Beast Walker: Harom & Aneja, #2

By Ysobella Black

The soulbond between an Aneja and her Harom is powerful, but is it strong enough for Tarja and her triad to cross time and worlds to find each other before it's too late?

 

Tarja's sister went through a portal to retrieve the Iadara Stone — the only thing that could save their world — and never returned. The portal closed, and all hope was lost. Two hundred years later, the magical gateway has opened again. Tarja's magic is weak, but her world, and people she loves, are dying. The Iadara Stone is still their only hope, though chances of retrieving it are slimmer than ever. On Iadara, the three men of Tarja's Harom await. Their survival, and that of all the Yoqobo, depend on her. And if forced to choose, will she save her world, or theirs?

 

This is a sexy, happily-ever-after soulmate novel with no cheating, fade to blacks, or cliffhangers. It's a fast-paced story that blends romance, mythology, humor, and adventure. While a little more of the Dragaverse is revealed as the series progresses, the romance in each novel is focused on one relationship and can be read as a standalone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ysobella Black
• Release date: Nov 26, 2022
• ISBN: 9798223582694

Ysobella Black

I love to travel, read, and think of ways to complicate my characters’ lives. I have two borrowed cats who take shameless advantage of my good nature. Hopefully you find my characters a lot more entertaining than I am. :) If you enjoyed this story, you may be interested to know that I write in several series. While each novel is written for one relationship, features unique mythologies, and can be read as standalone, a little more of that world is revealed and the overall arc of the series grows throughout. I also write two versions of most of my stories. For the naughty versions, read stories by Ysobella Black. If you prefer nice/sweet stories with fade to black scenes and no swearing, you'll want to read the versions by Ysobel Black. The best way to find out what’s going on with the series, and me, is to visit my website at https://www.ysobellablack.com. There, you can also check out the wikis and timelines for each series. Or, sign up for the newsletter. https://ysobellablack.com/newsletter/ I send out things like surveys, freebies, contests, and random news about things going on with me that may or may not be interesting.  I love hearing from my readers. Feel free to contact me via my website, or find me on social media. I admit, I don't keep up with posting constantly on one account, much less two, so I don't have separate accounts for my two pen names on most platforms. Twitter - @Ysobellablack Pinterest - ysobellablack Goodreads - ysobellablack or ysobelblack Instagram - @ysobellablackauthor TikTok - @ysobellablack Bookbub - ysobellablack or ysobelblack

Book preview

WORKS BY THE AUTHOR

Written by Ysobel Black

(Nice/Sweet Versions)

Bakery Street Cozy Mysteries

Paranormal Cozy Mysteries

The Lycanthrope Lyrical

Druids of Bandrui

Immortal Druids find their Maites.

Druid for a Banshee

Druid for a Goddess

Fairy Tales With a Twist

Retellings of fairy tales, myths, and legends you thought you knew.

The Crimson Hood & the Alpha of Wolves

The Ice Maiden & the Princes of Diamonds

The Chestnut Fox & the Baker of Sweets

Holiday Hullabaloo

Even in Ashana love can be tricky, but twelve days of chaos result in paranormal happily-ever-afters.

A Penghou in a Pine Tree

Two Tatzelwurms

Three French Bêtes

Four Ceffyl Dŵr

Five Golden Wings

Six Grootslangs Playing

Seven Spawns a-Swimming

Eight Maenads Mixing

Nine Lazy Dragons

Ten Swords a-Sneaking

Eleven Pixie Potions

Twelve Lovers Loving

Pohjola Maidens

The Maidens of Pohjola are free, heading for the human world, and looking for love.

Sleeper of Dream's: Lemminki

Strygoi Witches & Vampires

Join an Ildum of vampires over 12,000 years of history and mythology as they find their Dragăs — witches who make their hearts beat and restore their souls.

