Return to Kadenburg

by T. E. Ridener

He held his arm out towards Dimitri, bracing himself as he squeezed his eyes shut.

  “Do it quick.”

  Thank you for reading Return to Kadenburg!

  Other books by T.E. Ridener:

  The Descendants Series

  The Fire King’s Daughter (Book #1)

  The Water King’s Bride (Book #2)

  The Ice King’s Heart (Book #3) Coming soon!

  The Blood Betrayal Series

  Blood Betrayal (Book #1)

  Mirela and Her Vampire (Book #1.5)

  Blood Revelations (Book #2)

  Blood Resurrection (Book #3) Coming soon!

  Please like my fan page www.facebook.com/TERidener

  Or feel free to send me an email at tonyawrites@hotmail.com!

  Reviews are sincerely appreciated.

  Keep reading for an exclusive sneak peek at a sweet romance by T.E. Ridener entitled “Chartreuse”.

  Sneak Peek

  Chartreuse

  One

  Acceptance; it’s something that everyone should do for each other. No matter what color someone’s skin is, or how old they are, or even who they love. The world would be a much better place if everyone could just accept one another. But most importantly, a lesson all people have to learn during their time on this earth is to accept themselves.

  That was something Kasen Reed had finally learned after he moved out on his own. Or perhaps it was something that he’d discovered before he left his mother’s. That may have been the reason he left his mom behind to start over. But could it really be considered starting over? Yes. It could. It wasn’t that his mother was a horrible person; she could be quite nice when she wanted to be. Or when her mood actually allowed that to be possible; which was rarely.

  Kasen had grown immune to his mother’s mood swings. As a younger child, he had constantly worried that it was his fault when she was crying or when she was yelling and throwing things against the wall. Kasen could remember when he would approach her as a boy, hugging his arms around her waist and repeatedly saying sorry. Even today, he would shake his head at the thought. He’d never had anything to be sorry for. She had run his father off. She had made life so hard for the two of them.

  But there was no use in living in the past. As a matter of fact, Kasen refused to do that. He had to move forward. So that’s what he was doing. The last eight months had been the best of his life. He’d gotten his own apartment down town; he had his dream job of being a radio personality. He loved music. He related to it in so many ways.

  Music was good for the soul, or so he had heard. He wouldn’t argue that fact. He’d been listening to everything he could get his hands on for years. Technology had made it easier to obtain music though, seeing as music became highly accessible through the internet. He hadn’t even gotten his first computer until he was fifteen, and once he had that bad boy in his room, the rest was history. If it hadn’t been for his grandmother, he probably wouldn’t have even gotten that.

  His grandmother was the sensible one in the family. He had no aunts or uncles, just his mother and grandmother. He couldn’t really recall ever having a male figure in his life. His father had only stayed around until he was three or so, and by then, his mother had done a sufficient job of driving the man insane. Enough was enough, he supposed. But why didn’t his dad take him with him?

  These were thoughts that were always going through Kasen’s mind. Thoughts always ate at him, making him miserable on the inside even though he tried to keep himself relatively put together on the outside. Maybe his problem was that he never really talked about his issues with anyone. He didn’t feel comfortable on letting anyone in; and that was probably his biggest downfall.

  He had once tried to open up to his mother about things. It had been a silly topic, really. But he’d been having a lot of issues with his school work during the tenth grade, and he decided he needed some extra tutoring.

  “Don’t come at me with your problems,” She’d said. “I have enough to deal with without adding your crap onto mine.”

  And that had taught him never to try to talk to her again. Or anyone, for that matter. If a guy couldn’t talk to the person who’d given him life, then who the hell was he supposed to talk to? And the craziest part about the ordeal was the fact she was always trying to boss him around. Always, always.

  It seemed like he couldn’t do anything right. It was one of the many reasons that he moved out. Even now, with him living several blocks away from her, she still called every other hour. Sometimes he answered, but most times he took advantage of that beautiful ignore button.

  No one could really blame him, could they? She was a nightmare. Kasen was glad to be out of that mess. Living on his own was definitely better. In the short amount of time he’d been living in his apartment, he’d felt an incredible weight lifted off his shoulders. Everything was finally going the way he’d always wanted it to, but of course, something was missing.

  Living in the tiny town of Chartreuse, Alabama, it was difficult for Kasen to even hope that he’d ever find love. The final reason he’d ultimately decided to move out from under his mother’s roof, was because of her reaction to his admittance of being gay. It hadn’t settled well with her, and despite the fact she hadn’t said much on the subject, Kasen could see the disappointment in her eyes every time she looked at him.

