I hope you enjoyed the long chapter!
[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 th
[Apple]His gentle hands set me down on the bed and I feel cherished. 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. "Love me, Sly. Please." Carefully he peels back what remains of my clothing. It st
[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 outcasted. "This is already complicated enough.""But if...what if
[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 hi
[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 with 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
[Sylvester]Smelling of warm honeyed apples and sunshine, my beautiful mate slams the door behind her, leaving me lost in the wake of her emotions. Since sealing my bond with Apple by giving her my mark, the connection between us has snapped more tightly into place, like a cord of bright gold connecting our souls. I feel her every heartbeat, her passions, her sadness--it’s almost as if we are the same person. I’ve never felt this before. Not with Alexis, not with anyone. Which is why it is so hard to watch her walk away from me. It is taking all of my strength not to run out the door, sweep her into my arms, and kiss her into submission. “Let’s do that,” Rufus pants in my mind flashing me images of all the ways we could calm our mate down with kisses. “I don’t think she wants us to touch her right now,” I argue with my wolf. “Especially not like that.”While I’d love to do nothing more than spend the rest of the day tangled in her sweet-smelling arms, after the way I behaved this
[Apple]I have no idea where I am going. All I know is that I need to get away from this place.After the fool Sylvester made of the two of us on stage I am feeling hot and gross all at the same time.Is it a wolf thing that he’s so into public displays of affection, or is it a Sly thing? Am I engaged to some kind of pervert?"He's just trying to protect you," the voice inside of my head urges. "You should give him a bit of grace. He loves you.""He barely knows me!" I shout to nobody in particular as my sweaty hands push down the edges of my skirt. Even with some distance between us, the ghost touches of his fingertips on my flesh make me shiver with want and anger. "If he knew me, he'd have never done that to me! On stage! In front of the entire pack!”"You're both still learning about one another," the voice urges and I pause. Is that all it is, the awkward growing pains of a new relationship?The sound of wood crackling underneath my footfalls draws my attention back to my surround
[Rudy][At the studio earlier]Apple races past me, her mascara running down her cheeks. Her tears are silent, but I can feel her embarrassment, shame, and anger as if they were my own. “Luna Apple, are you...” She doesn’t turn. She doesn’t respond to me or anyone else as she passes by, her mind elsewhere.Looking back over my shoulder, I see no sign of my alpha. Her words were loud and clear enough for all of us wolves nearby to hear. “Do not follow me!” she had commanded. She is our queen, our Luna. We obey. Even the Alpha, it seems, cannot bring himself to cross her. Not when she’s like this. “Damn it, Sir,” I swear under my breath. I’ve known Sylvester my whole life, and I’ve never seen him as happy as I have when he is with her. I hope he hasn’t ruined it for all of us with this stupid stunt. Both my alpha and luna need care right now, their hearts are hurt and confused. Right now I’m torn between the desire to shake Sly and remind him that being a good Alpha also include
[Apple]I should have known he’d be the one who would find me first. Of all the wolves in Crescent City, he has always been the one looking out for me. From the very beginning our bond has been strong.He really is the very best Beta a pack could have.“Luna,” Rudy gasps, doing his best to bow while holding his side as he leans against a wall. “Thank Goddess I found you!” Stepping out of the shaddows of the alleyway, the first thing I notice is that Crescent City has changed. Since stepping through the portal to arrive in my great-grandmother's shop, I've spent all my time back here underground in Haven. Haven, if anything seems even more bustling than normal, full to the brim with witches wanting to keep their families safe with the disaster happening live on TV. But here on the surface, everything is unnaturally quiet and still. The shop fronts are abandoned, stuck in a state of unchanging, forever trapped in sales from last month. The streetlights are blinking red and a few pie
[Apple] No. I can't breathe. There is no way that anyone in that room is going to survive. I'm going to be a widow before I have a chance to be a wife. The wolves holding whips jump to the front of the line at first, swinging like mad until one by one they begin to fall, and the remaining defenders, afraid for their own lives, turn tail and run in the opposite direction. But the cowards soon discover that all of the exits are barred, the bodies of the living dead, wandering, mindless rogues poisoned by some drug, push at every door and window. The courtroom is like a box of cookies, and the rogues already have their hands inside. It's only a matter of time before they are all consumed by those wolves' insatiable hunger. "This is April McKaine coming live to you from the courthouse," the frazzled reporter whispers into a camera whose cameraman has either fled or fallen. The camera is tilted to the side as she hides under a bench, her fine white suit blemished with dirt and bl
[Sylvester]The sting of Chancy's whip burns more than just my body--it sets fire to my mind, searing my soul as I fall into memories from an almost forgotten moment of my childhood. [18 years ago]We were a small collective, just twenty wolves. No alpha and no lands, so we couldn't be called a pack. We were all rejects, wolves that didn't fit anywhere else, so we were forced to wander from pack to pack, begging for whatever charity they might have. For lack of a better term, we were rogues. My mother tried her hardest to make the best of things but I could see it wearing her down. My father had been her fated mate, as unfortunate as that was for her because he was an alpha and could afford to reject her. She, on the other hand, couldn't handle the separation, and while she kept up a brave face for me, after three years away from our pack, a place I can't even remember, she had withered, her omega body unable to handle the strain of a broken connection. So like many of the other ro
