Meet Shelzi, a goddess in a world where there is hardly any magic and few people actually believe. Once upon a time she was worshipped across the globe, but those days are long gone. Now she's dependant on The Sect, a secret group of believers. Their rights and rituals ensure her continued existance, and in return she gives them power. The Sect provides her with everything she needs, including a Guardian for protection.

In my head, The Sect has become corrupted and Shelzi (MC) is a glorified prisoner. The Sect has made a number of powerful enemies over the years, using the power gained from Shelzi to further their corporate influence and add more zeros at the end of their bank balances. But someone has figured out the source of their good fortune and has made it their mission to take Shelzi out. The Guardian's (YC) job suddenly got a lot harder.

I'm envisioning a slow-burn romance, set in the modern era.

My heart thudded as the car sputtered while going sixty down a curvy, two-laned road. Time to slow down.

“C’mon, old girl. Just a little bit further,” I encouraged, giving the dash a couple of affectionate pats. My Expedition might be old, but I’d had her since graduating high school. We’d been through a lot together. She’d earned my loyalty. Even if she was slowly falling apart.
I hit the brake and slowed down to a more reasonable speed. The engine smoothed out and once again all was good in the world.

This was the beginning of my big adventure. I’d already been on the road for four hours and according to Google Maps, I was minutes away from my destination.

Thunderbird Ridge.

I didn’t know much about the mysterious town located in the backwoods of East Central Missouri. They didn’t have a website I could research. The first time I’d heard of the place was when the letter from the lawyer arrived.

My father’s great-uncle had passed away and left me an inheritance that included a little bit of money, but more importantly a house in Thunderbird Ridge. I’d been living alone in the house I grew up in since both my parents died in a car accident when I was twenty. Six years ago…

Six years ago, and I still missed them every day.

That car accident changed everything. It was us three against the world. I never had a lot of friends growing up, but I rarely felt that absence in my life. Not while I had my parents. They were my best friends. Then they died. What few friends I did have drifted away, as if my grief and trauma were contagious. And I let them. At the time I wanted to be alone, to curl up in all that pain and loss and cherish them because those feelings carried the memories which were all I had left.

My human friends would never understand. I didn’t just lose my parents; I lost my pack. Just like true wolves, wolf shifters are social creatures. We depend on that pack bond to make us stronger, to help us feel complete. There were holes in my psyche where my parents used to be, and now it was just me and the lonely echo of my own thoughts.

By the time I surfaced from that dark place, I’d well and truly isolated myself. On one hand it was best because I was a shifter, and I’d always have to hide that part of myself from humans. On the other hand – loneliness sucked. I tried to reconnect with a couple of old friends, but it felt awkward and stilted. Like I was trying to force something into being that just wasn’t there.

So, I lived alone for six long years. I got used to my own company. I rarely ventured out of the house other than brief runs in the state park and to pick up essentials from Walmart. My work was done from home. Being a freelance graphic designer allowed me to do everything I needed to on my computer. I grew comfortable, complacent. Until I got that letter.

The letter planted the seed that life could be different. I didn’t have to live alongside the ghosts of my parents. Not changing anything because it felt disrespectful. Surrounded by things that didn’t feel like they truly belonged to me. I was living my parents’ lives, not my own. My childhood home had become a prison and in that letter was the key to freedom.

A new home. A new start. A new life.

I hadn’t set eyes on my new home, yet. The most I had were a couple pictures the lawyer’s secretary emailed to me. One of the front of the house, showing the full length, screened in front porch and bright blue siding. It was two stories, three if you counted the large attic space. It had a row of burning bushes planted on either side of the stairs leading up to the front door. The picture must have been taken in the fall because the leaves were a beautiful bright red. It was only a couple weeks until Christmas, I expected the bushes to be bare now.

The second picture was the one that really sold me. All it showed was the view from the backyard: a seemingly unending forest of trees. The image was gorgeous, the perfect fall scene made up of red, orange, yellow and green. I’d happily have it blown up and mounted in my living room for everyone to see. Fall was my favorite season. But it was more than just the pretty trees that drew me in. That property sat on twenty acres of untamed forest. Twenty whole acres to run on without worrying about being seen. I could run every night if I wanted, without the thirty-minute drive and the constant threat of being caught.

I’d still be a lone wolf, but that much land would allow me to indulge my wolfy side. Ever since Mom and Dad died, I’d felt a separation between the two sides of me. It was time to bridge that chasm and I believed letting my wolf out more often would help with that. Maybe if she wasn’t so suppressed, we could come to terms with each other again.

Excitement buzzed through me as I took a left onto a narrow, white gravel road. I passed a couple houses on either side, but as I continued the trees closed in on the road, their branches arching overhead so it was like traveling through a tunnel. The midmorning sun filtered through the canopy, occasionally blinding me with its brightness.

I slowed down to a crawl, not wanting the tires to slip on slick gravel or miss a curve because I couldn’t see. It was a windy road, gradually snaking its way up a steep hillside. My hands clenched on the steering wheel, my palms sweaty with nerves. Thank the gods it wasn’t snowy, or this would be even more nerve wracking.

Trepidation began to set in. I was used to relatively flat, well-kept roads that were easily cleared after the rare snowstorm. Southeast Missouri saw a little snow but rarely more than a couple of inches at a time. Ice had been the bigger worry there. How bad would the winter get here? The house was three miles away from city limits. There would be no quick jaunt to Walmart…if they even had a Walmart here.

What would I do without a Walmart?

Those worries melted away when I made the final right into the driveway and set eyes upon my new home in person. It looked just like the picture, except for the bare branches of the burning bushes. I was itching to get a look at the inside, but it seemed that would have to wait.

