Genesis: (Book One of the True Luna Series)

by Texie D. Freeman

  The sound of footsteps brought June’s attention to the top of the staircase. Clark stared down at her with shining eyes, and she knew this was no longer Marigold’s gentle friend. The giveaway wasn’t his lively demeanor or even the golden shine of his skin. It was the stifling power that radiated from him, the same energy that she had felt at the temple in the Luna Library.

  Unearthly, godlike.

  Had she not grabbed on to the back of the couch, June would’ve toppled right over. Her body trembled and she could hear her blood rushing. In the back of her head, Genesis was torn between growling and whining. She could feel her eyes rapidly flashing from silver, back to blue, as the wolf tried to come out but was forced back by the power.

  The rapid back and forth shift made her head throb. Her cells felt like they were on the verge of spontaneous combustion the closer Endymion got. If June wasn’t watching she would have sworn he had floated down the stairs with how quick he was.

  “I was hoping we would get the chance to acquaint ourselves before I left, June,” Mion spoke in a voice that wasn’t Clark’s, smooth like velvet. It was certainly fit for a goddess’ lover. Each syllable had a purpose, bridging his words together to form a product of perfection.

  “Can’t say I wanted the same,” June grunted. She gasped over as a cramp tore through her stomach. Clutching her abdomen, she folded in half, spots dancing in her vision.

  Ignoring her quip, he continued, “I’ve dreamed of Selene’s champion for thousands of years. Imagine my disappointment when I found out it was you, a filthy vagabond with no power or acclamation, so unlike my dear Lucien. If he couldn’t bring himself to kill me, how will you?”

  “He didn’t kill you because Nyx stopped him,” June said through clenched teeth. “I won’t make the same mistake.”

  One of Endymion’s pale brows arched. “Is that what they’re telling people now? Lucien refused her will when he found out I was his sire, his father. It was Zeus who took pity on me and confessed to him the truth. His mother lied. She used me to create her precious shifters and then proceeded to set the world on fire when I told her to stop! She welcomed death and destruction into my home! Your hunters are the proof. Why else would Nyx hide you in the last place I’d ever look?”

  “Congratulations,” she snapped, “your heart was broken. Join the club, pal.”

  Mion’s face twisted with rage and he quickly closed the distance between them. June grip on the couch slipped and she winced as her knees hit the floor. A pair of leather dress shoes came into sight and then the dream walker grabbed her face, jerking her head up so that their eyes locked. “Be glad I haven’t decided to snap your neck.”

  “Why haven’t you?” she asked automatically and instantly regretted. She cursed the brain function that told her sarcasm was a defense mechanism.

  “You hail the daughter of chaos and plight, I think its only just you suffer first,” he jeered and then raised his free hand to point at the front door. “She took my son from me. Who I am if not a harbinger of revenge?”

  June’s eyes followed his finger at the same time Donovan came barreling inside the house, out of breath. Fear, real fear, washed over her. The alpha’s expression was one of horror and she knew he was going to try everything in his power to protect her and save their people.

  Even if it killed him.

  “Don’t,” she said, unsure if she was speaking to her mate or the goddess’ lover, “please.”

  “Maybe I’ll spare you, just this once, for saving my vessel from death,” Endymion mused.

  “Not me,” June swallowed, her eyes going back to the alpha. Donovan was now like the rest of the pack, frozen in place, eyes wide in horror. “Him. Please.”

  “Is that really what you desire?”

  A bitter taste filled her mouth. She found it suddenly hard to speak, “Y-yes.”

  “No, that’s not quite it. There’s always more,” Mion drawled. His hand moved from her face to the back of her head, and he pressed his thumb to her crown. The energy surged as the dream walker’s eyes burned purple. When he spoke again, his voice was the only sound June heard, “Tell me, Luna, what’s your greatest desire?”

  White specks clouded her vision and her brain turned to mush. The answer tumbled out of her without consent, “I want to be happy.”

  “Be a little more specific,” Mion huffed in agitation.

