The First Tearing

When Ashe collapses in their parents' driveway, gasping for breath as their body tears itself apart, they have no idea they've just been claimed by something ancient. Something with teeth. Marked by Gaia, Ashe is thrust into a hidden world of Lycans. Werewolf protectors who have defended nature for centuries. Under the guidance of Pines, a weathered elder with secrets of his own, Ashe joins a newly-formed pack in Huntsville, Alabama: Cole, a musician whose songs carry strange power; Grace, a predator learning to leash her hunger; Renae, a woman with a soldier's discipline; and Ryan, still finding his footing between two worlds. But the moment the pack comes together, something else takes notice. Dum-Prot Land Development, cloaked in polished PR and "sustainable" branding, is already poisoning the land and watching those who answer its call. What looks like corporate greed is only the surface of something far older. Something ancient and rotting beneath Huntsville's soil. Something that can twist both flesh and spirit. As Ashe struggles to control powers they never asked for while being hunted for who they are. And when one of their own is taken, Ashe will discover just how far they're willing to go, and how much of themselves they're willing to lose, to bring everyone home. The First Tearing is the first book in The Wildlands Cycle, an urban fantasy series in the Witherbound World, exploring the costs of power, the weight of protection, and the bonds that hold us together when the world falls apart.