The Panther
Page 12
The End
I hope you enjoyed Kuro and Benji’s story. I absolutely loved writing their book. Kuro surprised me. I thought with what happened, he’d be cold and reject Benji completely from the beginning and refuse to hear Benji’s apology, but he didn’t and as I wrote this book, I fell in love with him as a character. He’s definitely one of the most kind-hearted, filthy-funny characters I’ve written, and I hope you loved him as much as me. As you probably have noticed the epilogue sets up for the next book in the timeline which will be Asphalt Bay book Seven, so keep an eye out for it and thank you for reading.
Continue reading for an excerpt from one of my WIP’s,
Book Seven in the Asphalt Bay series titled
The Warlock’s Beautiful Bird
*Due for Release in September*
The Warlock’s Beautiful Bird
Prologue
*Unedited/Subject to Change*
Throwing up a barrier as one of the guards tosses a gas grenade at me, I struggle to keep it intact while I simultaneously cast an attack spell to dispatch the guard. When I’m at my best, maintaining a barrier while casting other spells at the same time is a piece of cake, but I’m exhausted. Between going on lab raids, getting my new business up and running, and doing extra training to learn new spells, I’ve run myself ragged. The exhaustion is bone deep, and I can’t keep going like this, but it’s not like I have a choice. If there were more magic users, I’d gladly ask for a break. But, as it stands, there’s barely enough of us to raid three labs at once. We can’t afford to be down a man, so I’ll just have to suck it up and keep going. I’ll sleep when we’re done.
My stomach growling reminds me I haven’t had a decent meal that wasn’t a granola bar in a few days. I know I should take better care of myself but, all I can think about is how many paranormals are suffering at the hands of Carmine and I feel this driving need to help rescue them, no matter the cost. If pushing myself to learn more, and do more, ends the suffering of just one person then it’s worth sacrificing sleep and a couple meals. I’m not going to address the real reason I’m doing everything I can to keep myself busy at the expense of my health. Loneliness.
With nearly all my friends settled down with their mates and blissfully happy, I crave a mate of my own. Going to sleep in an empty bed every night, only serves to make me feel even lonelier. Maybe if I was more like Alaric who has a different man in his bed every night, I’d feel better. But I’m not. Meaningless sex lost its appeal when Kira mated. Seeing him happy and so in love with his mate flipped a switch in me. Compared to what I could have with a mate, sex with anyone else is like a cheap imitation and no longer interests me.
Getting the all-clear order through my comm link, I drop the barrier and sigh, feeling shakier than I’ve ever felt. I really can’t go on like this… maybe I should consider taking a break after all. When I walk out of the room, I’m in to meet up with the rest of my team for my search assignment, a wave of dizziness hits and black spots dance across my vision. Swaying on my feet, I reach out to steady myself by grabbing onto a table, only my weight as I lean on it sends it rolling causing me to stumble. Before I can regain my balance, my world goes black. The last thing I remember is the floor coming up to meet my face and the radiating pain in my shoulder as I hit the ground.
I wake up a day later in the pack’s clinic and hear Doc Gearson giving a rundown of my condition to Alpha Declan. Malnutrition and exhaustion. The Doc recommends a break and I wait for Declan’s response. When it doesn’t come, I open my eyes, no longer pretending to sleep so, I can eavesdrop, and am not surprised to see Declan standing over me.
Before I can say anything, he levels me with an alpha look that brooks no room for argument when combined with the tone he uses. “You’re on vacation until I say otherwise. Understood?”
“Yes alpha.”
“Good, get some rest.”
He exits the room, leaving me with one thought, what am I supposed to do now?
Back in Time, Deep End, Backbone—Daughtry
One More Try—George Michael
Un-Break My Heart—Toni Braxton
Hungry Eyes—Eric Carmen
Love Hurts—Nazareth
Escape—Rupert Holmes
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now—Starship
Careless Whisper—George Michael
Purple Rain—Prince
Please Forgive Me—Bryan Adams
Stuck on You—Lionel Ritchie
I was Made for Lovin’ you, Heaven’s on Fire—Kiss
I want to thank my parents for supporting me no matter what I do and tolerating me when I get in the zone of writing and ignore them completely. By tolerating, I’m really saying thanks for putting up with my shit. You have no idea how much that means to me. I love you guys. I want to thank Lisa Oliver, one of my favorite authors for encouraging me to write the story speaking in my head instead of forcing myself to stick to a different stereotype and for being an amazing friend I can bounce crazy ideas off of.
I want to thank Jemma Brown for designing such amazing covers for me. I thank the readers for taking the time to read a story from an unknown author like me. I want to thank my characters for coming to me when I was at a loss as to what to write/do next. Last, of all I want to thank all the musicians out there for playing their music and inspiring me.
Well, Ezra isn’t my real name obviously, but I liked the name, so I decided to use it. I live at home with my four dogs and one cat. I started out writing hetero romance novels, but it wasn’t where my heart lied. I adore all things paranormal and M/M is by far my favorite genre, so I decided to start writing Paranormal Romances. There’s a guaranteed happy ending with each of my books even if it may take some time for my guys to get there. I love each and every character on the page as if they were my own children.
It sounds weird but that’s how I feel about them. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember but only started actively pursuing it as a career in 2014. Since I published my first book in 2014, I have written and released multiple books with many more to come. My current list of projects is longer than my arm, so I look forward to writing and creating new stories for my readers to enjoy.
Standalones (M/F) *No longer available
Playboy
The Crimson Deceit
Don’t Fear the Reaper
The Boy Next Door
Standalones (M/M)
Paying for Love
Law of the Irish
Practical Ghosters
Abominable What-A?
The Cursed Prince
A Raven Walks Into A Bar *Spin-Off*
Asphalt Bay Pack Series (M/M)
An Alpha for the Demigod
The Enforcer’s Secret Vampire
The Beta’s Poison Bite
Taming the Feral Tiger
The Doctor’s Demon Prince
The Leopard’s Twin Troubles
The Four Horsemen Collection (M/M)
The Four Horsemen
Azazel
Sen
Taz
The Graveyard Shift (M/M)
The Mortician
The Caretaker
The Director
The Florist
The Mistake *Spin-Off*
Venetian Hills (M/M)
The Alpha’s Master
The Second’s Cursed Mate
The Beta’s Second Chance
The Panther’s Favorite Bully (You just finished it!!!)
Risqué Business (M/M)
Be My Prince
Seeking Rayne
Paranormals of Rockydale (M/M)
Misunderstanding His Mate
The Friendly Ghost’s New Beginning
Forbidden Loves (M/M)
All is Fair in Love and War
The Submission Trilogy (M/M)
The Hybrid’s Submission
The Wolf’s Hybrid Dom
Furry Tails (M/M)
Sugar and Spice
Crimson and Clover
> Diary of a Hitman (M/M)
Blood and Bullets
Planet Xenos (M/M)
The Heir’s Vampire Guardian
Upcoming Releases:
*Titles Subject to change*
The Warlock’s Beautiful Bird (AB7)—TBA
The Driver (GS5)—TBA
The Hybrid’s Dominant Mate (ST3)—TBA
You can find me on Facebook, MeWe, Twitter, and on my website.
Facebook: Ezra Dawn Author or Ezra’s Book Groupies
MeWe: Amanda Ezra Ezra Dawn or Ezra’s Asphalt Baywatchers
Twitter: @graveshadowcrow
Website: www.ezradawnauthor.com
I look forward to hearing from you!
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