"Hey Rosemary, I just remembered something." "Hmm." "I need to get home. I'm sorry, I'll have to cut my shift short."
[Apple]The Alpha is looking at me like something sweet to eat and I find it very unnerving. As he approaches, I take an involuntary step backward and his eyes go from smoldering to sad in a blink. "You're hurt," his tone is soft, almost gentle. The deep bass of his voice rumbles through me, soothing my frazzled nerves."Why are you here?" I question him. "I was invited," he says nonchalantly as if the answer should be obvious. "No, I mean in this bathroom." I point towards the door. "It's a women's bathroom."He shrugs. "You are hurt. Besides, it's just you and me. I made sure to lock the door."I gulp. I'm locked in a bathroom, bleeding, with no way to escape.He takes another step forward and my back hits the wall my heart beating rapidly. He could do whatever he wanted to me and nobody would know. I'm so insignificant, he could get rid of the body and it wouldn't matter."You shouldn't be here," I glare at his smug expression and his fancy suit. "Your date is probably wondering
[Sylvester]"Alexis," I close the door behind me, shielding Apple from view. "Why are you hiding in the women's bathroom," she raises her eyebrow before leaning in closely. "And why do you smell like someone else's blood?""I don't need to explain myself to you," I push myself into her space using my Alpha energy to make her take a step back. "I am Alpha. You aren't even my Luna." "Yet," she challenges me, meeting me eye to eye. "But I know you need me, Sylvester. My uncle brought me back because you're so desperate." She flashes a little fang as she licks her lips, pressing her chest against mine. "I don't know why you are fighting me. I know you want me, Sylvester. We work so well together. Just think of what we could do if we just combined our strengths." My heart thumps in remembered pain. I loved her once, and once, her please would have been enough to make me want her again.Once.But now, it just reminds me of everything I lost. Growling, I push her away from me. "Know your
[Apple]Alpha Sylvester turns me away from the lights of the party down a quiet street. The moon is rising to the east, full and bright, over the hillside dotted with expensive homes. In the quiet of the moonrise, he goes over his situation, telling me his dilemma. The council is forcing him to get married. Having a Rental Luna is no longer good enough. He wants to change the offer, to change the original contract.Alpha Sterling needs a fiance."So are you asking me to be your girlfriend?" I question him, not quite understanding what it is he is asking for. "Your pretend fiance.""Yes," he confirms. "There would still be the contract between us. I need it to be on record that you were my Rental Luna, to confirm our backstory but..." I'm still confused. "Why me? Wouldn't a real wolf be a better option in this case?"He shakes his head. "I want you for the same reason I wanted you to begin with. You aren't demanding anything of me, you don't want to be my wife or my mate. This is jus
[Apple]"No," Rufus, his wolf, replies. "It has to be you. It must be you." "Why?" I ask his wolf directly. "Why does it have to be me? What makes me so special?""Because you are you, and you smell like home." He takes a step closer and I find myself mesmerized as he stalks me, his movements more graceful and dancelike, edged in promised passion. "You taste like trust, and you look at me with eyes that are full of respect and honor." "Your words are very pretty," I blush. My body reacts strongly to Sylvester's charms and his wolf, with his confidence and passion, is even more irresistible. "But I need more than pretty words to keep me safe."The way his body makes me hum when he looks at me with his shining eyes frightens me. I know he is hunting me, even now as he is speaking to me calmly. I am prey to him. Something to use or consume. "I will keep you safe. You are mine and nobody touches what is mine," he growls. "Sylvester is too stubborn to admit it, but you are the one we nee
[Apple]"A date," I say a little louder than I intended. A few people turn to look, but then smile and go back to their pizza. "Like a date, date?" "Well, yeah," he smiles, touching my hands without holding them, uncertain of his welcome. "I like you and I'd like to get to know you better." My mind immediately flashes to Rufus, Sylvester's wolf, and the way his eyes glowed when he said I was his and that I belonged to him. The last time I spent time with Thorne, the Alpha nearly took his head off and we had been with a group of other people. It didn't matter to him, however, he had sensed that Thorne might want more than just to be friends.But can I trust Thorne any more than I can trust Sylvester? "I don't know if that's a good idea," I explain as I move my hands away from his. Yes, Thorne is handsome and kind, and maybe I feel a bit of a pull towards him as well, but that doesn't mean I want to be involved with him. I have enough on my plate with a jealous alpha breathing down
[Sylvester]The Board of Directors is unhappy that I reprimanded Alexis at the gala. "If she is to be your Luna, you will need to handle your private issues in private. What you did was an insult to the other packs as well as Silver Crescent."I was ordered to "play nice" and "make a good show.""I have no interest in mating, marrying, or marking that bitch," I scream loud enough that a few employees passing my office windows jump. "Just take her out to lunch and make sure the cameras see you," Beta-Emertis Clancy insists, "You haven't officially declared anyone your new Luna. Rental Lunas don't count, not unless your relationship shifts to something more meaningful." His sneering tone oozes through the phone. I wish he was here so I could punch his canines in. "Unless you were planning to propose to your Rental Luna? Where has she been by the way? She has been noticeably absent.""She needs some private time to adjust to the pack," I lie smoothly. It isn't a total lie. I intend to br
