Beloved Warrior. Two-Natured London 8.

By Susanna Shore

Marcus Hamilton, a fierce vampire warrior of the Crimson Circle, has grieved the loss of his bonded mate and their son for centuries. But as his fellow warriors find their forevers, he is determined to move on. His resolve is put to an immediate test though, when the woman he has blamed for his mate’s death returns to his life. Now past is all he can think of. But it’s not his losses he is reliving. It’s his time with Sabine.

Sabine Bertheaume has known love and happiness—and tragedy and loss too. If only she could make Marcus see beyond his pain. Because the one thing she has desired all her life is for him to be happy. And if keeping away from him is how it’s achieved, she is willing to stay away.

But now he is constantly seeking her company. She doesn’t know how to handle his interest, or the resurgence of her own hopes: bonding for eternity—with her beloved warrior.

The enemy of the two-natured kind is ever vicious though, and moving closer to the vampires. Will Marcus and Sabine be able to reconcile their past and find a future together? Or will it all end before it’s even begun?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susanna Shore
• Release date: Dec 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9789527061664

Susanna Shore

Susanna Shore is a historian turned author. She writes Two-Natured London paranormal romance series, P.I. Tracy Hayes mysteries, The Reed Files crime capers, and House of Magic paranormal cozies, as well as stand-alone thrillers and contemporary romances.

Book preview

Beloved Warrior

Two-Natured London 8

Susanna Shore

Beloved Warrior. Two-Natured London 8.

Copyright © 2023 A. K. S. Keinänen

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, or distributed without permission, except for brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, dialogues and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organisations or persons, living or dead, except those in public domain, is entirely coincidental.

Published by Crimson House Books at Smashwords.

Smashwords Edition, 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 your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover © 2023 A. K. S. Keinänen

Editing: Lee Burton, Ocean’s Edge Editing

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Two-Natured London Series

The Wolf’s Call

Warrior’s Heart

A Wolf of Her Own

Her Warrior for Eternity

A Warrior for a Wolf

Magic under the Witching Moon

Moonlight, Magic and Mistletoes

Crimson Warrior

Magic on the Highland Moor

Wolf Moon

Magic for the Highland Wolf

Beloved Warrior

P.I. Tracy Hayes Series

Tracy Hayes, Apprentice P.I.

Tracy Hayes, P.I. and Proud

Tracy Hayes, P.I. to the Rescue

Tracy Hayes, P.I. with the Eye

Tracy Hayes, from P.I. with Love

Tracy Hayes, Tenacious P.I.

Tracy Hayes, Valentine of a P.I.

Tracy Hayes, P.I. on the Scent

Tracy Hayes, Unstoppable P.I.

Tracy Hayes, P.I. for the Win

Tracy Hayes, Vacationing P.I.

House of Magic

Hexing the Ex

Saved by the Spell

Third Spell’s the Charm

Magic by the Book

The Reed Files

The Perfect Scam

The Perfect Hoax

Table of 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

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-one

Chapter Twenty-two

Chapter Twenty-three

Epilogue

About the Author

Excerpt from Hexing the Ex

Also by Susanna Shore

Chapter One

I can’t believe my little brother is having his mating ceremony…

The happy sigh made Marcus Hamilton glance at the huge vampire warrior next to him. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. He’d never seen such awe on his cousin Gabriel’s strong face.

Gabe looked awe-inspiring in his dinner jacket too, tailored to fit his large, muscled frame. He dressed in suits occasionally for business purposes, but most of the time he could be seen in the fighting leathers that the warriors of the Crimson Circle wore when they patrolled the streets of London. His long, black hair was in its customary warrior’s queue at least, or Marcus might have believed he was an impostor.

They were standing at the edge of a verdant canopy raised in the English garden of Greenwood Manor, the ancestral home of Greenwood wolf-shifter clan. The mating ceremony of Zacharias Hamilton and Harriet Green was about to start, and Marcus’s stomach fluttered in excitement, much unlike the huge and frightening vampire warrior he was too.

A vampire warrior mating with a wolf-shifter… Who would’ve thought this day would come?

