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Prologue

Virginia, 1738

The newly marked Feral Warrior, Black Panther, prowled the wide, flat stone overlooking the raging Potowmack River Snoirled around him, driven by a harsh wind as he waited for the ritual that would, goddess willing, transform him into a shape-shifter, one of the o, the animal spirit of one of the deceased Ferals had marked him as his own A bare week later, as he’d set out to find Feral House, the Mage witch Ancreta had tricked hi months he’d endured her torture as she viciously tried to pry loose the anie into his soul that never eased

Now the time had come to know if she’d succeeded

Around hiold ar around each man’s arm as they raised the mystic circle In theirtheh whom they pulled their power froreat rock and hide all within it fro eyes of the Indians that still occasionally hunted these woods

The day was dreary, the cold biting against the bare skin of his upper body, a body broken too many times beneath Ancreta’s torture

Hatred curled in his belly Fury lived in his blood For seven months he’d been her captive, the third of three newly marked Ferals the witch had captured over the past two years

Only two had survived, Vincent and hio, he’d risked capture and death to return Black Panther tilted his head, letting the wind brush his long black hair from his face Vincent had returned for him And finally, this very day, they would complete the ritual, the Renascence, to be reborn as Feral Warriors in truth

Vincent stood beside him The leather strip that bound his blond hair at his nape had loosened, and his hair whipped around his face, hiding and revealing eyes lit with a humor that never died, even when Ancreta had done her worst The tly marked, soon-to-be shifters stood as one, their wary, fascinated gazes taking in the Feral Warriors, the pride of the Therian race To a man, the warriors were as tall as they were - all well over six and a half feet, with strong, powerful bodies Black Panther re he’d woken to find the claw-mark scars across his eye and known he’d been chosen to join them

As he watched, the warriors took their places around the circle, raising their voices in chant Theto dissuade the weather The biting wind raked across his skin, the snoirling around his ankles

The woht around her, a petulant look on her face "Why we cannot wait a mere day or two to perfor!"

The Chief of the Ferals, Lyon, met her discontent with calh th added to our nu"

The woed by the witch to shift They may be useless"

"Silence, Oudine" Lyon’s voice was no less harsh for its quietness

Black Panther’s hands fisted at his sides Useless The word ripped through hi his blood with sharp crystals of frost Had Ancreta destroyed everything he’d lived for?

From the moment he awakened to find the feral marks across his eye, he’d waited for this randiven him the name Black Panther, had predicted at his birth o that he would someday walk the Earth as both panther and man

All these years he’d believed All these years he’d waited

Yesterday, arriving at Feral House at last, he’d learned that the Feral Warrior killed by the Mage shortly before he himself was marked had in fact been the black panther The prophecy would, at last, come true But only if Ancreta had not destroyed his ability to reach that aniht to do A Feral Warrior who could not shift would not live long

"We shall shift as erehis arm over Black Panther’s shoulder "Never doubt it"

Black Pantherbond, deeper than any he’d felt for another It was Vincent who’d kept hih the months of shared torture It was Vincent who’d shared his grief when the third of their number, Frederick, had finally died And it was Vincent who’d found his way out, yet returned, risking everything for his friend

He owed the man his life

He nodded to his companion "We shall shift" Teoddess of the Therians that his hope wasn’t in vain

"It is time," said one of the Ferals, a ar

Lyon turned to the woman, the Radiant "Prepare yourself, Oudine"

With a disgusted huff, the woman sat in thein the harsh wind

As the men formed a broad, loose circle around her, Lyon motioned to the test members "Join us"

Vincent at his side, Black Panther stepped forward, into the circle, with a ar slashed a knife across his own chest, slapped his palers into a fist around the blood Then he handed the knife to the warrior at his side One by one, each man did the same until all held a fist damp with his own blood The last of the six handed the knife to Vincent

His friend took the blade with a rueful frown, then cut himself as the others had "Bollocks," helessons froar said evenly

When Vincent handed him the blade, Black Panther cut his own chest with the bloodied knife, the pain radiating through his body in an arc of fire, but dulling rapidly as his body healed the insult to his flesh He slapped his palm to the warm stickiness and fisted his hand As the others shoved their fists into the air, he did the same

Lyon nodded "It is ti at their feet, the Radiant pushed back the sleeves of her gown and raised her araze, then Vincent’s "New Ferals, you cannot drink the radiance directly until after your first shift If you touch her, you will die"

The six moved to stand between the newcomers and the Radiant Lyon opened his fist and pressed his bloody palm atop Black Panther’s fist A second pressed his palathered around Vincent in the saan to chant, and the others joined in "Spirits rise and join Empower the beasts beneath this sky Goddess, reveal your warriors!"

Thunder rumbled Black Panther tensed as the rock beneath his feet quaked and tre pain He clae to yell hison

His vision clouded with s started to shift deep inside Pain erupted within his body as if he were being stabbed by a thousand knives Only by sheer dint of the strongest will did he reony In the distance, he heard the sound of Ancreta’s laughter He fought the pain, e hier was he standing at the height of ht sharpened Sounds bombarded his ears Scents overwhelmed him - the snow, the forest woods, the river, and thehim Each carried a different scent, each heart beat at a different pace, and he was suddenly, strikingly, aware of them all