Genesis: (Book One of the True Luna Series)

by Texie D. Freeman

  Donovan’s eyes went wide, and he coughed. “I know, but I can’t. One of us has to stay here.”

  “Then I’ll stay, and Dani can bring you home,” she stated, pointing at her chest and then his.

  “June, that’s not—”

  “Why?”

  “Cause I’m not—”

  “What?”

  “—drunk.”

  June pouted. “Not…me drunk.”

  From the left side of the table, Creed chuckled, “Best of luck, Alpha.”

  The sweet bliss flooding June’s mind dissipated for a second time as she seethed at Creed, “I swear, if you speak one more time, I will rip you into pieces—”

  “Hey now,” a new voice interjected, “let’s leave the ripping to me.”

  June craned her neck to see her cousin approach with Thalia following behind from a distance. “Dani! When did you get here?”

  “Like five seconds ago,” she supplied with an amused smile and then held out a hand to June. “Come on. I’m taking you back to the alpha’s house.”

  Unblinking, June stared at her cousin. “I want to stay.”

  “Please? I’m bored. Wouldn’t you rather go home with me and have a movie marathon?”

  “Will there be chocolate?”

  “And chips,” Dani promised. Winking Donovan, she added. “I hope you’re taking notes. She likes to binge eat when she gets emotional…or drunk, apparently.”

  Donovan tapped the side of his head, “Got it.”

  Paying their side chatter no attention, June reluctantly took Dani’s hand, letting herself be pulled off the alpha’s laps. “Snacks do sound good right now.”

  “Uh huh,” Dani hummed as she helped June off the platform. “Say bye to your mate.”

  June tried to wave but couldn’t make her hand work. Instead, she gave him what she hoped was a sultry smile. “Byeeeeeee.”

  “I’ll be home in an hour,” Donovan told her, his eyes moving from June to Dani. “Mind link me when you get to the house.”

  “Of course,” Dani nodded and then smirked, “you’re lucky most of the pack is too plastered to realize their precious new gem is drunk off her ass.”

  “Not me drunk,” June giggled, tapping Dani’s nose.

  At the table, Creed stifled a laugh as Donovan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Don’t remind me.”

  Dani waved a hand in the air, “Whatever you say. C’mon, June.”

  Together, with Dani supporting most of her weight, they stumbled through the sea of tables. June waved to the pack elders, surprised to see that Thelma and Harper had their arms around each other with wide smiles and red rimmed eyes.

  At the door, June looked over her shoulder one last time. Warmth bloomed in her chest to see that Donavan’s eyes were on her. She managed to give him one last stilted smile before rounding the corner.

  The next couple of minutes were a blur. When June’s head cleared, she found herself sitting in the passenger seat of Dani’s car. If it wasn’t for the headlights guiding them forward, June wouldn’t have realized they were even driving. Above, the moon was hidden behind heavy clouds, turning the road into a black abyss.

  June’s head lolled to the side as she looked at her cousin, asking softly, “Are you happy here?”

  Without looking at her, Dani nodded. “I am.”

  Throat tight, she asked another, one that had had her mind spinning for days, “Do you think I can be, too?”

  Dani’s eyes flickered to June this time as she answered, “I think you already are. When was the last time you felt like this at the complex?”

  “Well, when I was sixteen, Jace and I broke into my dad’s liquor cabinet—”

  “What? No, not the last time you were drunk,” Dani chided. “I mean when was the last time you were happy behind those stupid walls?”

  June had to think for a moment. Her mind was still fuzzy but despite the alcohol, she knew this question would be hard to answer even if she was sober. She spent most of her childhood in a clinical condition. When one is raised to be a killer, there’s no time for emotions.

  “When I was eight, Dale took me and Bran camping. It was my very first time to leave the complex and I remember getting this rush of excitement as we drove out into the world. But I also remember how scary it was. We stopped at this small diner for lunch, and everyone was…different. There was a family in the booth next to ours. When they started screaming, Bran grabbed my hand and held it tight, even when we realized that they weren’t actually screaming, they were laughing.”

  Dani was silent for a moment before pointing out, “That doesn’t sound like a happy memory.”

  “It is,” June reassured, “it made me smile knowing other families could laugh so hard that they cried together. Plus, Bran was nice to me for the whole weekend. He taught me how to make the perfect s’more.”

  “S’mores make you happy, which I completely understand,” Dani remarked, “but what about Jace? You were with him for a long time.”

  It was weird her cousin was asking about him since he had been on June’s mind lately. During Donovan’s absence, she had realized that she hadn’t been missing Jace. He had gone from being someone important in her life to a stranger in the background of her life.

  “I do love Jace but not for the right reasons,” June disclosed. “We sported matching scars and experiences which is why we rode out Dale’s hounding. The only reason we dated was because we could feel our childhood slipping away. Neither of us were ready to let it go so we tried to force something that wasn’t meant to be.”

  “Ah, so you’re a profound type of drunk, huh?” Dani teased before turning serious. Really, though, June, I firmly believe that if you try to have an open mind, if you decide to stay, Donovan will show you what happiness without stipulations is like—”

  Dani never finished because a sudden flash of white and brown raced across the road. In slow motion, June heard her cousin’s breath catch and saw her jerk the wheel, but it was too late. Someone screamed as the buck collided with the front of the car. Instead of rolling over the hood, the force of impact sent the animal under the car, and then they were flying.

