My dearest Ilayda, I’m so sorry that I have to leave you so soon in your short life. I longed to be able to watch you grow my flower, but to protect you and your father and the world I must do what needs to be done. You were the light of my world and I don’t leave you lightly please understand. Leaving you is going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. As you are now old enough to know the truth I must tell you why I’m doing what I have to do. You have been told it is because I am not pure according to the standards of the Grey Lake pack. But truly the reason is they wanted to use me for my magical blood. Create an offspring that would be more powerful than they have ever seen. I would never allow that to happen, I wasn’t going to allow myself to become a breeding tool for those evil people. So to save everyone I must make this sacrifice. I will not be killed by them, I will end my life before they can take me. It’s a heavy truth that I never wanted you to carry and I’m terribly sor
Tears drip down my cheeks as I finish reading the letter. Holding it to my chest, my heart breaks for the mother I never had the chance to know. Blinking back tears, I fold the note and carefully place it back in the envelope. “She killed herself to protect everyone. She sacrificed herself to get away from the horrible Grey Lake pack” I choke on my words. “They were going to use her as a breeder for greater power,” my voice breaks. Azrael pulls me into his arms and holds me tightly while I sob. Taking a deep breath I rub my eyes, clearing them of the tears. “My mother said that everything in that chest could help me in my training. Her powers were of sunlight and she had a connection to the elemental spirit of the Earth, named Riki.”Willow hums slightly, seemingly deep in thought. ‘Let’s make a list of all we know you can do my dear.’ I nod, Azrael makes a paper and pen materialize out of nowhere and I smile at him gratefully. 1. Wind 2. Healing, but only physical wounds. I.e. I
“Stop jittering or you’re going to give it all away,” Soni chides me softly. She’s resting her head on her front paws, flicking her tail back and forth. I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. She’s right. I’m currently sitting in one of the tea rooms, staring at the clock watching it’s hands slowly tick towards the 2. Margo and her minions were arriving soon for tea and my goal was to extract as much information as possible from her about what was going on with Sophie. If she knew that is. I finger the device Azrael gave me that I placed under the table. It records everything happening in the room. There are a few guards in the room but I made Drago stand outside. I had a feeling that would be less than willing to give me information if he was in my room as he is my personal guard. I wanted to make it seem like I was as compliant as possible for them. The clock rings 2 and I smooth my dress putting a smile on my face. The doors open and in walks Margo and her minions. Milicen
“TRICKED YOU!” I jump to my feet. My anger bursts like a damn and the air spins around, violently whipping my hair around. “You poisoned the Beta female and have been conniving to steal my mate from me. You’re unbelievably dumb if you think he’ll choose you over me.” The windows burst open from the wind, glass shattering everywhere. “Luna, I’m sorry I would never,” Mildred pleads. “Your eyes, they're glowing,” Milicent says, cowering behind the couch. Unfazed, Margo glares at me, “let’s find out,” she whispers. Azrael runs into the room, eyes landing on me immediately. He makes his way towards me but Margo jumps in front of him, throwing her arms around him making him stiffen. “Oh Azrael,” she whimpers, “She’s just horrible. She just confessed to trying to kill the Beta female when she took over her care. Making a poison that thankfully didn’t work.” She starts sobbing, “and she, she is trying to blame me for it because I was the one in charge of her care. When all I wanted to do w
I just can't seem to grasp my mind today's events. I’m still reeling in my head how the hell this could have happened. Everything was perfect. Our stupid little Luna was feeding out of the palm of my hand and I couldn’t wait to rush back to Azrael and tell him what an awful person she truly was and that his little Luna wasn’t too perfect after all. Of course I’d leave out all the parts about me poisoning the Beta female but that was going to be easy. I seduced each of the guards ahead of time to make sure if a confession was going to be made that they would be on my side. I had everything planned out the moment she invited us to tea. That no matter what happened no one would believe a single word she said and I would finally get everything I have been dreaming for. I should have known she had something planned. That stupid conniving little bitch knew everything. I should have known something like this would happen once they kicked me off as Sophie’s nurse. Our perfect little Luna want
The tension in the room is so thick you could cut it with a knife. All ranked pack members are sitting in Azrael’s office trying to figure out what to do next. I’m sitting in Azrael’s lap behind the desk and we’ve pulled in chairs for everyone else to sit. The Gammas are finally back and are currently seething at what has been going on in their absence. Margo is currently in the dungeon and her father has already come to us pleading for his daughter's life. Her confession was enough to incriminate her and we already interrogated the poor wolf she manipulated into making the poison for her. He broke down immediately and said he had no idea those ingredients made that combination and after looking through his background it checked out. Yes he worked in the pack hospital but he was just a nurse who specializes in treating wounds. Nothing to do with mixing a potion or in her case a poison together. I clear my throat and everyone’s eyes snap up to look at me. Taking a deep breath I say, “
