The Lunar Child: The Elemental Wolves

by M. D. Butler

  “I mean, I don’t have a choice but to believe the whole prophecy thing after seeing all of that. It must exist since y’all have elements literally at your fingertips- “

  “Cash’s is across the room.”

  “Fuck you, Mav!”

  “Anyway,” I laugh. “I believe you about that. I don’t think I’m the girl, though.”

  “Who else can it be, babe? If we have the elements, then you’re the lunar child. We’re not the stars in this movie, our mate is. That’s you, Jahla. The lunar child is the mate to the four elemental wolves who stand at her side. You’re the star of the show. We’re just your back dancers, babe. Ooh! Like Britney Spears and K-Fed!”

  “Fuck, Cash. How do you think of this shit?” Mavrin groans as he lays his head back, and stares at the ceiling like he’s looking for divine intervention.

  “He’s right, angel. Ignore the Britney reference, but you’re our mate. You can’t deny that, can you?”

  I look into Krix’s beautiful blue eyes and instantly feel the pull to be closer to him.

  “No. It’s just hard for me to accept that I’m some godly savior, Blue. I’ve been told my whole entire life that I’m weak and worthless. How can I throw all of that away in one day?” the nickname just slipped from my lips like it was nothing, but I won’t take it back. From the look on his face, he won’t let me, anyway.

  “You don’t, sweetheart.” Thank the Mother that Mav is back to his reasonable self. “That’s what has shaped you into the amazing person that you are today. You use all of that pain and suffering that they put you through, and you turn that into power.”

  “No one can treat you that way again. I’ll fuck them up, if they even think about it. You have us now, and you’ll soon be able to slam them down in their place. Only those who you deem worthy can stand at your side. All those who oppose the way of the Mother will be on the other side of the coming war. It is her will. You are the one She chose to be Her warrior. The one She created specifically for this role. But first, you need sleep. Time for bed, pixie.”

  “Wait, you can’t just say some profound shit, and then sweep her off to bed! What the hell, Denahi?”

  Den is now standing in front of me with his hand reaching for mine. I place it in his, still staring into his golden eyes with a look of awe. Who knew the hothead could be so spiritually encouraging?

  “Thank you.”

  “I’ll always be here to help light your way.” He leans forward slowly before gently placing a soft kiss to my lips.

  And then all hell breaks loose.

  As our lips touch, my wolf surges forward. She’d been at the forefront of my mind since this morning, but now she’s pushing at me harder than ever. I’m so shocked that I lose my grip on her, and she takes control.

  I’m horrified as I feel my canines sharpen, and my head tilts to the side. It’s like I’m looking through my wolf’s eyes instead of the other way around. My teeth descend on the juncture of his neck and shoulder, and I bite down hard enough to break the skin. It all happens in the blink of an eye, but it feels like it was in slow motion.

  I’m about to pull away when I hear a deep growl, then a quick sting on my shoulder. Before the pain even registers, I’m drowning in pleasure so strong that it has my knees buckling. Denahi wraps his arms around me to keep me standing, our teeth still connected to each other. I pull mine out of his skin, instinctively licking the wound, as he does the same. Pulling back, I look up into his eyes.

  You marked me.

  What the fuck?!

  Cashel

  That fucking asshole.

  I can’t blame him for kissing her. I would’ve done the same if given the chance. You just can’t help it when those delectable lips are right there in kissing distance. Fuck, anywhere in my sight would be within kissing distance.

  No, the bastard had to go and mark her. Okay, that’s not fair. She marked him first, but he started it with that kiss!

  “Babe?”

  “I-I don’t… What just happened?”

  “What do you think happened?” the others are just staring at her, so I have to take the reins on this one.

  “I don’t know.” Her voice is a whisper. She’s still staring into Den’s eyes like she can’t believe it. She probably can’t, with her history. I wonder if he’s talking to her through their new link.

  “You marked him.”

  “My wolf… She-she was so strong. She took over!”

  “it’s what they do when they want to be with their mate, babe. Yours is getting stronger because she knows that it’s her time. Trust me, we’ve been trying not to mark you all day.”

  “But you haven’t. You’ve been able to control your wolves. Mine just pushed me to the back of my own mind.”

  “I lost control, too. When you bit me, that was it. I couldn’t have stopped what happened even if I wanted to, but I didn’t, pixie. Like he said, we’ve been holding ourselves back because we didn’t want to give you more than you could handle.”

  Den sits down on the couch, pulling her into his lap so he can continue to hold her.

