Genesis: (Book One of the True Luna Series)

by Texie D. Freeman

  Genesis tasted the air for lies but the boy was speaking the truth. She grabbed his forearm, ignoring his whimper as her claws pierced his thin skin. The wolf brought it to her mouth, licking away the blood. “This is your punishment.”

  Riley screamed when she bite down. Power flowed between the two of them, forming a connection of maker and heir. When she retracted her teeth, he jerked his arm away, clutching it to his chest, sniveling.

  “If you ever aid another hunter, I will know, and I will find you.”

  His eyes went wide as she stood up. He surprised Genesis by clutching the bottom of her jeans, crying, “Don’t leave me here. The others will kill me!”

  The wolf brushed him off and narrowed her eyes. “Then be a good boy and follow your luna. We have work to do.”

  She didn’t wait to see if he would follow. The wolf was on a mission as she moved through the small house. In the kitchen, she found two more hunters and snapped their necks.

  Riley gasped and she faced him. “Where is the dream walker?”

  “A-at school,” he stuttered, “she comes home at one.”

  Genesis looked at the clock on the stove and growled. Lena wouldn’t be home for another fifteen minutes which gave her the advantage. The dream walker wouldn’t be expecting an attack.

  “Go to the basement,” the wolf commanded, “do not make a sound or touch the man down there.”

  Riley didn’t argue. He ran down the hall and disappeared through the door at the end.

  Genesis took her place in the center of the small living attached to the kitchen. The minutes passed like seconds and before she knew it, the sound of car tires on gravel nudged her ears. The sound of the tires turned to boots and then the front door was pushed open.

  The woman in the doorway froze. Her eyes found the bodies first. Her expression was unfazed finally turned to Genesis. Lena let out an airy sound, speaking softly, “You did my job for me. Thanks, I guess.”

  The wolf growled in annoyance, tired of waiting. Her movements were fluid as she grabbed her wrist and flipped Lena over her shoulder. The dream walker grunted as she landed flat on her back. Just as fast, Genesis was on top of her, pinning her in place.

  “How interesting,” Lena murmured, “I’ve never seen a shifter with silver eyes before. I wonder if that makes you June?”

  “Genesis,” the wolf fumed.

  “Same thing,” the dream walker remarked. “My father can’t wait to meet you, True Luna.”

  The last two words came out in a sneer.

  Genesis growled but went silent when June’s voice filled her head, “She’s trying to bait us.”

  Lena’s eyes shined with mischief. She opened her mouth to speak but never got the chance. The dream walker went limp as Genesis slammed her head against the floor. Once for purpose, and then twice for fun, grunting, “Enough talking.”

  June’s head spun as she was thrown forward, back in control. She grimaced at her position and climbed off Lena. Without Genesis’ strength to steady her, she slumped against the base of the couch, eyes falling shut on their own accord.

  A long time passed and then she felt hands cupping her face. She slowly breathed in Donovan’s scent at the same time he called out to her, “Baby?”

  With great effort, June forced her eyes open. Before she could lose herself, she addressed Creed and Thalia who stood a few feet back, near the door. “Clark is in the basement as well as my new friend. Be gentle with them.”

  She waited until they were gone to collapse. June knew they could hear her, but it didn’t stop her from sobbing. Donovan’s face was torn, and she realized why. Her voice broke as she said, “It’s not my blood.”

  “How many?” the alpha asked, his tone strained.

  “F-five,” she sobbed, shaking. “Genesis took over and she…”

  Donovan pulled her into his chest, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. “It’s okay.”

  “I bit Clark and the kid, Riley. He was working with the hunters but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t consensual. He’s coming home with us.”

  If the alpha disagreed, he didn’t fight her. “Okay.”

  June’s heart clenched as she asked the question circling her mind, “W-what took you so long?”

  “The signal was being blocked,” he said, squeezing her. “We had to search every spot. This was the last one on the list.”

