Fighting the Lies Read online

  FIGHTING THE LIES

  A GLACIAL BLOOD SERIES NOVEL

  Anna Edwards

  Copyright © 2017 by Anna Edwards

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  www.AuthorAnnaEdwards.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Warning: This book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered offensive to some readers. This book is for sale to adults only, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase.

  In addition, this book may contain content which could cause triggers to certain readers. You read at your own discretion.

  Disclaimer: Please do not try any sexual practice, without the guidance of an experienced practitioner. Neither the publisher nor the author will be responsible for any loss, harm, injury or death resulting from the use of the information contained in this book.

  Cover Design by www.CharityHendry.com

  Logo Design by Charity Hendry

  Editing by Tracy Roelle

  Formatting by Charity Hendry

  Fighting the Lies/ Anna Edwards – 1st Edition

  ISBN: 978-1977558992

  He who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truth without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good dispositions.

  Thomas Jefferson

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  EPILOGUE

  COMING SOON FROM ANNA EDWARDS

  BOOKS BY ANNA EDWARDS

  BOOKS BY ANNA EDWARDS

  DEAR READER

  PREVIEW OF SURRENDERED CONTROL

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENS

  CONNECT WITH ANNA EDWARDS

  PROLOGUE

  It’s always been a part of the world; even though we continue to deny it. Breeding for advancement. Whether a woman is chosen for the width of her hips or the blood that flows through her veins, she’s been selected to produce a child based on a fact. The eldest son is not allowed love for he must marry for money or title. His duty is to produce fruit from his loins that will bring the family name to the forefront of those whose eyes need to be caught for greater power. His feelings don’t matter; they are insignificant.

  A woman is beheaded for the birth of a daughter; the child will not rule because of her sex. Little did her father know she would be the most powerful ruler of her Tudor lineage. A man forced to give up his throne because he dared to fall in love with a divorcee. What would a great country be like now if he had ruled with the woman he loved at his side?

  But it isn’t always in history that we see this tale, the fair maiden handed over by the wicked father; a virgin sent to her fate. No, it exists still to this day. Arranged marriages, women forced into sexual servitude because they fit a profile. Men were chosen for the genes that they have by the women that can pay for what they want. Baby girls murdered for not being a boy. Selective breeding is a part of our life. It’s not always wrong. For the parents who need particular genetics in a child to help cure another of illness, it’s a blessing. It’s a tale as old as time, and one that Emma and Scott are praying they can survive.

  Family isn’t always blood. Family are the people who accept you for what and who you are.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Get your hands off me. I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own.” Lioness, Emma growled at the sleazy wolf shifter who’d been manhandling her ever since they’d left the Glacial Blood mansion.

  “Where would the fun be in that?” The mongrel licked his lips and pushed her further down the dark corridor. He didn’t need to tell her where she was. It was the same place they brought all the shifter criminals. She was at the bottom of the Reichstag building in Berlin and was about to be thrown into the unique consecrated dungeons, which held those who were accused of crimes. Murder? That’s what Ethern, the paranormal council leader, had said. Just who in the hell was she supposed to have killed?

  Sleaze-ball ran his hand over her backside again. That was enough. Her hands were bound by a magical chain, but that still left her nimble legs free. In a quick movement, she struck out with her strongest leg and floored the unsuspecting wolf. She always liked that people underestimated her small frame. It was petite, but it packed a mighty punch.

  “I said keep your filthy paws to yourself.” She sent a spit of fury down upon on him.

  “You’ll pay for that bitch.” The wolf sprung to his feet and had his hands around her delicate neck before she could draw a breath. He pushed her back against the damp wall. The ice cold of the brick sent shivers through her body. The wolf smirked. He’d mistaken her tremble for fear. It was far from it, though. She prepared to attack. Magical cuffs could not stop her.

  “Marvin, let Miss Bryant go.” Ethern Lennox’s voice reverberated around the narrow corridor of the dungeon. The multi-shifter stepped forward from the shadows, long fangs glistening in the low-level light of the candles.

  The wolf reluctantly loosened his cast iron grip and bent his head low to her ear. “Punishment will wait. Ethern won’t always be around,” he rasped.

  Kas, Emma's polar bear Alpha, appeared next to the councilman and growled out a deadly warning. The multi-shifter placed his hand upon the irate alpha’s shoulder to placate him, before turning his attention back to the wolf. Emma watched it all with great amusement. The idiot had over stepped the mark.

  “Place Miss Bryant in the cell and then leave. I will have another guard sent down to take over your duties. You will report to your superior for discipline as you seem incapable of carrying out a simple order.”

  "The bitch kicked me?" Wolf protested with a look of horror on his face. Emma didn't know what ‘discipline' meant, but she guessed it would be painful. Discipline normally was.

