When the Moon Goddess casts a spell on Alpha King Lincoln and his entire pack, turning him into an icy ruler, he retreats into his loneliness, shutting out the world. Josephine, a spirited young wolf in distress, is saved from a terrible fate. Despi...
My eyes blink open against the light. An icy wind whips around means my eyes shoot open. I'm standing in a forest, surrounded by snow-covered evergreens.
I take a step forward and snow crunches beneath my feet. It's only now that I realize I'm in wolf form.
Where am I?
I strain to remember how I got here. Did it snow today? I thought it was nearly spring.
Everything comes back to my mind like a flood. I was at the reception for my coronation and Luna ceremony. The sorcerer that abducted me off the street was there. I saw him!
Lincoln?
"Lincoln?"
I try to reach him, frantically mind linking him to no avail, it's like there is a wall blocking us from each other.
"You won't be able to reach him here," a clear, calm voice rings through the cold air.
I look around, no one is there. My heart rate picks up and I bristle defensively.
"Calm down, my child. I'm not here to harm you." Something about the voice feels familiar, loving even.
"Josephine," her voice holds a power, an authority that makes my wolf bow. I can't see her but somehow I recognize her.
"I need you to hear me now. In due time, Clabus will be found, but not by Lincoln. After what happened to you, I chose him for you, I paved the way for the two of you to meet. He only needed to soften his heart and accept you. I have forgiven his folly. He said is a good man," her voice pauses leaving a heavy silence in the snow.
I force my eyes up and she stands before me. Her white hair glows like the moon, so bright it blocks out the rest of her features. It burns and I have to look away.
"Don't let his need for justice cloud his judgment. Force him to control the obsession. You are his second chance, his fate by choice. Don't allow your lives to slip by rules by the hunt."
I try to understand her full meaning. I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important.
"Go now, return to him. When you wake, this will feel like a dream, like sand slipping through your fingers. Force yourself to remember, child."
After a moment of silence, I look up to find her gone. The snow starts to fall in reverse, floating off of the ground and back up into the sky.
I'm not moving but I feel like I'm falling like the floor has fallen out from beneath me. I thrash, my human arms and legs flailing, looking for something to hold onto.
"Jo? Baby?" Lincoln's voice in the distance makes me immediately calm.
"Jo?"
I feel his hands on me, holding my hand, caressing my face.
"Lincoln?" When I open my eyes I'm in our room, surrounded by the loving and concerned faces of our friends.
I scramble forward, grabbing him roughly around his neck, crawling into his lap.
"I've got you," he whispers, a tired crack in his wavering voice.
"What happened?"
"Clabus betrayed us," Vic growls, I almost don't recognize his voice, it's raw and angry. "He's been the missing piece all this time."
"Who?" I'm still confused. I know I've heard the name Clabus before. I feel dizzy and nauseous.
"Clabus is a sorcerer, we thought he was a friend," Linc says quietly.
Where Vic is angry, Lincoln sounds hurt by the betrayal, there is a deep sadness in his voice that I can feel in my bones.
"He was part of the group that kidnapped you. He's been here, talking about how they needed to find and stop the monsters that took you, all the while he was part of it."
"The man with the pale eyes?"
"Yes..."
"His name is Clabus?"
"Yes, he showed up here tonight and you recognized him. He did something to you, I thought he... I thought you were..." his arms tighten around me as he lets out a shuttering breath.
Everything feels strange, like I'm forgetting something.
"He escaped, he fucking vanished into thin air..." Luke sounds bewildered.
When I look up at him he looks sullen and defeated. His job is to keep this place secure, to keep us safe, and I can see in his eyes the weight of failing.
"We will find him, Jo, I will protect you," the anger in Linc's voice sparks my memory.
"No! You won't!"
I sit back, forcing myself out of his arms and up from the bed.
"Baby, I will, I promise, I won't let him..."
"No, no, no, you don't understand!" I try to explain, "you won't!"
"Jo, I know you're scared but I swear to you..."
"He'll be found eventually but it won't be by you!"
Everyone looks at me like I've grown another head. I don't even know how to explain to them what happened.
"I had a dream or...something, I don't know what it was but the Goddess, she spoke to me. You won't find him."
Lincoln's face changes. Before my eyes, he morphs into the Alpha King, a man on a mission. It's almost like he's taken my words as a challenge.
"I'll find him. He will pay for everything he's done to you, and what he's done to others. He won't hurt anyone else."
I can see that fighting against him, at least for now, will be a futile effort. I sink down into the bed defeated, trying to remember the rapidly disintegrating memory of her words and warning.
Authors Note: Have a good weekend, my loves. 😘🧡
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