Ember's Light: Stryx

Viktoria's Shadow: Jael

Myth's Legend: Norrix

Bijou's Cure: Zeke

Musette's Fate: Idris

Strygoi Witches & Vampires Companion Stories

Shadowy — Viktoria's prequel (companion novella)

Echo's Answer: Lachlan (companion novel)

COLLECTIONS/BOX SETS

Holiday Hullabaloo

DAYS 1-12

Strygoi Witches & Vampires

COLLECTION ONE, BOOKS 1-4

Written by Ysobella Black

(Naughty/Steamy Versions)

Alix in Wonderland

A reverse harem (MFMMM) retelling of Alice in Wonderland.

Madness of the Hatter

Bakery Street Mysteries

Paranormal Cozy-ish Mysteries

The Lyrical Lycanthrope

Fairy Tales With a Kink

Retellings of fairy tales, myths, and legends you thought you knew.

The Alpha of Wolves & the Crimson Hood

The Princes of Diamonds & the Ice Maiden

The Baker of Sweets & the Chestnut Fox

Grove of Bandrui

Immortal Druids search for their Maités.

Druid of Oaks

Druid of Apples

Harom & Aneja

Witches choose three men to form their Haroms as they become Aneja — Walkers in magic. Reverse Harem (MFMM) 

Realm Walker

Beast Walker

Magical Love in London

Regency London with a Paranormal Twist

Marriage of Inconvenience

Oubliette

Paranormal Short and Steamy Stories

Selkie

Merrow

Cherufe

Pohjola Passions

The Maidens of Pohjola are free, heading for the human world, and looking for love.

Dream’s Sleeper: Lemminki

Raven Chronicles: Phoenix Rising

An epic spanning generations — the battle for the Raven Throne is full of sex, intrigue, and betrayal.

First Generation

Souls Lost & Found

Under a Blue Moon, star-crossed lovers get a second chance for their love to shine.

The Egyptian

Utopia Pack Shifters

A pack of wolf shifters find their Fateds.

Unyielding

Unleashed

Vampires & Strygoi Witches

Join an Ildum of vampires over 12,000 years of history and mythology as they find their Dragăs — witches who make their hearts beat and restore their souls.

Ember’s Light: Stryx

Viktoria’s Shadow: Jael

Myth’s Legend: Norrix

Bijou’s Cure: Zeke

Musette’s Fate: Idris

Vampires & Strygoi Witches Companion Stories

Shadowy — Viktoria's Prequel (Companion Novella)

Echo’s Answer: Lachlan (Companion Novel)

Xuterias: Xov & Xau

Enemies to Lovers Paranormal Romances

Poisoned Heart

Yuletide Chaos

Even in Ashana love can be tricky, but twelve days of chaos result in paranormal happily-ever-afters.

A Penghou in a Pine Tree

Two Tatzelwurms

Three French Bêtes

Four Ceffyl Dŵr

Five Golden Wings

Six Grootslangs Playing

Seven Spawns a-Swimming

Eight Maenads Mixing

Nine Lazy Dragons

Ten Swords a-Sneaking

Eleven Pixie Potions

Twelve Lovers Loving

12 Days of Chaos Box Set

COLLECTIONS/BOX SETS

Fated — Three Firsts in a Series

Ember's Light:Stryx

Realm Walker

Poisoned Heart

Fated — Five Firsts in a Series

Ember's Light:Stryx

The Crimson Hood & the Alpha of Wolves

Realm Walker

Dream's Sleeper: Lemminki

Druid of Oaks

Vampires & Strygoi Witches

COLLECTION ONE: BOOKS 1-4

Yuletide Yearnings

DAYS 1-12

https://ysobelblack.com/newsletter

FRIDAY,

DECEMBER 13

CHAPTER ONE

TARJA

TARJA PACED THE ANTEROOM outside the Council Chamber. Her footsteps and knee-length leather coat whispered in the vast space.

One, two, three, swish.

One, two, three, swish.

