"Life for cowboy Mack Rosenberry was nothing but peaceful in the small town of Texas. But an encounter with mysterious guests threatens the tranquility as they seem to have secrets that endanger the town. As Mack aims to discover the purpose of their visit, he finds there is more to the father-daughter duo than they lead on. Join Mack as he discovers the new world with flying machines and clockwork men. This is my first Steampunk themed story. It takes place post the Mexican-American War, I hope you guys enjoy it!"
October
What started as a routine buffalo hunt, turned out to be a dangerous path to destruction. Of course, in the brand-new state of Texas, such things didn't come as a shock, between fighting the Indians and fighting the Mexicans back in 1846, they had seen their fair share of destruction.
As Mack Rosenberry walked behind his hunting partner on the trail of a mature buffalo, they heard a loud bang, the sound was not from any kind of gun, it was a loud, booming shot from an industrial killing machine. It was at the break of dawn and he could not understand what sort of people carried such heavy machinery to a hunting party. Isaac Garrison paused, with his rifle against his shoulder and Mack could see him shaking his head, his cowboy hat turning one way and the other.
"Those sons of bitches spooked my meat, " he grumbled. They had been stalking that Buffalo for two days and they were going to have to return to their homes empty-handed.
"What do you reckon that is?" Mack asked as he stood beside him.
"Don't know, " Isaac replied. "But it sounds mighty dangerous."
Mack agreed. The sound of machinery was never heard in the lonesome desert. He knew exactly where that sound was coming, he had heard plenty of them during the war.
"Wanna investigate?" asked Mack as he saw smoke in the distance curling up into the air and disappearing. Their hunting trip was cut short and they had nothing to show for, and Mack needed someone to blame it on.
Isaac spat the last piece of tobacco he was chewing on and smiled. "You read my mind."
They took their time getting there, it was three hundred yards from where they stood and the sounds of battle didn't seem to be wanting to stop. They took slow, measured steps, as if stalking an oblivious animal, except that these animals were armed. They climbed the small hill that stood between them and the smoke, the sun was now high up and unforgiving as if the cold morning never happened. Isaac seemed to be unaware of it once they stood at the top of the hill. "What the hell?" he wondered under his breath.
Mack followed his gaze. The sounds came from a heavy piece of brass, almost the size of a small house, except this house, had a barrel that was six meters long and it was meant to shoot cannon balls. They had seen canons before, but none like that. The barrel aimed at the hill far off into the distance. Up close, they could hear the rattling sound from its engine, it was monstrous and it seemed to be growling with hunger.
Beside it, stood a man in a white coat and goggles. He was facing an open panel which Mack assumed was the machine's heart. He yelled something and the long neck of the canon turned red with life, there was a flash and it shot a cannonball out into the air, it went high up into the sky, but it didn't go very far, it landed heavily a few meters away with a loud thump.
"Come on, " said Isaac. Mack nodded and walked down the hill beside him.
Once they reached the bottom of the hill, the tank seemed bigger and ten times noisier. Mack found his strength as he watched Isaac approach the man beside the tank, with the rifle in hand ready to shoot. He was at the prime age of thirty-two like himself, but he sure carried the confidence of a man of fifty.
"Excuse me, " Isaac yelled over the cacophony coming from the machine. "Excuse me, " he yelled again at no response.
The man turned his head, he heard something but he couldn't quite make out where it had come from. Isaac raised his gun and poked the man on the back. The man turned raising his goggles to his forehead, his eyes squinting as they got used to the sunlight.
"Sorry to interrupt, sir, but this here ain't a testing zone, " Isaac said, his voice deep and firm.
The man wiped his black stained hands on his jacket and extended his hand. "Morning, gentlemen, " he said as if he hadn't heard a word that was said to him. "I'm doctor Jericho Sommersagan and this here is Athena the Great, " he said pointing at the machine proudly. "Oh, give me one second." He turned back towards Athena's open panel and seemed to be speaking to it. Isaiah studied the man carefully. The man was probably in his sixties, but his gray beard made him look a hundred. He wore typical clothes, brown wool pants, black shirt and a brown vest under his white coat. His boots were immaculate and seemed expensive. The man turned to them and didn't speak a word until the machine died down leaving their ears ringing.
"Now, " Dr. Sommersagan started as he grabbed a dirty rag from his back pocket and used it to wipe his face. "What can I do for you, boys?"
"This ain't a weapon testing zone, " Isaac replied.
"Oh, we didn't see any signs prohibiting it."
Isaac turned to Mack fighting a smirk that threatened to escape his lips. There was no way that he spoke of Athena as if it was a living thing. "Well, sir, it ain't so you better get on out of here."