In all his five centuries, Marcus couldn’t remember being surrounded by so many wolves, not even on a battlefield, and definitely not by their vulnerable clan members. The cubs in human form were running around the vast garden, laughing and screaming in joy, not caring that half of the guests were feared and deadly vampire warriors of the Crimson Circle.

Then again, the other half were feared and deadly wolf-shifters.

But this was a special occasion. Zach, the Second Son of their leader Alexander, Lord Foley, was formalising his mating bond with Harry, the only child of Jamie Green, the alpha of the Greenwood clan.

No one had expected the easy-going, woman-loving Zach to become bonded, let alone with a wolf. But a vampire’s Rider, their hidden, secret second nature, chose who it chose. And for much of their early courtship, Zach’s Rider had been in charge of their shared body when Zach was recovering from being shot.

It could’ve easily gone so wrong too.

Vampires’ second natures were vicious, bloodthirsty creatures, and unlike the other two-natured—shifters and sentients—vampires never let them out voluntarily. It would only lead to carnage.

Yet when it had been in charge, Zach’s Rider had chosen to bond with a beautiful woman, a tall and strong doctor who was perfect for him—even if she was a wolf. And her wolf nature had accepted him in return. The second natures of the two-natured didn’t make mistakes when they chose their forever mates.

Their union formed a closer alliance between the warriors and Greenwood wolf-shifters than there had been during the centuries of the two living on the opposite edges of Epsom, some thirty miles outside London. It was a good, strong union, and much needed. The warriors were in a war against their vicious, secretive enemy, Renegades, and needed all the allies they could get.

But today was about love, not war. Marcus pushed the gloomy thoughts aside and shot Gabe a teasing look. Shouldn’t you be planning for your own mating ceremony?

As far as Marcus was concerned, Gabe and Zach were both long overdue finding their mates and settling down. Zach would celebrate three and half centuries this year, and Gabe was only a decade younger than Marcus, both of them past the half a millennium mark.

Yes, Gabe stated, his eyes landing unerringly on his mate, Allegra Emery, across the canopy where the women had gathered around Harry. But we’re waiting until the renovation of her house is finished. Allegra wants to be wed at her own home.

Gabe had chosen a woman Marcus would never have thought would suit the First Son, a highly intelligent scientist whose willowy body and ethereal demeanour looked like the slightest adversary would break her. But Allegra was perfect for Gabe, strong and fiercely protective, and she had already helped the Crimson Circle in their war against the demon vampires by identifying how Renegades weren’t real people but more … well, brimstone.

Marcus nodded, understanding, but his mind began to race. Allegra’s house was in the middle of London and was known to Renegades. It would be a huge security risk. But he was the security expert of their organisation. He would make it work.

Nothing this over-the-top though, Gabe added with a grin that made him look much like his father despite the stronger features and starker lines that he shared with Marcus.

Alexander and Jamie had thrown themselves into planning a huge do for their motherless offspring. The garden was decorated with spring flowers, and long tables were filled with food. There was even a string quartet, currently tuning their instruments on a small dais, even though music never played a large part in the mating ceremonies of the two-natured. Everyone was wearing their best clothes. Marcus couldn’t even remember the last time he’d worn a dinner jacket—tailored too, as he was built like Gabe: wide-shouldered and muscled.

Maybe they should make the effort to dress up more often. They needed celebrations in the middle of their endless war.

That in mind, he gave Gabe a pointed look. You’re Alexander’s eldest son. Your mating ceremony should be twice this large, held at the Circle Manor. It hasn’t seen a mating ceremony since— He stopped abruptly before his mind went where it shouldn’t: his mating ceremony. …before Zach was born.

Gabe gave him a sympathetic glance that Marcus appreciated, though he shouldn’t—didn’t—need it after all these centuries, but continued without bringing it up. Allegra wants to invite her human colleagues. Having the ceremony at her home makes it easier. Besides, you forgot Dad’s mating ceremony with Melisende.

Also before Zach was born, Marcus said with a small smile, though in truth, he had forgotten Alexander’s short union to Zach’s mother, which had ended when she died giving birth to Zach, like Gabe’s mother had died giving birth to him.

