by R. E. Butler
Must Love Falcons
Sable Cove Book Three
A Paranormal Chick Lit Novel
By R. E. Butler
Copyright 2021, R. E. Butler
Must Love Falcons (Sable Cove Book Three)
By R. E. Butler
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Cover by Gwen Knight
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
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Edited by Sara Dawn Johnson
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Special thanks to Wild Shifter Babes Reader Group member Ann Ivey for providing the name for the swan–Sasha. Thanks for being part of the fun!
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Thanks to Joyce, Shelley, and Ann for beta reading.
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Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Coming Soon
Contact the Author
More Books by R. E. Butler
Purred Promises (Cider Falls Shifters Book One)
Must Love Falcons (Sable Cove Book Three)
By R. E. Butler
Injured royal falcon? Check
Mistaken identity? Check
Death threats? Double Check
When witch Hadlee Moreau volunteers to clean the local vet’s office after hours, she’s abducted and unconscious before she even has a chance to speak one word of a protection spell.
Anders, king of the falcon shifters, loses his ability to fly during a night hunt and is gravely injured in the fall from the sky. His men search for a healer in a small, seaside town and find a female in an animal care center who they believe is a medical doctor. They abduct her to help Anders, taking her to their island home under the cover of darkness.
When Hadlee wakes from the drugs, she knows two things: she’s never been so pissed, and the gorgeous man on his death bed is her destined mate. It’s not enough that she has to save Anders’ life, but now she has to figure out who wants the falcon king dead and how she can save him…and herself.
Chapter One
Note to self: Love spells suck big old frog legs.
Hadlee Moreau, witch extraordinaire and sexy-techy-goddess, sat on the small patio in her backyard, crisscross-applesauce, just like she’d learned in elementary school. The sun was rising, chasing the darkness from the sky with ribbons of oranges and ambers.
She twisted a short, red candle into a bronze holder in the shape of a heart and set it on the stamped concrete.
In all her years, the one spell she’d never been able to cast was a love spell. But that didn’t stop her from trying at least once a week.
Love spells weren’t even that hard. Hell, Hadlee was a fab witch from a long line of fab witches and wizards, including her favorite aunt Sofia, lovingly nicknamed Fi, who could conjure a glamour to make herself look like anyone she wanted. Now that was powerful magic.
Not like a damn love spell.
Hell, Hadlee had seen explanations for love spells on mainstream media websites every Valentine’s Day for the last handful of years, always touting the rituals to be “easy” and “fun” and “effective.” Which begged the question, if a damn human could cast a love spell when they had zero magical abilities, then why the hells-bells couldn’t she do it?
“Bad thoughts, bad thoughts, yikes,” she murmured to herself as she picked up a box of matches with a blue crab on the exterior that she’d picked up on a day trip to Maryland the summer before. Normally she’d light the wick with her magic, but she didn’t want to mix up her magic spells right now and needed to focus fully on the love spell.
Blowing out a breath, she rolled her neck and looked at the red candle. She chased every other thought out of her mind except the love spell.
Why was she casting one? Two reasons. First, one of her two besties and fellow witches—Delaney—had recently found her mate in the vampire chief of police, Brody. Delaney getting her happily ever after made romantic thoughts careen around in Hadlee’s brain like an out-of-control RC car. And second, it was the one spell she couldn’t cast right, and it had been driving her buggy since she first tried casting it at age sixteen.
Her cat familiar, Osiris, meowed from the picnic table where he watched her in between washing his face with his paw.
“I know, I know. I’ll feed you after I cast the dang spell. You could help me, you know. You’re supposed to be a boost to my power.”
“Rowr.”
“Thanks.”
She inhaled deeply and calmed her flying pulse, then struck the match. Speaking the words of the spell she’d written in her spell book, she lit the wick and waved the match until it went out. She put the half-burned match on the ground and rested her hands on her knees.
Love spells were all about patience.
She had to wait for the candle to burn all the way down on its own, and then she’d know if the spell was successfully cast.
The first one she’d cast as a young witch had nearly burned her house down when the candle fell over and caught a hideous drape on fire. Then she’d sneezed and blew out the next attempt. Osiris had whiffed his tail over the flame once and snuffed it. Gally, an owl at the familiar rescue agency where she and her besties worked, had dropped a dead mouse on it one time. The list of hilarious and annoying reasons for the love spell going wrong was quite long, but Hadlee was nothing if not determined to make the love spell her bitch.
If that was even possible.