  “I heard you. In my head. When you said that I marked you? I heard that. We’re linked?”

  “Guess we’re not going to bed yet,” I say as I lift her feet into my lap to slip her shoes off.

  Krix stands up to pace in front of the fireplace across the room. He needs to be moving to do his heavy thinking.

  “Yes. You’re both temporarily linked to each other. It’ll last a couple of weeks at them most unless you come together and cement the bond. That’s how it is with other mates, but it could be different with us for all we know. Other wolves can reject their mates and be with other people. We were created only for each other. The bite might be all we need.”

  “Hey! Speak for yourself, Mavrin!” No way is he taking that part away. Just rubbing her feet has my dick hard.

  “He’s right about one thing. We don’t know how this thing will really work. You said you can hear him through the link, but can you feel his emotions? Can you feel hers, Den? I wonder when- “

  “Slow down, Krix. Give them a minute to settle dude.” See what I said about heavy thinking? It always leads to rapid-fire questions.

  “I-I think I can.” She turns to look at Den. “Are you feeling calm, and… happy?”

  “Yes. My wolf is calm and peaceful now that we have the bond, and I’m happy to finally belong connected to you. I think you might be right, Mav. We may only need the bite to seal the bond. The… other thing might help strengthen it, though.”

  “Yes! I mean… yeah, we have to do that. To strengthen the bond, and stuff.” Good save, jackass. I’m just relieved that sex isn’t off the table. How do they expect me to resist making love to my mate? I’m in a harem with a bunch of dumbasses if they think that.

  “Jahla, I want to try something before we all go to bed.”

  “That sounds ominous, Krix.” She’s right. It really does.

  What the fuck are you planning?

  I want to see if she has access to his element.

  Oh, shit. Now I’m a little scared. If it’s anything like when Den first used his, this house is toast. Literally.

  “Come here, angel.” I release her feet, and Den gives her a final squeeze before helping her stand. She walks over, and he positions her in front of the fireplace. He must’ve been thinking the same thing as me.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “I want you to think about fire- “

  “What?!”

  “Shh, calm down. You’ll be fine, babe. Probably should’ve told her what you were planning, Krix. You might not be able to use his element yet, anyway.”

  Something tells me I’m lying to the both of us, but she doesn’t need to know that. The last thing she needs to do is freak out.

  You know, fire and all that.

  “As I was saying, I want you to think about fire. Wait, how do you do it, Den?”

  “Think about it flowing through yo
ur veins. Like it’s an energy that you can channel and control. Close your eyes and visualize you. Try to imagine it moving down to your hands, and out of your fingertips.”

  “Aim at the fireplace!” I jump up just as flames fly from her hands and singe the rug in front of the fireplace. I must have scared her when I yelled because the flames disappear as fast as they’d come. “Why didn’t you tell her to aim first, Den?”

  “I thought she already knew to do that,” he says with a shrug. Of course, he doesn’t give a shit. Asshole.

  “It’s ok. Everything is going to be fine. Let’s woo saw. Come on, wooooo saaaaawwwwww.”

  “Shut it, Cash.”

  “I don’t see you trying to calm her down, Mavrin!”

  “Because she doesn’t need to calm down. You scared her when you yelled, but she’s excited.”

  I turn around to face everyone, not even realizing that I had started to pace. I seriously thought she would freak out and torch the place. Now that I think about it, I can sense the excitement that he’s talking about. Explains why he’s calm instead of over there with her. He can feel what she’s feeling, after all.

  “Okay. Sorry. I was stuck with flashbacks of Den when he was learning to control his fire. It wasn’t pretty.”

  “I bet,” she laughs.

  “Well, we know she has his element. That clears a few things up, so thanks for being the guinea pig, Den. Now we know that it only takes a mating bite to cement the bond since you said everything thing about it describes a full one, mating obviously unlocks her ability to use the affinity she shares with that mate because she just burned the rug- “

  “Sorry about that.”

  “And her wolf is ready to bond.”

  “So, if I were to walk over there and kiss you right now?” I ask as I slowly make my way towards her.

  “I’d most likely bite you.”

  “In a good way.” She smiles at me as I stand in front of her. I see Mavrin yawn from the corner of my eye and realize that it’s gotten pretty late. “Another time, babe. We’ve got to get you to bed.” She pouts, and it makes me want to change her mind. Sucks to be selfless.

  “Okay. Where do I sleep tonight?”

  “There’s a…” Mav pauses to yawn again. “… guest room upstairs. We all have our own room, but there’s a room that we set up wherever we go in case we find you. It’s in the basement this time because there’s more space for the bed.”

