Merula

What if you were a shapeshifter, but didn't know it?
What if the man who raised you orchestrated your father's execution?
What if you discover that the people closest to you have been lying to you all your life?
Book two in the award-winning contemporary fantasy trilogy about a tribe of shapeshifters in northern Maine, USA.
On a cold October morning in Blackwater Hills, Samuel Singleton steps outside to do his morning chores and is whisked through a portal into the domain of the witch goddess known as the Shadowlands.
On a cold October evening, Cadie Maxwell, a priestess newly sworn to the Sacred Order, follows what she believes is the will of the gods and flees the only home she has ever known on a quest to find the truth about Corvus's Sacred Law-a law that demands that every male cursed with shapeshifting powers must be executed. Cadie arrives in a small town called Ashland, and takes a job at a local bar and grill. There she meets Jonathan and Sarina Lance, who are desperate to locate their missing father, best-selling novelist J. Lance Sr..
On a mission to rescue J. Lance Sr., Cadie guides the outsiders through the Great Shield, a powerful force field that protects her homeland. But instead of the missing novelist, Cadie finds her childhood friend, Samuel delirious and showing signs of suffering from the blood madness.
Can she save Samuel's life, and get her friends safely back to Ashland while exposing the corruption within the priesthood, forswearing her holy vows, and uncovering the truth about her gods and her tribe?

One of ReadFreely's 50 Best Indie Books of 2017.
An IHIBRP 5-Star Recommended Read.
Winner of the 2018 Virtual Fantasy Con Award for Best Dark Fantasy.