Scent
of Valor by Annie Nicholas
ISBN: C
Book Length: 300
pages
Publisher:
Samhain Publishing
DESCRIPTION
Paste
here your book description or Blurb
Courage blooms in the meekest
of hearts.
Chronicles
of Eorthe, Book 2
After
spending twenty years trapped in her civil body, Kele can finally shift into
feral form. By tooth and claw, she’s determined to climb the Payami pack
hierarchy.
Her
parents plan to mate her with a hunter from a rival pack, but her heart’s
already been stolen by the most unsuitable wolf possible—Peder, an omega male.
She’d gladly give him her body except he’s disappeared from her life. Maybe
into the thieving arms of another female.
Peder
has spent every moment of their forced separation training to be a hunter. When
he hears of her arranged marriage, he fears he’s waited too long to trespass
back onto Payami lands to fight for her hand—but he damned well isn’t giving
up.
On
his journey to confront Kele, Peder is attacked and wakes in a cage, helpless
as a band of vampires attack Kele’s mating party. Separated by social standing,
thrown together by tragedy, they must work together to survive. And find out if
their attraction is merely puppy love, or a bond that’s stronger than time.
Warning:
This book contains an omega male who’s done submitting and a hunter female who
isn’t used to needing anyone to come to her rescue. Violence ensues, not for
the faint of heart.
Goodreads
link to book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22465660-scent-of-valor
EXERPT
The cramps
in Peder’s shoulders seized him awake. Groaning, all he managed was to roll
onto his back, which made the pain much worse. He couldn’t move his arms. Metal
cuffs clasped his wrist tight behind his back, almost stopping the circulation
to his hands.
By the dark
moon, where the fuck was he now? He blinked the fog from his vision. If the
vampires kept striking him with their darts, he’d become an expert at waking
dazed and confused. There were other skills he’d rather perfect.
He tried to move his legs. His ankles seemed
bound but not as snug as his arms. If the opportunity presented itself, he could
shuffle at a snail’s pace, then the vampires would have a hard time catching
him. He let his head fall back against what felt like grass.
The
bloodsuckers had dumped them all on an open field. A fire roared close to some
tents where Peder could see his captors preparing tools in the heat of red
coals.
Kele!
He twisted
around, ignoring the blinding pain in his arms until he squirmed into a seated
position. Among the sleeping bodies, he spotted her white coat only two
shifters away. Quiet as a mouse, he crept on his knees. Panting, he lay next to
her until his cramped shoulders eased into a dull roar. He buried his nose into
her soft fur and took a deep breath.
Under the
sheen of fear still coating her body, he scented prickly evergreen mixed in
with the bite of winter. Kele was his breath of fresh air. She cleared his head
and sent his pulse racing. Goddess, how would he save her? He licked the
underside of her muzzle.
The vampires
had mentioned both of their pelts bringing a good price at the market. He
lifted his head to watch as the bloodsuckers chatted by the fire, passing a
bottle of wine. The biggest among them heated his tools in the bright red coal.
Were they preparing to skin them? Peder swallowed around the lump in his
throat.
The pack
paraded toward the den’s living area. There were calls for wine and someone
struck up a beat on the drums. Not a single person made eye contact or offered
her a word of encouragement. They wouldn’t. It was rude to comfort the loser.
Loser. That stung more than she’d thought it could.
She faced
the ring and discovered her parents had stayed behind—the alpha female and male
of the Payami. She flinched. Their disappointment seared her to the soul. Was
it really that shameful to hesitate
before slaughtering a packmate? Tegrathe had been one of the few shifters who
would play with her when they’d been pups. Was she supposed to ignore the fact
that the female would leave behind a loving mate and their children?
The ache
within her chest grew until it hurt to breathe. Kele pointed a bloody claw at
her mother. “You set me up to fail. Why?” Her voice didn’t shake for once when
faced with her alpha’s displeasure.
Her mother,
Chaska, crossed the ring, her midnight hair a tangled storm around her head.
