Hazel
The sun rose and with its warm glow, I felt my old optimism warming me. Garreth and I could conquer anything as long as we stayed together. He was meeting with the pack this morning, and I was both excited and terrified. This needed to happen, and if it went well it would make our lives that much easier.
If it didn't go well, what was one more issue on the pile? I rifled through the clothing in the closet looking for something that said "I am your Luna." I found a long dress, with light floaty fabric. The green brought out my eyes, and while it was nothing like what I normally wore I felt like a Luna would wear it. Luna's were leaders, loving and maternal to the pack. I thought I could fit that bill if they would have me.
Garreth sent out a pack wide mind link that all of the wolves were to gather in the packhouse for a conversation. It made me a little jealous that I would never be a part of the mind links, but as long as Garreth stayed near me it woul
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Hazel After the meeting concluded we stayed in the hall greeting and speaking with anyone and everyone who wanted to have a word with us. There was an incredible number who wanted to meet me personally. Hours later I was acquainted with nearly everyone in the pack and most of them even seemed to like me. We made plans for my Luna ceremony, which would normally take place under the full moon, but instead was planned for the following night. It would be the half-moon, it seemed almost poetic as our leadership would be half-wolf. Garreth tried to encourage me to be involved in the planning, but truthfully I didn’t know how to be around nymphs let alone wolves. I had no idea what the customs were. I would need a crash course in how I should behave and someone else to plan the whole thing. We went back to our room where Evette the housekeeper took my measurements. She and some of the other older she-wolves busied themselves preparing for the festivities an
“You’re not serious.” I felt the earth shifting around me, and the ground came up quickly. Before I could hit the hard dirt Gera caught me, and lowered me down gently. “I see you're taking this well.” She muttered sarcastically. “You’re my aunt, and you pretended to be an owl for years because you were protecting me from your psycho mother and sister. Not only that but I am apparently some super powerful fae hybrid?” I did my best to summarize the ridiculous tale she was telling me. “Even if everything you say is true, why wouldn’t you just come to me on your own, as a fairy and offer me companionship? Don’t you think it would have been helpful to know these things before she took my wings from me?” She sat on the ground beside me, still holding my head. “I didn’t know that was Marica, I swear that much to you. I knew she could not be trusted, but that is not her original appearance. That teenage witch is a much prettier picture.” “So hiding y
Garreth I reached out for Hazel in my sleep wanting to feel her soft body against mine. Instead, I found the bed empty. I went from mostly asleep to wide awake in an instant. I didn't know exactly how long it had been but a lot of time passed since she told me she was going to get a snack. I jumped out of bed, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. I sniffed the air, the smell of her was all around but it wasn’t fresh. I walked down the hall looking and sniffing. Her scent led me to the front door, and my heart dropped as I realized she left. Why would she lie to me, there was only one reason I could think of. She went to see Gera. Anger pulsed inside me, Raze threatened to force his way forward but I pushed him back down. ‘Why is she so determined to endanger her life?’ He snarled. I had no answer for him, his anger matched my own. I was about to open the door and follow her when I heard hushed voices down the hall. “The fairy…” The words cau
Hazel "Gera, please, what happened to my parents?" She opened her mouth to answer my question when a howl filled the night air. My chest constricted and I knew without a doubt who it was. The fear and anger coming through our bond were like a wrecking ball, the only reason I didn't notice sooner was that I was too wrapped up in what Gera was telling me. "I should go," Gera spoke nervously, likely convinced if she stayed it would be a fight. “No, you cannot go, you cannot leave again. I need your help and so does he even if he doesn’t see it yet.” She nodded her head but looked around the clearing nervously like she was seeking cover. “Just stand behind me, he won’t go through me.” She stood close, and we both waited as the sound of paws striking the ground came closer. Raze broke through the trees, his caramel fur bleached white by the moon, and his golden eyes glowing brightly. I was shocked to see him covered in blood. I knew immediately it was not
Unknown I stood atop the mountain the elves called home. It was only autumn but snow flurried around me, sticking to the cold rock. The icy wind whipped against me, but I didn’t mind, it felt like a sort of communion. I understood the barren side of mother nature. I heard the elvish singing and felt the vibrations of their merry-making beneath my bare feet. They would party and carry on for hours on end, day after day, how they found it entertaining was beyond me. I spit on the ground, wishing it was on them instead. They were perhaps the worst of all the fae, their foolishness disgusted me. I looked out over the massive expanse of forest, the nymph trees looked so different from the rest of the woods it amazed me that humans never discovered the pitiful creatures living inside. Healing and growing plants, useless dogooder powers. My eyes roamed the countryside digging into the distance, my magic amplified my sight until my vision became clear. Miles
