This edition of Novel Magic is brimming with shape-shifting suspense–Just what we love here at Sorchia’s Universe! Author Kira Shayde’s Ancient Heat promises passion and excitement.
ANCIENT HEAT (The Followers Book One) by KIRA SHAYDE
She’s trapped in another woman’s body…and the other woman is a werelion.
Nicole Abramson gains more than razor-sharp claws and a taste for raw meat. With a latent telekinetic talent, she’s a weapon to be used in a millennia-long war, but will she serve or resist? Fighting for her life, Nicole rails against the thief who stole her ordinary and safe life, even as she seeks comfort from the woman’s intended mate, the gorgeous Sander Evans.
Although drawn to her outspokenness, Sander keeps Nicole at bay while he defends his clan. Werelions and humans don’t mix, yet he can’t deny the passion igniting between them, particularly with her body in heat. As the danger around them amplifies, they’ll need more than courage and strength to fight for their newfound attraction—and their lives.
Want to read More? Here’s an excerpt to whet your appetite.
Sander clutched her upper arm, and the pressure of claws penetrated her sweatshirt.
“You need to change,” he said in a low growl.
Change? Oh, yes, change to lion form. Although lionish was a more apt description as they were predominately human…if humans had fur, claws, sharp teeth, and a reflecting glow in their yellow eyes.
“Get going,” Calia snapped.
Nicole flinched. “Sorry, but I don’t know how to change.”
A slight wind rustled through the trees, and katydids buzzed. Nicole bit her lip. “Hello? Is anybody there? Sander, it’s pitch black out here, and I can’t see a thing.”
Not a peep of response.
She crept alongside the car until she found the door handle. Locked. She rested her forehead on the door, allowing her frustration to simmer down. They’d return when done hunting. She simply had to wait.
Strong hands dug into her shoulders, wrenched her around, and pinned her arms to her sides. Heart pounding, she stood petrified as snarling hot breath exploded in her face. For a split second, she nearly jumped out of her skin.
Then self-preservation kicked in, and adrenaline surged through her veins.
Snarling in return, she yanked free and shoved aside whoever had grabbed her. She blinked, her feline eyes adjusting to the dim light, her vision now crystal clear, but in subtle hues. Sander sat on the ground.
“I help you change and you reward me by knocking me on my ass?”
Nicole clasped her hands to her face, the bristling fur under her fingertips not as shocking as she expected. “Oh, Sander. I’m so sorry.”
He laughed, low and throaty, and jumped to his feet. The yellow of his eyes shone in the faint ambient light.
“Come on, let’s hunt,” he called before bounding into a thicket of trees.
She ran after him, reveling in the unusual sensations. Muscles stronger. Balance amplified. Hearing acute. All so amazing and wonderfully strange. Until the strong scent of ammonia caught in the roof of her mouth—urine trails from wild animals.
Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she pivoted. With the grace of a dancer, Tyran scooped up a cottontail rabbit. The animal kicked for a moment before Sander’s brother snapped its neck. Nicole tried but couldn’t drag her gaze away as he used his claws to peel the rabbit’s fur from its body, slice deep down the belly, pull the skin apart, and dump the steaming intestines onto the cold ground.
The awesomeness of her lion form rapidly diminished.
Tyran held the rabbit by its hind legs and raised his arm, allowing the animal’s blood to drip to the ground. She stood dumbfounded as he sank his long canine teeth into the cottontail’s side and tore off a strip of meat.
Gagging, she took a step back even as her stomach rumbled in hunger and her mouth salivated—the aroma of the raw flesh oddly tantalizing. But could she slaughter a defenseless animal and eat its still-warm body?
Sander gestured to another rabbit hiding under a shrub. Her turn. She focused on the animal for several moments, studying its twitching whiskers, listening to its rapid heartbeat. Her claws itched to grab, possess, and slice.
But she shook her head, turned around, and walked toward the parking lot, passing by Sander’s sister. Even in the dim light, blood gleamed on the woman’s satiated face as Calia tossed the remains of an opossum near the base of a tree.
Shivering, Nicole hastened her pace, only to be grabbed from behind. She recognized Sander’s scent and circled to face him, stiffening against his arms.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, his brows dipping low, emphasizing his predatory gaze.
“I can’t do this. I can’t bring myself to… I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be silly. You need to eat.”
“I’ll eat at the hotel. Normal human food.” She pulled away and turned around. The acute vision dimmed, the night sounds faded, and the breeze chilled her now smooth face.
“Nicole!”
She halted at his sharp tone.
“Nicole,” he repeated, more softly, taking her hand. “We can’t eat human food. We can’t digest it.”
“Not in your lion form, but—”
“Not in any form. We’re carnivores, plain and simple. Now come with me. I’ll help you make your kill.”
Even with the note of concern in his voice, she shrank from him and closed her eyes, swallowing the bile rising in her throat. “No, Sander. I don’t want to eat. You go feed yourself. I’ll wait by the car.”
When she opened her eyes, he was gone.
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Who is Kira Shayde!
As a paranormal romance writer, Kira Shayde explores somewhat atypical pairings and 
settings and can’t help adding a twinge of societal awareness to her works, but the focus is always on the developing romance, passion, and happy endings.
Kira enjoys studying love, sex, and relationships, and has a thing for shapeshifters, demons, mythological gods, and the fae. On a personal level, she is devoted to animal and ecological conservation…and devil’s food cake.
2 thoughts on “Novel Magic: Ancient Heat by Kira Shayde”
Thanks for hosting me!
My pleasure, Kira! Best of luck. Come back when your next book hits the shelves.