[Apple] My phone feels like a rock as I place it in my pocket. I thought I'd feel better, texting Thorne for a date. But I don't. I just feel angry, hurt, and confused.I should text him back, and tell him it was a mistake. I'm such a mess, maybe I shouldn't have any type of relationship with anyone right now, no mater how kind they seem. My heart hasn't had enough time to heal from my previous heartbreak. Just last week I was head over heels in love with Zion, ready to share the last of my body and all of my heart only to have it shattered into a thousand pieces. And then I met Sylvester. One of the sexiest, most powerful creatures on two legs. He tells me I'm exactly what he wants me to be But I rejected him. Because his power and passion terrifies me. Because a girl like me shouldn't crave something so dangerous. When this Alexis person showed up it felt like a confirmation of every dark thought I've ever had and every nasty word that has ever been said about me. I'm too
[Apple]Beta Rudy grins as he steps out of the car. "I am so glad you changed your mind."Before I can respond, he hands me the updated contract. "We should probably get this part out of the way." I look the contract over carefully with shaking hands. Everything seems to be in order. Inhaling deeply, with a fluid stroke of the pen I sign the rental Luna contract becoming a temporary member of the Silver Crescent pack.I hand the contract back to Rudy and take my place in the back of the car. Riding in silence, I watch the buildings pass by. Soon we are pulling up to a tall, shining building of glass and gleaming steel.When the car door opens, Rudy hands me a key card."Welcome to the Silver Crescent Packhouse, Luna LeRoux," his grin lights up his whole face. "Welcome home.""Home," I repeat. That word has so much weight. I haven't felt at home since the day my mother died.Thinking about her, I barely hear what Rudy has to say until we stop in front of a large, metal door."This card
[Sylvester]5 days have passed since the men with whips came to show me my place. Five long days of being locked in a room, planning what will happen next. After they knocked me out the first time, they took me to this…place. I don’t know where I am now, except that it is some kind of medical facility. All the guards and technicians are humans, and all the patients are…not. I’ve seen Calix twice since arriving. The first time to gloat, the second time to let me know that he has sold his entire rogue pack to these monsters. “My payment for your power,” he sneers. “They’ve been testing this new drug on my father. Funny, I’m surprised the old dog is still kicking.”The last time he came by was to laugh as they whipped me. That was two days ago.My body is sore, but I am not broken. They haven’t managed to make me do a damn thing they want me to do. “Kneel, mutt, and drink,” the human asshole holding the bowl of blood demands. My chains are thicker this time, made silver reinforced wit
[Sylvester]My body is cold and stiff as I slowly regain consciousness. Whatever the bastards drugged me with burns my veins and makes my head pound. I don’t want to be awake, it hurts too much.The sound of birdsong in the distance lets me know that I am still in the forest. The cold, slick, wet floor beneath my cheek and the soft trickle of condensation dripping from a stalactite informs me that I am in a large cave, bigger than the one I had woken up within before. And the heavy weight around my neck and ankles tells me I’m bound and chained. Heavy footsteps approach. “Get up,” cold water splashes across my face, shocking my already stressed system. Sputtering, my eyes snap open, and I snarl upward at the tall figure before me who is hard to make out while backlit by the setting sun. Struggling to sit, I pull on the chains enough to stand in a somewhat crouched position. I guess I should be grateful I can move at all. “You’re going to feel like shit for a few days,” the younger
[Sylvester]This was a trap.This pit is at least 12 ft deep. Deeper than I could leap even if I were in perfect health, which after a week of prison I am not. Whoever dug this must have had it prepared in advance, waiting for the opportunity to spring this trap.Because that is exactly what it was--A clever ploy to bring me out here and put me at the mercy of this lone wolf. Somehow, someone knew my reaction to seeing a red wolf and capitalized on it.The wolf who led me away during the confusion in Moon River City is standing over my dank prison, bending over so that I can see his young face as his jackal-like laughter taunts me from above."Oh how the mighty have fallen," he snorts, as he takes pleasure in my pain. "What a shame."He's right to laugh. I was a fool. My desire to see my old mentor was so great that I charged blindly into a dangerous situation without weighing all the possibilities.Seeing him up close, it is very clear that this young wolf was not Lysander. How could