  It’s a gut wrenching feeling to know that your mother is disgusted with you. But he tried not to think about it too much. Lots of people had issues with their parents, right? And he wasn’t even going to attempt to open the can of worms with his father. That was a lost cause entirely, in his mind. Besides, he didn’t even know how to get a hold of the guy.

  So today, he was doing what he’d always done, which included enjoying a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch while reading the newspaper, counting down the minutes until it was time to head in to work; even though work didn’t start until eight forty five at night. He liked the fact he worked until around two in the morning. He didn’t have to work many hours, but still he made a decent paycheck. It paid for his apartment and the few other things in life that he actually got pleasure from.

  For instance, the internet. He could browse videos for hours. He also liked to look up random facts and gain useless information. He wasn’t entirely hard to please. His day would go as usual; he would finish eating his cereal and wash the bowl, putting it back into the dish drain just to be used again tomorrow. Then he’d wander about until he found Houston, his five month old Weimaraner, who was normally always cuddled up somewhere in the bedroom.

  “Houston. C’mon, Boy,” he said, clapping his hands together. The puppy lifted his head lazily, glancing towards his master before putting his head back down and closing his eyes. He was always disinterested until Kasen pulled out the leash, and then he was ready to go outside.

  The morning air was chilly, and Kasen had to hug his denim jacket a little tighter around himself as they walked down the sidewalk, nearing the park that the city had previously put in a year before. Too many dogs were getting hit by cars. Kasen thought it was a great idea, really. He enjoyed the safety the park provided. He didn’t have to be paranoid about Houston getting away from him and trying to chase him down in a panic.

  As soon as he was inside the park, he shut the gate behind him and released Houston from his temporary restraint. The puppy happily bounded off while Kasen smiled, moving to sit down on a bench to take a breather. And by breather, that meant pulling out a pack of cigarettes to light one up. As the flame danced from the tip of the plastic blue contraption, Kasen’s eyes lifted upwards to see a large brown dog that was curiously sniffing at Houston.

  Kasen quickly stood up, but calmly approached the two pooches who were now very interested in one another. His brows furrowed slightly. He wasn’t sure if the other dog was very friendly or not.

  “Don’t worry,” A deep, smooth voice said. “He’s as gentle as a teddy bear.”

  Kasen turned to see a man standing there, and though he
honestly wished he could say he noticed his height first, it was actually his eyes. They were almost the color of caramel. They seemed warm. Kind. Kasen smiled nervously.

  “I wasn’t worried,” He replied sheepishly as he shoved a hand into his pocket, pulling his cigarette from between his lips so he could actually talk. It was weird how he could talk to anyone while at work, though they were always on the phone. Being in person with someone was entirely different. He became shy and stammered; it was an all-around mess.

  “Come here, Napoleon,” The man knelt down, snapping his fingers a few times before his dog came back to him, wagging his tail. Kasen watched him in silence, chewing at his bottom lip as the man began to pet his dog, allowing him to lick his cheek as he chuckled.

  Kasen was sure he’d never seen him around before. It was weird, because with such a tiny town, he saw the same people at least twice a week if not more. And it was just like that, he was certain the man was reading his mind as he glanced up at him, catching Kasen staring at him. Kasen’s entire face heated up as he quickly looked down again.

  “Well, I guess I should be heading out,” The man said, straightening up again. Kasen could feel his eyes on him, but he was afraid to look up. He didn’t like seeing the disappointment on people’s faces.

  “See you around then,” The man added after another few seconds of awkward silence. Kasen just nodded his head a bit, taking another drag of his cigarette between tightly pursed lips as he watched the man disappear from his peripheral vision.

  Christ. He was an idiot. He couldn’t even achieve being normal around a seemingly nice person. Not to mention the fact he’d been all but drooling over him. “Come on, Houston,” He said, patting his thigh. His days had started out weirder before, hadn’t they?

  Coming soon.

  Characters

  Presley Goult – A 26 year old female ursithrope who returns to Kadenburg after experiencing a harsh breakup with her very human boyfriend. Her last name means “gold”.

  Lorcan Bamey – A 28 year old male ursithrope residing in Kadenburg. His first name means ‘little fierce one’ and his last means ‘brave as a bear’.

  Arnold Goult – Presley’s uncle. He raised her as his own after his twin sister abandoned her. He is an ursithrope.