  She could hear the guilt in his voice. Moving as closer to him as possible, June sniffed. “You came. That’s all that matters.”

  Donovan said something else, but June didn’t pick up on it. She pitch forward and felt the alpha’s arms wrap around her. His hands rubbed circles on her back, chasing away her panic but not the dark images that flashed through her mind on repeat.

  /CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX/

  The first visceral memory June had was waking up in back of Thalia’s car with her head on Donovan’s lap. She pulled her gaze off the beta’s back and tried to sit up, but her body refused to listen. Instead, she settled for dragging her eyes up to the alpha, mumbling, “’s going on?”

  Donovan’s hand stroked her arm, making her realize that someone had found a shirt for her to wear. “We’re on the way home. You’ve been asleep for an hour. Try to rest, baby.”

  June grabbed his arm and brought it to her chest like it was a plushie. She fought against her heavy lids long enough to ask, “The others?”

  “They’re with Creed,” he answered. “Lena and Riley are sedated.”

  She tensed. “Clark?”

  “He’s okay,” Donovan disclosed, adding, “he’ll need to see the pack doctor when we get home but for now, he’s stable. You did the right thing by changing him.”

  June nodded, or tried to, but she was too tired. The alpha’s face faded out of focus, replaced with darkness. The next thirty-two hours passed in a state of nothing before she woke up in bed, snuggled in warmth.

  Nostalgia hit her as she looked down at the arm wrapped around her back. Her upper half rested on Donovan’s chest. June soaked the moment in before scooting away. As much as she loved to cuddle, she could feel the dried blood on her skin and smell it in her hair.

  She left the bathroom door cracked and turned on the shower. Facing the mirror, June forced herself to watch as she stripped. It looked like Donovan had wiped her down rather unsuccessfully. The blood had faded from red to pink, staining her entire chest all the way up to her neck. Raising a hand, she touched the bottom ends of her hair, shuddering at the strands that were matted together.

  The longer she stared, the heavier she felt. Turning away, June pulled open the shower door and stepped inside. The hot water felt cold on her skin as the truth settled in the air.

  She had killed before, but this time it was different. June didn’t regret it, of course. She knew Genesis didn’t have a choice. From what Lyle had said, they had done worse things than take off a women’s shirt.

  Every one of them deserved to die.

  It was the manner of how it happened that disgusted her.

  There had been no remorse or hesitation as Genesis tore them to pieces. June had to watch as her hands grasped their sinew, and it was her skin that had been stained with their blood.

  With that thought, June grabbed her washcloth. She doused it in soap and started at her chest, scrubbing it with righteous vigor. She moved onto her arms next, cleaning them until her skin was raw.

  Even once she was clean, and the water had gone from pink to clear, she stayed where she was. It wasn’t until the water was shut off by a hand that wasn’t hers that June realized she was shivering. A towel was wrapped under her shoulders. Numb, she let herself be pulled out of the shower and into Donovan’s chest. She felt like a child as he patted her dry.

  Her eyes shut as he dried her face and kept them closed as chaste kisses replaced the towel. His lips were feather light as they found the tip of her nose, eyelids, cheeks, and finally, her mouth. The kiss was slow and tender as it melted the chill that had settled in her soul.
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  June sighed as she opened her eyes, staring up at her mate. “Well?”

  “Well, what?” Donovan asked, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

  “I know you’re trying to distract me,” she chided. The alpha had an affliction when it came to not wearing clothes. Unlike most of the male species June knew of, he wore a shirt to bed and had been when she woke up. Sometime between then and now, he had abandoned it. She dropped her towel in retaliation, copying his stance and adding an arched brow.

  His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “That’s not fair.”

  “Only because you’re still wearing pants,” she countered. Just to torture him further, she steered the topic in the opposite direction, asking, “Has Lena mentioned anything about Marigold or why she took Clark? Endymion?”

  Donovan dragged his eyes offer her body and up to the ceiling. “The only thing she has said is that she wants to speak with the True Luna.”

