[Hyacinth]Gamma McCoy fought against the bars, but I held on tight. Now that I can see what is wrong with him and how I can help him, there is no way I am letting go. Thankfully, the process of clearing the curse from his body was a simple one. Just as I pulled the spell from those poor humans who had been infected and turned into a type of wolf--they just needed to be free of what was wrong. Setting a body to what it should be is far easier than trying to change it.Which makes me wonder: Why are the witches working so hard to change the true nature of wolves? What is their end goal?And dear Goddess above, what does it have to do with Moon Wolves?Now that I know how to fight back I need to know if there are any other wolves like me, wolves with the power to help me win this battle. Because there is no way to deny that this is indeed a battle, not just for the heart and soul of my pack, but possibly something bigger than all of us. As soon as I am done cleansing McCoy of his infe
[Hyacinth] Both Gamma McCoy and I hold our breath, waiting to see who might descend. I felt my power crackling within me, waiting to defend us if I must. I'd rather not use my abilities to harm, they were designed to heal, but I will do whatever it takes to get out of this dungeon and back to my mate. But the first person to greet us was the last person I'd expect to find here. "Sebastian Alexander James," I scold my 5-year-old cub as he squeezes me tightly around the waist. "You should NOT be here. Where's Jeffrey?" "With Rodrick," he looks back at the stairs. "And Miss Stella and Aunty Mariana." "Auntie Mariana?" "She said I could call her that," he looks up at me with his big eyes and I ruffle his hair. I am glad to see him, even if it is in such a dreary place. "Why are you here?" I scrunch my face just enough for him to know I am serious. "I left you somewhere safe so that I could go and get your papa." "You need me!" he insists. "I knew you were in trouble. I found the
[Hyacinth]I have never bought into the idea that rogues are somehow worse than us just because they are packless. There are so many reasons a wolf may find themselves without a pack, including several that are beyond their control. Wolves like me. The only reason I was sent out in the cold was to preserve my family's honor after I “broke” a law that made no sense to begin with. A law that victimized the victim in many cases, because it didn’t get any kind of consideration for who it affected. Because they didn’t have the name of the wolf who had taken my honor, they had no way to bring us both to justice. So instead they punished me, shamed me even, rather than listen to me. Hearing Gamma McCoy apologize did little to heal my deep emotional wound. I am still so angry at all of it. But right now, I need to focus. Because the circumstances of how we met don’t matter as much as my necessity to save him. I love Slate. And even though they didn’t treat me well, I still love my pack. “
[Hyacinth]“Stop!” Bash’s little voice cuts through the din of fighting all around us. “Mama, what about the baby?”I pause. “He’s right,” I remember, removing my hands from the Alpha. “I can’t cure anyone else without endangering my cub. She barely survived me freeing you, Gamma McCoy.”“Well then,” he smiles, taking on a can do attitude. “Let’s find some rope. We’ll just have to keep him under control the old-fashioned way.”“What about the rest of the pack,” I yell over the sounds of battle. “We don’t need to battle all of them,” Gamma McCoy assesses. “Our crew has already taken out half of them. And the rest just need to be told to stand down.”“Or we can scare them,” Bash suggests. “Mama, maybe we should ask a dragon to help.”“Bash dear, don’t be silly,” I shake my head. “Dragons aren’t real.”“Actually they are,” Roderick speaks up for the first time, his voice gravelly. “I met one when I was vacationing in Wales with my parents. They’re even more elusive than Moon Wolves.” He
[Hyacinth]Roderick then goes on to explain that when he casts illusions of this level, it requires consent from the person at the center of the illusion to release the illusion. “It’s anchored to him in a way that makes it possible for him to keep the illusion even when I am not nearby,” he tries to explain. “To do that, because he is a wolf with such sophisticated mental abilities, and because those abilities are a key part of making this illusion work, I needed his permission. Similarly, I need his help, or at least his willingness to remove it. He has enough power, even now, to keep me out of his mind if he chooses.I look at the newest ally in our group with sheer terror. “So the success or failure of our task relies on the mood swings of a 5-year-old boy?!” My gamma places a calming hand on my back, but I’m in no mood to be calm. Shaking him off, I take a step closer to the Full Moon Wolf. He raises his hands defensively. “We can still get this to work to our advantage,” Marian
[Hyacinth]Our plan worked better than expected.I expected some resistance, or at least someone asking for verification of our identities. Nobody did. Not a single person questioned us when our River City licensed van showed up with Gamma McCoy escorting Bash pretending to be Alpha Davis, even with all the newly added security. The guards simply waved us through, their eyes glassy and fogged, as if not present in their bodies. They were more like movie zombies than werewolves and the sight of them makes my skin crawl. There is something unnatural in the way they all move in sync--from the tilt of their heads to the way they move in unison as if it is one body with many separate parts.But the strange guards are not the only thing to change about Gold River in the short time Bash and I have been gone. In addition to the added security at the gate, there are now armed guards just beyond patrolling the main streets near the packhouse. They all move in unison as they travel from street
[Ashlynd]Tonight, the Grand Warlock will test the spell with the wolves on hand before we move forward with the final phase. The true sacrifices will be arriving in the morning, dozens of moon wolves cultivated for just this purpose. Mother tells me it is easier if I don't see these wolves as real people. "They're beasts," I can still hear my mother snarl. "They are beneath us. We do not mate with them." I do not care about my mother's opinion. In this case, she is completely wrong. I don't care about what she says--I plan to use some of the powers of manifestation during this spell to bring a true joining between myself and my wolf. We will have our mate. The wolf of a witch like mine isn't a traditional wolf-like those gifted to the weres. My wolf is cobbled together from bits and pieces of other wolves, carved from the souls of Moon Wolves. We don't stitch a complete soul to a witch's body anymore because a single soul can often overpower the host. But a cobbled soul like mine
[Slate] I used to think of Ashlynd as a friend. When we first met her, she seemed sweet, kind, and considerate--the perfect luna. She did everything she could to make the pack a better place and she was a great partner and companion. I could tell that she felt an instant attraction, but no matter how I tried to build my own affection, I could tell that she wasn’t the one. I’ve been with other women, I wasn’t saving myself for my mate, but there was something about her that just felt…off. Over time, I watched as the pack turned against her. The senior members were all polite and professional, but I heard the whispers behind her back, the accusations. But it didn’t feel right marrying for obligation without any feeling attached. So I changed the law. No, I abolished it. The idea that someone could be so severely punished for a single night of passion was more than off putting--it was archaic. Our pack was one of the last packs in the country that still had that law. Even pack