I sat up calmly; staring at this masked young man. His physique was quite alluring but not in a seductive way -more like a protective way. Those eyes.. where had I seen those eyes?"If you keep looking at me like that, I'd think you've fallen for me" With his tone you could easily tell that he was smirking.I scoffed and rolled my eyes. Yeah right!"What do you want?" I asked. "Thane would soon send men to find me. I suggest you kill me or let me go""You really aren't afraid of death" he stated. I rolled my eyes at his statement but deep down, I knew he was right. There was really nothing to live for anymore.I shrugged before saying "Life is just not so important" With our present discussions, it wasn't still clear what he wanted. Or was he just trying to stall for time? But why?I got up, his eyes watching me like a hawk. That was it! My patience had run thin. I had important things to do. I thought he was going to snitch on me but he didn't, guess he was done lousy creep.I steadi
I smirked, "I thought you knew everyone and everything.""Well, I do," she returned serenely, "but I cannot be everywhere at every time."I lifted an eyebrow. "Mm. I would agree, but why do you think I would trust you?"She smiled. "Because my offer is quite good. There's no lie there."I nodded flatly. Who wouldn't want to know what happened in their past?Just when I was going to ask about the payment and service, she interrupted my thoughts. "I would tell you some of it. Once I make sure your loyalty, you'll meet someone important."I shrugged. "I don't care about meeting anyone important."She leaned in. "That person is related to you."I hesitated and nodded in agreement. I didn't have anywhere in particular to go, and this seemed like an opportunity."I hope-She cut me off. "Don't you worry, you'll be comfortable. I don't let my partners suffer."I wanted to burst out laughing at the term "partner," but I nodded, and that's how I became Luna's right-hand man.Fiona's job had ma
Memories swarmed my mind in a flood, and for a moment, I wasn't Mateo but Edward, the brother who was looked after by his sister , who was protected and was a friend. The tide was drawn back just as fast, setting me squarely in the present-a rogue werewolf forged in pain and loneliness."I don't. I don't know," I stuttered, my second step backward. "I can't remember all that."Lena's face fell but her feet didn't back down. "It's you," she said, implacable. "I know it's you, Eddie. Look at me!"But her agitation was claws and I turned from her. If I was her brother, if I was Edward, then what was the interim? What exactly had happened in between? why did the highs and lows of my mysterious memory feel like someone else's?"Stop," I growled low, my voice coming out sharper than I had meant. "I-I need time. I won't be able to do this, not now.""But-""Please!" I roared. My eyes flashed dangerously, and she hunched, tears streaming down her face.I whirled and ran deep into the woods, t
In the Silvermoon packErica sat on a bench looking out to the tranquil lake before her. The sun was setting, casting an orange hue upon the whole scene. Yet, though it was a serene moment, the thoughts whirling through Erica's mind were anything but tranquil.If Derek finds out she was the one who caused his beloved pack to suffer so much loss, he won't take it easy on her. Asking for Arachne's help was out of the picture, that bitch had gone crazy. It was after the illusion incident Erica realized she had been used by Arachne.Arachne never really cared about the deal, she only took what she needed. After she had done that, the rest didn't matter. Erica gritted her teeth, with everything she's been through, she was jilted. Ha! Who would've thought?Derek was not the smartest person, but he was her greatest weapon. Now that she had gotten him into so much trouble already, she was going to have to do things on her own.Erica took a deep breath and ran her hands through her hair. Shoul
Derek's POV"Is it ready?" I asked, my voice low and even.Bolton nodded. "Yes Derek."At his response, my heart began racing slightly.I looked at Derek and his eyes seemed to flash with amusement, but he said nothing. I simply reached out and took the box from him."I'll take it from here," I said, my voice firm.Bolton nodded. I felt a sense of trepidation wash over me. What would happen next?As I turned to leave, Bolton called out to me. "Derek, wait!"I turned back, my eyes questioning. "What is it?"Bolton hesitated, unsure of how to phrase his concerns. "I just...I don't think this is a good idea, Derek. You're putting yourself in a lot of danger."My expression turned ugly. "I can take care of myself, Bolton. I'm the Alpha, after all." I was going to keep walking but I turned back "I know you actually don't care about me, you're just reminding me that I'm not as powerful as Dorian and I won't take it."Bolton looked at me blankly before raising his hands in submission. Why co
I lay there motionless. Well, the plan was something like this, I kept saying to myself: Let it strike, let it feed, but keep the Moonbloom's fragrance around long enough.The beast growled low in its throat and sprang. I closed my eyes as its claws raked across my chest-the sting was sharp and very quick. Blood flowed free, but I didn't wince.The creature sniffed the air, as if noticing the flower pinned to my body. It leaned in, it's growl softened as it tore the Moonbloom into pieces. For one moment, I actually thought my plan was going off without a hitch.But in one moment, it did the most miraculous thing of all: it stopped abruptly. Its gold eyes locked on mine, and something old and awful passed between us. It let out one final guttural growl before disappearing, as if it had never existed in the first place.I stumbled, agony burning in my chest. My shirt was slick with blood, my vision splotchy. I laid a shaking hand over my wound, and mind-linked Bolton."Bolton," I called