  “And?” June pressed, sensing that he was withholding information.

  “In normal situations we would…pry the answers out of her. Unfortunately, we’ve run into a complication.”

  June rolled her eyes from annoyance and snapped, “Spit it out.”

  “Lena is the mate of a pack enforcer,” Donovan disclosed. His face was pained as he turned his eyes back on her, avoiding looking below her shoulders as he added, “She’s protected under pack law. We can’t harm her.”

  “She’s a dream walker,” June protested and waved a hand at his chest. “You’re the alpha, doesn’t that mean anything?”

  He grimaced. “If I pull rank, I’ll make myself out to be a hypocrite.”

  June cocked her head. When she spoke, her voice was unnaturally even, “Why?”

  “I wasn’t ever going to say anything—”

  “Why, Donovan?”

  “Because a lot of the pack wasn’t on board with you and Dani joining us,” he stated. “At the pack dinner, after the two of you left, I had to reminded everyone of our most sacred rule.”

  June pinched the bridge of her nose, at his implication. “Is that why you wouldn’t drive me home?”

  “Yes,” Donovan choked with guilt.

  The bond flared with the agony that came from the alpha’s end. June’s shoulder dropped and she sighed. She cupped his cheek, softly saying, “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not,” he refuted, shaking his head, “if I had been the one to drive you home—”

  “Then that stupid buck would’ve ran across the road anyway or something worse could’ve happened. These past few weeks have been strange but if I’ve learned anything it’s that you can’t stop the course of fate.”

  “June—”

  He stopped talking when her right hand trailed down his chest. The alpha’s breath caught audibly as her fingers hooked in the waistband of his boxers. June hid her smirk by placing a kiss on his pec. “You can keep apologizing for something I’ve already forgiven, or you can take me to bed. Which is it?”

  “Definitely bed,” Donovan grunted. A second later, June was staring at the floor from over his shoulder. Her face flushed with possibility as he carried her out of the bathroom.

  ***

  A thousand thoughts raced through June’s head as she stepped inside the pack prison. Her heart thudded heavy as she and Donovan walked down the aisle of cells. Although they were all empty, she couldn’t dislodge the panic that gripped her. Her irrational mind told her that she was about to be locked away…again.

  Donovan gently grabbed her elbow, making her stop. “We don’t have to do this, June. I can have Lena brought to us.”

  “And have the pack see her?” she questioned. It was already hard enough moving the dream walker without anyone noticing. Donovan had told her that Creed and Thalia had had to wait until the late hours of the night to do so. They had dismissed the extra enforcers on duty, opting to only keep one in the loop. She wasn’t about to let their effort go to waste and shook her head, forcing her fear aside. “I’m fine, I promise.”

  The alpha’s lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes flashed. “Fine, but if it gets to be too much—”

  “Then you can whisk me away and distract me in ways that should be illegal,” June finished, biting back a laugh when the alpha growled, knowing he was thinking about this morning. Before he could lose himself to lust, she started forward, dragging him with her.

  While on the way to the prison, Donovan had explained its purpose was mainly for rogue or feral shifters. Most of those that came here were released in less than forty-eight hours unless they had committed a crime. If that was the case, they were transported to the Ravenswood in Alaska where the alpha and pack oversaw the function of mass supernatural prison.

  June had heard rumors about Ravenswood. It was a dead zone for hunters, meaning no one ever went there. The alpha wasn’t called the reincarnation of the devil for kicks and giggles.

  It was where Lena would be heading as soon as she told them how to fix Marigold.

  The dream walker was in the very last cell on the left. It was much nicer than what June had woken up in. Hers had a bed, toilet, and a sink. Shaking off the odd bout of jealousy, she focused her attention on the enforcer perched by the bar door. “I’m guessing you’re her mate?”

  Lena, who was sitting on the cot in the back of the small cell, scoffed. Kade narrowed his eyes at her before nodding. “Yes, Luna.”

