Free o 90a29c48d0ad7f81 by Charisma Knight

Pearl’s Protector
    By
    Charisma Knight
    Book One, Raven’s Falls Series
    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews. This is a work of fiction. All references to real places, people, or events are coincidental, and if not coincidental, are used fictitiously. All trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, and registered service marks are the property of their respective owners and are used herein for identification purposes only.
    Pearl’s Protector Copyright © 2014 Charisma Knight
    Proof read and edited by Shannon Wil iams
    Cover Art: Charisma Knight
    Dedication
    To the readers who are anxiously awaiting my next book, I’m forever grateful for your continuous support. Thank you for having faith in my writing and inspiring me to create worlds filled with hot men and strong heroines to take you away from your troubles if only for a little while.
    Welcome to Raven’s Falls, a fictional mystical town hidden within a waterfall of
    Queensville, Maryland. Both towns were founded and settled by a witch, Clara Rose
    McQueen and her Native lover and raven shifter, Mica Ravencloud. Raven’s Falls is home to witches, dragons & wolf shifters, and an occasional vampire or two.
    Chapter One
    A loud crash jarred Pearl Gordon out of her sleep. Heart beating loudly, she glanced over at the clock to see that it was almost three in the morning. She jumped when she heard the sound of shattering glass.
    Fearing for her life, she leapt out of bed, crept over to the bedroom door and locked it, then did the same with the second entrance leading from her bedroom, through her large walk-in closet, and into the bathroom. With shaky hands, she picked up her cell phone from the nightstand, slipped into her large walk-in closet and dialed 9-1-1.
    “Raven’s Falls Emergency, what is the nature of this call?”
    “There’s an intruder in my house,” she whispered into the phone. “Please hurry!”
    “What is your name and address ma’am?”
    “Pearl Gordon. 69 Wolfbane Terrace.”
    “Please try to remain calm ma’am. Are you alone?”
    “Yes. I’m so scared.”
    “I’m dispatching a car out to you right now. I’ll remain on the line with you.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Is there anyone else in the home with you ma’am?”
    “No.”
    “Where are you?”
    Another loud noise struck terror in her heart. Her blood ran cold because the intruder sounded like he was now downstairs in the living room. “I’m in my closet.” she whispered.
    “Someone’s in my living room. Before it sounded like they were in my basement, but, oh my God, they’re coming to get me.”
    “Ma’am.” The woman’s soothing voice filtered over the phone. “Please listen to me and try to remain calm. Don’t say a thing.”
    Scared to move, Pearl sat huddled on a pair of her shoes. She wiped her sweaty palm on her nightgown.
    “How long?” she whispered into the phone.
    “An officer will arrive on the scene in approximately ten to twelve minutes.”
    Pearl squeezed her eyes shut. She probably didn’t have twenty minutes and wished she were in any situation but this one. Her breathing intensified when she heard the stairs creaking.
    Pearl shivered at the increasingly horrific images of being murdered that rushed through her mind and wished she hadn’t left her wooden baseball bat in the corner of the dining room.
    She’d have no problem cracking someone else’s skull open to save her life. She reached down to grip one of her stilettos she was sitting on. If the police didn’t make it in time, she’d put the intruder’s eye out.
    In an effort to be perfectly quiet, she’d actually forgotten to breathe. Apparently, she was being robbed. If she had taken a vacation like she’d planned, she’d be safe in Cancun instead of preparing to meet her maker.
    As tears streamed down her face, she clamped a hand over