I’m not sure what to expect as I stand at the entrance to the staircase that leads down into the dungeons of the pack. It’s directly under the castle and heavily guarded. After I read for a few hours I decided that it was time that I saw the prisoners. Serena, who's been holding my hand, gives it a gentle squeeze of encouragement. My home pack never had a typical dungeon. Anytime someone committed a crime our pack tree would create these special rooms at the base of her tree that acted as a prison cell. There were no windows and no doors, only those given permission by the Alpha or Luna could enter by simply resting their hand on the entrance. It would then create a door that would allow that person in. It’s basically solitary confinement. I think the Moon Goddess made it that way because of all the gifts she has given that pack. And defying them is like directly defying her. The pack was very passive though and I can’t remember a single time that we had to use that while I was living
The world around me is foggy, like a cloud has come down and coated the world. I blink, trying to adjust my vision and take stock of where I am. When my vision clears I realize that I'm in the castle but I’m alone. Not a single pack member is wandering around the halls. I open my mouth to shout but I make no sound. Grasping my throat I try to take deep breaths to calm the panic I feel rising within me. Wandering the halls I find myself at the doors of Willow’s garden. The usual light that filters through the stained glass doors was nowhere to be seen. No guards on either side guarding the entrance. Fear festers in my gut that something bad has happened. Stepping timidly I approach the door. It’s slightly cracked making that festering fear grow, so I push it open gently, mentally preparing myself for the worst. My breath catches as I take in the sight in front of me. The entire garden has been destroyed and Willow appears to be dead. It’s like someone has stomped around the garden wit
Stepping out the massive front doors open and Dre comes strolling out, a wide smile on his face. Not a strand of his white blonde hair out of place, and his three piece suit has been pressed to perfection. Grabbing my hands, careful not to touch the silver cuffs along my wrists he kisses my hands making me cringe in disgust. “My dear it’s so good you’ve finally decided to join us.”I stiffen and glare at him, janking my hands away. “What the fuck are you doing Dre?” I sneer. His eyes flash and he pauses, smoothing his hair back, a tic I remembered him doing that last time when he’s nervous. “Alpha my dear I am an Alpha, but I'll let it slide this time as I’m sure the altitude has affected your judgment. And well claiming what is rightfully mine of course.”I roll my eyes and scoff, “I don’t belong to you dipshit. I’m marked and mated and last I checked I don’t bear your mark and your name isn’t Azrael Whitlock.”I watch him ground his teeth. His wolf surfacing in his eyes before he c
When I wake I notice a blanket has been placed over me and Gabriel is gone. The sky is lovely as colors splash the surface as it starts to wake up. My eyes snap towards movement as Gabriel walks in from a small doorway. “The captain says that we’ll be landing in 20 minutes. From there we’ll be headed to the Grey Lake pack. To meet your future mate,” he smirks. I scowl, “He is not now and will never be my mate. I’ll die before then.”He shrugs, not caring about my reaction and plops back in his chair. “I don’t give a shit what he does with you as long as I get paid.”I tilt my head and study him. There is something off about him. His soul is trying to tell his mind a truth that he’s desperately trying to deny. “I don’t think that’s quite true.” He narrows his eyes at me as I stare at him. “You’re at war with yourself. There is a truth you’ve locked away within yourself Gabriel. One that is desperately trying to come out that is leaking at the seams.” I see a flash of emotion cross
I walk silently beside him, his hand latched in an iron grip on my arm making it ache and I know by morning there will be a bruise. “You’re so slow,” he hisses. I tilt my head up, scowling at him, “well I am barefoot and walking in a skin tight dress, I wasn’t exactly expecting to get kidnapped was I?” I snap back. He shakes his head and glares down at me, “once we get out of the tunnels we’ll get you out of this dress.” We continue along the path and I notice that not once has Gabriel looked at the map that Karlile gave him. It remains tucked into the back pocket of his jeans. Yet he still seems to know exactly where he is going. It surprises me as I don’t even know all the secret passages and this is my home. We continue the silence and after a few more turns the night sky finally reappears above us. “Follow my steps exactly,” he whispers. He’s agile like a cat, slinking along the shadows and I do my best to keep up. Willow’s fate is riding on this and I know that Azrael won’t be a