  Glass fell like snow as the car flipped. June was a ragdoll as the force knocked her against the door, her head slamming against the window. Distantly, she heard breaking glass, and then she saw black. When her eyes opened, the world was upside down. She was vaguely aware of her left arm hanging limp, her hand brushing against the fabric covered roof of the car but not registering sensation.

  “D-Dani?” June choked weakly. She tried turning her head, but a searing pain halted her. Slowly, she raised her right hand to her neck but instead of feeling skin, her fingers brushed against a jagged chunk of cold glass under her chin, buried deep in her neck.

  A muffled scream broke through her sealed lips followed by a flash of agonizing pain. June realized then that she was going to die. She expected to feel sad, or angry, but the only emotion that came was regret as Donovan’s face flashed in her mind.

  They had only just met, and so much of their relationship had been June denying her reality. She may have escaped the complex, but the hunters still had a hold over her. She wasn’t sure why she was understanding this now, but it was the truth.

  She wanted a redo.

  Now that she was dying, she wanted to try for real this time.

  With Donovan.

  With Ashby.

  With herself.

  June didn’t realize that Dani had never answered her call until the car began to shake. Her addled head was flooded with images of a monster coming to kill her as the vehicle groaned under pressure. She watched in horror as the piece of mangled metal, which had been the passenger door, was ripped off its hinges. Eyes wide, June was preparing herself to scream when the hazy figure crouched.

  Dani’s face popped in front of hers. Her cousin was covered in blood and her arm shook, wrist bent at an awkward angle, as she reached across June’s torso. “I have to get you out.
The car is leaking gas.”

  “Do it,” June said, squeezing her eyes shut.

  No amount of preparation could have braced her for the agony that followed.

  She hit the roof hard when Dani unclipped her seatbelt, landing on her broken arm. Before she could process, June was being dragged out of the car, over a bed of broken glass and asphalt. Her back burned and without meaning to, she turned her head, causing the glass to cut to imbed itself deeper.

  By the time Dani came to a stop, both of them were breathless. June forced her eyes open to see that they had made it to the edge of the woods. Through the treetops, she could see that the clouds had passed. The moon, now visible, was high and full, among the stars.

  At least I’m dying under a view, she thought.

  “Don’t say that. You’re not going to die,” Dani spat frantically. Her blood covered hands hovered over June, unsure of how to help. “I don’t know what to do. Tell me what to do.”

  June swallowed the blood filling her mouth. Her lids were heavy, and it took effort to grab one of Dani’s hands, pleading, “Stay.”

  Dani’s eyes flashed gold as she looked down at their entwined fingers. Her eyes flashed gold, cutting the dark in half for a second. When she spoke, her words carried a heavy weight, “Donovan is on the way, he can help you…but there isn’t time. I’m sorry, June. I don’t know how else I can make you stay.”

  June felt like she was watching from outside of her body when Dani shifted. Unlike back in the complex, this time, the process was ethereal. She looked like an avenger from a distant land as she brought their conjoined hands towards her mouth, her canines brushing against the inner skin of June’s wrist.

  And then she finally understood what Dani had meant.

  This wasn’t what she had in mind when she thought of having a redo. The cold calm that filled June turned to panic. Weakly, she tried to pull her hand away, but her movements were jerky and unprecise.

  The second Dani’s teeth sank into her skin, an invisible fire scorched June from the inside making her back arch off the ground. She tried to scream but no sound came out. It felt like her cells were being torn apart and stitched back together.

  But it was what came next that had June panicking. Buried underneath her dying humanity, in the back of her mind, a presence stirred.

  She didn’t know how it was possible, but June felt its power radiate through her at it attempted to take over. When it greeted her without words, she fought, trying to push it away and for a moment, the pressure eased. Thinking she had won, June let her guard down and relaxed only for the agony to slam back into her tenfold. As the world exploded into a million pieces, her mind teetered and June gladly fell forward into oblivion.

  /CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE/

  June felt the static buzzing in the air dancing across her skin. She had felt this sensation only once before and knew that she was in the spirit realm. Drawing in a breath, she tried to remember how she got there but the last thing she could recall was Dani looking down on her and intense agony.

  Searching for the source, June lifted a hand to her neck. At the same time her fingers touched bare skin, a soft voice spoke, “There’s nothing there.”

  Opening her eyes, she stared out into the fog. In the distance a something moved, becoming corporal as it made its way towards her. The mist moved around them, hiding their face. June was aware that she should be scared, yet she wasn’t. Something about the stranger felt familiar.

  The feeling only grew the closer they got. Even before the mist released its hold, June knew who she was in the company of. She swallowed the lump forming in her throat and mumbled, “Claire.”

  “Hello, love,” she greeted, her red lips pulled up into a comforting smile.