There was a black sedan already parked in front of the detached, two car garage. As I pulled up alongside it, a smartly dressed middle aged woman climbed out. She had short brown hair neatly styled into a pixie cut that complemented the angular lines of her face. Her pink blouse was tucked into wide legged khaki slacks and she wore sensible black flats.

It had to be Adeline Day, the secretary who sent me the pictures. She did say she’d meet me, I just thought I’d arrive early and have time to walk around the house some before I had to handle company.

Feeling self-conscious already in my faded blue jeans and plain black t-shirt, I shut the car off and did a quick check of my reflection in the rearview mirror. Gods help me, I looked a mess. I had been so excited to leave first thing this morning all I’d done with my tawny hair was throw it up in a messy bun. I hadn’t even combed it. Lack of sleep the last few days had painted bags beneath my light brown eyes, the dark bruises standing out starkly against my pale complexion. Maybe if I’d bothered with makeup…

Too late now.

I got out of the car and pasted a smile on my face to greet her. “Ms. Day?” I asked as I walked towards her, holding out my hand. “I’m Marnie Hill.”

“Just call me Addy, please,” she smiled, taking my hand. She had a pleasant alto voice and a firm grip. She was also human; I could tell from her scent. She wore a soft vanilla fragrance that drifted to me on the morning breeze. After giving my hand a couple shakes, she let go and gave me a curious look. “Marnie…that’s an unusual name. But it sounds so familiar.”

“I was named after an old Hitchcock film,” I explained, grinning ruefully. “My parents were big fans.”

She pursed her lips. “Maybe that’s it, but I don’t know. I think I heard Old Jeremiah mention you before.”

“Old Jeremiah” must have meant Jeremiah Hill, the uncle who recently passed away and left me everything he owned.

“I didn’t know a thing about him. I’m surprised he even knew I existed. My father never mentioned having any family left.”

Ms. Day – Addy – chuckled. “Nobody knew much about Old Jeremiah. He mostly kept to himself. The whole town is stirred up, anxious to meet the niece who will be taking over the estate.” Her expression gentled. “I’d expect more visitors to show up today, wanting to get a peek at you. Most of them are likely to show up with food, though, so you probably won’t have to worry about cooking for a few days.”

I held back a groan. Sure, I wanted to be more social, but I also wanted some time to get used to my new surroundings. “That’ll be great,” I lied. “You wouldn’t think people would drive this far out just to say hello.”

“It’s not that far,” Addy grinned. “You’re just one ridge over from town. If you keep going straight along that gravel road it turns paved and leads right to Main Street. You have more neighbors going that direction. Lots of places sprouted up on the hillsides after Old Jeremiah sold off some of his property.”

I worried my bottom lip. “I still have twenty acres though, right?”

Addy nodded. “You have about five acres on every side. Adrian Dawson is your closest neighbor, he’s just to the east down the hill. He’s the one who bought up most of Old Jeremiah’s land, then sold pieces of it off over the years.”

When I’d learned I’d have twenty acres to run on, I imagined it being a vast space full of uninterrupted forest. Now it seemed I had neighbors relatively close by. At least in one direction, although I still couldn’t see any houses from where we were standing. Maybe my wish for privacy wasn’t completely ruined, but I still felt disappointed.

“Should we head on inside?” Addy suggested. She dug a key ring out of her pocket and handed it over to me. “That’s the spare. You already have a key, right?”

I nodded, and the two of us followed the concrete walkway to the stairs leading up to the front door. Addy fell behind me, giving me room to unlock the door and step inside.

We were standing inside the screened in front porch. The nearby trees blocked the morning sun, but even with the dim lighting thanks to my heightened wolf senses I could still see. White wicker furniture was set up to the left, including a loveseat and chair with a small matching table between them. To the right a porch swing dangled from the ceiling, the weathered wood painted a pretty pale blue.

“Is all the furniture still here?” I asked, vaguely gesturing towards the wicker set.

“Yes. Other than some cleaning, everything has been left as it was the day Old Jeremiah died.”

There was a hint of sadness in her voice that I hadn’t picked up on before. “Were you close to him?”

“Not really. But he was a staple in Thunderbird Ridge. One of our oldest residents. He kept to himself for the most part. Adrian probably had more contact with him than anyone.”

That made sense, considering this Adrian person was the closest neighbor. I was growing curious about him and couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing. Would he be one of the people who showed up today?

I looked towards the door that would take us into the rest of the house. I wanted to go in and explore but I didn’t want Addy with me. This was a big moment and I selfishly wanted to experience it alone. I didn’t want to be rude. My mind scrambled for a polite way to get Addy to leave.

She gave me a gentle smile, as if she’d read my thoughts. “Test that second key and I’ll get out of your hair. I’m sure you have a lot to do.”

I immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry. It’s just…”

Addy waved a hand. “No, no. Don’t apologize. You want to get acquainted with the place. It’s like a blind date and you don’t need me intruding.”

I gave her a grateful smile and walked over to try the second key on the door. It went in smooth as butter and there was an immediate click when I turned the key.

“Good,” Addy nodded. “I’ll leave you to it.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “I wasn’t kidding about you getting visitors today. People won’t be able to help themselves. We don’t get many newcomers in Thunderbird Ridge. I can put out the word that you’d like at least a day to get settled in. That won’t stop everyone, though.”

“A day would be great,” I admitted. “I’d appreciate that.”

“I’ll do what I can.” She waved and then pushed through the screen door, jogging down the steps with the energy of someone half her age.
I watched her until she backed out of the drive and disappeared behind a row of trees that blocked the front yard from the trees.

It was only then I realized I never got around to asking how she knew I’d be two hours early.