“Thank you all for coming tonight,” Eli said. “My father, Wesley Vargas, previous alpha of this pack, would be pleased to see each of you here tonight. It is in his honor we gather to say our final goodbyes.” Eli’s voice was strong and steady, but I knew him better than anyone and was able to decipher the emotion embedded in his tone.
Inside, he was barely able to hold himself together. This broke my heart.
“Tonight, we take the ashes of our alpha and release them into the wind, sending him back to the moon goddess and the Earth all at once. May his soul rest in peace. May his wolf roam freely. And may he always be remembered,” Eli said as he nodded to his mother, letting her know it was time to release her late husband’s ashes.
As she did, the entire pack glanced up at the full moon and said a silent goodbye to the alpha we’d known and loved. My wolf howled so loudly my insides vibrated.
“To the alpha,” we each said in unison as we released our paper lanterns into the night sky.
Up against the dark sky, the lanterns shone like twinkling stars. They reflected off the rippling waters of the lake and gave a magical feel to the evening when mixed with the full moon, one I felt our alpha would have enjoyed.
I noticed when Eli wrapped his arm around his mother. His brothers leaned in closer to her as well. June’s body shook as she pulled her boys in close. My heart broke for them.
It was a bittersweet moment.
Once Eli released his mother, he stepped to where I was and pulled me into him. He squeezed me close and buried his face into the crook of my neck. My arms wrapped around his neck as his warm tears soaked through my shirt.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “Everything is going to be okay.”
I knew the words might not mean much to him in the moment, but I felt the need to say them.
“I know,” Eli said. “I can feel him. My dad’s here with us.”
“Of course he is. Who would want to miss this? Look how beautiful everything is,” I said as I released myself from his grip and took a step back.
I glanced at Eli, watching as his profile became lit by the beautiful lanterns illuminating the sky.
“It is beautiful,” Eli insisted.
Once all of the lanterns had disappeared from view, Eli gathered everyone’s attention. I knew it was because he felt strong enough to announce himself as alpha. There was no doubt he would be accepted.
There was no one to challenge him; that wasn’t how things worked within our pack.
Becoming alpha was hereditary. It was a birthright. It wasn’t something to be won. We weren’t barbaric. It was an honor to be passed down.
A hush fell over our pack as Eli opened his mouth to speak.
“Our pack has undergone immense tragedy over the last few years, but none greater than the recent loss of my father—the alpha,” Eli said. His voice was clear and crisp as his eyes moved through the pack. “It is with great honor and brutal sadness I stand before you during this full moon to take my rightful place as the next alpha. As with the crowning of any new alpha, you each have a decision to make—do you accept me or do you not. If you accept, show me by changing. If you don’t, you are free to go without any judgment.”
Those around me wasted no time in shedding their clothes so they could complete the change. They accepted Eli. Of course they did. He was going to do great things as our alpha. I could feel it.
Once the pack had completed their shift, howls erupted into the night air.
“Thank you for your loyalty. I will do my best to serve this pack. I will try to live up to my father’s name,” Eli said. He glanced at the sky, and I knew he was making that promise to his father as well.
“And now we run,” Eli insisted once his gaze shifted back to us. “We run in honor of my father and in remembrance of him, as well as in celebration of you accepting me as the new alpha. Thank you again for standing with me.”
The pack howled out their approval as Eli stripped-down, proceeding to shift.
The cool night air ruffled through my fur as I watched him, thinking to myself how incredibly strong he was.
Once Eli had completed the shift, his bright green eyes locked with mine before he started through the woods. His movements were swift and laced with a sense of freedom. I wondered how much anticipation for this moment had coursed through him. How strong the desire to run was while he stood there talking to us?
He paused when he was a few feet away and glanced back at me again. His head nodded, insinuating I join him. My mind cleared as I forced away all thoughts of the Midnight Reaper vampires lurking somewhere in Mirror Lake, the crumbling ward the Caraways had put up, the loss of our alpha and the gaining of a new one, Eli’s heartbreak and sorrow reflected in his beautiful eyes–I pushed it all away and focused on the run.
Thank You
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Sneak Peek
If you’ve enjoyed this series, you might also enjoy Jennifer Snyder’s Tethered Series.
Enter the magickal world of Soul Harbor in Catalyst, the first book in the Tethered series, a romantic, action-packed series that fans of The Secret Circle are sure to enjoy!
Sometimes who we really are lies buried just beneath the surface...
After learning she's inherited a house in the beachside town of Soul Harbor, Georgia, Addison Harmon and her best friend decided to take a vacation before the pressures of life after high school suffocates them too heavily.
She wasn't counting on meeting someone who with one touch reveals a seductive world full of magick and secrets Addison isn't sure she's ready to be a part of.
