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
Seth Lucius, my wolf, let out a deep moan that echoed in my head as I watched Rhiannon walk towards her bedroom. My eyes were fixated on her swaying hips when the sound of a chair loudly sliding across the wooden floor tore my attention away from her and stopped the urge that was starting to take over. I slowly turned in irritation to see Julia staring at me over the top of her glasses with a smug look on her face. It didn't take long for her voice to enter my mind. "I expected you and your wolf to be more, I didn't know, suave," Julia made sure to put sarcastic emphasis on the last word before taking a swig of her coffee. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I let out a frustrated sigh and continued our conversation via mind-link, "You're the one who thought this was a good idea. You're pushing too much, too soon ...." "Excuse me? And what do you know about anything?" Julia asked, not bothering to hide the attitude in her voice as she sat her coffee cup down on the old wooden t
Julia I was pulling up weeds from one of my gardens, imagining that each one was the body of one of my enemies, when my moment of peaceful retribution was shattered by Seth's panicking voice. "Julia! You need to get here, NOW! It's Rhiannon!" I stood up and threw my trowel into the dirt, pissed off that things never seemed to go exactly how I intended. Instead of bippidy boppidy booping my ass into my cabin, I decided to stomp my feet the short distance, grumbling the entire way. All he had to do was get acquainted with Rhi. Show her that he was trustworthy. Teach her the property lines. Assure her that the wolves were harmless. Open her mind to the mysteries upon us ...... "JULIA!" Seth's concerned voice echoed in my head. I rolled my eyes as I picked up my satchel of herbs and potions. If it were actually a life and death matter Dub would have been gone, and Amar would have already been back here to alert me, both before Seth even thought about linking me. Over dramatic p
Rhiannon Crickets chirped in the darkness, their songs blending with the sound of the water in the distance. I knew exactly where I was without even opening my eyes. "What time is it?" I quietly asked Seth, surprised that we were still in the field. But I didn't get an answer. The silence was unsettling, and I slowly opened my eyes to confirm what I suspected. Seeing that I really was left alone was like a punch to my guts. I couldn't believe that not only did Seth leave me passed out in the field, but so did Amar. It's not that I wasn't used to being by myself, I just ..... I just expected more from both of them. I let out a deep sigh as I leaned my head back and looked up at the sky that was glittered with stars ..... stars and an extremely full moon. My eyes widened as a familiar burning scent found its way to me. Maybe if I stayed on the l ground I wouldn't have to relive the same nightmare over again. But that's not how the night would go, as the sound of twigs snapping
Seth Dub came to a smooth stop in Julia's backyard. I hated to admit it, but Julia was right. Dub had earned a new respect from me after the speed at which he carried Rhiannon and I. As Dub leaned down so that I could easily dismount with Rhiannon, I thought about when Lucius chased the horse through the woods. "Seth, don't say it ..... " Lucius warned me. My lips turned upward into a slight smile, "He was toying with you. The entire time you thought you were gaining ground, he was just playing with you ...." "Being fast is the only thing that walking glue factory has going for him," Lucius quipped with a hint of jealousy. As if Dub knew what Lucius had said, he lifted his tail while he walked by, and the airy sound of flatulence was released with each step he took. I wrinkled my nose with impressed disgust as Dub snorted before trotting back towards his pasture, the smell stinging my nose. "Thanks, asshole. I had to smell that because of you," I grumbled to Lucius, though
Dis The shades that the burning glow of the lower mantel created were breathtakingly beautiful, like autumn on fire. The view was my reward for keeping watch over the hundreds of thousands of evil souls that aimlessly walked around, each one awaiting their turn to move closer to the Earth's core. My job is to make sure that the number of souls stays in check to keep the Earth going. Let me backtrack..... When the essence of evil leaves the living surface it is sucked through the Earth's layers until it reaches me. Here, at the lower mantel, it continuously walks around with all of the other souls as it awaits its turn to go to the core to heat the Earth. If too many souls go to the core at once, the earth gets too hot. Too few and there will be another ice age. Who exactly am I? Depends on the location and point of time that you ask. It also depends on who is telling the story and how much they exaggerate for attention. Some call me The Devil, Lucifer, Dis, Hades, Pluto, or Orc
Seth It was late by the time I turned onto the long stone driveway of the packhouse. I put my truck in park, but before I got out, I stared at the large stone and log cabin-style house. All these years I wanted nothing more than to bring Rhiannon ..... Rieka here. To bring her home. To share my life with her by my side as my Luna. But she didn't even know that the supernatural existed beyond the fantasy world. We were nothing more than myths and legends, childhood fantasies. Plus there's the fact that her entire life has been nothing more than a lie. "We need to have a meeting with the others tomorrow," I told Lucius as I finally left my truck and made my way towards the house. "No shit, but how about we handle one thing at a time? Like the cookies that you have a death grip on for example?" Lucius replied without shame. I looked at the large container tucked under my left arm, completely forgetting that Julia ended up baking a bunch of chocolate chip cookies while I picked a
