Throne of Oak

Maggie’s Grove book 2

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Length: Novel
ISBN: 978-1-42689-561-6

His past could end their future.

Vampire Dragos Ibanescu, Mayor of Maggie’s Grove, is about to lose his mind. His mate, the dryad queen Mina Chainey, refuses to have anything to do with him after her ordeal at the hands of an evil witch. If he doesn’t mate with her soon, he may lose control of the beast within him—a force far more dangerous than anyone in town knows…

Mina’s nightmares of her time with the witch haunt her. The Queen of the Forest can’t muster the strength needed to fight her terror. Unable to leave the Throne, she vows she will not accept Dragos until she can stand at his side as an equal. But the nightmares are only growing in strength, and soon she realizes that there’s more to her pain than simple fear.

Dark forces are converging on Maggie’s Grove, and a horde of hunters stalk supernaturals from the shadows. Only by uniting in body and mind will Mina and Dragos find the strength to defend their home.

Throne of Oak is the second book in the Maggie’s Grove series, and it’s not going to be the last. I have plans for the poor, deluded souls who live in that pretty little Maryland town. As in all small towns, there’s always a weed that needs pulling, as the dryads say, and Throne of Oak has one or two that should have been yanked out years ago. Enemies old and new will make an appearance, mates meet their destined ones for the first time, and a new threat to the Grove will be uncovered.

Can you hear the muahaha?

Maggie’s Grove was first built by Dragomir Ibanescu to be a sanctuary for all those who were either driven from their homes or, for some reason, felt they needed a place to hide. His rules were simple: respect everyone else, because that owl shifter you were thinking of snacking on could be the neighbor who saves your house from burning down.

For the most part, it’s worked, but like every other town it has its share of problems. We saw some of them in the first book, Blood of the Maple, when the town turned on Amara Schwedler, aka the Hamadryad, mate to vegetarian vampire Parker Hollis.

Not everyone was willing to accept her differences, and thanks to a misunderstanding, Amara wound up suffering far more than she should have. The people of the town eventually realized that the problem wasn’t Amara, but their misconceptions about her, and helped her when she needed them most. Together, they slew the evil witch and saved the day.

Or so they thought.

(You’re still on “vegetarian vampire”, aren’t you? Bet you can’t imagine how that works. I’ll give you a hint: the title explains it. And yes, I’m probably one of the few people you’ll ever meet who thought to themselves, “Hmm, I wonder how I can make Bunnicula sexy…”)

So when Dragos and Mina find they desperately need help, their town rallies around them. This time, there are no misunderstandings. Dragos, their beloved mayor, needs them, and they come to his aid. Mina is hurting? The witch doctor is there in a heartbeat, no questions asked.

Because no matter what happens, no matter how badly you wish your neighbor wouldn’t mow the lawn at seven a.m. on a Saturday morning, when when trouble tries to push you around?

Maggie’s Grove will shove back.

An Excerpt from Throne of Oak:

Eddy came tearing into the room as if the hounds of hell were on his ass. “Company!” He then dove under Dragos’s desk and cowered.

Noah, bless his heart, strode over to Dragos’s desk and parked his behind on the edge, crossing his ankles as he sat, effectively hiding Eddy from view. The spark that made him a good alpha meant he protected those weaker than himself, pack or no.

If anything happened to Dragos, his will stated Noah was to become mayor. He couldn’t think of anyone else who’d protect his people better.

Dragos could have told Noah that his gesture was useless as the scent of his visitor drifted into the room in the wake of Eddy’s mad dash. Trajan would be able to follow the scent of his Renfield for over two miles, no matter where the Renfield went or who attempted to protect him.

Dragos sometimes missed having his senses that sharp all the time.

The man who strode into his office bore little resemblance to the brother that Dragos remembered. He was dark-haired and gray-eyed, but where Trajan had once sparkled and bubbled with curiosity, he was sharp-eyed and stern. Dragos refused to stand, refused to acknowledge that Laurentiu’s second son had any more power than he did. In Maggie’s Grove, Trajan was just another shifter, albeit a legendary one. Dragos was the one with the power here, and Trajan would soon learn that, one way or another.

Trajan stared at Dragos’s desk with a strange expression of longing for one or two heartbeats before transferring his gaze to Noah. Dismissing the alpha werewolf almost contemptuously, he looked at Dragos, his expression angry. “I need to speak to you. Alone.”

That was a bad move on his brother’s part. Noah was a stubborn bastard on the best of days.

“No.”

Dragos didn’t even need to see the expression on Noah’s face. The derision was obvious in his voice. The only way Noah was leaving the room now was if the house fell down on his head.

“Dragos, call off your pet wolf. This is serious.”

Dragos snorted, amused. “Trajan Ibanescu—”

“Lord Trajan Ibanescu.”