She focused on the dancing flame and the pool of red wax. Osiris hopped down from the picnic table and joined her, purring loudly and rubbing his chin on her knee. “So help me, Osiris, if you knock the flame out I’m going to hide the catnip.”
The flame grew brighter for a brief moment and Hadlee held her breath, wondering if it would go out. But it didn’t, resuming the wiggle back and forth as it slowly melted the candle.
Watching a candle melt was like waiting for water to boil. It was the freaking most boring thing on the planet. But her boredom was worth it if she could cast the spell correctly. She wanted to find her Mr. Right, the sexy other half of her heart. Her bed had been lonely for far too long. Her last boyfriend had said he didn’t mind her being a witch, but in the end, he had minded and so had his family, who likened her to some dancing-around-the-cauldron-naked sort of stereotype and threatened to disown him if he didn’t kick her to the curb.
Which he had.
And she hadn’t minded. Well, she’d minded a bit, but only long enough to
curse him with a little spell to make him constantly have to tie his shoes. When she pictured him needing to switch to slip-ons because he couldn’t take tying his shoes all the time, she smiled. Served the bastard right.
Humming a tune, she brought her knees up so she could rest her head on them and wrapped her arms around her legs. Osiris sprawled out at her bare feet and swatted at the ankle bracelet she’d forgotten to take off before she went to bed.
The candle still burned. Slowly. Steadily. The wax dripped down the sides and pooled in the holder.
Her eyes lowered and a yawn worked its way up and out her mouth, her jaws cracking with the motion.
It was too damn early, or she’d stayed up too late. One or the other. She was no early bird, but she wasn’t a night owl either. Maybe there was some kind of in-between, like an early owl or a night bird.
Snorting at her wayward train of thought, she focused once more on the candle and gasped in dismay.
When the hell had it gone out? And how?
Letting out a deep, frustrated groan, she gathered her things and stomped into the house, letting in Osiris before she slammed the sliding door shut, making it rattle in the frame.
“Of all the damned craziness,” she fumed. “Am I supposed to be single forever?” She looked to the ceiling, but her focus was toward the universe in general, wondering who the hell had it out for her in the magical realm.
It wasn’t as if she thought she was really cursed to remain single for her life. She truly believed that there was a special someone out there for everyone. Including her. Hell, the proof of her devotion to happily-ever-afters was in the fact she refused to give up on a love spell for herself.
It just seemed like she was destined to wait longer.
She was only twenty-four. It wasn’t like she was a spinster. She was just ready for the next chapter of her life to begin.
Soon.
If only Mr. Right would show up! Then she could get this party started.
“Well, if I can’t have a love spell going for me, how about breakfast?” she asked Osiris, who stared up at her with bright yellow eyes amidst fluffy black fur.
“Meow.”
Chapter Two
Anders, falcon king and all-around badass, cracked his neck and stared at the computer screen. He had zero computer abilities, and he blamed it on his falcon who preferred natural things like trees and rivers to techy things like computers. Anders could send a text and write an email, but anything more complicated than that and he turned into all thumbs.
“What’s that look for?” a deep voice asked from the doorway.
He lifted his head and saw his best friend and right-hand male Phoenix leaning against the doorjamb.
“I was just wondering if all falcons are bad at computers.”
He snorted. “You just want to feel better about yourself by thinking it’s a hereditary thing.”
“Well?”
“You might be on to something. I think it’s nature versus tech and our falcons are always going to win.”
“Probably.” Anders rubbed the space between his eyes where a headache was starting to bloom. “So what’s up?”
“We’ve got the nest hunt tonight. I wanted to see if there was anything you needed me to handle ahead of the gathering.”
Once a quarter, all the males in the nest got together for a night hunt. His nest had been doing them four times a year since they came to Cygnet Island four generations earlier. They would fly from their island to the mainland and return at dawn. The first time he’d gone on a hunt he was fifteen. He’d shifted earlier than most of his friends and had been able to join the adult males. His father, who had been king before him, had been so proud of him.
“I think we’re good,” Anders said. “I’m ready to stretch my wings and have a good hunt.”
“Me too.”
Anders turned off the computer and stood, then joined his friend at the door. “Let’s grab a drink at the tavern before the hunt.”
“Sounds good to me.”
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Anders ruled the Cygnet Island falcon nest to the best of his ability. His father, who had died two years earlier from an injury during one of the hunting trips, had been loved by everyone. Anders tried to rule like his father did—fairly and honestly. He hadn’t pictured being king at age twenty-seven. In his family, the males lived a long time. The position of king was hereditary through his family line. His father had only been fifty-eight when he died, succumbing to injuries from a terrible fall. He’d figured his father would rule well into his seventies, but his injury had taken him out of the kingship—and Anders’ life—far too soon. His mother had nearly died of her broken heart, but with the help of a human friend on the mainland who was a therapist, she came back from the brink and was stronger and sassier than ever. His mother—Darla—was an inspiration to him and a source of good advice.
