Mark Of Change (Firemoon Book 1)

by Sky Wilde

  “Yes, I know you will. But remember this dearly. Emotions have so much power in the void. Rage feeds power and I allow it, but if she gives in to Revenge or Despair or powerful emotions like the same— which would whisper dark thoughts into her mind— then the wild magic will punish her.

  “So, do you, Grey Stone, promise to take care of her, from the outer world and her own world? Will you be there for her and ground her to herself when she harnesses wild magic? Will you be with her and assist her in her destiny?” Her voice has a sizzling feeling to it... Like she wants me to make an agreement with her.

  Something which has only my own feelings as the deals. I would do them even without a pact. But I gladly agree with her, “Yes I do.”

  She hums a tune and whispers, “Note this. The punishment of wild magic is going to be painful, even terrible. If she is forced to endure it, she will be out of consciousness for days, or even weeks. So, it is in your hands to guard her from her own emotions.”

  I nod my metaphorical head in the void and I can feel the presence leaving me and into December. The void shrinks back and I get my eyesight back. I can again hear the grunts of Alpha. And while the goddess is working on December and the wild magic's problem, I move to the Alpha.

  His bones are protruding in an abnormal way.

  I look over to my mate to see her out of it. I really want to provide her with the revenge she craves. But my promise tugs at me to protect her from Revenge.

  I sigh. Making a dagger in my hand.

  I twirl it around, ordering the Alpha with a compulsion— something which feels like a double-edged sword in my hand. “Shift back to human form.”

  He grunts in pain and his back arches. But, he doesn’t shift.

  “Well, I guess you are out of energy. So let me state this. You are hereby sentenced to death for hurting innumerable soulmates and abusing women. Especially my December.”

  With just a flick, I make quick work of him. Blood gurgles out of his tiger throat. His eyes go grey as his soul leaves his body. He becomes unmoving, as he dies.

  I don’t take any satisfaction from it. Without my mate nothing matters.

  I make my way towards her and sit down by her side, taking her on my lap. She moans a little. I remember her thinking that pain gives her euphoria just like pleasure. I pinch her neck and start nibbling at her ear, placing kisses while traveling away from her ear, to jawline and to her budding mounds.

  I pinch and bite her bud, and another moan escapes her unconscious form.

  I also heard a thought about her totally giving herself to me. I want to treat her like a queen. Not as a slut. And I feel my shifter looking at me with puppy-doll eyes. So, I give up my reins to my shifter and he takes it with a howl of happiness.

  I know he is just me, with different instincts. He wishes to treat her as a woman, and I wish to treat her as a queen. I make an agreement with my own mind. My shifter will treat her as a woman and I will treat her as a queen. My shifter feels so happy.

  Yes, I also want to worship my mate’s body. But, now... after all that pain she had to endure from wild magic's punishment, she deserves to drown in euphoria.

  Pain is the effective medicine for her in this situation.

  My shifter starts to aggressively pinch and bite at her bud and she moans louder. Pinching his way to her gorgeous ass, he smacks it hard.

  Once again she moans and her body bucks. He cups her flower and rubs aggressively, treating her like a woman who craves pain.

  Something I could do, but not as effectively as a beast, like my shifter side. I am just glad that my mate is happy and I am the one who is bringing that happiness, even if it is my alternative conscience.

  I am happy if she is happy.

  I promise to do anything to make her happy. Save her from own self too.

  A Happily Ever After

  *December*

  Floating in void is so different than floating in a lake or a pool. It just feels like there is no end to it. No way to get out of it. No banks to climb out. No islands to drift onto. No land at all. Like a space of its own where only void exists everywhere.

  Other than my goddess Nyx.

  Yes, of course, I and a weird voice, seem to be exceptions to that, because now I am getting comfortable being in the void. Maybe because I have spent so much time here in such short notice.

  I wanted Revenge on the Alpha. I needed to inflict pain on him, return what he gave me. I just wanted justice... But, it felt like the magic punished me for it. Like what I did was a mistake.