  "And you have had wandering hands since the moment she first came into custody. Miss Bryant is innocent, until she is proven guilty.”

  "Which she won't be." Kas interrupted with a snarl; he too now had his fangs drawn. The sharp incisors capable of ripping into flesh and tearing it to pieces in a matter of seconds. Emma pictured Marvin that way. The first thing she would remove would be those disgusting hands. That would teach him to think he could touch up any arrested female. She gave the wolf a not so subtle smirk as he left the dungeon.

  “I’m sorry Emma; he had no right to touch you.” Ethern stepped forward and removed the magical chain from her hands with a wave of his own. “I’ll see that he’s not allowed down here again.”

  "Thank you, Mr Lennox." She bowed her head respectively.

  "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to go into one of the cells. I've got a private one for you, though. It's away
from some of the others who are held in here." Ethern led her forward and opened a solid oak door. The stench of urine and faeces mixed with the mildew covered walls. Her stomach turned. Moans of lamentation and feral whines flooded through the door. She stilled, frozen to the spot.

  “Ethern is this really necessary?” Kas wrapped his massive hand around hers and pulled her to him for comfort.

  “If I could allow her to stay anywhere else while we sort out this error, I would. I cannot show favour in my position.” The wizard’s face screwed up with his own revulsion of the situation.

  “It’s ok.” She reassured him. She had the feeling that this was the part of his job he did not care for. Another door opened, and they were lead through to a room that contained a single cell. This was where her immediate future lay. Ethern unlocked the door, and she stepped inside. A low growl reverberated from Kas again. He was not happy. Well, that was actually putting it mildly. They should all be celebrating her friends Brayden’s and Selene’s mating and the crowning of the snow leopard as beta. Brayden was like a brother to her. They’d grown up together after she’d been welcomed into the Glacial Blood family. She was six months younger than him, so he liked to play the protective older brother. She’d spoilt his special day. Guilt washed over her, as she took in the miserable surroundings.

  The Reichstag was opened in eighteen ninety-four and housed the German parliament until nineteen thirty-three when it was destroyed by fire. It was later rebuilt in the nineteen nineties to hold the shifter council who masqueraded as the German government. Well let’s face it, the shifters couldn’t do a much worse job for the humans of the city than the Nazis did. If only people knew that the current incumbent prime minister of the country was a Bavarian bear with a penchant for fresh fish…the still breathing type. The upper levels of the building were clean and designed in modern styles for the general public, but the floors below ground level retained historic charm for want of a better description. They ranged from small offices with ornate carvings to a grand ceremonial ballroom clad in wood and framed with swords and spoils of kills long since enjoyed at banquets. The lowest levels, hidden in the area where nobody would dare to go unless it was their job or they were waiting for sentencing, were the dungeon areas. Her room was a little better not being in the communal area, but it still lacked necessary facilities. The toilet was a bucket; the bed run down, and she hoped not covered in fleas. No natural light was here. Instead, a fluorescent tube light flickered to illuminate the etchings on the stone walls from previous occupants. She shivered at the tales this room could tell, and now it would add her own story.

  “Who did I supposedly murder?” She questioned Ethern.

  “Oh yes, the formalities.” A piece of paper was pulled from his jacket pocket. The multi-shifter opened it and started to read. “Emma Bryant, you have been brought here under the charge of murder. It is alleged that on the twenty-fifth of October, two thousand and fifteen, you did murder, Richard Bryant by means of beheading him. How do you plead?” The floor dropped out of her world. She stumbled back gasping for air. Ethern stopped reading and with a small flick of his hand motioned for Kas to administer comfort to her.

  “My father?” She was stunned beyond belief. Ice cold terror flooded her body, forcing her stomach to twist and turn in painful spasms. “I didn’t even know that he’d died.” Kas wrapped his arms around her and brought her into his chest. “I didn’t kill him. I haven’t seen him since I was four. I can’t even remember what he looks like. Why would I kill him?”

  "It's alright. Ethern knows that, but an allegation has been made. He has to investigate it." Kas calmly reassured her, but it didn't actually work. She had a terrible feeling about this. Anything to do with her father led to trouble, as far as she was concerned.

  “The allegation was made and viable proof supplied. Your dad was an alpha. I had to act." Ethern took one look at the bed, frowned and waved his hand in front of it. The bed disappeared and was replaced with a softer and much cleaner version. Warm blankets settled down upon it making it actually seem cosy despite the location. He flicked his wrist again, and the lighting morphed into a subtle warm glow. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about the toilet facilities, but I'll do what I can to make your stay tolerable. I've also sent Jessica to my office to pick up a copy of all the evidence and take it back to the Glacial Blood mansion so that you can start your own investigation, Kas.”

  “I’m grateful for that.” The polar bear nodded in acknowledgement before helping Emma to sit on the new bed.