[Apple] Every day I watch my mate dragged into that courtroom and placed on that podium, center stage in a ridiculous farse of a fair trial. Sylvester never stood a chance of defending himself. His fate was sealed before he stepped foot in that room. Despite Sly Sterling being a werewolf, all of Haven is watching the proceedings with bated breath, and while there have been some comments about how the wolf "deserves whatever foul future he receives," there are more voices saying "His mate is one of us and he stood by her." When I walk around town, people recognize my face from the proceedings and bow in reverence. The girl who is a witch and dared to love the Alpha King--Granddaughter of the Coven Mistress and a Thorpe! Such a prestigious background with such powerful allies. In a way, he's become a bit of a hometown hero. One of Crescent City's own defending the rights of all of us, not just wolfkind. "It's time," Thorne, turns on the television. The screen focuses on a
[Alexis]I've been trying to keep him safe, and still, he chooses her. That weak, sniveling, useless girl. She doesn't know how to be a Luna, she hardly knows how to take care of herself. What is the use of having so much power at your disposal if you cannot use it as it is intended?I can't let my uncle see the rest of this footage. "Erase it," I tell my old delta, "Wipe the record clean. Nobody should see this...ever. Do you understand?""Yes Luna," he bows, still loyal after all these years away. "As you command."I have given Uncle Chancy an edited version of the tape from the clinic where the botched procedure created the opportunity we needed to finally topple Sylvester. The footage shows Apple strapped to the table. It shows her idiot human boyfriend demanding that she be cut without anesthesia. Fool. If he had just been more patient, and let things happen as they should, she wouldn't have awakened. The light that shone from her immediately grew so bright that it blinded the
[Sylvester]The first day of the trial was long and ardorus. I am exhausted mind, body, and soul. Several alphas came forward, each with their own evidence against me. The first, of course, was Clancy, who presented the case, standing up in court declaring he had proof of my guilt, that I've broken my bond as Alpha. His testimony was followed by the head of Rental Luna and the Alpha from Arc de Lune. All saying the same thing. "Alpha Sterling forced us to lie. His Luna isn't a real wolf." My status as Alpha is tenuous at this point, awaiting the end of the trial. Although nobody in the courtroom doubts the conclusion--I will soon be a rogue again. The march back to my cell was solemn. The room that they placed me in was in the basement of the city center, where all the criminals were housed as they awaited trial. Due to my status, the guards shoved me into the corner cell, one that looked more like a room and less like bars and bricks. "For privacy, " the guard explains, "Due to yo
[Apple]“What is it, child?” Araminta stands, setting the book down beside me. “Calm yourself and come in. Tell us what it is.”Thorne walks across the room and removes a decorative piece of fabric on a high shelf to reveal an old TV covered in dust with a small remote control on the platform next to it. As he presses the small silver button we all stand back. Slowly the screen comes into focus. We don’t need to search to find what we are looking for because what we need to see is on every channel. A trial, not just any trial, but according to the news “The biggest trial since the War Crimes Tribunal” after the Witch Wars. A small, mousy blonde with large eyes and a larger mouth dominates the screen as she gazes directly into the camera. She is wearing a yellow suit dress that contrasts brightly against the cool gray marble of the Moon River City Courthouse, her hair pulled back from her face in a tight bun. On her hand is a large ring, signifying her pack status as a Luna. Very lik
[Apple] The dusty old tome creaks as the old witch opens its worn, leather spine. "As Coven Mistress," she pauses to explain, that as the elder-most witch in the collective, she is the one the rest turn to in times of need. "I keep track of the lineages, or what's left of them since the war. Before we started killing one another, wolves and witches intermarried and raised families together in large, joint communities. At our core, we witches and wolves aren't so much a different species but two sides of the same coin, genetic siblings. It wasn't so uncommon once for witches to be born with a second form, or wolves with the ability to cast marvelous spells." The nostalgia in her eyes has me wondering again just how old she really is. How long do witches live? Is it that much longer than humans? "But then things started to change," the old witch sighs. "As they always do. We didn't need places like Haven, and they didn't always live in massive packs--that's something that came later.
[Apple]"I miss him." Blinking awake, I stare up into the faces of my friends, Hazel and Thorne, who look at me with a mixture of relief and deep concern before looking up at one another and sharing the non-verbal communication of expressions and gestures I've grown familiar with after being around the twins for so long. They're both worried about me. Not just worried, terrified. How much did they see? Do they know that I tore those men apart?"Apple, how do you feel," Hazel places a tentative hand on my forehead, her cold knuckles tapping me gently as she checks for a fever. Everything hurts. My hands, my back, my legs, and my heart. I tell them as much and their worried expression deepens. Hazel looks over my shoulder and I turn to see Araminta standing at a cauldron like a classical witch, mist billowing around her shoulders as she stirs something hot in a deep cast iron pot. Seeing me watching her, the corners of her eyes crinkle as the light twinkles off a pair of half-moon s