Ivory lay there beneath Ran, his bite on her shoulder and his shaft buried deep within her core. He wore no protection. She could feel him shoot hot and deep within her. She knew what it meant. Gods, her daddy threatened to kill her if she let a wolf mate with her. Ran took control of her body and used it to control her. Gods, did he realize what he did or had instinct gotten away from him? She was panting from her own completion. “Well, we’re going to have to work on your control, my dear. You didn’t last at all. Next time you don’t find you end until I grant it to you.” She yelped when his fingers brushed her sensitive core. Ivory lay there panting, her body open for his eyes and touch.“Hmm… Responsive. I like that. Let’s see if you are multi-orgasmic, shall we?” His fingers worked at her core and her nerves responded, bringing her quickly back to needing to mate again. Ivory clawed at the sofa, her breasts hard and aching as they shook from her desire. “Look at
Sapphire watched Magnus speak to his father. She thought Magnus was intimidating, but now she was presented with a whole new form of intimidating in his father. “You let Ran near her? Magnus, that boy is a destroyer of women.” “I offered him a challenge, and I needed her away from my mate. She couldn’t be trusted on her own. How was I supposed to know she’d end up being his mate? I say after the crap she made her flesh and blood cousin go through, she deserves to learn some humility. Ran will make sure that happens. I won’t change my mind. Ivory is an out of control immature brat and deserves what she gets. She’s a wolf and stronger than that. Her manners need a complete overhaul, not just a change. She was going to encourage her father to call a hunt on my mate, because her lover at the time decided he could play with both girls while they were both present. Even though Sapphire made it clear she wasn’t interested, he tried to force himself on her. So, I took care o
April sat curled up with Hayden as they tried to narrow down the details from the few references that came into being. They’d been forced to take it easy, after the healers patched Hayden up. They’d lost a few wolves, but nothing like the Vagas Moon Pack. She found it funny that they were bleeding, living wolves. The stories being bandied about the town were unbelievable. Insects swarming homes and attacking wolves. Trees moving to damage the same homes. Flocks of birds going after particular wolves while leaving others alone. The land turned boggy, where it had always been fertile. The Vagas Moon now encountered what stories about the other packs retreat from the region mentioned. “So, what I can tell. Whoever this guy is, or whatever he is. He’s powerful enough to influence everyone in the region to do things they wouldn’t normally do.” “Well, maybe not everyone, but at the very least the people in power and he set off chain reactions that lasted
Ivory awoke to find something holding her in place in bed and a soft snoring behind her. Then the previous day came back to her. How could this have happened? Ivory didn’t believe in fated mates. Her mother always told her they weren’t real and pretty stories to build up hope they were more important to the gods than they actually were. Now Ivory found herself with a bully for a mate. Only he bullied her. She wanted the world to stop spinning because she wanted to get off! How was she supposed to be happy if he didn’t do what she wanted? Ran made it clear yesterday to her that her life now hinged on her making him happy. She now had strict rules, and he assured her he’d be watching. Others would report when she screwed up, and he missed it. Ivory hated this. She wanted to rebel, to runaway. When she mentioned leaving, he told her it would be a fine game. He could track her wherever she went. Then he held the door open and told her to ‘Let the games begin.’
