Talon (Rise of the Pride, Book 1)

Talon

Rise of the Pride

Book 1

by

Theresa Hissong

License Notes

This eBook is
licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be
re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share
this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy
for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not
purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please
return to the author, publisher, or retailer and purchase your own
copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer:

This book is a work of fiction. Any
resemblance to any person, living or dead is purely coincidental.
The names of people, places, and/or things are all created from the
author’s mind and are only used for entertainment.

Due to the content, this book is recommended
for adults 18 years and older.

Copyright 2016 Theresa Hissong

Cover Design:

Custom eBook Covers

Editing by:

Heidi Ryan

Formatted by:

Wayne Hissong

For more information or how to contact Theresa
Hissong, please visit:

http://authortheresahissong.com

www.facebook.com/authortheresahissong

Other Books by Theresa Hissong:

Fatal Cross Live!

Fatal Desires

Warriors of the Krieger
:

Blood & Roses

Blood at Stake

Rise of the
Pride
:

Talon

Book for
Charity
:

Fully Loaded

Dedication:

Shaman’s Harvest:

Music is my inspiration for not only my
writing, but my life. Being a girl from Memphis, TN, my choices in
music vary across the board, but there is one style of music that
defines who I am and what I do. The past few months, I have fallen
into an abyss filled with harmonies and the bluesy rock sound of
Shaman’s Harvest
.

While writing
Talon
, I set up a
playlist with nothing but songs from this band. For those of you
who have been with me over the past few years, you know that I give
credit to the bands who touch my soul. You all know me as the
“rockstar author”, for my fictional rockstar romance novels, and I
pulled that love of music into this paranormal romance.

So, I’m saying “Thank You!” to the guys in
Shaman’s Harvest
for making the music that speaks to me in
so many ways!

Much love, always!

Contents:

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

About the
Author

Chapter One

The footage had been seen on every news
outlet around the world. Two men were filmed shifting into black
panthers at the edge of a forest in northern Mississippi. The video
was as clear as the blue sky above. They’d been seen and the entire
world now knew that shifters existed.

Talon Shaw gritted his teeth at the reporter
who kept asking some of the most idiotic questions he’d ever heard
in his life. Why the fuck they wanted to know about their mating
rituals was beyond intrusive, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to
let that bit of information out into the general public. Every
human would run away screaming if they had any idea how mating
occurred.

He’d been in talks with local law enforcement
and the media for almost a week now. If Ranger and Kye hadn’t been
so stupid, they wouldn’t be in this situation. They’d be living
peacefully on the pride’s two hundred acre ranch south of town with
no one the wiser.

“How long have your kind been around?” a
reporter asked.

“Where did you come from?” another chimed in,
talking over everyone else.

“Are you dangerous?” a cute blonde asked,
raising her hand.

“Our kind have been around for thousands of
years,” Talon began, looking out into the sea of human reporters.
It was hard not to lash out at the reporters for their increasingly
impertinent questions. “We are a peaceful group, usually keeping to
ourselves. Our ancestors were warriors for kings in ancient times.
Panthers have no hatred toward anyone, human or animal.”

“How old are you?” a male reporter asked,
leaning forward to make himself visible. Talon recognized him from
the local station.

“I am twenty nine years old,” he answered,
catching sight of his younger brother, Noah, standing off to the
side. Talon scanned the room and found his second in command,
Winter, waiting off to his right. As his eyes moved back across the
room, Noah made a sign for Talon to finish answering questions.

“And you are the leader of this…pride?” the
male asked, looking confused over his choice of words.

They were different from their animal
cousins. Usually, panthers were solitary animals, only coming
together to procreate. Since the beginning of time, the shifters
had stuck close together, maintaining a family environment. Their
ancestors actually coined the name “pride” in reference to their
families.

Their animal form wasn’t quite like the big
cats in the jungles of the world. From a distance, you’d say they
were panther, but their genetic makeup was more than just one
breed. In fact, their animal bodies were bigger and different from
their animal cousins in the wild. They did not have darkened
rosettes like some black cats, either. Their genes were not a
pigmentation flaw like scientists liked to use in reference to the
wild black cats. No, Talon and his pride were just black,
panther-like cats that lived in the human world.

“Yes, I am. Every pride has a leader, an
alpha. It is his responsibility to nurture and provide for his
people. Without the leadership of an alpha, the pride would suffer
and eventually die out. It is my responsibility to make sure that
they have work and a safe environment to live and raise their
young.”

“Are there other shifters out there?” the
blonde woman asked.

“This is about my pride, and I will only
speak about them,” he said, his voice holding a warning. It wasn’t
his place to tell the secrets of the other shifters.

“So, there
are
others?” she pushed,
leaning forward. “Are there wolves? Like in the movies? What about
other animals?” The woman’s eyes took on a dreamy haze and Talon
cringed.

“Next question,” he responded curtly, looking
away from the woman. He hoped like hell that she didn’t push him
any further to answer those damn questions.

“You own a few companies, Mr. Shaw,” another
reporter began. “Is this how you provide? Do you only employ your
own kind?”

“I employ members of my pride and humans,” he
said, trying his best not to fidget in his seat. He had to answer
these questions as honestly as possible, but not so honestly that
the people who worked for him would be targeted.

“Did the humans know that you shift into an
animal?” a woman called out.

“No,” he answered simply.

He didn’t want to scare the humans. The last
thing their kind needed was for the humans to hunt them down out of
fear. There were many things about shifters that he would take to
his grave. There was no way in hell Talon was going to let the
humans know that they could be transformed into a shifter with a
blood exchange and excruciating pain while the human’s body
transformed into an animal.

The questions kept coming and eventually his
time was up. His brother, Noah, and his second in command, Winter
Blue, escorted Talon to an awaiting SUV, whisking him away from the
steps of the City Hall building. The camera flashes caused the
panthers to squint, the light irritating their sensitive eyes.

“I’m so glad that’s over,” Talon sighed,
leaning back in his seat. It’d been a long day of answering
increasingly personal questions.

“We should be able to breathe a little this
weekend.” Noah smiled. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to
have a beer.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Talon
agreed, finally beginning to relax. “Let’s hit up
The Deuce
for dinner.”

“Do you think there will be a problem?”
Winter frowned. Winter was not only his second in command, but also
the head of his security company, S.S.S. or Shaw Security
Specialists, as the sign over their office complex stated.

“No,” Talon replied. “We will not run away
from this town. Running only makes them believe that we have
something to hide. This pride will continue their daily routines
regardless of the media and whatever they say.”

“Then a beer it is,” Noah cheerfully
proclaimed. “Let’s hope that little bar owner is there
tonight.”

“Just a beer, Noah,” Talon warned, not giving
away any emotions. He didn’t want to think about the woman that
owned the bar they visited.

Liberty Raines was there most nights, but
that didn’t mean that they’d interacted with her very often.
There’d been a few times that she’d come by the table to drop off
drinks or food. She was always too busy working for them to strike
up a conversation. There was something about the little brunette
that sent Talon’s panther into a growling frenzy. It must’ve been
her scent. Oh, he could pick it out of a crowd. The combination of
wildflowers and sunshine was permanently etched into his brain.

The last thing he needed in his life was a
woman. He had too many things going on now that they’d been outed
by the humans. The fact that she was a human sealed the deal on the
certainty that he wanted nothing to do with her. A panther and a
human didn’t mix, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to drag a human
into his world.

Not now…not ever.