Book 2Chapter 15 months later- JulyBriThe Louisiana sun shone too brightly as I opened my eyes. I could feel the hardness of the docks beneath the blanket under my back, a copy of Watership down in my hands, my head resting comfortably on what felt like Wyatt’s thick thigh as Beau's hand idly ran up and down my leg. I knew the feel of my men, the safety and security of their presence. I hummed contentedly. The cicadas were droning in the background and a Barred Owl called. I could hear the boys roughhousing far off. I set the book aside my hands trailing over my enormous stomach and I smiled, beaming with the tranquility of it all. I felt a kick against my palm and then another.Snatching up their hands I pulled them to the swell of my stomach two familiar sets of adoring eyes on handsome rugged faces met mine. “Ya know,” Wyatt said, his hand grazing my jaw as he tilted it in his direction, “I thought you were beautiful before, now all of this world’s beauty doesn’t compare to yo
Chapter 2ZoeyI’ll never forget pulling back up the drive to witness the window of Bri’s room as it exploded outwards, nor the sound of her heart-wrenching screams as it happened. I don’t even remember throwing the car in park as I bounded up the front steps and pushed my way through the front door. Andrew and Trent were pleading with her as they attempted to break down the door.“Bri!” I shouted flattening my palms against the wall, the Ioa were suddenly there. Two spirits placed their hands on my shoulders and I found my spirit pushed out of my body and into the ruins of Bri’s room.She’d gone silent curled in a fetal position on her side, eyes numbly staring off. I let my spirit curl around hers and I held her and whispered into her ear. “You are loved, you are not alone, don’t let this loss be for nothing ma ami, do as you promised then you can find a way out.” only to Bri that idea was unfathomable. She’d staggered to her feet eventually and much like this morning disappeared i
Chapter 3BriThe cold water bit at my flushed skin and the motion of the soap bar gliding over my flesh was robotic as I steeled myself for another day, another game to play with the North American Witches at my court. The first days of my rule had been ruled as a tyrant, in my grief I lost the image of my father’s dream. After a week we had located Beckham’s sister and I walked into that room with a flame of rage.When I saw her, the prone figure was seemingly lifeless on the bed. Machines and talismans and etchings of magic surrounded her thin form. She was young, like me her light brown skin suggested she wasn’t Beckham’s full-blooded sister. Her caretaker a Creole witch, had taken good care of her. Her hair was braided carefully and laid attentively over her shoulder. Studying the inscriptions on the floor I gingerly approached her and it was then my rage shifted down to a simmering boil. The heart monitor blipped in steady time until my foot hit the sigil. It spiked suddenly and
Chapter 4ZoeyBri walked out of the bathroom in a towel, no steam permeated from the room. I sighed it was another habit of hers that irked me, another seemingly insignificant way for her to keep them alive in her heart. I had learned a lot from those books and from Trent's description of the feel of that bond's presence but I couldn’t break it to her. The Ioa held me back it wasn’t just them though I didn’t want to tell her she didn’t have choices anymore.“Who is on today’s calendar?” She asked before downing a glass of room-temperature water and her morning dose of Advil. She was losing weight again. I shook my head pulling out the tablet before me “Priest Osbourne of the west district is on your breakfast agenda,” Brianna rolled her eyes. The idea of pretending to entertain nuptial proposals made her blood boil. She always put them for breakfast and had them turned down by lunch always using the rage she suppressed for the more sinister parts of her job after lunch and before d
Chapter 5BriI hated entertaining these imbeciles and this one had the audacity to bring his little fuck toy with him. Blatant disrespect. The thing was that these meetings helped me ferret out the good from the bad and while Osbourne wasn’t the type of bad I was worried about I could blackmail and alienate him with the knowledge that transpired here. He at least considered the human witches in his dominion rather than look down at them as many did. He just needed a lesson.“Priestess Le’Blanc, I am honored to be in your presence this morning and I hope we can come to an agreement that unites us as allies through matrimonial bonds.” He said with a bow.“A tall order so early in the day,” I said eyeing the woman who shrunk back a little behind Osboune’s shoulder. “And who is this?”“This is my assistant Miss Schmidt,” He announced.“And what exactly does Miss Schmidt do for you, Mr Osbourne,”“That’s Priest Osbourne,” the woman retorted. I didn’t give her a glance as I said.“No one i
Chapter 6WyattThe days turned into weeks and weeks into months. I walked through our life like a phantom not really living. I missed her. As I stared up at the moon nearly full, it was the one thing that I had that embodied her. Sitting on the porch Boo whined as she placed her head in my lap. The dog always seemed to know who needed her. She kept a constant rotation of sleeping in ours or the boys’ beds. I picked up the bottle of whiskey and took a swig trying to numb the constant ache in my chest. The stars seemed to wink at me overhead and all I could see is her face winking back at some banter she had stirred up.She had left us better off but every time I fed the chickens or ate from the food of her labors I found myself surrounded in her memory. Each day that I had once gladly woke to her beautiful face or the scent of her cooking was now replaced with the struggle to put one foot in front of the other. The boys solemnly managed to hike up their backpacks and head off to schoo
