The sun seeping through the window cast a shadow of a claw over Xenia's face. Lillian stretched before walking over to the bed. She traced a finger down the side of Xenia's face, over her cheekbones, round nose, and full plush lips. She was careful not to leave a mark on Xenia's pretty face, knowing Mason or, rather, Rodin would have a fit. "I'm bored," Lillian sighed, propping herself beside Xenia. "Mason's away, and my mate is resting from our late-night activities. That means we had sex last night. Do you understand sex," Lillian whispered in Xenia's ear before taking the tip of it between her teeth and letting go as she laughed. "Sex between mates is... indescribable. Apologies if you could hear us. Werewolves are not shy from being loud. It doesn't help that we're just below this room either," Lillian giggled before propping herself over Xenia's body. "I guess sooner or later, you'll find that out yourself. How lucky you are to be Mason's mate." "I wonder if you can hear me
Delilah spat obscenities towards Lillian, and still, Xenia didn't move. "I know you're awake. Stop playing games," Lillian yelled, tightening her grip on Delilah's throat. "What the hell is going on!" Lillian turned to see Mason standing in the doorway. His eyes accessed the situation, moving from Jane to Lillian to Delilah and finally Xenia. He noticed the cut on Xenia's face, and a growl rumbled low in his chest as his eyes bled red. "Rodin..." Lillian whispered as she let go of Delilah and slowly backed away from the bed. "Did you touch her," Rodin growled, each word coming out as painful as the next. "It..it...was an accid..." Before Lillian could finish, Rodin lunged for her. Lillian successfully dodged his hands and ran for the door. However, Rodin was quicker and grabbed her leg to swing her towards the wall. Lillian hit the wall hard enough to hear a crack. She crumpled to the floor, holding her hands out to protect herself. Rodin stalked towards her, and she painfully b
"She looks so peaceful. Like a magnolia in May." Frieda stared at Xenia's body. "It's strange she's still human?" Lacey leaned over Xenia's body, sniffing it before stepping back. "She doesn't smell like a werewolf to me. Maybe it didn't work." "Let me see." Frieda pushed Lacey out of the way and sniffed Xenia. She shook her head and did it again in different places. "Well, at least she smells good," Frieda purred while twirling a strand of Xenia's hair around her finger. "Has she always looked this pretty? Look at how her hair frames her face." "Get off of her, you horn dog," Lacey said, pushing Frieda away from Xenia. "Don't make me get the hose." Frieda pouted. "I can't help it. The moon is callin' to me." Frieda throws her hands in the air with a small twirl. "Can't you feel it callin', Lacey?" "No, so hang up." Lacey glared at Frieda before rubbing lotion on Xenia's skin. "Let's just hurry before he comes back." Alpha Mason finally allowed them into the room to cle
Lacey held the key out in front of her. "Celia found it underneath Xenia's pillow. She made a weird look and put it in her pocket when she thought no one was looking. I thought the whole thing was weird, so I stole it from her." Frieda looked aghast. "A key, Lacey? Really? Do you know how many doors this place has?" "I do," Lacey said defensively, putting the key back into her pocket, "but how many use actual keys? And besides, look at it." The jagged key had a carved-out seal on one end with a jewel in the middle. "Maybe it's a key to the dungeon's cells or something important. It looks all fancy." "Well, how are we gonna test it," Frieda asked. "Celia is the one that delivers the food down there. Come to think of it, I'm not sure I want to go down there. It's so…dark." "Just come on," Lacey said, pulling Frieda out of the room. "We should go now while everyone else is getting ready for tonight's bonfire. This is the last night of the Blue Moon." Not long after, they stood near
Jane's hands shook as she carefully skimmed to the chocolate bar's top. She ignored the sweat and clumps of wet flour caked on her face. She wanted to imitate how Xenia made the swirly chocolates for the banoffee pie. So far, in the last ten minutes, she has gone through two bars of chocolate and made four perfect toppings. "I have no idea how you can do this with such ease, Xenia." After ten more minutes, Jane gave up and decided to go with what she had. She had been slaving all day in the kitchen and between her other duties to make this, and she prayed it worked. "If there's one way to get back in your good graces, it will be with this pie," Jane muttered as she placed the last chocolate curl on top of the pie. "Done. This should be perfect." Jane stepped back to admire her work. She planned to put it up for when Xenia woke up, but no one knew when. The fact that she growled earlier indicated it might be any day now. "Hopefully, it's soon," she muttered. "I would hate for thi
Lacey panicked only a little before seeing it was Frieda, who didn't look so happy. Lacey took in a shaky breath, but Frieda placed a finger over her lips before she could speak. Frieda looked down at the basket, searching for something, and her eyes lit up when she found it. "What's taking so long?" the guard asked. His voice came out in short pants. "Oh, don't worry. I found exactly what you need." Frieda took the cast iron out of the basket and walked back around the corner. Lacey was stuck in her stupor for a moment before she started to freak out again. She heard the sound of the cast iron hitting flesh, and the guard's scream came immediately after. She's going to get us in trouble. Lacey thought before the guard's scream turned into a soft whimpering. What the hell? Against her better judgment, Lacey peeked around the corner and covered the gasp from her mouth with her hand. The guard was naked from the waist down in a missionary position with his ass in the air. Fr
