Forged in Fire (Forgotten Series, #2)

Foreword

I decided to write this to let you know of a few things that I should probably clear up before you start wondering about my sanity or borderline sadistic writing.

In Red Ribbons you are only allowed glimpses of the world outside of Maricella's life. You see snap shots of things that show absolute cruelty as well as absolute beauty but the world Maricella inhabits is not nice and sweet. The world the shifters inhabit is harsh and brutal and the tales I am writing reflect that. You must understand that despite the classroom and her time as an Omega, Maricella is very sheltered and it is a position she likes to remain in to preserve her own sometimes fragile sanity.

The world outside of that bubble is not pretty, nor is it like our own world. Stuck between animals and humans, shifters have feral and animalistic tendencies and it bleeds into their human side just as much as their humanity bleeds into the animal side. They are very raw creatures, prone to follow their emotions and simply live in the moment but are careful to maintain a balance between the animal and the human.

Their lives can be long but usually aren't fights for territories, mates, pride and many other things usually stop a shifter's life short before they can truly age. The older the shifter the more respect they gather as they have been able to survive the harsh brutalities of the world around them. Most shifters rarely make it to die of old age. Battles are common especially with those further away from the mundanes, the humans. Packs get wiped out regularly and the flames of revenge are always sparking.

Nothing about them is truly nice or sweet. Oblitus is the land of the forgotten, the ones who this brutal world forgets. They are their own separate bubble, their own entity. Their nature is kind because each of the shifters who live there has suffered because of the Old Ways or because of their old packs. They are hard to the world around them but inside of their circle they are a family and that is all that is important to them. Not status or power, family and bonds drive them forward.

Unlike the rest of the world they inhabit. This world requires order. It requires ranks, power, Alphas and Omegas. They follow a set of codes. Some follow the Old Ways others follow the New Ways but still linger in the darkness of the past while others, who are isolated from the world, follow the Mountain Ways. Each shifter follows the path they choose, which code they follow and each is violent in its own way.

So please, this story is not sweet and kind but tinged with unbearable sadness as Red Ribbons was. It is as brutal and honest as the world it is written in. Characters will do dark things for their codes, will fight and kill to survive and to thrive. So consider this a warning. Dominance and submission, violence and brutality, murder and magic coat this story heavily. It is rated Mature for a reason so please keep that in mind as you read it.

That doesn't mean that it is all dark and dreary. There are still moments of tenderness, of softness, to temper the brutality of the actions some characters take but that is what this is. The Mating bond is one of the most treasured things the shifters have. It is their one lasting moment of happiness in a world that wouldn't hesitate to tear them apart with the brutal and bloody violence.

But in regards to the brutality this world holds and to those who balk from it. Would they truly be shifters without a little blood and gore to coat their claws?