Hazel The pack was congregated outside waiting for me to become their luna under the half-moon. They didn't know that we would be changing the location at the last moment. To say I was scared was an understatement. I didn't have any idea at all how to lead them and there was so much stacked against us already. Gera and Garreth had agreed to a temporary ceasefire pending the rest of her story. They both agreed the story could wait until after the ceremony was completed. I wanted to know what happened to my parents and Gera’s history but I was so afraid of what she had to say I was willing to wait. I invited Gera back to the packhouse to sleep for the night, and Garreth grudgingly agreed but she declined the offer saying she was more comfortable as an owl sleeping in the trees. I supposed it made sense she had spent years exclusively that way. Evette the housekeeper spent the entire day working over me, covering me in powders and polishes, curling and s
Garreth My heart filled with joy as the magic sealed her in as my Luna. The pack stood by watching in awe as our marks glowed, then the twine, then her tree. It was magic unlike any of us had ever seen. They were stunned silent, but I was just amused. She was a beacon of light, goodness, and power, of course, her Luna Ceremony was special. I felt the force of her magic surging within me, intense and healing, it cleansed my mind and soul and left me desperate to take her. I reached out to her ready to slip my tongue into her sweet mouth and taste her without a care for who watched. Instead, I watched in shock as she dropped, losing consciousness. Before she could hit the ground I swept her into my arms. I checked her breathing and her pulse and all seemed okay. Rumblings broke out through the pack, some sounded concerned, some expectant, like they thought something would go wrong here. "Silence, and nobody leaves," I commanded them in my alpha to
HazelMy phantom hands reached out to touch the words my mother left for me. I wondered why she would leave it here, did she plan to deliver it to me and get interrupted, or was this the only safe option.I tried to take a settling breath, but a breath can only settle a body, at the moment I didn't have one. It was now or never, I could feel the connection to my body strengthening. I would be back in my skin before long.*Hazel,I am so sorry for everything I should have done differently, my love. I should have known you were strong enough to learn the truth about our family, and because of my fears, I will not be the one to give the truth to you.The things you have to learn are numerous and frightening, I do not know half of them myself, but if you have made it here you must have learned some of them on your own. I can only hope you found an ally in all of this.As you may already know, we are not exactly as we seem. There is darkn
Garreth Pain, bursting explosive pain, shattered through my mind. My skull felt like it was split down the middle. I reached my hand out to touch the spot I was sure would be broken and was amazed to find the healed skin over the top of it. Oh, right, werewolf healing. I had been hit so hard I forgot I was a werewolf for a minute. Beneath the healed skin was a raised ridge where the bone beneath it had broken. I couldn't open my eyes, and trudging through the darkness behind my eyelids was near impossible. What happened and where was I? Smells and sounds filled my senses. Home. I was in the packhouse. Hazel. Her sweet delicious scent wrapped around me and for a moment I felt peaceful. Our Luna was here. I was alive. Everything was okay. Then the memories came. Marica, Gera, my hands wrapped so tightly around the throat of the one person I never wanted to hurt, the same person I seemed to keep hurting despite my better intentions. I wanted to bl
I followed after my aunts wondering how exactly my life had gotten so screwed up. I mean, it was always bad, but this was something different. The one person I’d loved and trusted more than anyone else had betrayed me in more ways than I could count. My throat ached from my mate attempting to choke me to death, a gift from my other aunt. She was as evil as they came and much like her sister pretended to be there for me, to help me to achieve her wicked ends. I thought of my kind and beautiful mother and wondered how similar she was to her wicked sisters. The forest floor was icy cold beneath my feet and yet it was the warmest part of this moment. I followed Gera and Marica for so long my magic slowly puttered and then gave out. Garreth fell from my grip and landed hard against the ground. I dropped beside him, running my hands over his face. I needed him to open those beautiful golden amber eyes and make everything in my life right again. “Hazel, I have to lo
3rd Person POV Marica woke just in time to see the effects of her dark magic at play. Garreth's hands tightened around Hazel's throat, her life moments from leaving her. At first, she wanted to laugh and relish the moment. Blood vessels burst in her eyes and the utter look of fear on her face was a wonderful sight to wake up to. She lifted her hands to call off the assault. When Garreth met her eyes she placed a spell on him that would cause him to attack the ones he loved most. It was a fancy trick she'd picked up from an Unseelie fae she'd murdered and drained of her powers. It was no easy feat to take the powers of a fae with no wings, but Marica found a way once she had enough stolen power. Panic sparked in Marica’s eyes as Garreth continued to wring the life out of the sweet little nymph that had saved him from himself. Marica screamed as she looked at the cage around her, she’d seen and made many of these cages but this was the first one strong enough t