  Richard Bamey – Lorcan’s father. He’s an ursithrope.

  Charlotte Bamey – Lorcan’s mother. She’s an ursithrope.

  Liam Bamey- Lorcan’s older brother. He was an ursithrope murdered by werewolves because he was mated to one of their kind. Liam was 29 when he died.

  Jim Proffitt – The owner of Jimbo’s. He’s a human.

  Alma Proffitt – Jim’s wife. She’s a human.

  Dimitri Fridolf – Liam’s lycanthrope mate. He’s been on the run from Breslin ever since Liam’s death and he becomes an ally to the ursithropes in hopes of destroying Breslin for good. He is an orphan and does not have a true pack. He’s 28 years old. It is said that people with the name Dimitri have a great desire to help humanity. His last name, Fridolf, means ‘peaceful wolf’.

  Sheriff Holter- The Sheriff of Kadenburg. He is also a werewolf hunter and has been trying to keep Kadenburg wolf-free for some thirty years, if not longer. His relationship with his son has been strained ever since he discovered Rutley was bisexual.

  Rutley Holter- A 29 year old human who reluctantly returns to his hometown of Kadenburg after receiving a distressed call from his father. He was best friends with Liam Bamey during their childhood and adolescence, and things become personal when he decides to hunt down Liam’s killer. He was trained to be a werewolf hunter from birth, but his allegiance to the code begins to weaken as he finds himself attracted to Liam’s mate who happens to be a werewolf. Rutley’s name means “Red Hunter”.

  Beau Xiong- Beau is a 28 year old ursithrope from China. His entire village was destroyed by Breslin Connor, ruthlessly slaughtered before his very eyes. He was able to save his younger cousin, Louisa, and a handful of panda-shifters from the devastation. Beau is an extremely skilled warrior and he has a strong hatred for lycanthropes. No matter how brutal he may seem, however, he does have a passion for saving lives and managed to earn his medical degree before his life changed forever.

  Louisa Xiong- A 19 year old ursithrope from China. After her village’s destruction, she fled to America with her older cousin Beau and they arrived in Kadenburg after receiving a desperate ‘call’ from Natalie Carroll. Louisa is a gifted ursithrope and she possesses the ability to sense others’ emotions, as well as project emotions into the people she comes into contact with. Louisa’s mate-to-be was murdered by Breslin Connor.

  Thomas – Breslin Connor’s Beta. Dimitri killed him when he tried to attack Presley, thus proving where his true loyalty lies.

  Breslin Connor – An ambitious, cold-blooded lycanthrope who wants to claim Kadenburg as his territory. He murdered Pierce Carroll before Presley was born, and he is seemingly determined to abduct her and force her to breed hybrids-a mix between ursithropes and lycanthropes. He is also responsible for the deaths of many ursithropes, including Liam Bamey. His age is unknown.

  Pierce Carroll – Presley’s father. A male ursithrope killed by Breslin Connor in the late 80’s.

  Caroline Goult – Arnold Goult’s twin sister; Presley’s mother. A female ursithrope. It has been said she was used as a breeder for hybrids, though the results were unsuccessful. Her whereabouts are unknown.

  Natalie Carroll – Pierce’s older sister; Presley’s aunt. A female ursithrope. Her loyalty swiftly changes once she realizes her niece is pregnant. Her change of heart is still somewhat confusing for her fellow ursithropes, but Mrs. Bamey believes in giving her a second chance.

  Naomi Fridolf- Dimitri’s mother. She was a lycanthrope. She died when he was very young. According to Natalie Carroll, she was used in an attempt to breed hybrids.

  Nana Hettie – Owner of the local diner who presumably has a personal vendetta against Presley for her behavior as a teen. She’s a human.

  Davey Berdine – An elder male ursithrope.

  Gregory Kress – An 18 year old male ursithrope-turned-hybrid. He’s a firefighter from Virginia.

  Colin Grimes – A male ursithrope. He is 30 years of age and is said to be a professional football player.

  Parson Downing – A male ursithrope.

  Kyle Frey – A male ursithrope.

  Gabby Kress – Greg’s little sister. A female ursithrope.

  Luke – A lycanthrope. Killed by Rutley Holter.

  Georgie- A lycanthrope. Killed by Rutley Holter.

  Urseth – The Russian god of the bears. When a young Russian man serving as a soldier during the Civil War pleaded to Urseth to save his life, Urseth sent aid in the form of fierce bear warriors. He then granted the bears a peaceful existence among the humans, as long as they followed his laws.