LOGIN[Apple][A few moments earlier]“Please, I don’t need you to make so much fuss over me. It isn’t right.” Amaryllis Thorpe Greystone is frowning in the mirror, her grand niece Hazel trying to get her to sit still as she applies the final dusting of shimmer across her cheeks. Even her makeup had been plain when she had entered the room, almost as if she was trying to disappear. When I met Amy, she was Alexis, and Alexis was a beautiful and proud she-wolf who would bow to no one. She was an alpha, a powerhouse of her own, capable of ruling her own pack if she wanted. But right now, she’s let herself believe her own negative self talk, spiralling down into deep despair. I know that feeling well–I almost let it eat me alive after Zion’s betrayal. I almost believed I deserved to be treated poorly too, so much so that I was hesitant to let anyone else close to me. I wonder if it’s a family trait, something inherited from a common ancestor that the women in our family feel it is in our lo
[Hawthorne]Beta. How can I be a beta when I’ve had a wolf for less than 24 hours. And now the Alpha King wants me to choose between staying here to watch over him and his family, as his official Beta, or return to Crescent City with my twin, who will be the Luna of the West with her mate and soon to be husband, Rudolph Forrester. The thing is, neither of these options sound great. And yet, both of them sound incredible. As much as Sylvester Sterling and I have been antagonistic, he has also reached out across species lines to make all witches feel welcome. He even took the position of familiar to my witch, binding his power to myself and Hazel, giving us the ability to use his natural connection to his pack to help us locate Apple. That was a brave choice. If I had been a more powerful witch, or was being used by one, we could have made him our familiar in truth, forcing his hand, commanding him through that bond. I know I said I didn’t trust him, but that isn’t true either. I gue
[Sylvester] Parris Abernathy is standing on the other side of the door, his cheezy grin wide, and next to him is Hawthorne Sparks, the witch who tried to take my mate from me all those months ago. Even though we’ve moved past that point, so far past it that I couldn’t imagine Apple giving this clever witch even a second glance, I can’t help but feel a touch of animosity when I look at him. “Um, Alpha,” the smaller man sucks in his own irritation, smiling as brightly as he can as he takes his mate’s hand. “Grandmother says it’s time. We need you and the other two grooms at the altar.” “Sounds like my cue,” Lysander stands, dusting crumbs off of his lap. As Apple’s only surviving parent, the old gamma will be walking my beautiful queen down the aisle to meet me beneath the arch of the Moon Goddess in the temple on the rooftop level. “Is Araminta waiting for us with the girls?” “She said she’d meet us,” Hawthorne takes a step forward, his grin becoming genuine as he looks at the ol
[Araminta] Fifty years ago, across the sands and mountains in the large coastal supernatural community of Crescent City, a young witch met two wolves in the middle of the night with the mission of negotiating peace. The treaty would take another decade and a half of back and forth, and would end in a moment where the two sides came together and forged a new world, one where they would live separately from one another, keeping the peace through segregation. And as our races grew apart, we became settled in our misguided beliefs, forgetting all of our shared stories and culture, losing our sense of interconnectivity. Wolves and witches were never meant to live apart. Both peoples are creatures born of magic and moonlight, living in harmony with the woods and water as magic flows through our veins. We worship the same mother goddess who not only gives us life, but whose shining power leads us to our mates, and our chosen families. In this modern world of computers and highrises, it’s
[Sylvester] The faint trace of musk and mingled scents mix in Rudolph’s room is much stronger than before, and I realize at once as soon as I see his neck. He’s had a busy morning as well, and as I look over his shoulder at the other I realize we aren’t the only ones. “Alpha,” Rudy gives me a small bow and a broad smile as he opens his door wider to let me in. “Sorry I’m late,” I apologize, giving him what I hope looks like a humble grin. Apple says I have a tendency to be a bit too stoic sometimes. Actually, her exact words that my “resting bitch face” is “absolutely terrifying.” Thinking of my wife-to-be makes my chest tighten. It’s so hard to spend even a few moments away from her and the pups. My instincts want me to be near her all of the time, to never let her or the little ones out of my sight. It’s such an overwhelming feeling, like constantly being happy and afraid simultaneously. “Not a problem, Alpha,” Rudy returns my smile. “Come on in. Hazel made snacks.” Grunt
[Apple] The soft hum of the shining net keeping the city safe is a balm to my frazzled nerves as I watch the moon rise higher in the sky. In just a few, short hours, when the moon reaches its zenith and the Goddess is above us, watching her children below, I will join my life to Sylvester’s forever, not just as his mate, but as his wife. “You’re not really nervous about that, are you,” my handsome mate comes from behind me in bed, wrapping me in his arms as his chest warms my back. “You’re already my mate, my luna, and my very beautiful queen,” he nibbles my mating mark making every part of my body purr with contentment. “This is just another ceremony, another moment. You’re already my wife in my heart,” he kisses me just above the ear as he leans into me, “Now you’ll be my wife in name also.” I’m afraid to admit it, but yes, the thought of becoming Apple Sterling is terrifying. And it’s not just the wedding, it’s the spell too. “I just can’t keep worrying about something going wro