3rd Person Point of View “It’s been such a long time sister, I thought you’d never try to come home. Did your darling niece finally tire of you and send you on your way?” Marica taunted Gera as she paced the space in front of the portal, trying to block Gera from entering. “It wasn’t that so much as I missed my family, you know how well I love my mother and my eldest sister, besides, the nymph is your niece as well.” Gera gave her a taunting look, doing her best not to glance toward the trees she knew Hazel and Garreth were hiding in. "Don't remind me, how pathetic it is to be related to a nymph." She gave her a calculating look. "I cannot tell which is worse, having a wood nymph for a sister, or a shifter. Oh god, you even stink like her and her wolf, which is somehow worse than your natural aroma. I'd hoped that would fade by now." Gera focused on breathing normally, when had she stolen a heightened sense of smell? She shouldn't be able to sm
3rd Person Point of View Marica stood atop the mountains looking over the world she hated. It wasn’t anything special, she hated all the worlds and realms she visited. She positively buzzed with the power she had taken from others, particularly the wretched creature that was technically her niece. Her power was so intense, and the pathetic girl had no idea how to use it. She looked out over the landscape lamenting the fact she did not have more of it. She felt the interruption in the air as someone materialized beside her. “You’re here.” She complained with no feeling. “I am.” His voice sounded odd, but she supposed that was natural when it was pushed through the filter of someone else's body. She looked over at him, agitated that she needed to pay him any attention at all. Her mother told her she must work with him, but she resented the deal from the moment it began. She may peel the wings off the lowly fae but to step inside another person's body an
Gera Hazel curled into a ball, and let the tears have her. It had been years since I’d seen her this way. My heart ached as I thought back to when I first came to protect her. This was how I found her more often than not. I guess losing your family is hard when they’re a family worth losing. I couldn’t relate to the love she had for her parents, but I could certainly understand the pain. “Hazel, sweetheart, let's talk. Please sit up.” I gently coaxed her, stroking my hand along her back. I couldn’t believe she slapped me, she’d always been such a gentle creature. So much so, that even with all the power inside of her I feared she would not be able to protect herself. Maybe she had more backbone than I gave her credit for. A little thrill of pride went through me. I was unsurprised that I slapped her back, retaliation was a perfectly normal and acceptable part of life for me. I still regretted the decision. She was lashing out because she was in pain, if I wer
HazelMy phantom hands reached out to touch the words my mother left for me. I wondered why she would leave it here, did she plan to deliver it to me and get interrupted, or was this the only safe option.I tried to take a settling breath, but a breath can only settle a body, at the moment I didn't have one. It was now or never, I could feel the connection to my body strengthening. I would be back in my skin before long.*Hazel,I am so sorry for everything I should have done differently, my love. I should have known you were strong enough to learn the truth about our family, and because of my fears, I will not be the one to give the truth to you.The things you have to learn are numerous and frightening, I do not know half of them myself, but if you have made it here you must have learned some of them on your own. I can only hope you found an ally in all of this.As you may already know, we are not exactly as we seem. There is darkn
Garreth My heart filled with joy as the magic sealed her in as my Luna. The pack stood by watching in awe as our marks glowed, then the twine, then her tree. It was magic unlike any of us had ever seen. They were stunned silent, but I was just amused. She was a beacon of light, goodness, and power, of course, her Luna Ceremony was special. I felt the force of her magic surging within me, intense and healing, it cleansed my mind and soul and left me desperate to take her. I reached out to her ready to slip my tongue into her sweet mouth and taste her without a care for who watched. Instead, I watched in shock as she dropped, losing consciousness. Before she could hit the ground I swept her into my arms. I checked her breathing and her pulse and all seemed okay. Rumblings broke out through the pack, some sounded concerned, some expectant, like they thought something would go wrong here. "Silence, and nobody leaves," I commanded them in my alpha to
Hazel The pack was congregated outside waiting for me to become their luna under the half-moon. They didn't know that we would be changing the location at the last moment. To say I was scared was an understatement. I didn't have any idea at all how to lead them and there was so much stacked against us already. Gera and Garreth had agreed to a temporary ceasefire pending the rest of her story. They both agreed the story could wait until after the ceremony was completed. I wanted to know what happened to my parents and Gera’s history but I was so afraid of what she had to say I was willing to wait. I invited Gera back to the packhouse to sleep for the night, and Garreth grudgingly agreed but she declined the offer saying she was more comfortable as an owl sleeping in the trees. I supposed it made sense she had spent years exclusively that way. Evette the housekeeper spent the entire day working over me, covering me in powders and polishes, curling and s