Bolton's POVThe scent was insistent, a bright line laced through the dark brocade of the forest. Moonlight seeped through the canopy high above, slashed in scattered rays on the forest floor. Every step forward was like taking a step deeper within the waiting jaws of something unseen.The smell of the Moonbloom now blew up stronger, thicker, almost miasma, tinged with some darker undercurrent, a nasty metallic tang right on the edges that put me on edge. My wolf growled. His voice low in my mind came as a rumble of concern."This is not right," he said shortly, his tones clipped.I know, I breathed, my voice barely audible. My gaze whipped between trees, peering for motion, a glimpse of anything—the creature or worse, whatever was beyond.It was as if one part of nature was alive, breathing onto me from every corner. Whispers rode the wind down the passage, pricking the back of my neck. Shadows danced on the edge of my vision, always out of reach, and the trees looming closer, it see
I pushed the door open, and the hinges shrieked loud in the silence. The air inside was stale, thick with magic. Around the walls, rows of shelves lined them, filled with jars of all things from dried herbs to bones and other things unidentifiable.Arachne herself was standing at the center of the room, commanding and terrifying."Ah, the Beta," she said, dripping mockery into the words. "How predictable."I took another step closer, hands fisting at my sides. "So you're the cause of all this? What do you intend?"Arachne smiled, her mouth curling sweet. "Questions, so many of them. Never you mind. All your answers will be supplied in due time."She turned her hand out to me, and my chest became wrapped in thick, turgid air weighing invisibly on my skin."You'll do one thing for me," she announced, cold-voiced to the final degree. "Go home and tell him the game begins. I never get refused."And in one twitch of the wrist, I was swallowed into the darkness.Derek's POVHours later, Bol
She came as a ghost, her step as silent as breathing, her presence cold that seemed to penetrate to the very heart of his pack. She stood before him, her eyes bottomless black as always, her lips as cold as ice."You owe me, Thane," she whispered, her voice sweetly tinged with threat. "And this day's payment."Thane's ground fell away beneath him. All that it had cost him those years of running, that effort to remain one step ahead of his devils, had been for nothing. He had seen today on the horizon, but there before him, weighed down by the burdens of his conditioned responses, a strangling sense of despair struck him.He looked at his pack, whose faces he vowed to protect, and knew he could no longer flee. He had to go back to Arachne, and face the wrath of what he had done, however repulsive. "As you will," he breathed out, his voice slick and unfaltering.The grin of Arachne spread wider, her hunt gleam eyes burning hotter."Oh, Thane," she breathed softly, her voice silky as poi
Bermont’s throat had been ripped out, his body lying lifeless on his desk, his empty face blankly regarding the ceiling. And beside him, Lyanna, her elongated body twisted into an impossible shape, her beautiful face contorted into face of terror.Thane's stomach lurched. This wasn’t a clean kill. It was a massacre.The room was trashed, desecrated by gigantic claw marks bigger than what any wolf could have left and through his friend. Obscene symbols, painted red, thick black smudges, painted on the walls. It was an abomination of deformed, ritualistic butchery, painted to look like that of some horrific supernatural being.Backwards, his wolf started snarling in shock and horror, receding and receding until Thane backed away. Not this. This kind of killing was not what he had signed up for.He suddenly felt like he was being watched. From a corner he saw her. Arachne.She had emerged from the shadows, her hands and lower forearm smeared with freshly-shed blood. She glowed."You—" Th
Years Ago-The room in Bermont's study glimmered blackly with unwritten things, weighed down by pungent smell of burnt pine and acrid taste of bitterness. Bermont, a huge fat man, collapsed over his enormous wooden desk, his shadow falling on pieces of paper here and there.His wife, Lyanna, at the window, statue of coldness, her eyes over some point far away beyond frosted glass. The theatre of authority, its rough tactlessness."You know you can’t be Alpha, Thane," Bermont told him, his tone laced with thoughtless disdain of a man who was certain he was in charge. "You were born to be a follower, not a leader. Learn that, and perhaps, perhaps I'll continue to allow that you might stay at my side. A pet, perhaps."The second half of that tense almost-snarl, cautious bite.Thane's fists were balled, fingernails pressing crescent moon shapes into palms. The wolf within him, that source of strength, snarled fury, its primal power bursting in harmony with his own.Years of that, of provi