Seth The sunlight coming through my bedroom window told me it was time to get my ass out of bed. If only I had gotten a decent night's sleep. After I took a shower and got dressed, I sent a mind link out to those closest to me that we needed to have a talk before breakfast. I immediately put my block up so that I wouldn't get bombarded with questions and proceeded to reschedule any business plans that I had for the day. As I made my way to the meeting room, I decided to swing into the kitchen and ask the cook to have breakfast brought in for us. It'll probably be better not to have a bunch of hangry wolves to deal with on top of everything else. Once I made it to the decent-sized room, I closed the window shades, sat down at the long wooden table, and proceeded to click my pen on it. "Calm the fuck down," Lucius demanded with an annoyed tone. I rolled my eyes at his hypocrisy but decided not to point out all the times I had to tell him to relax. Now wasn't the time for a p
Izzy After breakfast, Damian and I left the packhouse to go on a walk as the others went to the stables to start cleaning it up. I know that everyone assumed I'd be staying, but I just didn't know if I was ready for that. I still needed time. "Have you seen that dog since he was let out this morning?" Damian asked quietly as we walked towards the woods. I shook my head. "No. It's kind of hard to call around to find his owners when he's not here. Maybe he ran back home or something?" Damian playfully grabbed my hand, spinning me around to face him with an obviously fake cared expression on his face. "What if he's a secret spy?!" I raised an eyebrow as I bit my bottom lip to try to contain my smile ..... and my sarcasm ..... but it wasn't working. "Don't worry, D, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows what a slut you've been ....." I immediately started laughing as I watched Damian's face fall, letting him know that I was playfully busting his balls. "Low blow, Bella!" D
Rieka The smell of coffee woke me from my deep slumber. As I stretched and opened my eyes, I immediately noticed that I was alone in Seth's king-sized bed. As soon as I sat up, I saw that there was a single cup of coffee with a small handwritten note leaning up against the cup so that I could easily read it. 'I didn't want to wake you. We're in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Seth.' I reached over and picked up the cup of coffee, smiling when I realized that not only was it still hot, but also because Seth remembered that I preferred my coffee black. I sipped the nectar of the Gods as Lupa groaned in my mind while she woke up. And to think I was enjoying having my own thoughts to myself .... Lupa scoffed with annoyance. "Sucks to be you. How about breakfast?" I stayed in bed as I finished my cup of coffee. I honestly didn't want to get out of bed .... out of Seth's bed. It was the most relaxing night's sleep that I had ever had, and it wasn't just because of the mattress.
Mia When Jay went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, I stripped out of my clothes and put on his robe. Once I heard the shower running, I decided to sneak in and brush my teeth. "You can't really sneak in when I can smell you," Jay said with amusement from the shower. I rolled my eyes as I continued to get the taste of dinner out of my mouth. I keep forgetting that everyone has a scent and that werewolves can smell their mate. Vampires have a strong sense of smell, but we smell .... other things. Blood things ..... "If those two were honest with each other, you and I would have met so much sooner," Jay's voice coldly trailed off, and I knew he was just vocalizing his frustrations. "If that happened, where would Rhi be right now?" I asked after rinsing my mouth with mouthwash. Jay was silent for a few seconds, but it didn't take long for him to go back to the subject we were discussing before Izzy's storm interrupted us. "You're really OK with living here?" I smile
Rieka After I got out of the shower, the smell of pizza called me downstairs to the living room, where I found the others already sitting around with full plates. "I wasn't gone THAT long, was I?" "I seriously thought we were going to have to send a search party, " Izzy answered sarcastically before eating a chicken wing. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a plate and helped myself to the pizza and wings that were on the coffee table. "If I could do a happy dance right now, I would," Lupa said with glee. "Now that the guest of honor has finally joined us, can someone here explain to me what the hell the bird thing is about?" Seth asked as he gave me a coy grin, moving over so that I could sit next to him on the couch. I quickly looked over at Izzy, hoping she'd make room for me, but instead, she grinned and ever so slightly shook her head no. Bitch. Lupa chuckled as I made my way to the only open seat and sat down next to Seth. "Why don't you ask Jay and Blue," I grumbl
Rieka "Don't ever fucking do that again!" Mia's voice yelled as soon as we got out of the truck. "Oof ..... easy, killer. I feel like I was hit by a train," I heard Izzy say with a pain-filled groan. I looked over to see that Mia had evanesced over to Izzy and was hugging her tightly. Seth walked up next to me, gently placing his hand on the small of my back. I immediately spun around and glared at him. "You're the one that chased Dub and I!?!" "Fucking asshole," Roxie said with a scoff as she walked by us towards the packhouse. Seth closed his eyes and lowered his head as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry, I ....." SLAP! The sound made us turn towards the front porch to see Damian holding his cheek while he stared at Roxie with a surprised expression. I guess the comment that Roxie made wasn't directed toward Seth. "What you did to her was so disrespectful! Then, you start fucking your way through Omegas? Disgusting!" Roxie yelled at Damian as she poked
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