BeauI’d taken up the fighting the day she sent us away. I was angry and stupid, and I was still being stupid months later. Wyatt was right I’d let myself be delusional to think in the end she’d choose us. I hadn’t realized how strong that hope was until she barred us from ever seeking her out. I couldn’t stand being home, surrounded by everything that reminded me of her, so I stayed out late whenever Wyatt was home and when he wasn’t I was an ornery cuss of a person to be around. The boys started avoiding me and I didn’t blame them. Bri was the only one who saw into me, past the cocky beta shit I portrayed to everyone else. She never fell for it and I suppose that's what made me open my heart to her. She genuinely loved me as I did her and since saying goodbye I still felt tied to her, eternally linked and I didn’t know why. I should be a pro at severing ties at this point.Boo leaped up on the bed and laid her head on my chest I stroked the dog and she licked my face as the waxing m
9 months laterBri`Calloused hands slid across my skin, I was impossibly full of them, their love. Open-mouth kisses and unshaven stubble grazed my skin as their energies played a symphony with mine. Waves of ecstasy rose and crashed and rose again. Tongues danced in time as we writhed together in the open air under the bright full moon. Heat burned and sweat beaded everywhere our bodies met and bliss devoured me as the wholeness of it all overtook me, overtook us. My light reached with its hungry tendrils and there was no worry in my mind. They were mine and I was theirs and we were us.Starlight twinkled as my hair was pulled back harshly, lovingly, passionately. Wyatt's lips trailed down my throat as Beau’s tongue invaded my panting mouth. Sensations rippled through my being, the light leaching out of me as theirs sought out mine. My darkness cocooned it coaxing. Releasing that light felt like a harmony in the depths of my soul, it had been shackled, caged, and held prone for far t
Wyatt“This is risky,” I said. I could feel Beau as he glanced around at the people who passed by taking in everything they were giving off. Bri however was a different animal. She didn’t give one fuck what anyone thought. I knew the look of the haze coming over her. Fuck this is why I didn’t want her out in the open. She rubbed her ass into Beau, her head falling back into his shoulder. Shit. Beau’s eyes met mine and I motioned him to the sparse woods to the side of the grocery. Whatever we did would have to be covert and quick. I felt eyes on us and cursed as we gilded her away from prying eyes but one set was sure to watch every detail. Kay, she hadn’t made an advance on Beau since Bri intercepted her. She’d been different since Bri made her humble. She was stalking us now and when Beau made to stop I pushed him further into the trees with her. Bri needed release and I sent them back without me and turned to face Kay.“What are you doing?” I asked her. She couldn’t find words.“Wh
BriI was dozing comfortably, surrounded by our mingling scents when some sort of awareness woke in my mind. I sat up stretching my senses out and found someone foreign passing the territory lines. The wolf and I growled as one in my mind. I began searching for some sort of clothing. Boy shorts it was and one of the guys button-downs that I had taken to New Orleans with me. I didn’t even bother to button it. Thank Goddess for Zoey bringing a bag with her the last time or I’d have nothing to wear not that I minded being naked. But for the boys' sake and whomever was showing up on our doorstep I wasn’t giving them a free show.“Bri, someone is coming,” Wyatt’s voice echoed in my mind. The sound of a boat approaching the dock had my full attention.“They’re already here,” I growled in return.“Shit.”“Maybe it’s Mabel?” I offered..“I don’t think so. Stay inside.” His voice was strained and distraught. A knock came at the door and I stood stock still in the hallway outside Beau’s bedroom
BeauWe took turns ‘entertaining’ Bri. Right now I was pumping into her hot and heavy from behind. She’d finally gotten control of her claws but I had her hands in my grip behind her back with one hand just in case they decided to appear. The position was intriguing forcing her chest into the bed. Her glorious ass high in the air. She’d been insatiable and we willingly and happily kept her fulfilled so she wouldn’t fall back into the fever. She was acting strange though, she looked at us every once and a while like she was studying something new. She said everything looked different sometimes. She’d been fun in bed before but now once in a while the wildness overtook her and our mate was that much more enticing. We’d ended up here after she snatched the book I was reading forcing me to chase her around the house with her newfound speed. She was graceful and agile before. Now her strength grew each day. She was a moaning whimpering mess before me now and was all the more beautiful fo
