Rachel’s interest was piqued by what Becca said. If they could find a spirit to carry a message to Gabi wherever she was, it would make things so much easier. Gabi risked a lot coming to her in the first place and was surely keeping a low profile until the dust settled. Reprisals were surely at the top of her list of things to worry about. As an angel of death it was her duty to keep the cosmic balance in the cycle of life and death, not to pass on warnings to her mortal friends.
“Gabi might be difficult to track down, Becca. She broke a lot of rules to warn me in the first place.”
“I know Rachel, but this is our only option. To send a spirit after her. It’s not like we can just lift the veil and find her ourselves.”
“And the spirit you think can help us? Can they be trusted with this?”
The momentary look of concern on her sister’s face wasn’t lost on Rachel. It almost seemed as if Becca was hiding something from her about the spirit she wanted to use
She was falling… She was floating… A downward spiral into the open grave… Midway down, Rachel was overtaken by a sense of hesitant peace. The fall down was not what she expected. She’d envisioned herself making a swift fall and an even more swift connection with the cold, hard earth waiting for her below. Instead she found herself floating gently, with no fear, no trepidation and absolutely no horror to speak of. Some dark spirit had pushed her into an open grave. Was this how it would end for her? With no one around her to say a final goodbye? No Mom, no Becca, no Buck and no Galen? Her heart wrenched at the thought of her loved ones, left behind once the spirit killed her. Would she not even hold Galen one last time? Rachel closed her eyes and fell deeper into the waiting abyss… When she opened her eyes, she found herself laying flat on her back, on a marble floor, in a cold empty room. She sat up, stretching and trying
Black widow… Rachel braced herself against the accusing tone in the spirit’s voice as she pulled her gaze away from Galen’s animated corpse. This was a trick, nothing more, designed to throw her off guard. “I know none of this is real,” Rachel said, trying to keep her voice as steady as possible. “I grow tired of your games.” Her words were met with a bitter peal of laughter as the doll looked at Galen and reached out its fingerless, stitched hand, to smear the bloody tears across his face. “Perhaps,” it answered, “or maybe a foretaste of what’s to come. Watching your life fall apart is almost more pleasurable than killing the wolf.” Enraged, Rachel reached out to grab it, but it was lightening fast. It was out of her reach in a split second. “Twisted bitch! What do you want from us?” Rachel spun around at the sound of its almost maniacal laughter. It was sitting in the front pew, intently gazing at her. When its laughter final
Their voices, sounding slightly disorientated, came through to her as if from the depths of a cold fog, sweeping some desolate countryside. Odd, but comforting. “Fucking hell, how did this happen? And why isn’t she waking up?”Galen …“I had no idea leaving her there would lead to this.”Becca…“The spirit wanted her life. It wanted my baby’s life…”Her mother…Rachel wanted to open her eyes, wanted to see them, but her eyelids felt heavy, as if opening them would be the most monumental of achievements. What happened? Why was she feeling so powerless?Slowly, her fragmented memories became whole while listening to them. The dark spirit attacked her, trapped her in some vile illusion, using her father’s memory as a weapon to attack her and make her lose her mind. She heard the heaviness of her breathing, felt the heightened racing of her heart as she recalled every moment of its demented plan. What did it want? Why torment her in this way?“How did you know Liz?” Galen asked, the angu
Waking up, Rachel smiled contentedly, knowing she was in her own bed. She rubbed her eyes and stretched , trying to remember the dream she had. Why did it seem so fuzzy? She recalled falling asleep while everyone was in the room, and then she remembered speaking to someone in her dream, but for the life of her, she couldn’t think who it could be. Turning, she found Galen asleep beside her. His chest rose with each breath and she gently placed her hand over his heart, his closeness giving her comfort. His eyes opened and when he saw her, he pulled her into a tender embrace, kissing her and holding her close to him. She rested her head on his bare chest, the sound of his heartbeat in her ear. Was this man, this wonderful man, really the target of a dark faction, all because of her? How could anyone even dream of hurting him? “You scared me,” he whispered into the darkness. “I would not make it in this world without you. Do you know that?” She inhaled his scent, and held him tigh
It was raining, when Galen arrived at the Bruce Compound, the following morning. He zipped up his jacket as he made his way to the front door. In light of Enid's death, Sophia Bruce had sent him a text the previous evening, requesting to see him. Inwardly, he wondered if the Alpha had plans to fire him, but he remembered Enid saying she was a good person. Perhaps this meeting was just a formality for them to officially meet? Other than that night, when she'd saved his life, he'd never had any contact with her again.The door was opened before he could even knock. From the looks of the man, who introduced himself as Stefano, Galen surmised he had to be of high rank, within the pack. The fading scars on the left side of his face and the deeper scars in his neck, surely from a wolf bite, indicated he was either a warrior wolf, or perhaps even a Beta."I am her second in command and her highest ranking general," Stefano said. "Guard your mind, Mr Munroe. I can read your thoughts."Galen c