  “I want my dad back… my mom…I wish Bran never existed…and that the hunters valued me…”

  “That’s more like it,” he soothed. The thumb on the back of June’s head pressed down harder. Distantly, she heard him say, “Your dream is my command.”

  The white overtook her vision and when it cleared, the pack house living room had been replaced with another. It took June only a second to realize that she was home. Or at least someplace that looked like it. Someone had nailed a slew of family photos up on the wall that she faced. They started with Claire in a hospital bed, holding a baby. Dale stood next to her, staring at his wife with adoration.

  As the photos progressed, June noted how her parents aged together. In the most recent one, Claire had reached middle age. Around her mouth were laugh lines and mixed in with her ash blonde hair were strands of gray. June stared at image of herself tucked in between her parents, confused.

  Something about the image didn’t sit right. She couldn’t remember when or where the photo was captured. In fact, she couldn’t remember why she was even looking at the wall.

  A headache formed as she wracked her brain for the answer. Caught up in her thoughts, June didn’t even realize she was no longer alone until someone said, “That was my favorite part of our trip. Your dad was so cranky that the flight was delayed until you started cracking jokes. How did that one about the dolphin in the bar go again?”

  June turned towards the voice, a lump forming in her throat as she faced her mother. “What trip?”

  Claire’s brows furrowed. Her eyes flickered to June’s hand. “Hawaii. I know you and Jace are newlyweds and all but really, love, it’s time to get back to reality. We have an important mission to conquer tonight…Sunday dinner.”

  June followed Claire’s eyes, sucking in a breath at the diamond ring on her finger. She blinked down at it, waiting for images of her wedding to flash in her mind but it was all a blank.

  “Are you alright honey?” Claire asked. She come over and placed a hand on June’s forehead. “No fever.”

  “I’m fine,” June stated and stepped back, uneasy. Her eyes went back to the pictures and she frowned. “Where’s Brandon?”

  “Who? Is that one of Jace’s friends who used to tease you? I swear—”

  June brushed by Claire before she could finish. Up the stairs, she opened Bran’s bedroom door, only to pause under the threshold.

  Sitting behind a desk in the center of the room, Dale looked up from the paper he was reading over. Perched on his nose were reading glasses that he pushed up as he asked, “June? What are you doing? You know I have to finish this paperwork before your council meeting.”

  “Council meeting?” she parroted. Her stomach dropped to the floor. “Am I in trouble?”

  “What? Of course not!” Dale protested. He took off his reading glasses and tossed them aside. Standing up, he rounded the desk. “You’re being honored for taking out that mountain pack, er...Ashlynn, right?”

  June mouth was dry. “Ashby.”

  Dale snapped his fingers. “That’s it! I still can’t believe that you killed the alpha all by yourself. I’ve never been prouder to be your father.”

  Without warning, the image of a bloody man with curly black hair and dead, ocean blue eyes flashed in her mind. June clamped a hand over her mouth as bile burned her throat. She spun on her heel and ran towards the hallway bathroom. Throwing open the door, she barely managed to make it to the toilet, purging everything in her stomach.

  A warm hand on her back appeared out of nowhere. Claire’s cheery voice pierced the air as she exclaimed, “I told y
ou she was pregnant, Dale! A mother just knows.”

  June stifled a moan and lifted her head out of the bowl. Her mom was behind her, grinning wide at Dale who stood in the doorway with a pinched expression. “I’m not pregnant.”

  Her mom went on like she hadn’t said anything. “I wonder if it’ll be a boy or girl. Oh, Jace is going to make such a good father—”

  “For the love of the goddess, shut up!” June snapped. The words spilled out on their own. “This isn’t real. Dad never would’ve let me marry Jace and I certainly haven’t been to Hawaii.”

  Claire dropped her hand. Something dark flashed in her eyes. Her voice was sweetly sour when she said, “Of course your dad wanted you to marry Jace. We know how much you love him.”

  “I don’t love Jace like that,” June denied. The dark-haired man came back to mind followed by a string of memories of them in bed, sitting across each other in an old booth…on and on the movie played until she muttered, “Donovan. I love Donovan.”