The Doctor watched them attentively with an amused look on his face. "Where do you boys come from? We didn't see any towns nearby when we arrived."
"Salt Water."
"Salt Water?"
Isaac and Mack turned at each other unsure if they heard a woman's voice coming from the sleeping machine. Did the thing speak to them?
"I saw it on the map, you are a long way from home, aren't you?" the female voice asked from somewhere they could not pinpoint. A thud from the top of the machine made them look up and that's when a woman slid down the side as if it was a kids' game and landed on her feet. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, Mack did his best to not stare but her unruly, curly black hair that framed her pretty face made it impossible not to.
"Well, Ma'am, it's hunting season and we are preparing for the winter."
The woman nodded, her light brown eyes studied them carefully, Mack feared she would know what he was thinking by just looking at him.
"Gentlemen, my daughter, Joanne Summersagan, " the doctor introduced her proudly. The woman gave them a dashing smile as she wiped her hands on her brown pants, that was when Isaiah noticed she too was filthy with coal, she was so beautiful it hardly even mattered.
"I'm Isaac Garrison. My friend, Mack Rosenberry and you're ruining our hunt with your little toy here, " Isaac replied completely indifferent to Joanne's beauty.
"Toy?" Miss Summersagan enquired angrily. "I will have you know that Athena is one of the few weapons that carry this kind of technology."
"I don't care what it is. What I care about is my hunt. Winter is a month away and my town is in need of fur. And your little invention is gonna be the cause of a miserable winter, " Isaac replied firmly.
Mack studied the cannon and realized that Isaac was failing to ask the big question. "You working for the government?"
"No, " the doctor replied baffled by the accusation. "We are not."
"Is this some kind of a military practice?"
The man shook his head. "No."
"Then why are you shooting this thing in the middle of the desert? Are you bored?"
Father and daughter turned to each other. "I'm not at liberty to say, " the doctor replied. "It's classified."
Mack nodded turning to the machine and walked beside it, his hand grazed the hot metal. It was unlike any weapon he had seen in the war. Mexicans didn't have that kind of technology, and it was hard to tell who actually did. "You made it, doc?"
"We made it, " Doctor Sommersagan replied.
Mack nodded. That explained Joanne's manly clothes. Her mother was most likely not around anymore. "For what purpose?"
"For security."
"Security?" Isaac scoffed. "From what?"
"You never know, " the doctor replied.
Isaac wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to his friend. Mack shrugged. At the lack of real answers from the strange family, they decided to let them be. The day was still young and they were going to find a new place to hunt.
"Alright, " Isaac said after a moment of silence. "We will leave you now, I suppose there's enough land for the four of us. Doctor, Ma'am, " he tipped his hat and signaled towards his friend. Mack tipped his hat and took one last look at Miss Joanne before walking away.
"August, 1865 The War is over and as America is trying to recover, Nicholas Gregson is trying to get used to his civilian life. But the deep scar on the side of his face will always remind him of the most violent war in America. One windy day, Nicholas gets a visit from his former General with a rare proposition: He wants him to marry one of his daughters. Although Mary is beautiful and well brought up, he hesitates. He doesn't know if he can love her and he is certain she won't ever be able to surpass his war scar. Olivia Clark is happy for her twin sister, marrying a man their father respected dearly was bound to be a good marriage. But she worries. Scars of her own remind her that men can not be trusted. Will Olivia let her guard down and allow love to enter her life? Will Nicholas give himself a chance to be happy with a woman that won't even look at his face?"
"When Adam and Ana Marie meet is love at first sight. But what Ana Marie knows is that Adam is a private investigator from London, what she doesn't know is that Adam is on the hunt of a criminal that turned out to be her distant father. The plans to capture this man goes awry and it forces him to fake his own death leaving Ana Marie devastated. After five years, the criminal reappears and Adam wants to finish what he started. Will Ana Marie find out about the lie and of his father's affairs? Will Ana Marie and Adam get a second chance at happiness?"
"Hi my name is David, and you might've already figured this out but I have a crush. Crush, you say, what's a crush when you are seventeen going on eighteen boy, invisible but sadly, over achiever in high school, who has only two friends and a twin sister that is a snobby bitch? I will tell you in this, my tale of what ifs, could haves and should haves. So sit back and enjoy the ride. "
In the small town of Lakewood in the nineteenth century, the future of Adam Lancaster and Sophia Willis has been set through an arrange marriage, but Sophia is in love with the son of the richest man in town and Adam has never considered marriage as part of his life. Will they give each other a chance or are they destined to live unhappily ever after?
