*Isla*The howling is getting closer. Panic wells up inside of me. I don’t even have a weapon. Antony begins to strip, preparing to shift. We are all in trouble.“Fuck,” Poppy mutters, turning away from him. The next thing I know, she’s disappearing into the nearby trees.“Poppy? What are you doing?” I shout to her.“She’s probably hiding,” Antony says behind me. I don’t particularly want to see my cousin naked, so I don’t turn to look at him. “Coward.”It’s the last word he mutters before I hear his voice in my head. “I’ve shifted.”Turning around, I see that he is now a large gray wolf. My eyes widen in shock. I wasn’t expecting him to be so big. Ben gathers up Antony’s clothing and shoves it into his backpack, picking that up off the ground, too.The howls are closing in on us. “Poppy!” I shout, thinking there’s no way she just left, but I have no idea where she’s at either.A moment later, a wolf emerges from the trees. Antony turns toward it, rearing up on his hind legs, ready to
*Isla*Aunt Mary glides toward me, her hair and dress billowing around her. She looks like some sort of a spirit or a witch or something. Perhaps that’s because she is one. People from her island of KiloKilo are said to have magical powers. I guess I’m seeing that firsthand now.An ominous feeling bubbles up inside of me. Is she coming at me to harm me or just because she is happy to see me?Behind me, I hear another wave of howls throughout the forest. Thunder echoes through the trees as well. Whatever is going on back there, it can’t be good. I hope that Maddox is all right.Aunt Mary stops before me. “Hello, Princess Tropicana.”Taking a deep breath, I put a brave face on. Now is not the time to back down from this quest I’ve embarked on. “Hello, Aunt Mary.”Her arms fly out, and suddenly she is upon me, squeezing me tightly—in a warm embrace. Laughing a rich chuckle, she rocks me back and forth. “I’m so glad you’re finally here to help me break the curse. And just in time as well.
*Maddox*My head is ringing as I open my eyes and try to remember where I am and what’s going on. The last thing I remember is a bright light shining in my face and then being thrown. Judging by the pain in the back of my neck and my shoulders, I must’ve hit something hard.Turning around, I see I’m still in my wolf form, and the object behind me is a tree—a palm tree.I’m in the jungle, that’s right. Trying to find Isla and my unborn child.We’d been running through the woods toward the blue light in the distance when suddenly, there’d been another light, a brighter light, right in front of us. Then, some crazy-looking woman had appeared in front of us.I had no idea who she was or even what she was. But then she’d flashed some bright blue wave of light at us, and all of my men had crumpled to the ground.Now, I can see that I’m about the only one getting up. The forest around us is eerily quiet. I wonder if that woman hit the animals with her bolt of light as well. Did she even kill
*Maddox*The sun is coming up as I sit outside of a makeshift tent near Isla’s Aunt Mary’s house—if one can even call it a house. It’s an old cabin that’s sort of falling over. The other wolves with me have volunteered to fix it up for her in exchange for her defeating the witch who was trying to kill us. Miraculously, none of my people were killed.Mystica is tending to the gash in my head. We are sitting beneath a giant palm tree, lush and green with plenty of fruit, unlike all of the trees we saw walking into this place before Isla and her aunt lifted the curse yesterday.I’m ready to leave, but Isla gave me a piece of her mind for even suggesting it yesterday. She called my bluff, so what choice do I have but to stay here and make sure that she and my unborn son get home safely?“She’s quite brave and strong, you know?” Mystica is still dabbing at the wound with some sort of medicine that smells like mint—and ass. I’m not sure whether it’s meant to be refreshing or make me puke.“
Beginning of Season 4*Isla*I stand on the deck of the ship, my hand resting on my swollen belly as I watch the jungle fade into the distance. The Island of Maatua is a beautiful place, full of lush greenery and sparkling beaches. It's hard to leave it behind, even with all the danger and chaos that has recently unfolded there.Maddox is standing a few feet away from me, his arms crossed over his chest as he stares at me. We’ve been on the boat heading home for a couple of hours, and he’s been eager to speak to me about what happened, but he hasn’t done so yet. He probably thinks it will lead to an argument. I don’t blame him for being upset that I left without telling him, though. While I am happy that he wants me to be his Luna, we need to talk this out.I turn and look at him. “Let’s just clear the air,” I tell him. He seems to be glaring at me, so I turn back around and focus on the water, waiting for him to be calm enough to talk.I can feel his anger and frustration, even witho
