by K. Mawhood
Copyright © 2021 by B. Mabry & K. Mawhood
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
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Go camping, they said.
It’ll be fun, they said.
Relaxing on Lake Travis, drinking beer, and stuffing my face with smores, was what I was hoping for.
You know what they say about the best laid plans.
I've caught the eye of four sexy men, though, I think they might be a few fries short of a Happy Meal. They are spewing all kinds of crazy about being werewolves and how I’m one of them.
Maybe they aren’t the only insane ones. Between that and the unexplainable things happening when I’m around them, I think it’s safe to say sanity has left the building.
Now, Cayden, Barrett, Liam, and Wyatt are taking me on what was supposed to be a road trip to figure out my past.
Problem is, theirs isn't the only eye I've caught.
Ray of Hope
The Cursed Elements Series: Book 1
B. Mabry
K. Mawhood
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments
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Prologue
1,000 Years Ago
High Priestess
This is a measure we didn't want to take but it has become necessary. The wolves and the vampires are getting too strong with the increasing magic of their elemental abilities and we have become outpowered and outnumbered. As witches we can manipulate the energy around us, but not to the extent of elemental magic. The scales of balance are tipping in their direction and we can't let that stand.
My coven starts to gather around the elemental stone, each with their offering of a vampire or wolf, forming a circle at the five points needed for the ritual. Vampires and Wolves either have the ability of Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, or Spirit. It took us quite some time to find each element, but we finally collected all five between the two species and put them under a paralyzing spell. The stone is engraved with a pentagram with the elemental symbols at each point. Once blood is spilled, it will fill each symbol and flow to the indented center to meld as one.
I look beyond my sisters, taking in the surroundings. This is a moment I want ingrained in my memory. The trees sway in the evening breeze as the sunset peeks through and the flowers in the clearing fill the air with a calming lavender scent. A seed of doubt starts to form but I shake it off with a deep breath as I mumble to myself, "We have no choice, it must be done."
The sacred spell book has been shared with all witches since the beginning of our existence. We have this sacred book to ensure that only these spells are used by those who have rejected black magic. The coven merged a number of particular spells to create the curse we are about to enact. There is a fine line between dark and light magic, but it's a line we are willing to walk.
With determination in their eyes, they clutch their candles close to their chests in anticipation. "Let us begin the ceremony, sisters," I declare, as I pick up the scroll with the new spell we created.
They lift their candles over their heads as I begin to chant.
"Great Earth Mother, thou relinquished part of thine natural abilities, but the time has come to return them to thee.
We call on our brothers and sisters of the past and present to lend thine powers to aid in the fight for justness.
The natural balance has become disrupted. The power of some is far greater than others. Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Spirit. Return from whence thou came."
The sisters bring their candles down to place them on the stone next to each symbol in front of them. They pull out their blades—enchanted with enough light magic to protect our souls from turning dark—before grabbing the hair of each sacrifice and guiding their heads over the stone.
As one, they move the blades to the neck of each wolf and vampire, their eyes widening with fear. In the next second, the blades glide along their skin, spilling blood into the symbols.
The candles ignite as a rush of power surges from each of my sisters in the circle. The power starts to circulate around me. I can smell the earth in a hot, humid whirlwind of air set aglow with the spirit magic.
As the middle indention is close to full, the blades that sit in each witch’s hand begin to blacken and turn to ash. Every sister turns to me with fear in their eyes. That was not supposed to happen. We knew there were risks but we must finish the spell.
"Hence forth, all bearers of life will not have the ability to conceive, nor have the power of extended life, until a true bond is formed.
In order to preserve the balance, the time will come when the one born with the Power of Five can restore what has been taken, by finding their true mates. There will be a ripple of power felt by all magical creatures as a sign that the time of the curse will soon be over.
Let it be known, let it be heard.”
With those final words, the whirlwind abruptly stops and drops into the ground. I look to my sisters with a smile forming on my face. "It has been done, let us pray it has the desired effect."
Chapter One
Present Day
Brayleigh
"Are we sure we really want to go camping for that long? I don't think we've thought this through enough," I whine as I hold my phone between my shoulder and ear, chunking more clothes into my duffle bag.
Kelsey chuckles, "Yes, dude, we’re going so quit your bitchin'. You'll be fine." I can feel her eyes roll from here. "We’re ready and waiting on your slow ass to get here," she says.
"Fine, I'll be done in a bit and head there soon," I say, groaning.
She's laughing at me now. "Sounds good, Bray. Later."
