MAGIC HUNTED
In this savage why choose romantasy, fated mates, dark obsession, and pack devotion ensnare one broken heroine in a ruthless game of survival, longing, and revenge with three lethal panther shifters.
I’m a despicable spy.
A woman feared and scorned for good reason.
An accidental touch will trigger my Change and reveal the truth.
My reputation has kept my secret safe but the ancient magic hidden deep inside me must be protected at all costs. I must complete the life’s mission my parents gave their lives for and unite myself with the other Chosen. It’s the only way The Six can be defeated and Earth freed from their tyranny.
In death, my mates find me. We’re caught in the wastelands, trapped in a labyrinth of tunnels deep underground and the bond is clouding my mind. Ancient magic leaches from me the more my mates wear me down.
We won’t survive if The Six finds us. My piece of the grimoire will be lost. Titan will kill my mates before I can claim the one thing I’ve not dared dream about. The only thing that will make me whole — love.
Read if you like:
🐺 Why-choose/reverse harem romance with three protective alpha wolves who each bring something different to the relationship
🔥 Enemies-to-lovers tension where suspicion and mistrust slowly burn into devotion
⚡ Hidden magical powers and ancient Fae magic that could reshape the world
💔 Trauma recovery romance where love becomes the key to healing deep wounds
🌙 Shifter world-building with soul bonds, mate connections, and pack dynamics
✨ Magical systems featuring ley-lines, golden magic, and power that responds to emotion
👑 Enslaved heroine breaking free from her chains and discovering her true strength
🗡️ High fantasy stakes where personal choices affect the fate of entire worlds
💫 Found family themes and the healing power of belonging after a lifetime of isolation
🔥 Steamy romance balanced with deep emotional connection and character growth
⚔️ Political intrigue and dangerous spy games with deadly consequences
🌟 Strong heroine who refuses to be saved and insists on saving herself
Content notes: This book contains mature themes, steamy romance scenes, references to past trauma, and fantasy violence. Intended for adult readers. Check trigger warning on the authors web site.
CHAPTER ONE
Blood-and-gore-tipped iron spikes of Titan's stronghold soared above me as I slunk beneath them. Black flies buzzed around brain matter stuck to the iron, left there as a deterrent to step outside of Titan's iron rule. One slash from Harold, the stronghold gatekeeper, and the gates would drop on those below. He belched, farted, and scratched his balls as I slipped past, using the crowd passing through into the marketplace as cover.
The man should never have been a guard. The trickle of power Titan infused him had turned him from a disgusting asshole to a callous sadist. He'd killed more people crossing the threshold than any other guard in service. I'd noted the sick gleam in his piggy eyes and the bulge in his pants every time he brought the gate crashing down on innocent people. Men, women, children. All were targets.
Every nerve in my body sparked with the need to bolt across the footbridge and disappear back into the jungle's safety. If I claimed I'd be running to freedom, I'd be lying. No place on this earth remained free. The tyranny of The Six spread everywhere, in everything, including me. I spied on weakness so Titan could stamp it out.
Which he did.
Every single time.
Titan selected those he deemed worthy of his power to embody his rule. The more brutal, the higher position they held in his stronghold. The cadre remained the most savage group of any humans he turned magical. I watched out for Peder, Kalos, and Sinon as I dashed behind an apple cart and moved into the castle courtyard.
I should have returned to Titan's stronghold days ago, but I couldn't leave Anise to Drisella's dungeon. She was the only person on Earth I might call a friend, and the thought was pathetic because I was sure she was glad to see the back of me after what I'd done to her brothers. Especially Jarom.
I'd watched Anise Change from the safety of a mountaintop where I spied, my heart in my throat. I prayed Drisella couldn't break through the magical dome that had appeared over the wolves' territory. My bladder almost released when Anise transformed, not into a wolf, but into a dragon shifter, scales and wings unfolding in a rush of impossible magic. Not just any dragon, either. She was the alpha's mate. I hoped she found happiness with her mates. She deserved everything good that life could give her.
I'd taste life through her because I survived in a world where anyone could be used as a weapon against me. Panther shifters in particular were off my radar because I held the biggest secret of all. No one could discover it. Especially my potential mates. No more of those I loved or would love would die because of me. One touch would seal my fate, and theirs, so I made sure to keep to the shadows, honing my skills to be unseen. Forgotten.
Those very skills were the ones Titan used me for.
I was his greatest spy, and I cursed myself for it every day.
To that end, he would want my report on the golden dome over wolf territory now that I was back in his stronghold. Only I understood what the dome, or the magic it was created with, meant, and it was one secret I'd never share with him.