“My son?”Repeating the words Sophia had just spoken, Galen felt a sense of dread, and cold shivers running up and down his spine. What game was the Alpha playing? Why would she make such a ludicrous statement?“Yes,” Sophia softly replied. “I am your mother, Galen. As well as the mother of Jax and Gustav. I can only imagine how this news must sound to you.”Galen snorted, pulling back from her. He ran his fingers through his hair as his mind tried to comprehend what the Alpha had just told him. It was a lie, it had to be. How could she be their mother? Had their whole lives been some convoluted plot?If this were true, so many things would make sense. His parents’ coldness towards them. The way they treated them as if they were strangers at times, and not their own flesh and blood.Could this be true? Were they not the sons of Brian and Anna Munroe?The quickening of his pulse alerted him to the fact that he had to calm down. His body, tense and taut, was trying to shift, as a way
Momentarily, Galen was at a loss for words. Did Sophia just say their own father wanted them dead? What nightmare was he trapped in? A long lost mother and now a murderous father. It seemed almost absurd, but the earnest look on Sophia’s face, assured him, it was anything but.“Your father was an Alpha too. I believed he loved me and our family, but everything had been a lie. He was power hungry, and planned to subjugate The Daughters Of The Moon. He wanted to eradicate our matriarchal line, and meld our pack into his. We fought many battles once the truth came out. He was even in league with witches, to help him destroy us. When he realized he was weaker than I was, he tried to hurt me the only way he knew how. Through my babies.”Her voice drifted off. Galen could see how much the memory of the betrayal hurt her. She must have loved him deeply. He softened a bit, and when he spoke, his tone was much kinder.“He tried to kill us?”“Yes, he did. The compound was fortified, so he used
When Rachel came downstairs, Becca had already started a fresh pot of coffee. The smell of it lingered in the air, and Rachel realized she hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since the previous day. Her stomach rumbled, and she reached for the cereal, as Becca prepared their cups.“You look so much better today,” Becca teased. “A good night’s sleep and a hot wolf can do wonders.”Rachel smiled. She couldn’t disagree with Becca on that point. Even while asleep, she was aware that Galen had held her in his arms all night long.She was always aware when he did that. Him holding her, provided her with a sense of safety, unlike anything she had ever experienced before. The contrast to what they had, and what she had with Peter in their ill-fated marriage, was almost blinding in hindsight. For Peter she had never been enough, but for Galen, she was his world.Their talk the night before had also helped in easing her mind. Now that Galen knew everything, it would be so much better to face
Sitting in his pick-up, Galen wiped at his brow and reached for the bottle of ice cold water next to him. The sun was setting but the heat was still unbearable. Jax and the two tracker wolves were combing the warehouse district and he was on lookout. Not that he wanted to be. He wanted in on the action, but Jax had been on lookout the day before, so it was only fair.Thus far, all their efforts to find Gustav had been in vain, and it was getting more difficult by the minute to remain hopeful.He was grateful to Sophia for sending the two trackers. When he’d spoken to her, to tell her Gustav was missing, he could sense how anxious she was. He still didn’t acknowledge her as his mother though, and neither did Jax, who also briefly spoke to her on the phone. He was equally upset about the deceit and was trying to wrap his head around it.Galen tried to convince him to have Marissa and their daughter, Tamara, go to Colby’s Cove, for their own safety, but he was dead set against it. He wan
One Week Later…“When dad died, it was easier almost. We had a body; we knew he was gone…We could even plan a funeral. Now we don’t even have that…”“Do you think mom is really gone, Rachel? Would she just leave and go without saying goodbye?”Becca’s voice was tinged with sadness and Rachel reached for her hand, where they were sitting on the porch, watching the sunset.The last week had been rough. Since Allison’s revelation that Vivianne had taken control of Liz’s body, everything just seemed to go to hell.Liz had vanished. After coming back to her senses in the boutique, Rachel immediately called Becca and they rushed to Liz’s house, only to find her gone. They had no idea where she was or what Vivianne was planning to do.Sophia had the entire town combed by her best guards and even she came up with nothing. It was as if Liz had disappeared from the face of the earth.To make matters even worse, Gustav was still missing. Galen wanted to come back home the second he heard, but s
“Who’s Allison? Rachel, what’s going on?”Melora sounded as confused as Rachel felt. Why was Allison’s voice, coming forth from Mrs Landry’s corpse? There was no rational explanation, and Rachel motioned Melora to calm down.“She’s someone I helped cross over a while ago…she went into the Light. I have no idea why, or even how, she’s here now.”The creature struggled against her chains until she’d pulled herself into an upright position. She was struggling to form words, that much Rachel knew. Allison was in a body that wasn’t her’s. Controlling it, was almost an exercise in futility.“Come out Allison,” Rachel urged. “Tell me why you’re in this woman’s body. This is wrong, and you know it.”The corpse began to convulse and bile dripped from her deformed lips. Melora stepped back in horror, covering her mouth with her hand as if trying to contain a scream, threatening to erupt from deep within her.A soft glow appeared before them, and took shape, until Allison was fully formed.“Forg
