River's Heart

By K.S. Brae

River is a witch in a cursed coven, destined to live without her mate, but then she meets a man who awakens all her senses. If he’s not her mate, though, is she allowed to keep him? And if she is, how will he handle the truth that she’s a witch?

Alex is minding his own business when a woman stumbles into his campsite. She’s bright and beautiful, and the exact disruption to his life he’s been praying for. There’s just one problem: He’s not sure how he fits into her real life.

Can a witch and a human find a way to love each other when their destiny is so uncertain?

• Language: English
• Publisher: K.S. Brae
• Release date: May 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463755662

K.S. Brae

I'm a British romance writer. I also work a day job and I have a cute dog who keeps me company while I work. Or more realistically demands walks every time I sit down to write.

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River’s Heart

The Shadow Coven

K.S. Brae

Copyright Information

River’s Heart

Copyright © 2018 K.S. Brae

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Synopsis

River is a witch in a cursed coven, destined to live without her mate, but then she meets a man who awakens all her senses. If he’s not her mate, though, is she allowed to keep him? And if she is, how will he handle the truth that she’s a witch?

Alex is minding his own business when a woman stumbles into his campsite. She’s bright and beautiful, and the exact disruption to his life he’s been praying for. There’s just one problem: He’s not sure how he fits into her real life.

Can a witch and a human find a way to love each other when their destiny is so uncertain?

Table of Contents

Copyright Information

Synopsis

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter One

I feel like a criminal, River said, fidgeting with the thin, red string tied around her wrist.

Martha batted at her hand. Well, you’re not. We have as much right to be here as anyone else.

I know. It’s just the cloak and dagger—

It’s not their place to ban us from Summer Solstice, only the goddess can do that, and we have as much right to attend the festival as anybody else. Martha’s cheeks were flushed with anger. So unlike the small, quiet brunette. Usually so meek, it was with only her coven sisters that she showed her true spirit. They have no authority with this.

Then why did we sneak in?

With an angry sniff, she replied, Because their lack of authority won’t stop them from man-handling us out of here if they realize who we are.

Damn it, River hated being where she wasn’t wanted. Do you think our sisters chose the wrong two witches to infiltrate the festival? We’re the two least confrontational people.

I think that’s why they volunteered us for this.

Of course it was. River and Martha both preferred to blend into a crowd, so they’d never do anything to draw attention to themselves which meant it was safe to send them into a celebration where they weren’t allowed to be noticed.

It helped that they both believed themselves to be plain when all their sisters were wicked head-turners.

Well, maybe plain wasn’t the right description. Martha was beautiful, with her sweet round face, big eyes, and lashes so long it was impossible to believe they were real. (They were. River had tried to pull them off once.) But it was her flush red lips that turned her from pretty to striking.

River thought she held her own, though. Her figure might be nothing to get excited about – she wasn’t tall and she was fairly flat in all the places she didn’t want to be, but with her blonde hair and pale skin, she had enough going for her that she could get some action whenever she wanted it. She just rarely wanted it.

Besides, compared to others of her kind, compared to her fellow witches, River passed for a little more ordinary. Not her fault her sisters were freaks with their ethereal mysticism and hypnotizing beauty.

Who wanted to look like that when there was no possibility of finding your mate anyway? All it did was draw a weak attraction. Nothing like the bond all witches coveted.

Sometimes it sucked being a witch in a broken coven.

River wouldn’t trade her sisters for anything, though. Not even for the possibility of finding her one true mate.

The other covens didn’t want the Shadow Coven to be there almost as much as Martha and River wished they were anywhere else. In a fire pit with scorpions, drowning at the bottom of the ocean, in a dentist chair being stabbed in the mouth. All were preferable to being around the pompous covens who thought they could forbid The Shadows from attending.

But River and Martha were the representatives of their family because even as unwelcome as they were, they would never disrespect their goddess by staying away.

River twiddled the red string around her wrist. Once again Martha slapped her hand.

I can’t help it, River hissed. I feel like I’m going to get tackled and thrown out of here in front of everybody. It will be humiliating.

Everything will be fine, but we’ve got hours ahead of us before the ritual gets started. You need to stay calm.

Then maybe Eva should have come instead of me, River replied, referring to her coven sister. Nothing fazes her. Another touch to her string bracelet, and once again, Martha slapped her hand. Harder this time.

Ow!

Stop touching it. You’ll dislodge the glamour. Martha gripped River’s forearms. You’re making me nervous and that’s the only thing that will catch us out and get us expelled, so you need to go away and take a walk or something.

Take a walk where?

I don’t know. Into the woods. I don’t care as long as it’s away from me, otherwise, you’ll make me so panicked, we’ll both have anxiety attacks right where we stand.

Into the woods? River took Martha’s subtle hint of mightily shoving her to the nearest path into the forest. You’ll be sorry when I’m hacked to pieces by an axe murderer.

I’m sure I will. Don’t come back until you’re less annoying.

I’m not living in the woods, she muttered as she followed the worn track.

It was far too early in the evening for it to be dark yet. Instead, there was a softening to what had been a bright sunny day. River loved night time in the summer when the midnight sky was clear and unmarred by clouds, every star a sharp pinprick in the darkness. Tonight the moon would be a bright orb shining down upon their celebration.

Provided they hadn’t been kicked out by then.

Although, she supposed the sky would be just as beautiful from their garden at home, where her sisters, the remaining members of her coven, would be celebrating with their own private ritual.

It sucked that they couldn’t all be together on this night, but when the other covens had united to be major ass-faces by banning the Shadow Coven from the celebration, they’d been forced to compromise. They could forego the celebration altogether, but the energy of all the powerful covens in the area joined was something they didn’t want to miss. They didn’t want the gods to believe they chose to be absent.

She stomped through the shaded forest, venting her anger with every heavy footstep.

Stupid covens. Stupid witches. Stupid ceremony.

No—not the ceremony. She actually loved all these celebrations. She just wished they didn’t have to try so hard to be a part of them. Why couldn’t the other covens just accept their presence and let them worship their gods and goddesses with everyone else?

Her temper eased as she walked through the woods. The sun had been scorching hot earlier in the day and River and her sisters had started celebrations with cocktails in the garden, doing a little sun-worshipping, even if River’s idea of sun-worshiping consisted of staying in the shade, moving around to avoid direct collision with the rays.

What could she say? She was pale and she was staying that way.

She’d had company in April. April usually avoided the sun altogether, so they’d been lucky she agreed to come outside in the height of summer, although she had spent most of that time cursing her red hair and fair skin, and the appearance of new freckles with every passing second.

Now that evening had arrived, and the sun was going down, it had cooled to a bearable temperature where River felt secure that she could walk outside without her shoulders turning red.

She did get stung on the leg by a nettle but she was hardcore. A bit of whining, a docking leave to ease the sting, and then she was on her way again.

It was her own fault for wearing a dress, but then she hadn’t planned on a woodland meander.

Stupid nerves. Her lack of courage must be genetic, although she couldn’t be sure as she didn’t actually know her parents. She’d been raised