Heart Of The Panther – Michelle Love

He scanned the room, listening beyond the wind outside and the crackle of embers in the hearth. The shuddering chill of the draugar never came, making his mouth twist when her thin, ragged voice wheezed. “No… No… Njáll.” With her eyes still shut, she clutched the furs, her knuckles almost translucent under her grip. A strangled sound hissed through her teeth, her beautiful features twisted and unfamiliar.

“Don’t leave me! Blood… Broken… Coming,” she shrieked, thrashing in his arms. Sweat trickled over her pale brow, all the color gone from her cheeks. Her frantic breaths turned into gasping sobs as she tried to push away from him. He had never seen a nightmare such as this—something so consuming and vivid. “Little flame,” Njáll growled, the rough command hissing through the quiet night.

Cold burned his fingers as he squeezed her shoulders, trying to force her out of whatever tormented her. Her eyes snapped open, wide and wild, horror evident in her dilated pupils. Silent tears slid down her cheeks, and he pulled her snugly into him, cradling her head under his chin. He had never felt so powerless. He did not enjoy it. How did he protect her from something he could not see? How did he fight an enemy that was not here? Blood slid along his tongue as his teeth pierced his lip.

Njáll pushed his own worries aside, focusing entirely on the girl in his arms. Her heart raced, pounding against his chest as he soothed his fingertips along the column of her spine. “Hush, little flame. You are here. I am here. There is no blood. Only us. You are safe.” She continued to tremble, staring unseeingly into the distance. “Look at me,” he commanded, using the tone of a jarl who wouldn’t be questioned. Those dull eyes gazed at him, devoid of any spark. He bracketed her frigid face with his scarred palms.

Many moments passed before the trembling in her frame subsided, her breathing evening out. “Njáll,” she croaked, her sweet voice harsh. “I’m here.” She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her lips brushing against his pulse point. The room remained eerily silent, with no sign of Alruna materializing in the wisps of smoke. Shadows stayed still, and Njáll held his girl tighter, murmuring in Norse. If the panther retreated, it meant either her presence wasn’t needed or a stronger protective force remained.

The thought solidified something within him. This little flame was his, and he was hers.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Cover art by omniluci.estumbra. Editing by havocarchives. Formatting by Katie Jaspersen @ K. Jaspersen Designs. This book is a work of fiction. It does not represent any real persons past or present. No portion of this book or the art within may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence systems.

OceanofPDF.com You are not alone. Burn brightly, little flame. Momma. This one’s for you. I see you in the cardinals by my house. I hope I’ve made you proud. OceanofPDF.com Content Notes (potential spoilers) Grief Death of a parent Night terrors OceanofPDF.com T Prologue Elara ears slid down her face as she stared down at the sunken face of her mother.

Cold fingers twitched weakly against hers, and she gently squeezed. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t happening. Elara slammed her eyes shut, praying this was all a nightmare. That her mother wasn’t slowly slipping away. An unnatural cold crept up Elara’s back. A chill which never quite left her. Her mother always laughed at how Elara needed multiple furs to keep warm.

Even in the sunny season. Over the years, Elara had to learn to navigate the flashes of ice in her veins, brushing it off, even when deep down, something didn’t sit right in her belly. Breathing in, Elara gazed down at her mother. The crushing weight of reality hit her so hard it knocked the air from her lungs. Across from her, her father’s lips rested on her mother’s sweaty temple, murmuring words Elara couldn’t hear.

The infection spread quickly, the fever uncontrollable. It had been a minor wound; the healer hadn’t been concerned after the wolf injured her. But within a day, her mother’s condition deteriorated. Now, Elara sat over her mother’s bed, preparing for the inevitable. An inevitable which slipped into her dreams only a few weeks ago. For as long as she could remember, Elara always had vivid dreams, but in the last ten years, they had turned into something more foreboding. More than once, those dreams turned into reality. Usually, it had been something small: the foretelling of a massive storm or the loss of one of their sheep.

She learned to ignore them. Most of the time, her dreams were nothing more than that—dreams. So, when Elara had a nightmare about her mother, sick in her furs, clinging to Elara’s hand, she didn’t think much of it. Until now. “Momma,” Elara whispered, the choked sound catching in her throat.

“Don’t leave. Please. We need you. Don’t go. Don’t go.” Each sob became more strangled than the last.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 7de57fd1331d4fb2
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 2,607,801 bytes (2.487 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 297
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 451.42 minutes
• Total Words: 90,284
• Total Characters: 508,712
• Average Words per Page: 303.99
• Average Characters per Page: 1712.84

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