  Genesis perked at the possessiveness concealed in the enforcers tone and June thought about how to approach this situation. She decided to start with the obvious, stating, “Your mate has committed crimes that can’t be unexcused. The alpha and I are going to contact Ravenswood. However, we’re willing to ask their alpha for a lenient sentence in exchange for Marigold’s safe return and information about Endymion.”

  Kade immediately turned to Lena and begged, “You have to help them. For us. Please.”

  The dream walker rolled her eyes as she stood up from the cot. She came up to the silver coated bars, the only thing separating her from the outside world. Wrapping her hands around them, she leaned as close as she could, spitting, “I don’t have to do shit.”

  “They’ll hand you over to Ravenswood—”

  Donovan snapped, cutting Kade off, “Enough! Why did you target my sister?”

  “Are shifters naturally stupid or is it something in the water?” Lena taunted. Her dark eyes turned to June with a smile making her features look pixie like. “Should you tell them or I? Can’t you see that I’m right where I want to be?”

  June felt the hair rise on the back of her neck as she recalled Lena’s words when they first met.

  My father can’t wait to meet you, True Luna.

  At the time, she had thought Lena was referring to the pastor from Marigold’s memory. She hadn’t realized how little sense that made unless Lena hadn’t been talking about her biological father but someone else.

  “She wanted us to bring her here,” June stated. She had thought it strange that more hunters hadn’t occupied the house in Bryan. Elliot flashed in her mind and she recalled how he had failed to fight back, as if he had never been trained. Neither did any of the other men.

  Lena had even thanked June for killing them because she never intended them to stick around. They, like her, were props to set a stage for the arrival of something, someone, greater.

  The dream walker’s eyes gleamed. “And?”

  “Clark,” Donovan said. He grabbed the bars, ignoring the smell of singed flesh that filled the air. “What did you do?”

  “Oh, no, not me,” Lena sang, “it’s what your mate did. Like your goddess, most of my kind gave up on our father thousands of years ago. Only a few of us, the pure bloods, remained devoted. He told us to find where to find sweet little Maggie and how she would lead us to his vessel. We thought it was her mate at first until I figured out it was the human. He’s a descendant of Endymion but his power was dormant and needed to be kickstarted by someone with a direct link to Nyx. My father
knew June would be coming soon, all we had to do was wait. When word got out that she had been found, Endymion baited her with his little dream. He figured you would bring her to The Order and that she would be coaxed into using the spirit realm. From there it was an act of simply letting the pieces fall into place. Marigold never knew who I was or that Clark had been taken. Everything she said came directly from me. Which, I must admit, was genius on my part. Do you know how hard it was to make someone believe your idea is their own?”

  The air was snuffed out of June as Lena’s words settled around them. She saw the confusion in Donovan’s eyes but there was no time to explain. “Where is Clark?”

  “At the pack house,” he answered. “What is going on?”

  Lena laughed at the question and her dark eyes locked on June. “Tik-tok, Luna. He’s waiting for you.”

  She was off before the words were completely out of the dream walker’s mouth. She heard Donovan shout behind her but at this point, it was null. Her shoulder slammed against the prison doors as she forced her way outside. Across the field, the pack house looked impossibly far away. She tried to not think about what was going on in there and pushed herself to run faster.

  Halfway there, June came to her senses and reached inside herself for Genesis. Her heart pounded as she waited for her ears to pick up on sound of terror there was silence.

  Absolute and complete nothing. In the middle of day. In a crowded house that was never quiet.

  Nothing changed as she closed the remaining distance.

  Eight feet.

  Five feet.

  Two feet.

  Up the porch steps.

  June pushed open the door and screamed.

  /CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN/

  The pack members of Ashby that stood gathered in the living room were petrified, their faces warped with wide eyes and mouths open, silently screaming. In the back of the room, moms held their still babies. A teenager had been frozen mid-step, a soda in his hand, on his way back to the couch to join his friends. By the kitchen, Thalia was turned towards Creed, her finger pointed at the ceiling.