Embedded Files
Rom Com, Urban Fantasy
Date Published: November 15, 2024
Michael has enrolled at The Familiar Training Academy to be paired with the familiar who’ll be at his side for life. Only, the Academy has chosen to put him with their problem child. And he’s supposed to teach her obedience?
Danine hangs out with wild raccoons and has no intention of taking orders. But Michael makes the bond so sweet, she has to stick around for more. When a class project gets her lost in a charmed forest, will he find her?
EXCERPT
For some reason, the administrator was nervous. As a brand-new student, Michael Bedford should have been the anxious one. After all, he was entering the Familiar Training Academy as a rank amateur sorcerer. The coursework would test even the brightest students, and he’d have to take charge of a familiar.
As of right now, he had no idea what sort of person they’d linked him to. And not just person. His familiar would also be a shifter… able to change into an animal. She could be any species at all, and within minutes of meeting her, he’d have to bond with her physically.
No pressure there, right? Wrong. He was going to have to perform with a perfect stranger. He’d never had a problem in that area, but this was different. In fact, he’d been looking forward to it ever since he’d received the acceptance letter from the Academy. How they got along now would color the rest of their time together, probably until one of them died.
“Um.” The administrator cleared his throat. “We’ve sent folks to find Danine. She should be here any minute.”
“Can you tell me more about her?” Like what kind of creature he’d be taking to bed as soon as she arrived.
“Danine is… well… special to all of us,” the administrator said.
“How special?”
“Bear in mind, our selection was based on quantitative measures of your personality and needs,” the man said. “Highly scientific.”
Something was definitely off here. The man was dodging Michael’s questions. Had their measurements paired him with something truly unpalatable? Maybe a banana slug or dung beetle. Maybe something dangerous like one of those frogs indigenous people used to make poison for their darts. If he licked her at the wrong time, he might end up dead. Or stoned out of his mind.
“Let’s try this another way,” Michael said. “Is she animal, vegetable, or mineral?”
“Ha-ha. Good one.” The man fidgeted with his pen. “She’s definitely animal.”
Brother. At least they were narrowing it down. “Mammal or marsupial? Feline? Canine? Ungulate? She’s not venomous, is she?”
Laughter again, this time high pitched. “Not at all, and she’s had all her shots.” The man continued to laugh, this time at his own joke. It hadn’t been all that funny.
“Then, we’re talking mammal,” Michael said.
“I must stress that you are the sorcerer here and she the familiar. She needs to obey you. Obedience in all things.” Michael had never expected a woman to obey him. If he was lucky, a woman might agree with him, but in his experience, trying to boss a woman around was only asking for trouble.
“Oh, my.” The man checked his watch. “She knew she was supposed to meet you twenty minutes ago. Where is she?”
“Maybe I should come back at another time.” And miss out on bonding, at least for now. Damn it. He’d counted on settling into his rooms here with some really good sex. As long as he didn’t have to do it with a banana slug.
Finally, a scratching came at the window, like claws against the glass. The administrator looked in that direction. “Well, here she is now.”
Michael glanced over to find a raccoon balanced precariously on the windowsill. It continued to swipe at the glass with its paws. The administrator got up, went to the window, and opened it with some effort. The buildings were old here, and no doubt things got stuck.
“Where have you been?” the administrator demanded. “Bedford has been here for a good fifteen minutes.”
“Twenty,” Michael corrected, although his watch said it was more like twenty-five. The raccoon sniffed a bit, sampling the air for… what? Human scent? Michael’s? Raccoon faces didn’t give much away. Then, it climbed down into the room and approached the chair next to Michael’s. It left a trail of dirty paw prints all the way across the floor.
“Danine, this is Michael Bedford, your new master,” the administrator said.
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About the Author
Alice Gene likes her romance hot. She writes in a number of different genres, including paranormal, historical, and contemporary. As Alice Gaines, she’s a USA Today bestselling author.
Alice has a PhD from UC Berkeley and lives in an apartment the size of a postage stamp in Oakland. She loves knitting, singing in her church choir, and funking out with Tower of Power. She also loves hearing from her readers!
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