As the darkness settles and the sounds die down, shifters finally start showing up in the little clearing down in front of me. Besides the mountain I’ve hidden myself on, the clearing is surrendered by dense forest. I’m high enough up to get an excellent overview but still close enough to have a clear line of sight. That porcupine, Gerald, won’t be able to hide from me. I’ve never been to one of these gatherings before, but what surprised me the most was the number of different shifters and supernatural creatures that showed up. Porcupine, a couple of goblins, bird shifters, a lizard, a cat, and even a mountain lion. I’ve never even seen a mountain lion shifter before this! They just seemed to hang around, chatting and catching up. It took me longer than I liked to admit to noticing; there were only male shifters here tonight. What kind of gathering was this anyway? A secret «male power-meeting» or some other testosterone meeting of some sort? Who had the biggest meatloaf competition
Jumping down the rigged mountain hill, I tried my best to stay undetected without wasting time. Sliding in mud, dodging some pointy rocks and I was down in a blink of an eye! Easy peasy!I ran through the forest, around the clearing. Branches whipped my face and scratched my arms, my heart started beating faster, and my breathing became heavier. The rage rushing through my body snowballed into panic as his scent hit me like an avalanche. At that moment, I hear one of the girls start to scream. The screams and cries occupied more and more of my consciousness. Images started flashing in my head.Snake eyes.Rogue claws.A bone-chilling grin with sharp fangs. Blood. Knife. My clothes were torn to shreds around me. Two terrible events mixed together and created unbalance. Suddenly I was running full speed ahead, not caring if I was seen. Not caring if I was heard. A young girl’s scream mixed with my own, driving me deeper into my repressed memories. Jumping over lodges and rocks and slid
I saw the dirt suddenly come so much closer, but I didn’t feel whole. I lost all connection to my body, lying flat with my arms helplessly stretched out. My eyesight dimmed down, blurred things out, and slowly, everything darkened. The last thing I saw was a young girl; her blue eyes were red and puffy, but she still came closer.There was nothing left in my body now, everything was seeping out, and I could no longer focus, no longer hold my eyes open.As I closed my eyes and felt like I began to sink down into the earth, I used my last breath on two words. A hoarse whisper, with a voice threatening to break: “ I’m sorry…”I knew I didn’t die; I still felt like me, if that makes any sense. I was just wrapped in thick and fluffy clouds. Knowing my own luck, it was probably a pink fucking cloud too! Muffling out all sounds, it was incredibly relaxing, and I felt no fear whatsoever. I just existed here, in this strange place of pink nothing. After what seemed like a too-short eternity,
I grabbed the bottle; my body ached for water, and after a couple of greedy sips, it was empty.Finishing a second bottle, I looked over at the girl beside me.“No, not without a reason, at least. Where am I ? ““You don’t remember me, do you? Do you remember the incident in the forest, then? ““Vaguely,” I admitted.“You are in The Dark Moon pack; this room is in our pack house. Well, let me refresh your memory; you saved my two younger sisters.”“Younger sisters? Hm, is that why your face seems so familiar” the last part I muttered to myself, but she heard it anyway.“I guess the oldest one is quite similar to me. But then I guess you really got to see up close a couple of days ago when you suddenly decided to jump out of a coma and strangle me too.” I’m not sure if it was a huff or a really dry chuckle she let out, but I got the picture.“Well, sorry about that.” Nothing more, nothing less, I saw no need to explain anything, and after a short, quiet break, she just nodded.“But,
Packs were mostly for wolfs and some cat shifters; bears often lived in smaller family groups but never have oi heard of a mixed pack like this, and it piqued my interest.“All these families, kids, grownups, whatever are people with nowhere else to go. The ones left after a war, territory takeovers, hybrids, kids left after parents considered traitors, and so on. The list is long. The point is that they were all left alone out in the cold with nowhere to go. This may be an unusual pack, but we have actually lived here for nearly ten years now. And for about ten years, we lived safe, in peace.”“So what happened?”“We were noticed.”For the first time since we came out, he looked over at me and gave me a sad smile before looking back out on the water. Sparkling under the sun.“Okay, not everybody like changes, I get that, but that would not necessarily put you in danger, would it? ““No, of course not, but the pack that noticed us was a werewolf pack. A pack that decided that they wan
Time stood still.Not that he was bad looking actually, he was incredibly attractive! He had dirty blond hair and looked like he ruffled his hand through a couple of times too much. Sweaty, sun-warmed skin that seemed a little dirty at first glance. His beard was light brown, and from the looks of it, he let it grow freely for weeks.. A sharp jawline, nose, and dark brows framed his godly blue eyes. It seemed like they were shining, like magic, mana shifting between deep blue and bright blue. I swear the color in them swirled around each other like water trying to blend, and I had to snap out of it to stop staring.However, no matter how he looked, how tempting that beasty sound was, it changed nothing. I don’t have a mate!“No.”Silence covered the room like a thick blanket before he lifted his nose in the air and took some deep breaths. A low rumble spread from his body to the floor and disappeared to the walls, and took a step closer.I raised my chin and held my ground.His eyes s
