Serpents of the Dawn

Adaline Winters Serpents of the Dawn Cora Roberts Book 3 Copyright © 2023 by Adaline Winters All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission. This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. Adaline Winters asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work. First edition This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy Find out more at reedsy.com Contents Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty Three Chapter Twenty Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Chapter Twenty-Nine Chapter Thirty Acknowledgments Playlist Cover Design by Liberty Champion For my fellow witches who have found their possessive alpha. Good job. For my fellow witches who are still searching for theirs. They are out there, never settle for less than you deserve. Chapter One I’ll never be able to look at moussaka again. It had been a long day, and it was about to get even longer. The wards surrounding my property clanged in my head, warning me of newcomers. Probably some new folks settling into my bed and breakfast for the night. There were a million things I would rather be doing than contemplating my outfit and sorting through neutral topics of conversation for a pack of violent shifters who saw me as an evil interloper intent on ensnaring their illustrious leader. Perhaps they wanted to discuss the weather? It was a few degrees warmer than average for the festive season. White Castle, a small town located in the Pelican State of Louisiana, was home to just under two thousand folks, many of whom belonged to one of the three supernatural factions: vampires, shapeshifters, and elementals. The latter being me, an elemental with the power to control water. I was also half angel, thanks to my dear old dad who was the angel of death, making me the daughter of death. Lucky me. Harry shot into my room and hovered three inches off the floor. In life, Harry had been an upstanding vampire, helping run a church support group which enabled vampires to live less murderous lives. In death, he’d refused the call of the light and instead, pledged his afterlife loyalty to me. There was a lot to unpack in that statement. Contrary to popular belief, vampires weren’t an abomination. They didn’t explode on hallowed ground, they could walk in the daylight, and even occasionally enjoyed a good Italian meal laced with garlic. Sure, they drank human blood, but that never resulted in a turning. The only way to actually become a vampire was to be born one. Harry’s brow crinkled. “I believe you have a last minute appointment in your office.” Below the three-story plantation house was my office and examination room. I was a fully qualified medical doctor who offered my services to the factions because the local emergency room was ill-equipped to deal with ailments that affected the supernatural community. Certain human powers knew of our existence, but for the majority of humanity, we were fantasy fiction. While the world was changing, becoming more accepting of differences and uniqueness, it was not a stretch of the imagination to think that a war would break out should our existence be revealed. The problem was, the head of The Order, who governed the elementals, was threatening our way of life. She was maneuvering the political landscape to drive us head first into a war. Eloise was her name, but I knew her better as grandmother. I sighed. Whoever it was that darkened my doorstep would have to wait. I had a date with The Principal and his strongest alphas, which spanned the differing species. I flung open my door and came face-to-face with Rebecca, my longest resident and vampire princess in hiding. She was the epitome of ethereal royalty, all long slender limbs, golden hair, and stunning blue eyes. “There’s a pair of vampires waiting for you in your office,” she declared. “So I heard.” Her eyes flicked over my shoulder. She couldn’t see the dead—few could—but she knew of Harry’s existence. “He is always beating me to the news.” I shut the door behind me. “It’s not a competition.” Harry floated through the wall and appeared in front of us. “And if it were, I would win,” he declared. I rolled my eyes and began my descent down the stairs. I bypassed The Principal’s room. Hudson Abbott had moved himself into my home, declaring that as his mate, we should be living under the same roof. That was a month ago and he was negotiating his time between running the pack and driving me nuts. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him or love him even, but he had hurt me, and my heart needed time to repair the damage he’d caused. So I kept him at arm’s length where I could, but the meal with the pack’s alphas was long overdue. I was owed a chewing out for my part in the showdown that happened on my grounds where no fewer than fifty-six shifters had met an ugly and pointless end. Also, I wasn’t a pretty little docile shifter who would be popping out furry babies for them to dote on. I had no idea what kind of babies we would make. A Nephilim and a prehistoric shifter would be an interesting genetic mix. Ugh, I needed