Blurb:

Maki waited years to discover what dragon spirit the fates gifted him with.  He anticipated his first flight, his parents at his side, as he launched  himself into the sky for the first time.  Best of all, one day he’d find his mate and spend the rest of his life with someone by his side.   Unfortunately for him, things didn’t go exactly as he’d always planned.

Excerpt:

“Holy fucking hell. Son of bitch, stay the hell back. How the hell could this shit be happening?” The shock of hearing the foul words from his father sent shock coursing through him and forced him to open his eyes. He blinked to clear his vision and suddenly everything in front of him was crystal clear. He towered over them in his dragon form and instead of the smiles he expected to see, his mother was crying and his father was scowling at him, the whites of his eyes glaringly bright.    His mother’s hand covered her lips, muffling her cries as she stared up at Maki, the sun glinting off the tears coursing down her face. Her fear and pain were crystal clear to his new senses.

    He shook his massive head and took a step towards them only to freeze as his father shifted. In what was truly a blink of an eye, his father’s large Green dragon stood between him and his mother, its jade colored scales glistening in the sunlight. Maki had never seen any dragon shift that quickly.

    He would be lying if he said their reactions didn’t have him worried and he could feel fear snaking through his veins as he lifted one clawed hand up in front of his face. Maki staggered back as he took in the color of his leathery skin, wanting to escape the reality of what had happened to him. A growling cry escaped his mouth as he turned his gaze back to his father, no longer able to see his mother from where she was hidden behind him.

    Why were they afraid of him? Didn’t they know that he would never hurt them? Maki shifted his large scaled body towards them, needing to feel their comforting arms, but his father seemed to grow even bigger, his wings spreading out behind him. He watched horrified as his father beat his strong wings and bared his teeth at him as he roared.

    Maki stumbled back and sank to the ground, cowering in the face of his father’s aggression. Why was his father being this way? He was his son; it wasn’t like he didn’t know him. Maki watched helplessly as his father shifted back to his human form and hustled his mother into the house, never turning his back towards him. Before he realized what was happening, the sound of the latch barring the door reached his ears.

    Pain warred with fury inside of him. How could the fates be so cruel as to cause his family to turn away from him? He shook his head in denial as he moved backwards before turning and fleeing into the forest. Immature saplings snapped beneath his feet and branches scraped against his scaly body as he fled, but Maki didn’t pay them any attention as he fled into the forest. He wanted to escape, escape the fear in his parent’s eyes and the future that he would face as a Blue.

***

Cyan chucked the remainder of the pebbles into the water all at once, no longer interested in the mindless activity as his mind focused on the remainder of that day. This same lake had been his refuge back then. He’d spent hours trying to decide what he was going to do, but in the end, his only option was to return home, if it was still his home. It hadn’t taken long for him to have his answer.

He still remembered the hopelessness that had swept through him when he’d broken through the trees surrounding his parent’s cottage and saw all of his belongings on the front porch in bags. He’d known he’d have to go to the youth home, all male shifters had to after their first change, but he hadn’t expected it to be like that. He’d thought he would have a few days at least to say good-bye to his parents and those of his friends who wouldn’t be joining him soon. He had never felt as alone as he did in that moment.

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Renee Stevens resides in Wyoming with her husband, and while they have no two-legged kids, they have plenty of the four legged variety.  With three canines and three felines, her life is never boring.  When not sitting in front of her laptop working on her next story, Renee prefers to escape to the great outdoors.

Renee began writing in her early teens but didn’t get serious about being an author until her mid-twenties.  Since then she has written a number of stories, most of which can be found online for free.  She hopes to e-publish a few more of her works in the very near future.

While she does have some modern pieces, her favorite characters to work with are shifters and vampires.  When not writing, camping, or refereeing the critters, Renee spends her time as a Moderator and the Anthology Coordinator over at GayAuthors.org.

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