“Would you have rather followed Michael and Anton back to Italy?” Geoffrey asked, a lilt of jeering in his tone.
Hugo sneered. “I would have rather gone to the orient again and perhaps to Africa.”
“We have already been there, brother,” he said. “The New World must be conquered now.”
“Forgive me if I’m not as enthusiastic as you are.”
Geoffrey glanced over his shoulder at the bored sailors whittling away at bits of rope and wood to pass the time while the helmsman steered them farther into the east. “I believe you aren’t the only one unenthusiastic.”
“You’ve heard their talks about mutiny, right?” Hugo whispered. “They’ve wanted to turn back for days now. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t think we could swim the rest of the way back to Russia.”
Geoffrey didn’t answer, but his gaze lifted to regard the horizon past the bowsprit. The waves crashed against the hull of the ship as the vessel continued to dip and sway along its course.
Hugo recognized that look. It had appeared every so often, ever since they met the Spirit of Peace in Russia. Geoffrey must have been thinking about the beautiful woman who appeared to them and spoke her prophecy over their lives. Hugo dismissed it. He would have no descendants and his skeptic nature made him reluctant to believe that he would be around for her second coming.
Just like Christians who prepared for the rapture, Geoffrey seemed eager to prepare himself for whatever mystic, blessed future lay in store for them. Hugo could care less if he was caught unaware. His only son was probably dead and after the fiasco with his first and only lover, Martha, he didn’t want to risk endangering the lives of any more women. However, if Geoffrey ever decided to father his own children, Hugo would be the most doting uncle in history.
That is, if they ever made it across this stretch of ocean.
It was then that a strange, almost foreign sound met Hugo’s keen ears. Over the roar of the waves, the scraping of knife against wood, and the many other ship sounds like the creaking of ropes on their pulleys and flapping of canvas sail, Hugo could have sworn he heard the cry of a bird.
He lifted his head and gripped the rough rail, straining his ears to hear it one more time. Geoffrey also heard it and leaned into the wind. They heard it again and the two brothers looked to one another with gleeful smiles.
Seagulls could only mean one thing. Land. Land and food, which Hugo and his wolf were certainly ready for. The constant bobbing and tight spaces of a ship were not the ideal climate for a werewolf. He would be glad for the moment when he seeped his paws into the raw, steady earth and breathed in air that wasn’t so saturated with salt, sweat, and the stench of stale food.
Perhaps the New World would become a new home for them, just like it had for many more explorers and settlers. Maybe the New World was where Tanatia, the Spirit of Peace, would make her appearance again and do everything she had promised them back in the dense, dark forests of Russia.
Afterword
Dear Reader,
I hope you enjoyed reading this little introduction to Geoffrey and Hugo, as well as the future vampire assassin, Anton. One of my briefer novellas, this was intended to explain how Michael and his little group came to learn about the prophecy that becomes a pivotal aspect of the Loup-Garou Series. All four guys have their connections with Katey and Logan’s pack and I hope you’ll continue their journey with the following novellas and into my young adult shifter series.
If you enjoyed this story, please take a few moments of your time to leave a review on Goodreads.
In the meantime, I invite you to check out my social media sites for more updates and sneak peeks into my progress. You can find me at my blog, www.moonstruckwriting.wordpress.com.
Also, find me on Facebook! I have an author page and fan group page where you can stay tuned into the latest news, get the chance to earn free stuff, and talk all about your favorite books. To subscribe to my email listing, you can follow THIS LINK and sign up.
Happy Reading!
Sheritta Bitikofer
About the Author
A paranormal author of eclectic tastes, Sheritta Bitikofer has a passion for storytelling. Her goal with each book is to rebel against shallow intimacy and inspire courage through the power of love and soulful passion. Her biggest thrill comes when she presents love in a genuine light, where the protagonists not only feel a physical attraction to one another, but a deep emotional (and dare we say spiritual?) connection that fuels their relationship forward into something that will endure much longer than the last pages of their novel. A devoted wife and fur-mama to two shelter rescue dogs, Sheritta’s life is never dull. When she’s not writing her next novel, she can be found binge-watching her favorite shows on Netflix, eating chili cheese fries, singing and dancing to a wide genre of music, or painting at a medieval reenactment event.
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www.moonstruckwriting.wordpress.com
Also by Sheritta Bitikofer
Escape
The Neustrian Chronicles
Clouds
Passions
Silver Screen
The Loup-Garou Series
The Enigma
Becoming the Enigma
Beast Within
Precedents - Releasing January 2018
The Legacies Series (A Novella Series)
The Legend
The Guide
The Frenchman
The Prophecy
The Decimus Trilogy
The Beast of Verona
Amber Ashes
Saving the Beast
The Prophecy (A Legacy Series Novella) (The Legacy Series Book 4) Page 7