I awoke to the smell of bacon and coffee I had one leg hanging off the couch and my body was partially covered by a purple fuzzy throw blanket that Amber undoubtably covered me with after I fell asleep. I sat up on the couch yawning and rubbing my eyes, when my eyes started to focus, I could see Amber in the kitchen making breakfast.
"Good morning lazy bones!" She called from the kitchen.
"What's so good about it?" I shouted back to her in a joking yet serious voice.
"Oh, that's right I forgot you are not a morning person." She answered
I got off the couch and headed into the kitchen. “No, but food does make it better”
"There is coffee in the pot on the counter." Amber instructed
"Do you know where I left my phone?” I questioned while looking around the kitchen “I think I want to start looking for a job."
"Yeah, it's by the coffee pot" she answered over her shoulder while she was standing in front of the stove frying a large pan of bacon. “Why do you want a job?”
“I think I would like something part-time, maybe it will help make me feel more grounded here. I never could have one in my old pack since I played such a big role in training other members” I poured myself a cup of coffee and started surfing for a part time job.
“Yeah, I guess that makes sense” Amber shrugged as she scooped the bacon out of that skillet and onto a plate.
A couple jobs caught my eye.
"Do I need pack approval to work?" I asked Amber, since packs can vary on such matters. Some jobs aren't approved because they are risky.
"Not really, you just need to register it with the pack once you have the job." She replied
"Ok great, there is a craft store in town looking for someone part-time, only one to two days a week. I think I'm going to go check it out. Right after I have some delicious bacon and eggs" I smiled at her as she was putting the food on the table. “Need help with anything?”
"Nope, just clearing all this food off the plate.” She shoved some bacon into her mouth “oh will you go by the bakery and get some pink icing cookies? It is right across the street from the craft store." Amber asked with her hand over her mouth that was still quite full of bacon.
"Of course," I answered "and when I get back, we can do some training" I say as my eyes light up and a smirk forms across my face, because I know Amber isn’t a fan of training but I always make her do it anyways.
"Ugh are you serious" Amber answered rolling her eyes.
"Yes, I'm serious, besides you could use a little extra muscle, it will make you look sexy" I giggled and winked at her. Training was one of my favorite things to do, it didn't require much talking and it was a great excuse to be outside. It also helped that I was exceptionally good at combat.
Amber jokingly gasped in response "Girl what are you talking about I'm already sexy!"
I gave her a wink; the rest of the meal was passed with little to no talking and once I was done.
I ran upstairs to change into my trusty black leggings, black yoga sandals and a purple halter dress. I quickly braided my hair into a relaxed French braid and Then I headed into town, the craft store was on Main Street and surprisingly in this small town the Main Street was still doing pretty good. Several shops and restaurants were open, creating a cute comforting atmosphere.
I parallel parked in front of the craft store. I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, I haven’t really ever had to interview for a job before or even ask for one, in my old pack I was just more or less tasked with what I would do. I headed inside to hopefully procure a job. The craft store smelled as they usually do, artificial flowers and new material, I found the smell very comforting. It was clean and neat inside. I went up to the little counter where an older lady was sitting by the cash register reading. She had a smaller stature and her salt and pepper hair was styled in a pixie cut. She removed her reading glasses and looked at me.
"Can I help you?" She asked
"Yes, I just wanted to drop off my resume I seen you were looking for someone part time." I answered
"Why yes I am, do you have some time to chat now, dear?" She asked while looking over my resume.
I replied that I did, and we had a nice chat. She decided to give me a chance and told me to come back in a few days. She wanted to give me a chance to get more settled in. I thanked her for her time and the job and headed for the door.
Part time job, check! Things are going good so far. I pushed open the door and the air from outside rushed in and I smelled something amazing. It was like smelling a fresh spring morning and it was intoxicating. The sweetness coated my lungs, and I swore I could almost taste it.
