Rhiannon The rain beat down on my head as I walked home from school, soaking me to my core. I looked up at the cloudy skies and wondered why nature hated me so much. Then again, the day started horribly, so why not have a completely unexpected rainstorm for my walk home? It wouldn't be the first time that the weatherman was wrong, and it surely won't be the last. It must be nice having a job where you get paid to be wrong more than right. As I was cursing at the fact that I didn't have a rain jacket, a car horn screamed from behind me. Even though I knew what was coming I didn't move quickly enough to get out of the way as the tan car sped by, driving through a large puddle and completely saturating me with dirty road water. "Hey, Amazon Queen! Drowned rat is so last season!" Laura Cole's highly annoying squeaky voice yelled from the passenger window while the car continued to drive away. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as I flipped off the fading car with my right hand w
Rhiannon It was a chilly morning and the air was thick with fog as we all waited outside of the school to be called in for our last final exam. I had been waiting for this day for almost a year, and I was eager to get it over with. Not only was it my last day in hell, but every year after my final exams were over I saddled up Dub to make the 5-hour ride over to my grandma's house to stay with her for a week or so. Although I didn't have anything to do with Matt, I still enjoyed spending time with his mom. Her place always felt like home to me, and if it wasn't for the fact that she couldn't drive me to and from school I probably would have asked to move in with her long ago. But the only school near her was a private school that she couldn't afford, and the school bus for the public school didn't go anywhere near her. I was completely zoned out while thinking about the next day, turning the ring on my finger, when the feeling of a hand on my shoulder startled me back to reality.
Rhiannon The sound of my phone's alarm going off pulled me out of the darkness of sleep. As I reached over to turn it off, a burning stiffness in my body reminded me what happened the night before .... not really how I wanted to start the day. Eventually, I forced myself out of bed to get dressed and quickly peeked out my bedroom window. Catherine wasn't back home yet, and I didn't know if that was a good thing or not. As soon as I made my way down the stairs all of the dogs woke up and started whining and jumping about in their eagerness to get outside. I walked towards the back door and placed my hand on the doorknob, stopping to look at the dogs. "You all need to sit or I'm not letting any of you out," I informed them as I stood calmly by the door. They all sat down and watched me, waiting as I released them one by one. Just like the horses, the dogs respected me more than they did Catherine. I guess it's not surprising since I was the main one who took care of them. I fin
Rhiannon Being out in nature brought peace to my heart and calmed my soul. I felt a little more complete with every step Dub took across fields, through creeks, and between trees in the woods. I wished that I could do this ride more often, but I simply didn't have the time to until school was out. If I had my drivers license it'd be so much easier, but Catherine never bothered to help me, no matter how many times I asked. No loss, really. The ride with Dub was way more enjoyable than driving would be anyway. As we entered the woods behind Gram's house I felt Dub's body tense ever so slightly, causing me to make sure that I had a proper seat. I watched Dub's ears as they spun around in different directions, listening to the sounds around us that my own ears couldn't hear. My typically bomb-proof horse came to a sudden stop and his body stiffened as he stared into the woods to our left. My eyes followed his gaze, trying to see what he saw. I knew something was out there, I ful
Rhiannon I held my cup of tea in my hands as I zoned out while staring at the triple moon tea infuser that was hanging on the side of the homemade brown cup, my thoughts racing through my mind the entire time. "That's had plenty of time to steep. You best drink it before it gets cold," Gram instructed as she continued to wash the dishes in the sink. "You know I'm more of a coffee person," I replied as I removed the mesh ball from the dark tan water, placing it on the empty brown saucer that matched the cup. Gram sighed and shook her head, "How many times must I tell you that coffee won't help you relax? How about you fill me in on how life has been?" I took a long sip of tea, swallowing the bland warm beverage that had a faint lavender scent before I answered, "Oh, you know. SSDD. Everyone looks at me like I just walked off of a wooded ship, loaded with lice and leprosy. I'm graduating with honors but it's not like that matters to anyone. Catherine is still completely insuff
Julia I watched Rhi's body start to sway as she used the table to try and steady herself. It was only a matter of time before .... "You bit ...." she managed to get out right before the tea finally kicked in. "Damn it, Julia!" Seth growled as he ran out of my bedroom just in time to catch Rhi before her head hit the table. I scoffed as I watched the tall young man with short brunette hair easily pick up my granddaughter, his crystal blue eyes completely fixated on her. Fucking werewolves ...... "Go lay her down on her bed," I instructed as I started picking up the dishes that were still on the table. "How long will she be out for?" Seth quietly asked, as if Rhi could hear him and might awaken at the sound of his voice. "A few days," I placidly answered as I walked back to the kitchen to place the dishes in the sink. "A FEW DAYS?!!" Seth didn't hide the irritation in his voice, causing my own irritation to surface. I whipped around and pointed a finger in Seth's directi
