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  Tangere Tales 1

  Beasts in Winter

  Cursed with a beastly appearance by a fae enchantress, Bestiale and Charmeur live a lonely, wintry life in exile until a spirited redhead bursts into their lives—right out of thin air.

  Angel Hunter challenges them at every turn, determined to return to her home because she misses her friends and what little family she has left. Though she can’t deny the growing connection she shares with Bestiale and Charmeur, she must refuse them.

  With the help of their crafty little sister and a meddling fae enchantress, they plan to convince her that the Northern Kingdom of Tangere is the only home she could ever want.

  When an evil from Angel’s former life finds his way to her new home, intent on her destruction, will the magic of her happily ever after prevail?

  Genre: Contemporary, Fairy Tales/Myths, Fantasy, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal

  Length: 54,851 words

  BEASTS IN WINTER

  Tangere Tales 1

  Heather Rainier

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  BEASTS IN WINTER

  Copyright © 2017 by Heather Rainier

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-663-5

  First Publication: October 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

  [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  These stories required a stretch outside of my comfort zone. As long as I’ve wanted to be a writer, I’ve wanted to pen my own versions of these classic fairy tales. I didn’t know if I had what it took to step out of the contemporary world of Divine, Texas, and give readers something a little different. But step out I did, and I am blessed to have several people to dedicate this series to.

  The Tangere Tales are dedicated to my husband, who has taught me more than any other person about what it means to stretch out of your comfort zone.

  They’re also dedicated to my friend, Morgan Ashbury, who checked all my French and verified that there is definitely a difference between “fucking French” and “French fucking.” (No offense to the French intended, of course.)

  And for the first time ever, this dedication extends to my very own lovely daughter, Juliet. She helped me plot the trilogy, laughing over dialogue, devising original fantasy places and names, and assisted in crafting secondary characters that are as entertaining as Fleur, Doop-Doop, and Flappy hopefully are.

  Lastly, this series is dedicated to Lily, Angie, all the Facebook group admins, all the readers and bloggers, a phenomenal editor, and to my absolutely fantastic publisher, Diana. She was the one who told me, “Anything can happen!” She was right.

  Seize the day, baby!

  Love, Heather

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  I live in South Central Texas, writing the type of novel I love to read: more erotic and edgy than the mainstream, with plenty of sweet romance mixed in. My love of romantic fiction began as a teenager when my mom gave me copies of Kathleen Woodiwiss’s “The Flame and the Flower” and Bertrice Small’s “Skye O’Malley.” To this day I’m pretty sure that was her idea of the “birds and the bees” talk.

  My husband and I met in a scenario very much like the ones I’ve written about. He was the alpha hero who stepped in when this “damsel in distress” needed rescuing from a nefarious pervert. It’s no wonder I went on to write erotic romance when I had him to inspire me.

  When not pounding on my keyboard, I’m usually busy corralling my kids or loving on my smokin’ hot husband, who thankfully loves to cook.

  For all titles by Heather Rainier, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/heather-rainier

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Prologue

  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

  Landmarks

  Cover

  BEASTS IN WINTER

  Tangere Tales 1

  HEATHER RAINIER

  Copyright © 2017

  Prologue

  Mount Rainier National Park

  “Do you see it?” Angel Hunter called as she peered beneath a thick growth of ferns.

  She and her friends, Caresse Baker and Elaina White were searching for an extraordinary white cat that had just scampered past their campsite before disappearing into the forest. They were set up on the shore of a glacier-fed lake located miles from any habitation in Mount Rainier National Park, having a girls-only camping trip to celebrate Angel breaking up with her good-for-nothing, freeloading ex-fiancé.

  “Poor thing!” Caresse said before calling out, “Here, kitty-kitty! She probably belongs to some tourist and she’s lost and scared.” She got down on her knees and clambered under the ferns, making sympathetic kitty sounds.

  Elaina tilted back some foliage on the path, looking beneath it. “I spotted a collar but didn’t see any tags. It looked like the kind of cat some rich lady on Fifth Avenue would take to the kitty salon every week. Whoop!” She pitched forward and landed on a soft bed of ferns. “I’m all right! I’m all right! Poor kitty, I hope you weren’t under there or you’re now pancake kitty.”

  They paused several yards into the growing shadows of the forest, and Angel looked at her friends. “What do you say? Do we let it take its chances?”

  Caresse and Elaina both shook their heads, and Elaina said, “It might get eaten by a bear or something if we give up now.”

  Casting a look back at the campsite they’d just set up, Angel nodded. She wanted to relax after the hellish week she’d had but knew she wouldn’t be able to for worrying about the cat. “Let’s split up. She’s probably hiding close by.”

