“There are children on the mountain who have no choice but to stay. Do they feel safe… are they safe? Or are they just pawns that Juan clings onto in a bid to feel he retains some control and would throw them to the vamps in a heartbeat to instill fear into those left.” I verbalize my frustration knowing fully that Juan never cared in any way for his people. Colton exhales heavily, letting me go as he stretches his arms out behind his head and scrubs his scalp in frustration, letting his breath out loudly as he does so and it’s not hard to tell he’s finding this stressful to talk out. Despite everything that has happened, Colton’s heart still sees his father inside the monster, and it leaves him conflicted anytime we talk about him.
“Tell me what to do…. I honestly have no fucking idea. We have a split pack. We have two vulnerable communities. Our priority should be here, but I get what you’re saying…they need us too. It’s just ……” He drops his arms and grabs my hand, shrugging as his words tail off, and I pick up on that familiar distress as his emotions war in on themselves.“Maybe we could recon the mountain, see what’s going on. Figure out weakness, get a lay of the land and if it’s as bad as Carmen said.” Remi stands up, also frustrated with this talk, and stretches out before pacing to the edge of the room where the water coolers are and gets himself a drink. The whole sub pack is uneasy and on tenterhooks and their emotions are filling my space like a dark heavy invasion. Sometimes I curse this ability to feel people’s emotions, especially right now while I am drowning in overwhelm.“You know we’re the fastest in the pack, we could scope it out and be back in under two hours, before dawn.” Domi agrees with his twin, a brightening glance between the two and Colton frowns as though thinking about this. His whole posture loosens slightly.“You know that’s not a bad idea.” Cesar leans in and I know without looking at Colton that he’ll agree. He listens to his pack, especially Cesar, the wise and influential brother he never had and now with the others nodding, I can sense his caving. His sub pack have always held this power over him and with some gentle coaxing can influence him for good, no matter the topic.“Okay, but only to scope it out, and keep your distance. Watch, report via link and when we have enough of an idea what’s going down, I want you back here. Fast. Watch your back, be home before dark and keep in mind, the vamps have witches out there now. Be extra aware.” He commands.“We won’t make decisions until we know for sure how things are at the mountain, right?” Meadow confirms what I’m thinking and Colton nods. Sighing again as though this whole thing has made him weary and listless. It feels like a bad dream that none of us can wake form sometimes.“Right. We see what’s up, then we figure out our next move. I need to patrol the village and see if we can squeeze more space out of the building works for those we’ve settled in the house, today. We need to keep them moving out so we can accommodate the incoming, for now. There are still three times as many wolves at the mountain than we have here…. We need to really think about this. We’re at capacity almost and from what you said, Carmen thinks more will run soon.” Colton stands and makes it clear he’s dismissing the sub pack, ending this conversation for the time being, as though they are all somehow agreeing to leave this as is, they get up to move. I linger, waiting for Colton as they nod their respect and leave in an almost single file until only Meadow trails behind.“I know you don’t want to fight our people again. Or him. I know how much it hurt to have to do that…. But sometimes, Hermano, you have to do horrible things for the greater good.” She pats him on the shoulder, rubbing his clavicle with her thumb for a second before kissing me on the cheek feather soft, and departs with a sad smile. We watch her go before Colton turns his attention to me fully.“She’s right… I don’t want to fight my people again. It was hell to do it once, I can’t even get my head around doing it again.” Colton breathes out when we are alone and his despair washes over my instantly, tainting the air I inhale. Always at the heart of his decisions are his pack, even the ones that are not technically ours. My heart bleeds for him, a tight heavy pain that constricts my ribs, because I understand. I don’t want to hurt our people any more than he does. Most of them never did anything to deserve this.“You heard what they said…. the people are turning. The memory being shared. I don’t think Juan has the command to make them fight like he did. Only his loyal would take up arms and they’re a lost cause anyway. When you take down the king you have to take down his circle of trust, or you leave betrayal as an opportunity. Didn’t you learn anything from the history teachers.” I nudge him lightly with my shoulder against his and he relaxes a little, that cute boy half smile coming my way as my words amuse him.“How did I get so lucky in finding a mate who’s beautiful and smart…. You make every day easier; you know that?” Colton leans in and brushes a kiss across my lips, warmly soft and yet he still ignites butterflies; lingering a moment to rub his nose against mine and my insides melt and combust all at the same time. It never ceases to amaze me how responsive I am to his touch and I hope it never stops being this way. Six months on and he still gives me fireworks.