"Wake Up!" The loud demand rang inside Xenia's head and sent a jolt to her heart. She felt flustered, confused, and oddly aroused at the same time. How could his voice do this? Her eyes shot open as she quickly sat up in bed. It took a minute before she realized where she was. Everything felt distanced, like the opposite of an out-of-body experience. She was looking at everything through someone else's eyes. "What the hell is going on?" Then something else hit her. A familiar scent. She followed the scent to the pillows and inhaled the faint perfumes her mother usually wears before realizing what she was doing. Then she heard a voice. It sounded far away, but she could feel her lips moving. Everything confused her now. A hand touched her head, and she turned, seeing no one beside her. It was her hand, but it felt like a stranger. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!?!" "I am trying to tell you, but you must relax, human. Your emotions are too strong." Again, it was her voice, bu
Nova could feel Xenia pushing through, which was good for her but not for the girl she was stalking towards. Nova could feel her claws elongating and another growl rumbling from her chest. She could hear the rapid beating of Jane's heart, which excited her. Xenia wanted Jane to be scared. Her primal side was itching to come out and make the kill. Before she got close, Jane held out the plate in her hands, and Nova stopped only for a moment to look at it. "I…I…made this for you," Jane squeaked. Nova grabbed the plate, completely taken off guard. Banoffee Pie. The memory of Xenia making this pie for them flashed in her mind. It was a rare occasion where Xenia was happy, if only for that moment. "I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry," Jane cried, falling to the floor. "Please forgive me, Luna." Xenia's anger pushed through enough for Nova to clutch the plate so tight it cracked in her hand. "You don't know what you did?" Nova said each word as if it hurt coming out of her mo
Xenia woke up alone. The brothers were nowhere to be seen, so she decided to get ready for another perfect day. She got dressed, fixing her appearance in the mirror. The moment she looked away, the reflection turned to Melania, who smiled before disappearing. Xenia stared at her reflection before leaving.“Good,” Xenia said to herself. “Today’s going to be perfect.”Downstairs the brothers were in the kitchen with Delilah. Micah was unusually focused, slicing and arranging with the precision of a man on a mission. Mason was just as focused, carefully packing fruits and cheeses, and crusty bread into woven baskets. Delilah flitted about the kitchen like a hummingbird, humming a lullaby Xenia swore she hadn’t heard since childhood.They walked to the sea, just the four of them. The cliffs were painted with wildflowers, the ocean stretched endlessly, calm and blue. Xenia leaned into the breeze and tried not to think too hard.But something was wrong.She felt it when she reached for the
Melania kept her magic flowing into Xenia, but she felt herself losing strength. Micah stood before them, his presence blazing with power.Melania didn’t flinch. “Keep him away,” she said to Mason. “She’s so close to accepting her new reality. If he interrupts now, she might have the strength to fight back. I need time.”“He won’t understand,” Mason said.“Then make him,” she snapped. “I know you can.”“I won’t say it again,” Micah said, interrupting their conversation. “Get out of my way Mason.”“I can’t let you,” Mason said, his voice shaking with fury. “You took her away from me once. I won’t let it happen again!”Mason snarled, aura flaring to full strength as he launched forward. Micah’s wolf, Roman, collided with Mason in mid-air, the impact sending a shockwave through the spirit realm. Mason crashed to the ground, rolling once before skidding to a stop.“Damn you, Roman,” he spat, rising. “Do you have to interfere. This is between brothers.” Roman stood between him and Mason,
Xenia stood frozen as Mason held her waist, his touch gentle. This was the kind of moment a girl might fantasize about–the reformed villain pledging himself at her feet. But something about it soured in her gut. The air shimmered, just slightly, like heat rising off pavement. Mason’s skin was warm, too warm, feverish. And his voice… it wasn’t Mason’s. Not really.“I’m nothing without you,” he whispered, face pressed to her abdomen. “You saved me, Xenia. Don’t you remember?”“Mason, I…” Her throat constricted. It was suddenly hard to speak. Hard to think. But she could hear her mother and Micah returning–footsteps, laughter, too far and too close all at once. The sounds blurred, like a warped vinyl record.“I believe you,” she said quickly, trying to get him up but he tightened his arms around her.“You know I can tell when you’re lying,” he said, eyes flicking up to hers. There was a flicker–just for a second–where his eyes changed, glitching like bad film. A blink later and they were
