She used a ripped piece of silk to shine the gold pieces arranged in a beautiful display all around the room. As she polished the metal pieces, she hummed a tune that spoke of her beauty and grace. It was one of the many songs made about her, and it was one of the only things that kept her sane in the tower. The sun finally made its way into the room and the gold sparkled. She sighed and disrobed, pulling the pile of silk to the spot that held the sunlight the longest. She laid down and let the warm rays wash over her body as light reflected all around the room, and she danced as clouds passed overhead. She closed her eyes and relaxed, dozing off after a few minutes.
A cool breeze brushed over her body and the light disappeared from the room. Her eyes opened to find Yanel standing in the opening and blocking out the sun. He seemed bigger than the last time she saw him, or maybe it was that she hadn’t seen him in person in so long that she forgot how big he was.
“Yanel, my love. I’m so happy to see you,” she muttered as she stood from her bed of silk. When he didn’t respond or move, she looked at him closely. His beautiful blue eyes had a wild sheen to them that she’d never seen before. “Yanel?”
He took a step toward her and she instinctively stepped back. “You let them touch you,” he said accusingly.
Confused, she shook her head. “I feed off sexual energy. If they’re not aroused, they’re no use to me. Why does that matter? I don’t love them like—”
“No! They do not need to enter you for you to feed. I know that for a fact, Queen,” he ground out, taking another step in her direction.
“Yanel, please. I’m only fueling myself with them. They mean nothing to me,” she assured him while slowly backing away. She took inventory of the items scattered throughout the room to see what she could use as a weapon if she needed.
“No one means anything to you. You only use humans as food. But you’re mine. You’re supposed to love me. Only me,” he whispered as he drew closer to her naked body. He reached out and stroked her when she backed into the wall. Being so close to the plants, she felt them draining her energy faster than normal. “Tell me I’m the only one that can enter you. I need to hear you say it.”
She shuddered under his touches. Her nature craved it, but he was dangerously close to snapping. She needed to keep her head around him, not lost in physical need. “Yanel, please,” she whimpered.
He bent down and licked the column of her neck. “Say my name again, my Queen,” he demanded.
Her eyes closed as a wave of lust crested over her, threatening to sweep her under. She put her hands on his chest to push him away, but his responding groan and arousal tugged at her sanity. She didn’t hate him any longer because he sent so many humans to her with offerings and to feed her. He did what she demanded and that’s all she could ask for. Loyalty.
“Yanel.” She moaned. “We need to clear a few things up.”
He bit her collarbone and cupped her, then she splintered. Heat rose and swallowed them whole in a flame of longing and desire. Their coupling was hard and fast and hot, but just as her climax was about to consume them both, a man cleared his throat.
They froze and swung around to see a young man holding a swath of green silk in his hands. “I think I’m too late to claim the maiden,” he said.
Yanel stilled under her. All the energy she’d been feeding off stopped cold. Her plan was to drain him dry and eliminate the threat, but the new man interrupted the process and now Yanel’s arousal morphed into pure rage.
“No,” she gasped as he threw her to the side and struggled to get up. She’d weakened him enough to impact his physical endurance, but his strong emotions helped him look over that fact. He wasn’t as capable as he thought he was, which would aid in his downfall.
The young man dropped the silk and crouched into a defensive stance, ready for the attack he saw coming. Yanel didn’t slow and ran into the man head on. They stumbled back and hit the wall, the man’s head smacking hard against the stone. His knees buckled and the man fell to the floor with Yanel tumbling beside him. Blood pooled around the young man and his face paled.
“No!” she yelled over and over to the unconscious Yanel and the cooling body next to him. It was all wrong. He was supposed to die, and she would replace him with another man when the next one came, but no. His stupid jealousy blinded him and ruined it all. How would she escape now? Would another man come? Had the message spread far enough that she would have a continuous stream of suitors to feed from?
She paced the room and seethed over Yanel’s inability to follow simple instructions, kicking him a few times, but he didn’t get up or rise to consciousness. She cursed him, his family, and everyone he had ever encountered in his pathetic, short, meaningless life. Her rant was so all-consuming that she didn’t notice him stirring. She also didn’t see him use the wall to help him stand up or watch him try to make his way over to her.
But she did feel a sharp tug on her hair. “Ah,” she yelled and turned around. Yanel was precariously close to falling from the opening, only the strands of her dull, white hair keeping him inside. And then, the strands broke off.