[Sylvester][Two weeks earlier] The rogues overwhelm the room. I’m not sure how or why, but for some reason, I can push back the worst of their infection with my touch, a glow sparkling along my fur as I reach out and touch their bodies with a clawed hand. Now that I know my mother was a witch, it is as if a floodgate of power that has always been there has finally made its way to the surface. I was more than enough as an alpha. I've always been the strongest, even when I was a pup. Now that I'm a man, there aren't many alphas who can match me. Now, it makes sense. I was never just an alpha. I was a hybrid. A hybrid that had been powerless until now, who had been poisoned by his own mate's bite because I was far too much of a wolf to receive it, and she was still far too much of a witch to give it. I wonder if things would have been different now if we had marked each other after finding our true nature. Walking through the chaos in my wolfman form, my glow brightens, curing eve
[Apple] I am standing in a mist-covered field, a gray sky overhead, the sun hidden behind a massive black cloud promising rain. In the distance is a wolf. He is large, far taller than a man even on four legs, his silver-tipped fur catching the faint light filtering down to us. Around us, everywhere, are bodies. Some wolves, others men and women with glowing skin. “Mate,” the wolf growls from across the field. “I’ve found you. “Mate,” I repeat, my heart mourning the loss of so many lives, my own hands stained red with the blood of the wolves by my feet. “Why did it have to be you?” The wolf transforms in front of me into a tall man covered in scars. His black hair curls around his shoulders and his eyes are the most startling shade of blue-green. “Alpha Rufus,” I call him. Strangely, he has the same name as my Sylvester’s wolf. He looks a lot like Sylvester too but with bolder lines and a stronger chin. “Witch Queen Astrea,” he bows, his eyes flashing as my glowing hand lif
[Rudy]We are so close to finding Sylvester. I can feel it. I know this is going to work. I trust Hazel and her abilities. She is a powerful witch, she just doesn't give herself enough credit. Just because her magic isn't flashy doesn't mean it isn't as potent."Well she's put a spell on me, anyway," I grin as I dart across the street from the park, her juniper berry scent freshly imprinted upon me, the taste of her still on my tongue.Shortly after I first met Apple, I realized there was something special about that brunette witch with sparkling eyes the color of changing leaves—green, brown, and gold all at once. I wasn't sure what it was at first, as I've made a habit of avoiding any type of closeness that could lead to confused feelings. I didn't want a mate; I had no use for one. I intended to spend the rest of my life serving the Alpha family. It is a duty that I am glad to have, a responsibility that I cherish.I love my job. I had no intention of ever giving it up.And then I m
[Hazel]“You’re doing the right thing,” Rudolph tries to convince me as I say goodbye to my dearest friend one last time. “You and I both know it isn’t safe for her above.” He’s right, and I hate him a little bit for it. There are a lot of things that I’ve grown to dislike but also love about him. Damn it, Moon Goddess, sometimes you have a funny sense of humor. “Well let’s just make sure that none of us regret this,” I push past him, our bodies tingling as our knuckles brush against one another. “Let’s go find your alpha and bring him home.” “What about your brother?” the stubborn Beta crosses his arms as he leans against a wall and watches me pack my satchel with various spell components. Unlike Hawthorne and Great-Grandmother who are both sorcerer-class witches, as a hedge-witch my energy needs to funnel through another medium. This means my magic comes through in the forms of potions and tinctures, a magic that can be felt with your fingers and tasted with your tongue. “We don
[Hawthorne]It's a portal. This wall was hiding a portal.Taking a deep breath, I follow after my family matriarch in a leap of faith, biting my lip to keep from screaming as the chilly dark of a void portal takes me to wherever she's gone. Traveling in the spaces between spaces, the void of eternity is a skill that only witches have. You need to have enough glow to sustain the cold, hungry darkness, as it feeds off our life force, taking a small bit into itself as payment. Even witches need to be careful, as a less powerful witch could be drained dry from anything other than the shortest of distances. It feels like I'm falling forever before my feet find purchase on a well-woven rug covering a smooth, stone floor. Usually, portal travel is quick, only seconds. That it felt like several minutes meant that this place wasn't anywhere near Crescent City. It also means that wherever we are isn't a place for a common witch. If I weren't descended from Araminta Thorpe herself, the most po
[Hawthorne]I was three drinks in when my great-grandmother swept into the tavern, her sudden appearance quieting every laugh and sob with the sheer power of her presence. Even the music seemed to disappear as the door closed behind her and she made a direct path to the bar where I sat surrounded by other lovesick witches mourning their losses over cheap beer.“Come with me child,” the old witch commanded in a voice barely above a whisper, as she leaned in. “If you want to help her, you’ll come. You aren’t doing either one of you any good moping around here.” She barely masks her disappointment as she looks me up and down. I've seen that look on her face before, every time that I disappoint her. Now is no different except for the rushed intensity of her movements. Her glare has the power to incinerate stone, so I moved quickly before there was nothing left to me than ash.The powerful Coven Mistress doesn't wait for me to catch up as she sweeps from the room, her cape billowing behind