Mark Of Change (Firemoon Book 1)

by Sky Wilde

  December leaves my embrace and walks over to the lying woman, who is grunting a little now. She is returning from her unconsciousness state. Her eyes go wide and harden at the sight of December; protectiveness in her posture— a mama covering her baby.

  “I am not going to hurt you or your baby... I am sorry that this is happening to you... but... you and your sisters have a new choice in life...” she looks over to me, “My mate here is a billionaire, and wants to make amends. He is willing to provide for a new life for you four... five, including the baby... Do you accept?”

  “What’s the catch?” The girl whispers, “I am not ready to join his harem.”

  December smiles. “No catch... We feel responsible for you all. And I know, we don’t pity you, don’t get me wrong... I hate pity too... We just want you all to get the life you deserve. Remember, you will get a soulmate like I did, in course of time. .. So don’t give up.” She whispers to her and leaves her side, letting them contemplate the options.

  “My December. Always the sweetheart.” I lift her to my chest by cupping her ass and kiss her passionately. She moans into my mouth and opens her mouth. I slip my tongue into her mouth, and we each battle to show our love for each other.

  “Uhmm ...” Somebody clears their throat. I break the kiss and look over to the sound. December let’s her hair cover her blush, and in spite of myself I chuckle at the sight. She glares at me and I place a kiss on her forehead.

  “For Nyx's sake! Let me stay mad at you for at least ten seconds!” She yells playfully in my mind. I chuckle and nuzzle her nose with mine and mutter, “Never...”

  She is my world. She is going to have only happiness till forever. And I will be by her side the whole time.

  “Okay. I accept— we accept— your offer.” The pregnant woman cradles her baby bump and mutters, “For my baby...”

  I turn around to them and give a nod along with my number. They are confused about calling. Said they never had phones. Damn it... Mickelson had utterly abused these women and made them illiterate.

  I just explain the basic like finding a phone booth, typing the number, making the call. They take my number down in their memories, and leave the place.

  After walking a bit, the older woman turns around and approaches me, her dark brown hair swaying. I raise an eyebrow, “Anything else?”

  She looks down and mutters, “Not to impose, but... if you find the heirs of Alpha...” She takes a deep breath, “Don’t hesitate to kill them.”

  December gasps beside me, and yells, “They are your children! How could you ask that?”

  The older woman shrugs, “The Alpha has corrupted their souls... Their loyalty will never waver, unless they find another worthy master, which is highly unlikely... If he hadn’t pulled everything from us just now, we would still be under his control. And they are his flesh and blood. They have spent years under him, and so their minds are completely owned by the Alpha... Just... kill them.” Tears fill her eyes, “But... please... make it swift...”

  She turns around and runs off to her sisters. December tugs ay my arm and whispers into my mind, “The Alpha...”

  I forgot about him. “Don’t worry; he will never be able to go far.” I whisper back and turn toward the trail of blood on the floor.

  He is going to hell now. For all the women he has tortured. For putting my mate through endless torture. For being this. I will personally escort him to the gates of hell.

  Alpha’s Heirs

  *December*

  I follow my mate who is trailing the trail of blood. Mickelson’s blood. Irrespective of my sweet nature, I feel immense satisfaction on seeing this. He had me, almost. Just one more day and I would have been broken beyond repair. Would have given up my will to him, as a slave. A pleasure slave. As a delta.

  He would have mated with me for days till I got pregnant and then he would have used me for his sadistic pleasures. His voice still reverberates through my mind, “One day, you will be begging for me to do more. You will be crying out the word ‘master’ in a haze of pain and pleasure. And till that, I will enjoy breaking you.”

  I might have done that... if my mate hadn’t saved me. I owe my life to him.

  “Yes baby. You owe me your life. You don’t get to decide when to die, so stop this self-loathing...” Grey scolds me through my mind.

  “Yes... master.” I whisper back.

  His eyes fix on me, deep green now. His shifter has jumped out.

