Adric's Heart Read online

  Adric’s Heart

  A Fada Novel

  Rebecca Rivard

  Wild Hearts Press

  This one is for all the people who have helped shape the Fada Shapeshifter Series into six main books, a prequel, several shorter books…and counting!

  Special thanks to my editor, Katherine Teel, whose insightful comments are always appreciated.

  More thanks—and a warm hug—to my critique group, Julie, Cate, and Kalin, who push me to go that extra mile to make the books even better.

  And a big, big thanks and lots of hugs to my awesome family, especially Nick and Ravenna, who read—and love—their mother’s books. Your support means the world to me.

  Contents

  The Fada Shapeshifter Series

  Prologue

  1. The present day

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Also by Rebecca Rivard

  About the Author

  The Fada Shapeshifter Series

  *BEST SHIFTER SERIES of 2018 ~ Paranormal Romance Guild’s Reviewer’s Choice Awards*

  The fada.

  Shapeshifters created during Dionysus’s infamous bacchanals from a mix of fae, human and animal genes.

  They’re ruthless, wild, untamed—but when they love, it’s forever.

  The Rock Run River Fada (a clan of river-based shifters)

  Stealing Ula (#0.5—A prequel set in Ireland, Nisio & Ula)

  The Rock Run Trilogy

  Seducing the Sun Fae (#1—Dion & Cleia)

  Claiming Valeria (#2—Rui & Valeria)

  Tempting the Dryad (#3—Tiago & Alesia)

  The Baltimore Earth Fada (a clan of land-based shifters)

  The Darktime Trilogy

  Saving Jace (#4—Jace & Evie)

  Charming Marjani (#5—Marjani & Fane)

  Adric’s Heart (#6—Adric & Rosana)

  Fada Shapeshifter Short Reads

  Lir’s Lady (#3.5—Lir & Isleen)

  Shifter’s Valentine (#3.6—Jenny & Chico)

  Sea Dragon’s Hunger (#4.5—Cassidy & Nic)

  Join Rebecca Rivard’s newsletter to stay informed and be eligible for giveaways and sneak peeks. As a thank you, Rebecca will gift you with “Lir’s Lady,” a steamy short story!

  Sign up at rebeccarivard.com or go to this link: Rebecca’s newsletter

  Prologue

  Seven years earlier, in the last days of the Darktime

  The kill was swift, silent…and without honor.

  Honor was a luxury Adric Savonett couldn’t afford.

  He crouched on a dumpster in a dead-end alley. The alley was pitch-black, because he wanted it that way. While he’d acted as lookout, his sister Marjani had shimmied up the nearest streetlight and shattered the glass with the heavy handle of her dagger. Now she waited on the sidewalk while he squatted on top of the rusting metal container.

  A human would’ve been nearly blind. But he was a fada. He picked up every detail. The dark pool of motor oil seeping into the cracked pavement. The sour-smelling garbage spilling out of the dumpster. The rumble of a late-night delivery truck barreling down the street.

  And his uncle Leron as he stalked toward Marjani, brutal features displeased. “What the fuck are you doing here, girl? I ordered you to go to Jumar.”

  Adric’s fingers clenched on his dagger. The blade was iron, honed to a razor-sharp edge. Inside, his cougar hissed.

  Marjani lifted her chin. “And I said no.”

  They’d agreed to give Leron one last chance. If he rescinded his order that Marjani become his second’s whore, Adric would let him live. For now, anyway.

  Because everyone in the Baltimore clan, even their uncle, knew it was only a matter of time before Adric challenged him.

  “I’m your alpha,” Leron growled. “You don’t tell me no.” He backhanded Marjani across the face.

  And sealed his fate.

  She reeled backwards into the alley, their uncle following. Unlike them, he was a wolf shifter with his animal’s big, powerful body even when he was a man. The S.O.B. was easily twice her weight.

  Rage ripped through Adric, clouded his vision with red. He took a calming breath.

  Come on, you fucker. Just a little closer.

  “I won’t whore for you,” Marjani spat out. “Jumar can find his own damn woman.”

  Leron’s eyes flashed wolf-gold. He showed his fangs. “You’ll do whatever I fucking say. If I tell you to drop to your knees and suck off every single one of my lieutenants, then you will. Understand?”

  Marjani snarled and backpedaled past the dumpster.

  Leron prowled after.

  Closer, closer. And…now.

  Adric leapt, landing on Leron’s back. His uncle cursed and tried to buck him off, but Adric got him in a headlock. Leron ran backwards, slamming him into a brick wall. Adric grunted and grimly hung on.

  One hard stroke of the dagger across his uncle’s throat, and it was over. Leron made a terrible sucking sound and clawed at his neck. The coppery scent of blood filled Adric’s nostrils as the iron blade poisoned his uncle, hastening his end.