  “There!” Elaina said, pointing at a flash of brilliant white before running toward it. They set off in that direction, but after a minutes’ chase, they lost sight of it again.

  “There!” Caresse cried as she pointed to the left, at the blur of sleek white fur.

  The feline led them on a merry chase until all three of them spotted her on a low rocky ledge at the foot of the hill. She sat licking her paw, her attitude decidedly nonchalant, until they were within a few feet of her.

  Angel climbed up on the ledge and approached the cat with a coaxing hand extended. “Come ’ere, sweetie. I have canned tuna at our campsite that I’ll share with you.”

  Oddly, the cat gazed at her, her whiskers trembling as if she was weig
hing the pros and cons of canned tuna over continuing to evade capture. Finally, with a flick of her tail, she strolled farther along the ledge until she came to a shadowy alcove and then twirled, rubbed her body along the edge of rock, and entered into a cave.

  “Shoot,” Angel muttered, halting when she reached the dark opening. “I should’ve grabbed her. Do we venture in?”

  After finding a way up to the ledge, Elaina and Caresse looked at the cave entrance, and Elaina said, “We could go in just a little ways. I don’t want her to blunder into a bear’s home, but…I don’t want to get eaten either.”

  Caresse nodded and then added, “Let’s just be really quiet, and”—she glanced at Elaina—“careful. We don’t want to disturb anything in there.”

  “Meow…” echoed from the corridor, and Angel headed in first, drawn by the contented rumble of the cat’s purring. The feline was larger than most domesticated cats, with sleek long fur that shimmered in the light. It was surprising that her coat was a pure white, considering the distance she’d covered over the forest floor.

  “Kitty-kitty,” Angel whispered, smiling at the cajoling feline reply. She was thankful she’d come prepared. She pulled her flashlight off the D-ring hanging from her belt loop as they went deeper, and the other girls followed suit.

  In the distance, the cat mewed again, moving farther away. Turning a corner, Angel groaned when they came to a three-way split in the passage. The cat’s call took on a plaintive ring, but it was hard to be sure which passage she was in.

  Elaina said, “Each of us can take a passage. We’ll follow it for five minutes. If we reach a dead end or haven’t found her by then, we’ll meet back here.”

  “Sounds good,” Caresse said. “I won’t be able to sleep in my warm sleeping bag tonight if she’s trapped in the dark and afraid.”

  Angel knew Caresse well enough to spot the way her friend fidgeted as she looked into the dark tunnel.

  “You sure?” Angel asked. “I know you don’t like the dark. If you want to stay here and wait, then we can all go down your tunnel together?”

  Caresse shook her head. “I can handle five minutes there and five minutes back. I just hope there aren’t any bats.” Caresse shuddered and quickly divided her long, honey-blonde hair into sections and braided it. Elaina offered her an elastic from the lightweight backpack she was carrying, and Angel noticed the way Caresse’s hands trembled as she took it. She was scared of the dark, but the soft spot in her heart for animals was stronger.

  “Meow.”

  Elaina patted Caresse’s shoulder. “Hey. Breathe. You got this. I’ll see you in a few minutes. We’re starting the getting-over-the-cheating-asshole-ex-fiancé-camping-weekend with a big bang.”

  “Five minutes there and five minutes back. You’re right,” Caresse said, drawing a slow, steadying breath. Elaina offered her a small flashlight from another pocket in her backpack. “Thanks.”

  “See you in ten,” Elaina said, pulling her shoulder-length black hair into a messy bun with a ponytail holder before turning down the corridor to the far right.

  Caresse took the passage on the left, and Angel took the one in the center, certain that was where the cat’s call had echoed from.

  “I’m coming, kitty.”

  The passage twisted and turned, and she thought she could hear Caresse’s and Elaina’s voices occasionally from either side of her and then noticed light filtering around the corner up ahead.

  “Meow,” the cat murmured as Angel spotted her sitting in a ray of sunlight splashed on the floor.

  Angel squatted down and held out her fingertips to the cat and cooed in surprise when the cat jumped right into her arms and began rubbing her face against Angel’s chin. She didn’t use her claws at all, turning and settling into Angel’s arms as if she was accustomed to being carried. Her long tail flickered against Angel’s side, and her purring increased in volume, as if she was happy to be in Angel’s arms. Her scent was clean and woodsy, with a hint of flowers, but her coat was immaculate as if she lived indoors and was groomed daily.

  “I’m Angel. What shall we call you, pretty girl?”

  The cat’s reply was an affectionate chin rub on her hand.

  Goosebumps shimmered on Angel’s skin as she moved forward, curious about the source of the glow up ahead. She stepped into the pool of light, and it seemed that the volume of the cat’s purring increased and the radiance intensified and somehow blurred.