  “I like it when my girl submits to me.”

  I scoff, but smile inside. I will be anything my mate needs me to be. Since, pain stimulates me now more than ever; I will be everything he fantasises about. Everything. A good sub. A slave. A slut. Anything. He howls out his happiness.

  If anything my home-schooling taught me was that I must learn every way to please an Alpha. It was what I was trained for. To cover an Alpha’s care for the rest of my life. To bear children to him. At least, those educations won’t go to waste. My mate looks at me wide-eyed at that thought. I giggle.

  His eyes turn icy blue again. My shifter gave his ultimatum, and I would show him how much he means to me. He smiles and takes me into his arm. I lay my head on his shoulder, my rage and revenge going low, and now I can fully feel the extent of my powers.

  I am so powerful now. I can still feel the lingering effects of my previous burst. The pain lingers in my body, reminding me of what I am. The mysterious woman was right. Pain grounds power to the ground.

  “I still can’t believe that you decided to keep it away from me.” My mate whispers into my mind.

  Come on! I did that only to protect him. Why can’t he accept it...?

  He gives a tense nod at hearing my thought and focuses on the trail of blood. I place my hand over his heart, and mutter, “Will you cause me pain, even though you know it would hurt me?” His eyes focus on me, and he gives a slight shake to his head in negation.

  “Then, you want to protect me... but I can’t do the same for you...?” I whisper back. At times like these, I feel like most men are almost the same as that Alpha...

  He growls. I whimper from the intensity. He cradles me closer and whispers comforting words and apologizes, “I am sorry... but when you put it like that, I suppose I can bear this choice...”

  I give a nod.

  “Next time, we choose together. You don’t get to make choices like this without my consent. And neither have I got to make choices like this without your consent.” He replies.

  Yes! Finally... he sees reason.

  “I will always see reason with you, my sweet baby doll. Unless you tempt me with your gorgeous form, I will never fail to see reason.” He whispers into my mind. I blush from the intensity of the promise.

  *Grey*

  A GRIN PLASTERS ITSELF on her face. She nods her head with enthusiasm as her cheeks go red. I kiss her forehead and cradle her closer so that no passage for air lingers between us. I revel in her body heat. Her almost see-through fiery dress adds excitement to the pot. The blood on her doesn’t bring any revulsion to me. It just adds to her feisty petite look. My December is always perfect for me, in every way.

  The blood trail is never ending. If the Alpha had lost that much blood, he must be comatose by the end of the trail. Still I am not taking any chances in this matter... I need to destroy all threats.

  I round a corner and that is when I notice the slight howling of a wolf. Following the sound, I walk towards it, with December safely behind me.

  Peering into the first room in the dead-end hallway of four more doors, I gasp. Many bodies of various animals litter on the floor of the gym. Hyenas, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, and a lot more from the cat family. In the middle of this madness stands Mickelson in that very huge tiger form, bigger than before, bigger than a horse. He has his paws wrapped about a petite wolf's throat. With my hunter vision, I notice that he is sucking the life energy out of that wolf. The wolf is whining out its protest, yet he doesn’t seem to care.

  But, the f
inal straw requires consent. The wolf needs to give his consent for his death; else the power transfer will fail.

  “Alpha’s heirs... He’s killed every single child of his, j-just for the power...” December whispers into my mind. “Most of them gave their lives away it seems... for their father.” December pushes closer to me from behind. I turn around and place a fleeting kiss on her forehead.

  “Time to kick some Alpha ass.” I whisper to her. A grin lights up her whole face. Her eyes starts turning black and the fiery dress she has, lengthens and darkness in colour. She turns toward the Alpha with the little wolf clutched between his paws and yells, “Hey asshole! Why don’t you take on someone of your size?”

  Pride fills me at hearing it. My December is now one of the strongest of her kind. I feel privileged to be her mate. At first, seeing her made me want to protect her. But, now I want to protect with her.

  She is making me want to protect all the soulmates, and fight for them.