  Stunned into silence, June took the moment to really see her mom, realizing that the pictures had not done Claire justice. In person, her face was soft, but her blue eyes were sharp and promised knowledge of all things. She wore a white, loose gown that moved around her ankles despite there being no breeze. Around her neck was the necklace Dale had gifted her, the same one June now wore.

  Ignoring June’s observation, Claire spoke again, “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you.”

  “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.” June sniffed and quickly wiped her eyes. “Am I dead?”

  The thought alone made her heart hurt, not for herself, but for the alpha. How would he react to the news? They had just shared their first kiss and June was just starting to realize how important he was to her. Without him by her side, she felt like half a person.

  Claire’s sudden touch made the chill hovering over June dissipate. She leaned into her mother’s hand that cupped her cheek, sighing with ease. She didn’t realize she was still crying until Claire wiped away her tears as she begged, “Tell me, please.”

  “You’re not dead.”

  “What does that mean?” June trembled, she grabbed her mom’s hand in her own, holding it tight. Fear curled in her stomach as she asked, “Am I stuck here like Marigold?”

  “Not that either,” Claire stated and squeezed June’s hand. “You’re taking a little break so that we can talk. The goddess has a message for you.”

  “She couldn’t be here, too? Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to see you, Mom, but Nyx has some explaining to do. Starting with this prophecy bit. That’s not real, right? It’s a joke. I can’t save an entire species by myself!”

  “June, take a breath,” Claire commanded. She didn’t continue until the order was followed. “No one said you had to do any of this on your own. Our destinies are entwined with those we keep close to us.”

  “Was your destiny to die?” June asked without thinking, her eyes going wide. “I shouldn’t have asked that.”

  Claire waved her free hand in the air. “It’s okay and yes, it was. If I hadn’t been bitten then you would have never met Donovan or became the True Luna. You would’ve died young because the guide wouldn’t have been there to save you from that damn car or falling out of the tree. I may have paid the price for you to live but I wouldn’t change a thing.”

  “I guess I’ve never thought about it like that,” June mumbled. All this time she had presumed her title to be an inconvenience, not the reason she was alive. “I still wish you were there, Mom.”

  “I always was,” Claire vowed. She dropped June’s hand to trace her thumb under her eyes. “Right here.”

  June forced a smile. “Dad misses you. And Bran.”

  “I know they do,” she said sadly, her eyes were misty. “I can feel their sorrow.”

  “Dad,” she paused to clear her throat, the words making her hurt immensely, “did the council take him to the Grey Zone?”

  Claire’s crestfallen face answered her question. Backing away, June felt panic creep up on her without warning. She didn’t even notice when her mom grabbed her and pulled her into her chest, murmuring, “Shh. It’s okay. It’s okay, love.”

  “No,” June cried, “it’s not. I have to save him. He’ll die in there. Rachel promised me he wouldn’t survive.”

  Claire pulled back and gripped June’s face on either side. “I know you want to save him, you’re like your father in that way, but you can’t. Dale has his own path to follow and right now, yours is to find Clark, do you understand?”

  “But Dad—”

  “Is going to be fine,” Claire urged. Her next statement was a promise, “You will see your father again. Nyx has assured me that much.”

  June closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them a second later with a new resolve and nodded. “I understand. What’s the message?”

  “The goddess wants you to know that he is rising.”

  “He?” She arched a brow. “Don’t you mean Lena? Is she coming back for Marigold?”

  She went on as if June hadn’t spoken. “With each moon cycle, he grows stronger. The time to prepare is upon you.”

  “What are you talking about?” June asked frantically. She looked down when she felt
Claire’s hand slip away and inhaled sharply. During their talk, she hadn’t been paid attention to the fog. It had moved from below their ankles to their hands. She watched in slow horror as it curled around her mom’s arm.

  Claire followed her gaze and her face turned solemn as she sighed, “We’re out of time. I love you.”

  “Mom!” She reached for her, but it was too late. The fog had swallowed Claire and now it was sliding over June’s skin, wrapping around her in a makeshift hug. Before she even had a chance to fight, to go find Claire, bright, white light filled her vison and June found herself elsewhere.

  /The Luna/

  /CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR/

  There are few moments in life when a person can sense a great change moving around them. Long before she came to, June Gilley knew that the world she was waking up in wasn’t the same she had been living in for the past twenty-three years.

  Blinking, June squinted at the florescent lights above her head. She could hear the electricity buzzing as a series of pictures flashed through her mind. It shouldn’t have been possible, but she could recall the crash perfectly and then her trip to the spirt realm.

  At the memory of her mother’s voice, June’s chin quivered. She couldn’t stop the tears from escaping. If she had her way, she would’ve stayed in bed all day but eventually someone would wander in and see her miraculous recovery. The last thing she wanted to do right now was be detained and probed.

  June had no doubt that the hunters were already on the way. They had spies in every crevice of the public health department. Dani hadn’t exactly been discreet about the placement of her bite. One glace from the right person was all it took to call forth an army.

  Sitting up, she waited for her headrush to pass before carefully taking out the IV nestled in her hand. Once she was free from the drip, June moved to the edge of the bed and stood up. Her legs shook with each step she took towards the bathroom. In there, she grabbed an extra gown to conceal her bare back and rear and put it on backwards, tying it around her waist.