Rhiannon I kept my eyes closed tightly as I slowly came to. The only sounds I heard were the wind blowing and water splashing in the distance. I thought it was odd that Gram opened my bedroom windows, but I honestly didn't think anything of it. I wasn't in the mood to think much thanks to the pressure in my head. I placed the palm of my hand on my forehead and started rubbing in small circular motions, hoping to somehow force away the feeling. That bitch ..... that bitch fucking drugged me ..... I held my hand on my forehead as I slowly sat up and tried to make a little sense of the entire situation. As I moved, I felt something tickle my left cheek, and I swatted at it, thinking it was a bug of some sort. But the bug never flew away. Instead, I grabbed hold of what oddly felt like a tuff of grass. "What the fuck," I whispered as I opened my eyes to look in my hand, only to find everything completely dark. I reached my hands down and became even more confused as I felt grass
Rhiannon I woke up to the sound of the alarm on my cell phone, each buzz feeling like a blow to my head. I silently cursed at myself for not turning it off the night before as I reached over, blindly searching for it. "Ugh," I groaned as I rubbed my forehead after turning off the horrible sound, hoping that the migraine I felt coming on wouldn't take hold. But I knew it was too late due to the pain I felt as I opened my eyes and saw daylight. A shower .... I needed to get my ass out of bed, take a nice long hot shower, and get some caffeine and drugs in my system. After finally forcing myself out of bed, I grabbed a set of clothes from my backpack that was sitting on the floor next to me and opened my bedroom door to make my way towards the small bathroom. As soon as I pulled the door open, a familiar gray dog nose bopped my knee to get my attention before I walked into him, making me startle in place. I shook my head and released a large breath of air, embarrassed of my reacti
Rieka There was a loud ringing in my ears as I continued to rub and blink my eyes. It didn't matter how many times I repeated the process, nor if my eyes were open or shut .... all I could see was blinding white. "Give me a minute, " Lupa grumbled with irritation. My sight slowly started to return as the ringing in my ears faded away. But the ringing was replaced by the sound of Mia's scream ..... ..... Izzy ..... I pulled my arm out of Cerulean's grasp and clumsily made my way down the stairs towards the spot where I last saw Izzy. Damian was kneeling on the ground with a hand on his forehead, struggling to come to his senses, and I hurried past him like he didn't even exist. My heart sank as I reached the unmoving black mound that was in the middle of the charred spot in the yard ..... no, no, no, no .... please let her somehow be OK ..... Too many emotions were running through me to think straight, and I never bothered to take the size and shape of what I was lookin
Rieka Izzy followed the black SUV up a long dirt road, or at least what we thought was just another dirt road. But to our surprise, it was the private driveway of the breathtakingly beautiful stone and log packhouse .... a building that I had seen in the past and just assumed was some type of resort. "This place is to die for," Mia whispered from the back seat. "Fall in love with your mate, Mia. Not the house," Izzy lectured her sister as she put the car in park next to the SUV. "Yeah, yeah, " Mia replied with an eye roll. Izzy let out a deep sigh as we watched Jay and Damian exit the SUV, turning around to look at us expectantly. I had to admit, I was a little jealous of Izzy and Mia. I know Izzy wants to reject Damian, but both he and Jay were easy on the eyes. "Let's get this over with," Izzy whispered as she unclipped her seat belt and placed her hand on the door handle. Mia reached over and gave Izzy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she eagerly got out of
Rhiannon After Mia, Izzy, and I bought what we needed to get through the weekend, and Mia made sure that Ron and Bet had everything under control at the farm, we followed Damian and Jay's black SUV back to their pack. I took in the scenery as Izzy drove, while Mia messaged with Jay from the back seat. There was a brief moment when I became excited while we traveled the back roads as we were heading in Gram's direction. But it left as soon as we turned onto a road that went in the opposite direction. "Do you really want to visit Julia when we're supposed to be following a couple of strange wolves? What would happen when they find out who you are, and that you're a liar?" Lupa chastised me for my thoughts. As I quietly stared out the windshield, not wanting to admit that my wolf was right, I caught something brown run out of the woods and into the road as soon as the SUV ahead of us passed .... what the fuck is .... "STOP THE CAR!" The tires came to a screeching halt as Izzy
