Oh, Bash is being a little bit naughty!
[Hyacinth]Roderick then goes on to explain that when he casts illusions of this level, it requires consent from the person at the center of the illusion to release the illusion. “It’s anchored to him in a way that makes it possible for him to keep the illusion even when I am not nearby,” he tries to explain. “To do that, because he is a wolf with such sophisticated mental abilities, and because those abilities are a key part of making this illusion work, I needed his permission. Similarly, I need his help, or at least his willingness to remove it. He has enough power, even now, to keep me out of his mind if he chooses.I look at the newest ally in our group with sheer terror. “So the success or failure of our task relies on the mood swings of a 5-year-old boy?!” My gamma places a calming hand on my back, but I’m in no mood to be calm. Shaking him off, I take a step closer to the Full Moon Wolf. He raises his hands defensively. “We can still get this to work to our advantage,” Marian
[Hyacinth]Our plan worked better than expected.I expected some resistance, or at least someone asking for verification of our identities. Nobody did. Not a single person questioned us when our River City licensed van showed up with Gamma McCoy escorting Bash pretending to be Alpha Davis, even with all the newly added security. The guards simply waved us through, their eyes glassy and fogged, as if not present in their bodies. They were more like movie zombies than werewolves and the sight of them makes my skin crawl. There is something unnatural in the way they all move in sync--from the tilt of their heads to the way they move in unison as if it is one body with many separate parts.But the strange guards are not the only thing to change about Gold River in the short time Bash and I have been gone. In addition to the added security at the gate, there are now armed guards just beyond patrolling the main streets near the packhouse. They all move in unison as they travel from street
[Ashlynd]Tonight, the Grand Warlock will test the spell with the wolves on hand before we move forward with the final phase. The true sacrifices will be arriving in the morning, dozens of moon wolves cultivated for just this purpose. Mother tells me it is easier if I don't see these wolves as real people. "They're beasts," I can still hear my mother snarl. "They are beneath us. We do not mate with them." I do not care about my mother's opinion. In this case, she is completely wrong. I don't care about what she says--I plan to use some of the powers of manifestation during this spell to bring a true joining between myself and my wolf. We will have our mate. The wolf of a witch like mine isn't a traditional wolf-like those gifted to the weres. My wolf is cobbled together from bits and pieces of other wolves, carved from the souls of Moon Wolves. We don't stitch a complete soul to a witch's body anymore because a single soul can often overpower the host. But a cobbled soul like mine
[Slate] I used to think of Ashlynd as a friend. When we first met her, she seemed sweet, kind, and considerate--the perfect luna. She did everything she could to make the pack a better place and she was a great partner and companion. I could tell that she felt an instant attraction, but no matter how I tried to build my own affection, I could tell that she wasn’t the one. I’ve been with other women, I wasn’t saving myself for my mate, but there was something about her that just felt…off. Over time, I watched as the pack turned against her. The senior members were all polite and professional, but I heard the whispers behind her back, the accusations. But it didn’t feel right marrying for obligation without any feeling attached. So I changed the law. No, I abolished it. The idea that someone could be so severely punished for a single night of passion was more than off putting--it was archaic. Our pack was one of the last packs in the country that still had that law. Even pack
[Hyacinth] The foreboding feeling wouldn’t go away. I tried praying to the Moon Goddess for guidance, but all that I could feel was the pervasive power of whatever spell enchanted this place into existence. "Do not eat anything," Cameron advised us both. "I still remember everything from when I was under her power, and one way that the spell is strengthened is through herbs added to the food. As long as everyone eats or drinks the potion, and she keeps the energy of the spell going she can keep the spell going."I nod and then turn to Bash, who still looks like Alpha Davis. "So don't eat or drink anything, Bash. Even if it's cake." He pouts. "What about ice cream?""It's evil ice cream," I speak quietly and close to his ear, "full of dark magic." His head moves up and down slowly as he contemplates whether or not I am telling the truth or just trying to keep him away from dessert. Cameron and I scan the room, looking for senior staff members that we can free from the curse discr
[Hyacinth]What I feared to be true is confirmed as soon as our fingers touch.Ashlynd and her witches succeeded in severing our mate bond completely. Not even the finest thread of it remains. Once a bond like that is broken, unless the Moon Goddess herself intervenes, there is no way to replace it. When the witches cut it away from him, she cut away that small piece of my soul that had bound him to me. "But he is still our mate," Halcyon insists. "Our bond is deeper than anything simple magic can erase. He will love us without the bond, as much as he loved us with it.""How can you be so sure?" I ask my wolf. "How can you know?""Because I will still love my mate as well, no matter how long it takes him to remember that he loves me back," she declares. "He is worth fighting for."I can't make up for the loss of the tingle, but I can begin to gently remove the poison of the curse from his body through our touch. Starting slowly, I focus my energy on healing what is broken. "Luna,"
[Hyacinth] Slate takes another big step backward, pushing open the door to the outside. As soon as the door closes, he collapses to the ground, screaming in pain and I am helpless to make it any better. "SLATE!" I push more power into him as I struggle to tease the spell apart. He cannot speak in response. He screams over and over again, barely gasping for air. "We need to hurry," Halcyon urges, howling in pain and frustration within my mind. "You are taking too long and he is screaming too loudly. There is no way the witches won't feel this. They'll come searching when they notice he is gone." "I'm so sorry," I weep as I kneel on the cold grass next to him. I can feel the illusions that Roderick cast upon me slipping away as my focus slips and as I try to burn the toxin of this curse from Slate's system. But the spell holds on to him tightly, refusing to let go, springing back into place each time I pull a strand of its infernal sickness from his soul. Like sucking poison from
[Hyacinth]Propelled forward by fear and adrenaline, I run down the hill, my blood creating an unfortunately convenient trail as I make my way into town. Thankfully, the streets are empty. Everyone is either at the Alpha Beta Ball, or they are sitting in their houses doing nothing--The nature of the witches' spell taking the will out of everyone to do more than exist. Wolves are patrolling the streets near the pack house. I am sure there will be more waiting for me inside the jail as well. But I need to get to Drew. "No," My wolf insists. "You need to rest. You need rest more than anything.""I can't rest," I argue with Halcyon. "Slate needs me, Bash needs...""Our pup will be fine," she assures me. "He's pretending to be a big strong alpha. And he has others helping him. McCoy won't let him get into any trouble. You are the one in the most danger now. We need to cover your scent."She's right. I smell like fear and blood. Most wolves, especially those who are out of control, would
[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