“The fates knew you needed someone to keep you in hand!” I giggle, running my fingers over that squared off clean shaven jawline and melt a little when he smiles, all full-on dazzling dreamy.“Really? Keep me in hand… I think that’s a little backwards. I most definitely run dampener on your temper sometimes, baby. My feisty headstrong Luna.” He kisses me again and I can’t say that I can argue with that, losing myself in the pressing of his lips as he lingers longer than the last one. Colton draws back without pushing it further and fixes a serious look on me.“Are you really not okay with carmen being here?” There’s a serious glimpse of unease in his eye and I exhale breathily, making a show of sighing dramatically and shrug. An inner war cascading around and green-eyed jealousy showing face as I try to rationalize my feelings.“I don’t know. I know she can’t come between us; I know you don’t have feelings for her…. It’s just …. It was a time that sucked, and she was a major part of it. Maybe I need to get used to her being here. I know I have nothing to worry about at all, that she can’t do anything to hurt us, to separate us. She won’t be half the bitch now that I’m Luna and she knows her place…. and the consequences for disrespecting me.” I growl lightly with the last six words, venom infused in the real threat I put out there and Colton chuckles at my show of fierce.“Baby, that temper, ouch.” He touches me and makes a mock sizzle noise before blowing his fingers dramatically. It does nothing to damper my fury.“Well, she better take note, because I will tear her a new one if she annoys me.” I smirk, simmering, and Colton holds up mock defensive palms. His eyes alight with sudden laughter, seeing as his everyday hobby is to tease and taunt me and it always brings back his sunnier side.“Scary! You’re cute when you’re a little feral. Wanna make out?” Colton disarms me with his humor and playfulness, a wink, and aims a grab on me that bursts the mood completely and gets me giggling. He pins me down on the podium, flipping me onto my back so he can lay on top of me and starts nibbling on my neck and jawline, heading for my face as I squeal and fight him with futility. It’s hopeless as he’s stronger, faster, and completely relentless when he wants to be, plus he weighs twice what I do. I was never a match in human form for this heavy, solid, Latino lover.“Do you ever manage just one hour without needing to molest me?” I bat his face away as he goes in for a kiss and then give up completely and kiss him instead with a chaste peck to cool his jets. Pressing face to face and smiling as our lips collide. He grins despite being joined at the mouth and chuckles.“Hour? I can’t manage ten minutes, baby.”Colton is preoccupied most of the day with overseeing the new buildings, checking in with the sentinels on patrol and keeping himself busy. We have fallen into a routine of doing what we need to do separate first thing in the day and gravitating back together by lunch, or after, to do things together. Today was exceptionally busy I guess as I had lunch with Sierra, like we always do, and then checked in on the school and some of the smaller workshops without laying eyes on him once.The wolves have started getting life back on track again. With the kitchens being used as both a mess canteen and a bakery to provide for the village, we have started to bring in some animals to graze on the surrounding lands to fill our meat, egg, and dairy needs, although occasionally vampires kill a few. We have managed to get them within the boundary for nightfall most of the time, but animals like to wander.In the evening the school is used to run arts and crafts workshops, drama, and oth
“I was always going to follow Colton; I was there that day and saw him defeat his dad. I tried to leave with the pack but my mom, she wouldn’t leave with me, and by the time I tried to convince her my dad showed up and put an end to it. My mom isn’t strong, she lives in his shadow, she’s naïve and maybe a little too innocent. I couldn’t leave her with him to be ground down and trampled over. You don’t know how he is.” Her clear, almost husky voice, cracks a little and I blink her way seeing a tiny chink in the confident armor she wears like a shroud.I waiver a little in my coolness when I see that soft warmth in her eyes when talking about her Mom, and yet there’s something raw and almost painful when she says the word Dad. Although the most surprising part is how hard it is to believe someone like Carmen came from someone sweet and feeble. She’s a born bitch. I can’t imagine she came from someone weak.&ldq
