Blanket of Snow (After the Storm #1)

By Dianna Hardy

(An Eye of the Storm Novelette)

Four months have passed since the night of the fatal storm, and "peace on earth" has never felt so good despite the pack's sorrow at the loss of family and dear friends; sorrow that cut deeply over Christmas, and during last week’s wedding.

Mated to three, and now married into the Gunvald lineage, Lydia has taken comfort and security in her she-wolf, the animal's strength and wisdom taking her deep into the still-uncharted territory of Lawrence's wooded home – now her wooded home.

But storms come in many guises, and as the January snow clouds gather overhead, Lydia's finally forced to confront the secret she's been keeping from everyone, including herself.

(Publisher's Notes: After the Storm is a series of novelettes that take place at relevant points in the immediate months and years after Eye of the Storm. They concentrate on the healing our characters need to go through after everything that happened. They do not need to be read to understand the main story - they are additional reads for fans that also contain 'Easter eggs' for whats is to come.)

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bitten Fruit Books / Satin Smoke Press
• Release date: Jan 7, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463780220

Dianna Hardy

Dianna Hardy is an international bestselling author of (cross-genre) fantasy fiction, most notable for her dark paranormal fantasy and the raw, intense Eye of the Storm series. But her heart-warming Once Times Thrice series proves she thrives in the light as much as the dark. Whatever your poison, what she loves most is to bring you stories that are action-packed, fast-paced and not short of heat, with the focus on character development, relationship dynamics, and the plot. She writes full-length novels and short fiction.Although quite active online, Dianna prefers the quiet company of nature and animals to the hustle and bustle of people. She loves anything paranormal (she doesn't really consider it "para"), organic food, walking barefoot, the smell of the woods after rain, and summer days. However, she is also sustained by coffee, chocolate and the occasional vodka.Having graduated from Richmond Drama School (London) in '98, she spent the next few years in a multitude of jobs (both acting and non-acting), studying anything that fascinated her, searching her soul, and finally found her passion where it had always been: at the end of a pen.She currently lives in South Hampshire (United Kingdom) with her fiancé and their daughter, where she writes full-time.

Book preview

Blanket of Snow

After the Storm, #1

(An Eye of the Storm Novelette)

by Dianna Hardy

~

Books in the Eye of the Storm series:

Releasing The Wolf

Cry Of The Wolf

Heart Of The Wolf

Return Of The Wolf

Rise Of The Wolf

Reign Of The Wolf

(All six books are also available in one huge Omnibus Edition)

Novelettes in the After the Storm series:

Blanket of Snow

Twisted Roots

Sins of the Father

Jewels of the Crown

~

Books in the Blood Never Lies duet:

Blood Shadow

Aftershock

Blanket of Snow (After the Storm, #1)

copyright © 2018, Dianna Hardy

Published by Satin Smoke Press, December, 2018

Satin Smoke Press is an imprint of Bitten Fruit Books

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

In this work of fiction, the characters, places and events are either the product of the author's imagination, or they are used entirely fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced by any means or in any form whatsoever without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations embodied in literary articles or reviews.

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your eBook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover image of woman looking over lake © Yurii Zymovin | Depositphotos

Cover design by Bitten Fruit Books.

Satin Smoke Press

Hampshire, UK

http://www.satinsmoke.com

Blurb

Four months have passed since the night of the fatal storm, and peace on earth has never felt so good despite the pack's sorrow at the loss of family and dear friends; sorrow that cut deeply over Christmas, and during last week’s wedding.

Mated to three, and now married into the Gunvald lineage, Lydia has taken comfort and security in her she-wolf, the animal's strength and wisdom taking her deep into the still-uncharted territory of Lawrence's wooded home – now her wooded home.

But storms come in many guises, and as the January snow clouds gather overhead, Lydia's finally forced to confront the secret she's been keeping from everyone, including herself.

A treat for fans! After the Storm is a series of novelettes that take place at relevant points in the immediate months and years after Eye of the Storm. They do not need to be read to understand the main story, but are additional reads for fans and offer Easter eggs for what’s to come. Currently available in eBook format only.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

AUTHOR’S NOTE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

COMING SOON

Blanket of Snow

CHAPTER ONE

The skin of her feet had toughened over the past few months. Even in human form she couldn’t feel the prickles of the twigs and stones that lay on the forest floor under the few remaining orange leaves that had hung onto autumn.

She’d wanted to shift and run as her wolf – her wolf and her were truly one now – but, such were the way of dreams, this comfort had been denied to her for reasons that would only ever be known to the ether.

So, as a woman and on two legs, she sped through her home – her home; it was hers – every tree for the next half a mile, one she would be familiar with; know off by heart, by scent, by look, by feel… And more than that, she was becoming attuned to the earth beneath her. She was beginning to sense the coming of new growth – flowers; saplings – like the snowdrops that would be the first to bloom any day now. They stirred inches beneath the soil that squelched through her toes as she sprinted; the slight change in scent that heralded their birth was in the air.

Yet, a sense of doom clenched her heart. She knew what she was looking for today, and only half of her wanted to find it. The other half of her wanted to stop running; freeze the scene. Her wolf would never let that happen, and so she sped on, letting her wolf lead the way. She owed her that. Her wolf had saved her life more than once.

Far too soon, the trees she knew so well ended. She slowed her pace to a jog, wondering if she should stop entirely, then found herself doing just that, though for reasons other than confusion. It was horror that arrested her.

Although much more used to running naked than she had been since her first change over six months ago, nudity was never a suit best worn amid the dead. And that’s where she stood.

Tears filled her eyes as she took in headstone after headstone protruding from the grass and ferns that protected the trees. Hendrickson was the first name to fill her vision, and then, next to it, Amelia.

The tears fell. It was all too fresh. She could still remember how her gut had turned – could still hear Ryan’s wretched cry – the moment they’d discovered the siblings’ frozen bodies and realised their fate.

Lydia turned away, her breath hitching, only to find Brendan’s name glaring at her from the headstone she now faced. Grief washed over her, anew. Only six months