LOGINShare
Chapter Thirteen
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Elsie
I knew as soon as I saw that kid talking to Jules after the show, things weren't going to end well. I saw the excitement in Jules's eye, the same one he got when he would find a new rogue werewolf with skills he could make a buck off of. It was the same look he got when he found Birdie hiding out in the woods, abandoned by her pack. I swear it was like dollar signs were popping out of his eye sockets.
I didn't get one thing though, why did Jules get that look about this random human? What was so special about him? What did Jules see in Oliver that I didn't? I didn't see the money.
The first time I set my eyes on Oliver was in the river. The twit was lurking behind some rocks and startled the troupe. I've never seen a human run so fast before in my life. I almost felt bad for him, especially with Grady there. Grady wasn't a pretty wolf, that was for sure. If people thought he was menacing in human form, they would defecate themselves if they caught a glimps
Related chapters
Cirque du Lune Chapter Fourteen
Elsie I refused to move from the floor until I heard Rosemary's door snap shut. It burned me up that Jules had taken Oliver to Rosemary. I understand that she used to be a nurse before joining the circus, but that was years ago. Now she was just a broad who danced around on her mate's back in the center ring. From the outside, it probably looked like Rosemary and I were just eggs to each other. That wasn't the case; we had our reasons. She was blaming her fall from grace on me instead of opening up her eyes to reality. When I joined the circus, Rosemary was the big finale. She used to eat up all the attention Jules gave her, but that didn't last. Rosemary met her mate about a month after I joined. Thomas was a lowly pack
Cirque du Lune Chapter Fifteen
ElsieI spent a few hours hiding away in Shirley and Carl's compartment. Shirley was two years older than me, and she was my best friend. She was loud, confident, saucy, sassy, and demanding. Past her rigid exterior, she was the most maternal person I knew.Shirley was the one who found me half-dead on the bank of a river. She was the one who convinced Jules to take me in. He couldn't see my face behind the bruises, blood, and mud. Shirley was the one who cleaned me up and helped me adjust to my new life without my mate.Once upon a time, Shirley was the daughter of an Alpha, but now she was rogue just like me. Ironically both of us were rogues because of love. I was a rogue because of Clyde, and Shirley was a rogue because of Carl.Carl was just an average human who liked to play with fire...in more ways than one. One day he accidentally wandered onto Shirley's pack's territory. He was captured and would be slaughtered in front of the whole pack at dawn.
Cirque du Lune Chapter Sixteen
Oliver"How long has he been out?""I think about an hour.""What are you going to do when he wakes up?""I have no idea.""Better figure it out.""I know."Voices slowly started to register with me. Where was I? I was on something soft, but how did I get here?I focused on the last thing I remembered. What was I doing? I was in Jules's car...but why was I there? Elsie...Elsie was there. I felt the fear and confusion burrow in the pit of my stomach.Without thinking, I groaned and opened my eyelids. I wasn't in Jules's car anymore, that was for sure. I wasn't sure where I was, though. I was about to sit up when I heard a voice."Better think quick, Elsie; he's awake." A familiar voice spoke, but I couldn't place who it was.I turned off of my side as I sat up and locked eyes with Elsie. As soon as I saw those hypnotic eyes, the memory came flooding back to me. She had turned into a wolf. I scrambled backwar
Cirque du Lune Chapter Seventeen
OliverMy first morning on the train, we pulled into a station on the outskirts of Philadelphia right after the sun rose. The train was alive with energy as I pushed open my curtain. Everyone was thrilled to get out and be free from their confinement. I threw my feet over the edge and wriggled out of my bunk."Morning, Oliver," a woman with brown hair squeezed past me. I had no idea who she was. I couldn't even tell you if I had met her before. I wondered if she was a wolf or a human. Eventually, I would figure who everyone was and what they were."Mornin'," I grunted as I glanced up and down the aisle, searching for Grady's intimidating shadowing. I finally spotted him and snaked my way through the crowded corridor until I came upon him."Come on, kid." Grady nodded his head towards a door. Before I had a chance to say anything, Grady was already departing the train. I hastily jumped after him.I was terrified knowing that Grady was a werewolf, an
Cirque du Lune Chapter Eighteen
Oliver"Unfortunately, my Alpha accused me of killing my mate.""What?" I spat out. What kind of confession was that? Jules was acting nonchalant and, like that fact, was funny. He kept proving to me that I never would know what he was thinking. Our brains worked in entirely different ways."Yeah, I was only twenty when I lost her. It happened in the middle of winter; we had just had a snowstorm earlier in the day. She used to love to run in the freshly fallen snow. My mate, Odette, and I went for a midnight run. We got separated in the woods. No matter how hard I searched for her, I couldn't find Odette. I couldn't even find her tracks in the snow. It was like she had disappeared without a trace. When I went back to the pack and told them she had vanished, they, of course, helped me look for her. The Alpha of my pack happened to find Odette's body at the bottom of a ravine. Someone or something had attacked her. She was barely recognizable. Her blood stained th