  She is making me want to protect all the women undergoing abuse, and save them from those overbearing sadistic power-hungry Alphas.

  My December turns her head slightly, watching me with the edge of her black eyes, and smiles with a nod. I grin and take a step forward, shifting.

  The Alpha on hearing us, tosses the wolf away. The wolf flies through the air and hits the wall, wheezing and whining from all the hurt it had endured.

  Letting out a growl, I step beside my mate. The Alpha growls and lunges forward, starting the battle. I lunge into his path and we both roll on the ground. December has her eyes closed, and concentration etches at her forehead. The Alpha seems stronger than before and very much bigger than before. In some moments, he almost has me by my throat. But, I’m fast. I leap out of the path of his jaws, just before they could connect.

  A wave of magic from December hits the Alpha, and I can feel that his strength has lessened considerably. His size reduces to that of a normal tiger.

  I loll my tongue out and grin at her. She blows a kiss and moves toward the wolf.

  Always the sweetheart.

  Now that December has weakened the Alpha from his overpowered shift, the match is equal and he is taking more bites than I. He may try to stand tall, but he will lose, eventually.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I see December by the side of the fallen wolf.

  My mate is the sweetest woman I have seen. Caring for the enemy’s child... she really is something else.

  How dare he hurt someone like that? How dare he do all those things just because she refused to submit to him? He has inflicted unspeakable horrors on her and has subjected her to a lifetime of pain...

  All because she refused to submit to him.

  Rage overtakes my mind, as everything goes red... and I let it. I will protect my December with all I have. I will utterly destroy that Alpha.

  Rip him limb by limb.

  Draw out every ounce of his blood.

  Stab him again and again, till he dies a slow torturous death for his crimes.

  He’s so dead.

  *December*

  THE WOLF KEEPS WHINING from the pain. I touch its body.

  Dammit... The Alpha had taken out most of its life energy. I gently lift it and place it on my lap. Putting my hand on its forehead, I whisper into the void, “Please. Can you save this soul?”

  “December. Do you really wish to save him?” The voice, almost like mine, replies. I nod and add without a hint of doubt, “Yes!”

  “Very well. You will eventually learn the ropes for endless reserves of wild magic. But, for now, let me take control.” I let her take control.

  My body moves of its own accord and places my hand at its chest, another hand on his head. I feel a wave of magic assaulting me from wild, and the pain must be as immersive as the amount of wild magic coursing through me.

  “When you try to force wild magic into submission, pain will accompany it. But, as I always say, pain grounds power.” The voice provides me with more knowledge. I nod, the pain feels distant, but I can still feel it. If it is this much painful even through a proxy, then if I am in control, it is going to hurt like hell.

  I can feel the wolf’s life force stabilizing. With my magic perspective, I can confirm that this wolf is a sorcerer child and a strong one at that. He has a lot of control over his sol particles.

  His eyes snap open and the deep brown eyes of his wolf show self-control. His body starts morphing backward. The sol particles starting to disappear into the surroundings. Little by little.

  My mate is passing his time with the Alpha. My neutralizer, a targeted one this time, had hit the Alpha and his overpowered shift had become less powerful. Now, he is no match for my mate who is just drawling the fight out, because he wants the Alpha to suffer. He had already broken the ankles of the Alpha.

  He really is punishing him.

  I turn back towards the wolf on my lap. The wolf turns into a boy in front of my eyes; a little boy with pale skin—paler than mine, and hair colour as a bright sparkling amber. His clothes are still the same—magic shifting doesn’t tear them away like real shifting does. His eyes focus on me and he growls at my hand on him.

  I get back control of my body from the presence and I smile at him. “It’s fine. You are safe.” I whisper to him.

  His eyes becomes soft, hostility retreating. “Alpha...?” He mutters. I shake my head. “Don’t worry. He will never get his hands on you... He is getting... punished.”

  This is the moment. The moment I need to choose whether to save this child, or kill him... I can’t bring myself to do it if he sides with the Alpha. But, I have to...