The gold-gilded room was meant to awe, even though there was no one to impress. Nobody came to visit. They couldn't. This world had been closed off for five hundred years.

Representatives for the day and night Fae, werewolves, Abhartachs, and witches had been in the Council Chamber for an hour, and based on the snippets she'd overheard, they wouldn't arrive at a decision any time soon.

What decision was there to make? There was nothing to discuss. She had to go. Retrieving the Iadara Stone was the only option, and who knew when the portal would close? They might not get another chance for centuries! Or maybe this time the portal would close forever.

A third of their population lay too weak to rise from their beds, wasting away from the Withering. Fields produced smaller, and fewer, shriveled crops with every harvest.

Magical plants? Forget it. They'd dried up with the last drought, and not even the greenest of thumbs could bring them back.

So many Other Worlders were sick, and this world was dying. It had never been fit to inhabit in the first place. Magic had made it tolerable in the beginning, but the power was weakening.

Or worse, running out.

What magic had made into a lush, thriving world was now a wasteland. The sun shone, but the light was cold, giving no joy or life. Nights offered freezing temperatures, and she would swear the stars were going out one by one.

Tarja debated making a run for it. Building up speed to zip past the guards and dive into another world. She slinked to the doorway and eyed the sentries posted around the magical gateway in the next room — a golden, circular outline eight feet in diameter hovering in the air.

Twelve men stood with their backs to it. Another dozen faced it, just in case something came through. All of them were armed with some combination of swords, shields, axes, and spears.

Their armor was haphazard — none wore a complete set. Without a blacksmith, or access to the right magic, when something wore out or broke, there was no way to replace or repair it.

Tarja squinted at the portal. Was it smaller now? Her heart beat faster. Maybe it was already closing. The guards weren't expecting an attack from within. Her magic could take out a few, but two dozen were too many for her to get past.

She retreated to the Council Chamber door and pressed her forehead against it.

A throat cleared and she spun to face a pair of amused black eyes, twinkling with the stars that no longer appeared in the sky.

Luvon, she hissed, what are you doing?

He shrugged. I could ask you the same thing. The night Elf shook his long silvery-blonde hair out of his face, and slipped his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts.

She scowled. It wasn't right that someone so big could move so quietly. He towered over her six-foot height, and his broad shoulders stretched his worn shirt.

Not for the first time, Tarja wished she had the super senses werewolves and Abhartachs took for granted. What would it be like to have eagle eyes? Bat hearing? Listen with her whole body like a snake?

Not that she'd seen any of those animals here, even in the beginning. She also knew about elephants, whales, squirrels, and ravens. Information about thousands of animals she'd never encountered filled her head.

There had never been many animals on this world. A rabbit-like creature and insects, but even they were vanishing. She hadn't seen so much as a bug in months. Maybe they were already extinct.

All the more reason she needed to leave!

Tarja put her ear to the door. Well, I don't appreciate you using your Elf feet to sneak up on me. It's not polite.

And eavesdropping on the Council meeting is?

Better he thought that was what she was up to rather than the possibly suicidal dive through the portal she'd been contemplating. She lifted her chin. "It's necessary."

There's always a reason for you to break the rules, isn't there?

Rules are as yet unmet challenges.

His smile lit up his eyes.

There had always been something about Luvon that made her wish she wanted him to be more than her best friend. Although she entertained the occasional daydream, she never pursued the possibility.

She should have chosen her triad by now. The Council representatives took every chance to remind her of her responsibility to produce children often enough. It wasn't like there weren't any attractive men – they were everywhere.

But no one felt... right. Bonding with three men she felt no passion for seemed like walking into an eternal prison. It wasn't probable they'd feel anything for her, either, except maybe ownership. There were a lot of alpha tendencies among the male population. They'd breed her as a duty. She would be reduced to a biological necessity.

Ugh.

Who would want to bring children into a dying world anyway? Children and babies could get the Withering. Grow up in a world that could no longer provide enough food to feed them. She wouldn't condemn any child to those slow deaths.

