Slate is trying so hard to break free of Ash's grasp! Hang in their, readers! Things will get better again soon!
[Hyacinth] “We need to come up with a plan,” I insist as we get into yet another car. We’ve been traveling up and down the state, shifting directions, not staying in one pack for more than two or three days, for the last week and a half. Every time we stop, we change cars as a way of keeping those who may be following us off of our scent. Originally, when Gregory told me the plan to go down the River City, and then out to the coast, I thought that would be the end of the journey. What he didn’t tell me was that it was only the first leg of our adventure. I miss Slate with my entire being. When I think of him, I am filled with a deep ache that goes all the way into my bones. In some ways, I think it would have been better if I had never known he was my mate. Had we never found each other, never mated, I wouldn’t long for him the way that I do. My heart wouldn’t be broken if I had never filled it with his love. You cannot miss something that you have never experienced. “You know t
[Hyacinth] We follow him onto a little motorized boat just big enough for the three of us and a small bit of luggage acquired throughout our adventures. At Bash's insistence, we collected not just the basics like clothing and personal care items, but a stuffed animal or two, and a few small souvenirs as well. Over the last week and a half, we had gathered quite a few treasures, all items Bash hoped to share with his Papa when we made it back home. It takes us a moment to get adjusted and find spaces for everyone and everything on the boat, but then we are speeding along on the water and heading away from shore. Bash has never been in a boat before, so he doesn't know what to expect. When the motor starts and we are propelled along the water’s surface, he reaches around me and grabs my waist, holding tightly to my shirt. “How long will it take for us to get there,” I ask Gregory as he steers the boat along on its path. We lost sight of the beach several minutes ago but I have yet t
[Hyacinth]“Dr. Stevens,” I gasp, “I thought you were in Mexico,” I stand confused as I look at the man I had been searching for only two weeks ago. He laughs. “I see my daughter gave you my address,” his laughter eases into a gentle smile. “She doesn’t know about this place, so she’d have no way to guide you here. I’m sure she did her best to lead you to me.”“So the sign on your property…” I look at him waiting for him to elaborate. “Oh, I did go to Mexico,” he confirmed. “The surfing in Baja is excellent. But I always come here on my way back to check on my patients. The hidden have no one else to care for their medical needs. What we need here is a full-time doctor.” He looks at me expectantly.If he is expecting me to take the job he is woefully mistaken. I will get back to my mate by whatever means possible. He’s set to marry my sister in the next day or so. I can’t let that happen. Especially now that I know about the little one I carry inside of me. She deserves to have her
[Hyacinth] “There is nothing special about me,” I blush. “I have done nothing in my life to deserve such distinction. I have lived most of my adult life as a wolf-less rogue. I take care of those I can, but I have failed just as much as I have succeeded,” I think about those poor cursed humans that Slate killed in his madness. I wasn’t able to save them, I wasn’t able to save him either. “I disagree,” the doctor places his hand on my shoulder. “You are stronger than you realize.” He pauses, watching Bash play. Bash was playing a guessing game where he was reading the minds of the wolves around him. They were all marveling at how well he was doing. “Now tell me a bit about yourself. I feel like I’ve lost track of you since you left the pack. Did you enjoy college? I assumed that is where you went after the ball. I see you found your mate as well, a Crescent Wolf based on your son’s remarkable skills. You must be so proud.” I shake my head ruefully. “You misunderstand. Bash isn’t my
[Hyacinth] “Is that how you and my mother decided to keep me safe,” my body grows rigid as my tone grows cold. Sensing my change he retracts his hand. “Did you block my wolf?” “Yes,” he admits, not denying that he was responsible. “It was what your mother wanted. She knew there were witches who would hunt you as soon as they saw you had inherited the full Monrovia gift. You were only 3 when you started to show signs. We waited until you were 5 to give you the first dose.” “First dose?” My anger is starting to boil over as bile threatens to rise from my tightly-clenched gut. “How many times did you do this to me?’ “Only twice,” he confesses. “The treatment lasts 10 years and is designed to wear off in time for you to develop your wolf at an age where your body is better able to control the strength of your abilities. Your mother had the same procedure done herself. She was one of our test subjects at the institute.” I remember the file I had found in my office, the one that showed
[Ashlynd] “I don’t think this is a good idea, Mother,” I plead one more time. “We need to call the pack leaders and postpone the ball.” "Pft," Tabitha James dismisses me completely as if my panic and fear are completely unwarranted. "The wards will have been properly dug by then and the pack will be ready to show our best side to the world. With all the Alpha and Beta's here, the giant focus will finally have a chance to really...shine," she smirks at her own small joke before becoming serious again. "We cannot cancel." "Is there any way that I can just keep Slate hidden until after you..." “No,” she takes a delicate bite of a finger sandwich. “Not acceptable. We need to keep up appearances or the illusion falls apart. If we want to live openly as we are, we need this spell to work. We need this spell to be successful in controlling the wolf leaders of the West. For the sake of the coven and the freedom of all witch kind,” she dabs on the edges of her red lips right before she pick
[Slate] Ever since I realized that she was drugging everything I ate and drank, I stopped eating in her presence whenever possible, sneaking untainted food from the kitchen, and faking every time I had no choice but to pretend to be obedient. When I do have to eat around her, I make sure to spit out what I can, swallow what I must, and vomit up whatever is possible when she isn’t watching. It isn’t a perfect system, but it is enough to give Sage a chance to help me. “The food is breaking our connection to our mate,” he explained to me one night. “She feels further and further away from us every night. We should be able to feel her no matter where she is.” I noticed the difference as well. I had been hoping I was wrong, especially after Sage gave the news. “She’s carrying our pup,” he was so proud to discover that in such a brief time together we were able to create a new life with our mate. “You are going to be a father.” “I already am,” I think of the handsome young alpha with
[Hyacinth] “ARRGH!” It feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I cannot breathe, I cannot see. Losing control of my body I fall to the ground screaming and shaking. The dance around the bonfire comes to a complete stop. The children all stand, wide-eyed and scared as they watch one of the few adults on the island hurt and in pain. For them, it must feel like the world is falling into chaos. Including Bash, who stares at me, his hands extended, but wanting to help but unable to move. “SLATE!” I scream my mate’s name as my wolf howls in agony. He is gone. Our connection to him is gone. “Oh, Goddess! SLATE!” Gregory scoops me off of the ground. Holding me in his arms he follows Dr. Steven’s instructions, taking me to the medical suite where he lies me down on a padded table. Bash follows, unwilling to let me out of his sight. “Gregory, please hold her arms,” he requests as he turns to me. “Hyacinth, your body is going into separation shock. I need to give you a sedativ
[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