She tossed Kele’s clothes at her feet. “Shift and get dressed. You should
attend to Tegrathe’s injured leg, healer.”
To add insult, Chaska turned her back on Kele, as if she wasn’t a threat, and
she left.
“I don’t
recall advising you to challenge Tegrathe.” Inali, her father, waited as she
shifted to civil form and dressed. She was still learning not to blush when
forced to be nude in front of others. Unlike other shifter children, she hadn’t
learned her trigger emotion to shift to feral form until a few months ago.
Others had grown up shifting and dressing in front of each other. She hadn’t.
“I don’t
recall you advising me on anything,” she shouted. “Only mother seems interested
in me, now that I can fight the challenges she can only dream about. How am I
supposed to learn about becoming alpha if you won’t help teach me?”
“One doesn’t
learn to become alpha, Kele. It’s not like healing. I have no books for you to
read or lessons to give.”
Part of
Kele’s feral side still had hold on her, and she snarled at him like an animal.
He
approached her. Each step hinted at the commanding beast under his skin. Her
father sent shock waves of alpha attitude without trying. It oozed from his
pores like magic. “You’re lucky no one was around to witness that. I would have
had to put you to the ground for being so aggressive.” He smoothed some of her
pale hair from her face. “What did you learn today?”
She inhaled.
He smelled of stone and dust and power. It soothed her frayed nerves. “That I’m
a fool.”
“Besides
that.”
Staring at the
ring, she pictured Tegrathe on the ground, crawling toward her, gravely
injured. She glanced down at the cuts across her shins—cuts that Tegrathe had
given her even though the hunter hadn’t been able to stand. Tegrathe wouldn’t
give in. She would have died first. “I didn’t want to kill her.”
“And?”
Blood rushed
from her head and weakened her knees. “She would have killed me before
accepting a loss.” She clutched her father’s hand. “Is that the difference? I
should be ready to kill before ever losing? Is that what makes her better than
me?”
He stroked
her hair, the same pale shade of yellow as his. “Yes.”
Kele jerked
from his touch. “She would have sacrificed her life and left behind a family
just to be more dominant than me.”
His laugh
was sharp. “You sound surprised. This challenge would have cost her the pack’s
respect. If you truly want to lead shifters, Kele, you have to be willing to
kill for them at any cost. The pack doesn’t value weakness.”
“And mercy
is a weakness?” She wanted to pull out her hair.
~ My Review ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is my first book by the Author Annie Nicholas and it
will not be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed her presentation of shifter and
vampires from a new perspective that felt not only futuristic but old world.
Her characters were rich in character and description. The
primary characters of Kele and Peder pull you into the story with their
imperfections and strengths. The author takes us through both of their journeys
with Kele wanting to be a better Alpha to Peder wanting to be worthy of her
and making himself stronger in spite of his horrible childhood so he can claim
her before it is too late. I consider the secondary characters to be Benic,
Pemma, Ewald, and Ahote and I look forward to seeing them developed further in
future books to this series.
The full story line covers a wide range of areas including
lost love, unrequited love, slave trading, murder, fighting, vampires, shifters,
etc that is woven into an engrossing story that has you wanting to read this
book in one sitting. Close to the end there is a very, very small area that may
be a little disturbing to some readers but I found it fitting to the story line
and didn’t dwell on it.
I recommend this book to everyone who loves shifters and
vampires and an amazing love.
A copy was gifted in exchange for an honest review via
Paranormal Cravings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Annie
Nicholas writes paranormal romance with a twist. She has courted vampires,
hunted with shifters, and slain a dragon’s ego all with the might of her pen.
Riding the wind of her imagination, she travels beyond the restraints of
reality and shares them with anyone wanting to read her stories. Mother,
daughter, and wife are some of the other hats she wears while hiking through
the hills and dales of her adopted state of Vermont.
Annie writes
for Samhain Publishing, Carina Press, and Lyrical Press.
Contact Links
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