  “He... my Alpha... where?” He whines out, reality swinging back to him. I place my hand on his cheek and whisper, “Do you side with him.... or against him... Speak from your heart...”

  His eyes refocus on me and he opens his mouth, taking a gulp of air. His voice is weak, “He will... kill... me... and sister...”

  I shake my head and offer him a reassuring smile, “No. He will never hurt you anymore. I am here for you...”

  Tears fill his eyes. His head rolls away from my lap and he whispers, as he rolls his body to the ground, “If you can.... please... punish him... on behalf of me...”

  I sigh mentally. I knew it. He is not as loyal to his Alpha as everyone else. Means, he still has some hope. I let his head down to the ground and place a kiss on the side of his head. “Yes, as you wish. Rest for a while. I am here for you.”

  He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He mouths a ‘thank you’ before he goes limp, exhaustion catching up with him.

  I turn away from the boy and to the Alpha. The Alpha’s tiger form has a lot of bite and claw marks. Just like I had.

  Revenge takes over my mind, but this time I have full control.

  The feeling of wild magic passing through me is kind of different. Pain accompanies it, but for me this pain is different. Normal pain gives me bliss, this pain from taming the wild magic doesn’t.

  Yeah, crazy weird. I now crave pain.

  It gets tough to focus, but I try my level best. Grey has now pinned the Alpha down. He is waiting for me to deliver the punishment.

  With a focused blast, fire leaves my control and hits the Alpha in the muzzle, burning its way in. He pathetically whimpers and yowls out in pain. “Yeah, how does it feel? How does your own medicine taste?” Revenge. It is the only thing I feel now. I don’t care who suffers, I need–no, I deserve– justice.

  Grey smirks into my mind, from his lion form. He urges me to have my way with the Alpha, who just keeps whimpering more. I increase the heat, but it is not enough for him. He needs to suffer like I did. I try to pull his blood just like he did in the past. That will give me with the satisfaction I deserve.

  Yes! That will be the best punishment! Revenge whispers to me.

  I give in to the temptation.

  I try to concentrate on the blood running through his veins. With a loud pop, I drag them out through the vessels and sk
in. Wild magic uses me as its vessel to do my bidding.

  Accompanied by pain.

  It goes all well, until pain like nothing else assaults me. I kneel down from the intensity and scream, my power slipping through my hand. Grey stills at my scream and in a moment he is by my side.

  I lose control and that eerie presence takes over the reins.

  The last thing I knew before I went unconscious was my mate’s arms around my body.

  *Grey*

  I BREAK BONES STARTING from femur and make my way through the upper body of the Alpha. Crunching of his bones makes an awesome cacophony. I love it. I revel in it.

  A scream tears through my rhythm.

  My mate bond taut itself, but still no pain accompanies it. I look over to my mate to see that she has fallen to her knees and her screams reverberate in the room. I drop the Alpha and run to my mate.

  When I kneel beside her, I notice that her body is wracking badly. I take her in my arms and hold her tight.

  “Grey....” she whimpers.

  “Come on. December. You are going to be okay. I am here.” I shake her with my arms. But, her screams and spasms linger.

  I could do nothing but hold her in my arms. My healing powers did nothing at all!

  I pray to Nyx, for the first time. I have heard December thanking Nyx and praying to her many times. If she is her god, then I will pray to Nyx.

  “Yes. Why did you request my audience?” The same voice. Like my December’s but not hers, resounds all around me like a surround-system.

  “Please. Stop anything that is hurting my December. Please...”

  I will get onto my knees to save my mate from this unknown pain she is going through.

  “Promise me something then.” The voice replies after a moment of silence.

  “Anything!” I yell back at the void as, I feel it start to surrounding me.

  “December is my vessel. She will be my voice to the world. She will have to act as an Oracle and she will guide lost souls.”

  I nod and yell, “Yes! I would do anything to support her.”