Cirque du Lune Chapter Nineteen
OliverThe days began to slip away like sand between my fingers. I started to find my rhythm in this place. My days were filled with dirt, sweat, and a good heaping tablespoon of anxiety. I kept my head down and worked hard.I met other humans in the troupe. There weren't many regular humans. There was only a handful of us who weren't connected directly to a wolf. The humans were in charge of mainly running the food stalls or being a roustabout. I was the abnormality; I stuck out like a sore thumb compared to the rest.Jules gave me a real job. I was with Grady. I made the rounds up and down the train a few times a night and circled the tents with him. We lapped the freak show tent the most during perfor
Cirque du Lune Chapter Twenty
Elsie "So, Oliver is the one who found it?" I sighed as I shrugged my robe onto my shoulders. It was bound to happen, but why so soon? "That's what Carl said. It's a shame it had to be him who found it." Shirley leaned over my small vanity in my compartment and reapplied her lipstick. "At least it wasn't his blood, though." "Yeah, at least it wasn't him." I sighed as I fell backward onto my bed. "Who was it?" "A townee." "Of course it was." "You know that means we will be leaving as soon as possible, so if you want to get any fresh air, I say do it sooner rather than later." Shirley walked to the door, letting her hand fell to the frame as she looked at me. "I might." "I think you should. Maybe even check on Oliver." Shirley winked before shutting my door with a snap. I lay in silence for a few minutes. Why did this always have to happen? Why couldn't we just not have this lingering over us? Could we never escap
Cirque du Lune Chapter Twenty-one
Oliver After finding the blood, Grady sent me off back to the train. He called over some roustabouts, and they handled the situation. I don’t think Elsie would ever understand how much I appreciated her coming to check on me. Even though we rarely spoke, I felt strangely connected to her. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was so enamored by her looks or the fact that she was the one that showed me the secret of the circus. Whenever I spent time with Elsie, it was like a warm comfort enveloped my heart. There was something about her that brought me a sense of peace. Maybe it was the way her blue eyes were pools of stars the first night we met. Perhaps the way I could feel the fire in her soul. She really was indescribable. Knock. Knock. Knock.
Latest chapter
Cirque du Lune Epilogue
Oliver Time flew like it never had before. Was this what it was like to be truly happy? Shit, if this was happiness, then I never knew it before. It had been five years since Jules went after Elsie. Five years that had gone by as quick as a cricket. Five blissful years that were a dream compared to all my years before. The first thing we did was weed out all of Jules's cronies after that night. As a whole, we decided it was best if we left them in the hands of the Sundrop pack. They caused unnecessary bloodshed in their pack territory. It was only fitting that they could decide their fates. It also saved us a heap of trouble, making it a win-win for all parties involved. Cirque du Lune officially went belly up the night Jules died in Lousianna—some of the performers and lackeys packed up and left soon after. Without Jules, everyone was free to do what they wanted, without his shadow of tyranny looming over them. Everyone could finally breathe without the threat of poison engulfing t
Cirque du Lune Chapter Fifty-three
ElsieA flood of familiar scents washed over me as blurs of browns, creams, grays, reds, and blacks lept through the gaps in the trees like a mighty rushing river. There they were, my chosen family, the rogues who banned with each other, searching for a safe glimmer in this dark world of ours. I felt my throat contract as I caught sight of Carl clinging to Shirley's fur while he whipped a rusted metal pipe through the air. There was a fire in his eyes, which was more potent than any flame he breathed.Jules's whole body stiffened from the crown of his greasy hair down to his toes. It seemed he hadn't prepared for the potential of the entire circus following him into the woods. The reassuring sight of Carl and Shirley proved that the pack of wolves wasn't coming to help him; they were coming to aid me. Jules was no longer in control of all these rogues, and I knew that simple fact had to scare the living shit out of him. I saw the irritation flick across his face as his skin tightened
Cirque du Lune Chapter Fifty-two
OliverAs the last wolf disappeared into the thickets, I waited as the last snaps of twigs and crunch of leaves faded. I expected a cold crash of fear to overtake me as I looked at Eddie. Unexpectantly nothing even remotely resembling fear licked at my belly. There was an eerie calm seeping out of the earth and weaving through the trees. I swiped my tongue across my cracked lips, dampening them to ensure we were still operating.I let my eyes fall back on Eddie; I only felt a wave of anger for every second, every minute, every day his existence had plagued me. From that wave, adrenaline raced through my whole being. He had to be stopped now, and it didn’t matter what he did to me; he just had to be stopped.“What’s it like to know you weren’t good enough for that bitch of a broad?” Eddie flashed his teeth, stained with a grimy yellow film from years of smoking and drinking. I knew that cold, cruel smile plastered on Eddie’s face was only to get a rise out of me. From Eddie’s eyes, I k