Out of the shadows emerges a young man, he’s large, like the gyms is his only friend kind of large, and is probably about 16 or 17 years of age. His hands are stuffed into his leather jacket and he lazily walks over to stand by Karlile’s side. Goosebumps rise on my arms and the back of my neck as his crystal blue eyes look up to me. I’m surprised by the emptiness that I see inside them. Someone his age should still have the innocence of youth pooling through them but his eyes are like empty glass orbs. I don’t need the wind to tell me that the guy in front of me is a hunter. Willows taught me to be able to identify others by the magic that buzzes around him. Every living thing attracts certain types of magic. While I don’t see colors around them, I associate the types of magic with a color. Sirens have blue or calming magic, wolves have silver or physical magic and Daemons have purple or chaos magic.I’ve never met a hunter myself but from what I’ve learned is that magic avoids them li
I’m not sure if it’s the dancing or all the champagne but as Azrael spins me around again my head starts to feel fuzzy. He pulls me into his arms, cradling my face in his hands. I reach up and grab his wrists with my hands. “You know, you look absolutely ravishing my love,” he whispers to me. I giggle, my face breaking out in a wide smile. “So you’ve been telling me all night.” I rest my head against his chest as we sway to the music. In a few days time we were headed back to my home pack to celebrate the new year with my family. The Forest Moon pack always had lovely decorations for the holidays, just as nice as we have here. We invited them to come up for the holidays but mom is far too long in her pregnancy that it’s not safe for her to travel anymore. The song ends and I pull away, smiling up at my mate. “I’m going to go get some air. I'm feeling a little dizzy.” He frowns, “everything okay?” Shaking my head I wince but flash him a reassuring smile, “nothing some crisp cool air ca
The next couple of weeks pass by quickly and relatively smoothly. The snow from the mountains has made its way down and covered our castle, making it look like someone took a very large piping bag and painted it with white frosting. The town has been covered in decorations for the past month, really bringing in the Christmas spirit. We never really had snow in my old pack so while Azrael is already sick of it I’m relishing the time that I have with it. I’ve settled in a nice routine where I take care of any of my Luna duties in the morning, train with Willow in the early afternoon and spend the rest of the evening with Azrael and/or the other ranked pack members and family. I spend a lot of my time with Serena, but now that Sophie is feeling much better she’s been spending more and more time with us as well. It’s Christmas Eve and Alice has planned this elaborate ball to celebrate the occasion. I’m currently sitting on my vanity chair as Serena pins up my dark curls in ways that I wi
I sit on my couch, with my legs curled up to my chest, looking out the window with worry. Azrael said it was going to be fine but I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread. Rogues were common but I still didn’t like the idea of him going out into their territory. He didn’t let me go with him to send Margo off, saying it could be too dangerous. Serena offered to keep me company but I politely declined. As much as I love her this was something I wanted to do by myself. I needed to strengthen my resolve. It was gloomy outside and looked like it was about to start raining, what if that made it harder for them to see? What if they got ambushed? I know they were only dropping her off at the border but frustration bubbled up inside of me and I looked down at my hands. If only I could harness my power better than I could help them and this pack. Willow said I was close to mastering the wind. I just had to get a hold of my emotions. The door slammed open and shook me from my thoughts. The smell of
I roll my shoulders and straighten my back as I once again stand at the top of the stairs leading down to the dungeons. Azrael is standing at my side and behind us is Margo’s family. My heart aches for them but her actions are unforgivable and it would be a crime against the pack to allow her to continue staying here. As angry as she made me I really tried to come up with another way to punish her but nothing was good enough. Kane wanted vengeance for what happened to his mate and I completely understood where he was coming from. If the roles were reversed she would already be dead. Scar looks down at me and gives me a reassuring smile before placing his hand on the doorway, unlocking it. The entrance to the dungeon was enchanted. There were no handles on the entrance, making it impossible to open. Only those who were given access could place their hand on the stone wall and then it would open like a secret passage. Making our way down the dark stairwell I blink my eyes, quickly adju
Ilayda sits in my chair behind the desk. Even being dwarfed by my large chair she sits up, her back straight and eyes attentive looking every bit the powerful Luna she is. I lean my arms crossed in front of my desk, slightly off to the side so she can still see. Reggie and Tiana, Margo’s mother and father, sit in the two chairs in front of me, eyes tired as their oldest, twin boys Carmen and Cias stand behind them. Carmen is a succubus like their mother and Cias turned out to be a Marquis to the surprise and pride of his parents as Reggie is a wolf. The room is tense as they wait to hear the fate of their youngest. I roll my neck, cracking it before sighing, “I assume you know why I’ve called you all here. Margo’s fate has been decided.” I pause, taking in their facial expression. Not surprisingly no one seems hopeful. They are all very well aware of the likely consequences of her actions and are mostly here to get it over with. “She will not be sentenced to death by our hand, howeve