He beamed, a dazzling smile plastered all over his face.“You got to be fucking with me!” I slammed two bags on the table.“And Hondorus really thought that was a brilliant idea? “ Even I felt the venom in my voice as I practically threw the words at him, but nothing seemed to put a damper on this guy´s mood.“ Not yet, but I will, later! “ He winked at me, and it took me a couple of seconds to get it.“In your dreams. let’s just get this over with! Just your eyes on me make me want to scrub myself in a boiling hot shower!”“Yes, in my dreams too! You see, we are a pretty good match! And ill scrub..”Not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence, I threw one of the empty bags at him and walked straight out, just grabbing my jacket as I passed by.The glue guy is named Marcus, and he must be the biggest flirt since Casanova himself. I don’t think he even looked in my direction ones without blinking, and to be honest, it is difficult not to laugh at him. His persistence, that’s for su
Nobody really acknowledged my presence when I arrived; I’m guessing Diva Girl already spread the `she’s a homewrecker` rumors around. So nobody greets me, some look over in my direction, and most of them ignore me, all except one girl. Tall, blond, blue-eyed, and drop-dead gorgeous!She is the spitting image of the girls I wanted to be in my previous life and the exact same girls I avoided in this life, but she seemed somehow different. I can’t really put my finger on it. But I already know I like this girl! She walked straight up to me, shacked my hand, and introduced herself as Jenny. Up close, I could clearly see two significant scars on her neck and upper shoulder. There’s nothing wrong with that, but as a shifter, the fault isn’t that common, and she’s a werewolf by her smell. Werewolves rarely get scars.“We are nearly everyone here, but as you see, no one is here to train today. Just to get a look at you.” She smiled apologetically at me before she continued.“let’s say half
“Want to try it again? Maybe you just need some help from a friend?” I scoffed, ignoring the blood that trickled down over my face and how my hair stuck to my face and neck. I knew I looked like shit, that I was covered in minor cuts and bruises. Still, I stood tall, smiling, looking over at that pathetic little man hunched over a couple of meters away from me. Because, If I look like shit, he seems half-dead already. He lost the strategy games, not only the first time but the second, third, and fourth times. He was loud and obnoxious and a soar looser on top of it all. Then he followed up with poor planning, reading the map wrong, then drawing up the lines on the map wrong after he was corrected about the map direction and size scales. He was a hot-headed brute, most likely used to scare people into doing what he wanted, yell at people, stop arguing, and just rely on pure muscle mass. He might do well in a drunken fistfight, but he had nothing on me, and the crowd had begun to see
“It is okay; I’ve known this as long as I can remember.”She smiled,“Not even Clark or Sofia could help me if they wanted to. I know creatures like me die on their first shift. That is out of our hands, out of yours too. I do not have a wolf, at least not a wolf the moon goddess would approve of, so she would not let it have life on Earth. So, when my first shift is bound to happen, I will die with the beast assigned to me, which is deemed too dangerous and destructive for this world. I am okay with this, Mal; I find it peaceful. This way, I will never be a danger to all creatures; I accept that this is the only way the moon goddess can protect her innocent children,”I placed my hand over her mouth before she could continue,“No, Ophelia. Just no. This is all lies! I understand you believe them, as you grew up having to, but please believe me when I say this is false! This is not the way the moon goddess work, far from it! “I did my best to block all incoming mind links, feeling Op
Everything went by so easy and smooth, to the point it actually made me nervous and tense. I waited for someone to try stop us, attack us, anything really. But it didn’t happen. I got dressed and gave Ophelia the simple, child version of the nights event. Mostly to try make her feel safe again, and it worked. It made me feel bad, I never realized how tense and on guard she had been all this time, and I didn’t even notice before all of it left her in a deep breath. Her shoulders fell, her back relaxed and smiled, stating she was happy that old mean woman would never come near us again.Ophelia stood right next to me when we entered the stage again, and to my surprise everyone seemed to have showed up here. There might be a few missing, but not so it was visible on the size of the crowd. There was of course no sparkling joy and clear happiness, but u never expected it to be. I just killed their alpha, right in front of them and claimed his rank. They didn’t know me, for all they knew I