Cirque du Lune Chapter Fifty-one
Elsie The blood in my veins turned into rivers of deathly ice. The color in the world around me disappeared, leaving an unforgiving coldness closing in on me, threatening to stifle the raging of my heartbeat ticking away in my chest. This couldn’t be happening; he couldn’t be here. How far would I have to run to be able to escape his blood-drenched muzzle? Would I ever be free to enjoy the babble of a brook or the sweet aroma of fresh spring flowers? I should have known better. When did Jules ever give up? I knew the answer from the first time I saw him snap someone’s neck. Jules was a demon used to getting what he wanted, and if it weren’t willingly given to him, he would take it by force. Everyone around him were his personal puppets; every single one of us was dangling by weathered strings from Jules’s fingers. Every movement and every shadow Jules’s minions cast were calculated. At any second, Jules would decide it was time to sacrifice one of his pawns, and their lines would sev
Cirque du Lune Chapter Fifty
ElsieI had never been in a pack like this. Even my original pack was nothing compared to this. There was warmth in the air and a sense of peace that seemed to flow out of everyone I encountered. Compared to the years under Jules’s thumb or when I was in Delbert’s pack, this place was a pure ray of light.My mind was on overdrive as I met the members of my new pack. Their faces and hair colors blended into nothing but a muddled blur of a beige rainbow. I wish I could have slowed down time to take my time to memorize every person.They were all so happy and eager to see me, and I felt like an imposter; I was nothing that special. They were expecting someone they could rely on and who could lead them, and I was just a glorified performer. I could show them how to dangle from a ribbon if they wanted, but if you wanted someone who could be something of value to the pack, it sure as hell wasn’t me.Warmth crackled like electricity as Everett’s hand snaked around the small of my back. I loo
Cirque du Lune Chapter Forty-nine
OliverBirdie climbed up on an old crate that creaked underneath her; she looked like a bloody queen perched up there. There was something different about Birdie tonight. The timid girl who avoided holding eye contact with people was gone, and now a fierce woman stood before me. Roustabouts, performers, werewolves, humans, and everybody in between crept out of the shadows. Even Rosemary and Thomas slipped into view.“What’s going on?” Rosemary jutted her hip out to the side as she threw her arms across her chest. “What do you think you are doing calling us here like this?”“Attention, everyone! We have a situation!” Birdie’s voice rang out in the night air. “Earlier today, one of our troupe members found their mate.&rdquo
Cirque du Lune Chapter Forty-eight
OliverI looked at Birdie in disbelief. This dame ran so hot and cold; it was a miracle when I could actually figure out what she was thinking. This time was not one of those times; when I searched her for any indication of what was happening inside her head, Birdie’s eyes gave nothing away.Just because Elsie had left the circus and left me didn’t mean I would throw her away. Elsie would always hold a piece of my heart in her hands, and besides my own attachment to her, I had made a promise to look after her. I would keep my promise to Milton.“It doesn’t matter if she has a mate, Birdie. Whether or not you like it, Elsie will always be one of us, even if she isn’t here.” I scowled at Birdie before chasing after Carl and Shirley.“I did it for you!” I heard Birdie call after me, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of me turning around to acknowledge her. Besides, I didn’t even know if I bel
Cirque du Lune Chapter Forty-seven
OliverI whipped around to find Eddie peering at me from a tree. The moonlight didn’t do much for his appearance. The dried residue of his makeup was flaking off, almost like his flesh was peeling off his face.“Oh, Eddie.” I gulped. “You startled me; I didn’t know you were there.”My eyes glanced around from Birdie, Carl, and Shirley; their expressions screamed they hadn’t been aware of his presence. That caused a pit to form in my stomach.Eddie slithered into view. “Who’s gone?” I hated his voice so much; it was so ragged it made my skin crawl.“No one is,” Carl quickly muttered before reaching into his pocket to pull out a cigarette.“Don’t lie to me, Carl.” Eddie hissed as he stalked closer to me. “Where is our star? Is she who is gone?”“I-I don’t know what you ar
Cirque du Lune Chapter Forty-six
OliverNelson dropped me off on the edge of town closest to Cirque du Lune’s setup but far enough away where no one would catch a whiff of his scent. As I went to slam the door shut behind me, Nelson cleared his throat.“Yeah?” I ducked my head down as I looked back into the car at him.“If I were you, kid, I would get the hell away from those rogues; the sooner, the better.” Nelson’s voice was gruff; the way he talked about the circus and the rogues was like someone had squeezed lemon juice in a cut in my mouth.“Isn’t your future Luna one of those rogues?” I glared at that sad excuse of a man. “Have a nice evening Nelson.”I slammed the car door and started towards the soft glow on the lights, beaconing me home to the circus. I was tense until I heard the roar of the automobile rumble away. Only when I was sure he was gone did the tension in my body leave.No matter how long I wa