He screamed, and she ran to the opening, looking down to watch him tumble head over feet until he hit the rocks on the ground. The hair he’d pulled out stuck to one of the ivy vines and swayed gently in the breeze. She cried out at the inconvenience. His body was directly below the opening and any man coming to ‘save’ her would have to walk past or over him.
Tears flowed from her eyes as the moon disappeared in the sky and the sun made an appearance. She didn’t know how long she’d been there crying on the ledge, but she heard a man’s voice calling to her from somewhere. She lifted her head and saw the man standing at the edge of the rocks looking from her to Yanel’s body on the ground.
“My lady, are you in need of assistance?”
Hope bloomed in her stomach. “Yes! Please help me. I can’t get down,” she cried in her most damsel-esque voice she could muster.
It must’ve worked, for he approached despite the body. “He’s naked,” the man observed.
“Please, there’s no time. I’ve been up here for so long without water or food.”
The wind ceased, and the hair dangled in front of the man. He grabbed it and yanked, the strands so wrapped in the vines that it held. He tested it by putting a foot on the tower and pulling himself up, and it held still.
“I’m coming, my lady. Please, go inside so you don’t have to see this horrid scene any longer,” he called to her.
She rolled her eyes but took a step back and tripped over the young man’s body and dried blood. “Oh no,” she muttered, then got up to lift the stones and toss the body inside the tower. Grunts sounded just outside of the opening as she dragged the body to the opening. She kicked him in and didn’t bother closing the hole. Silk covered the dried blood just as the man’s head poked inside the room.
“Oh, thank you so much for coming to my rescue!”
He climbed in and held out a pelt. The fur was the softest she’d ever touched, and she instantly became obsessed with it.
“What is this?”
His smile was full of pride. “Rabbit. I skinned it myself.”
She walked over and kissed him, sealing his fate as soon as she tasted his arousal on her tongue. She pulled back and looked him in the eye. “Do you travel?”
The End.
Acknowledgments
Thank you, Lauren, for putting this amazing anthology together! This has broadened my horizons and taken me on a journey I want to explore further.
To Grumpy, we make a great team! Bouncing ideas back and forth helps me in so many ways. This morphed into something neither of us saw coming.
Ariana and Cassie, I wouldn’t have the freedom to do this without you two. Cassandra Fear for her amazing and quick editing! You saved my life more times than I can count. Thank you for all you do.
Gabbs and Tiff, you helped mold me into the writer I am today. Thank you and love you two so much!
Sandra, Kelli, April, memaw, and mom, thank you for always being there to give priceless feedback on my stories.
Family and friends, I hope you enjoy this.
To all the people new to me: welcome to my crazy train. <3
About the Author
Hey there! I'm Courtney Shockey. I'm a writer with a twisted mind and an avid coffee drinker. I'm married with two children and janitor for four (and counting) fur babies. I'm a Walking Dead fan, but hate zombie movies. They're terrifying. Living on the outskirts of Houston, I work in the industrial field 50+ hours a week. Writing is done on my free time and keeps me sane! (If you read my stories, you'll know that's how I get my crazy out...)
Also by Courtney Shockey
Selene’s Pass Trilogy:
The Cover of Love (Book 1)
The Shadow of Hope (Book 2)
Memories of Joy (Book 3 coming soon)
Nightmare Series:
Children of Darkness (Book 1)
Children of Darkness: Genesis (Book 2)
Children of Darkness: Progeny (Book 3 coming soon)
Soul Magic Serial Series:
Finding West (Short Story 1)
Finding South (Short Story 2)
Finding East (Short Story 3)
Finding North (Short Story 4)
Learning West (Full Story 1 coming soon)
Lost in Shadows (Novella Standalone)
Mantis (Novella Standalone)
Moon Bitten
Angharad Thompson Rees
ABOUT MOON BITTEN
Ravaged by the beast, raging with revenge, Red has vowed to kill the wolf that has already taken too much from her. The only thing left in her world is Blaxton, Red’s steadfast lover, and she will do anything to protect him from the wolf’s fangs.
But Red’s vendetta is taking her to dark paths and darker truths where reality and sanity cannot coexist; and all the while, her wolf-bite festers with an insidious ache, pulling her into oblivion.
Can Red have both her lover and revenge without losing herself—and her sanity—in the process?
A paranormal romance meets psychological thriller, Moon Bitten shares a unique and gripping spin on this timeless tale.
Published by Vixen Publishing
First Edition, 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Angharad Thompson Rees
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the work of Angharad Thompson Rees.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Interlude – White Hot
Chapter 5
Interlude – Darkness
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Interlude – Everything
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
About the Author
Also by Angharad Thompson Rees
Dedicated to you, Dear Reader,
for keeping the dream of fairy tales alive.
