Free Illusions: Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (The Seekers Book 1) by Carina Wilder Page A

elbows on the long dining table as she savoured the meal that the lesser Guild members had cooked for her and her fellow leaders: stewed rabbit and red wine. As usual, she was spending the evening inside her lavish house with her mates, Crow and Mace. Two shifters, come fully into their powers thanks to her. Two men whose level of ambition nearly matched hers, though no one could really come close to such a ruthless dictator.
    She eyed both men, pleased as always to have found two such virile, strong specimens to bend and manipulate to her will.
    In stark contrast to his name, Crow was a lion shifter. His ancestry had included the blood of many shifters, all feline, mixed to blend their strength and speed. In his ancestors’ line were those who had refused to mix the various species of déor, opting rather for the pure blood of one species. And so, though tigers, bobcats and panthers had all figured in his genetic makeup, he contained none of the ancient blood of the dragons, the Beorn, the dire wolf. And certainly no trace of dogs or any common domestic creature. His family had worked for generations at perfecting its genes, and Crow was as powerful a cat as could be imagined.
    In human form he was quiet, contemplative. Handsome, of course, with light brown eyes that shone yellow in the sunlight. His hair was sandy-brown, thick. And his shoulders were broad.
    Mace, on the other hand, came from bear stock. He was not of the line of what was known as the Beorn, the great bears who were legendary for their size and power, able even to take on dragons when necessary. Mace was a mere grizzly, like those who populated the North American forests. Large, though, hulking, alert. He wasn’t gifted with speed or mental acuity, but was ferocious when called upon to be. It was his loyalty that had prompted the Sorceress to ask Crow to include him in their partnership; here was a man who would always do as she demanded. And when he hesitated, she used sex to get him back on track. It was the one pleasure that Mace couldn’t resist: the sight of her naked body.
    But it was the Sorceress and Crow who now ran the Guild. Mace acted more as a thug, a kidnapper who forcefully abducted women from their homes. Theirs was a dictatorship run by the Sorceress and aided by Crow, though most Guild members rarely interacted with those two, who spent much of their time with their limbs entwined as they pleasured one another. The Sorceress wasn’t satisfied with fewer than three orgasms in a day from her mates.
    She occasionally called upon other, younger shifters, not yet come into their own powers, to help with assignments outside of the Guild’s compound. She wanted them to hone their instincts early so that when they performed the Ritual they would be all the more advanced.
    “Paxx and his brother are the most promising men that we have,” she told her mates, taking a sip of wine from the goblet in front of her. “Each of them is strong, large, and has the potential to be incredibly loyal. Phist is more volatile than his older brother, so the key is to get Paxx mated first, to settle him. Only then will his brother calm down.”
    The Sorceress, still unaccustomed to shifters, was as yet unaware of the species of the brothers’ déors. Both brothers said that their families had given up Rituals a few generations back, and no record had followed them across the ocean. So it was a waiting game. But when these men mated, no doubt they would end up mighty and important members of the Guild. They would make fine leaders for the western counties, and fine allies in the fights to come.
    Among the Sorceress’s gifts, besides the ability to assess another person’s intentions, was a gift for persuasion. And thus far she had managed to convince the young men to do her bidding, just as she’d convinced her mates to perform the Ritual with her, despite a lack of emotional bond between them. The Sorceress was a user of others and unafraid to show