Dragos continued as if his brother hadn’t spoken, grateful that Noah hadn’t reacted to the fact that Dragos had a brother. “— I’d like you to meet Alpha Noah Wulfenbach, the Maggie’s Grove wolf pack alpha and alpha of the United States.”

The title did little to thaw his brother’s icy demeanor. “Nice to meet you.” Trajan turned his attention back to Dragos, and for the first time he saw something other than ice or longing. He saw fear. “Vasile is coming.”

If both of his older brothers were coming to his town, something bad was about to happen. He bit back the urge to clench his teeth. Instead, he yawned, as if the news meant nothing. “Father sent him?”

Trajan smiled bitterly, sending a shiver down Dragos’s spine. “You know how Father is.”

Yes, he did. Laurentiu Ibanescu wouldn’t send one of his sons if his plan was to kill Dragos. He would come himself, ready to rend and tear and destroy. No, something else was going on. “When do you expect him to arrive?”

“Any day now, as he was right behind me.”

Since Vasile, unlike Dragos, could fly when the sun was in the sky, his eldest brother would probably arrive within a day or two. “Wonderful.”

“Not a happy family reunion, I gather?” Noah shot Dragos a cocky grin.

Dragos grinned back. “I’d rather dance naked in sunlight covered in cooking oil and bread crumbs.”

“Dragos,” a masculine, British-accented voice tsk’d. “Southern fried bloodsucker is so last season. No one serves that at their parties anymore. Far too gamey.”

Wonderful. Just what he needed, to have Parker and Amara stop by to check up on him during an unwanted family reunion. Parker had his hand to his chest, an exaggerated look of horror on his face.

Amara took one step in front of her lover and eyed Trajan like a weed she wanted to pull. Her red curls were vibrating, phantom red leaves appearing and disappearing, dancing with her hair in a display that would have made a man weaker than Dragos run for the hills. Bark crawled up her arms as she prepared to defend her friends. “Dragos? Problem?”

“Calm down, Woody.”

Dragos gasped a laugh at the nickname. He never would have thought Noah and Amara would become so close, considering their history, but Noah’s apology for the attack he and his wolves had made on her had gone a long way to cementing their friendship.

Amara’s bark receded as she stared at the alpha. “Woody?”

Noah shrugged. “Master Splinter?”

Parker’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, I like that one.” He grunted as Amara’s elbow impacted with his stomach.

“Do you allow just anyone to enter unannounced, brother?”

Parker’s brows rose. The other vampire might be a vegetarian, but he still had all his hunter’s instincts. “Brother?”

This should be interesting. “Trajan Ibanescu, Dr. Parker Hollis and his sotiei, Amara Schwedler.”

“Consorting with dryads now, are we? Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Trajan tsk’d. “For shame.”

That was it. Dragos was done. Trajan was not going to insult any more of his friends. He looked his brother up and down and allowed a sneer to cross his face. “So they have.” He stood and gestured toward the office door. “Have a pleasant evening.”

His brother stood there for a few moments before it sunk in that Dragos meant him, not the others in the room. The arrogant smile slipped from his face. If Dragos didn’t know better he’d swear his brother looked concerned. “We aren’t done yet. There are things you don’t know.”

Dragos allowed his eyes to turn red. His hunter’s eyes. Trajan paled but didn’t back down. His gaze darted toward the desk before he straightened his shoulders, staring Dragos right in the eye. “You can’t kick me out.”

Bully for him. His brother had grown some balls after all this time. Too bad he hadn’t used them where their father was concerned. Maybe Trajan would eventually be able to stand up to the old man without wetting his pants.

Maybe. When unicorns burst in rainbow-colored farts from Dragos’s ass. “Watch me.”

Trajan growled, causing Eddy to whimper from his hiding place. “Dragos—”

Noah straightened and allowed his power to roll through the room. Despite their being different types of shifters Trajan reacted, bowing his head in submission to the more powerful alpha wolf. Trajan might be the bigger shifter, but when it came to alphas size didn’t matter.

Power, on the other hand…

Parker and Amara, bless them, didn’t react, but Dragos knew they weren’t going to let it go. They were going to ask questions he didn’t want to answer. He needed to get his brother out of here.

“You need to leave. Now.” Noah’s voice was deep, powerful. An alpha in his prime, and one of the most powerful in all the Americas, Noah was not one to trifle with. Both Trajan and Vasile would learn that if they tried baiting the wolf.

Noah’s bite was far worse than his bark.

Trajan shivered. “Yes, alpha.”

Noah touched the back of Trajan’s neck, indicating his approval of the gesture. “Do not return unless Dragos invites you.”

“Yes, alpha.” Trajan backed out of the room, his wary gaze glued to Noah as if the alpha would strike him down at any moment.

Once Trajan was gone, Parker turned to Dragos. “You throw such interesting parties…”