1
“Be careful,” Blaxton warns.
I pull the hood of my red cape over my head, concealing myself against the gust of frigid winds biting with ice and spite. The skies hold the promise of more snow to come. He does not let go of my hand. And it’s not the snow concerning him.
“Blaxton,” I say—his name as sweet as honey on my recently-kissed lips. “Do not concern yourself. It is but a short walk through the woods, and yes, I promise to stay on the tracks.”
I raise an eyebrow, threatening him to contradict me. But he should know my penchant for wandering and losing myself. That’s how we met—deep within the woods in the first days of spring, when frost thawed atop the lake and his green eyes melted ice from my nervous heart.
He pulls me into his chest, his body warm against my own, tempting me to stay. Tempting me to never leave. I melt into him, lips hot as the first flakes of snow dance from the sky.
“Blaxton, no,” I say, pulling myself away with reluctance. The space between his heart and mine gapes as if the very universe could fill the hole. “I have to get back to Grandma, you know I do.”
His face drops at her mention. Grandma despises him despite his soft features, warm honey eyes and sweet, crooked smile. Though I suspect her hatred is aimed more at the threat he will steal me from her. Just as her daughter, my mother, was stolen so many years ago I can no longer picture her face. But that was different. Mother did not fall in love as I have. She was taken…
By wolves.
A perfectly timed howl echoes across the valley, carried along the land muted by snow. Blaxton raises his own eyebrow at the beast’s call and I laugh. An empty tin-like sound of hollow mirth and creeping fear.
“I’ll be fine. Tomorrow,” I say, allowing a smile to creep across my frost-numb face. “Let’s meet tomorrow, same time and place.”
Blaxton captures loose strands of my red hair in his pale fingers. The contrast startling like blood on snow. Tucking the strands behind my left ear, his fingers trail my cheek as he kisses my forehead. “Tomorrow,” he promises. “But… Woolsey will be here.”
I tense. There is something about his friend, the way he looks at me, that sets me on edge—makes my stomach coil within itself.
Blaxton’s face pulls into an apologetic grimace. “Don’t worry, I’ll change plans. I’ll think of something, so it’s just you and me.”
And I know he will. He always does.
There are not many things in the world harder than leaving Blaxton behind, but I don’t look back as my feet crunch on snow hardened by late afternoon frost. For there are other things to worry about, other things keeping me focused on getting home before nightfall. Such as the strange deaths accumulating in the village by the day, or should I say, night. Bodies found mutilated and gnawed, limbs missing, necks ravaged.
My pace quickens, as much as the deepening snow will allow, and I ignore its cruel bite gnawing from my feet to my ankles. Toes already numb. And all I hear is the deep silence of the snow-laden landscape, my lone steps and heavy breath as I break into an ungainly jog. I wish at this point, to be a skipping fox, and perhaps that’s how I may look if eyes watched my red cape fluttering against the white snow from a distance. But the eyes I feel upon me do not feel distant. They feel close and hungry and perhaps I am making this all up with fear and folly.
The deaths.
A lone wolf’s howl.
The gossip; what if the lone wolf has returned. It took Red’s mother all those eons ago. Perhaps it has come back to take her too. Overheard conversations and superstitious nonsense.
But still, I break into a sprint as Grandma’s cottage comes into view.
2
Sounds travels differently upon snow. It’s as if the entire world sleeps while each step a crude yell. Each breath a rasping heave. There is neither birdsong nor the rustling of leaves overhead. A deeper silence perhaps than silence itself. So when Grandma’s scream bellows from the cottage in the distance, the sound races toward me like a raging storm.
I charge along the path, despite fear weakening my bowels. But it’s not only her scream pulling my heart downwards toward my pounding feet, but the snarling growls and malicious yelps accompanying her cries for help. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, the place locked deep within my subconscious, I’ve heard those sounds before. A memory too painful to hold, too cruel to remember. Mot
her’s sacrifice to save me while I was a mere bairn.
I snap that memory back into its box as I race up the wooden steps of the veranda. A strange moment to notice the blue paint flaking from the walls exposing patches of tired, rotting oak. A stranger time still to notice the flower boxes empty and barren save from frost-touched soil as dark as death. Another step and I burst through the door already ajar.
It’s the heat that first hits me, the raging warmth of the roaring fireplace hot against my cold, cold cheeks.
And then the blood.
Dawn to Dark Page 32
