IF you are seeing this note, this means you have reached the end of what is currently updated for this story. I am going through each chapter one at a time and adding new elements, details, and romantic interludes. Expect new, exciting chapters to appear by the end of the week! Thank you all for your appreciation and dedication to my story. Victory
[Apple]"Sly," the sound of the door closing behind me tells me we are alone. I hold my breath. He steps forward, closing the distance between us, and pulls me into his arms holding me tightly as he breathes in my scent."I needed to see you," he says against my hair. "I'm so glad I found you." "You left me alone," a sob breaks free, muffled by his chest as I bury my face in his embrace, craving his touch and scent as much as any wolf. "You don't need me. You don't even want me."He holds me even tighter as I cry, clutching his jacket. "I know this relationship is just pretend to you, that you never promised me anything, but I can't help how my heart feels," I try to explain, my words moving quickly. "I can't give my body without my heart, Sly. When I offered myself and approached you, it was with everything, and I know you can't love me back, but I thought it wouldn't matter.""But I was wrong," I confess. "I want you to want me too. To have you reject me broke me.""I didn't reject
[Sylvester]When I finally come back to myself, I realize that Apple is gone.Taking a deep breath, fall to my knees and inhale what is left of her scent. She couldn't have gotten far. I wasn't out of it that long, was I?Her friend, Hazel, looks shocked and hurt. "How could you do that?" she starts to shout, her fingertips glowing with light. Of course, she's a witch. That makes so much sense. A witch hiding another witch. I wonder if she gave Apple tips on how to seduce a wolf."She showed you who she really is and you took her heart and stomped on it." She snarls, disgusted. "I thought you actually cared for her, but it turns out you didn't deserve her after all.""She lied to me," I gasp, my heart aching as I feel that all too familiar burn of betrayal."No, she didn't, you stupid mutt," Apple's friend snaps, glaring at me with golden glowing eyes. "She had no idea of her true identity. Apple's mother never told her and blocked her abilities away so tightly that she'd never find ou
[Apple]It has been a week since Thorne hid me away in this witches' cavern, a home for lost souls, looking for safety.They call this place Haven. It means a place to feel safe and at home. For witches like myself, witches hiding from wolves, we need a place like this to keep our hearts, bodies, and minds safe.I've been asked to gather supplies from the border chamber by the neighborhood leader. Thorne had originally agreed to come with me, but he's been too busy working with the witch council on something so "top secret" that he isn't permitted to say anything to me about it. All I know is that he spends his days in close council with the Grand Coven Mistress herself and that many in the high coven have come to depend on him.I'm proud of my friend, and what he has accomplished, but I know it isn't what he needs from me. What he craves."Can't you feel it," he demanded last night as he pulled me into his arms. "The zing is there, Apple. If you just open your heart, you'll feel it to
[Apple]My attackers quiver, their legs shaking as their eyes widen. One pisses himself as the wolf takes a step forward. Neither of them moves, frozen in place, unable to react beyond unintelligible whimpers.Snapping forward the wolf's maw opens wide, his teeth dripping with saliva.He can't mean to kill them? Can he? What if someone found out?I take a step forward.The wolf's head swivels, and his eyes, black from pupil to sclera, turn enough for me to see that the wolf has taken over completely.If there is a man inside, he's not there. All that is left is the beast.I place a hand on his shoulder. I've only seen this wolf once before, but I'd know him anywhere. "Sly. Please, come back to me."Sniffing my chest he growls and then turns back to the men. He can smell them on me and he doesn't like it. He takes another step forward, snapping his teeth, spit flying from his muzzle."Rufus, you don't need to do this!" I beg, although part of me wonders why I'm trying to defend these wi
[Apple]Sly's gentle hands set me down on the bed and I feel cherished as he carefully arranges my limbs to keep the worst of my injuries free of pain. His eyes never leave mine as he pulls his shirt off in a rush, some of his buttons breaking in the process, bounding off and landing around us like raindrops.I sigh at the sight of him, his muscles gleaming and hard, the small patch of hair that curls between his breasts inviting my touch. He's always been lovely to me. The first time I saw I thought he was the most beautiful man I had ever laid eyes on. Irresistible. Doesn't he realize that I crave him just as much as he craves me?"I'm sorry, Apple," he apologizes again as he removes his pants and kneels on the bed, completely bare except for his manhood, which I can see pressing tight against his boxers. "This isn't how it should be."The smell of his sweet musk enlivens my senses. I want him. Even in pain as I am, I want him. And I tell him this as I struggle to turn towards him. "
[Sylvester]I have never felt so content, so whole and so terrified at the same time.As I curl up next to her, placing my face against her healing mark as I pull her into my arms, a cord of connection snaps tightly between us and I know that she is mine forever.Mine.I never want to leave this room. Leaving means dealing with reality. And I'm just not ready to do that yet. I want to stay here, lying next to her, bathing in our combined scent."Her scent is much stronger now," Rufus remarks. "Almost wolflike."He isn't wrong. If I didn't know better, I'd say she was a wolf, not a witch. Hopefully, that will help me hide the truth from the pack."What if she is more than just a witch?" Rufus suggests. "What if there is more to our mate than just one side?""What you're suggesting would be even worse," I snarl scolding him for even insinuating that she might be something truly taboo, something that could get us both banished. "This is already complicated enough.""But if...what if we co
[Apple]When I roll over this morning, Sly is still where I left him. I know he must have moved at some point because he's now wearing clothing and smiling smugly although his eyes are closed as if he is having a peaceful dream.I try to pull myself free from his grasp and his eyes snap open."Where are you going," he growls playfully as he nibbles my ear, his hardness pressing against my backside."No...nowhere..." I chuckle nervously as he pounces, pulling me by the hips until I'm underneath him again."That's right," he bites his way down my neck. "Not until I'm done, Little Snack.""What are you doing," I protest as he licks a trail to my breast. "I'm not food!""Oh but I think you are," he lifts one of my legs, parting my lower lips with his fingertips. "My delicious caramel apple. So juicy and sweet."I want to tell him he can't just eat me whenever he wants, but I lose my train of thought when his teeth find my clit. I'm too busy moaning his name to think about scolding him.Whe
[Apple]I have never been so nervous before."Calm, Luna," Beta Rudy places his hand on mine and I feel a wave of peace through our beta bond, relaxing my anxiety. Rudy's always had a calming presence, but now that I'm fully mated to his alpha, his effect on me is amplified.He smiles, knowing what I am thinking. It must be a "werewolf thing". Now that I'm bonded to Sly, I'm discovering a lot more "werewolf things" happening to me and my body.I didn't realize that deepening my relationship with Sly would be a catalyst to becoming something else. I know that he marked me to save my life, but am I still me? Is this a wolf thing, or is it because I'm a witch mated to a wolf?Whatever is happening to me, I need to figure it out soon. I need to talk to Hazel, but I am afraid to see her since I ditched Hawthorne and then fell into bed with Sly. Or maybe the witch who helped heal me, Grandmother Araminta. How do I find her? Maybe Rudy knows?I open my mouth to say something when I hear my na
[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