AVAILABLE NOW
Prologue
Good Reason
Angela Avery snuggled the soft, warm body that was wrapped tightly inside a pink fleece blanket close to her chest. The little girl she held was perfect in every way. Peeling the edge of the blanket back once more, Angela allowed herself a glance at her beautiful baby girl. She stared at her chubby, rose-colored cheeks and her tiny button nose as she gently ran the tips of her fingers through her darling daughter’s feather-soft, caramel-colored hair. It would darken one day to be the same shade as her own; Angela knew this without any doubt because she had glimpsed the future—her daughter’s future—not so long ago.
It had been a game really; at least that was how she had thought of it that day, a bit of entertainment for herself, a little more magick in her life. She had been foolish to think that way—Angela knew this now. She should have stuck with creating energy balls, stone magick, or even candle magick—but she hadn’t. She’d been too interested in clairvoyance and seeing the future. Angela frowned as she remembered the things she had hoped to see that day—herself married and living happily ever after. The vivid clip of her vision from that day flashed through her mind involuntarily for the millionth time since she’d first witnessed it. Closing her eyes, Angela took in a deep breath and pushed the image away, sealing it behind a door in her mind once more.
The little girl snuggled up against Angela and released the most peaceful-sounding sigh imaginable. Contentment relaxed the delicate features of the sleeping baby’s face even more, and a tear trickled from the corner of Angela’s hazel eye as she realized this would be the only time she’d ever be able to hear that tiny sigh of contentment. Footsteps sounded from down the hall. Angela wiped the tears from her eyes and straightened her back. She would not let her final moment
s with her daughter be tainted by the harsh reality of what she was doing. There was a reason for this, she reminded herself, a good reason.
“I’m doing this to save you,” she whispered aloud, more to tame her guilt and ease her conscience than for her daughter’s tiny ears.
Bending down, she kissed her darling daughter and whispered her name, “Addison Avery.” It was a good name, a beautiful name, and even though Angela didn’t want her daughter to be exposed to the type of lifestyle she had grown up in, it didn’t mean that she wanted to give up on all family traditions. This was why she had chosen a first name for her daughter that began with the letter A, same as hers and every woman on her side of the family, as well as passed down the family last name of Avery. She saw it as a way to give her child a little piece of herself, a tiny piece of her biological family to take with her through life.
The footsteps paused outside the entrance to Angela’s room; time with her daughter was nearing an end. Rewrapping the blanket snugly around Addison's tiny frame, Angela kissed her daughter for the last time on the forehead and whispered, “You are safe, you are whole, you are well. Guided by the light of the Goddess and the God, may happiness come to you wherever you dwell.”
The door slowly creaked open and in walked the plump older lady who had helped with the delivery. Her lips twisted into a sympathetic smile as she crossed the room to stand beside Angela’s bed.
“It's time, Miss Avery,” the older woman said as she extended her arms for the delicate pink bundle Angela held. “You’re doing the right thing, honey. Don't beat yourself up thinking you're not. As young as you are, there’s no way you could raise this little bundle all by yourself.”
If only she knew, Angela thought to herself, how right of a thing she was actually doing. Pulling her newborn daughter tighter against her chest, Angela traced her eyes over every soft curve, every patch of pink skin, memorizing even the most minute details.
“I love you, little Addison Avery. That’s why I'm doing this, because I love. I hope one day you'll understand,” Angela said as she passed over the bundle that was her daughter. Tears blurred her vision and dripped from her chin.
Angela watched as the elderly woman turned and exited the room, closing the door tightly behind her and sealing Angela away from her daughter forever. She reminded herself of the reasons she was doing this, of the reasons she’d given her child up for adoption. The vivid image of a grown-up Addison falling into choppy ocean waters and dying flashed behind her closed eyelids.
As more tears than she ever thought possible flowed from her eyes, Angela prayed silently that the spells she’d done to counteract her daughter’s early death and the fact that she’d given her away would be enough to save her from the magick that stirred within her hometown, the magick that stirred within her.
One
Aduro Street
The salty air clung to my skin, making me sticky with sweat. I hadn’t remembered it being this humid when I came a few months back with Mom and Dad. I’d always heard summers in the Deep South were horrendous. Living in North Carolina, though, I’d never bared witness to one that seemed complain-worthy yet. I loved the heat. But as I continued on the narrow interstate toward Soul Harbor, Georgia, I was beginning to see there was an inconceivable difference between summer in North Carolina and summer in southern Georgia. One I duly noted as I rolled down the window of my nineties-model Jeep Grand Cherokee farther, letting even more of the thick, humid air roll in.
“I can’t believe you inherited a house,” Vera said from beside me in the passenger seat as she twisted her long blond hair up into a knot on top of her head. “That is still so freaking insane to me!”
I reached over for the bottle of water I’d bought at our last stop and placed it between my thighs, so I could twist the cap off one-handed. “I know. Trust me, it still hasn’t sunken in yet,” I said before taking a swig of the cool water and replacing the cap.
