Novice Defender

by Marisa Chenery

  Table of Contents

  Legal Page

  Title Page

  Book Description

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  New Excerpt

  About the Author

  Publisher Page

  Novice Defender

  ISBN # 978-1-78651-772-2

  ©Copyright Marisa Chenery 2016

  Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright August 2016

  Edited by Jamie D. Rose

  Finch Books

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Finch Books.

  Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Finch Books. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

  The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

  Published in 2016 by Finch Books, Newland House, The Point, Weaver Road, Lincoln, LN6 3QN

  Finch Books is a subsidiary of Totally Entwined Group Limited.

  Zombie World

  NOVICE DEFENDER

  Marisa Chenery

  Book two in the Zombie World series

  Now a Werewolf Defender, Jerrica must find her way into what she’s become and overcome fears she didn’t expect.

  Being changed into a Werewolf Defender opened a whole new world to Jerrica—one she hopes to explore with her mate, Calan. Now able to take on her wolf Defender form and end zombies with her teeth and claws, she should have no fear of the creatures who have pretty much taken over. At least, that’s what she thinks.

  But her experience with having been bitten and almost turned into an undead has left a scar she hadn’t counted on. She freezes when confronted with a zombie, and she can’t shake it.

  While she is trying to learn about her new life and all it entails, Jerrica finds that everything continues to change—and not for the better. But going it alone is not an option.

  Chapter One

  Jerrica trotted through the open settlement gates in wolf form with Calan at her side. It’d been two weeks since he’d bitten her to turn her and make her his mate. No longer was the fabled Werewolf Defender alone in a world that was overrun by zombies.

  “Are you ready for this?” Calan asked her telepathically.

  “As much as I’ll ever be,” she replied in the same way.

  This was the first time Jerrica had been outside the settlement’s walls since becoming the second Werewolf Defender, and this would be her first training session since she’d awakened from her two-day sleep during her transition. Up until now, Calan had only taught her how to hone her acute senses so she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by them and how to shift from human to wolf until it became second nature.

  This evening he’d teach her how to take out zombies in wolf form. No longer would she have to rely on her bow and arrows to do the job. Her sharp teeth and claws were the tools of the Werewolf Defender trade.

  They ran through the field used to grow the settlement’s food to the tree line that bordered one side of it. Jerrica kept pace with Calan as he dove into the forest. Her new wolf side relished the freedom of running in the woods, the scents of the local wildlife filling her nose. She detected rabbits and deer. She wanted to go on the hunt for them, but her mate had warned her not to be distracted by other prey. They were only after one kind.

  Calan led Jerrica deeper into the trees, and soon she was the farthest she’d ever been from the safety of the settlement. It was exhilarating. It’d been a dream of hers to travel the world, and now it was becoming a reality.

  Jerrica rubbed against Calan’s black fur that was the same color as his hair when he was in human form. He turned his head and met her gaze. His ice-blue wolf’s eyes showed the same joy that had to be mirrored in her own.

  They continued to run for a few more minutes until Calan slowed their pace then came to a stop. He lifted his head and sniffed the breeze that blew in their faces. Jerrica sniffed as well, easily detecting the rotten stink of several zombies.

  “Do you smell that?” Calan asked.

  “Yes. Zombies.”

  “I want you to take point and follow the scent to them.”

  “Okay.”

  Jerrica took up a position in front of Calan, then set off at a run once more with him following. It was easy for her to latch on to the zombie scent. The putrid smell of their rotting flesh was strong. A human wouldn’t have been able to pick it up, but to her it almost overrode everything else.

  She stopped once the zombies were a short distance away. There were four of them, aimlessly milling around a section of trees, moaning. A couple were so decomposed that their skin was missing in places. One had his entrails hanging from his stomach. The undead creatures didn’t acknowledge her or Calan’s presence. To them, they were basically invisible.

  Calan stepped to her side. “Remember what I told you. They can’t turn you. You’re now immune to their bite. You’re faster and deadlier than they are. You have nothing to fear from them.”

  Jerrica raised and lowered her lupine head in a slow nod. She knew what to do. She’d seen Calan take down zombies on more than one occasion. He’d even instructed her how to do it before they’d set out that evening. She took a deep breath, expanding her furred sides. She had this.

  Calan closed on the first zombie and Jerrica followed, heading for the second. It didn’t see her coming. She tried not to think of what she had to do, relying instead on her new Defender instincts.

  Just before Jerrica struck, the zombie turned in her direction. It opened its mouth in a loud moan. Images of when she’d been bitten flashed through her mind. She froze, unable to force herself to move, fixated on the creature. Irrational fear took hold of her and wouldn’t let go. She’d almost become one of the undead. Only Calan’s bite had saved her.

