JULIE A. D'ARCY REVEALS THE SHAPE OF DESTINY

Recently I met Julie A. D’Arcy, but only online. She lives in Australia but writes a variety of genres that include contemporary western romance. Her book THE SHAPE OF DESTINY is a paranormal in this genre. Her book appears in the eight-author anthology COME LOVE A COWBOY, contemporary western romance that released April 1. These eight books are all new, never before released. You can snap it up at: http://amzn.com/B01D5876UK for only 99 cents for the time being.

THE SHAPE OF DESTINY Blurb:

Cole is a shape shifter on the run from the man who murdered his parents. Shannon is a

well-educated owner of a ranch who refuses to acknowledge her Indian heritage and

their beliefs. When danger threatens and Cole’s secret is revealed, can Shannon find it in

her heart to believe in the unbelievable and change their destiny?

THE SHAPE OF DESTINY Excerpt:

Cole awoke to the sound of a loud crack. His eyes fluttered open and stared into the

barrel of a gun. He should have recognized the sound of a rifle being cocked. His first

thought…Granger has finally found me.

This wasn’t a man’s voice at all, but a woman’s. “What are you doing here? Who are

you?”

He climbed to his feet, knowing instinctively she wouldn’t shoot. He could read people

and knew she wasn’t the type to take the life of another human being. An animal he

wasn’t sure about. He laughed inwardly and glanced to where his sister had slept. Gone.

He frowned and forced himself not to look around for her. Mia knew to hide at the first

sign of danger.

Cole had to get the woman out of the barn. “I was just passing through.” He bent to pick

up his backpack. “I’ll leave now. I needed somewhere to crash for the night, that’s all.”

The rifle followed his movement as he bent to retrieve the shirt he’d used as a pillow.

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“Why is that?”

He straightened and looked at her then, really looked at her. She was quite beautiful in

an unusual sort of way. Dark eyes, almost black, her skin a shade darker than most, and

high cheekbones. If it wasn’t for the long pale blonde hair he would have sworn she was

Native American. Maybe she had some of their blood in her gene pool. And he wanted

her; he’d been a long time without a woman. He ignored the lust in his gut and headed

for the door.

Her voice quavered. “Stop or I’ll shoot. I swear I will.”

He stopped but didn’t turn. “I don’t think so.”

He sensed her falter as she lowered the rifle. A head shorter than him, she came to stand

beside him. “I just want to know what’s going on here.”

“Nothing is going on. I was hiking across country. I needed somewhere to sleep and

spied the lights in the distance.” He shrugged. “Thought there was no harm in sleeping

in your barn. I’d be gone before anyone found me. Guess I was wrong.”

* * *

Why didn’t she believe him? When she’d first found him sleeping on the hay a gamut of

emotions ran through her body—fear, anger, and she had to admit, he was the most

amazing looking man she’d ever seen. Most guys she knew were either old, scrawny, or

had a gut the size of six watermelons. He pulled on his black t-shirt to cover his six-pack,

and broad, muscled shoulders. She couldn’t help but finish her inspection by running

her gaze down his stomach to where a line of dark hair disappeared past his belt buckle

into his pants, and then lower to the thick thighs covered by his faded blue jeans.

When she looked up again into his yellow-green eyes, his lips held a smirk, as if he knew

her thoughts as she perused his body. What was he thinking? She didn’t want to know,

but for some unknown reason she wanted him to stay. She glanced away, and that was

when she saw her, a little girl in long white nightgown with curly black hair. She clung to

the barn wall and Shannon realized then she had the rifle trained on the child.

The man whipped around and pushed the rifle down before Shannon could lower it. And

then he glowered at her.

“I wouldn’t have pulled the trigger,” she said. “I didn’t know she was there.” She spoke

to the child, her voice soft. “Don’t be afraid. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” Offering her

best smile, she added, “You startled me.”

She was a pretty little thing, with the same coloring as her father. She wondered about

the story behind that. Why wasn’t the child in school? Had he kidnapped the girl from

her mother and they were on the run? And where was her mother?

She turned her attention to the man again. “I presume the girl is with you?”

“Yes.”

She put his age at around twenty-six…twenty-seven, a little young to have a daughter

this age.

“Mia, go behind the bales and get dressed, we’re leaving.”

The child picked up her backpack did as she was told.