Everything happened within seconds.My dress shattered and was tossed around on the stage. The so-called King literally jumped me, claws and canines flashing in the dancing light from the flames. But also, Myra bounced back; apparent, she’s been watching it all.I didn’t even get to reach them, but she did, and the growl that rumbled in my chest was her. Power and anger surged through me as her presence filled me and pushed me forward. We didn’t shift form, but she filled mine to the point that it felt like my skin would rip and tear at any moment. His canine scraped my collarbone, and his claws sank deeper into my hips. Blood trickled down my legs and over my chest. Seeing through Myra´s raging eyes, I realized we didn’t switch this time; she didn’t force me back and deny me control.Myra grabbed a fist of his hair and yanked his head back with such force that I thought she broke his neck at first. But I didn’t take time to care, didn’t take time to enjoy the sight of him forced to
“Myra?” I called for her again; it had to be the hundredth time, at least. Each time I could feel her stir far in the back of my head, but still no answer. She was there, but something kept us from each other, blocking our connection. I’m not scared; I’m angry and frustrated. Not a chance in hell that spoiled brat touch me, and I’m sure as hell won’t let him mark me! I’ve had my time with a Mate; I’m not doing it again! To be so blind and naïve just because of an invisible attraction and a bite. I glared at the blue dress sparkling up the dimmed room with its mere presence hanging over the chair. It didn’t sparkle, not really, but in my eyes, it was like the light at the end of a tunnel. Only you knew this light did not represent freedom or escape; it was everything but that. I never fancied dresses, at least not in this life, but I can still remember the time I did. This was supposed to be my mateing ceremony dress, a dress for a royal Luna. Had my old Luna or mother seen this, th
My fingers ached my neck, shoulders, and wrists.That old hag had a loose grip on her cane, and I gritted my teeth as the thin wooden whip smacked over my neck again.“No! Back straight, shoulders leveled but relaxed. Never hunch forward, and make sure to hold your head up high but your gaze low!”She scolded, and I’ve yet to figure out how all this is possible at the same time! Head high and gaze low, I mocked in my head. I would look like an idiot looking down my nose! Not that I haven’t tried that.“Graceful, flowing! Move like a perfect lady and carry yourself with a calm and submissive attitude. A woman that knows her worth and rank knows how to present herself and her mate. “My skin burned just seconds after the swishing sound of her cane moved through the air. I swear to the goddess, if Ophelia wasn't here watching, looking worried and pained already, I would have snapped that cane in two and showed them so far up this dry witch´s ass that they peeked out her nose! “Goddess,
I had refused to let them take Ophelia, even if the old ladies swore, they would just take those dreaded clothes off and put her to bed. I could do that; just show me where. Apparently, it wasn’t that easy, and I’ve made more than one enemy in these early morning hours."Sit!"I slumped down in the little wooden chair, strangely placed in the middle of the room. But it is okay; Ophelia is sound asleep in the little room just behind me, and I’m not going anywhere while she is.With an arched brow and probably the most bored face I could muster, I watched as the red haired brute stepped aside. Walking in the door, he loosened his cape and flung it at the redhead without even glancing in his direction. He grabbed a chair and dragged it over the floor, and placed it right over me before he sat down. Without a trace of shame, I looked him over, slowly from head to toe. Rolling up his sleeves revealed several scars and tattoos. Well-trained and muscled, I’ll give him that. His chin was shav
" I do not have to listen to this!"Sofia's voice was a pitch too high, interrupting his harsh words and outright scolding session.Lifting her chin up, her lips pressed together to a tight line. It was apparent she felt she outranked this man but also feared him. Sofia had eventually given up batting her eyelashes, holding around herself while not so subtly pressing her breasts up. She even added the quivering pouty lip and that half-shy tilt with her head looking down to the side.It amused me to see all her attempts failed, and now her cheeks were flustered, and all the charm she tried was put away. Irritated and embarrassed, I bet she would have run away long ago I he had just turned his back on her for a second." I did my part! I even went above and beyond and did a fucking good job! "A dry "Hah!" was enough to set off her hurt ego and activate the entitled princess rant,"Hah? She is clean; believe me, every single part of that bitch is scrubbed soar! And look at her! Fucking
“What? Cat got your tongue now?”Sofa pressed her cheek against mine and chuckled.But I didn’t care; guilt and disbelief etched through my intestines. I wanted to be angry, but not even that could I manage right now, just gaping and staring. Blinking, hoping she would be gone the next time, I opened my eyes, but no such luck.“Isn’t she pretty? Clark has a special gift, and he loves displaying his art. Unfortunately, it has been a while since he was able to display it for all to see, so this was a golden opportunity to show how he had improved his skills since last time.”Art? Does he call this art? Her naked body was tied around the highest point of the water fountain, making some of the water pour over her face and hair and the rest of her body. There had to be some stick behind her back, or at least something, because she was displayed just like Jesus when crucified. Her hands right out to the sides, one foot over the other. The only difference was that she had not been nailed dow