I ran my fingertips over the burning slave studs embedded into my collarbone, thankful I could still walk in a straight line. My body should have erupted in blinding agony by now. I was so late. Titan was not patient, but I needed to ensure the bricks I used to plug a person-sized hole in my safe place hadn't been disturbed in my absence. Too many lives depended on that secret.
I darted along the wall of the castle courtyard behind various stallholders, using the crowd to help conceal me. My safe place was only a tiny, dark space hollowed out of the rock far below the foundations of the castle. I'd rid the space of rat shit and cockroaches when I was fourteen. It sat too far away to be used for storage and was too damp and dark for any living thing to want to be inside unless they were desperate. That suited me fine, because I was that desperate. It was placed above the sewers and the tunnel system going to the edge of the cliff where no one ventured. Perfect for stealing people away from Titan's dungeons.
I hid there when Titan rampaged for no other reason than to cause me pain. He was especially bad when it was time for The Six to Conclave, and that was coming soon. They needed to Conclave to rejuvenate the power they'd stolen from the Fae King millennia ago. For a few precious seconds, they were powerless and vulnerable, and could be killed like any other human.
I'd discovered their secret through many years of observation. Titan would kill me if he discovered their one and only weakness. I had one chance and one chance only to end them, but I couldn't do that on my own. I needed an army of beings who hated The Six enough to want them annihilated. So I'd leaked the information to the wolves, understanding the alphas were strong enough to attempt the kill. The price hadn't been light, and the lives lost weighed heavily on my soul.
So many people had died for so many secrets. So many lives shattered because of the Six, as mine had been when I was eight. After my parents killed themselves to put the grimoire inside me and lock it there with death magic, I'd run through the jungle until my feet bled, found a cave, and waited there until my stomach hollowed out and my lips cracked from dehydration. Somehow, I'd survived. I adapted, learned to hunt and live, used people for their generosity when they gave me scraps and stole from them when they hadn't.
Those years taught me how to kill a man using a single stab through his ribs to his heart. I'd learned how to fight to protect myself when men pinned me down, wanting to take what I wouldn't give. I'd learned how to survive until the day a fever left me half out of my mind and brought me to the stronghold. Without protection, weak from hunger and a twelve-year-old child, I'd been caught by the guards and thrown into the Choosing. That day was etched in my mind forever, and the reason I'd caught Titan's attention: I'd won.
I thanked the gods every day he hadn't recognized me, or sensed what my parents had hidden inside me at the cost of their lives. If he had, my life and the fate of the world would be dust. Ironic, still, since he relied on me and my skills.
I ducked past a bored-looking guard picking his nose, sprinted past the baker, stuffed a warm, fresh roll in my mouth, and dove into an alley. Darkness swallowed me, but it wasn't the stonework I stepped onto. It was a leather jerkin, chest, and waft of pungent body odor. Rancid power abraded my skin and rough fingers dug into my biceps.
"Look what we have here. Our king's little spy come home from her mission." Peder smiled, but there was no warmth in the stretch of his lips. His dirty blond hair was pulled back in a tail at the back of his head, and the shaved sides of his skull gleamed from perspiration in the low light.
My stomach hollowed. Peder had found me! Not just him, because Kalos and Sinon were right behind him and they weren't surprised to find me here. I backstepped as the cadre pushed me into my little room.
Peder wrinkled his nose. "Stinks down here."
"Look at this shithole. How's she live like this?" Kalos said, disgust dripping from his words.
"Sewer-rat belongs in sewers," Peder grunted.
"I'd think you'd all be used to the smell of shit, seeing how close you're connected to your assholes," I said.
I wasn't prepared for the backhand to my right cheek when Sinon stepped close. "Shut it, whore."
Anger lit my veins. I was in for it, so there was little benefit in holding back. "And your breath! What'd you do, suck dog balls?"
Kalos barked a laugh much too loud for the small space we occupied. I glanced over my shoulder to look him straight in his beady, mud-brown eyes. Like Peder, his greasy hair was longer on top, but he grew a short beard instead of the thin mustache Peder preferred.
"I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Bet you went for your brother's nuts instead. Or maybe Sinon's hairy sack was your appetizer?"
Kalos' face twisted. His lips peeled back as he backhanded me across my cheek. My head whipped sideways, and light exploded across the left side of my face. "Love it when you talk dirty, bitch."
My bottom lip split when the golden ring he wore on his little finger ripped my skin. The green gem flickered with Titan's power before tears clouded my eyes. Peder had a good grip on my biceps because otherwise I'd be kissing the floor instead of hanging by my arm.
I spat out a glob of blood. "Imaginative. I like this about the three of you. You're better suited for muscle instead of brains. Pity the muscle you're sporting lies flaccid in your pants."
