Captured Prey, A Primal Play Novella

She wants to be hunted but not by just anyone. No ... it must be by the monster she has secretly craved.Celia has spent her entire career teaching occult and folklore to uninterested students when all she wants is to be the heroine sprinting through a moonlit forest, breathless and trembling, pursued by something dark enough to unmake her.So, when she uncovers the rumor buried in a forgotten academic footnote, she knew she had to check it out for herself. Face-to-face with a bargain and a demon, Celia cannot help but crave the unholy promise. Why not indulge?Lahs, a forest leshy, is what most would call a monster and wants to be left alone. But when a debt is claimed, he must honor it. Naturally, cynical and filled with contempt for the mortal race, he thinks a few quick scares and a moonlit chase will end his debt. That is, until he realizes this academic mortal is more than what he thought.She will be the prey.All she needs now is the hunter waiting in the forest.Captured Prey: A Primal Play Novella is part of the Second Circle Entry series, told in third-person POV. Each story explores desire, inhibition, and awakening in richly sensual worlds. Often pairing mortals with monsters, love and hunger intertwine as things that go bump in the night steal your heart… and possibly your soul.Seductive. Sinister. What are you waiting for?Readers who enjoy Emma Hamm, Layla Fae, Katee Robert, Opal Reyne, C.M. Nascosta, Ruby Dixon and other monster authors—especially lovers of high heat chemistry, alpha monsters, and dark fantasy romance—will find themselves right at home.This spicy, primal paranormal novella can be read as a standalone and features a possessive touch-starved alpha monster based on folklore, a 35+ gutsy academic mortal, and a pulse-racing chase with botanical assistance that ends in a sweet and steamy reward for adult readers only.For content warnings, refer to the author's note.