Paranormal Romance, Capture Fantasy
Date Published: July 4, 2025
Hunter came to Eerie to give up on his life. Nothing’s gone right and he’s ready to quit. Then he sees the most beautiful woman in the world, but she wants him dead. Talk about bad luck. Until he meets Annika, a Huldra -- a Norse protector – and the woman he can’t seem to forget.
Unlike her twin sister Runa, who wants only to destroy, Annika is a nurturing spirit. The moment she sees Hunter she has to save him from her homicidal sister. He’s too pretty to kill, but he’s got a secret. He’s not solely human, although he doesn’t know what paranormal blood runs through his veins.
If he can survive Runa’s wrath, the scars of his past, and allow himself to have a future with Annika, he might find the best things in life aren’t exactly what they seem -- they’re better.
“I’ve had enough.” Hunter Hallahan drove past the line separating the town boundary of Eerie from the rest of the world. To anyone who didn’t have a drop of paranormal blood, the road went through untouched woodlands. Unlike most beings, he had the very cells permitting him to be there -- paranormal blood. More specifically, shifter blood. By the time he’d cropped up on the family tree, the strain of paranormal magic coming down to him had been diluted enough he wasn’t able to shift.
Didn’t matter to him.
He had the keen senses of the wolf -- sharp hearing, keen eyesight, a sixth sense to detect danger, and lightning-fast reflexes. His abilities to read other beings had served him well. They had in the past.
Not now.
He’d read Sally so wrong. He’d thought she loved him. Thought she wanted to be together forever. All she’d wanted was a boyfriend for now. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel and drove straight to the woods. His eyes burned from shedding too many tears over her. Her words burned into his brain.
“Oh, honey. You’re good for now, but you’re not marriage material. You’re a mongrel.”
How could someone say those things?
No, he knew how they could. She wanted to get back at her now-fiancé. Making him jealous got her a bigger diamond. Got her attention. Got her the house in the suburbs with the large yard and the chance at having kids.
He’d never be able to give her children.
He turned onto the gravel road leading deeper into the woods.
When he’d set out for Eerie, he hadn’t planned on going to the forest, but the second he crossed the city limits, he’d been drawn here. He couldn’t even explain it. Like the car was being driven by itself.
Impossible.
Yes, he had magic, and Eerie was full of spells, magic and everything else paranormal, but the car wasn’t driving itself. He wasn’t rich enough to have one of those vehicles. This was something different.
Something stronger.
He continued farther into the woods, shocked by the darkness. This wasn’t his first time venturing into the forests of Eerie. The area that hid the town appeared to be only a few hundred acres on a map. But that was the magic of Eerie. It might not appear big, but once one started exploring, the place was huge.
As he drove, he noticed a woman walking among the trees. Seeing someone in the woods wasn’t strange. The fact the woman wore a filmy dress and had flowing blonde hair was the eye-catching part. He slowed his pace and cast a longer glance at her. Her pale skin practically seemed transparent. Gods, if a stiff breeze blew through, she’d fall over. She had no meat on her bones.
Some might find her gorgeous. She had that stick-thin look going for her, with more bones than curves. She cut a striking figure among the trees.
He liked women with a little more curve.
The woman rushed up to him. “Come to me.”
Part of him wanted to. Just stop the vehicle, leave, and follow her. The rational part of his brain refused to comply. This had to be a spell. Had to be something to bring him to his doom.
Except he’d initially set out for Eerie with the plan to end his life. He’d thought that was what he wanted, but he’d never followed through with his spur-of-the-moment intentions. Gods, he’d loved Sally, but she wasn’t worth him doing something so drastic. Never had been.
The woman stopped in front of his car and pointed to him, then crooked her finger. “Come with me.”
He flicked the button to lock the car. Why in Hades had he done that? If this was magic, she could come into his vehicle despite the damn locks.
“Come with me,” she repeated. Then the woman winked.
As she did, he collided with something hard. Not just hard, but immediate. He rocked forward, smacking his face into the airbag. The wind rushed from his lungs, and he groaned. His limbs ached. What in Hades had just happened?
He blinked to clear his vision. Smoke wafted through the air and the bag deflated.
“Odin’s sake.” The door opened and a person reached into the car.
When he looked at the speaker, his blood chilled. “You’re determined to get me to come with you.” The woman who’d pointed to him was yanking him from the vehicle. “I’m not going with you.”
“If you know what’s good for you, you will.” The woman, almost too thin to be manhandling him, tugged him free of the seat belt. “You’re dying, you fool.”
“Dying?” He’d come to the woods to do himself in but hadn’t wanted to -- not for real. “How?”
“You hit the fucking tree.” She hauled him against her body. “Come on. Use your legs -- or are they broken?”
“I don’t know.” His brain swam. “I’ve got to be concussed.”
“Probably.” She grunted, then tossed him against the side of the car. She waved her hand across his forehead and spoke words he couldn’t understand. Her brow crinkled and her green eyes flashed. Her mouth twisted into a frown. “Can you walk now?”
He hadn’t bothered to try. He stared at her. She looked a lot like the woman who’d called to him, yet nothing like her. After a moment, his brain cooperated, and he forced his legs to move. “Yes,” he managed. He allowed her to slide her arm around him. “What happened?”
“I’ll explain in a moment.” She fumbled across the underbrush to a large tree. When she knocked on the tree, a hunk of the bark opened like a door. “In here.” She didn’t give him a chance to argue. Instead, she shoved him into the tree before closing the door behind her.
“What’s going on?” He leaned against the wall. “I’m so confused. I’ve got to be concussed.”
“You probably are.” She raked her hair back from her face. “You’d better thank your lucky stars I got there in time.”
“Why?” He understood so little.
“That woman who called to you? That’s my twin sister,” she said. “That’s some bad magic you don’t want to mix yourself up in.”
“Jealous?” He’d tried for a bad joke, but it hadn’t worked. “I’m sorry. I don’t get it.”
She flipped a switch, sending light across the space. “Here.” She helped him to a chair. She knelt in front of him, then stared at him before tipping her head. “I get it.”
“I’m glad you do, because I don’t.” He didn’t like riddles or misdirects. “What’s going on?”
“You crashed your car into a tree.”
“I did? I didn’t see anything in front of me.” He’d destroyed his car? Fuck.
“That was the point.”
“What?”
She sighed and folded her arms before sitting back on her heels. “What brought you to Eerie? You’re here, so you must have magic. Why are you here?”
Megan Slayer, aka Wendi Zwaduk, is a multi-published, award-winning author of more than one-hundred short stories and novels. She’s been writing since 2008 and published since 2009. Her stories range from the contemporary and paranormal to LGBTQ and white hot themes. No matter what the length, her works are always hot, but with a lot of heart. She enjoys giving her characters a second chance at love, no matter what the form. She’s been nominated at the LRC for Best Author, Best Contemporary, Best Ménage, Best BDSM and Best Anthology. Her books have made it to the bestseller lists on various e-tailer sites.
When she’s not writing, Megan spends time with her husband and son as well as three dogs and three cats. She enjoys art, music and racing, but football is her sport of choice. She’s an active member of the Friends of the Keystone-LaGrange Public library.