  A flash of black fur shot in front of her as the zombie lurched to grab her. She could only watch as Calan ended the creature. Jerrica panted, trying to fight against her fear and losing the battle. She’d never been that afraid of the undead before being bitten. It was stupid. Now, when she was impervious to the undead, she was useless.

  Calan came to stand before her and rubbed his muzzle against hers. “It’s okay, Jerrica. I can smell your fear. You’re safe. I ended them all.”

  She looked around. Calan had put down all the zombies. They lay where they’d fallen, not moving. Jerrica took a deep breath and met his gaze. Her body unlocked, and her fear slipped away.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t know why I reacted like that.”

  Calan rubbed his muzzle against hers again. “You don’t need to apologize. Let’s shift.”

  Jerrica thought of herself in human form and, with a flash of light, she shifted. Calan did the same. He pulled her toward him and caressed her back. She gladly leaned into him, needing the closeness.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Maybe it was too soon for me to start this part of your training. I should have thought of how you being bitten would have affected you. You almost turned.”

  “How could you have thought of that when even I didn’
t think it would be a problem? It wasn’t until I went to end the zombie that the fear took hold of me. It’s dumb. I know I’m not in any danger, given what I am now, but I couldn’t snap out of it.”

  “You just need time.” Calan released her, then took a step back. “Do you think you can handle cleaning up this mess?” He pointed toward the fallen undead.

  “Yes. The fear is gone. Teach me how.”

  “It’s easy. Same as when you shift, it’s all about what you’re focusing on in your mind. Think of fire, then wave your hand toward the zombies.”

  Jerrica nodded. “Okay. That sounds easy enough.”

  She did as Calan had said and thought of fire engulfing the undead. Jerrica waved her hand at the first one, and flames appeared. They weren’t the normal kind. These burned an eerie blue-green that didn’t give off any warmth. The fire burned brightly and, in a matter of seconds, turned the zombie to ash.

  Jerrica smiled as she looked at Calan. “I did it.”

  He returned her smile. “You did. Now take care of the others.”

  She burned the rest of the bodies with her supernatural fire, happy to think she wasn’t completely useless as a Defender. It still bothered her that she’d frozen like that. She wanted to protect humans just like Calan did. Two Werewolf Defenders were better than one.

  That job complete, Calan said, “I think we should cut short our night of hunting. We’ll stick to only guarding the field and orchard until you’re ready to take on zombies out here.”

  Jerrica nodded. “Okay.”

  She understood why Calan would want to scale back her training, but it didn’t mean she liked it. Jerrica had to get over her fear. It was that simple. How long before that was accomplished was a mystery. It had taken her totally by surprise, and she was disappointed in herself.

  He closed the distance between them and gave her a quick kiss. “Stop it. No beating yourself up about it. I can tell by your long face that you are, so don’t bother denying it. You’re new to all this. At least you have me to teach you how to be a Werewolf Defender. I didn’t have anybody, and I made plenty of mistakes in the beginning.”

  Calan had been eighteen years old when the first zombies had emerged, and four Native American shaman spirits had turned him into the Werewolf Defender to help save mankind, freezing him at that age and making him immortal. He’d slept for twenty years in a cave, then for the last eighty years he’d moved from settlement to settlement, clearing out the undead.

  “Fine, I’ll stop,” she said. “I’m still ticked off with myself for freezing, though. I want to be like you—to do the job the shamans want me to do.”

  “You will. As I said, it will just take time. It’s not as if you’re going to be graded on your performance.” Calan gave her a smile.

  Jerrica couldn’t help returning it. “True.”

  “Come on. Let’s go wolf and run back to the settlement.”

  “Race you,” Jerrica said with a laugh.

  She turned and shifted to her wolf form on the fly, just as Calan had taught her. She would never get sick of taking on the skin of her animal half, which was much bigger than the wild wolves. The wildness and freedom she felt while in it made up for the confining life Jerrica had always lived, forced to keep to the settlement’s high wooden walls for safety.

  Given their large size and preternatural speed, Jerrica and Calan returned to the settlement in no time. Calan threw back his head and howled to let the guards on the walls know they wanted to come inside. A head popped over, then disappeared, before the gates were opened enough for them to slip through. They creaked closed behind them.

  Calan and Jerrica continued in a loping run toward her parents’ cabin. Even though she and Calan were mates, she hadn’t moved out of her family home to live with him. At age eighteen, by the settlement’s laws, she was old enough to marry, but Calan wanted her to wait before they took their relationship to that next step. He said it was best for her to learn everything about the new path her life had taken, then they’d think about the rest. She’d agreed.

  They shifted to human form once they arrived at the cabin’s front yard. “Do you want to come inside for a while?” she asked.

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  Jerrica met his gaze. “You’re going back out there alone to do some hunting, aren’t you?”