‘I’m sorry I ever doubted you as Luna…. as worthy. For everything I said or did. He broke me. I was in pain. It was juvenile and I’m over it.” She states coldly, icily harsh in her tone as though overcompensating for the weakness she showed me moments before. In that flash the old bitchy looking, aloof and haughty Carmen stands in place of the lost and vulnerable soul of seconds before, trivializing her love of my mate once upon a time ago, but this time I see through it.A broken hearted, lonely girl, who lost someone she loved, was left to fend alone in a home she no longer recognized and still harbors a world of agony deep inside. As much as I look back and feel like she once deserved my anger, I don’t think she does anymore. Carmen’s adrift, with no anchor anymore. Her home is gone, her mate went to another, her father’s a betrayer of all she knew and her mother…. slowly slipping away from her as the days pass by. Ther
Tawna“Hey beautiful, how was your morning?” Colton slides up behind me and wraps his arms around my shoulder, kissing me on the back of the head before nuzzling in close and calming all my anxious energy with one touch. My grounding force that enables me to set my worries free and I almost melt into a warm puddle of soft limbs. It’s in these reunion moments I realize how badly I miss him all day when we aren’t together.“Interesting. Carmen sought me out, long story, but I sent your mom to go visit with Tawna a while. She’s not doing so good and we thought it might help. I haven’t had much else to do today except eat, wander the village, be lavished with a ton of gifts I get every time they see me and felt the need to have a nap. I’m so tired today and I have no idea why.” I curl my arms over his and sink back, nestling my head in the crook of his throat and sigh heavily, closing my eyes as I submerge into my own p
Curled in Colton’s arms in bed, my head laid on his chest as I listen to that steady rhythm of his heartbeat, I doze in and out of peaceful and contented slumber. Something keeps waking me when I start to fall deeply, and I can’t seem to put my finger on it. Like a dream or a feeling that’s just out of sight and seems to jump in to haul me back whenever my consciousness drifts away. An unease or a threatening nightmare maybe, it’s definitely a sense of unease and try as I might, I can’t seem to fall into blissful darkness for any length of time. It’s almost dawn and I have barely dozed for more than twenty-minute slots at a time. I’m frustrated and exhausted, yet I can’t seem to rest.Colton however is completely out cold, wrapped up around me protectively, his face buried in my hair as he silently inhales and exhales so peacefully that it at least brings me a sense of calm. In his preferred position of full-frontal body wedged
Vampires did this and left her here in hopes we found her. The blood is fresh, I can smell it, the kill is still warm, and I can still feel the traces of her heat and her scent around me as though her soul still lingers. Feel the ebbing away of her emotions and fears in the air around us because they are still so recent and my gift homes in, tortured by what I can feel. They knew we were looking for her and yet they waited until we were close enough to kill her completely and I don’t understand why.Was this a game to them? It feels like they were luring us out here this far for fun and I look around trying to sense if this might be a trap with so many of our kind out here, but there’s nothing. The vamps have retreated and gone and only the chaos they have caused is left behind in the air around us. No hint or traces that they are close in anyway and not even the feeling of eyes observing.“Meadow… take Carmen and Lorey back to the house. They
"COLTON! COLTON! ....." I yell in the hopes of him hearing me and being close enough to respond, but there's nothing but deathly silence in the eeriness of this green mist. It seems like even the wind around us is captured on the other side of the boundary and we are left standing in an airless stillness that isn't natural. My body shudders involuntarily and I cover my arms with my own palms to comfort the sudden pang of vulnerable that courses through my body. My heart screeching that this is all kinds of wrong."What's that, look, there." Meadow points thorough to a slightly less dense patch to our right and we catch sight of a huge dark figure moving across our horizon, getting close to the rune border and yet not coming further. It's almost like they hesitate as they reach the line from fog to clearing."Who's there.... who is it?" I call out boldly, feeling nothing of vampires and sensing only wolves nearby. I can feel the presence of my love, somewhere beyond tha
We move fast, making light work of scaling the stairs, getting through the house and down into the secret passage to the underground via the library nook that used to be Colton’s and I’s bedroom. Just seeing this room, free of our things and our bed, almost breaks me in two. My soul throbbing with the loss of his presence and the knowing I won’t be able to see or touch him until we do something about this curse.I feel like he’s gone somehow, that I’ve lost him to something I don’t know how to fight and this room where we began, where he first marked me, stabs deep into my heart and soul and wounds me to the core. My anxiety and pain rising up like bile in my throat that threatens to choke me and I have to heavily inhale to push all the chaos down to my inner depths to stay calm. I stifle a sob as Sierra pulls back the concealed door behind where the bed used to sit, and Meadow grasps my hand in comfort, her own face ashen and stiff.