by Sarah Louise
Moonbeams & Wolf Dreams
Children of Selena Book 1
Sarah Louise
©Sarah Louise, 2018
Cover designer: Lilly Dormishev
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Moonbeams & Wolf Dreams
Children of Selene Book 1
“The pressure in my bones that I had been feeling all day popped and it was like lightning crawling under my skin as my body shifted for the first time. “
Aylin Lucene always believed she was destined to shift for the first time into an animal of prey. So low on the hierarchy that even her Alpha knew she would only be good enough for breeding his pups. In her pack, and packs across the world there is a distinct hierarchy between the shifters. Even though she has never felt the need to bow down and show her neck, her adoptive father has taught her all the skills she needs to survive and thank Goddess he did.
The nights before Aylin’s first shift the Goddess Selene begins speaking to her in her dreams and now she doesn’t know where destiny will lead her and her new mates.
This is a Reverse-Harem Paranormal Romance where the main character does not have to choose one man, but chooses all of the men she wants. Trigger warnings for this book include the following: sexual assault, death, and lots of sex.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Thank You
Acknowledgments
About Sarah Louise
Prologue
In a time where we’ve forgotten, and man runs the wilds rotten;
Animals and Humans no longer meet, for secret runs through forest fleet;
The Goddess looks upon her children, with eyes full of woe;
They scrimp and simper and fight between all;
While they bicker amongst themselves, they’ve taken their eyes off the true foe.
When all hope is lost, one true Alpha will rise, upon her awakening Selene’s children will return from the skies;
Five of the strongest, gifted and true will mate for life with the one meant to rule.
Chapter 1
My whole life had been leading up to tomorrow night. This one moment in time which would forever define my status in my pack, and I had no idea what to expect. The full moon ceremony directly after my 25th birthday would determine what kind of shifter I was. After all this time of never knowing where I came from, who I came from. I would finally get some kind of clue to who had abandoned me as an infant all those years ago. I tried not to be bitter about it, but it was hard, especially when not knowing had caused me more issues than helped me in any case. I had to hide how strong I was even before my awakening. I never felt the urge to submit to the Alpha and his inner circle, no matter how hard they pressed their submission magic onto me. I also had the tiniest of sparks of Earth magic pressing on the edges of my soul. It allowed me to feel what others were feeling and even extended into being able to feel the environment around me. Humans talk as if the Earth is alive, but they can’t feel it. The Earth is a living breathing entity and feels everything, sometimes arguably more so than the humans who trampled upon it. I was laying underneath the tree where I had been found. A beautiful old oak on the edge of the Knob Creek Pack Lands located in the great state of North Carolina nestled in a valley between the Great Smoky Mountains. It is rare for a shifter child to be abandoned, especially in the manner I was. My adoptive father, Duke, found me while he was out on a hunt. I was left at the base of the tree snuggled into a natural hole made by the roots, wrapped in a blanket, still covered in goo from my recent birth. Duke said he thought I was a changeling child at first left out by the Fae, but then he reached out with his shifter spirit, a fox, and brushed against my unknown shifter and magic. He knew then that I was special and that the Goddess chose him to protect me. Being special, hell being powerful, wasn’t enough to make life growing up in the pack a smooth ride. Because I was abandoned, a lot of folks thought something was wrong with me or I was an exceptionally weak shifter. Dad always told me that if people knew the true extent of my power, especially not having to submit, the Alpha would make an example out of me and kill me. Shifters placed a reverence on hierarchy and submission. I am not sure if this was a side effect of being so connected to our animals, or if the leaders in my pack were just dicks trying to exert their power over the rest of us. So, I hid and I forced myself to behave like prey and keep my head down. As such, I didn’t have any friends outside of my dad.
As far as fathers go, I couldn’t have asked for better. Dad taught me to hunt, track, and take care of myself. Neither of us knew what would happen during my Full Moon ceremony, but we always were aware there was a chance we would have to run. It’s not something we talked about, but a lot of the lessons he gave me were about surviving off the land on your own. Things were tense in the Shifter community, vampires had just outed themselves to humans and we were all waiting for the other shoe to drop when they found out about us. Unfortunately, because things didn’t go so great during the Great Reveal for the suckers, all of us were terrified that they’d lock us up in cages too. Humans had been quick to find the vamps’ weaknesses and use them to exploit the species. It wasn’t a pretty site. Vamps were sold like cattle as slaves and laborers, or worse pets and toys; humanity never seemed to learn its mistakes about the evil of slavery.