The reality struck me like a sledgehammer. I respected her, I looked up to her, and never ever admitted that I loved her, not even to myself. I was just too afraid, too occupied being the person I was supposed to be, too afraid to be rejected.But now that she was in danger, I could not play games anymore. I loved her, had loved her for years, and would do anything to win her back in one piece.There was a knock on the door, shattering me out of daydreaming. Greggory stood there, his face creased with concern."Alpha," he said, "we have a problem."My heart sank. "What?""We've been told by the border patrol," he explained. "They did see tracks, off our territory, into the Nelder forest. But not ordinary tracks. Lena's."I bolted upright, my fists clenching. "Are you sure?"Greggory nodded. "Yes. They picked up her scent. She was definitely there.""But she's been gone for so long," I said. "Why would her scent still linger there?""We don't know," Greggory admitted. "But the prints s
"Words are breath, Alpha. An oath of loyalty must… be flesh." I touched him, my hand tracing the harshest plane of his jaw, feeling the shuddering under his flesh. "Kneel, Alpha," I commanded, my tone falling to a silky pitch, but supported by adamant authority."Pledge yourself to me, here and now, before the ancient powers that lie in wait within this caravan."There was a flicker of defiance in his eyes, the lingering of his Alpha pride. But that was quickly overwhelmed, smothered by the crushing weight of his desperation. Reluctantly, he knelt down, slowly, his gaze still on mine, an internal battle unspoken."Repeat after me," I ordered, my voice low and rich, calling on the inner strength that coursed through me, generating a sense of drama around the event. "I, Killian of the Skyline Pack…"He echoed the words, his voice rasping, just audible, every syllable a concession, a fragment of his freedom surrendered."Promise my allegiance."He stood before me, the gravity of the word
Shakira's POVMy frantic investigation had turned out to be nothing but murky suggestions and dead ends. Ancient texts mentioned domination spells, psychic intrusions, everything apart from the inexplicable, mass damp that hung over Killian's pack.I really couldn’t admit that I knew nothing of what was happening. Not to Killian. My well-crafted reputation of an infamous witch demanded an aura of omniscience, of proficiency at the divine crossroads. To reveal my fallibility, would be to destroy the illusion, to jeopardize all that I had struggled for. And to lose Killian… that was something I was not going to allow to happen.My defense would be in deception. I would pretend to have a solution, to stall and keep Killian in my control, while I desperately searched for a real one, or… created one myself.I got up from my chair, the groaning old wood grumbling a welcome creak in the still caravan. I gazed about at the crowded shelves of jars, bottles, and desiccated herbs. Ingredients. I
Killian’s POVThe weight in my chest was more than crushing, it was overbearing. Every beat a leaden weight in my chest, every breath a struggle. Shakira's words haunted my quarters, taunting me. What did it even mean, to yield to another, to a witch with such a reputation as that? The very thought sent a shiver down my spine.And yet, the happenings in my pack flashed through my mind, the stunned horror and fear on their faces, the unearthly incantation of "Simon is Lord!" ringing in my ears. Dexter's sickening smile, insincere, repulsive, revolved through my thoughts like a record stuck on a groove. My pack was falling apart, family by family, and here I stood, contemplating and hesitating to submit to Shikira's request.Delaying was not going to cut it any longer. Something had to be done but what? Xavier's suggestion of going out to other packs and begging for assistance was practical, logical even. But his advice was replaced by an increasing horror that compelled me to listen to
She took a deep breath, her eyes snapping open. The pool was calm, its reflective mirror of the moon's glow unbroken. Aurora was not. She could feel it. The power that lay within her was no longer latent. It was alive, humming with energy, the essence of White Luna.She looked at Selene, her eyes shining with sudden understanding. "I… I think I understand."Selene's face erupted into a warm smile."The way has just been opened, Aurora. There is much to learn, much to prepare you for. But you will not be doing it alone. I will be here, every step along the way."Aurora's heart was a tempest of the expectation and terror that battled within it. She was a goddess, a new White Luna. Her journey would be challenging, but giving up was not an option.The weight of a new life was heavy on Aurora, more heavily even than any material weight. She was the White Luna, a goddess reborn. Her mind was heavy with the words, a reminder of just how great a weight was on her shoulders. She looked at her
Those words hung heavily in the empty garden, alone-an affront to all she had ever conditioned to understand about the world. She was an Omega, the lowest one to exist within the pack, born to take orders and not give them. This… this could not be. And yet, visions, power flowing through her veins, Selene's presence here-everything screamed for a truth she could not help but believe."Preparations?" she managed to croak with a throat parched and raspy. "For what?"Selene's visage became unbroken. "For war coming. The war you saw earlier. One to raze not your pack alone but all the packs. A war unlike any other."Her mind was a wild knot of possibilities. The rumors of the Thane of Redblood-whispers of another foe-it fit together all too sickly. This, however, was not a pack war; this was a war against something older and far more evil than anything imaginable. Survival war."But..but I am just myself," she stammered without faith in herself, helplessly waving her hands. "I know nothin