The Gailsbrook Curse

Gailsbrook was a quiet town — until the creatures came. First they took livestock. Then they took people. Sheriff Eli Mercer has seen bad years, but nothing like this. Something is hunting his town, something older than the trees themselves. The answer lies in the town’s darkest secret — a bargain struck generations ago with the forest’s ancient ruler, the Forgotten King. And when the pact is broken, the price must be paid. Sadie Kellerman never believed the stories about the woods. But when the townspeople betray her and drag her screaming into the trees, she learns the truth.

When Sadie was sacrificed by her own town to appease the Forgotten King, she thought death would be a mercy. But the forest had other plans. Reborn under moonlight and bound by blood, Sadie is dragged into a world of ancient magic and living roots — a world where the King who claimed her is as captivating as he is cruel. At first, all she wants is revenge: on Gailsbrook, on the King, on everyone who watched her bleed. But the longer she walks the haunted paths, the more the forest begins to whisper to her… and the more she sees the King not just as a monster, but as a man.