Taming of the Wolf, now available!

Today, my short story, Shadow State, is released in the Taming of the Wolf anthology from The Wild Rose Press. I'm over at Black Rose, but here's the blog I posted there:

Ancient runes, occult legends and dark gods bring to mind the supernatural, paranormal tales we've heard all our lives but how often does it bring to mind...Nazis?

However, the Nazis and Hitler particularly were fascinated by all things occult. Many people do not realize that most of the Nazi symbolism comes from ancient runic markings. The Nazis were obsessed with all things occult or Druid in origin; in fact Hitler based many of his most controversial policies on ancient occult teachings or theories.

For instance: he believed the Aryan race was descended from the Nordic gods which in turn was a race saved after the lost continent of Atlantis' residents took refuge in the Scandinavian countries. Hitler firmly believed that the Aryan race lost their innate supernatural powers (such as telepathy, superior strength, etc.) because of interbreeding with lesser races. This belief was the main reason behind his ethnic cleansing and eugenics policies.

It was shocking how rich the Nazi world and mythos was for the setting of a paranormal story. They were into absolutely everything and their views were skewed toward the belief of the supernatural, they believed themselves to be supernatural actually.

The Indiana Jones movies are not far off the mark as to the fervent pursuit the Nazi's engaged in when hunting religious artifacts, lost legends and the like. It is well documented that they went on a crusade for the Holy Grail and The Spear of Destiny. In fact, it is theorized that Hitler started WWII in order to acquire The Spear of Destiny.

In my short story, Shadow State, I took these facts and used them to create my fictitious world where wehrwölfes or wölfes lived hidden in German society until one fateful day when a group of SS officers capture a man after he changed into his wölfe form.

The story then follows Christoph, the clan leader and Elsa, a defacto pack leader, through their journey to rescue the captured wölfe and explore the feelings they have for each other. Strasser, the SS flunky, is single-minded in his intent to learn their secrets and to create more wölfes.

EXCERPT:

“Based on what you’ve told me regarding the subject’s reaction to the dogs you introduced, I can only assume he was raised around other rabid beasts. Tell me, Karl,” he reverted to the familiar now that the interview was over. “Where did you find the…man?”

With an uncharacteristic huff, Strasser leaned back in the chair. “We picked him up in Neukölln after he attacked a mob. The details are unclear, but I understand it took four men to bring him in.” He sat up and added, “Four men, even though the beast had taken two gunshot wounds.”

“Hmm,” Gerard said to cover his disgust at Erik’s treatment. “Neukölln, I would have said in one of the outer provinces.”

“I want you to set up a test,” Strasser stood. “I’m going to have a subject brought in from the prisons. If the beast bites him, we can create more of these unusual creatures.”

“You believe the legends of the wehrwölfe?” Gerard asked.

Strasser offered a smile that made him sick. “There’s one way to find out.”