  Adric met Marjani’s eyes over Leron’s head. Her irises glowed cougar-blue in the dark. A sharp dagger was clenched in her hand. He said a silent prayer of thanks that she hadn’t had to use it. Better it be him who killed their father’s only brother.

  He released Leron, let him drop to the pavement.

  The dying man managed to turn over. His eyes widened. “You,” he gurgled as his blood pooled on the asphalt.

  “Me,” Adric confirmed.

  “Too much of a coward…to challenge…me.”

  Adric leaned forward. “Everything I know about honor,” he growled, “I learned from you. Burn. In. Hades.”

  Reaching into Leron’s shirt, he grabbed his quartz pendant and jerked it over his head. His uncle’s face contorted. His mouth opened and shut, and then he shuddered and went limp. His eyes filmed over.

  Adric found a rock, smashed the quartz. Leron was powerful. Adric was taking no chances he’d somehow heal himself.

  A quiver racked Marjani’s lean frame, but the look she turned on Adric was triumphant. “You did it. You really did it.”

  “Yeah.” He stared down at his monster of an uncle and wondered why he felt nothing, not even elation. The man who’d made both their lives a living hell was finally dead. Surely he should feel something?

  Together, he and Marjani bundled the dead man into the trunk of their car. By dawn, Leron Savonett was buried deep in a western Maryland forest.

  Within a week, Ad
ric had fought off a challenge from first Jumar, then one of his own cousins, and been declared alpha of the Baltimore Earth Fada.

  Adric and Marjani immediately set about saving the clan that his uncle had all but decimated. The Darktime, the clan had called it, although only behind Leron’s back.

  Adric’s first order of business was to gather the clan in a secret corner of Druid Hill Park and appoint Marjani as his second-in-command. Then he looked around at his hungry, hollow-eyed people. In the last ten years, the clan had lost nearly half its members. The elders had been especially hard-hit, caught up in the bitter infighting of the Darktime. And he could count the number of cubs born during Leron’s decade-long reign of terror on two hands—and still have a few fingers left over.

  “As of today, the Darktime is over,” he declared, hard-voiced. “You can leave, if you choose. But fight me, and die. Those who stay will follow my orders. In return, you and your cubs will be fed if I have to grow the damn food myself. The elders will be honored again, and you will be free to mate as you wish. We will become a strong, healthy clan once more. That, I promise on the souls of my mother and father.”

  The clan took a collective breath, and then one by one, they dropped to their knees, accepting him as the new alpha. It was spring. In a nearby tree, a single bird sang as the sun rose over the park, casting a pink glow on the kneeling crowd.

  Adric allowed himself a thin smile. “Okay, then,” he said, and watched as the clan rose back to their feet, some smiling, some—especially the clan’s wolves—with set faces.

  He hadn’t asked for this, hadn’t really wanted it. Hell, at twenty-six turns of the sun, he was barely an adult by fada standards. But he squared his shoulders and set to work rebuilding the clan, Marjani and a few trusted friends at his side, and he kept every damn promise he made.

  Every promise but one, that is. The very first promise he’d ever made—to protect Marjani, no matter what. He’d saved her from Leron and Jumar, but five years later, she’d been lured into a trap by members of his own clan, who’d handed her over to a den of feral river fada.

  And Adric hadn’t known until it was too late.

  Leron might be dead, but the Darktime hadn’t ended with him. It still lived in the dark corners of the clan’s souls.

  Adric’s included.

  1

  The present day

  Adric winced as a human female shrieked with laughter near his left ear.

  The Full Moon Saloon was packed tighter than a can of sardines. Mainly with earth fada, but the mix included river fada as well as a handful of humans slumming with the shifters. The dank, poorly-lit saloon reeked of alcohol and lust, and the band had more enthusiasm than skill.

  What in Hades was he doing in this crowded, noisy bar? But it was Saturday night, and he had nothing better to do. Which was fucking sad.

  He glowered at his beer bottle.

  Crowded around the table with him were two clanswomen and his friend Zuri. A big, smooth-talking wolf shifter with a shaved head and a soul patch beneath his lower lip, Zuri divided his attention between the women, and Dina and Cara flirted right back.

  Then Zuri reeled Dina in for a leisurely kiss.

  Cara just smiled and hitched her chair closer to Adric’s. “Hey, babe.” She set a hand on his knee. “Wanna take this back to your den?”

  He hesitated. The gods knew, he’d gone too long without, and all Cara wanted was a night with the alpha. No harm, no foul, and both of them free to go their own way in the morning.

  But he simply wasn’t interested.

  He removed her hand from his knee, kissed her fingers. “Not tonight, beautiful.”

  Cara wasn’t so easily put off. She was a warm-hearted young deer, one of the few in the clan. She leaned in, a worried pucker between her liquid brown eyes.