Blood and ash thickened the air as Alpha Micah and the group made their way through the packhouse and towards the ritual grounds. The howls of distant wolves still echoed, but for now, the area had settled into a tense, almost eerie silence. Laurie floated down from a treeline, black eyes turning back to her usual color, her expression grim. “More guards than we thought,” she whispered. “And that’s just the outer ring. Inside the ritual circle, we’ve the Three Sisters.”Micah’s jaw tightened. “The Three Sisters?”Laurie nodded. “They’re channeling the ritual. It’s working. Xenia’s… already changing.”“What do you mean changing?” Delilah asked, panic rising in her voice.Micah placed a firm but comforting hand on Delilah’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Miss Delilah. It’s not over yet.” Then, turning back to Laurie, he asked, “Can we get past them?”Laurie nodded. “They’re powerful, but we can get rid of them if we destroy the effigy tethering them here.”A chilling scream cut through the ni
In the cozy kitchen of her family home, Xenia found herself caught in a comical, slightly awkward situation as she sat down to breakfast. Her mother sat across from her with her chin resting on her clasped fingers. Delilah’s eyes darted between the two brothers she forced Xenia to sit between.“So,” Delilah began, her eyes twinkling with mischief as she sipped her tea. “Since I didn’t get the chance to properly introduce myself to you both because of the… incident in Ornyville…”“We are so sorry about that, Miss Bakken,” Micah interjected. Xenia turned to look at him and he regarded her with a smile before taking her hand and turning back to Delilah. “It’s just been a while since we had a mate and the bond was stronger than we anticipated.”“I don’t know what the big fuss was,” Mason added. Xenia turned to look at him. Her heart started to race as her hand curled into fists.What is this feeling towards him?“We did replace the bar table and compensated the owner,” Mason continued. “T
Serif laid down on the sand, exhausted. They’ve been digging themselves from the little sand hole the others stuff them into to avoid detection. Dottie and Molly ran to his side to help him sit up. He swatted them away.“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he said with irritation. “I’m just a bit tired, hungry, and my ass is full of sand. How much longer do we have to stay here?”Dottie looked over the empty waves, shaking her head. “Laurie said to wait here for reinforcements.”“She didn’t say how long they will be,” Molly added. “But this was the safer option.”Serik looked toward the tunnel the others left through the other day, wondering if they were better off going with them. Then he thought about the fighting and unnecessary bloodshed and decided he chose the right path. Still, the shade of the moon in the sky gave him an eerie feeling.“There!” Dottie pointed to a ship that appeared on the horizon. Dottie and Molly exclaimed, jumping up and waving their hands in the air. Serif groaned, bare
As the morning sun filtered through the curtains, casting a soft glow over the room, Xenia slowly opened her eyes to find herself lying in her room. She quickly sat up in bed, looking around. Was she dreaming? She had to be. That was the only explanation. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror. She was the same as she was before. She pinched herself thinking she was dreaming but she felt pain.What the hell?She absentmindedly touched her face, arms, and hair. Unable to believe where she was. She tried remembering where she was before. Melania. The fight. Nova. She had to get back and…“Xeni?”Xenia’s inner thoughts stopped and she froze. She looked towards the doorway, willing herself to move but her body was shaking with emotions.“Mother?”As if on cue, Delilah appeared in the doorway with a smile on her face. “There you are? What is taking you so long? Put on some clothes and come to breakfast.”Delilah turned to leave but Xenia grabbed her and pulled h
Delilah caught Jane before she fell to the floor. Jane gazed over Rick’s lifeless body, her body trembling of what had just happened before. before letting out a heavy sigh.“I knew this was going to hurt, but damn,” Jane laughed. “You would think I would be used to pain.”“Jane, what’s going on?” Delilah asked.“Later,”Jane said with one last look at Rick before shaking her head. “We have to get to the others.”“Agreed,” Archie said, gripping the hilt of his sword. “No delays. Where are the others?”Jane pointed in the direction of the dungeon cells. “Cells are down that way, but we’re not the only ones down here.”On cue, a loud crash could be heard through the tunnels. The group raced forward, coming to a scene of pure chaos. Lacey, Friend, and Danny were in the middle of an all-out brawl against several guards. Lacey was throwing punches like a rabid beast, while Frieda and Danny–both laughing wildly–used each other to break through. Danny swung Frieda around like a rag doll while
The saturated color of the surrounding trees and landscape looked all too familiar when Xenia woke up in the spirit realm. Yet, something felt off. The hues were darker and the shadow loomed over the entire space. Mist swirled around her ankles, and the air carried an otherworldly hum that seemed to resonate in her chest. For a brief moment, the feeling frightened her.“You are finally awake,” a voice called out.Xenia turned to see Nova, moving towards her. Nova’s white fur shimmered like freshly fallen snow under the moonlight and darkness.“Nova,” Xenia breathed, relief washing over her. “I forgot how this felt. Though, it looks different.”“Dark forces are involved here, Xenia,” Nova said, lowering her head slightly, her ears twitching in agitation. “Melania’s presence is growing stronger.”Xenia’s stomach tightened. The name alone sent a chill through her body. Her hands curled into fists, looking around the area for a sign. “Where is she?”“Close,” Nova growled. “Be on guard.”“