The two sisters clash again! Poor Cindy. What a scene to come into.
[Hyacinth] “Bash, sweetie, you must be kidding.” I laugh at what must have been a joke, although not a very funny one. I'm just glad that neither Drew nor Blake seemed to notice, since they were too busy looking at one another with sly little smiles as they clear the table and prepare for their evening together. “There is no way. Alpha Danvers is an honorable wolf.” “Yes,” Bash agrees. “My father is the very best wolf.” “I would know, Bash, if the alpha was your father,” I scoff. The Alpha is too unforgettable. I would have remembered him if I had met him before. The only smells I remember from that evening were the musky smells of blood and sex mixed with the cloying scent of pancakes from the hotel's breakfast, nothing like the amazing sea salt and pine scent I've come to associate with Slate. “Besides, your father was not a good man, not a good wolf. Alpha Danvers is a good wolf, he could not…” “I think,” Bash’s eyes have that faraway look that they sometimes do when he is
[Hyacinth]Why did I come here? I am such a fool. And I keep making the same stupid mistake.“Get the hell out of here, Cindy!” Ash snarls. She's right, I shouldn't be here. Hadn't I learned my lesson the last time I came by to see Slate? Hadn't Ash made it quite clear that I was unwelcome here?I stumble back from the door, my eyes unable to blink as I take in the scene before me--Ash is standing in the doorway wearing a rumpled suit, her hair wet from the shower while beyond the open bedroom door the sheets on the bed are rumpled and the pillows are scattered on the floor. If those clues weren’t enough to tell me what had happened, Slate standing in the bathroom doorway, wet and dripping, wearing nothing more than a towel and a shocked expression, made everything come into focus. Closing my eyes, wishing I could burn the image from my mind. Instead, as the tears run down my face, I fear it might be engraved on my heart forever. Turning, I run back the way I came. “Cindy, wait!”
[Hyacinth] I am going to die. This is my last thought as I hit the ground and raise my hands above my head in a weak attempt at a defensive move. I know that if this wolf wanted to tear me apart, my hands would do almost nothing to slow him. And yet, instinctually, my hands raised, ready to protect me. As my body reacts to the cold, shocking sensation of the water flowing around me, my mind is thrust into the last moment in my life when I feel so helpless and alone. I am in the bathroom of the truckstop, only this time I remember a bit more. As I was blinking in and out of consciousness, and they began hurting me and violating my body, something woke inside of me, something lethal. Reacting to the fear of this moment, my mind reaches deep to find that well of deep power, that lethal feeling. My hands burn with the need to touch the wolf, to make him suffer the way my own body did that terrible day as I felt them leave their marks on me. "Wait," the voice inside my head begs. "P
[Hyacinth] I’ve been testing their blood samples, while the Gamma’s men interrogate the three rogues we found in the woods. A rushed DNA test revealed a couple of hard truths. While these rogues were responsible for the brutal physical attacks on previous visiting wolves, they were not responsible for the most recent sexual assault, which means there is at least one more of these rogues on the edges of our territory. The other thing we learned is that they are indeed humans. Since it is impossible for humans and wolves to procreate with one another as we are a completely different species, hybrids do not exist. There is no way it should be possible for three human men to transform into wolves, and angry powerful insane wolves at that. At first, we thought they might be werewolves that didn't know they were werewolves, living as humans in secret. But the blood doesn’t lie. They are not wolves. As I get the last of the blood results analyzed, I drink my third cup of coffee and send
[Slate] It felt good to be walking next to her again, our footsteps finding a natural rhythm. I didn't realize how much I missed our afternoons together, and our lunch meetings. She has a sharp intellect and child-like humor that always makes spending time with her, even if we are doing nothing at all, pleasurable. Ash had demanded that I stop meeting with Cindy alone after I came back and proposed to her with my mother's ring. I had been heartbroken over seeing the doctor kiss Drew and believed Ash's lies that Cindy was someone to play around with other's hearts only to watch them suffer. It was easy to believe with the way my heart was hurting at that moment. I know I shouldn't feel anything for this woman, but I cannot help myself. I cannot keep myself from having feelings about her, even if I know it isn't a good idea. Her apple blossom and anise scent soothes me and my wolf, as we find joy in just being near her. We have never felt this way about Ash, not even once. While I wo
[Hyacinth] "Cindy, are you sure," Slate looks concerned. Very concerned. "What makes you think it is insanity and not something else?" "Well I have been under a lot of stress lately," I start to ramble, "and some of the things I'm hearing and seeing and remembering make no sense. My best explanation is that none of it is real, except in my mind." He looks at me as he quietly holds my hand, his thumb brushing my knuckles absently. "But what if it is something else, something incredible, something a lot better than going insane," he takes a moment to bring his hand to his nose and take a deep sniff. "What if you are finally getting your wolf?" I try to think back to when Bash started manifesting his wolf. Did the voice come first, or were there other signs? "When you talk to your wolf, does it respond?" I ask, "Because this voice never does. It's more like a blurt here and a blurt there, more like the things I don't want to say out loud than a separate personality." "Sage doesn't