  "I'm going to go and make some of the other rooms more comfortable, so it doesn't look suspicious, only those that deserve it of course. You've got five minutes, Kas, and then we have to leave." Ethern was back at the door. "I'll be back to lock up." Emma winced at his departing words. The walls suddenly closed in on her, she’d never been claustrophobic, but the thought of having no natural light and fields of green to run around in scared her so much that she could feel her heart beating faster and faster.

  "I don't understand why this is happening? Why now? I'm nothing to my father's pack; what could they possibly get out of seeing me stuck in here?"

  “I don’t know. None of this makes any sense. You came to us as a baby. You’ve never been a part of your father’s pack.” Kas was tenderly stroking her hair in a comforting gesture. It was calming her down a little, but she knew the minute he left the fear would return.

  “You said that I was found by your grandmother, that I had a note telling you who I was and asking that I be protected from my father. That I was to be betrothed to a man who would destroy me and that this was the only way to make sure it didn't happen. Who signed the note?" She'd grown up with a family of lions in the park, but Kas had always insisted on her knowing that she was not their biological daughter. After the wars in which his family died, the polar bear had explained that it was to ensure her safety through the truth. She remembered one meeting with her father when she was only four, the last time she’d seen him. It was full of anger, fighting between the packs, but the Glacial Blood had claimed her and marked her as one of their own, so her father could not take her. He’d eventually left without her but not before promising retribution against them all.

  “We don’t know who sent the note.” Kas’ answer brought her out of her reflection. “It wasn’t signed.”

  "What if this is a tactic to divert us?" She had a sudden thought. Of course, it was obvious, "Someone knows the details of the past, and they are trying to use it to keep us busy, so we can't prepare for whatever this war is that is coming."

  Kas, who was now standing with his back to her having previously been pacing the room in thought, released his claws and scraped them down the wall. The ear splitting sound caused her to cringe. Her alpha grumbled low in his throat. "I knew I'd regret not killing him."

  “Nuka?” She proffered.

  “If I find out he has anything to do with this…” Kas didn’t finish his sentence, but he didn't need to―the anger in his voice spoke volumes.

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t.” She hoped he wouldn’t. It would destroy her friend.

  “You are one of my best fighters; he knew of your past.” Kas spun around to face her. “And he is not the man I once thought him to be.” Kas punched the wall this time. The ferocity of his anger causing the very foundations of the building to shake. Ethern chose that moment to re-enter.

  “Was it my brother who made the allegations?” Kas bared down in a fury on the smaller multi-shifter. Ethern held his hands up in surrender. He may hold the higher rank, but you don't argue with an angry polar bear.

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “Then who was it?” She asked.

  Ethern swallowed deeply.

  “It was your brother.”

  “Brother?” Emma gasped. “I have a brother?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  “Is there any news from Kas?” Scott was watching through deep blue eyes, as Selene and Brayden entered the room. The former w
as nestled into her mate’s protective arms. After the interruption to their mating ceremony, Brayden had taken a distraught Selene back to their bedroom to try and calm her down. She’d been so upset that her friend had been arrested. Scott couldn’t blame her for that after everything that the young multi-shifter had been through in the last few months. To not know anything before waking up in the middle of Death Valley, discovering you have the ability to hear thoughts and change shape then experiencing the hard times where she was sure that she might never be able to touch the man she loved were the killer. The man she loved…the woman he… Scott shifted in his comfortable chair to dispel the thoughts. It was an old leather wingback, a Queen Anne Chesterfield no less. His throne, after all, he was King of the Jungle.

  “Kas said he would let us know when he heard something.” Katia, the tigress’s reply to Selene’s question had him turning his head in the direction of her gossamer voice.

  “What else is there to know? Emma’s been falsely arrested." He grumbled into his arm, which rested on his tucked up knees. "She’s going to be put into a cell with criminals and left to fend for herself.” An air thick with tension enveloped the room.

  "Kas won't leave her there. He’ll do all he can to get her out." Jane, Brayden's human mother, placed her hand on his shoulder. He should feel the warmth of her comfort, but all he wanted to do was remove the hand, as it stung his flesh. He growled low in his throat.

  “Scott.” Brayden stepped forward, a stern expression on his face and a stark warning in the tone of his voice. In Kas’ absence, the snow leopard, as beta, was in charge.

  "It's ok son." Jane pulled her hand away from his shoulder. Scott felt the pain reside.

  “How about we all get a drink. I know I could do with a stiff brandy.” Tyler, a wolf shifter, jumped to his feet and was pouring glasses before anyone could answer. The wolf handed them out one by one. Tyler bypassed Zain, the American bear, because the grizzly was doing his best Winnie the Pooh impression and was already on his second pot of honey, which, this time, was being devoured as comfort food.