Sapphire watched in horror as Magnus’ enforcers opened the doors to several shops and wolves poured from the shops. She’d never seen so many wolves. She thought her father’s pack enforcers were a terrifying sight to behold. But here she watched these wolves move fast and with an intent so intense she felt it bordered on feral. Then she found herself and Ivory ushered through the building by several of Magnus’ enforcers. She wanted to go back and watch to ensure Magnus didn’t get hurt. No one listened to her, and she was pushed along out the back of the building. They could hear fierce fighting going on. Sapphire knew a fight could be loud, but this… This was a whole new type of loud. They bundled Sapphire and Ivory into a vehicle and were leaving the area within minutes. Returning to their territory where April waited. She felt the bond break once she finished saying her piece; it wasn’t painful, but it felt… Isolating. Like being in a room full of noise and
Magnus shifted, triggering the release of his enforcers from the buildings. He watched his enemies as they realized they didn’t have the upper hand as they thought. He gained pleasure and appreciated the fear that slipped over many of his enemies’ faces. Some people in the pack fled, and he enjoyed it. Half of the Vagas Moon Pack enforcers met with the Greater McConnell Pack. Magnus engaged Kilburn with a pouncing, clawing attack. Kilburn dodged and Magnus got fur. He cursed his overeagerness and concentrated on recovering his stance and protect his hide from Kilburn’s attack. He might not have hit a blow, but Kilburn hadn’t either.Other enforcers intercepted other wolves when they attempted to interfere in the battling alphas. Kilburn came close again. His anger fuelling his aggression and Magnus soon learned the old wolf was not in his right mind. Even in wolf form, he reeked of alcohol and herbs. Herbs Magnus couldn’t define, and he prayed this was not w
Magnus, among others, left people in charge of the cleanup, they charged others in rounding up the injured and dead. It was disgusting how Kilburn abandoned his people as soon as he’d been injured to any extent. He’d not called a retreat. They left his witch mate to announce their plans for continued hostilities. They wanted the girls back and now they wanted blood. Magnus needed to change up things. The pups and maternal pack members needed to be safe. He knew Kilburn didn’t have information on half the pack and he wasn’t a fool. Magnus recognized Ivory could be there to get information on the pack for her father, and that would not happen. “Hey, Ran, we’re cleaning up here. I’m heading back. Make sure you secure your charge. I don’t want her wandering unescorted anywhere. The less she sees and the less she knows, the happier I will be. I don’t want to find out that she’s lying to us and sending her daddy information.” Magnus couldn’t drive right now if he
Sapphire sat in what others were calling her office, thinking about what was happening. She’d struggled not to pace as she worried about Magnus and his friends. The healers were down the hall in what had been the sitting room. It was not set up as a treatment room for those injured badly. It was nothing like the old healer her father had. Gods, she didn’t know how the Vagas Moon Pack would heal their people with one old healer. This pack had six healers, and someone trained them in various medical types, along with their special skills. Sapphire felt woefully under qualified to help them, so she retreated to her office to struggle alone with her feelings. “You need to eat, dear, and I just got word. Your uncle retreated, and the Alpha was on his way back now. Everything is fine. Now you eat this and I’m going to take a tray up to your cousin right now.” Sarah Ann puttered in with a cloth covered tray and set it on her desk. “You need to figure out h
Hayden lay in the back of the SUV as best as he could. One enemy got in a pretty good bite, and he couldn’t shift now. He wouldn’t die, but this was a pain in the butt. He couldn’t shift, which meant he couldn’t talk. Not until the healers healed enough for him to shift again. April would not be happy with this twist of fate. It would slow down their ability to hunt for whatever was in that hidden place. So there he lay in what should be the vehicle’s trunk and it was a squeeze for him because of his size as a wolf. Every large bump in the road meant his head hit the ceiling of the vehicle. If they didn’t get there soon, he’d probably have to add a concussion to his list of injuries. “How are you holding up back there, Hayden?” He grumbled as best as he could. The vehicle hit yet another bump, and it jostled him, so he snapped at the healer that was questioning them. “Okay, I think he’s telling us we need either a better road or a bet
Ran stood in the entry to Ivory’s rooms and watched her stare out a window. He knew she was aware of his presence, but she’d not acknowledged him beyond ignoring him. “Feeling sorry for yourself yet?” He asked while he checked to see if she’d eaten. “Sorry for myself? I’m too busy trying to figure out how I’m going to survive this.” “Really? What do you think will happen to you now that you’ve left the protection of your father?” “Protection of my father? He protected no one but himself. Everyone, including me, tiptoed around him. Oh, I thought I was manipulating him, but now I think he let me do it so I would be easier to control or predict.” “Really? What makes you believe that?” “The way he changed. He stopped smiling. Started growling and yelling at everyone. Then he hit me. I thought it was because Sapphire was gone and things weren’t getting done. But now…” “Now you know their plans were in danger of falling
Magnus found Sapphire in her office, poring over the information there. Notes and requests scattered about her desk. “So, this is where you’re hiding.” He leaned against the doorpost and watched her work before he said this. Magnus couldn’t help but smile at the look that came over her face when she recognized him. Sapphire dropped everything and hurried toward him, but stopped short of embracing him. “You’re injured and now we’re at war.” “Bah, just a few scratches, and he’ll have other things to deal with soon enough. Like fleeing the results of reneging on the treaties.” Magnus wasn’t sure if her feelings conflicted or confused her. “Will it be that bad for them? I mean, it’s my uncle and aunt that are bad. Well, a few of their trusted people. But beyond that, everyone is just trying to survive.” “They will and probably prosper away from here. They’ve been struggling because the land itself was working against them. Now, are you going to
April couldn’t believe what she saw as the first group of wolves returned from the meeting. They took several wolves into a sitting room that had been turned into a temporary infirmary. One wolf that limped in on his own accord, she knew, had to be Hayden. She couldn’t miss his eyes. Those rarely changed when they shifted. It was one of those telltale things that got them hunted over the centuries. Right now, though, she didn’t care about that. What had her in a panic was the long wound on his hip. No wonder he wasn’t shifting back. It scared her to see it. Yet there he was, hobbling in like he had a splinter in his toe! April started whispering beseeching requests to the gods for him to be okay. She had some deep-seated need for him to be safe and to survive whatever happened to him. She’d started these hours ago, praying for his safety and success. Now she’d heard others state they’d been successful, and the Vagas Moon Pack learned of their terrible loss.
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