[Hyacinth] My hackles raise, as I take a step forward, not flinching as their guns raised and aimed at my chest. “I am not a witch,” I insist. “But I do need your help dealing with witches who have infiltrated my pack, bespelled my alpha, and plan to do something during the summit tomorrow.” “I can vouch for her,” Mariana speaks up. “She has been nothing but truthful since we have been introduced. We came here hoping you might ally with us to help reclaim her pack.” “Funny,” his smile is small as he points to Gamma McCoy, “You are the second pack to approach me today for an alliance. Unfortunately for you, the Gold River Pack has a much more convincing story.” He looks over at the Gamma, who stands there without moving, barely even blinking as he listens. “Your Luna says that you were kicked out of your pack 6 years ago because you were using powerful spells to seduce the young wolves in the pack. You then wandered the countryside packless until you were able to seduce the new
[Hyacinth]I came here seeking help, hoping to find allies.But Ashlynd got here first. With all of her power and influence as Luna, I shouldn’t be surprised. I should have known something like this would happen. That it was inevitable. With my back to the cold stone wall, I think about my son, my mate, and everything that has happened since that day we returned home to start the rest of our lives together, only to have it all fall apart. But mostly I think about Alpha Davis and what he said about when Slate and Ashlynd met. He said it looked like the meeting of two fated mates, but I know that cannot be true. Slate and I are fated mates. You only get one of those in a lifetime if you are very very lucky. Most wolves never find their true mate. So there is no way that he saw what he thought he saw. I had no idea that Ashlynd and Slate had become engaged on the same day I had been kicked out of the pack. It seems like too much of a coincidence. What are the chances that both Ashlyn
[Hyacinth]Gamma McCoy fought against the bars, but I held on tight. Now that I can see what is wrong with him and how I can help him, there is no way I am letting go. Thankfully, the process of clearing the curse from his body was a simple one. Just as I pulled the spell from those poor humans who had been infected and turned into a type of wolf--they just needed to be free of what was wrong. Setting a body to what it should be is far easier than trying to change it.Which makes me wonder: Why are the witches working so hard to change the true nature of wolves? What is their end goal?And dear Goddess above, what does it have to do with Moon Wolves?Now that I know how to fight back I need to know if there are any other wolves like me, wolves with the power to help me win this battle. Because there is no way to deny that this is indeed a battle, not just for the heart and soul of my pack, but possibly something bigger than all of us. As soon as I am done cleansing McCoy of his infe
[Hyacinth] Both Gamma McCoy and I hold our breath, waiting to see who might descend. I felt my power crackling within me, waiting to defend us if I must. I'd rather not use my abilities to harm, they were designed to heal, but I will do whatever it takes to get out of this dungeon and back to my mate. But the first person to greet us was the last person I'd expect to find here. "Sebastian Alexander James," I scold my 5-year-old cub as he squeezes me tightly around the waist. "You should NOT be here. Where's Jeffrey?" "With Rodrick," he looks back at the stairs. "And Miss Stella and Aunty Mariana." "Auntie Mariana?" "She said I could call her that," he looks up at me with his big eyes and I ruffle his hair. I am glad to see him, even if it is in such a dreary place. "Why are you here?" I scrunch my face just enough for him to know I am serious. "I left you somewhere safe so that I could go and get your papa." "You need me!" he insists. "I knew you were in trouble. I found the
[Hyacinth]I have never bought into the idea that rogues are somehow worse than us just because they are packless. There are so many reasons a wolf may find themselves without a pack, including several that are beyond their control. Wolves like me. The only reason I was sent out in the cold was to preserve my family's honor after I “broke” a law that made no sense to begin with. A law that victimized the victim in many cases, because it didn’t get any kind of consideration for who it affected. Because they didn’t have the name of the wolf who had taken my honor, they had no way to bring us both to justice. So instead they punished me, shamed me even, rather than listen to me. Hearing Gamma McCoy apologize did little to heal my deep emotional wound. I am still so angry at all of it. But right now, I need to focus. Because the circumstances of how we met don’t matter as much as my necessity to save him. I love Slate. And even though they didn’t treat me well, I still love my pack. “
[Hyacinth]“Stop!” Bash’s little voice cuts through the din of fighting all around us. “Mama, what about the baby?”I pause. “He’s right,” I remember, removing my hands from the Alpha. “I can’t cure anyone else without endangering my cub. She barely survived me freeing you, Gamma McCoy.”“Well then,” he smiles, taking on a can do attitude. “Let’s find some rope. We’ll just have to keep him under control the old-fashioned way.”“What about the rest of the pack,” I yell over the sounds of battle. “We don’t need to battle all of them,” Gamma McCoy assesses. “Our crew has already taken out half of them. And the rest just need to be told to stand down.”“Or we can scare them,” Bash suggests. “Mama, maybe we should ask a dragon to help.”“Bash dear, don’t be silly,” I shake my head. “Dragons aren’t real.”“Actually they are,” Roderick speaks up for the first time, his voice gravelly. “I met one when I was vacationing in Wales with my parents. They’re even more elusive than Moon Wolves.” He
[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
[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