The sun was starting to get low and I knew Dad would be looking for me soon. I used the tendril of magic I could reach to push my awareness out into the great big oak. Every time I visited my oak tree, I would use what small tendrils of magic I could access to feed the tree that meant so much to me and my past. The magic didn’t do much initially but over time the roots grew deeper, the leaves were fuller and more vibrant, and it was the biggest and healthiest oak in the forest. Feeding the tree was something I had done for as long as I could remember. It seemed no matter what happened my heart always led me back here. Pathetically enough it was my way to try to feel close to the parents that had abandoned me. I say pathetically because what had my birth parents ever really done for me besides leave me to die in the woods. Yet part of me still yearned to know who they were and to try and find some understanding as to why they abandoned me.
I sat up, saying goodbye to the tree, and walked back to mine and Dad’s cottage. Our cottage was, honestly, little more than a shack. Dad put in a lot of work though during whatever free time he could spare to make it comfortable and livable. It was upright, waterproof, and we even had some hedges. For being located in the prey distr
ict of the Pack, we had one of the nicer houses. Because foxes like Dad weren’t considered predatory animals, but considered prey, we were all relegated into the outskirts of town and given little more than scraps to live off of. We were second class citizens in the eyes of those who were classified as the strongest. The order of hierarchy among shifter started with the canines, then the big cats, avian predators, deadly reptiles, and everyone else was considered prey. Our little community of Knob Creek, North Carolina was mostly filled with coyote shifters and a few cougars. We had a couple of falcons and one snake shifter. They made up the elite of this community. Among the prey we had a large amount of foxes, some hare shifters, a few smaller bird species, and some mice. We were by NO means a powerful or even large shifter community. Compared to others around the country we were nothing more than a little podunk town whose alphas were overcompensating for their tiny dicks. I knew it was tiny because I accidentally caught him bathing in the stream. No matter how bad Alpha James tried to make my life, I always giggled at that bit of personal knowledge I held about him. It made it easier to get through the groping and catcalls he was constantly throwing my way.
I’d finally made it back to our shack just as the sun began to set. I could hear Dad inside humming an old Alan Jackson song while he cooked up some vegetable soup. I swear the reason I was so tiny was because I’d grown up eating 90% vegetable soup. I wouldn’t be surprised if I shifted into a wild potato tomorrow.
“Help me set the table Aylin.”
“Ok, Dad!” I began to pull bowls and spoons out of the cabinets moving in sync as he finished up our dinner. We sat down and Dad immediately folded his hands, looking at me expectantly to follow suite. I rolled my eyes and then folded my hands.
“Blessed Selene, we thank you for the food on our table, the protection of our Alphas, and your love to sustain us. We are your humble servants. Amen.”
“Amen,” I grumbled. While I didn’t object to the majority of our mealtime blessings, it always took every ounce of my self-control to not snort when Dad added the protection of our Alphas. To not say it would be a death sentence, and the Alphas always had their spies listening amongst the prey. It was just one more way to subjugate us. Dad and I both ate hungrily. We didn’t know for sure when our next good meal would come, the Alphas were stingy with rations, and I needed my strength for the upcoming ritual.
“Did going to your tree bring you any peace about tomorrow?” Dad asked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” I refused to look him in the eye, since we were second class citizens, we weren’t technically allowed to leave pack lands; especially an unawakened and unmated female such as me.
“You still have sticks and leaves in your hair and I can practically see the magic rolling off of your skin Aylin.”
“Uhhhhhh I plead the fifth?”
“Did anyone see you come back?” he asked.
“Of course not. I’m not that stupid Dad!”
“No, just needlessly reckless! You know the rules, you know how dangerous it is. Alpha James has been watching you extra closely knowing your awakening is tomorrow night. His interest in you isn’t a good thing, I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you Aylin.”
“I’m sorry Dad, I just couldn’t resist. I’m so nervous about tomorrow and it’s the one place that calms me.” He sighed, losing all of his anger at me.
“I’ll clean up tonight. You go get some rest, your shift at the Alpha house starts early tomorrow.”
“Thank you, goodnight, I love you.” I stood up and made my way to my bedroom. I looked into the mirror, finding the sticks and leaves Dad mentioned scattered throughout my waist length black hair. I could see what he meant about the magic rolling off me. My already pale skin was practically luminescent at this point, and my normally whiskey colored eyes almost looked back lit into a glowing amber. Combined with my angular face and puffy lips, I looked inhuman. It was eerie, I quickly looked away moving towards my closet. I pulled my uniform out for tomorrow, black pants and white button-down shirt with ugly but comfortable black shoes. All prey, and those assumed to awaken into prey, were forced to work serving and cleaning the big cabin where the head Alpha, their betas, and family lived. It’s also where honored guests stayed when visiting the pack. Ever since I’d caught the eye of Alpha James I’d been scheduled almost every other day. I braided my hair and changed into my pajamas letting sleep claim me as I tried to let go of my worries.