I quickly stepped out on the sidewalk trying to identify the smell. My body felt on edge and I just wanted to be surrounded by that smell. I gazed down the street and that's when I saw him. My breath caught in my throat, he had dark brown hair, a stocky build probably no taller than six foot and arms built to throw a girl against a wall. He was too far away to see anymore. I felt drawn to him.My body was reacting in ways that were foreign to me even at this distance I was becoming wet and I felt little pangs in my lower abdomen. I quickly turned away and headed the other direction. It was dangerous for an unmated females to be so aroused in public, I needed to calm down and quick. My face had to be flush as my whole body felt like it was burning deep within. I chanced a small glance over my shoulder and could tell his face was now pointed in my direction. I urged my feet to move faster although it wasn't easy my whole body felt like jelly. I couldn't lose myself here. I rounded the
When we got to the door Amber opened it and waved me in. I stepped into the foyer that had a light-colored wooden floor. With cream-colored walls decorated with various pieces of artwork. I could already hear the roar of many people happily chatting away somewhere nearby, I could also smell various foods aromas floating in the air. Amber led me down the hall to a room with double door entry. Before I could ask her to give me a minute Amber popped the doors open, the sight inside almost took my breath away. It was a large banquet hall lit by hundreds of candles and the tables were adorned with shining gold tablecloths, in the middle of each table was a large flower arrangement primarily made up of white lilies, and there they were my new pack, my new family. Once we stepped through the door, the roar of conversation almost came to a halt and several faces turned to our direction most were friendly and welcoming although I did catch a couple sneers. Its hard to even describe how nervo
I answered the phone, and it was Shirley the lady who owned the craft store. "I'm sorry to bother you dear but my daughter needs me to babysit unexpectedly, do you think you could come in and cover the store?" She asked"Uh yeah I can do that, just let me get changed and I will head that way.""Oh, thank you so much!" she exclaimed clearly happy that I was available."No problem" I replied, even though I had been up all night, it's not like I could sleep anyways. I hung up the phone and told Amber I would be starting work today. "I don't know how you do it? Aren't you exhausted!" She exclaimed "Oh, it's ok, I can sleep when I'm dead" I replied with a smile and nudged her in the shoulder.When we got home, I got a quick shower since I smelled like the woods and sweat. I got dressed and headed to town. Shirley gave me a quick walk through and left. As I sat at counter waiting for someone to come into the store, I realized unfortunately there wasn't much to occupy my mind. It quickly
When it got close to closing time, Shirley came in to lock up the store. She asked me how my first day went and thanked me again for covering the store, so she could babysit. I told her it was no problem and everything went good. Once she finished locking up I went straight home, not sleeping the previous night was definitely catching up to me and I was starving which didn’t help matters. Luckily Amber had some dinner waiting for me and I didn’t waste anytime in eating it. It was some kind of spaghetti bolognaise, it tasted amazing as far as I could tell, but I was shoveling it into my mouth and swallowing as fast as I could. "I see Alpha Ethan found you." Amber said while I still had a mouth full of pasta. “hmm” was about all I was able to get out with my mouth packed full of spaghetti noodles, I raised my eyebrow at her question.She pointed at my neck. "how lucky it was he found it.""What?" I said confused having swallowed the large bite of food "how did you know it was him?"
The next morning came, and I was filled with energy, lunch at the Alpha's house possibly followed up by a run. Nothing sounded better, plus three days of waiting was almost more than I could take.I was dressed and ready hours before I needed to be. I wore my black leggings and a dark blue dress that flowed to my knees. My hair was down with a blue headband holding it away from my eyes. Amber noticed how excited I was, as she suggested we could arrive a little early if need be. I didn’t even have to think about it, but I paused for a moment to at least act like I needed to, I knew Amber already had a pretty good idea that I liked the Alpha, but I was never someone who could openly talk about my crushes, not until I was sure the other person felt the same. “Yeah, I guess that will be alright” I tried to say calmly without smiling, but inside, I was beyond excited.I was hoping maybe today would give me a chance to talk to Alpha Ethan without so many people around, and maybe I could
The next week passed by slowly, I tried to occupy myself by keeping busy with work and training. A couple days had gone by since the disappointing Saturday when I came home from the craft store to find Amber preparing a feast. I spotted serving dishes piled high with steaks, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. It all smelled so amazing. "Umm I know we eat a lot, but this seems like a bit much for us." I laugh "Oh yeah Jonathan is coming over, so I figured we would need some extra." She responded "Beta Jonathan?" I questioned Apparently, this wasn't very out of the ordinary as him and Amber were close friends, she explained."Oh, I didn't know" I said smiling wondering if there was something else going on there. Amber wasn't as reserved as I was, and she was content "experimenting" as she put it with others until she found her mate. Soon there was a knock at the door. I went to open it. Jonathan was standing there with a tub of ice cream and the movie Underworld. "Up for a movi