  She heard Caresse’s and Elaina’s voices again and was at least relieved to know they were nearby somehow. She’d needed a few days away with her friends, free from the family drama and the stress of her relationship breakup. The trip was certainly starting off on an interesting note.

  Her feet moved forward, though good sense told her she should approach with greater caution. The cat’s purring became even louder, and a sensation grew in her stomach, as if a whole battalion of butterflies were flying around inside it. The overwhelming pitch and yaw of motion as if she was riding a rollercoaster made her dizzy. The light disappeared, and all was black.

  Chapter One

  A rumbling sound nearby startled Angel, and she opened her eyes, not remembering why they were closed. She couldn’t possibly have dozed off. Her awareness returned, along with a blast of freezing cold, and she gasped.

  “Ho-Holy shit! Where am I?”

  “Meow,” the cat answered, its bright white fur blending in with the snow scene surrounding her. Brilliant sunlight lit the frozen landscape and another wave of chills hit her, reminding her she was clad in denim shorts, hiking boots, and a tank top—because it was summertime. As if to reinforce her confusion, snowflakes drifted around her and caught in her long auburn hair and sifted into her cleavage.

  “We need to get out of here, wherever the hell here is. I know I promised to take you home, Miss Priss, but I’m freezing my ass off. You wanna go back home with me? It’s warmer there, and I can hook you up with all the catnip your heart desires.”

  The feline shimmied against her as if trying to keep her warm and then turned her shapely head and gazed off into the distance. Her purring grew loud enough to be audible over the gusting wind. A soft ringing sound drew Angel’s attention, and she noticed a bauble made of glass or crystal hung from the cat’s collar. Within the clear material was suspended a blue flower, like a violet. The cat looked into her eyes, as it began a pumping motion with its paws, “making biscuits,” as her grandmother would’ve said. The cat’s eyes were the same brilliant blue as the flower within the bauble.

  The cat looked to the horizon again, and Angel understood why when she spotted the castle across a clearing, its roof peaks, chimneys, and architectural features piled with snow. Was she directing Angel there?

  Wait, what? Directing me? I must be hallucinating.

  Sunlight poured down on the palatial fortress, and the ice crystals covering the structure glittered, dazzling her for a moment. “Whoa. Sorry, pretty girl, but I need to go back. This…this is crazy.”

  “Put down the animal.” Chills rippled down her spine at the gritty, almost inhuman quality of the voice.

  Don’t show fear. It’s not a bear or a monster. If they can speak, they can be reasoned with. Just don’t…show…fear.

  “Are you deaf, or do you have a death wish? Put down the animal.” A hint of aggravation was plain in the accented syllables.

  Angel turned and nearly lost her footing. Her knees wobbled, as well as her grip on the cat, who just kept purring and making biscuits. What stood before her was something out of her wildest, darkest dreams—no, not dreams. Nightmares.

  “Holy…” Did one cuss in front of a monster? “Shit. What-what are you?”

  Two massive beasts loomed before her. Steam puffed from their mouths and their nostrils as they breathed the wintry air. Clothed in leather in an antiquated fashion, as if they were warriors of old, both also wore shaggy hooded cloaks that appeared to be made from the hides of bears.

  She blinked up at them towe
ring over her from several feet away and then looked at the blue-eyed cat, who seemed pleased to keep rubbing on her and purring, as though two hairy, threatening beasts weren’t standing ready to tear her limb from limb. Feeling as though she was standing at the widening void between reality and a really fucked-up fantasy, she realized she must be dreaming or losing it, and a hysterical giggle erupted from her throat.

  “Did I trip and hit my head in the cave? Am I hallucinating? This can’t be real.”

  Her moment of levity was cut short by the bulkier and scarier of the two, who growled again. “Put. Down. The. Animal.”

  Totally real. Really real. Really really real. I’m gonna die.

  Such a wave of terror coursed through her at the ferocious voice, she froze and slammed her eyes shut. The cat hissed and growled at the beast, and over the pounding of her heart in her ears and the chattering of her teeth, Angel thought she heard an amused snort.

  “Fine,” the angry beast snarled, its voice as rough as a gravel truck driving on a bad road. “You’re not an animal. Woman, put down the feline and don’t move.”

  Angel’s pulse roared in her ears, and her throat went dry as she darted her gaze around, looking at the snowy ground, anywhere but at the monsters. Looking for the cave. If she could reach it, it was her best chance for evasion. Her only chance. But the cave was nowhere in sight. Not hidden from view by the snowfall. There was no cave opening anywhere in sight, just a bare slope.

  Normally the strategist among her friends, Angel could see only one option as she looked at the snow caking her boots and the castle beyond the clearing. The snow wasn’t terribly deep, and no way was she letting herself or the cat get eaten without at least trying to escape.