldn’tbe returned for a proper funeral.

The family descended into unrelenting grief. Conyod sufferedendless nightmares of his brother riding away and of his own angry cry, thelast words he’d spoken to Hoslek a mortal prediction: “You’ll be sorry!”

* * * *

Heneeded a hero and found two. Can love rescue him again?

NobekSletran never took Imdiko Conyod’s infatuation seriously when he rescued himyears before. When Conyod shows up in his life again as a strong and successfulman instead of a traumatized victim, Sletran has to reconsider the one he oncerejected and now can’t imagine life without.

Conyod hasnever given up on the man he considers his hero. Sletran is all he’s everwanted for a clanmate, and he’s determined to win him at last. But the past refusesto be laid to rest. When Conyod convinces Sletran to see him for who he’sbecome, will who he was resurface and destroy the love they’re building?

Sletran’scommanding officer Dramok Erybet is instantly fascinated by Conyod when thesoldier brings his love on base for a visit. However, Sletran isn’t the NobekErybet feels is right for him. When he rejects the Nobek, he risks losingConyod too.

Againstthe backdrop of heartbreaking childhood tragedy, a ghost who haunts Conyod andhis grief-stricken family, and military brass determined to oust Erybet fromthe rank he’s worked so hard to reach, three men must come to terms with whothey are. When tragedy strikes, the nightmares of the past must be faced andburied once and for all. Conyod, Sletran, and Erybet must dare everything tofind redemption and hold on to each other.

 

Releasing May 31.  Pre-order now: Amazon, Amazon UK, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, print