by Wren Michaels
March 10th, 2022
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Reseda Juarez is dead. Though she functions as a human, inside she's an emotionless weapon, trapped between the living and the undead. Cold and unrelenting, she's used as a super-soldier by the government in a special task force to hunt preternatural beings to the brink of extinction.
One night, five years ago, Kane killed an innocent and his brother lost the love of his life. The aftermath forces Kane to become the alpha of the legendary Thunderbirds. He now must protect what's left of his family from the tribe of wolf shifters who ripped them apart.
When Reseda's mother is bitten by a wolf, she and Kane are forced to work together to find the Mayan Pul Yah stone to heal her—the same stone that gifted Reseda to the life she now lives. But the journey is riddled with more than wolves, also searching for the stone. Something strange happens to their powers when they're together, and they struggle to fight the intense attraction between them. The deeper they go, the more secrets unravel, until love is the only thing that can defeat an enemy no one saw coming.
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance
Reseda Juarez is dead. Though she functions as a human, inside she's an emotionless weapon, trapped between the living and the undead. Cold and unrelenting, she's used as a super-soldier by the government in a special task force to hunt preternatural beings to the brink of extinction.
One night, five years ago, Kane killed an innocent and his brother lost the love of his life. The aftermath forces Kane to become the alpha of the legendary Thunderbirds. He now must protect what's left of his family from the tribe of wolf shifters who ripped them apart.
When Reseda's mother is bitten by a wolf, she and Kane are forced to work together to find the Mayan Pul Yah stone to heal her—the same stone that gifted Reseda to the life she now lives. But the journey is riddled with more than wolves, also searching for the stone. Something strange happens to their powers when they're together, and they struggle to fight the intense attraction between them. The deeper they go, the more secrets unravel, until love is the only thing that can defeat an enemy no one saw coming.
Reseda never gave much thought to biological functions. But when they're ripped away, sometimes the littlest things stick out, like a body-convulsing sneeze, the sting of a scraped knee, or the tenderness of someone's lips in a kiss. Reseda jotted down the words; shudder, pain, soft, and wet. She no longer connected with them. In fact, she had an entire journal of thoughts from a lifetime ago, when the word life had a different meaning.
So many years had gone by since her rising that things blurred. Some faded completely. Maybe time eroded some memories to make room for new ones, perhaps more urgent and lifesaving ones. Those she could remember she compartmentalized into two types—the before time and the rising. She tucked the latest ones under the before time, when she was still human. Alive. Those were the things she journaled, kept safe and out of her head where people could pry. The military liked to do that, full of shrinks and doctors poking and prodding. They called it debriefing, but it was more for their safety than hers.
Sure, someone could read her journal, too. But to them it would be a series of meaningless words that made no sense. But to Reseda, it was a map, a trail of breadcrumbs to who she used to be.
Something toiled in her mind. She couldn't give it a name, or she'd forgotten what to call it. All she had was a scratch at the back of her head telling her she should be scared. But fear never surfaced. Nothing ever did. No sense of emotion at all. Most of the time her body and mind were weightless, as if waiting for someone to tell her how to act, how to think, how to feel.
She lived for the days she got to hunt, when she could get off the covert military base and run the floor of the Pacific Rim National Forest. When she had a purpose, something to fill the void inside her.
“Reseda,” a loud voice distracted her from her thoughts. It belonged to her fellow operative, Teagan. “What's going on with you lately? I called your name like five times.” Teagan planted her hands on her curvy hips. “Something's off. Do we need to have you checked out?”
Reseda rose from the floor and made her way to the bathroom. Teagan's long dark hair brushed against her as they bumped shoulders. She imagined it feeling like fine silk against her skin. “I'm fine. Just thinking.”
“So, can I borrow your pin-striped corset for the show tonight? The one with the double-dagger holder? I want to test it out with the twins.” Teagan twirled her favorite set of silver-tipped titanium knives she deemed the twins.
“Yeah, sure.” Reseda nodded and shoved her earlier thoughts deep into a compartment in her mind. What good did it do to think about those kinds of things anymore, anyway?
“About the mission tonight? It's a standard sweep.” Teagan followed, covering their shared room in three steps. The bare walls and drab blankets made the place as lifeless as her soul.
Reseda stared at her reflection, trying to identify with the face that looked back at her. Some days she did her job, came back to her room, and never gave it another thought. But some days, like today, something poked at her, forced her to take a step back and reflect on where she had come from. A young woman born of two scientists from Guatemala. Then born again—but no longer among the living, helping the government eradicate a preternatural threat to the human race.
Funny how they required an equally unnatural life form to do it. Would her kind then, too, be eradicated once the wolf threat had been taken care of?
Reseda clenched a fist and studied it like a newborn discovering their hand for the first time. Long had her nerves been dead, all sensation from pleasure to pain eradicated. Blood dribbled through her fingers, and she stared at it, waiting for something to happen. Something to go off in her head that this was wrong. She should feel something. She should cry out.
Nothing.
Reseda turned her attention back to Teagan. “I'm good to go.”
Teagan quirked a perfectly sculpted brow that complimented her flawless light-brown skin. “Who you showing off to? It's just me here, and I can do that, too. So, what the hell's up with you?”
“Nothing. What's with the inquisition?” Reseda tilted her head and stared at Teagan, the closest thing to a friend Reseda had.
They didn't talk like human friends did, all giggly and happy. They didn't share make-up tips or talk about guys, other girls, or even go out. But they had a common bond, a frame of reference no one else could share. It linked them.
Reseda had never asked Teagan if she ever thought of the past or if she wished she could be human again. Teagan never gave her any inkling she did.
