Do you love werewolves? Eileen Sheehan is sharing some backstory on them with us today, plus an excerpt from her book Jasper "The Beginning." Check it out and then be sure to enter the amazing giveaway from all of the authors who participated in the Haunted Halloween Spooktacular this month!
The Curse of the Werewolf
The werewolf originated in the times of ancient Greece when their gods reigned supreme. During one fateful festivity, Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus, was in need of a meat to serve. Too lazy to go hunting for wild game or to slaughter a lamb, he served the Greek god, Zeus (who was the ruler of the sky and of all gods and mankind), a meal made from the remains of a sacrificed boy. This severely enraged Zeus. As punishment, the angered god turned Lycaon and his sons into wolves. They were to be looked upon by the rest of humanity as something to abhor.
Zeus’ lover Selene (who was the goddess of the moon) took pity on Lycoan’s family. She felt it unfair to make them pay for a sin that they had no part of. After much effort, she convinced Zeus to shorten the curse and allow them to enjoy humanity until they were of age to wed and breed. (This age, at that time, was their early teens when their hormones took over and a girl became a woman and a boy became a man). Instead of the curse being a constant, it would activate only during the hours of the full moon. All other times they were allowed to be human.
Although she campaigned for the pain that was involved in the shift to be eliminated, she was only able to have it become lessened over time.
As for humanity’s viewpoint on the werewolf, she was able to do nothing to change it.
As centuries passed, new gods came into play and Zeus’ power faded enough to allow certain branches of Lycaon’s bloodline to breed out the curse enough so that it often skipped generations. In some, it would afflict only one or two per generation. In others, it remained dormant unless they were exposed to a werewolf’s venom or scratch.
Because humanity abhorred and hunted them, they kept to themselves and hidden as best as they could. This meant that many with a dormant werewolf curse in their genes never encountered a werewolf. They had the good fortune to go through life never knowing their true selves.
Those who were less fortunate and encountered a werewolf had the curse awaken in them. As did those of a generation that followed one that was skipped, leaving them without others nearby to aid them in their shift.
Such is the curse of the werewolf.
Book One
Eileen Sheehan
Genre: Paranormal Romance Thriller
Publisher: Earth Wise Books
Date of Publication: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 979-8527979565
ASIN: B097XFT4VT
Number of pages: 162
Word Count: 55,511
Tagline: Taking a shortcut through a dark and remote alley on Halloween night proved to be a life changing decision of research scientist, Jasper Greene.
Book Description:
Bitten by a zombie and brutally attacked by a group of werewolves, he was left for dead only to be discovered and rescued by a vampire king who took him home to heal.
Delighted to discover that Jasper's research was on genetics with a focus on elongating life (for which he often used himself as a test subject due to lack of money), the vampire king assigned him the task of shifting the vampire DNA so that it was less obvious what they were when in the company of humans.
With his assistant, Lila, in tow he was provided a lab and set to work. With toxins from werewolves and zombies mingling with the vampire blood he was provided during his healing time, Jasper struggled to adjust to his new body while he did his best to accommodate the vampires until the opportunity to escape presented itself. But, where does a man who has vampire, werewolf and zombie traits go?
The Beginning, is book 1 of the Jasper series.
(affiliate links included)
Excerpt
… Even though he’d drawn blood, it wasn’t the zombie character who pummeled him
to the ground. He was still trying to piece it together, but he was certain
that the beating came from another source. Two. No, three men.
They came out of nowhere in wolf-like
costumes and sliced off the head of the zombie dressed character with a large
sword while Jasper was struggling to be free of him.
Jasper’s first thought was that he’d stumbled into a gang war zone of some
type. Gang battles were nothing to take lightly. Although death was
often a result of such battles, beheading wasn’t something that he’d read about
in the news.
Traumatized to the point of being
immobilized by what he’d just witnessed, he was unable to fight back when the
three men proceeded to tackle him to the ground and pummel his body with fists,
rocks, and, finally, a crowbar. It wasn’t until much later that he questioned
why they’d left his head intact.
The attackers desire to closely mimic the
character of the costumes they wore was both frustrating and shocking. He
could only reason that there was some sort of contest or gang challenge that
they were participating in to make them behave with such dedication even while
mugging someone. If memory served him right, he was clawed and bitten by
one of them as well.
Left broken and barely holding onto life,
he felt certain that he wouldn’t survive more than a few hours. The
possibility of someone of strong moral character stumbling upon him in that
dingy alley and calling for medical help was bleak. If by some miracle someone
did come along to rescue him in time, he’d definitely have to get tested for
diseases that could have entered his bloodstream via these wounds.
He grew weaker and weaker as he faded in
and out of consciousness. Whenever his mind got coherent enough to realize his
situation, he was surprised to discover that he was still able to inhale life
giving air. He shouldn’t have survived such a brutal attack. Yet,
the searing pain that coursed through every inch of his body told him that he’d
done just that.
The question was… for how much longer?
Summoning enough strength to move his hand to his
pants pocket, he was surprised to discover that his money was still there. He
could feel that the designer watch that he’d purchased to replace the watch
he’d inherited from his grandfather and had been stolen in a mugging while in
his early twenties had also been left on his wrist. Things weren’t making
sense. Getting drunk and, then, acting in character and attacking in such a way
was one thing, but since when did robbers beat a man to mere inches from his
life and then not rob him? Then, were they really robbers? They’d
beheaded a man, after all.
About the
Author:
Eileen Sheehan primarily writes hot, steamy romances (mostly New Adult) with a
sexy male and strong female. A few are steamier than others (see their
description). The majority of her novels are paranormal, but some are just
plain novels about people in love (contemporary or historical with the author
name of Ailene Frances). ALL of her stories have a bit of naughtiness, some
excitement, a few thrills, and maybe a touch of mystery mixed in with sometimes
naughty, sometimes sweet lovin'. She strives to write a novel length that will
allow the busy woman to be able to sit down in an evening or two and be taken
on a romantic journey without having a week go by before she gets to the end of
the story.
An incurable romantic, she has a love affair with at least one of her
characters... one book at a time. She hopes the same thing happens to you.
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