Deleted Scene: “I don’t like that look…”

This was the original first chapter of Terra’s Fate. Like with Tristan’s Choice, I’ve worked to improve it a lot, making a lot of changes to the first draft.

I especially struggled with keeping the series cohesive because the first two books were so much focused on Mila and Tristan and were set so much in space and the third book just… isn’t. The third book does a good job at closing out the series, delving more into the shifter community and how it relates to the rest of the population, but more importantly, it closes out the conspiracy introduced in book 1.

It was actually a reader and reviewer who helped change the trajectory for Terra’s Fate. They commented how excited they were to see how the conspiracy would end and I realized I never satisfactorily ended the conspiracy in the first draft of the series. Then, it became my #1 priority to make sure that happened, which meant giving Kyle Avery, security specialist extraordinaire, a much bigger role in the third and final book in the series. Though he is not the main character of the story, he opens the book, starting where Tristan’s Choice ended. He also helps save the day, supporting the main character in her greatest hour of need (and he gets the bad guys, of course).

In closing, I want to say THANK YOU to my readers. I do hear you and listen. And sometimes, your words might even change future books.

Mila dropped into the pilot’s seat, a wicked grin on her face. Asphalt and government buildings took up the view before her. 

“I don’t like that look,” Tristan said.

“Neither do I,” Kyle said, his voice barely audible over the sudden roar of the engines.

Mila’s smile only grew as she punched the throttle on her right. The small battle shuttle jumped forward, startling everyone but her.

“Damn it, May. Nobody’s belted in yet.”

Mila didn’t even bother to shrug. No time for that. The ship surged forward, rocketing toward the stars, and the grin on her face only grew. 

She lived for this.

“May, what the hell?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Tristan picked himself up off the flooring, and almost crawled to the pilot’s seat, holding on with a death grip.

Mila cocked her head, dropping the throttle back as Earth’s gravity started to lose its hold on them. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I have no intention of letting those fuckers attack Earth. Not if I can help it.”

“May, this could be considered theft. You could get court marshaled for this.”

She shrugged. “It’s not like I’m really a member of the military anyway, am I?”

The front window reflected back a ghost image of the people around her looking at each other in uneasy ways, uncomfortable with her speaking aloud what they’d known for a long time.

“This isn’t about secrets or military service. This is about protecting what’s ours. And Earth is definitely ours.” With a hesitant glance at the sub-space controls, she activated the drive, dropping them into sub-space for a move that was both highly theoretical, and bat-shit crazy.

“May…” Kyle said, his voice edgy with his concern.

“I am seventy-five percent positive this will work, but I’m going to need you at the guns, Kyle.”

Kyle stood up and dropped in a seat next to her. “Seventy-five percent isn’t exactly reassuring.” His hands caressed the triggers.

“Ready.”

Kyle nodded, arming missiles.

“Steady.”

Mila’s face hurt from grinning so much as she lined up the shuttle just where she wanted it. If her assumptions were correct…

“And drop!”

They dropped out of sub-space, right behind a series of enemy ships. A sea of dark marks in front of them blotted out the blue and white orb of the Earth, then Kyle opened fire.