BastianThere’s nothing like being an errand boy on your first day on the job. Conner scowled at the letter pulling at his chin hairs.“She’s really sick? Or does she just want your cousins to herself?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.“To be honest she gave us a scare, and she's been bedridden for days.” it wasn’t a lie per se but the real explanation I didn’t have. All I knew was the house stunk of sex and she had most definitely given Wyatt and Beau the scare of their lives. They said she was changing, but they weren’t sure exactly how. She’d already become a wolf, what other changes could there be? Witchy stuff I presumed. Something along the lines of what happened to her after breaking the curse or how she floated into our territory unconscious and completely changed our lives for the better. So I’d overlook her— ‘faults.’“I suppose it’s none of my business, just do me a favor and stay away from the troublemakers or she will have my head. I didn’t know what kind of trouble he
BriFire and ice, Ice and fire. I needed more, more of them. Their skin to mine, our hearts, and souls connected. Together. Our love overpouring in a requiem of emotion and carnal sensations. I yearned for the feel of them, our energy— a melody to our souls. The older woman had come. She had entered my mind creating a pocket of calm that drew me in.“I see you have finally seen sense Mother Moon, but your stubbornness comes with a price — I’m sure they are more than willing to pay it. Welcome to being fully ascended,” the old woman said. “A price?”“The haze is what your people call it. Can’t you feel it?” she asked. I didnt know what she meant. I tried to assess myself through the turmoil in my veins, beyond the blood that seemed to boil along with the swamp in my mindscapes that churned and steamed. My icy darkness weaved around it all as threads of myself knitted together slowly around new facets of my being. Beneath it all was an endless throb deep in my core. My need for them s
BeauMy bond with Bri was strong before the full moon and when she shifted with us something more snapped into place when I found my bearings her white tail was disappearing into the underbrush. Wyatt lunged for her and my wolf was only held back by Bri’s command, my Luna, an Alpha Female, something so rare. I snarled but obeyed, assured that her instinct , knew she was safe with Wyatt. When they returned and I beheld the beauty of her animal a pure white wolf whose coat reflected the moonlight filtering down from the canopy of cypress trees laden in spanish moss. She was a legend, a myth walking among us and my heart swelled with pride. Communing together under the moon and stars our song lifted into the night. The vibrations of the pack were strong and the harmony poured through our links together where it began to heal something deeper within us all. We were together as we should be, as we were always meant to be.I don’t remember dreaming. The only thing that woke me was a searing
WyattI had watched her from the shadows looking up at the stars, she had accepted what she became and let the wolf in her run wild and hard. I chased her for hours until we found ourselves on the territory edge where the clean water of the ocean filtered in. She was the most beautiful creature in any form she wore. She was so strong in every single one, but in this one she was free, noone would know her as The Priestess, the malevolent force that made hard choices and harvested souls for the depths they would soon belong to. She was my mate and as she bathed in the ethereal glow of the moon as if she belonged within it. I knew she needed my soul as much as my soul needed hers. We belonged together through eons. The Beast allowed me there with them as he gently consecrated the right and I was thankful that he loved her just as much as I did. He was as gentle as a beast like him could be, and I felt the full twine of our souls because deep down I realized The Beast was me. I had fors
BriThe anticipation had been flooding my veins all day but as the moon began to rise my body became one with it. Its light brewed within me ready to release. The instant it did, the pain relented within an instant and my hands became paws hit the earth, my new instincts surged and I just ran, knowing he would be a heart's breath behind me. I scented everything in existence. The swamp, the creatures within it, the primordial scent of the soil washed within its depth eons ago. I took it all in as I sprinted toward the smell of the sea. Bounding across sandbars and swimming through shallow channels as small gators and snakes pushed away from me. I felt him moving towards me. My paws sunk into silty earth the wolf as defiant as I was to be caught too easily as we pushed harder. The strength in my limbs complied and I forged ahead, to where I wasn’t sure. I released that train of thought letting the wolf take over. It was exhilarating and freeing to be truely at one with the wildness I ha
WyattI didn’t know what had actually caused the mounting pit of anxiety that countered my excitement to finally fully bond with my mate despite my previous hang-ups. Until she made me speak it, all the rest I could rationalize but even The Beast was weary of the dream. We knew sinister things lay beneath those dark waters, the unending depths of them unknown. Only we could navigate them int he beast’s form. Something about Bri seemed so close to the power that pulsed in the secluded pocket of Bayou where no human man had ever tread. It repelled them but attracted the likes of dark practitioners and troublesome entities that remained on this plane. Those who sensed power and would strive to use it or to foolishly set it free. That I could never allow to happen. I was it’s lone Warden.I dreamed of a green-eyed wolf her features blurred, yet I knew her, my mate. When we woke in the afternoon I gave Bri a languid kiss, her canines were slightly longer, and sharper, and I relished seeing