Legend of the Forest
Raquel Gabrielle
Publication date: April 25th 2025
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Mia has always been drawn to the unusual, a fascination that’s made her an outcast. The world beyond their wall is shrouded in mystery, with few stories to go on—mostly fairy tales or fragments about the Old Ones. No one other than the guards dare to venture into the woods, and those who have don’t return the same, if at all.
When a creature is captured in town, it sparks a chain of events that brings more dangers from the edges of the forest—some friendly, some not. As Mia helps the creature escape, she never expects to journey into the dark woods and unravel secrets beyond her wildest imagination.
There, she meets Haddox, a golden, irresistible man who offers passion and freedom like she’s never known. Then there’s Grey, his polar opposite—stoic, mysterious, and a constant thorn in her side. The tension between them boils over, until they can no longer ignore the undeniable connection between them.
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EXCERPT:
Mia’s POV
Mia scrunched up the paper in her fist. She stared at the beige wall. She could not believe what she had read. Thoughts raced through her mind, and her throat tightened with emotion. The urge to scream was so strong she took a huge bite of bread, stuffing her face. The bread tasted like burned ash. As she swallowed the bread, her stomach turned sour at the thought of taking another bite. She then turned the light down low, making it more difficult to read the letter. The letters on the paper blurred together as tears filled her eyes.
“She will never accept me. Never accept anything I try or do. She will force my hand into the pictures she has chosen for me.” Tears fell down her cheeks, stifling her cry with her hands over her mouth.
A scratch at the back door caught her attention, stopping her hot tears and sniffles. Everything froze and was quiet for a moment before another scratch. The letter fell from her fingers as she went to the door. Giving the door a curious look, she loosened the tie to move the cloth and look out the window. The darkness made it hard to see what was out there. Cracking it open, icy rain pelted her bare hand. The water was cool against the heat that radiated from her.
A snout pushed hard against the opening. A body wriggled in and slid through before she could close it. Mia jumped back, surprised that the creature from earlier came barreling in, sniffing the ground. Electric blue fur with black stripes streak across the kitchen, heading back to her. Powerful limbs scrambled across the wood as his eyes feast on the hand still holding the bread. Pulling a chair out, she blocked the beast, guarding herself from being attacked.
“You hungry?” she questioned. Wanting to calm the creature long enough to settle down.
Jumping up, its hindquarters remained on the ground; its front paws landed on the chair seat. It used its front two paws to lift itself closer, reaching for the bread that was just out of grasp.
Lifting her hand up, she kept it away. “Food, you want?” She broke off a small piece, placing it right through the back bars of the chair furthest from its teeth. She pulled her hand back through the bars quickly, not wanting to get her fingers bitten off.
With a sniff of the food, a long tongue came out, licked it, and then gobbled it up. Its eyes were dark as it waited there patiently for more.
“Food?” It croaked out when neither one moved for a while.
Dropping the bread all together, Mia’s eyes go wide. “Did you just talk?”
“Food!” it said louder, giving a happy howl of excitement as it jumped down, attacking the food that had rolled. The bread disappeared in a matter of minutes. “More?” The creature cocked its head to the side and gave sad eyes.
“Oh, umm. You want more?” Her eyes searched the kitchen. She had not seen any more bread. “Are you a boy or a girl?”
“Boy.” He shuffled, coming up behind her.
“Do you have a name?”
“Bloo.” He hopped up and down, his nails clicking on the floor.
“Blue, oh, because of your coloring?”
Shaking his head. “Bloooo,” he enunciated.
“Bloo?” She shrugged her shoulders, going along with it. Opening a cabinet, she took out some plain cereal and grabbed a handful. She kneeled on the ground, holding her palm out to him. “Can I pet you? Don’t eat me, okay?”
“Food?”
“No, I’m not food. But yes, food is here.” She placed it on the ground beside her. Bloo’s steps were unsure and wary of her movements.
Author Bio:
Raquel Gabrielle resides in Oklahoma with her husband, dogs and cat. She grew up loving stories so much that she even made up her own tales. Writing has helped her in many ways and continues to do so. Writing has always been there for her and something she will always fall back to when things get tough.
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Twenty-one-year-old Natalia battles a rare parasomnia sleep disorder that propels her to act violently, experience night terrors, and put herself in dangerous situations—all while she’s unconscious.
My existence was as cold as my birth. I was born with both knowledge and will—an inevitability for my kind. Drawn to the final moments of mortal life, we came into being. Some of us became Reapers, tasked solely with ferrying souls to their afterlife. Others craved the power of souls, calling themselves gods of Death—Shinigami. They believed that devouring or absorbing souls granted them greater might, but found that power only deepened their coldness and emptiness. Those gods of Death became husks, bored of their own immortality yet too frightened to end themselves. But being a Reaper can yield the same chill. Though I know the souls would be lost without our guidance, my own existence seems bound to a perpetual winter, drawn to the final beat of each mortal life.
