Blood Memory: Book 2 – ‘Beneath the Surface’ tentative release date July 2013

 

At least I’m at the final stretch of putting Book 2 out. I’m excited, yet I totally want to throw up. In preparation for it, I’ll be pushing Blood Memory: Book 1 which you can find on Amazon or download the .pdf/.epub free at this link. If you haven’t gotten your free ebook copy of Book 1 – definitely grab it now. It’s .99 on Amazon, but FREE at my website. Be sure to jump over to GoodReads and review it here.

 

Excerpt from Book 2: Beneath The Surface

 

Charlie Hammond watched with an insurmountable amount of guilt as Vivienne Sena’s limp body was picked up off the tarmac and dragged back to the private hanger located in Donegal, Ireland.  With the equipment fried from the localized EMP that had hit the area, the entire Piper squad, along with the Beta Hammerthynn and their Commander Brian ‘Brig’ Jameson, would return back in private jet that had brought the Pack’s leadership.  Charlie made a mental note to speak to the LT about the acquired Black Hawks as he passed through the door into the sizable hanger.  He caught a glimpse of two of his Pipers dragging Vivienne into one of the closed off rooms to await departure.  The door behind him slammed, making him turn toward the noise when it opened again, this time letting in the cold chill of winter and the Commander and LT’s scent as they entered.

 

The Commander gave Charlie a cold look and passed him, entering the room Vivienne had been deposited.  Giving his LT a side look, Charlie raised his eyebrows silently.  LT took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

 

“I am so screwed when we get back.”  Lothias, ‘LT’ Jameson, Piper Lieutenant and nephew to the Commander, narrowed his eyes at Charlie and added, “But not quite as screwed as you though, bro.”

 

Charlie nodded slowly and pursed his lips.  The LT had gone above and beyond saving Vivienne from a fate worse than death.  A size 15 boot to the throat had just been sitting across her neck, crushing her windpipe, not five minutes earlier.  LT stepped in and managed to keep her alive at least until the Pipers and leadership had returned back to home base back on the east coast.  It would be up to the Alpha, but that wasn’t Charlie’s concern as the sergeant.  He would be in enough trouble for aiding Viv with her trip across northern Europe, into Siberia’s frozen tundra.

 

They were the Alpha’s Pipers; the tip of the arrow and army bred for the sole purpose of protecting the Alpha and the Greater Pack.  They were imposing, tall men and leadership bred from direct descendants of the Beta Iov Hammerthynn or their Commander; both families run by Elders, the oldest of both family trees.

 

That was except for Charlie Hammond; the first and only ever non-direct Sergeant of the Alpha’s Pipers.  Orphaned as a young teenager, he became the ward and adopted son of the Commander’s younger brother, Shale.  An eerily, almost predestined fate for a boy who’s family line had zero lineage within the Greater Pack.  For Charlie to ascend to the level of leadership as a ‘non-direct’ was unheard of, and the envy stirred quietly within the families.  But as he stood silently next to his LT and best friend, Charlie Hammond had no doubt in his ability to lead his men.  The only doubt he had was one Vivienne Sena, outcast female and protégé of Elder Vigo Hammerthynn, the Beta’s father, and now his fate was tied to hers, precarious though it was at the moment.

 

“I don’t think he’ll kill her.”

 

Charlie didn’t reply.  They both stood silently for a moment, knowingly thinking the same thing.  If the Alpha decided Vivienne’s life was not worth the trouble she put the Pipers through, it would be Charlie and the LT that would have to kill her.  Charlie, for bringing her passport to allow her to leave the country, and the LT for speaking against the Beta, reminding him that the Alpha would in no way all Hammer to crush Viv’s neck beneath his boot.  Both men went out on a limb, but for different reasons.

 

“It’s not our place to protect her.”

 

Charlie flicked his blue eyes over at his LT.  “We’re Pipers and she’s part of leadership.  That’s exactly what we’re supposed to do.”

 

“Alright, let me rephrase that.  It’s not your job.”  LT sighed and shrugged.  “You gotta let it go.”

 

Charlie’s body language spoke volumes at the mention of his inappropriate feelings toward the Alpha’s guest and Elder Hammerthynn’s representative.   Charlie stiffened, but he kept the blank expression on his face.  It wasn’t like the quiet sergeant to even acknowledge it, much less reply to something as intensely personal as that.  Lothias could see it wasn’t just a simple crush – they weren’t young men, though they looked barely twenty five.  Both in their early forties, he hadn’t seen this level of obsession in Charlie in some years, but it was pretty apparent that Vivienne didn’t feel the same way.  It was making his sergeant a liability.

 

“Are you telling me this as my friend or my Lieutenant?”

 

“Your friend, Charlie.”

 

“Duly noted,” Charlie replied quietly, looking at the ground.  After a moment he lifted his chin.  “Shit detail when we get back, no doubt.  I’ll pull Red, Lewis, and Marthinus out of rotation.”

 

LT nodded and dismissed his sergeant, not bothering to look at him.  Their quiet moment was already forgotten, so LT resumed his duties and readied for the intensely awkward flight home.

 

 

Stay tuned!