*Maddox*We land at the port late in the evening. After several days of being on the water, I am ready to get home to the castle. I need to make sure that Isla is safe. Even though Mystica has been looking over her the entire time we’ve been on the boat, I’m not sure I trust my royal healer anymore. Recently, she’s made some dangerous decisions. I think it’s time to get Isla back to the castle and find someone else who can check her over. I have lots of healers on my staff; one of them has to be trustworthy.The moment I step off the boat, Isla’s arm wrapped around my own, I see one of my commanders coming toward me. “Commander Vember,” I say, wondering why he has such a serious expression on his face. “What’s the matter? Why are you at the port in the middle of the night?”He makes the sign of respect, touching his right hand to his left shoulder, and then says, “Alpha, we’ve got a serious problem back at the castle. I didn’t want to tell you the situation through the mind-link while
*Isla*Our room is… plain, but I am not too bothered. Framed oil paintings hang on the stone walls, and the smell of cleaner is sharp and acrid in the air. A fireplace takes up the far wall, and a simple, gray rug covers the stone pavers lining the floor. Again, I wonder how old this place is, and who may have lived here before Maddox bought it. I let out my breath, still tired from the journey and aching from being cramped in a car for what felt like hours. It's not musty or dark in the room, which is a miracle sent by the Goddess herself after spending several nights on the stuffy ship from Maatua. I’d rather be home, however. “Not bad,” Poppy muses, turning in a circle as she scans the room. “But it could use a little paint.”“Hopefully we won’t be here long enough to justify painting the walls,” I say, smoothing my hand over the quilt folded at the foot of the four-poster bed. “Maybe we can go back to the castle in a few days.”“You look like you only have a few days left to c
Chapter 4 *Isla* Maddox takes his pants off, laying them over the foot of the bed as I run a brush through my hair. After sitting through a dinner with everyone currently staying in the little manor, including the warriors, I am happy to be in the comfort and privacy of our room. Tomorrow night I could be curled up in our bed at the castle… if I get my way. “I’m going,” I say flatly, narrowing my eyes at Maddox through the vanity mirror. “It’ll be a war zone, Isla. I can’t take the risk.” “Well, I’ve already made up my mind,” I reply hotly, sighing as my belly tightens. I feel awful, and have been feeling worse and worse as the evening goes on. I try to tell myself it’s because I’m as large as a house and have been cramped in a boat, then a car, and haven’t slept in a real bed in what feels like years, but I know deep down it’s because this baby is coming… soon. “I’ve made up my mind,” he repeats, unbuttoning his shirt so he’s in nothing but his underwear. “It’s not safe. I’
MistyI flip a page in my journal, squinting at the terrible handwriting I’d scribbled down last night when I’d woken from my latest dream. I can’t comprehend what I’d been trying to say. Dark? Hurt? Silver? Those words look somewhat clear. I can’t even remember writing them down. I close the journal with a sigh and slip it back in my purse, hanging the bag over the back of my chair in the common room of my dormitory. It’s a massive building with a pitched roof, several towers, and spooky, darkened alcoves, but it’s home, and right now, I’m sure I’d be able to hear Georgia singing her heart out in the shower if the nagging, incessant voice in my head would shut up for a single, blissful second. I’ve come to the conclusion after two years of hearing what I can only describe as white noise and the occasional static screech, like I have a radio fixed inside my skull, that the voice isn’t my internal dialogue. No, that’s a separate entity in itself, and I’m constantly at odds with the u
MistyTwo white wolves in a clearing.Their bodies made of mist and aether, standing side by side.Mates. A marvel of second chances and extraordinary fate.Two white wolves turn toward the sunrise knowing what they must leave behind; what he sacrificed for those he loved and her refusal to let him go into death alone.Two white wolves stand over their earthly bodies. He, battered and still.She, going into death with eyes open, cupping her mate's face between her graceful hands, her eyes locked on his at the moment of her dying breath.Their last words had been simple. I love you.They always had.They’d promised this instance in stolen moments, in private corners, when there was nothing but the stars to light their way.I will not stay here without you.I will not leave you behind.And so, it was.Two
AvivaThe first flakes of snow fall from the sky as I watch Ryan trying to herd everyone in position. Bundled against the cold in a wool coat Freya and I worked tirelessly on for the last three weeks, I step to the side, finding myself in the center of the crowd standing in the middle of the village of Silverhide. I watch my mate and his Beta, James, nudge families together and run back and forth toward a tripod where Ryan’s camera rests, facing us, to gauge whether all one-hundred and fifty people are in view of the lens.Ryan stands behind the camera with his hands up, his hair dusted with snow. “Okay. Nobody move!”A few excited giggles whisper through the front of the crowd where the numerous children are arranged. I glance around, watching as James joins Dahlia’s side, their baby on her hip. The baby girl finally has a name. Cosette, named after a friend of Dahlia, but they call her Cossie for short. Other babies