  “That is where you went wrong.” A voice, that eerie voice, speaks through the void.

  “Why? Wasn’t it wrong for him to abuse me like that? So, why does me wanting to do that back to him is wrong?” The voice is irrationally making me mad. It just laughs.

  “December, I am just a mother trying to teach her little daughter that fire will burn everything, but also her own flesh.” That sentence has a kind of philosophical feeling to it.

  I shiver from it. The voice is old, now I notice that edge in it, like a wise woman who saw millennia of lives of worlds. I bow my head and whisper, “Then... don’t I deserve justice? Doesn’t your daughter deserve justice?”

  A woman appears before me. Just like mine had adorned a fiery dress, void has covered her nubile body. She was one of the perfect and beautiful women I have ever met. Her hair was like mine, brown curly waves. Her face was old but no wrinkles were present on her skin. If I age a lot, I would resemble to her, I think.

  Her eyes were black like the void I am in.

  She overall looked like a goddess. Damn me, she is a goddess. Now that I think of it, the woman is no one other than Nyx herself.

  I curtsey deeply. “Mother. But females of my kind— our kind— deserve justice. I simply wanted to avenge them. How is it wrong?”

  The woman— Nyx— smiles and floats toward me. “There, there... you were going to manipulate wild magic for your own pleasures, weren’t you?” I cock my head. She continues, “You had good motives, but all you wanted to do to that Alpha was take your own joy by killing him slowly.”

  “Isn’t that right, daughter of mine? You wanted to control his blood and give him pain, just because you wanted pleasure from your revenge. Not because you wanted him to suffer... but because you needed that satisfaction of hearing him scream.”

  Her words are just like riddles...

  “How are both of them different, if they both provide with the same results?” Seriously, the old woman, even if it the Nyx, is confusing at most and irritating at the least.

  She laughs again. “It has so many differences. Journey is the only one matters; the destination is something you just get from it. Journey decides you... Like if you had chosen to kill the Alpha’s child and be done with it. The child had nothing for you. The child’s life was already over, by fate. But, you saved him. That shows a good motive.

  “What you do... doesn’t matter. The way you do, defines you and it is the only thing that matters. Not only to me, but also to the wild magic.

  “Consider the supernatural who abused you. You would still have your revenge even if you had slit his throat and brought his death. But, you wanted to make him suffer, because you know that death is more of a blessing than punishment.” I nod, confused to see what she is coming onto.

  “Everything you did till that was good, but you decided to take your own joy from it. You made him suffer, but you got extreme pleasure from doing so. Is that punishment? Does that make you any higher than that supernatural? What would differentiate you from him, if you also take pleasure from someone else’s suffering?”

  Oh my god... I never thought about it like that. I hang my head low. If I took pleasure from his suffering, then it wouldn’t make me better than him. I would just be the same.

  “Good girl. Remember that if your judgment is wrong and you are using your power for your self-satisfaction, then the wild magic itself will dish out its punishment. It will be hard, cruel and y
ou might go unconscious for days... sometimes even weeks.”

  I shudder from the memory of my pain. One moment I was trying to pull the Alpha’s blood out, the next moment pain like something else was assaulting my body. I had to endure it, darkness was right there but I couldn’t pass out. It was like dangling on the knife between consciousness and unconsciousness, while the knife bites into your skin...

  “So December. Remember what I said. You can kill all you want, you can punish all you want, but if you take pleasure by doing so, your motives get tainted, and how pure your motives might be at first, if it gets tainted, the wild magic will hurt you.”

  I take a deep breath and nod. If I am to do this, then I need to ground my Revenge to my motives, not to my own pleasures.

  Nyx smiles fondly and floats away, “Stay safe daughter. You have a good heart, a good mate and my mark. Everything you need to win the upcoming war. Just... stay safe. From others and yourselves.”

  I curtsey and see Nyx practically dissipate into the void.

  Whew... that was intense.

  I had pushed through the void, but still only half of my consciousness could go through at first. Maybe my punishment is being struck in the void after being put through pain.