  “You sure? You seem—” She paused, choosing her words. “Edgy.”

  “I’m sure,” he said in a voice designed to halt further questions.

  Cara studied him another few seconds before nodding. She was low in the hierarchy. Just questioning him—her alpha—had clearly taken all her deer’s courage.

  Looping an arm around her shoulder, Adric nuzzled her cheek, offering reassurance in the way of their animals. She relaxed and turned back to Dina, who was now on Zuri’s lap. The wolf shifter made a dry, Zuri-type comment and both women giggled.

  Adric made himself listen, smile. But Cara was right. He was edgy, although he hadn’t realized it was bleeding into his interactions with the clan.

  He took a gulp of beer and forced his shoulders to relax.

  One more drink, and he’d leave—or maybe check out the poker game in the back room. Because the only thing worse than this crowded bar was his solitary den.

  The opening of the outer door sent a blast of icy air down the short hall into the bar. A long-legged beauty sauntered inside, her lush body poured into tight pants, a lipstick-red leather jacket, and ankle boots the same scarlet as her jacket. Wavy hair the blue-black of a raven’s wings framed a heart-shaped face and curled over high, round breasts.

  One wide smile and Benny, the hulking earth-fada bouncer who should’ve known better, fell over himself to wave her in.

  Rosana do Rio. Adric’s heart gave a hard knock.

  What was she doing here?

  And alone.

  Inside, his cougar snapped to attention, eyeing her with a cat’s intentness.

  She headed towards the bar without bothering to remove her jacket or gloves. The woman didn’t walk, she sauntered, hips swaying. All around the room, males pulled back their shoulders and puffed out their chests.

  Zuri muttered a curse and set Dina back on her chair. Adric didn’t even glance at him, his gaze glued to Rosana.

  She hadn’t even reached the long wooden bar when a human asked her to dance. A cocky blond college-type surrounded by three equally arrogant wingmen.

  Adric’s back teeth clamped together. Not your business.

  Rosana smiled and allowed the blond human to take her gloved hand. He led her onto the microscopic dance floor and set his hands on her hips, drawing her closer.

  A growl scraped Adric’s throat. His claws slid out and he started to his feet.

  No one touched Rosana but him.

  “Easy now.” Zuri’s fingers clamped onto Adric’s wrist. He wasn’t just a good friend, but one of Adric’s lieutenants. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

  Adric snarled. Back off.

  Zuri removed his hand but stared back steadily. Not challenging Adric, just reminding him of who and what he was.

  He sank back onto his chair. His friend was right. Adric was drawing attention, especially from the other fada.

  Rosana was a dolphin shifter, a river fada—and he was alpha of the Baltimore earth fada. Water and earth fada just didn’t mix. And Rosana wasn’t just any river fada, she was the sister of Lord Dion, alpha of Adric’s clan’s biggest rival.

  Which meant he could look but not touch.

  Rosana did one of those evasive twists women do, forcing the human to release her, and danced away.

  Adric’s claws retracted.

  “Drink your beer,” Zuri prompted.

  He picked up his bottle but didn’t bring it to his mouth.

  The lieutenant fingered his soul patch. “You want me to boot her sexy ass out of here?”

  “For what reason?”

  “Disturbing the fucking peace.”

  The Full Moon Saloon was technically a neutral space owned by a Brazilian river fada named Claudio. But Baltimore was Adric’s territory; if he gave the word, Rosana would be banned from the bar.

  But then he wouldn’t get even these occasional glimpses of her. The Rock Run Clan’s base was an underground fortress protected by fae wards impossible for him to break. And he’d tried.

  He brought the bottle to his lips. Swallowed. “Let her stay.”

  Zuri leveled a look at him. “Maybe you should just take her,” he said in a voi
ce pitched for Adric’s ears only. “She wants you. Even her brothers know it—that’s why they try to keep her up at Rock Run. Bang the woman already. Get her out of your system.”

  Adric’s fingers tightened on the bottle. “I’ll handle my own damn love life, thank you.”

  “But you haven’t been handling it. When’s the last time you had a good, hard—”

  He sliced Zuri a look. “Enough.”

  The other man moved a big shoulder in a shrug and subsided.

  Adric glanced around. In addition to Dina and Cara, there were five other unmated earth fada females in the bar, any of whom would be thrilled to take the alpha to bed for a night. And like with Cara, it would be no harm, no foul.

  But he only wanted Rosana.

  Who hadn’t even glanced his way since entering the bar.

  The music ended. With a nod at the cocky blond human, Rosana wended her way through the tables to the polished oak bar. The man followed, his gaze glued to her ass.

  Fuck this.

  Adric moved with fada-fast speed, cutting off the human to squeeze in next to Rosana.

  “Hey!” The man’s fingers dug into Adric’s arm. “She’s with me.”