Luvon nudged her. You're a bad influence. Scoot over.

Tarja smirked and slid to the side.

Facing her, Luvon laid his cheek against the door, his nose half an inch from hers. Personal space — not an Elf concept.

The Council's irritated voices carried to them.

What's your mother saying? Luvon pressed his face flatter on the door. Something about the Iadara Stone? She can't be serious. Nobody's seen it in five hundred years. There's no telling if the thing even exists anymore.

Hush. Tarja held her finger over her lips. I'm trying to listen. She strained her ears.

You may doubt its existence. Morgaine's voice rang loud and clear over the mumbling of the other representatives. But if it was found and brought here, we would see the end of the Withering. Our people, and the land, could recover. We all would. How can we not try?

Tarja nodded. She and her mother had talked things through that morning. This was their only chance. Her mother hadn't wanted to believe it, but the dreams had persuaded her.

The dreadful dreams that woke her in the middle of the night with screams tearing at her throat.

A magic stone will not stop the demons. Niro was the representative for the Night Elfs.

Demons were behind this prison. The Iadara Stone might not stop them, but if the magic was restored, a combination of witch, Abhartach, Elf, and werewolf could fight demons well enough.

Do you have any suggestions? Mother demanded. 

I propose we move. Find a new place to settle, Mortosi's low voice rasped. He led the Abhartach clan.

Easy for Abhartachs, who didn't need food or feel the cold. Simply changing locations wouldn't fix the underlying problem of the world dying.

Morgaine's voice cut through the room like a whip. There is no other safe place, and many of the sick wouldn't survive a move.

I agree, Niro said. Nor do I have any interest in handing the demons any more of my brothers and sisters.

A few demons had been caught in their own trap when the portals closed and shut this world off. They had a particular taste for fae, and the Elf's were the only fae on this world.

Luvon's jaw clenched.

Tarja squeezed his shoulder and he gave her a weak smile. His sister had vanished without a trace years ago. He spent every free moment searching for her, but everyone assumed demons had taken her. No one expected to see her again.

It is not wise for the Elfs to move, Mortosi conceded, but there is nothing saying I cannot lead my Abhartachs out of this desolate place in search of something more. We can send a scout back to send word of our success. Or failure.

The point of the Council is to work together, Lennox, the werewolf alpha, growled. What guarantee do the rest of us have that you would bother sending a scout back?

Even after five centuries of living in unnaturally close confines, the Abhartachs and werewolves only tolerated each other.

I don't appreciate the implication –

This will get us nowhere. Morgaine commanded attention.

Silence fell. Luvon winked and nudged Tarja. Your mom is scary.

I know, she whispered.

If you want to bicker like children, you may do so when we're not pressed for time. I'm going to do everything I can to save lives. There is only one way to do that. We must send someone to find and retrieve the Iadara Stone.

Luvon's brow creased as he realized why Tarja was standing at the door.

Only a witch will be able to find the stone, Mortosi said. There aren't many left.

Aren't many healthy witches, was what he meant. They were the hardest hit by the Withering.

A powerful one, Lennox added. Who do you suggest? The strongest was Medeia. 

Mentioning her twin served no purpose. A pang of sadness formed a lump in Tarja's throat. She swallowed hard. Medeia had disappeared last time the portal opened.

Medeia would do the job if she were here, but she is not. My other daughter has volunteered to go on this journey.

Surprised whispering erupted as Luvon's eyes widened and he blinked at her. Are you mad? You'll die, Tarja. You can't —

I have to. Her magic was never as strong as Medeia's, and had weakened just like everyone else's, but she had to do this.

But –

Footsteps approached, and the door opened. The eyes of every Council member fell upon her. They were all thinking she couldn't do it. They thought she couldn't do anything. Her cheeks burned.

Come in, Tarja. Mother motioned her forward.

Tarja put one foot in front of the other until she stood in the middle of