“My sweet child do not fear your mates.”
“Who are you? Where am I?” I looked around a moonlit cave, searching for the woman talking to me. Her voice the most melodious tone I’d ever heard.
“You will know me, my child, for I have always looked over you in this life, guiding you to unite our people and usher them safely into a new age.”
I turned, finally seeing the woman before me. Her skin like moonlight and hair dark as space. Eyes a chilling silver and a face eerily similar to my own. I knew without a doubt this was the face of my mother.
“Who? How? Why did you leave me?”
“I am your Goddess, the Goddess of all shifters, you are simply looking on the vessel who conceived you; your mortal eyes could not see my true form. This woman, who birthed you was never meant to abandon you. I am sorry for your suffering child.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I know. But you will, do not fear my children who come to you upon your awakening. I am sending you five mates to strengthen and protect you. Together the six of you will fulfill the prophecy.”
“Please, explain this to me. What prophecy? What destiny? What Mates!?”
“I must go now, I’m sorry I can’t tell you more.” The woman faded into the moonlight before I could formulate a response. As I faded back into unconscious dream sleep I heard a lone wolf’s unearthly howl.
Chapter 2
I awoke with a start as my alarm startled me awake at an ungodly three thirty in the morning. I groaned, rubbing at my eyes trying to shake off the weirdness my dream had seemed to propel my body into. All my bones down to my teeth ached and my head felt like it was filled with cobwebs I couldn’t quite brush away. I stumbled my way into the bathroom, hoping a hot shower would help ease the tension thrumming through my body, and chase away the last of my dream. I stepped into the steaming water and sighed in relief. I quickly scrubbed down with my handmade soap; it was made with rosemary and lavender and smelled heavenly, but didn’t leave too heavy of a scent afterwards. Even before awakening our noses were strong and heavy manufactured perfumes were liable to make every shifter in a five meter radius sneeze and have a headache. It was a quick way to be on everyone’s shit list. I can still remember back in high school, the daughter of some mouse shifters tried on some floral concoction that was so strong, that the daughters of the predators, a mean girl clique, took high offense to it. The leader of that little group, Melanie, the Alpha’s daughter, decided to teach her a lesson. They poured boiling hot water over the little shifter to ‘help her wash off’ the offending scent. The poor girl was burned so badly and permanently scarred from the blisters. But that was the way of our pack. I’d heard that other packs didn’t treat the prey shifters like total shit, that it was just our Alpha who was a sadistic bastard. However, anyone who even whispered about challenging the alpha, or leaving the pack, went to the Alpha’s house, aka the big house, and never came back. Alpha James had spies everywhere and kept a tight leash on all of those under his control. James was a beady little man. He was a coyote shifter but I think that the Goddess messed that one up, because in person he more or less resembled a weasel. That was an insult to the poor mammal. He had an uncommon amount of fat for a shifter and a greasy brown comb over. Despite shifters aging very slowly after their 25th birthday, about 1 year for every 20 human years, James had not aged well at all. He was only in his 80s but looked closer to being 300 with his paunch belly and hair loss. It was not an attractive sight.
I made my way to the big house
now that I was cleaned and dressed. I was wearing large pants, a large shirt to hide my form, and my hair pulled up into a simple pony. I used to not worry so much about my appearance, but the closer I got to my full moon ceremony, the more of an interest Alpha James took in me. It was unnerving. I knew what I shifted into tonight would determine what he would try to do to me. If I was weak, as they all suspected, I had no doubt Alpha would try to take me as a pleasure mate. The idea of it all made me throw up in my mouth. Immortal we may be, but if we didn’t take care of ourselves, it showed. James didn’t take care of himself or his body, preferring to have his underlings do everything for him, and meet his every whim. He was the most powerful of our community, killing off any who had the potential to overthrow him. Duke had me prepared for it to go either way; we most likely knew I’d have to make a mad dash for freedom tonight, that’s why he taught me how to hunt, fight, and survive off the land. It just wasn’t something we discussed out loud, preferring to avoid the topic, and let our actions speak louder than words. We could never be too careful. Honestly, I didn’t know if I was more terrified of staying or leaving after tonight, I just knew I wanted it over either way.
It took me an hour and a half to walk to the Big House thanks to my musings but I still managed to make it inside the servants’ door by the kitchen just as the sun started to rise. I hung my purse and jacket in my designated cubby and made my way over to Gretta, the live-in cook. She handed me a bowl of cheese grits pointing at the bar stool for me to sit and eat. Gretta wasn’t supposed to feed me but she did anyway. She was sympathetic towards me, seeing day in and day out the harassment I was putting up with. I quickly and quietly ate my bowl of grits, washing and drying it when finished.