Like Marcus’s mate had died giving birth to their son…

But Alexander hadn’t been bonded with either woman, and he had the consolation of his sons. Marcus didn’t even have that.

My mating ceremony was much larger than Alexander’s to Melisende, he noted to distract himself. It had to be the occasion loosening his tongue. He never brought it up voluntarily—out of habit and not because he mourned anymore, though everyone walked on eggshells around him as if he still did. Maybe it was his fault, not having made it clear.

Gabe dipped his strong chin in acknowledgement. That’s because Melisende didn’t have any family attending.

It was understandable, considering her family had tried to kill Alexander and Gabe while they were negotiating Alexander’s marriage to Melisende’s sister. The story of Alexander and Gabe fleeing with Melisende through a wintry countryside in France was one of Alexander’s favourites that he shared every Christmas.

Cassandra had no family attending our mating ceremony either. Just… That woman. Us.

Your mating ceremony was the first large do in the Circle Manor since its completion, Gabe said matter-of-factly, as if it wasn’t huge that Marcus was talking about it for the first time in centuries. Father invited the entirety of vampire nobility in the country. There was a lot more of them back then.

But Marcus didn’t want to reminisce anymore. It would only make him gloomy, and this was a night of joy. Come, I think they’re about to start.

Vampires and shifters didn’t traditionally mix, and Marcus had never attended a shifter mating ceremony before. But their deities were the same, the All Mother, and Might, the energy powering all two-natured, and the bond could form between different types of two-natured. If this was anything like the vampire ceremony, they would collectively acknowledge the union and ask the deities to bless the mating bond if one existed between the pair. That wasn’t always the case.

Zach and Harry were definitely bonded. Only a union that their second natures accepted could have brought the two together and made Zach renounce all other women. Judging by the huge grin on his face, he was perfectly happy with it.

Like all Alexander’s offspring, Zach resembled his father greatly. His clean-cut, classical lines combined with a towering, powerful body drew eyes everywhere. In a perfectly fitting dinner jacket, his curling black hair tamed for a change, and his blue eyes shining, he was a striking sight.

It took a strong woman not to be intimidated by his power and his looks. Harry was definitely that, despite being barely in her thirties, a veritable child in two-natured years. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long, wheat-blond hair currently decorated with flowers, and a curving body sheeted in a form-hugging, white, human-style wedding dress. Much of her strength came from being an alpha’s daughter, and she would grow to be as powerful as her father one day. The translucent aura of her white wolf was stretching out of her chest like a living, full-colour 3D hologram, eager to be part of the ceremony.

But a great part of her strength came from the knowledge that she was a brilliant doctor capable of handling the strain of her job at the A&E of the two-natured ward of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. She’d saved Zach’s life with her skills too.

As the final rays of the sun disappeared behind the horizon and the full moon began to rise, hundreds of lanterns were lit in the garden. The May night was balmy and perfect for an outdoors event, at least for two-natured who didn’t really feel the cold.

Beautiful, Sebastian Hamilton said, taking a place next to Gabe and Marcus.

Alexander’s youngest son was as fair as the rest of his progeny were dark, with fashionably cut golden hair and blue eyes. But his classical features were as sublime as his father’s, as were his size and form. In a sleek designer tux, he looked lithe next to bulky Gabriel, but he was as powerful as the rest of them, even though he spent his days running the business arm of the Crimson Circle as the CEO of Foyle Enterprises.

If I ever have a mating ceremony, I’ll want something like this.

"What do you mean, if? his eldest brother demanded. You’re not even two hundred yet. Look how long it took me."

The reason it took you so long is because mating bonds don’t happen every day, Sebastian reminded him with a pointed look. And I want a proper mating bond too, not just some person I happen to like enough to share my life with. Besides, I could easily choose a man as my partner, and I don’t know if bonds happen between same-sex pairs.

Gabe pulled back. So if the love of your life happens to be a man you’d let him go because you can’t be bonded?

Sebastian made to answer but Marcus spoke before he had a chance. Mating bonds are overrated.