"Later," I reply before hanging up.
I look down at the random assortment of clothes I've chosen for this forced trip. I'm going to have to go through these again. This is what I get for not paying attention to what I'm doing. I don't really think I'll be needing the damn pantyhose I see laying on top of the pile. Sighing, I sit on the bed next to the clothes and start going through and folding the items I need.
The weather in Texas is a fickle bitch, especially at the beginning of fall. It'll be eighty one day and forty the next, so I want to make sure I pack for both. The “Weather Experts” say it'll be in the mid-eighties to low nineties and sunny all week. Sure, we'll see about that.
After sorting through my clothes, I make my way across the hall to the bathroom. My one-bedroom apartment is small, but it is perfect for me. After gr
owing up in foster care, I’d be happy in a cardboard box, as long as I could call it my own.
I check the countertop and cabinets, making sure I grabbed everything I would need. Satisfied, I glance at myself in the mirror as I turn to walk out and freeze. "Woah, you look like a hot mess!” I say to myself.
My long, dark auburn hair is up in a messy bun with flyaway hairs sticking up in every direction. Half the bun isn't even a bun anymore, so I take it down and start finger combing it out. I’m wearing jean shorts with a cute spaghetti-strap shirt that shows off my midriff. I have a nice hourglass figure that suits my five foot seven height.
I meet my bright blue eyes in the mirror again. There, that looks presentable to me. Shrugging my shoulders at my reflection, I turn and walk back to my room. Grabbing my bag off the bed, I head to the living room, snatch my purse off the bar, and head out.
Pulling into Kelsey's driveway, I park and shut off the car, resting my head back on the seat. Ugh! I'm really not feeling this camping trip. I've been a few times in my life and it's fun enough, but I have a feeling something’s going to happen on this trip.
Maybe I'm just nervous because Hudson, my boyfriend of four months, is meeting us there. Just knowing this will be the most time we've spent together all at once is a little nerve-racking. Usually, it's just a night here and there, maybe a weekend, but never this long.
Looking out the window to my left, I see Kelsey standing on her front porch, looking like some "Barbie Goes Camping" doll with her hands on her hips, staring me down. Rolling my eyes, I open my door and get out. "Took you long enough to get here, girl. We've been waiting forever!" Kelsey says, narrowing her eyes at me as I'm grabbing my bag from the back seat.
"Y'all are the ones forcing me to go camping. You're lucky you only had to wait an hour," I say, laughing as I walk up to her.
She shoves my shoulder lightly when I reach her. "We aren't forcing you to do anything; you're gonna have fun."
"Yeah, maybe," I mumble as I drop my things on the front porch, and we head to the door.
Laughing, she shakes her head. "You're a mess sometimes, Brayleigh, I swear."
"Yeah, but you still love me anyways," I say, grinning as we walk inside to meet up with her boyfriend, Lincoln.
"Are you girls finally ready to go?" Lincoln asks, standing up from the couch.
He's wearing cargo shorts and a turquoise fishing shirt. Kesley goes to stand next to him, and together they look like yin and yang. Her with long white-blonde hair and pale skin, and Lincoln with his shaved head and dark skin tone.
She stands on her tiptoes to give him a peck on the lips.
"Yes, I can't wait to get this trip started. It’s going to be the best camping trip ever," she says, smiling up at him.
Gathering their stuff, they head outside and place their two large duffle bags next to mine.
"Let's take a selfie to commemorate this!" Kelsey says excitedly.
She takes her phone out of her pocket and stares at me. A look that says, "Get your ass over here, bitch!"
I slowly make my way across the porch and stand to her left. Giving me an annoyed look, she says, "You know that's my good side!" as she pushes past me to stand on the other side.
I look over at Lincoln, and his eyebrows are drawn together, confused.
"What? You should be used to this by now,” I say, laughing.
After snapping a few basic bitch selfies, Kelsey starts weeding through the hundreds of photos she took. She’s always making us take pictures like we’re in some sort of amazing photoshoot. We could be grabbing lunch at McDonalds and there will be a thousand photos to commemorate it. I don’t mind though, because I love reliving all of our memories, and our scrap book game is strong.
Slapping my shoulder, she says, "Your eyes are so damn blue, I can’t stand it!" I start giggling at her. "You're turning a lil green there, Kels."
She laughs as we pick up our bags and head to their Explorer.