  Whatever.

  It was my fault I got carried away. So it is my responsibility to face it.

  Being half in and half out was totally weird. The sensations were muffled at the same time tenfold, like hearing broken record where words get distorted and sometimes even absent.

  Now that I notice it, my body is experiencing extreme pleasure. For laughing out loud, is my body experiencing pleasure without me?

  I feel hot. Pleasure is coursing through my body and I curl my toes and hands from the intensity of it. I slowly open my eyes... it is heavy, but I open them using some extra strength.

  I am on someone’s lap, and my breasts and my flower are getting real good attention. It borders on pain and pleasure, which drowns my mind and body in rapture. I buck hard and my hips rise off the lap, as a heavy tide of rapture hits me. Spasms continue all over my body and I could do nothing but revel in it and submit to it. The hands now gently bring me down from the high.

  I turn my head and see the most beautiful pair of green eyes I have ever met.

  My Grey.

  A smile plays itself on my lips. I try to lift my arm to cup his face and take away the worries rolling off from him. But, fail miserably. I can’t even lift my arm over a foot from ground. Grey notices my movement and focuses on my eyes. His eyes start brimming with tears and he brings me close and hugs me close to his body.

  Even though my body feels week, I bring my hand up using every ounce of will I have. Gently placing it on his back, I whisper, “Sorry... Grey... My mistake...”

  His voice doesn’t portray confusion, but has clarity, as he replies, “I should have stopped you from getting carried away... I should have helped you. All I could was to pray to Nyx and send her for you...”

  I smile faintly and bring my lips to his ear, “That is exactly what I needed. Nyx saved me from my punishment. I should never have taken pleasure from hurting someone...”

  I kiss his ear and gently move my hands to cup his face, while I stare into his icy blue irises. He stares back at my gaze and I could see all the love he has for me, all the pain he has suffered for me, all his concerns, his worries.... everything.

  I kiss him deeply on his mouth. He growls through the kiss. I absorb the sound and just keep on showing him the passion I have for him.

  Now that I am fully back from the void, I feel exhaustion gripping me tight. My body pressed close to his naked body, the skin-on-skin only fuels the flames of passion I have for my mate, yet exhaustion has me good. Good; but not enough to subdue my love for Grey.

  Still, the smell of blood lingers in air.

  I break the kiss, and look over to see that the Alpha, Mickelson Diaz, is drowning in his own blood. I smile, but this time I take no joy from it. Just some satisfaction that he will never harm anyone else.

  I scan the scene, while Grey nibbles on my jaw and kisses my neck.

  The room is filled with bodies. Not an ideal place to mate. I tug on his arm to let him know. He breaks the kiss and stands up, taking me in his arms. I smile and place my head in the crook of his shoulder, fitting perfectly.

  I belong here.

  I point my finger at the wolf-turned-boy, Mickelson’s child, and whisper, “He is not loyal to his Alpha. We can still save him and take him back to his mothers.”

  Grey nods and lets me down. I pull fire to me and cover my naked body as it settles like a dress of its own as the fire stops burning— because being naked around my mate is one thing, while being naked around a little boy is another. Grey looks around and finds the bag he carried, and puts on a pair of sweats. I wonder how many pairs he brought...

  I carefully take him in my arms. His body is so small, but still carries strength. I still remember his control over sol particles. ‘He is going to be strong one day.’ I say to my mate. He just gives a stiff nod.

  The boy must not be more than seven or eight. Now that I notice, his neck has a long vertical line of scar. Anger fills me. Who would hurt someone like this little boy... just a child...? Who would?

  Grey places a hand on my shoulder and I take a deep breath and give a little shake to the boy. His eyes groggily open and look over to me. His dark brown eyes portray fondness, trust, and gratitude. But they start brimming with tears. I cradle him closer to me and whisper soft comforting words.

  “Don’t worry. Your Alpha has passed over to Nyx. You have nothing to fear. I am here... Don’t worry...” I hum a little lullaby to calm him down.

