Reluctant Cervid (New Clan Shifters #3)

Can a patient lion teach this shy cervid that she’s worth all the love he has to give?

Octavia “Tavi” Hart is a rare oracle shifter. Her skillful drawings are clues to future events, and when she saw one event repeatedly, she felt the push to do something about it. But she was a low-ranking cervid, so when she asked her Rangale if she could leave to warn a shifter clan of impending danger, they forbade it. Despite the consequences, she left anyway.

Now the fighting is over and the clans are safe. And most significantly for her, Clan Leader Donovan Finn is alive and well. She’s had visions featuring him for years, even before her gift pushed her to help the clan shifters. When she arrived at his doorstep with a backpack and nothing else, he took her in and cared for her as no other ever has. But even under his patient, diligent kindness, she still suffers from anxiety and reacts badly if she has to be around two or more clan shifters at a time. Why can’t she be normal? Eventually, he’ll tire of dealing with her. They all will.

She should probably give up trying to fit in with the clan shifters, return to her Rangale, and beg to be accepted back. She’s an herbivore shifter among a clan of omnivores and carnivores. Natural law says she’ll never fit in with these shifters, and she certainly shouldn’t be developing feelings for a certain, handsome clan leader. Even though she struggles to find her place and her voice among this group, the idea of leaving Donovan makes her heart hurt.

Donovan Finn might have met only a few cervid shifters before, but he knows Tavi is special and not because she’s an oracle. Her shifted form is the embodiment of deadly grace, and her soul is nothing but kindness. He knows she never wanted to be an oracle and seeking him out put her at odds with the other cervids in her Rangale. But she was brave enough to leave despite their refusal and to seek him out. She helped not only his clan but also the neighboring clan to fight a profoundly unbalanced battle and win.

She doesn’t know it yet, but she has his heart and loyalty. Hopefully, he can get her to stay long enough to prove to her that a cervid can be safe and happy with a lion shifter.

Just as he thinks the shy, reluctant cervid is finding her confidence, the leader of her old Rangale turns up. Thomas Kline wants her back and to make that happen he’ll elevate her rank and arrange a good marriage. He’s offering her everything a cervid could ask for, so when she turns him down, Donovan knows Tavi truly wants to stay.

What neither of them can know is that darker forces are at play. Between the dysfunctional clans still being dealt with and Tavi’s old Rangale, the two of them will have their hands full trying to navigate their relationship. Throw in some chatty deities and you have the recipe for a whirlwind adventure with friends and foes coming out of the woodwork.

This novel can be read as a stand-alone, but it is part of a bigger world and ongoing story arc. For all the back stories, it might be fun to start with Stray Wolf , the first novel in the series and then follow with Lost Lion , book two. Reluctant Cervid is set in a world where paranormals, like shifters, are hidden from humans. This novel has an HEA and is meant for mature audiences, eighteen years or over only. Please use the “Look Inside” option on Amazon to view the trigger warnings.