  Calan gave her a sheepish smile. “Maybe.”

  She shook her head. “There’s no ‘maybe’ about it. You are going out. Now I feel as if I’m holding you back.”

  “You’re not. You’re just a novice when it comes to being a Werewolf Defender. As I told you, it’s just going to take time. And I’m used to hunting on my own.”

  “All right. Get out of here. I’ll see you at breakfast, bright and early tomorrow morning, then we can go to the field together.”

  “I promise not to be late.”

  Calan pulled her close then kissed her. It lasted for some seconds before he released her. He turned, went wolf, then ran out of the yard. Jerrica stayed where she was until she could no longer see him before she headed into the cabin.

  Her father was seated at the kitchen table, looking over a journal, while her mother sat in a chair close to the fireplace, knitting. She was working on a sweater for her grandson, Seth. Jerrica’s older brother, Hunter, and his wife, Faith, had recently had their first child. Jerrica’s mother had been knitting up a storm to supply the baby with enough warm clothes for the coming cold season.

  “You’re back early,” her dad said.

  Jerrica crossed the room to the table, then sat on one of the chairs. “Hunting didn’t go as we’d planned.”

  “How so?”

  She blew out a breath. “Well, it would seem that the zombie biting me had a much greater effect on me than I’d thought. When Calan and I came across some undead in the forest, I froze. I know they can’t hurt me anymore because of what I am, but I couldn’t get past my fear.”

  Her mom stood, placed her knitting on the chair, then came to Jerrica. She put her arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. “That’s to be expected. You almost turned. It’s hard to get over something you’ve been in fear of your entire life. Give it time.”

  “That’s what Calan said—to give it time. Now he’s gone past the gates to hunt on his own, since I’m useless at it.”

  Her father shook his head. “It’s only been a week since you became a Werewolf Defender, Jerrica. You can’t expect to be able to jump right into it and do the job perfectly. You’ll learn, just as I’ve had to learn what it really entails to run this place smoothly.”

  He was referring to his new position as the leader of the settlement. It’d been a week since he’d been elected to it after their former leader John had revealed how terrible and corrupt he was at the job by locking her and Calan out of the settlement overnight. Jerrica hadn’t been a Defender then, and she’d been very much vulnerable to a zombie attack. Luckily, Calan had taken care of her and kept her safe.

  “You’re doing a great job, Dad,” she said.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” He motioned to the journal in front of him. “John wasn’t much for bookwork. I’m surprised the settlement has done as well as it did under his rule. The man didn’t keep track of the food stores or the number of livestock each settler owns. The only thing he did do was mark what crops were planted in the field and when.” He closed the book with a snap. “I’ll have to get some of the settlers to help me inventory everything we have, so I can get a picture of where we will actually stand come winter.”

  Her mom smiled at her father. “I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting volunteers to help, dear. Everyone is much happier under your leadership.” She looked at Jerrica. “Don’t let his grumbling fool you. He enjoys the work.”

  Jerrica grinned. “I know he does.” Her mother returned to the chair by the fire then picked up her knitting. Jerrica looked at her dad. “Is it still quiet with the rest of John’s family?”

  Afte
r John and his oldest son had set a zombie attack into motion on their settlement, her dad had been left with no choice but to banish them. Too many undead had gotten through the gates and had bitten quite a few people. They’d lost a quarter of their population to turning. It wasn’t something that could have been overlooked or gone without strict punishment.

  “So far, John’s wife and their remaining children have kept to themselves. The son’s wife has returned to live with her family. She was just as shocked as the rest of us at what her husband had been capable of. Luckily, she hadn’t had any children with him, and their marriage is considered annulled. I’m keeping a close eye on John’s brother, though.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Enough talk about John and his family. Are you still going to patrol the field and orchard with Calan tomorrow?”

  “Yes.”

  “In Defender form or human?”

  “Defender. Now that I know I freeze when it comes to taking out zombies, I need to start off small, and patrolling is the perfect place for that.”

  “Then I guess you won’t be bringing your bow and arrows.”

  Jerrica was one of the best archers in the settlement. Before becoming a Defender, she’d patrolled the field and orchard with her bow and Calan. She’d ridden him since he was so large in his wolf form, and she’d perfected shooting arrows from his back.

  She shrugged. “I haven’t decided yet. I thought to bring them in case I happen to see a deer. I think I’d make too much of a mess of the hide if I was to take it down in wolf form.”

  “I think it will be wise for you to have them nearby when you go out there. For one thing, the meat would be welcome. And, for another, it might help you get over your fear to know you have a familiar weapon on hand that you are confident you can use to successfully end zombies. That way you won’t have to be right on them to end them. Their bite still can’t hurt you, so you’d be safe if one happened to get too close.”