  “Alright, that’s enough of this nonsense,” her dad chimed in. “Claire, go get the car. June is obviously over worked and having a breakdown.”

  “I’m not crazy,” she barked. On shaking legs, she stood up from the floor and faced Claire. “You’re dead.”

  “W-what?”

  “You’re dead,” June repeated, her eyes went to Dale next. “The council made your kill Mom after she was bitten by a shifter.”

  Dale pushed past Claire, coming into the bathroom. Lashing out, he grabbed his daughter’s forearm and shook her. “Snap out of it!”

  “Dale, let her go,” Claire cried.

  Suddenly June came back to her senses. Any doubt she had that this wasn’t real was instantly diminished. Dale had never laid a hand on her and wouldn’t dare to. She could have eventually gone along with the scene had her dad not broken character.

  She looked down at Dale’s hand wrapped around her arm and knew what she had to do. While her parents were occupied with one another, June’s free hand slipped into her back pocket and she pulled out the foldable knife Jace had gifted her one Christmas, flipping it open.

  “Goddess, I hope this works,” she said, drawing Claire and Dale’s attention back to her. They wore matching expressions of horror as she plunged the sharp blade into her stomach.

  “June!” Dale shouted, catching her when she fell.

  The pain became unbearable as he lowered her to the floor. She moaned in pain as blood poured from her midsection. Above her, she saw her mother run from the room, screaming about calling for help all while a weightless feeling uprooted June’s head from her body. Her eyes moved off Dale and to the ceiling where the light of the bulb grew brighter until it engulfed the room in white.

  /CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT/

  June didn’t want to wake up, but the shouting made it impossible to sleep. She felt someone shaking her shoulders for a second and then felt a heavy hand force her head to the side. Eyes snapping open, she stared up Donovan in disbelief. “Did you just hit me…for the second time?”

  The alpha ignored her, his head looking over his shoulder at something, or rather someone as he rushed out, “June, you have to run. Take my truck and get out of Ashby.”

  Donovan’s proclamation didn’t make any sense until she saw a body being tossed across the room and crash into the plasma television mounted to the wall. Glass rained down on Endymion as he landed on the floor. A malicious smile possessed his face as he sat up, the cuts where the glass had broken skin instantly closed. He laughed joyfully, “Finally. Some fun.”

  “June—” the alpha started, horror lacing his voice as Mion stood.

  The dream walker only had eyes for her. “Awake, are we? Don’t worry, I’ll rectify that once these mongrels are dealt with.”

  As he started across the room for Kade, Donovan balked. She forced her fingers to untangle themselves from his shirt and shoved him away. “Go.”

  “Run, baby, please,” Donovan begged her but by the look on his face, he already knew she wouldn’t. He shook his head when she stayed put and planted a kiss on her forehead, murmuring, “I’ll always love you more than the moon.”

  And then he was racing across the room, leaving June choking on his goodbye. She refused to let it come to that as she pulled herself off the ground. Her hand stretched towards the alpha as he took his place beside the enforcer, ready to face Endymion head on.

  The dream walker didn’t disappoint. He rushed the shifters in a blur. Donovan made a swipe for him but Mion ducked and then proceeded to slam the enforcer into the wall by hitting his chest. The alpha fell to the ground in an unmoving lump and June screamed.

  When Endymion turned towards her, Kade used that as a distraction and slashed his claws across the dream walker’s torso. Mion staggered and stared down at the blood that poured from his body. For a single second, June felt a flutter of hope but then he looked up at the enforcer and chuckled darkly, “It’ll take more a lot more than that to knock me down, boy.”

  Kade backed up a step, panic laced in his features as the dream walker grabbed him by the shirt and yanked him forward. He turned to June as she shuffled towards the pair. “No, Luna! I can handle him.”

  “Can you?” Mion asked but he was looking at her. His head was whipped to the side when a fist slammed into his jaw. Kade threw his body weight forward and the two landed on the ground.

  Mion quickly gained the advantage as he rolled so that the enforcer was underneath him. Taking Kade’s wrist, he jerked it backwards, snapping the bone in half.