  His sobs stop and he whispers, “Please... save my sister...”

  A sudden weight fills my heart. What if his sister had already died? How could I tell him that? I fluster, looking for a reply. He adds, “I have placed her safely in the kitchen cabinets... Please, can you take me to her?”

  I sigh deeply. Thank god.

  I nod and let him give me directions to the kitchens. My mate follows me while surveying for threats. ‘How sweet of you to follow me like a puppy... But, I am stronger than you now, so you can stop looking around and stare at me instead.’ I whisper into his mind and shake my butt.

  I can feel his gaze rover over my whole curves. He smiles a crooked one-sided smile and places a hand on the back of my waist, and gets closer to me. My body responds to his touch, but that has to wait.

  I move forward, instead of lingering back with just his hand on me, to the kitchen. The boy has already fallen asleep, but I just use the directions he had given and make my way towards what I think to be a kitchen. When I enter it, burnt smell fills my nose. But mostly the kitchen is intact. No corpses. No blood. Just some burnt food. I shake the boy and he stirs again. He looks to me and I jerk my head towards the kitchen.

  He sees the cabinet and flies out of my arms, almost stumbling. I try to catch him, but he is already out of my reach and at a secluded cabinet in the corner. He opens it.

  Inside I see a really small girl. Maybe a girl of two or three... her nubile body is trembling, either from fear or from cold. When the door opens, she whimpers loudly and curls into a ball.

  The boy gently touches her and whispers, “Lars... it is just me...”

  The girl looks over to him, and as soon as realization strikes her, she throws herself to him crying loudly. She cries out something, but I understand it as, “Wah! Big brother! I am scared! Why did you leave me!?”

  He gently rocks her body in her arm and comforts her. I move forward. The girl sees me and closes her eyes, whimpering more. The boy’s head whips back towards me, hostility in his eyes. I hold my hands up and mouth, “I just want to calm her.”

  Hostility recedes and he nods to me. I approach the girl and take her from his arms. Her whole body is shaking and she whimpers at my touch. I cradle her to me and sing a lullaby to her, the one my aunt used to sing to me.

>   The girl calms down visibly. And the boy also has seemed to revert from his protective state. She goes asleep right in my arms. I kiss her forehead and nod to the boy. We three leave the kitchen with my mate, who has an amused expression on his face.

  ‘For a girl who fears pregnancy, you sure are a good mother.’ He whispers into my mind.

  Warmth fills me.

  Yes, I have been acting all motherly protective towards these two little children. But, I got to give them back to their mothers.

  I sigh. The boy looks at me and cocks his head. I mutter, “You both are safe. Your mothers are also safe, and I suppose you both will want to get back with them.”

  His body tenses and he stops walking. I turn toward him, he whispers, ever so quietly, “If you are planning on taking us to our mothers, I would rather take my sister over now and try my luck on my own.”

  I raise an eyebrow. Do they not like their mothers?

  I voice the question. He shakes his head and whispers, pointing to the scar I saw on his neck, “They did this to me.” I gasp and anger fills me. How dare they...?

  My fiery dress lengthens and the fire resumes giving out warmth and light, and wild magic starts coming to my aid. Grey approaches me and places an arm around me. I can feel myself trembling. My mate forces my chin up and I can see that the boy has a wide-eyed expression. ‘You are scaring him...’ My mate whispers.

  It instantly calms me. I look over to him, and try my best to offer a reassuring smile.

  If he tries to brace the world on his own... he will suffer... just like I did...

  “Grey... do you mind... if...” I start whispering, but he cuts me off with a kiss and mutters, “Your wish is my command.”

  I smile.

  Kneeling down in front of the boy, I present an arm to him, while the other cradles his sister. He looks at me with confusion. “What is your name?”

  He mutters, “I was always called Mike Jr. Because I was supposed to be the strongest of my siblings. But, my original name... is...” He stops.

  He shakes his head, and whispers, “I don’t need anything to remind me of my family anymore. I suppose I need a new name.”