When Zora was sick during the early days of her pregnancy, Ezrah was with his first love, Piper. When Zora got into an accident and called Ezrah, he said he was busy, when in actual fact, he was buying shoes for Piper. Zora lost her baby because of the accident, and throughout her stay at the hospital, Ezrah never showed up. She already knew that he didn't love her, but that was the last straw for the camel's back, and her fragile heart could not take it anymore. When Ezrah arrived home a few days after Zora was discharged from the hospital, he no longer met the woman who always greeted him with a smile and cared for him. Zora stood at the top of the stairs and yelled with a cold expression, "Good news, Ezrah! Our baby died in a car accident. There is nothing between us anymore, so let's get a divorce." The man who claimed not to have any feelings for Zora, being cold and distant towards her, and having asked her for a divorce twice, instantly panicked.
COALESCENCE OF THE FIVE SERIES BOOK ONE: THE 5-TIME REJECTED GAMMA & THE LYCAN KING BOOK TWO: THE ROGUES WHO WENT ROGUE BOOK THREE: THE INDOMITABLE HUNTRESS & THE HARDENED DUKE *** BOOK ONE: After being rejected by 5 mates, Gamma Lucianne pleaded with the Moon Goddess to spare her from any further mate-bonds. To her dismay, she is being bonded for the sixth time. What’s worse is that her sixth-chance mate is the most powerful creature ruling over all werewolves and Lycans - the Lycan King himself. She is certain, dead certain, that a rejection would come sooner or later, though she hopes for it to be sooner. King Alexandar was ecstatic to meet his bonded mate, and couldn’t thank their Goddess enough for gifting him someone so perfect. However, he soon realizes that this gift is reluctant to accept him, and more than willing to sever their bond. He tries to connect with her but she seems so far away. He is desperate to get intimate with her but she seems reluctant to open up to him. He tries to tell her that he is willing to commit to her for the rest of his life but she doesn’t seem to believe him. He is pleading for a chance: a chance to get to know her; a chance to show her that he’s different; and a chance to love her. But when not-so-subtle crushes, jealous suitors, self-entitled Queen-wannabes, an old flame, a silent protector and a past wedding engagement threaten to jeopardize their relationship, will Lucianne and Xandar still choose to be together? Is their love strong enough to overcome everything and everyone? Or will Lucianne resort to enduring a sixth rejection from the one person she thought she could entrust her heart with?
There was only one man in Raegan's heart, and it was Mitchel. In the second year of her marriage to him, she got pregnant. Raegan's joy knew no bounds. But before she could break the news to her husband, he served her divorce papers because he wanted to marry his first love. After an accident, Raegan lay in the pool of her own blood and called out to Mitchel for help. Unfortunately, he left with his first love in his arms. Raegan escaped death by the whiskers. Afterward, she decided to get her life back on track. Her name was everywhere years later. Mitchel became very uncomfortable. For some reason, he began to miss her. His heart ached when he saw her all smiles with another man. He crashed her wedding and fell to his knees while she was at the altar. With bloodshot eyes, he queried, "I thought you said your love for me is unbreakable? How come you are getting married to someone else? Come back to me!"
After two years of marriage, Sadie was finally pregnant. Filled with hope and joy, she was blindsided when Noah asked for a divorce. During a failed attempt on her life, Sadie found herself lying in a pool of blood, desperately calling Noah to ask him to save her and the baby. But her calls went unanswered. Shattered by his betrayal, she left the country. Time passed, and Sadie was about to be wed for a second time. Noah appeared in a frenzy and fell to his knees. "How dare you marry someone else after bearing my child?"
Five years ago, he upped and left his wife without informing her. He had always felt unworthy. As a result, he decided to go and become a better man. It took him five whole years of daily hard work. When he was satisfied, he returned as a powerful and honorable man. He intended to start a family with his wife. But he got back to meet the greatest shocker of his life. He actually had a daughter!
I'm a Luna. After three years of marriage to Alpha Nathaniel Blackwood, I'm finally pregnant with his pup. But he's unclaimed me for his first love. I'm leaving the pack with this secret, praying he never finds out. Nathaniel Blackwood is a handsome, powerful Alpha. In a world where humans and werewolves coexist, he has it all: a billion-dollar empire, untold power, a massive pack, and, most importantly, the perfect Luna. But the return of his first love shattered our marriage. When he finds out the secret I've been hiding, will he regret rejecting me? Will I ever be able to forgive him? Dive into this gripping serialized novel to find out more-Enjoy the ride!