LOGINGabriel helped me get out of the car. I still moved like I was one hundred years old and everything hurt.
Turned out I have a gash on my thigh, too, so I can’t even take a bath.
He took my elbow and led me into the kitchen, avoiding the front porch stairs.
It didn’t make a difference; we still had the stairs up to our bedroom.
We got into the kitchen and everyone just stopped.
Faces were grim.
Some were tear-stained.
Eyes were puffy
The desk clerk was saying something to me, but my eyes were frozen on my messaging screen.Did someone recognize me at the bar?Did Byron tell someone?“Sir,” the woman said with some emphasis this time. “Is everything alright?”I turned back toward her. “Oh. Um. Yes. Thank you. Are we all set?”“Yes, Sir,” she said with a forced smile. “Here’s your receipt. Have a nice day.”I nodded numbly, took the receipt, and made for the front doors.I got in the truck and blasted the heater.“I’m in the truck,” I texted Bina.No reply, but in the rear-view mirror, I watched her exit through a side door.
I leaned against the doorway connecting our rooms with my arms crossed, watching Bina go through her duffel bag one more time.“You know for someone who was so hell-bent on leaving, you’re sure taking your time,” I said sarcastically.“Well, I don’t just throw my things into my bag, like some people,” she shot back at me. There was a slight edge to her voice.I pushed off the doorframe, no longer needing the cane to steady me. “What’s going on? You sound tense.”She huffed and refolded a sweater.Again.“I don’t know,” she confessed. “I just feel… off.”“Off like women stuff, or off like we’re rolling into danger and need to stay put?&rdq
So, I’m a Luna-kissed too? I thought. It felt odd. I didn’t feel any different. But somehow it was different.Up until now, Luna-kissed was something about Soree, now Bear’s telling me it’s something about me too.“Were the males hunted too?” I heard Soree ask. That caught my attention.Zee was already at attention, taking it all in.“Oh, yes,” Maw said. “They tried to force breeding with high-ranking females, hoping to get Alphas or Lunas.”“What do you mean Lunas?” Soree asked again.“Not all Lunas possess magickal abilities. Just because a female is mated to the Alpha and a pack calls her Luna, doesn’t mean she is one.”Soree shook her head. “This is getting so confusing. I thought Luna-kissed just had more magick than Lunas, but all Lunas are Lunas.”“Let me try,” Bear said. “It’s very confusing.”Soree and I both nodded.“Before you met and bonded with Soree, Halia was your highest-ranking f
“I’m not sure I even know what to ask,” I stammered out. “Elara’s books don’t have much. I don’t know what Gabriel’s library has yet, and Amyra’s memory per her own admission is foggy.”“Whatever was written, more than likely, came after we went into hiding,” Maw said, sadly. “Who is this, Amyra?”I looked at Gabriel.He finished chewing, and took a sip of water. “She’s our most elder council member on the Isles. We call her Grandmother. When the Continental and Island Councils gathered here, Amyra revealed her Luna-kissed heritage, and also claimed Soree as her daughter.”Maw gasped.Bear grasped her fingers.“You’re reincarnated,” she said with awe.“Apparently. I knew nothing about any of this until a couple of weeks ago, wh
Soree and I made our way down the back staircase. Both Zee and I were content now that our mate rejoined the day-to-day.At times I could see her wanting to drift back upstairs, especially if the topic of the pyres came up, but she put on a brave face and kept plodding forward.KB smiled warmly as we entered her domain. She had two steaming mugs of coffee in her hands, and held them out toward each of us.“Thank you,” Soree said enthusiastically. I smiled as she brought the cup to her nose and inhaled deeply. “You put a touch of cinnamon in it!”KB beamed. “Yes, Luna. I know you like it that way.”“You are amazing,” she crooned, and took a tentative sip to gauge the heat factor.The kitchen was empty except for KB.
I flipped through an online menu from a local steakhouse. These apps had tons of restaurants that you could order from, and get the food delivered right to your door.Yesterday, I tried Thai food for the first time.Too many vegetables and not enough meat for my liking. The taste was nice though.I did develop a dangerous fondness for these things called doughnuts.Humans had a lot of nice conveniences. Not everyone had their own personal kitchen staff.I picked up the remote and changed the channel on the television to a streaming app.I could understand why humans had an obsession with it. So many channels and just about every kind of show, news, movie, or sports visible at any given time.I found a couple of shows I liked, then
I threw my gloves down on the table as soon as I got through the door to the Pack House. The trucks for the old ones. The ones who refused to live close enough where help could be provided on a daily basis.Instead, they chose to live on the outskirts away from the rest of the pack. Prefer
The landscape looked the same, everywhere I turned. The same huge trees with trunks so thick that they needed lots of people to hold hands around them.They were beautiful trees though, growing as high as the sky with a canopy almost dense enough to block out the sun. There were some patch
I fiddled with my tie until the bow was perfectly aligned and centered. For whatever reason, my fingers just weren’t cooperating. What should have taken me seconds, took over twenty minutes.It didn’t help matters that Seith sat in the armchair directly behind me making faces in the mirror
Rosa dipped her chin and eyes at the same time as she rose from her chair.“Sit,” I commanded, tossing out a little bit of energy.Rosa sat.I looked Vanessa straight in the eye. She met my glare head on.Without saying a word, I arched an eyebrow and jutted my chin to