Rieka Damian and I looked on in uncomfortable disbelief as Mia continued to eat Jay's face off. Ok, so she wasn't literally eating his face, but she wasn't holding back on the PDA by any means. The pull of the mate bond was obviously strong for her. A vampire being mated to a werewolf wasn't extremely rare, but it wasn't exactly a common occurrence, either. Vampires will fall in love with each other like humans do. Some even have arranged unions. But if a werewolf is mated to a vampire, the vampire will also feel the pull of the mate bond. "I ..... I need to go find Izzy, " I said uneasily, not wanting to be around for the makeout session, but not really wanting to tell Izzy the news, either. "Should I go with you, Nicole?" Damian asked just as I turned around and started to walk away. "Nicole?" Mia questioned the name as my brain hesitated to remember that ..... "That's you!" Lupa said loud enough to make my ears ring. Shit ..... shit, shit, shit! Today is going to be
Rieka Time seemed to fly by while staying with the Kurtzs. It helped that I kept myself preoccupied for pretty much every waking moment. Between barn chores, riding Dub, reading supernatural history books, and bonding with Lupa, I really didn't give myself much of a chance to think of anything else. Mia and Izzy even helped me sign up for online college classes so that I could start working for the same hospital that they work for. I will only be entering records into their database, but it pays well. Bonding with Lupa has been an enjoyable adventure. I know we had technically shifted before, but I wasn't conscious during it, so it's not like I remembered anything. When I read that shifting involved bones breaking to completely change my physical form, I was honestly terrified. But I was surprised that it didn't hurt nearly as bad as I thought it would. Lupa explained that the horrible cramps I used to feel was my body's way of preparing me for the pain of shifting. The cramps bec
Roxanne When Seth asked if any of us could sense Cerulean I didn't answer because I didn't want to lie to my Alpha. I'm honestly surprised that no one called me out on my silence. Little did they know it was becausewas Batiti screaming "MATE!" in my mind. The entire time, I worried that a rogue wolf was watching us and that he was our mate. But we didn't smell the disgusting odor of a rogue .... instead it was the tingling aroma of bergamot and mint. Surprise and confusion took over concern when the fine specimen stepped out before us, his body suit not leaving much to our imagination. My heart and mind were racing as I tried not to drool. A fairy? Our mate is a fairy?!? "I'm not going to lie, Roxie, I want to take him now .... but ...." Batiti hesitated, and I knew she was struggling to say that she would agree to a rejection if that's what I wanted. The both of us have waited so long, too long, and I wasn't prepared to make any decisions just yet. We needed to play this
Seth "I told you! I knew that there was something off about all of this! She's nuttier than a squirrel turd!" The smug voice of my wolf echoed in my mind, making the situation even worse. I furrowed my brows and gave Sam a questioning glance before I turned back and stared at Leo and Tyler. Their eyes went wide, and they quickly shook their heads no. Shaylee's laughter only increased, and tears started rolling down her cheeks as she pointed at Sam and Roxie. "No, not them, you silly wolf, the other two!" "I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, but Sam and I are werewolves, NOT witch doctors! You're fucking crazy!" Roxie spat out, her facial expression showing how much she disliked Shaylee. "Calm down, Roxie. NOW," I demanded over mind-link using my Alpha tone to try to diffuse the situation. But Batiti simply growled in return, making it crystal clear that neither of them would be backing down without a fight .... and that my Alpha tone meant nothing to them.
Seth Weeks had come and gone since Rieka went missing, along with both of our birthdays. Which meant that Rieka was now eighteen. The fact that we share the same birthday is a coincidence that doesn't matter without her whereabouts known. The amount of times Lucius and I had gone to the Kurtz property is pathetic. Something told me that those twins knew more than they tried to get me to believe, but we never once saw or sensed Rieka there. I figured that the pull of being my mate would have brought her out of hiding, but after being left disappointed and brokenhearted countless times, I finally gave up. I couldn't keep looking for someone at a place they didn't seem to be. The problem was, I didn't have anywhere else to look. Despite everything, pack life continued. Unlike most packs, I consider my ranking members not just my friends but also my family. Because of this, Moon Rain is run as a team, with me having the final say. Everything runs more smoothly with the others bein
Dis I looked at myself in the mirror, taking in my human form as I contemplated going to the surface. I stared into the human eyes that were looking back at me, eyes that were so dark brown they were almost black. I traced my well-defined jawline that basically didn't exist because it was hidden by a shaggy beard. Then I looked at my long black hair that I slicked back in a tight bun, a bun that I now loathed thanks to all of the humans who thought they were making a fashion statement. Even cleaned up, I looked like shit. I let myself go. There's no way I could go to the surface looking like this. I needed ..... change. "Jane!" I yelled for my personal servant as I went to the kitchen, grabbed a chair, and took it into the bathroom. I heard the heavy front door open and shut as I sat down in the chair. The nice thing about being the boss of hell is how easy it is to be heard. "Sir?" the harsh, female voice asked in an attempt to pinpoint my location. "I need you to cut m