Two months later…RyanThe Harvest Festival has been held at the festival grounds between Endova, Teshka, and Navvan for centuries. When we arrived two days ago, leaving only a few people behind in Silverhide to make sure the animals are tended to in our absence, the wide, open space had been nothing but rolling plains.Now, it’s a city of canvas tents and twinkling lights, the air spiced with smoke and the smells of meals being cooked at each fire. Songs mingle as I walk through the festival with Aviva on my arm. I’m wearing a normal outfit. Well, not normal, actually. Mom forced me into a suit and tie with the Crescent Falls royal banner and all of my metals from my years as a warrior draped over my shoulders. Aviva is wearing that white, fur-lined dress again and a pair of new sheep-skin boots Freya and Mercy made for her, but instead of freshwater clam shells and pearls decorating her hair, her curls are w
RyanAn hour earlier…I can’t scrub the image of Aviva dead in my arms out of my head. It’s been several days since the battle, since the moment I put her in my uncle's arms and turned back to the ravaged scene, not knowing whether or not she survived the journey all the way to Maatua.Three days. It was three entire days before Sydney arrived in Silverhide with news about my mate. I’d just arrived back at my territory, exhausted and in tatters, when he clapped a hand on my shoulder and used his powers to spirit us to Moonrise, then to Veiled Valley, then to Maatua. He’s not as strong as Ryatt. Jumping took a toll on us both, and when we finally arrived at my grandparents’ beach house, I collapsed before I even made it up their driveway.Everything since the battle is a blur. Navvan is just… gone. The few survivors were mostly women and children who’d left the villag
AvivaI wake with a start to bright, warm sunshine and the smell of salty air. I grope white sheets, blinking several times to clear my vision as an unfamiliar bedroom fades to life around me. Warm white walls. Pale wood finishes and sleek furniture in soft browns and creams. White curtains drift in a salty breeze coming through several open windows, and a glass door opens to a deck with a view of… a view of the ocean.I’ve never seen the ocean before. From where I lie, I can hear the waves crashing on a white sand beach. Music I don’t recognize drifts toward me, carrying two voices with it, one male, and one female.“Your parents worry about you endlessly, Misty.”“They have nothing to worry about. It’s not like I’m ten anymore, Grandpa. I can make my own way in the world now. Plus, where was their worry when they shipped me here four years ago, huh?”“You
RyanI’ve been dreaming about tying Aviva to my bed, but I’m going to make it a reality for entirely different reasons. Now, I’ll be tying her to keep her there, forever. No more hunting. No more fighting. No more killing rogues barefoot in the woods.No more putting herself in situations like this. I will do her dirty work. I will gladly do it. I roll with Hardan in his… hellhound form? Whatever the fuck he is now. I wish, Goddess, I wish I could have faced him man to man instead of beast to beast. I would have loved to see the look on his face when I ripped out his heart for even thinking for a second he had some kind of claim to my mate, even before I found her. We roll down a decline. I sink my talons into his belly, ripping hard, but I already know hellhounds aren’t that easy to kill. We crash into an oak tree. Leaves shower over us as he tries to claw free of my grasp. He’s calling out, bellowing strange, high-pitched howls. The forest floor rumbles as I sink my claws into hi
AvivaI’m having the time of my life.I zigzag through the woods in my wolf form after three rogues who’ve decided they want nothing to do with me. In fact, the rogues have stopped hunting me over the past several hours and instead are trying to get as far away from me as possible. Their prey has become their biggest predator.I did my best to lead the horde away from Endova. That was my goal–the reason I made the snap decision to leave my mate behind and race into the jaws of death itself. Now, I have the horde moving away from the tribal packlands all together, herding them back into the open plains like a shepherd, and they’re my sheep–if a shepherd killed their sheep, that is.I’ve lost count of how many there are. My red fur is completely black with their blood. I catch my reflection in another small, burbling creek as I leap, seeing only my eyes shining like polished amber against a
Ryan“She’s not here, Ryan,” Mercy hisses as I run through the village. She’s hot on my heels, grabbing my fur to try to pull me to a stop but I’m not in my right mind.It’s been five hours since I last saw Aviva. Andrew and I have been scouring the forest and plains for any sign of her, but I lost her scent, and my desperate attempts to mind-link with her have come up empty and silent.I shift into my human form the second I cross into the pack house and immediately crash into one of the tables, tripping over the bench and landing on my side with a crunch. I’ve been in my wolf form since last night. Exhaustion sings through my bones as my vision spins. I hear Andrew similarly falling to the ground with a choked groan before hurried footsteps reach the pack house. Someone throws a blanket over me with a scoff, followed by Mercy’s sharp, soprano voice ripping through the air as she starts s