"Enough of this foolishness. Our king has waited long enough for you to return. Bring her," Sinon commanded.
"Party pooper! We were having fun before you ruined it." My words slurred between my swelling lips.
Sinon spun to face me. His gray eyes burned beneath the heavy brown hood covering his head. I glimpsed his clipped goatee trying to hide his thin lips as he thrust his face in front of mine. "We have time to spare before our audience. Perhaps we should explore certain... recreational activities. I cannot say you'd find them as pleasurable as we would."
I stifled my inner shudder. Being Titan's spy awarded me some semblance of safety from rape, but such protection was tenuous. If I pushed too hard, he wouldn't care if his cadre resorted to the ultimate violation to keep me in line.
I smiled, or tried to, wincing when my lip pulled. This time I didn't hide my shudder of revulsion. "I can do without seeing your limp dicks. Lead the way to our king."
Such was the thing about him. Everyone in panther territory called him 'king'. Or they did if they understood what was best for them. The cadre called him king because they believed he was the king. Why wouldn't they? He was immortal. One of the founding Six who had saved Earth from the 'evil Fae King' millennia ago and 'rewarded' humans using powerful sorcery.
Where I got a rat-infested hole in the wall, the cadre had chambers in the upper levels of the castle opening to windows allowing the sweet jungle air to sweep away their stench. Titan gifted them his power while he sent me on missions filling me with endless nightmares.
Some of the things I'd done were best forgotten. I would if I could, but those memories grew hooks and embedded themselves in the inside of my skull, scarring me each day I lived.
Sinon's lip curled. "Your insolence will not serve you well once our king has finished. You should have returned when instructed."
"You see, we made ourselves a little wager. About how long before you pass out after Titan has finished with you. Sinon's betting an hour." Kalos grinned, relishing every word. "I say thirty minutes tops."
Cold, slithering worms wiggled in my belly as a cold sweat broke out over my body, because he wasn't wrong. Depending on his mood, Titan's punishments might take ten minutes or hours of torture where I'd pray to the gods who never listened for oblivion.
They dragged me through the tunnels and up several flights of stairs to the top level of the castle where Titan resided. All the while, my heart pounded against my ribs, pumping blood too thick for my veins. Dots sparked the edge of my vision and my chest clamped so tight it surprised me I could still breathe as we approached the door to his suite.
Sinon threw me a smug grin before he rapped on the gleaming black paint, swung the door open and stepped inside. A dark chuckle assaulted my ears as Peder threw me to the waiting monster inside.
TRIGGER WARNING
This book contains content that may be distressing or triggering to some readers. Please be advised of the following themes and scenes:
Graphic Violence: Includes battle scenes, murder, torture, and physical abuse both in present narrative and flashbacks. There are depictions of severed body parts, blood, and gore.
Torture and Imprisonment: Characters are subjected to torture, magical and physical restraint, and imprisonment by antagonists.
Sexual Assault, Threats, and Coercion: Clear and repeated threats of sexual violence and rape as a tool of power and punishment. The main character’s safety from rape is noted as tenuous and conditional, and trauma from past sexual threats is referenced. There is ongoing sexual coercion and non-consensual advances by villains.
Slavery and Enslavement: Magical enslavement, magical collars, and forced obedience feature both as backstory and active plot elements.
Child Abuse, Death, and Murder: Graphic depictions of child slaughter, forced child combat, and the aftermath of such violence. Includes references to the traumatic loss of friends and family during childhood.
Suicide: There is on-page suicide by parental figures witnessed by a child, in a context of forced sacrifice and despair.
Genocide and War Crimes: References to past and present acts of genocide against shifters, magical people, and other species.
Trauma, PTSD, and Mental Health: Characters experience severe psychological distress, panic, flashbacks, dissociation, and symptoms of PTSD, including nightmares and self-blame.
Grief and Loss: Profound and repeated experiences of grief, abandonment, and survivor’s guilt.
Explicit Sexual Content: High heat level sexual scenes and graphic exploration of desire, pleasure, and mate-bonding.
Manipulation, Gaslighting, and Emotional Abuse: Villains use manipulation, emotional and psychological abuse, and gaslighting.
Self-harm and Suicidal Ideation: The main character at times displays self-harming behavior and thoughts of wishing for death or escape from pain.
Magic Abuse: Non-consensual use of powerful magic to inflict pain, control, or induce suffering.
Animal violence: Shifter-on-shifter violence and references to predatory actions by animal forms.
This is a dark romantasy novel with explicit sexual and violent content, trauma recovery, found family, and themes of survival and fate. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
Please use caution as needed. If any of the above themes or content are distressing, you may wish to prepare yourself or skip sections. Your wellbeing comes first.