Wild and Fevered

by Long, Heather

  “Change is coming.” Saying it aloud didn’t make it so, yet she knew it also meant she’d accepted the portent of her dreams, even if she refused to answer the content. “I fear for us.”

  “I don’t.” Minninnewah flashed her a rare smile. Though young for a chief, he was an accomplished warrior and succeeded his father when the wise man passed from their world two winters before. “We will survive in this, I have every faith.”

  His tone echoed confidence, but she experienced none of the same. “The Fever took another encampment.” A dying people, the Tsitsistas tribes dwindled, family groups broke away or worse—died. The Fever, much-feared amongst them, cropped up time and again. Soon, they would have no Shamans to combat it. The lack of others gifted in medicine would have kept her from taking the ancient Shaman’s request, if nothing else barred her journeying away. She was the last.

  “I know. Scouts brought word yesterday. We burned the remnants. Our people are safe, Little Mother. We have you.” Onsi glanced at the chief then past him to their people. Where once perhaps hundreds, even thousands gathered, now they numbered fewer and fewer. Each winter, they lost more. Every summer, fewer births increased their tribe.

  No women carried children as they went to winter camp, none.

  Yet, she kept the recording of the oddity to herself. For Minninnewah, believing they were indestructible embedded within his very soul. A young chief, perhaps, but one hardened by time and loss. He didn’t disbelieve in danger, he simply refused to acknowledge it and give it power.

  But what he failed to comprehend and what she couldn’t bear to say aloud—he didn’t have to believe in the danger.

  Like the Fever, she had a feeling it would come for them all.

  When it does, I will stand with my people. Die with them if necessary.

  About the Author

  USA Today bestselling author, Heather Long, likes long walks in the park, science fiction, superheroes, Marines, and men who aren’t douche bags. Her books are filled with heroes and heroines tangled in romance as hot as Texas summertime. From paranormal historical westerns to contemporary military romance, Heather might switch genres, but one thing is true in all of her stories—her characters drive the books. When she’s not wrangling her menagerie of animals, she devotes her time to family and friends she considers family. She believes if you like your heroes so real you could lick the grit off their chest, and your heroines so likable, you’re sure you’ve been friends with women just like them, you’ll enjoy her worlds as much as she does.

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  @HVLong

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  www.heatherlong.net

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  Also by Heather Long

  Always a Marine Series

  Once Her Man, Always Her Man

  Retreat Hell! She Just Got Here

  Tell It to the Marine

  Proud to Serve Her

  Her Marine

  No Regrets, No Surrender

  The Marine Cowboy

  The Two and the Proud

  A Marine and a Gentleman

  Combat Barbie

  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

  What Part of Marine Don’t You Understand?

  A Marine Affair

  Marine Ever After

  Marine in the Wind

  Marine with Benefits

  A Marine of Plenty

  A Candle for a Marine

  Marine under the Mistletoe

  Have Yourself a Marine Christmas

  Lest Old Marines Be Forgot

  Her Marine Bodyguard

  * * *

  Bravo Team Wolf

  When Danger Bites

  Chance Monroe

  Earth Witches Aren’t Easy

  Plan Witch from Out of Town

  Bad Witch Rising

  Elite Metal

  Pure Copper (Elite Metal)

  Target: Tungsten (Elite Ghosts)

  Asset: Arsenic (Elite Elements)

  Fevered Hearts

  Marshal of Hel Dorado

  Brave are the Lonely

  Micah & Mrs. Miller

  A Fistful of Dreams

  Raising Kane

  Wanted: Fevered or Alive

  Wild and Fevered

  The Quick & The Fevered

  Going Royal

  Some Like It Royal

  Some Like It Scandalous

  Some Like It Deadly

  Some Like it Secret

  Some Like it Easy

  Her Marine Prince

  * * *

  Blocked (Hot on Ice)

  * * *

  Lone Star Leathernecks

  Semper Fi Cowboy

  As You Were, Cowboy

  * * *

  Magic & Mayhem

  The Witch Singer

  Bridget’s Witch’s Diary

  Mongrels

  Mongrels, Mischief & Mayhem

  * * *

  Space Cowboy

  Space Cowboy Survival Guide

  Showdown at the Omega Kilo Space Station

  Wolves of Willow Bend

  Wolf at Law

  Wolf Bite

  Caged Wolf

  Wolf Claim

  Wolf Next Door

  Rogue Wolf

  Bayou Wolf

  Untamed Wolf

  Wolf with Benefits

  River Wolf

  Single Wicked Wolf

  Desert Wolf

  Snow Wolf

  Wolf on Board

  Holly Jolly Wolf

  Shadow Wolf

  Thunder Wolf

  Ghost Wolf

  * * *

  Standalone

  Haunt Me