I didn’t sleep well that night, me and Amber’s conversation kept replaying in my head. I couldn’t believe she suggested Jonathan and me should be chosen mates when we hadn’t even had a date. Maybe she was just trying to get her point across, when we used to talk about our mates together, Amber would always say why put off your happiness now, for something that might happen later. I understood where she was coming from, but I guess I was still caught up in the fairy tale of finding my mate. I finally rolled out of bed around 10 a.m. the next morning and headed downstairs for some breakfast, luckily, I didn’t have to work today and I decided not to train, I really just wanted a lazy day at home. As soon as I stepped in the kitchen, I was met with a booming happy voice."Hey there sleepy head." Beta Jonathan said surprising me. He was smiling at me while he was cooking something on the stove. I knew I smelled axe body spray and cranberries, but I thought it was just left over from the
Alpha Ethan’s (POV) I had just spent a week at the Alpha gathering in Nashville, and I was on my way home. I was ready to be home, back with my pack. Alpha gatherings can be such tedious affairs, but if I didn’t attend it would look bad not only for me but the pack.I ran into Renee's old Alpha, Joey and his mate Kristi although I don't think they were true wolf mates, more like they got tired of waiting. They were interesting, to say the least. Kristi bluntly approached me asking about, what I thought of Renee. I also couldn’t help but notice Alpha Joey seemed to be intently listening for my answer.I knew Renee was supposed to be Alpha Joey’s beta but declined the position. Amber said it was due to a difference in how they each thought the pack should be ran. To be honest it concerned me at first that Renee would decline such an important role in the pack, just because of a disagreement on how to manage the pack. I asked around to some of my contacts in other packs that had met Ren
Epilogue Esther’s Point of ViewIt has been one year since the battle for Renee’s life. After what happened I couldn’t bring myself to leave Southern Illinois. So much has happened and so much has changed. I almost didn’t get to the wand in time, and I guess for Victor I didn’t. He would have made a great great great honestly I’m not sure how many greats grandfather to little Vickie but he sacrificed himself to save Alpha Ethan. When I removed immortality on Earth all the vampires returned to human and as far as I can tell I’m also aging again. Ethan and Renee opened the pack grounds to any once vampires that wished to stay and adjust to being human once again. Some staid while many others rushed back home as quickly as they could. Dimitri and myself decided to stay and I’m for the first time in my life truly happy. I have a little baby bump of my own now and I can’t express how excited I am to be a mother after all these years. Renee has blossomed in her roll as Luna and the pa
Renee’s Point of View The first wave was a horrible mess as the untrained vampires rushed forward their mouths practically unhinging as they tried to bite whatever they could. They were a chaotic mess, but thankfully we were prepared for just that, we fell back several paces to give the illusion that we were struggling. By the time it was over there were only minor injuries to report. The next wave however came rushing forward like a tidal wave. We had no sooner finished off the first wave before they were on us they were better trained and much more difficult to hold off. “Come on Esther, what is taking so long?” I questioned under my breath. We were trying to wait as long as possible before using the flood lights as it would inevitably kill many of the vampires and if Esther succeeded they would all be saved from that fate. Unfortunately we couldn’t wait any longer and Ethan had no choice but to issue the order. The screams that echoed will forever haunt my mind. As they evapor
Esther’s point of view Once I reached the location where I had hid the wand all those years ago, I was really wishing I hadn’t put a spell on it blocking it from magical recovery. There were mere minutes before the sun would set on Renee’s pack territory and I was looking at a research center sitting on top of the site where I hid the wand. I couldn’t believe my eyes out of all the places, here is where they placed their stupid huts. I knew the wand was still here I could sense it’s energy. I just had to figure out how to move the research pod that was sitting on top of it. “Damn it, I don’t have time for this I muttered under my breath” as I tried to think of the best course of action. I ran up to the window of the pod to take a peek. I could see at least three people inside. I decided things would be easier if they were unconscious so I cast a spell as watched as they all passed out. I ran back from the building a lifted my hands bringing the pod up a couple inches and scooting