He caught his mom watching him as he milled around the males who were getting ready for the hunt. She looked both sad and worried.
Joining her, he gave her a hug and kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be fine, Mom.”
“I know you will,” she said, dashing some tears from her cheeks. “I just worry. I hate the hunts.”
“It’ll be fine, I promise. I’ll come home.”
“I trust you will.” She gave him a little smile. “You know I wouldn’t be so sad during the hunts if you took a mate. I’d have someone to talk to. Oh! And grandbabies to spoil.”
“So you want me to take a mate because you’re bored on the hunt nights?” he teased.
“Not just for that. It’s time. You’re nearly thirty.”
“It’s three years from now.”
“More like two years and ten months, but who’s counting?”
“Who indeed?” He gave her an indulgent smile. “I don’t want to just pick anyone, Mom. I want the right one for me. My other half. She’s out there somewhere, but not on the island.” That much he was positive about. If his soulmate was on the island, he’d have found her by now since it wasn’t that big of an island.
“So what, you’ll find her on the hunt tonight?” She tilted her head.
He highly doubted that. It would be well after midnight by the time they reached the mainland, and they stuck to wooded areas to hunt besides. But he never said never. “Who knows what the night will hold?”
“Just come back safely,” she said earnestly.
“I promise I will,” he said.
He turned to face the crowd. The entire nest was standing in the center of the island on his home’s front lawn. He lived in the royal home, a decadent, two-hundred-year-old mansion that had a dozen bedrooms and three floors. His mother had a suite on the first floor. He had claimed the third floor for himself, leaving the second floor empty for his future children.
He was an only child, so he hoped to have a big family. Once he found his mate, that is.
Which was a thought to contemplate for another night. Right now he was going to focus on the hunt ahead of him. Clapping his hands together, he strode onto the front porch and lifted his hands for quiet.
“Tonight we take to the skies as we’ve done in the past, to commune with each other in our falcon forms and hunt to satisfy our birds’ needs. Stay together. Stay safe. And have fun.”
As the crowd cheered, he smiled as he stepped off the porch and stripped from his clothes. In minutes, he was in his shift with the other males in the nest, a hundred black-feathered bodies taking to the night sky with calls of happiness.
He wheeled in the sky and his people followed, as they headed away from Cygnet Island and toward the mainland, nothing but the hunt on his mind.
Chapter Three
Note to self: Volunteering to help out a friend can permanently alter one’s life.
Hadlee’s day had been busy. After working at the familiar rescue, where they took in orphaned familiar animals and took care of them until they found new wizards or witches to be with, she stopped to see Zia at the greenh
ouse next to the lighthouse. Zia was mated to Cassian, a merman who was the lighthouse keeper. Zia was a nature fairy who had a distant relative who was a wizard, so she had developed some witch tendencies after mating Cassian. She enjoyed hanging out with Hadlee and her friends to learn more about her powers and how to cast spells.
Because Zia’s fairy power was over nature, specifically plants, she could grow just about anything. Their coven was excited to have access to unique and rare plants that Zia could nurture for use in spells, potions, and other things.
After picking up a paper sack of herbs that Zia had dried for her, Hadlee climbed into her car and gave Osiris a scratch behind his ears. He gave her a lazy purr, sprawled out on the seat next to her in the afternoon sunshine.
Normally, her nights were free, but her friend Yasmine, who was a selkie and also a veterinarian, had lost a volunteer who came in weekly to help clean and asked if one of the witches could help out. Hadlee liked a clean house, of course, but seeking other cleaning jobs had never been something she went out of her way to do. But Yasmine helped out the rescue by checking out the orphaned animals and assisting with care if any of them were injured.
It seemed only right that Hadlee answer the call for a cleanup person. And she could take Osiris with her too.
She left the lighthouse and headed down the main street. Passing the diner, run by wolf shifter siblings Tyce and Tia, she debated stopping to pick up some dinner to eat while she cleaned.
“Nah,” she said out loud as she continued on to Yasmine’s office.
Hadlee pulled around to the back of the two-story brick building. Yasmine lived on the top floor, so she was available to help anyone twenty-four-seven. The first floor contained the waiting room, office, exam rooms, surgery suite, and a large room with cages for animals who had to stay overnight for one reason or another.