[Hyacinth]Slate opens the trunk which flies open. Inside, curled up amongst the jumper cables and spare tires is Bash, who blinks up into the sunlight at the both of us, his eyes wide with shock, his mouth open as if he were about to start yelling for help. He was in the middle of tapping on the trunk door, lying on his back with his feet and clawed fingertips in the air.“Finally!” he stretches and his claws retract as he reaches his arms out to be picked up. “I was thinking you’d never find me!”“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE!!!?” I try not to scream but I’m not sure right now if I should be happy or angry. “Do you know how much trouble you are in right now?”“But Mama,” his little lip begins to tremble as I pull him out of the trunk. His arms squeeze my neck into a tight hold as if he is afraid I might disappear. “I promised you. I need to keep you safe.”“Your Mama is just frightened, little wolf. She thought some bad people had gotten you or something very bad had happened to you.
[Hyacinth] “Superheroes,” Slate looks skeptical. “Like Superman?” As we made our way along the highway headed south, we decided to take Bash with us on our little adventure down the coast. It was easier than taking him back to River City and then heading out alone again. Besides, it seemed like a good idea to have some family time, although alone time would have been nice as well. I blush at the idea of more time alone with Slate. We have had so little time together, and I feel a need to be closer to him. I hope he still feels the same way about me as I tell him the next part. “Not exactly,” I try to explain what we mean, but it just created even more questions for Slate, who looked a bit lost as the discussion continued. “So let’s see if I understand,” he is trying so hard to stay calm, but I can see a bit of panic in his eyes, even as his tone remains compassionate, “little Bash here has the power to make people’s minds turn off which he’s had since his wolf began to material
[Hyacinth] After grabbing a quick snack in town, we begin our arduous journey up the tall mountain. After eating a couple of cookies and staring at the trees for about twenty minutes, Bash passes out from too much sugar and far too much excitement. I put the address I received from Nurse Stevens as the current location of her father. It is going to be a long drive, up and down the mountainside taking close to an hour. Doc Stevens lives deep in the Ben Lomond forest, surrounded by coastal redwoods, high above the ocean in a house looking out to the sea. It should take us another 40 minutes to get there, or at least what the GPS is signifying as we make our way up along the twisty mountain roads. “Have you ever been here before?” Slate turns on the car radio as we make our way past some fallen trees from an early fall storm. “To the ocean?” “Not for a very long time,” I admit, “My mom preferred to vacation in the mountains. She loved the ice and snow and adored skiing. Considering s
[Hyacinth] “Mexico!” I shout and then look back nervously at the car. Thankfully Bash is still asleep. “Well shoot,” I whisper angrily. “That was a waste of time!” After spending a few minutes looking around for a scrap of paper and a pencil, I write Dr. Stevens a note letting him know who I am, where I came from, and how to contact me. “Please contact me as soon as you get this,” I begin the last lines of my letter. “We have so much to talk about.” Folding it up nicely, I leave it for him in his mailbox. "Just because we didn't get to meet the doctor," Slate comes up behind me as we stand next to the car watching Bash sleep. "Doesn't mean this has to be a wasted trip. What do you say we have a little family beach vacation.""Family vacation," I try not to grin too widely. "But we've only just barely become a family. Doesn't it feel too soon?""Too soon for what," Slate asks. "The world is uncertain. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring. I think if we don't take a moment
[Slate]Family. If you are a lucky wolf, you will be surrounded by those you love, others who cherish and protect you, who you can cherish and protect in turn. Packs are like large families, the alpha serving as the patriarch who keeps all of his wolves safe. But having a pack, leading a pack, is not the same as having a family. Not really. Family is having someone to wake up next to in the morning, having arguments, and making love. Family is sharing moments like these with your children, moments when things seemed perfect and easy that you can hold in your heart when things become hard.I remember my father and mother taking me to the boardwalk when I was just a pup, only a few years older than Bash. We had so much fun riding the rollercoaster and eating cotton candy and those weird freeze-dried ice cream dots that were such a craze when I was a kid. Afterwards, we’d spend the night at the hotel overlooking the water and I’d watch the surfers ride the waves. It is one of my fondes
[Hyacinth] The drive along the coast as we made our way back north was mostly silent. We are all weighted down with the knowledge that this may be our last peaceful moment together.So we try to make the best of it. We made a few touristy stops, including a stop at a pancake house with three dozen types of homemade syrup, and a trinket shop where we could get matching shirts. After stalling for as long as possible, we eventually hopped into the car one last time and began the final leg of our journey back home to Gold River.My mate and I both have a lot on our minds, our faces lined with worry. Bash, sensing our unease, amuses himself by reading the signs that announce each time we enter the boundaries of a new pack, a game we had started back when we were rogues and we didn't know where we might be going next. I would read the signs and he would read them with me. Now he is doing it for me. He is such a kind and considerate boy.“Summer Song Pack,” he recites. “Population 2,251,” o
[Ashlynd] “Explain, in detail, what happened.”The crone before me is hunched over her lab equipment in a warehouse we had outfitted for her on the edge of pack territory. It cost quite a bit of money to keep her location secret and quite a bit more money to have her lab properly outfitted. Modern witches don’t cackle over a cauldron under the full moon. Modern witches are scientific spellcasters. They observe the world, collect data, and use that data to create a new type of magic, one based on logic and reason. This might seem contrary to what most people understand, but the only real reason our people have survived near annihilation is the fact that we are good at noticing patterns and hiding in plain sight.True witches are chemists, biologists, and physicists. We discovered how the planets move and how seasons turn. We noticed how some plants work best when grown in particular soil, and the elemental parts of all living things, and how to manipulate them. Without witches, moder
[Slate]As I was walking over to the meeting hall, I got an urgent text from Ash. She wanted me to meet in the Alpha suite immediately. She had some upsetting and important news to share, but she didn’t want it to be over the phone or by text. I only agree to her demand because I feel guilty. I hate how things ended between us and feel she deserves a chance at a proper farewell. So I walk straight up the stairs, not paying attention to the hubbub around me. The Alpha Beta Ball is happening at the end of next week. That day was also supposed to be mine and Ashlynd's wedding, so the party planners have been working overtime making all the preparations ready for both events. Every major Alpha and Beta on the West Coast has been invited to attend with us hosting them as a way to apologize for missing the summit at the end of last month. When I pull out my key to unlock the door, I notice that it is already open and not even completely latched, so when I place my key in the lock, it push
[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