[Slate] “Why did I do that!? Why did I kiss her?!” My mind is reeling, my thoughts spinning as I walk briskly towards the packhouse. In just over an hour I am expected to sit at a table next to my fiance at her family’s weekly brunch. And Hyacinth will be there this time. Dear goddess above, what have I done? “The first smart thing you’ve done in weeks,” Sage grins wolfishly inside my mind, an image as clear as my memory of my lips pressed against hers. “I think she likes us too.” “That was not smart!” I argue internally. “Smart would be keeping my distance from her. Smart would be letting her go to have her own life instead of pining after her like a lovesick pup.” “I don’t see what’s wrong here?” Sage growls in frustration. “Claim her as your mate. Mark her, mate with her, do whatever but don’t tie us to her hag of a sister!” “Why do you hate Ashlynd so much,” I interrogate my wolf. “What has she ever done to you?” “Other than forcing us to marry and mate with her?!” Sage is
[Hyacinth]The large cast-iron gates to my family estate were open and inviting, welcoming me home like an old friend after a long time away. The only problem is, this isn’t my home anymore. It hasn’t been my home in over six years. It feels so strange to be standing here between the open gates seeing that so little has changed. The front of the house is still perfectly groomed with expansive well-kept gardens and long green lawns while the back is still wild and untamed, a proper forest for wolves to prowl and hunt. It is so familiar that my heart aches, remembering all of the happy times we had here as a family before everything fell apart. Like a photo of the past, my family home appears to be trapped in time, a little faded around the edges but otherwise the same. “Mama, this house is scary,” Sebastian looks up at the giant estate, his eyes wide with wonder and fear. Maybe he is just feeling my fear of returning, or maybe it is something about the vibe of the house itself, but m
[Hyacinth]What happens next still feels like an impossible nightmare. It was such a blur that it almost didn't feel real. Slate and I freed our senior pack members and they in turn freed the others. The remaining witches were gathered and imprisoned in the very cages they had created for the wolves who were now free. Silver doesn't have the same effect on them so the shackles and cages do not burn them, so in a way, we are treating them with more humanity than they ever showed us. The pack leaders who had attended the summit and our pack have allied. We call our new coalition The Protection and Preservation Coalition and as part of this coalition, each member pack has agreed to share resources and skills to build a standing army of trained soldiers with Alpha Silvers in charge of their training, making the Blue Moon Pack the premier location for training the best soldiers..We made the mistake before of believing the witches are long gone. Now that we know that we were tragically
[Hyacinth]The room is filled with the sound of chanting. Nobody has noticed Slate and me yet, which is good. We don't want them to see us. We need to save our people. If we are lucky, we can make quick work of this and save our pack.And our son, who is at the center of it all. He is the source of their spell. I can see the energy being drawn from him like the witches are drinking his soul. Slate squeezes my hand and through our link shows me an image of what we must do. The me from before all of this would have hesitated, but now I know that hesitation will just lead to more heartbreak and pain for everyone. "We can't let any of them escape," he is full of so much vengeance that I am a bit frightened of and for my mate. This time apart, and the pain he has received from the witch's hands, has changed my gentle Alpha into someone harder.Will he ever be free of this pain he now holds inside--someday perhaps but not today. Today he will have his revenge. And so will I. Slowly, I
[Sebastian]I know the bad man in the cloak. I remember him when I met him before. I should have whammied him before he could hurt us. The other kids can see the truth too. His illusions do not work on us. Maybe it is because they are a part of my pack now. I claim all of them. I am their alpha. The mean witches chained us all together. The chains end in a necklace and two bracelets that burn where they touch our skin. Some of us have blisters from where they rest, There is no way to move our hands or legs without much pain.None of us have gotten food or water, and the little ones are so scared.I am scared too, but I don't want my pack to know. I need to be like my papa. Strong and silent, ready to defend them. The grown-ups came to rescue us, and we were so excited to see them. First, it was the Gamma and Drew, but then I saw they were not themselves. They were put in one of the awful silver cages.A kind old lady and a bunch of wolves came in a few minutes later. But like the ot