Luna Renee’s Point of View As I stood waiting for whatever hell was about to be released I tried to run everything Dimitri had said about Vampire tactics through my mind. The vampires including my father couldn’t fight with us here with the uv flood lights that we had in store for the vampires, but they all did their best to prepare us and help us train. The Vampires on our side planned to circle around behind the lines to help us without being in our strong hold. Dimitri said they would send their least experienced soldiers first, it would test our strength and cause chaos. They instructed that it would be best to try to fight them off without revealing any of the traps we had set.They said we would be able to handle the first wave easily but to make it appear like it was hard giving a false sense of security to the next wave. This wave would be much better trained. This is where we could start using our traps and me to fight back. The hope was the second wave would rush forward th
*Esther’s POV I had been trudging through snow for over a day and a half now, I was frozen to the core and really wishing I picked out a warmer location to hide the wand of destiny. To make matters worse there was a snow storm blowing in and I had less than an hour to get the wand and cast a spell to remove immortality from Earth, before the Vampire would most likely be attacking Renee’s pack. Luckily the plane ride, boat ride, and dog sled ride here had given me plenty of time to work on the wording for the spell. I wanted to make sure there weren’t any loop holes. I only had 5 more miles to go but they wouldn’t be easy. I hid the wand in the most remote place in the world I could think of somewhere that no one should ever be able to find it. However that made getting there near impossible, if it wasn’t for having magic I never would have made it this far. To occupy my brain I just kept repeating the spell over and over in my head. “To the God above grant me this, remove immoral
Esther’s point of view“Can I talk to you a minute, alone?” Dimitri questioned looking at me. “Yes” I answered standing up to walk into the hall with him. When we reached the hallway and closed the door behind us Dimitri turned to me and asked “can we be overheard?” “No” I answered “Ok good, then let me ask what in the hell are you thinking, we are talking about Renee here, we are talking about the end of the world!” He yelled “and what your plan is to just sit by and watch it happen?” “You know I made a promise.” I answered “Sometimes promises have to be broken, and I would say this is definitely one of those times.” “I guess you are right.” I answered reluctantly. “How long will it take you to get to the wand?” Dimitri asked. “At the very least three days.” I answered “but even if I get the wand I’m not sure how to fix everything.” “What do you mean?” Dimitri questioned “can’t you just make it where the angels can’t possess Renee and her children.” “Well sure that will ta
Esther’s Point of View“Many, many years ago I was apart of a secret group called the Seven we were tasked with protecting valuable, powerful and dangerous artifacts. Such as the ark of the covenant to name one.” I sighed before taking a big breath “but ultimately we failed when a fallen angel tracked us and attacked us with the goal of taking over the world. His plan was to make two new species each modeled after his daughters personalities to be his army on earth, Using the power he gained from the artifacts especially one from Jesus’s lost years which is a powerful wand. I was afraid if their eyes widened anymore they would pop from their sockets as I told my tale. So this fallen Angel made his new species using other members of the Seven my family and from my family he created Vampires and Werewolves representing each of his half human daughter’s. But before he could use his new species to create and army I was able to recover the wand, using it myself to stop him. I basically
Esther’s point of view Silas didn’t have time to answer as I noticed Renee coming to in my arms.“Renee! Renee? Can you hear me?” Yes, why are you talking so loud.” She answered with an annoyed voice, bringing her fingers to her temples. “Oh thank goodness!” I said pulling her closer to me. “You mean thank Goddess don’t you, seeing as I’m part Goddess.” Renee rambled with her eyes still closed as she rubbed her temples. “What?” I questioned confused, truth serum doesn’t make you high. What was Renee talking about? “Yep I’m the daughter of the moon goddess, and she needs my baby to keep everyone safe.” Blood rushed to my head and I felt lightheaded, my past flashing in front of me as I realized what was actually at stake. “What is she talking about?” Silas questioned. “This can’t be possible” I mumbled under my breath, trying to piece everything together. Why would the “Moon Goddess” impart her DNA in Renee and why was Renee’s baby important to her plan. In that moment Ethan a
Esther’s point of viewWhen I saw Renee pass out I acted quickly and was able to catch her before her body crinkled onto the ground. A “No” echoed in the field around us and I scanned the area trying to find the source. “Who goes there?” I shouted scanning the area once more. I sent an alert in my head to Alpha Ethan not knowing if there was a threat or what has caused Renee to pass out. “It’s just me” a familiar voice filled the air and I turned to the source. I could see Silas stepping out from behind a tree. “Silas?” I questioned confused. I couldn’t help but notice he didn’t seem to have his mandatory escort with him. “I’m sorry Esther it wasn’t meant for her” he stated cautiously stepping forward. “What do you mean?” I questioned still confused, then I saw his eyes flash down to Renee “what have you done?” I questioned anger and fear coursing through my body. “The water was meant for you” he stated Once again I was confused until I looked down and saw the water I had given