“Father, I know what I’m doing with her. She’ll come to heel just like mother did for you.” Ran sat in a sitting room with his father and glared at him across a small table. This was why he didn’t come home more often. “Do you really think I want that for you? Randell, your mother is a trial sent by the gods.” Ran watched his father state a fact that exasperated him over the years to no end. Tan’s mother was a wild child. She’d been a lone wolf on the run. Juliette resisted every convention there was in wolf shifter society and at one time, she flaunted it. These days, Ran’s father kept her under control. Ran learnt everything from his father and it bothered his mother to no end. Now he was grown. He didn’t allow her to pull her stunts, either. “Can you see me happy with a biddable mate? Come on, father, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Ran knew he had a point, and his father knew he was a chip off the old block. If John couldn’t see himse
Sapphire couldn’t believe dinner. Magnus insisted everyone eat together that was dealing with all the problems and he made her be present. She’d once eaten in the dining room with him, and that was a stressful nightmare. Everything and everyone differed from what she was used to. She didn’t know how to act. Sapphire was scared she’d anger Magnus by embarrassing him in front of his family. She was one of the last to sit at the table and everyone just started passing food. Sapphire passed the food every time. “Sapphire? Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Magnus’ father frowned at Sapphire’s empty plate. “You may need to put some food on that plate.” “Oh, right? I’m sorry. Thank you.” She blushed, embarrassed and unsure how to respond to it. She put a few things on her plate as others at the table hearing Magnus’ father’s words. “Dad. I’ve told her she can eat what and how much she wants.” Magnus wasn’t upset with her. He was upset with his fa
The small group was up just after dawn the next morning and were trotting through the woods. Most were on four feet, but a few carried packs and such. Two witches came with them, Angelica, and April. Sapphire insisted on going with them. The rest of the group comprised Magnus, Hayden, Ran, John, and Magnus’ father. “So, let me get this straight: whoever is hiding out here is powerful enough to make people fight each other and forget their existence.” “Yes, like an ancient vampire or some such creature.” “Remind me what’s going to stop this creature from doing the same to us?” “I don’t think they can just make us forget. That’s where the treaties come into play. It wasn’t easy for them to do it or maintain it.” They debated the details as they walked through the woods. Magnus listened as he monitored the surrounding woods. When they came to the river, it was really only a stream at this time of year; it seemed. So it was fairly easy
It took quite a while for the others to arrive. They got a little turned around with the confusion they had with their compasses. All Magnus could do was silently fume over their reliance on technology. He went by the sun and the trees. Hayden was no tracker. “So, clearly, we’ve found the place. Now where do we look for this Helbourne creature?” “Well, I would think since there’s no buildings as we know them close by, logic would dictate anyone living or existing out here would be underground. I’d say we go downward into wherever that leads. If this is an ancient vampire, I doubt they know the modern rules, so no one is safe from a feeding or hunger attack. It could be a nest that’s gone dormant as well. So if you find a body, try not to disturb it. We’ll have to request help from the vampiric council to remove them safely.” “Remind me again why there’s no representative here again?” Magnus’ father glared down at his mate.” “It’s a private
Sapphire and Ivory met the rest of their family over time. It took a long time to become comfortable with every one of them. So many differences from how she grew up to her life as she knew it now. She needed to find a new normal as mate, sister, and Luna. But it happened. Ivory and Ran took over the Vagas Moon Pack, and they renamed it, the New Moon Rising. Ran was still not sure he wanted to be their Alpha, but his family and his in-laws made it clear he could and would be the Alpha of this pack. The girls’ father took some time to warm up to Magnus and Ran. He claimed he needed to know his daughters first, to know what was best for them. Until then, he would reserve his opinion on if he approved of their mates. Ivory and Sapphire found their mother was a force all her own to be reckoned with. Margaret insisted there be ceremonies to recognise their mating. She was the mover and shaker when it came to teaching her daughters how to be e
“We’re still trying to unravel the truth here. So when we figure it out, we’ll happily tell you the entire gory and horrific parts. Just understand Ivory and I are learning to get along, but we only found out we were sisters. That we still need to work through.” “Betty made us adversaries. Sapphire was all but a slave. She had me believing I was their daughter and better than everyone. Sapphire was trying to replace me. I know better now and I’m trying to make amends. This is new for us. We just learned they planned to force Sapphire to commune with the Moon Goddess, and I was a sacrifice. We believed I was her daughter then.” Both parents were horrified. “We’d have tried harder if we knew she would try that. Gods, we’re sorry.” Howard came closer to their sister’s back. “It’s complicated.” “Let’s move on to happier things. If we’re talking, we can enter. So, let’s get the introductions done. You know me. I work as a teacher and r
Sapphire was too confused and overwhelmed. She let Ivory lead her to the bathroom, where they straightened themselves. Both looked at the results in the mirror. With the same ponytail and makeup. Thank. They looked similar. “I’m not wearing the same outfit, so don’t suggest it. Gods, Ivory, I don’t look like me.” “Yes, you do. If that monster hadn’t this, we’d be sisters, and this Sapphire is what you would be. No wonder I was jealous of you.” Sapphire’s head shot to Ivory’s face for clarification she’d heard correctly. “Jealous? I thought you hated me. I would never have said you were jealous.” “Do you think our mom can reverse the suppression spell on you? Or me? If there is one on me.” Sapphire pretended she didn’t hear it. They had enough to deal. “Why not? We’re part of a magical litter of wolf shifter pups. Does that sound like a fairy tale comedy movie opening line said by a narrator?” Sapphire wondered what would have happened if she’d gone to t