[Hyacinth] Once the stars cleared from my eyes and my lungs remembered how to breathe, I looked up at my handsome mate lying above me, his body resting on his forearms, still glowing from the power of our union. My legs are wrapped around his waist as my body seeks to capture every last ounce of his love. Panting, and covered in sweat, our bodies rock softly as we settle back to earth. My legs slowly relax. We just made love in the forest after playing tag as wolves. For so long I never thought I'd have this, that I'd have a mate. But now that our souls are joined, I know that he isn't just my mate--he is my other half. "Hyacinth," Slate speaks into my head, his words as clear and sharp as if he had opened his mouth and said the words aloud. As he gently pulls out of my core to lie down next to me, I shiver at the feeling. It feels so much more intimate now--I not only feel what I am feeling, but I can feel what he is feeling too, as if I am both of us at the same time. Lying
[Thirty minutes earlier][Roderick]I should have never come here. I should have stayed in my swamp. Wolves and witches are dying all around me, terrified as they watch my illusion unfold around them. This is why others cannot use my power. This is why we stay far, far away from all of this. When a wolf like me interferes, when we join the fight, it often causes more harm than help. We intended to scare the witches, but a spell like this does not discriminate. Everyone in the area is affected, including the wolves who are little more than prisoners. Rushing from their seats, they may run towards the shelter of the auditorium. Those who were sitting closer to the front almost trample the ones towards the back as they make a mad dash to escape. The Beta and her team move forward, eliminating as many witches as they can. Unfortunately, the wolves in the audience are not in control of their bodies, the spell holding them captive is. And right now the remaining witches are terrified
[Ashlynd]I am dying. I know I am dying because I can feel the life draining from my body as the blood flows from my wounds, wounds that were inflicted by the love of my life and my darling sister, his mate.Seeing them run after one another, initiating their mating ritual, covered in my blood is not how I expected my wedding day to end.If only I hadn't been born a witch. Today would have been magical when Slate and I finally found one another, joining as man and wife. It would have been the beginning of a beautiful life together. But instead, my sister and the rest of the rebellious pack attacked and took everything important away from me in one deft move. When she bit the rings from my hand, I could no longer feel his heart, how in those moments as the spell started to take hold, he both pitied and hated me. The spell to make him my familiar, my witch's pet. would have forced him to be loyal and faithful and do what I wanted without complaint.It would have been as if I were the
"Mark me?" I whimper as I retake my bipedal form, returning to a body with only two legs instead of four. "You are my Luna," he growls as his form shifts above me. It has been so long since I've had him this close to me, naked and vulnerable, wanting to touch me, that I start to cry as I reach up to touch his chest. "Are you sure that is what you want," I want him, now more than ever, but I don't want him to feel like he is making a mistake. His expression softens as he bends his elbows, lowering himself to me so that he can press his lips to mine gently. "It's all I've wanted for a very long time, Hyacinth. I want you to be my Luna, my wife, and the mother of my pups.""About that, I reach up and touch his face," that night, before you asked Ash to be your mate.His face darkens. "I don't want to talk about that right now," he insists as he kisses me again, this time with more need. "I want you, I want my mate. And I need you to be mine, now. Not just because I want you, but becaus
[Hyacinth]Slate gives me a small head start. Bounding ahead, my heart pounding, I run on my new wolf legs, sprinting through the trees, weaving around them like the breeze itself, touching the branches and the bark with my fur as I brush past them yet easily missing any logs, rocks, or pitfalls in my path. I am graceful and strong in my wolf form, and my legs are long and powerful. Even though Halcyon is the one in charge, I can still feel everything--the cool wetness of the soil beneath the pads of my feet, the smell of fresh rain in the branches of the tall pine trees. And the scent of my mate not far behind me. He smells so good, so mouthwateringly delicious. Like the sweetest candy.Now I finally understand the gravity of what had been taken from me when my mother chose to seal off my wolf. She took away a whole world of sensations. I played in these trees as a little girl and ran through them gleefully as I played with the other pups. I had no idea what I was missing without
[Hyacinth]By the time I make it to the top of the aisle, Ashlynd is already holding Slate's hand as a preacher speaks over the two of them. Next to her are two of her new witch sisters. Next to Slate is nobody. I have already missed the part where they ask those in attendance if they have any objections to this union. Knowing Ashlynd, she probably didn't even include that part. She isn't the type to welcome opposing opinions. Everyone is focused on the scene in front of them. In the audience is my father and his wife, my evil witch step-mother. Also included are all the alphas and their senior cabinet members who came to the summit and Alpha Beta Ball. Every important wolf on the West Coast, as well as a few from the East Coast and one as far away as France. I'd be impressed if I wasn't terrified. All of these wolves are under her compulsion, controlled by the spell worn around Ashlynd's neck. I stand there, unnoticed and numb, unable to move as I listen to his promise to love an