---

Editorial Reviews

Madame D at Madame D's Boudoir gave it 5+ stars!

"I love this book. So much action, love, suspense and revenge. This is an amazing read!! You definitely have to read it for yourself. I guarantee you will like it." >>Read the entire review.

Sue at Sue's Bookish Corner gave it 5+ stars!

"The Gathering is one of the best books out this year so far. Lily has made the supernatural world come to life in this wonderful book full of vampires and shifters...Its fun and exciting and it will have you sitting on the edge of your seat." >>Read the entire review.

---

 

 

Excerpt

 

 

Chapter One

 

The wolf was coming.

Rayna burst through the tree line, pain racing through her limbs like fire eating at her flesh. Her heart raced, the sensation of not being in control of her body caused a terror so immense it blurred her vision until she couldn’t see anything but shadows.

She looked down as heat spread through her fingertips. The sight of her nails growing into what could only be described as claws made the world go fuzzy. She stumbled before coming to a stop and stared at her hands. Watched, as those claws grew longer before hair sprouted on the back of her fingers. She screamed, the sounds tinged with a rumbling growl. The sound of her name being shouted repeatedly, and the heavy footfalls of someone behind her, grew closer.

Pain ripped through her body in blinding flashes and she staggered as the wolf tried to claw its way from her flesh. She ran again, racing through the trees. Heat caused her skin to slick with perspiration as tears clouded her vision.

Someone grabbed her and tackled her to the ground, the air in her body leaving in a whoosh upon impact with the leafy forest floor. She gasped, filling her lungs before screaming and clawing at moist soil. Her name rang repeatedly through her head as she was flipped over onto her back.

“Rayna! What’s wrong? Hold still!”

She kicked, slapped and clawed, barely grabbing enough air to scream as she felt those hideous claws protruding from the end of her fingers tear into soft flesh. The scent of fresh blood hit her seconds before a warm spray splashed across her face. A pained yell followed. Her hands were thrust above her head and held to the ground with enough force her vision blurred as pain raced up her arms. Weight fell on top of her, effectively stilling her movement’s moments later. A low growl sounded by her ear and slowly, the panic started to recede, her vision cleared and the pain and heat in her body dissipated.

The wolf retreated back into her body to lay dormant again.

Garrett, pack leader in Wolf’s Creek and mate to the wolf lurking beneath her flesh, hovered over her, his lips pinched together so tight they looked bloodless. His eyes weren’t the tawny brown she was used to seeing but the eerie amber of the wolf. Rayna blinked up at him. “Garrett?”

He exhaled and closed his eyes, laying his forehead against hers. He sucked in several deep breaths and released some of the pressure on her arms before raising his head again. His eyes looked normal now, the color also coming back to his lips as he sat up, climbed off of her, and pulled her off the ground into his arms. “Don’t ever run from me again.” His voice sounded garbled. The wolf wasn’t far from the surface.

His arms felt like bands of steel wrapped around her and Rayna stared at the surrounding trees as he stroked the back of her head. Her pulse started to slow to normal, the restless pushing she’d felt inside her body slowing dying away. She fell limp against him before tears she couldn’t hold back fell from her eyes.

“Shhh. It’s all right now. I’ve got you.”

“I don’t know what happened.” Rayna blinked, trying to clear her vision. “I was watching Mitch and the wolf... it just started and I couldn’t stop it.”

Mitch Pierson, Rayna’s old newsroom partner and friend from Bluff’s Point, was now one of the monsters. The moon was full and with the help of Bryce, Garrett’s second in command, Mitch’s wolf was brought to the surface. She’d watched in horror as the change took him, his bones shifting under his flesh while his screams echoed through the forest. Screams she’d hear every night for the rest of her life.

She shuddered at the memories. “I felt her, Garrett.” Rayna sniffed back tears and took a deep breath. “I did more than feel her. She tried to get out.” She pulled away from him and held up her hands. “Look.”

The claws that had been present were now gone. Nothing but her short clipped fingernails remained, dirt shining in ugly half-moons under the tips. “I had claws,” she said, softly.

She looked up at him and saw the torn flesh and blood on his neck. “Garrett! Your neck!” Rayna reached up, clamping her hand over the wound before grabbing the ripped edge of his shirt and tried to staunch the bleeding.

He winced, sucking in a harsh breath before turning his head to the side. “It’ll stop bleeding in a minute. I’m sure it looks worse than it is.”

Rayna leaned back and stared at the ragged cuts. They started just under his ear and slashed down the length of his neck to the center of his chest. Four jagged wounds made by her claws. Tears burnt her eyes up as she glanced at his face. “I’m sorry.”

“I know.” He pulled her back into his arms when the first tear fell. “Shhh, stop crying. I’m fine.”

“I don’t know what happened.” She clung to him, closing her eyes to try and stop the tears. “I haven’t felt her once in all this time. Why now?”

“Watching Mitch probably triggered the change. You should have stayed at the house like I told you to.”

In the two months since she’d been infected, Rayna had waited for her own wolf, the one lurking beneath her flesh to make her presence known. Before tonight, she hadn’t felt her. The thought of turning into a werewolf made her sick to her stomach but watching Mitch, knowing his fate would soon be her own, was gut wrenching. She’d sat on the rock face, listening to his screams, watching his bones shift beneath his flesh and felt her own beast answer. The pain had been intense; the terror she’d felt erased every thought other than getting away. To stop whatever was coming.

“You shouldn’t have fought it, Rayna. It’s going to happen whether you want it to or not.”

“Why shouldn’t I fight it?”

“Rayna…”

“Garrett, I don’t want this!” she said, pushing away from him. “I’ve never wanted it. The thoughts of it make me sick. I want my old life back. I don’t want to be one of the monsters!”

 

Read the first 10 chapters of this book for FREE on the Night Breeds Blog.

 

BUY THE EBOOK FROM:

» Buy at Alinar Publishing
» Buy at Amazon Kindle
» Buy at Amazon Kindle UK
» Buy at Amazon Kindle DE
» Buy at Barnes & Noble
» Buy at Sony eReader Store
» Buy at Diesel eBook Store
» Buy at Smashwords

Also available on the Apple iBook Store