The morning rain kept people at home. The town square was quiet as they passed through it and when the boutique came into sight, Rachel said a silent prayer of protection. She could only imagine the magnitude of what they would find inside. This wouldn’t be her first time coaxing a spirit out of a vessel, but the first involving a werewolf. She noticed that Stefano’s demeanor had changed from when they left home. He seemed pensive and she knew he was worried about Melora.“Thank you,” he said, “for doing this. I know this isn’t how you envisioned your day off.”“I’m glad you asked me. It’ll be nice to see Melora again, even if it’s under these circumstances.”It occurred to her that she missed the friendship they once shared. Growing up, Becca and Melora were basically the only friends she had. Doing what they did, made the Banning girls loners, and to some, outsiders even. But not to Melora. She gave her friendship unconditionally, perhaps because she too, felt like an outsider most
Showered and dressed, Rachel reached not only for her pepper spray, but also the small dagger she kept in her bedside drawer. She sheathed it out of sight beneath her jacket and made her way downstairs.If everything Stefano had told her was true, she didn’t want to take any chances.The dagger was a gift from Becca, after her ordeal at the hands of Sister Evangeline, that dark night at the asylum, when Galen almost lost his life. Becca had found the dagger in a secondhand store and decided they both needed added protection when doing what they did, and bought one for herself too. They’d always thought there was limited physical danger when it came to crossing over the dead, but that night proved their theory wrong, in more ways than one. Not only had the dark spirit trapped her in the asylum, but it also sent mind controlled minions to kill Galen.Walking down the stairs her cell rang and her eyes lit up when she saw Galen’s name. He’d been gone for hours and the silence between th
The night Mrs. Landry died…“What are you doing here, Gwyneth? Melora isn’t here, so you have no one to spit your poison at. How did you even get in? We closed an hour ago.”Maggie Landry proudly face the imperious woman before her. Gwyneth Channing was a piece of work. Every so often she would drop by the boutique, merely to berate her daughter. It never dawned on her that Melora was an adult who could make her own decisions.Never in her more than 200 years on this earth, had she ever seen anyone enjoy doling out misery with such passion. Almost as if it were her life’s work to be the town bitch.“Maggie Landry,” Gwyneth slowly said, enunciating her name and making it sound foul. “You truly have seen to it that my daughter hates me, haven’t you? You’ve turned her against me. Just know I will not let this insult slide. I will destroy you and everything you’ve ever worked for.”Maggie scoffed. “Delusional as always. You and you alone are responsible for Melora wanting nothing to do wi
“What happened?” Rachel asked. It pained her to know that Melora was going through a rough patch. Their friendship may have forcefully died down years ago, thanks to her snob of a mother, but that didn’t mean she didn’t still care about her.Melora had always been the outcast of the Channing family. While her older siblings, Jack and Jennifer, were heavily involved in the family’s shipping business, Melora decided she wanted to pursue her own path. Even in high school she’d always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. She was shy, but so remarkably talented and that caused even more friction with her mother and siblings. Their elitist sensibilities were at odds with Melora’s independent, kind nature.They simply couldn’t understand why a billionaire heiress would choose a life of struggle, when she’d been born into a life of absolute privilege. They all turned on her, judging her and berating her every chance they got, but her mother was the worst. The one person who was supposed to
Galen left before sunrise the following morning, to find his brothers and tell them the truth about their heritage. Watching him drive away, Rachel felt a shiver of apprehension run down her spine. Who knew how Jax and Gustav would react, if Galen was so torn up about it? As the eldest they looked to him for guidance, but if he wasn’t ready to face the truth, that Sophia was their mother, then how would they?Not to mention the inevitable confrontation looming with the Munroes. After everything Sophia told him about them, she could only imagine the ticking time bomb, waiting to explode.The morning was cold and wet and she pulled her fluffy gown tighter around her, feeling in her pocket for her pepper spray. Colby’s Cove was a sleepy, quiet little town, but she preferred to not take any chances, when it came to having to defend herself.The days after Peter’s death were the worst, when any sound would wake her up at night and even her own shadow scared her. She’d been living in survi
“The Munroes were both adulterers, who brought great scandal to our pack,” Sophia casually announced. “Their affair was… quite disturbing. I banished them myself, once it came to light."Galen felt his jaw open and close. Was he really prepared to hear the truth about the people who raised him? Part of him regretted asking Sophia to tell him what she knew about them, but he also needed to understand why they did what they did. Why would they blindly raise three children who weren’t theirs? Were the monthly cheques from Sophia that lucrative? That they would sacrifice their own lives and ambitions to do her bidding?It baffled him to the point of absolute frustration. Yes, he could understand why Sophia sent them away for their own safety, but he couldn’t fathom why she had these people pretend to be their parents. It made no sense. Why had she not been a presence in their lives all these years?She literally left them, with people who he now knew, were two adulterers, banished from