Forged by Greed, chapters 1 through 14 (90 pages)

FORGED BY GREED

Book One in The Forged Series 

Angela Orlowski-Peart

Three Graces Publishing

Copyright © 2012 Angela Orlowski-Peart

All Rights Reserved.

Visit the author at

www.angelapeart.com

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, locations, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental

No part of this book may be used, reproduced, scanned, distributed, stored, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form, by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying or recording without the express written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For further information or permission please contact the author at angela@angelapeart.com

Cover design and artwork by Jeannie Ruesch © 2012 by Angela Orlowski-Peart

First Edition, 2012 published in the United States of America

Three Graces Publishing. 

ISBN: 978-0-9883695-0-4 (Kindle)

To Mom, Dad, and my sister for always believing in me.

To Alex and Amanda for providing an amazing inspiration for my writing.

To Matt for standing by my side and letting me dream big.

Special thanks to the Writers in The Rain: Brenda, Eileen, Fabio, Martina, and Suma. To my friends and beta readers, Diana and Angela. To my wonderful editor, Alyssa and the copyeditor, Aemelia. To my very talented graphic designer, Jeannie. To my family and friends for cheering for me all the way to the end.

I’m forever in your debt.

CHAPTER 1

Human World, July 29.

The huge black wolf gained on her with every passing moment. Her muscles burned with pain, sweat covered her skin, her breathing heavy. Could she still outrun him?

Dodging between the trees, she tried and failed to put the distance between them. Was she so predictable that he knew which way she’d turn, even before she did?

She took another sharp turn around a thick tree on her left, its cracked bark brushing her side. Stealing a glance over her shoulder, she saw a gleam of white teeth and a set of watchful eyes—round enlarged irises encircled by a sliver of blue. Those eyes did not belong to an animal. These were human eyes—in a wolf’s body.

The light bounced off the wolf’s thick coat in a blue-black sheen.  He was enormous, much bigger than a normal wolf. A low growl escaped him as he almost missed the turn, his claws scraping the ground. She cackled and surged forward, but he was right behind her, too close, too fast, concentrating on her every move. With another growl, the wolf advanced, his lean body elongating into a long stretch as he tackled her. She collapsed with a yelp under his weight, and they rolled in a tight embrace, kicking and nipping at each other, the momentum forcing them down a slope.

Her coat was as black as the wolf’s, only shorter and slicker, and her sharp teeth as lethal. She matched his growling with hers, deep and throaty. Her long leopard tail swished wildly each time the force of their fall put her on top. The air around them shook in a shimmering undulation as if lifting from a scorched asphalt road in summer. Two wild animals shape-shifted into two teenagers, as the slope ended in a small flat clearing between the trees.