  The shifter grunted in pain, his eyes on June again. “RUN!”

  Endymion rolled his eyes. He grasped either side of the enforcer’s head. “Shut. Up.”

  What happened next would be burned in June’s mind for the rest of her life. The dream walker let her close the small distance. However, right as her hand brushed against Kade’s arm, a sickening crack echoed around the room. Her legs gave out from under her. She was numb as she stared at Kade. His body faced the opposite direction of his neck, his dead eyes locked on June.

  Her mouth opened in a silent scream. She couldn’t tear her eyes off the body. She couldn’t move as the dream walker rose and walked towards her.

  And then he was being tackled from behind by Donovan. Mion wasn’t fazed as the alpha punched in the stomach. Instead, he sighed, long and slow, and touched his index finger to Donovan’s temple.

  June stared as the alpha’s eyes rolled backwards and he collapsed once more.

  “Goddess, I never realized how exhausting being alive is,” the dream walker complained. He dusted off his shoulders off and then his shirt sleeves. Turning to Donovan, he said, “I think it’s time I take my departure.”

  “No!” June shouted, she found herself moving forward, planting herself between the dream walker and the alpha. Without thought, she grabbed one of Mion’s clammy hands, begging, “Kill me. Not him.”

  Endymion stared down at her with purple eyes. June flinched when his free hand cupped her face as if they were partners, cooing, “I would be doing you a favor by getting rid of him. Love, Luna, make us weak. Trust me, I know this firsthand.”

  “I don’t care,” June sobbed. She saw the faces of everyone she loved flashing through her mind. Her family, new and old. “Anyone but him.”

  “You’ll regret saying that one day,” Mion promised. He pulled his hand out of hers, wiping it off on his shirt. His hand moved off her face to her head, forcing June to look at his shoes. “When you see Nyx, make sure you tell her we’re through. She is, as you kids say these days, toxic.”

  June waited for the dream walker to knock her out again, but it was much, much worse than that. The energy that she felt radiating around him tripled. She was being electrocuted again but this time it felt like she was touching a million cattle prods. The energy surged through her from her head to her toes, leaving no cell or nerve untouched. The smell of ozone filled the air, and it took her a second to realize that the source was her.

>   Mion released his hold and June flopped to the floor. Her limbs seized and strangled sounds were coming from her chest. When she blinked, red filled her vison as blood poured from every orifice. The sound of ringing filled her ears along with the slow thud of her heartbeat in her chest until it came to a complete stop.

  And then June Gilley died.

  Or at least that what she thought happened until she opened her eyes and found herself surrounded by looming pines. Through the break in the trees, the sun warmed her skin and breeze ruffled her hair. June tilted her head back, letting nature wash over her.

  The moment was interrupted when a twig snapped from behind her. She swiveled around just in time to see a flash of gold zoom through the trees. June couldn’t describe what it was that made her run after the streak.

  Letting her instincts guide her, she weaved through the trees. The creature would let her get close for a moment before taking off again. With each mile, the sound of running water grew louder. It was only at the source, a large brook, that June stopped. In the center of the bridge that connected the land stood a dark-haired woman dressed in a white linen gown with a bow and arrow strapped across her chest. Under the sunlight, her black waves shined like the night sky and her eyes were silver stars.

  June wondered if she should be scared but all she felt was peace as she sighed, “Nyx.”

  “June,” the goddess greeted, and looked over her shoulder. Behind her a golden blonde wolf, with eyes to match Nyx’s, waited. Its head cocked when she said, “Genesis.”

  “Oh,” June exhaled. Her cheeks warmed as tears spilled. Without looking at the goddess, she and the wolf started for each another. They met in the middle of the bridge and June dropped to her knees. Her hands shook as she laced her finger through the wolf’s coarse fur.

  “She was always meant for you,” Nyx said, “just like your alpha. So, tell me, why did you leave him?”

  June and the wolf froze at the same time at the mention of Donovan. She turned to the goddess, wracked with emotion. “I had to. Endymion was going to kill him. It had to be me.”