Tainted Purity by Lorie O’Clare

Book Preface

Prologue

A long, long time ago…

The red sun barely took the chill from her bones. Brigit knew she didn’t shiver from the cold though. Anticipation rushed through her as fast as her fear did. The steady beat of her heart pumped warm blood through her, hitting every nerve ending. Her entire body pulsed, the throbbing ache growing between her legs the longer she stood there.

The long, thick curls of her hair teased her back, tickled her ass, and covered half of her front. But her nudity didn’t bother her. The ceremony was centuries old, most witnessing it for the first time as a child. Giving her virginity to the coven, accepting womanhood, was a moment every girl lived for. The fact that she would partake before her time caused the entire clan to show up, not to mention neighbors for miles down the river.

Most girls participated in the ceremony after they were officially spoken for by one of the men in the community. The ceremony bonded them as lifemates, making them one forever. That wouldn’t happen with her. The men left her alone.

The extent of her powers intimidated them. Girls in the village didn’t have the powers of a goddess. Yet Brigit did. She had no answers as to why. She was born with them. And during her childhood she worked to keep the knowledge quiet that she had been blessed with the ability to do as she wished. She tried not to let others see her move things without touching them, make fire start with her mind, clean the house while lounging in her chair. But when word got out, Braze started coming around. The men in the village tried their hand with her, but the presence of Braze terrified them.

None of that bothered her. Not even today when she would enter the ceremony without a man to claim her. And the entire community had shown up for the event.

The more people present, the harder it was to hear individual thoughts. A rush of whispered thought flowed through her, most thinking the same thing.

Many knew she hadn’t been claimed. Her station helping with the coven allowed her to enter the ceremony, offering what she had—her body, her flesh, her virginity. Although she was ripe, the craving to couple consuming her, she had barely reached her eighteenth year. And tradition clearly stated a claim upon her was needed.

Keep your head empty. Braze was the only one powerful enough not to reach her in a whisper, his thoughts coming through to her clearly.

It took all of her energy not to look at him. Standing among the elders in the half circle, covered with the long robe and hood that covered half of his face, he appeared to almost to fade in with the others……………………………