“You're just not usually all spacey and shit. You're always on top of your game. So, if there's something wrong with you, especially tonight when our asses will be on the line sweeping for wolves, I need to know.”
Reseda appreciated Teagan's blunt attitude, and Reseda could give it back in return without having to deal with backlash. Sometimes it helped not to have not to have to deal with the emotional bullshit of what ifs, hurt feelings, and misunderstandings. Just say what you mean and mean what you say.
That was the good part of the rising. Sort of reaching that next level of consciousness, of doing what had to be done to save lives. They had each other's backs at all times, no question in loyalty or backstabbing. They had a job to do, and got it done.
They were all the same—The Dolls. Weapons made of flesh and blood, minus all the shit that got in the way. No pain to take them down in an attack. No emotions to question orders. No feelings to get in the way of decisions. Most of all, they were already dead, so they couldn't die again. At least not in any human way. They were as close to immortal as the government could get.
So many years had gone by since her rising that things blurred. Some faded completely. Maybe time eroded some memories to make room for new ones, perhaps more urgent and lifesaving ones. Those she could remember she compartmentalized into two types—the before time and the rising. She tucked the latest ones under the before time, when she was still human. Alive. Those were the things she journaled, kept safe and out of her head where people could pry. The military liked to do that, full of shrinks and doctors poking and prodding. They called it debriefing, but it was more for their safety than hers.
Sure, someone could read her journal, too. But to them it would be a series of meaningless words that made no sense. But to Reseda, it was a map, a trail of breadcrumbs to who she used to be.
Something toiled in her mind. She couldn't give it a name, or she'd forgotten what to call it. All she had was a scratch at the back of her head telling her she should be scared. But fear never surfaced. Nothing ever did. No sense of emotion at all. Most of the time her body and mind were weightless, as if waiting for someone to tell her how to act, how to think, how to feel.
She lived for the days she got to hunt, when she could get off the covert military base and run the floor of the Pacific Rim National Forest. When she had a purpose, something to fill the void inside her.
“Reseda,” a loud voice distracted her from her thoughts. It belonged to her fellow operative, Teagan. “What's going on with you lately? I called your name like five times.” Teagan planted her hands on her curvy hips. “Something's off. Do we need to have you checked out?”
Reseda rose from the floor and made her way to the bathroom. Teagan's long dark hair brushed against her as they bumped shoulders. She imagined it feeling like fine silk against her skin. “I'm fine. Just thinking.”
“So, can I borrow your pin-striped corset for the show tonight? The one with the double-dagger holder? I want to test it out with the twins.” Teagan twirled her favorite set of silver-tipped titanium knives she deemed the twins.
“Yeah, sure.” Reseda nodded and shoved her earlier thoughts deep into a compartment in her mind. What good did it do to think about those kinds of things anymore, anyway?
“About the mission tonight? It's a standard sweep.” Teagan followed, covering their shared room in three steps. The bare walls and drab blankets made the place as lifeless as her soul.
Reseda stared at her reflection, trying to identify with the face that looked back at her. Some days she did her job, came back to her room, and never gave it another thought. But some days, like today, something poked at her, forced her to take a step back and reflect on where she had come from. A young woman born of two scientists from Guatemala. Then born again—but no longer among the living, helping the government eradicate a preternatural threat to the human race.
Funny how they required an equally unnatural life form to do it. Would her kind then, too, be eradicated once the wolf threat had been taken care of?
Reseda clenched a fist and studied it like a newborn discovering their hand for the first time. Long had her nerves been dead, all sensation from pleasure to pain eradicated. Blood dribbled through her fingers, and she stared at it, waiting for something to happen. Something to go off in her head that this was wrong. She should feel something. She should cry out.
Nothing.
Reseda turned her attention back to Teagan. “I'm good to go.”
Teagan quirked a perfectly sculpted brow that complimented her flawless light-brown skin. “Who you showing off to? It's just me here, and I can do that, too. So, what the hell's up with you?”
“Nothing. What's with the inquisition?” Reseda tilted her head and stared at Teagan, the closest thing to a friend Reseda had.
They didn't talk like human friends did, all giggly and happy. They didn't share make-up tips or talk about guys, other girls, or even go out. But they had a common bond, a frame of reference no one else could share. It linked them.
Reseda had never asked Teagan if she ever thought of the past or if she wished she could be human again. Teagan never gave her any inkling she did.
“You're just not usually all spacey and shit. You're always on top of your game. So, if there's something wrong with you, especially tonight when our asses will be on the line sweeping for wolves, I need to know.”
Reseda appreciated Teagan's blunt attitude, and Reseda could give it back in return without having to deal with backlash. Sometimes it helped not to have not to have to deal with the emotional bullshit of what ifs, hurt feelings, and misunderstandings. Just say what you mean and mean what you say.
That was the good part of the rising. Sort of reaching that next level of consciousness, of doing what had to be done to save lives. They had each other's backs at all times, no question in loyalty or backstabbing. They had a job to do, and got it done.
They were all the same—The Dolls. Weapons made of flesh and blood, minus all the shit that got in the way. No pain to take them down in an attack. No emotions to question orders. No feelings to get in the way of decisions. Most of all, they were already dead, so they couldn't die again. At least not in any human way. They were as close to immortal as the government could get.
Wren hails from the frozen tundra of Wisconsin where beer and cheese are their own food groups. But a cowboy swept her off her feet and carried her to Texas, where she promptly lost all tolerance for cold and snow. Fueled by coffee, dreams, and men in kilts, Wren promises to bring you laughter, heart-fluttering romance, and action that keeps you on the edge of your seat.
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