“Let’s see if we can figure this out.” April leaned over the page. “Okay, this is an edited version of what we see here. Well, that’s interesting, though it shouldn’t be a surprise.” April pored over the papers, looking closely at the words and symbols. Ivory tried her best, but she wasn’t sure what was important and what wasn’t. So, she tried to get everything she could. “What is it? I don’t get half the marks on the page. I just copied them the best I could.” She felt like a fool. What good was she? “The mark here leading to Betty. That’s new, or old. Different, at the very least. However, you want to describe it. It’s the mark used to denote an adoption. Betty isn’t blood related to your mother. She’s an aunt by adoption, not by blood. Her blood would have been useless, and she wasn’t the girls, so she’d have seen nothing. Now here are the names we’re interested in. Jane and Howard Percival. That next part here says there are three pups all born over two days. L
April couldn’t believe what she was about to do. Normally, anything to do with blood magic was off limits. Well, usually that’s because the magic would cause get harm to the person or persons involved. In this case, she’d risk the disapproval and any punishment. Which would be laughable when she showed the council of elders what they would have to do to break the curse. From what little she could understand of the magic used in the treaties, and resulting events. No one before her cared about the limits that were placed long ago on how magic could be used. When someone called North America a Wild and Lawless Land. It wasn’t just the humans that were wild and lawless. Those that practiced magic were too. Doing things in the middle of nowhere that they couldn’t anywhere else. Even now, they uncovered places like this occasionally. Places that the locals would call, better left alone and untouched. In this case, if April was correct. The page with their b
Magnus watched his mate carefully as she and Ivory went through the journals and other documents they recovered. April was still completing what they needed to do for the witches to be released by the nature spirit. Or if anything needed to be done since this Roger Helbourne was gone. As far as anyone could tell, Roger made the deals. Without him, they weren’t sure if the deals survived. That’s why he’d been kept like he was. As long as he was here and functioning, the treaties were active. But they wanted to be sure they were gone for good before inviting the other packs back. Ran was in talks with those of the Vagas Moon Pack who ran and survived. They’d have the grisly job of cleaning up the land and making amends to it. The Vagas Moon would then fall under the McConnell Pack umbrella after that, and the isolation would have to end as well. Magnus’ pack was settled here now and the previous pack happy where they were now, with no interest in returning here. Each
Ivory couldn’t find out what happened to Cliff or Xavier. Those two and their buddies were missing in action. They’d been at the fight, but they weren’t among the dead there or on the Vagas Moon Pack territory. Ran assumed they went rogue after the battle and were in the wind. Ivory wasn’t so sure. Cliff was a jerk, but he wasn’t a very bright one. It took days to find any trace of them. Sadly, that trace was a campsite out in the middle of nowhere. Sadly, whoever they joined up with at the end was more than evil and stronger than them. They’d survived only to end up being hunted by a human with more money than brains. If they read correctly, the evidence. She was scared now. What if they were wrong and Cliff came back for revenge? Ivory couldn’t tell Ran what she’d done. Snubbing Cliff after her father turned rescinded his favour. Cliff came to her for help, and she deliberately messed up his plans to get back into her father’s favour. It hadn’t
Ran watched the two women leave out of the corner of his eye. “Gods, I thought they’d never leave.” The two men stopped training and mopped themselves of the sweat they’d built up as they spoke. “Here’s hoping they can be sensible and learn to get along with each other.” Magnus said as they tapped water bottles. “Have you told Ivory she’s taking over as your Luna?” “No, not yet. I’m not sure how she will take the news, and I’m still coming to terms with it.” “I get it. Sapphire took some easing into it, too. I couldn’t just hand her the keys after I bit her. Sarah Ann says there are things Sapphire just doesn’t have a clue about, so it will take a while before she’s got things mastered.” “Oh, I suspect she does not understand about what the position truly entails. My problem is not having her bulk in fear. Her training is still months away from completion.” “So, you really are training her to obey you without question?” “I
Sapphire and Ivory sat in her office drinking coffee for a little bit before Ivory gathered up enough courage to speak to Sapphire. “If my mother was the reason we hate each other, does that mean in another life we might have been friends?” Ivory wasn’t sure if she was ready to apologize to Sapphire for the years of emotional and physical torture, she put her through.” “I don’t know. If you weren’t so self absorbed and demanding, maybe. It’s hard to tell, really. Your mother tried with all her might to make you into a shifter version of herself. Now I don’t mean this as a slight against you, but she was pretty successful. She pulled so many tricks with us, I’m not sure either of us knows who we truly are.” “You really think that?” “We’ll see, won’t we, now that we know she’s gone and can no longer influence us directly? I know that her influence made someone lock my abilities away so I couldn’t use them. Whoever did that seemed to know a wa