Shannon remained silent wondering what to say or do next. A child was the last thing

she expected to see in her barn. There was a story here, but she wasn’t sure she wanted

to pursue it. Questions lingered on her lips but halted in her throat when she took in the

thunderous look on the man’s face.

“Want to tell me your name?”

“Why?” he said with a slight sneer. “We are not staying. There’s no reason to know our

names.”

For a moment she thought she saw something akin to fear flicker in his bright eyes.

“Look, Mister, don’t make me out to be the bad person here. You were the one

trespassing.”

His shoulders slumped. “Sorry. As I said, we needed somewhere to sleep.”

Mia came running toward him and slipped her small hand into his before they turned

away and headed for the door.

“Stop!” she said a little too loudly. “Do you need a job?” Where the hell did that come

from?

He stopped and pivoted toward her, a half-laugh erupting from his throat. “First you

point a gun in my face, threaten to kill me, now you offer me a job?” He raised a brow.

“Why?”

“Something is killing my cattle and I need them moved closer to home. They’re about

five miles from here, near the base of the mountain. I was going to take the pickup into

town to hire someone, but thought I’d ask if you might be interested, or perhaps you

could use the money.

Mia looked up at the man with an indefinable look on her small face.

“Well do you?” Shannon asked again.

“What?”

“Need a job?”

The little girl spoke for the first time. “Can we stay?”

His features softened as he looked down at her. “I suppose we could stick around for a

few days.”

“We have several bunkhouses for the ranch hands and one sitting empty right now.

Simple and clean but it does have a stove and a bathroom.”

“Seems Mia’s made her mind up,” he said.

He still had that wary look in his eyes, but she ignored it for now. It was none of her

business where they had come from or where they were going. She needed help on the

ranch, and he was here. Maybe he’d even decide to stay for more than a few days.

“Good, it’s settled. I’ll show you to the bunkhouse and have some food brought over.

“Oh, by the way, you do know how to ride a horse, right?”

“Well enough,” he replied. “But horses don’t like me much.”

“I’m sure we can find one or two that do.” She smiled. “And my name is Shannon. Can I

know yours now that you’re going to be working for me?”

“It’s Cole.” Mia answered for him and slipped her hand into Shannon’s. “He doesn’t talk

much.”

“I gathered that.” Shannon thought it strange Mia should answer for her father, but that

was their business, not hers. “Have a last name to go with that?”

“No. No last name.” Cole shot back. “We won’t be staying that long.”

Shannon was taken aback. “Fine, but it might be hard to pay you with no last name.”

“Cash will do fine.” He headed for the door. “You said something about showing us a

bunkhouse?”

“Of course,” she answered him in the same short tone he’d used on her. “And then I’ll

meet you at the stables in an hour.”

“I don’t have a watch.”

“How about a cell phone?”

“Nope.”

“Use the digital alarm clock in the bunkhouse then.”

“Fine. Where are the stables?”

“That would be the building next to the barn.”

He pushed a hand through his long black fringe. “Looks like I’m yours then, at least for a

few days. Lead the way.”

What influenced my story?

At a young age, my father encouraged me to watch western movies on the television as

they were his favorite. Out of this grew a glamorous but somewhat glorified view of the

Old West. I grew to love all the westerns staring John Wayne, who to me encompassed

the ideal western hero.

As to why I chose a shape shifter, black Panther, for the hero of my novella? Fantasy and

Paranormal are the usual genres I write. Also, when I was around twenty and driving

out in the country I could have sworn I saw a black Panther run into the trees at the side

of the road. The incident never left me.

When asked to write a novella for the COME LOVE A COWBOY anthology I have combined all these elements into my story hopefully to a satisfying conclusion.

Julie A. D'Arcy, Author

Julie A. D’Arcy was born in Bendigo, Australia, lived her formative years in Melbourne, then moved to Wangaratta. After leaving college, she returned to Wangaratta where she set up her pottery business, specializing in fantasy pottery, in which she still dabbles. She married and has two beautiful daughters, Errin and Tegan. She has since divorced and now lives with her life partner, Phillip. She also has a spoiled Tonkanese named Jessalyn and a big, gray fluff ball named Jasper. She is an award winning author of numerous novels and novellas and founder of Entangled Press. You can find her here:

Website http://www.julieadarcy.com/

Blog: https://julieadarcy.wordpress.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliea.darcy1/