The comment was out before he could control his tongue and it silenced the men next to him. But he didn’t want this to be about him, so he nodded at the Greenwood alpha a little away from them. He was a tall, flaxen-blond man as powerfully built as the warriors, the aura of his white wolf stretching out of his chest, studying the goings-on with keen curiosity.

Think of how it went with Jamie.

Harry’s mother had been human and unable to recognise the bond Jamie’s second nature had formed, but it had bound him to her even after they divorced nonetheless. Only after her death had he been released from the bond and been able to find a new mate, Isla Shaw, and even bond with her. The tall, raven-haired wolf-shifter from Scotland was currently standing next to Harry, fussing with her dress that to Marcus’s inexpert eye looked perfect already.

Or how long it took Isla to recover from the loss of her mate and son, he added, although it had been only a century, far less time than he had been mourning his losses.

Not mourning anymore, he reminded himself. Just … stuck.

His companions didn’t say anything. What was there to say? They knew how a bonded two-natured behaved after the loss of their mate. Marcus had been a perfect example of it.

Alexander has been fine with unions without mating bonds, he continued in an attempt to make his point.

Sebastian cocked a sardonic brow. You can’t possibly think that his union with my mother was good.

Alexander’s fourth marriage had been political and not a happy one. Unlike the earlier ones that had ended in death, it had led to a divorce only a decade or so after Sebastian was born.

A point in favour of not bonding with your mate, Marcus said. Imagine if your father was still stuck with her.

Sebastian shuddered. There was no love lost between him and his mother either. After the divorce, Hélène Joubert had spent decades scheming against Alexander and wreaking general havoc until her father arranged her a marriage with a Chinese vampire prince. In the latter half of the nineteenth century, China had still been far enough away to keep her out of their lives for good, and everyone had been happier for it.

I don’t think a bond forms between people who wouldn’t make each other happy. It would be horribly cruel and pointless, Sebastian said, making Marcus sneer.

If it weren’t supposed to be cruel and pointless, we wouldn’t mourn for our mates for so long.

He sounded so bitter that he shook himself, disgusted, and adopted a cheerier tone. But deaths in childbirth hardly ever happen these days, even for vampires. Alexander and Zach are powerful healers, and Harry is a brilliant surgeon. You’ve nothing to worry about when you start having children.

To his amazement, Gabe paled. Who said anything about children?

Marcus grinned. Come now, your father is eager to have grandchildren.

Dad is over six centuries old, and his first wife gave him plenty of children and a plethora of grandchildren. Gabe gave Marcus a pointed look. One of them is alive even.

Marcus was Alexander’s great-grandson several times over, the only vampire progeny that had resulted from his first marriage to a human woman in the fourteenth century. The only one still alive, that was. But since he and Gabe were almost the same age, they’d taken to calling each other cousins. In truth, they were like brothers.

Alexander had taken Marcus to live with him when it became clear that he finally had vampire progeny. Marcus had watched over Gabe since his birth, the only child from Alexander’s union with a vampire aristocrat. They’d spent the decades after their promise was fulfilled together—or after their vampire gene had been activated, as Allegra insisted that they called it—until they could face the sun again.

They’d become warriors of the Crimson Circle at the same time, and together they had fought dozens of wars, for humans and against them, and now the endless war against the Renegades. At his mating ceremony to Cassandra, Gabe had stood next to him, like Gabe was now standing next to Zach.

But when his mate died, he had been alone.

No, that wasn’t quite true, he recalled, when he spotted a familiar face among the women around Harry. She had been there when it began too.

Sabine.

Chapter Two

July 1654

I can’t believe my brother is having a mating ceremony, Gabe gushed as they stood side by side in Marcus’s parlour, waiting for the event to begin. His barely contained excitement was contagious—or a reflection of Marcus’s own emotions.

Gabe punched Marcus’s shoulder playfully. And so young too. Who’s ever heard of mating at a hundred and fifty. You should’ve waited at least until you’re two hundred to even start looking.

Marcus grinned, joy bursting out of him, happier than he’d ever felt. "I wasn’t looking, and