“I bet.” Vera nodded and then popped another pretzel into her mouth from the bag sitting in the cup holder between us. “Only fifteen more miles to go!” she squealed, leaning forward to read the GPS.
Fifteen more miles, a tiny prick of nervousness pierced my mind. In fifteen more miles I would be pulling into the crumbling concrete driveway of the house I’d randomly inherited nearly three months ago from my biological mother. Why she gave me up for adoption at birth and then turned around and willed me her mother’s house upon her death baffled me still.
“So, exactly how close is this house of yours to the beach?” Vera asked as she manually rolled down her window all the way and flung one arm out to ride the wind.
“Super close,” I muttered as I listened to the GPS tell me to turn right in 500 yards. I prayed silently that the exit I saw up ahead was the correct one and not the one I was just about to pass. My GPS and I weren’t always the best of friends, especially not on this trip. In the five-and-a-half hour drive from Linfrank, North Carolina, to Soul Harbor, Georgia, I’d managed to get us lost three separate times, even with the use of a GPS.
“I can’t wait to just chill out on the beach with you for the next two weeks!” Vera said, pulling her arm in so she could open the Mountain Dew bottle that sat in her lap. “I just wish I could stay longer.”
I cut a right, following the GPS’s orders, onto Sunny Street. “I know; me too.”
“Oh my God, this place is so stinkin’ cute!”
I smiled. “Read the street signs. They cracked me up when we came last time.”
“Sunny Street… Sky Lane… Forrest Road… Ocean Cliffs… Heritage Hollow…” Vera read as we continued toward my house. “Look at this place; it’s like Pleasantville or something.”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said as I glanced around, taking in the few clothing stores that dotted the main street.
My muscles grew slack as soon as we’d taken the exit into the little town. There was something comforting about it to me, like something burning inside of me had now been tamed.
“What is this, the center of town?” Vera asked, an unbelieving tone etched into her words.
I grinned and nodded. “I told you it was small.”
“You weren’t kidding,” Vera said, her plump lips twisting into a frown. “Well, at least we have the beach. Dear God, let the beach and the guys be gorgeous to make up for all this town is lacking,” she said in her famous dramatic fashion.
“It’s not that bad. I mean look, there’s an art gallery, a coffeehouse, and a used bookstore,” I said, pointing to each place.
My eyes paused on the used bookstore. I hadn’t remembered seeing it the last time I’d come, surely it had been there though. A wooden sign hung above the door where a scrolling script etched out Spellbinding Reads. I made a mental note to check the place out some other time. After all, there was nothing better than reading a good book while sitting on the beach.
“No way, a used bookstore.” Sarcasm dripped heavily from her words and I rolled my eyes. “Eeekk, we’re like less than a mile away from your house! Oh, and there’s the beach!”
The air suddenly shifted as it wisped through the windows of my Jeep, becoming more dense and salty. Just the tiny glimpse of the ocean’s deep blue waters between the houses and through the trees was enough to make my heart hammer with excitement. I couldn’t explain it, but this place felt like home.
“What’s with these street names? They went from straight up Pleasantville names to foreign or something. Ventus Lane? I mean what the hell is a Ventus?”
“Google it,” I said as I turned down Aduro Street, completing our last turn before the driveway of my house.
Vera fished out her phone from inside her oversized purse that sat at her feet. “Good idea. I don’t remember how to spell the other one, what’s this one?”
“Aduro Street—A-D-U-R-O.”
“Destination on left,” the GPS informed us both.
“Okay, so, Aduro is Latin and means…to set fire to, burn, singe, kindle, light. Weir
d,” she said, reading directly from her phone. “Oh wow! Look at this place!”
I laughed and put my Jeep into park. “God, you sound like you were expecting a serious dump or something.”
“I was,” she said bluntly with a little smirk. “This place rocks, though! You’re keeping this house, right? As a vacation place or something?”
“I don’t know yet,” I said truthfully.
My eyes assessed the size of the house while taking in its old-world charm at the same time. It was white with a gray roof and double the size of my parents’ house, easily. A stone wall separated the concrete sidewalk from the manicured front yard, and twin bushes stood on either side of the front steps.
My driver’s side door opened with a creak as I stepped out. “C’mon, I’ll show you the inside and you can pick whichever room you want to stay in.”
“How many are there?” Vera asked. Closing the Jeep door gently, she walked to where I stood and tugged her suitcase out from the back.
“Five.” I grinned. “I’ve already picked mine so that leaves you four to choose from.” I rolled my suitcase behind me and started up the front steps. Stopping at the chipped white door, I fished in my purse for the set of keys I’d inherited along with the house.
“Are you freaking kidding me, five bedrooms? This house is amazing!” She squealed as she came up the porch steps to stand beside me.
“Wait till you see the inside,” I said as I found the right key and inserted it into the lock. I opened the door and heard Vera gasp beside me. “I know, right?”
Moon Grieved (Mirror Lake Wolves Book 5) Page 15