IssacI listened long into the night not disappointed at the sounds coming from the next room. Those three had something the rest of us could only dream of. I heard Mouse leave the room. I couldn’t imagine walking away from something like that. As I roused myself I knew my chair was more than a transformation device. It ws a cocoon making a caterpillar into a fucking butterfly. I was invested in not just the transformation but the story behind all the things I didn’t know. The scars on her back were just one layer to the tale I didn’t know needed telling before.I came out of my room to find Mouse and my sister cuddled on the couch, with cups of coffee in their hands. Whatever this task was I would be all in. The men came soon after and Bri stole the kitchen making bacon and eggs after asking Zoe if it was alright. Beau and Wyatt peaked into cabinets and started pulling out plates and things as she needed them, lining a tray with paper towels and washing things as she went. They simpl
BriWe slipped into Issac’s art room, and Wyatt set the box on the table and stepped back. I was only in Wyatt’s shirt and nothing else. I let it fall to the floor. They were both looking at me like I lost my mind, getting naked in front of Celeste. Glittering lengths of gossamer fabric emerged from the box. “Come help me,” Celeste ordered and my men obliged her. She had them each gingerly take the meager bodice of the dress, as Celeste eased the rest out of the box.My jaw dropped. The base of the dress was sheer pewter-colored gossamer, but the details sewed into the fabric were more than a statement. Celeste carefully gathered it up and gilded my men to me. I ducked and emerged in it looking into the same mirror a day ago, when Isacc had set my affirmation. I’d get through this. I didn’t know how, but as buttons and pins began to be positioned I looked up into that mirror. The form-fitting mermaid cut dipped into a low V below my navel, the barely there fabric came around my neck
WyattIssac took one look at her in that dress and whistled.“Fucks sake Mouse you are going to slay tonight.”He had no idea how true those words were. Bri paid Issac no never mind, she just stared at us tailored into our suits, a sexy smirk on her lips. Celeste’s apprentice Finnly ducked back into the shop with 3 small boxes. She had sent him to fetch them an hour ago but New Orleans was a swamp of people right now. The seamstress opened the smaller boxes and approached Beau and me. She handed one to Bri who looked down at the contents and smiled sadly. She pulled out the boutonniere approaching Wyatt, his hands sliding to her hips and pulling her into him. She reached up and gently pinned it in place at his lapel.“You clean up good Alpha,” she said, smirking up at him. She blinked tears back and he bent to seal his mouth over hers. He was gentle as their tongues caressed cherishingly. It was a loving kiss. Not the devouring ones he usually gave her and the room was still. Everyon
Prologue BriMy fingers brushed the smooth stone of the mausoleum. The tips traced the words of the machine-hewn inscription. Sabastian Piere La’ Blanc, Dutiful Husband, Leader, and Humanitarian. The symbol of the coven etched beneath it. A coven raised within New Orleans meshing the world of cajun hereditary witches with the deep roots of voodoo practitioners. My fingers traced the dates from his birth to the day life ended in 1994, ten achingly long years ago. He deserved to have a craftsman etching his stone crypt, not some effortless, heartless machine, chiseling out empty words void of empathy. The pads of my fingers caressed each chip in the stone,I felt he deserved. There was nothing in the inscription, to note the little girl he left behind after his death. The only soul who still visited his grave every weekend, placing flowers in the vases at the door. The only one who still mourned his insurmountable loss. There is nothing here
BriThose memories haunted my mind from the tender age of ten when my life had turned into a real-life nightmare. My mother was a whirlwind who only existed in my world if she expected something from me or had some unknown tick that I set off without even trying. I was often ducking as she heaved whatever was closest to her at my head using her tiny little gift of wind manipulation. Her real gift lay in whatever magic she had used on my father. Anytime she thought I stepped out of line, there was a special kind of torture waiting for me. She tried to coerce my abilities to the surface. Goading me to reveal all of what I was, yet I held it all back and in the safe place within me where no one could see. Holding onto my father’s warning I would lay in wait, for the moment I could get away. Her recruits into my father’s once harmonious coven were shady at best, seedy was more like it, giving me voyeur vibes and prickling my skin with unease. I constantly pushed the extent of my power’s
BriA few weeks laterI was in countdown mode as I walked through the halls towards my literature class. I was playing through the motions of starting the fall semester like any other student. I didn’t need the credits, all of my transcripts, important bank documents, a few of my father’s prized heirlooms I had managed to snatch out from under my mother’s nose, and estate files were in a safety deposit box under a fake name. To be protected. My brain was too preoccupied with timing and checking off lists to see Andrew swoop in front of me and pin me to the wall around the corner. Trent was with him acting like it was normal for his boyfriend to pin random girls to the wall while staring at a billboard pretending to read it. We were directly under a camera. Zoe and I had mapped this place out and I knew all the angles of escape from their overseeing eyes. This was purposeful.Andrew didn’t want the binding, he and Trent were a known item. Trent didn’t know the extent of anything just th
BriA few hours later I ducked into the backroom of the coffee shop where I worked. I didn’t need to work there, I had enough deposited into accounts to keep myself stable for years, but my mother and the group couldn’t say no as things had to appear normal. To be honest it was the most normal thing in my existence. The feel and vibe of the place kept my magic subdued and the pot was an added perk. It was for my sanity. Maggie, my boss, sat in a chic fringe chair, with her legs propped up on her messy desk, pulling a joint from her lips she smiled holding in the smoke, and held it out in offering. I walked across the room and took it gratefully. One inhale and it felt like melding closer to earth which I craved. Passing it back I held in the smoke until my lungs burned, letting it out a haggard cough escaped me that nearly choked me. “What's with you today?” She eyed me. I had taken that hit rather aggressively I supposed. I perched on her desk. I still kept my eyes cast down but I shr
Bri“Hey, Mags?” I said with a heavy heart, as I wiped down a table after closing. She scowled at my tone, holding a finger up. She disappeared into the office coming back with a pipe. I sighed. Was I going to risk going home high? I was never sure who may be there or when someone would show up at the house, my family home, I had to maintain absolute control, but tonight I wouldn’t care. I plopped my ass in a chair and motioned for her to sit. She handed me the lighter and bowl, which I took from her. “You know how I've told you we are the same but different?” I said in a whisper of a tone, placing my finger over my lips and pointing to my ear, looking around in hopes she understood I meant to be vague. “I'm aware at this point Bri,” Maggie admitted. I sighed taking a hit. I exhaled and looked at her, the magic languidly rose within me, resting at the surface, which I chose to allow her to see. She deserved for me to be honest. Her eyes widened but she simply nodded before letting out