*Now a featured Wattpad story! Zara was never meant to be an outcast. Once upon a time, she was a Red Cape- a member of the respected forest guard. That was before the accident, though. The one that left her partner dead and her to blame. Now expelled from the guard and living a life of shame, all Zara wants is to redeem herself and earn back her coveted position. The perfect opportunity arises when a mysterious Hunstman shows up in the kingdom...looking for her. Somewhere deep within the dark forest, a princess is being held captive by the werewolves and their king. As the royal Huntsman, it's Ronan's job to find her and bring her back. And who better to guide him than a former member of the renowned Red Capes? While Zara isn't thrilled at the idea of working side by side with the irritatingly charming Huntsman, she's in no position to refuse his proposition. Especially if she wants to impress the guard and earn a second chance. Together, they enter the forest to face the myriad of terrifying creatures awaiting inside. Ardon, the werewolf king, has an agenda of his own...one where he and his pack rise from exile to reclaim their place at the top of the food chain. When he begins to make unexplainable appearances within Zara's dreams, she realizes things are far from what they seem. The truth behind their strange connection may not be one she's ready for. However, the werewolf king is far from the only one harboring dark secrets. What began as a simple rescue mission will soon turn into a challenge not only for Zara's life, but for the world outside the forest.

************************************************************************************** An outcast rogue must break a curse put on his fate, or die on his nineteenth birthday. To survive, he'll need the sword of a maiden, the aid of an immortal, and the power of forbidden magic that could cost him the only girl he ever loved. ************************************************************************************ *** THE JACK OF SOULS won a Silver IPPY this year! *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the PNWA Competition in Fantasy! * *** THE JACK OF SOULS won 1st place in the Southwest Writers competition! * *** A "Featured Book" on Wattpad! * *** Now a "Staff Pick" on Kickstarter! * *** Available on Amazon in paper, hardback, and ebook ! * *** My contract with Kindle Select won't allow me to post more than 3 chapters here, but... *** Sign up for my newsletter on stephenmerlino.com for alerts when it's free on Amazon! * MY INSPIRATION I wrote this out of pure love of trickster rogues; I love the wit over brawn motif -- Odysseus over Achilles, Raven over Eagle -- so I like to play with it in my stories. In JOS I set the rogue and con-artist Harric against a foil of warriors in a land threatened by magic and civil war. Whenever possible I turn familiar tropes on their heads: instead of a handsome young Lancelot, I cast a broken-down ex-champion addicted to pain-killing herbs; instead of a dashing Squire Brian, the old knight reluctantly takes an ambitious young woman as squire. Similarly, I re-imagine the standard medieval milieu by infusing aspects of two of my favorite historical periods, Elizabethan England, and The American Frontier. Both eras boast a kind of nationalistic arrogance that borders on hubris, and a magnificent spirit of resourcefulness and re-invention that is fun to play with. SERIES The Jack of Souls is first in a series. I am posting parts of the sequel here now (The Knave of Souls), to help me refine the story.

#1 in Paranormal & #1 UNIQUE ranked story on Wattpad! When a monster called the Smiling Dark comes clawing at Tay Wilson's door, she quickly learns a demonic pet of the faerie kingdom is the least of her problems. The riders of the Wild Hunt are searching for brides, and more than one of them has his eyes set on her. *** Hunger Games meets ACOTAR *** *** PREORDER LADY OF THE WILD HUNT TODAY *** Tay Wilson is about to leave her Alaskan homesteading family for an internship working with a famous special effects designer in New York City when an accident leaves her and her friend alone to rescue a lost calf. Finding that calf as a fast-moving snowstorm closes in on the homestead is the last thing she wants to do, especially after having spent the last month stalked by an enormous, terrifying darkness sporting a volcanic smile and a serpentine tongue. Unfortunately for Tay, the entire legion of the Wild Hunt has come to whisk her soul away to their dark faerie kingdom, where she and several other women will be released into the Malumbrian Oaks, a forbidding forest of blood magic and secrets, to participate in the centuries-long sport of demonic and faerie lords hunting for brides. Captured, awaiting the Hunt, Tay discovers that her father is not the good-for-nothing oil rig worker of her mother's claims; he was once a Lord of the Wild Hunt, making her a halfbreed and eligible to compete in the games as the second only Lady of the Wild Hunt. To win, Tay must make it back to the castle with at least one bride of her own, while evading capture from every other Lord in the hunt and surviving the perils of the towering forest. All of this is difficult enough, but to get the help she needs to even survive until the start of the Hunt, she's forced to ally with and begins falling for Chiro, reigning Prince of Demons and Faeries. When Chiro chooses to join the hunt, the game of capture and evasion gets a lot more interesting.

~Alpha Awards 2023 Winner~ Wattpad official Werewolf page Visena Sage knows two things for sure. Her name, and that she's part Faery. After waking in an unfamiliar realm with no memories (or clothes), Visena is dragged by the scruff to the Earth realm by two insulting and unusual strangers. They seem eager to take her to their leader, an unidentified enemy with unknown motives. However, in a potentially wonderful twist of fate, she is immediately rescued by a small group who use gibberish words to address one another. Alpha? Beta? Mates? The apparent damsel searches for answers while familiarising herself with the group's deliciously scented, cautious leader: Gideon Steel. Gideon seems intrigued by her blunt, confident approach and keeps a watchful eye on her as she navigates his strange world. Both seek answers to the same questions while feeling an unnatural pull to each other. Who is she? (Who is he?) What happened to her family? And is she really the damsel in this story? Happy reading ;) [Mature content: language, humour, violence and sex. 17 and up] ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Top tags to date: #1 Vampire of 209k #3 in Werewolf of 198k #23 in Romance of 2.02 mil #1 in Witch of 80.5k #2 in Wolf of 60.4k #1 in fairies of 12.5k #1 strong female lead of 7.7k #1 in faeries of 4.86k #1 in fairfolk of 180