As much as we bicker, I wouldn't give this girl up for anything. We met exactly when we needed each other the most. Foster care isn't the best of circumstances to grow up in. Kelsey was placed in multiple abusive foster homes, and I witnessed some seriously fucked up shit in mine. We met at our last foster home, and it was the reprieve we both needed.
Lincoln and I are relieved when we see the sign for the campsite. After having to endure every Taylor Swift song ever made, the silence of the woods has never been so welcoming.
Exiting the car, we open the trunk, pull out our camping gear, and start setting up our campsite. The rest of our group, Nikki, Sawyer, and Hudson are here and have already set up their tents.
I take in the scenery, feeling a little more at ease with the camping situation. There’s a cool breeze, making the oak trees swish. I take a deep breath, smelling a mixture of water and grass. We have a campsite to ourselves, a square area, stretching from the road to the cliffs. There’s room for at least four tents at each corner, with a fire pit in the middle. Each campsite is blocked off with a barrier of trees on each side for privacy.
Moving closer to the edge of the cliffs that overlook the lake, I peek over to assess the cliff diving situation. Hudson walks up and dips to kiss me on the corner of my lips. I haven’t seen him since last week and he’s looking even more edible, already adopting the smell of the outdoors. His tall, bulky frame makes him look like a football player.
I ruffle his shaggy black hair and smile up at him, giving him the come-hither eyes. His eyes narrow as if to challenge me as his hands make their way to his plaid flannel shirt, undoing the top button.
As he goes for the second button, I smack his chest and whisper, “Put those chesticles away, big boy. Those are for later.”
His brown eyes are shining with laughter as he smiles before smacking me on the ass and heading over to help Lincoln. He’s such a fun-loving guy, but I’ve noticed some red flags when he drinks that make me wary.
Chapter Two
Wyatt
I blink my eyes for the thousandth time to try and gather moisture in them. Driving from California is so exhausting, but I still make the drive every year. This trip is so important for all of us. We have been through so much and this "get-away" gives us the chance to catch up and be as carefree as possible, all things considered.
Don't get me wrong, I love my life, but sometimes you just need some downtime, without worrying about everyday stresses.
As I look at my GPS, it shows I'm four miles to the campsite. As my phone rings, I look at my screen to see Barrett’s name and push the phone button on the steering wheel of my Jeep.
"Yo, Barrett, what's up?" I say.
"Where you at?" he asks.
"About three miles away. Are you already there?"
"Yeah, I left two days ago. I'll see you when you get here. Park next to my truck," he says.
"Cool, see you then," I say and hang up.
I wonder if Liam is there. I swear, if he starts his Evel Knievel shit, I won't be able to hold my temper. I'm a pretty calm guy, but the one thing I can't stand is recklessness. And if you know Liam, that is what one hundred percent of people would say describes him best.
I try to be spontaneous and unpredictable, but the military ripped those traits away from me and I can't seem to get them back. They also taught me patience and understanding, but that doesn't always happen.
If my temper gets out of control, I'll just go swim in the lake and take deep breaths. The water soothes me. Thank the Lord I live in Cali.
Finally, I see the sign for our campground at Lake Travis. It's a miracle it's still running. This is our twentieth year making this trip. We first came here with our parents, the pack leaders, as a kind of alpha training when we all ranged around seven or eight years old. After that, we made it an annual tradition. Through the years, life happened, and the probability of making the trip with our parents began to decrease—some more than others. Eventually, Barrett, Liam, Cayden, and I decided we would just make the trip ours
elves.
After weaving down multiple roads, I finally get to our site and turn into our spot. I don't know why but in that second, I feel like this is going to be the best trip yet. Maybe it's the smell of the air that pours into my car as I roll down the window or just a gut feeling, but either way, I'm pumped.
Liam
I drive into our spot just as Wyatt is exiting his Jeep. He's talking to Barrett as they start to unload their shit.
So many memories come to mind as I get out of Vicky. Yes, I named my car. My 1969 Ford Mustang Super Cobra Jet is matte black and is my most prized possession. Besides the stick shift in my pants, of course.
I wave to Wyatt and Barrett as I shut my car door and open my trunk. I pull out my tent and follow them further into our campsite. I love this place more and more every year.
Each of our parents brought us here unwillingly, when we were younger, to try and help us understand what it means to be an alpha. The trip entailed everything human boy scouts would include, as well as tales of generations before, wolf customs, and, you guessed it: the birds and the bees. More like Animal Planet gone wild, but talking about it with your parents. I don't know if the horror and embarrassment are what bonded us four back then but whatever it was, I'm grateful for these dumbasses.