  “W-What kind of room is it?”

  “Not that kind, pixie. It’s just a room for all of with a really big bed. No need to be nervous.”

  Okay, being able to feel her emotions through a bond instead of just sense them is going to come in handy.

  “Can we please sleep there tonight?” I don’t care if I’m whining. I want her next to me, and I know she won’t be comfortable sleeping with me by herself. Shit, all four of us might be too much, now that I think about it. Fuck, now I’m about to cry.

  “It’s up to Jahla.”

  “You should kind of hurry, angel. Mav is practically asleep.”

  “What did you expect? I didn’t get any sleep last night.”

  “Why didn’t you sleep?”

  “Because he gets excited over the possibility of meeting you every time we move to a new town. Now, come on. Where do you want to sleep, babe?”

  “Right. No pressure, Cash”

  “Sorry,” I tell her sheepishly.

  “I-I don’t mind sleeping with you guys. I mean, I’m still nervous about the bonding and mating thing, but I like being close to you guys. We’re just sleeping, right?”

  “Of course, angel. Me might cuddle a little, but nothing beyond holding you.”

  “Okay, chop chop, people! Get your baths, and into your jammies. Time for bed!” I’m so excited that I’m running up the stairs to my room. At the last second, I grab a pair of my socks for Jahla to wear before I jog into the connected bathroom.

  I’m giving her a pair of my socks to wear, I tell the guys. My wolf wants my scent on her.

  Don’t worry, I’m putting her in one of my shirts. Mine is the same way. You should give her some of your boxers, Mav.

  Already ahead of you. He sounds exhausted, even in his mental voice.

  My wolf is settled. We’re content to just lie next to her.

  Of course, you are, Casanova. I can’t help the sarcastic remark. I’m not jealous, but I am eager to have that bond with her.

  I better be next.

  Chapter 12

  Denahi

  I’m the first one downstairs after my shower, so I climb into the bed. Its custom made and designed to sleep up to ten people. It’s perfect for five shifters, and can even accommodate our wolves if want to sleep that way. It’s the only piece of furniture that’s moved around with us to each new location, but this will be the first night that we actually sleep in it.

  Mav comes stumbling in, half asleep already, and flops face down across the foot of the bed. He only has on pajama bottoms like me. Jahla better be glad that we have that much on. We usually sleep nude, or boxers. Full pants will be a change that we have to get adjusted to.

  “I don’t think I can hold out much longer. I’m so fucking sleepy.”

  “Go ahead and sleep, man. She’ll understand.”

  “No, I can’t fully relax until she’s in the bed. My wolf won’t let me. We’re not all as lucky as you.”

  If I didn’t hear the smile in his voice, I’d think someone was a little salty.

  “You know I didn’t mean for that to happen, right?”

  “I know, bro. I was just messing with you. She bit you first. We’re all amped up for the bond. You just happened to be the one to kiss her first, and it shocked the fuck out of me. We all thought you’d be the last one to do it.”

  “What? Why?”

  “You don’t like females. Like, at all. If you can’t avoid them, you curse them out until they leave you alone.”

  “She’s different. She’s my fucking mate. I love her.”

  “You love her?”

  “What?”

  “You said you loved her.”

  “I did?” shit, I didn’t even realize what I was saying. Now I know what Jahla is feeling. This mate shit is scary. I can’t deny it, though. “I do love the little pixie,” I tell him.

  He silent for a while before saying, “I feel it, too. Is it supposed to happen this fast?”

  “I think… I think it’s because we’ve always known about her. It makes sense that we’d already be halfway in love with the idea of the mate that we knew was out there somewhere. To finally meet pushed us the rest of the way. It’s not hard to love her. She’s fucking amazing.”

  “Yeah. She really is.”

  We both just lay there for a couple of minutes as we both think about the beautiful little pixie that we’ve finally found. I can still feel her nerves coming through the link. Is she still nervous about having four mates, about us all sleeping together?

  Why am I asking myself these questions? We have a link now!

  Hey, pixie. You doing okay?

  Oh, uh… hey!

  I feel her shock, then excitement racy down the link. This is better than the link I have with my brothers.

  Hi, I say with a smile just as Cash races into the room. He stops when he notices that Jahla isn’t in the bed yet.

  I’m doing okay. Still getting settled on the idea of have multiple mates, but I’m… happy. For the first time in my life, I’m happy.

  Glad to hear that, pixie. You might want to come on down before Cash comes to find you. He just got here, but he’s already pacing a path through the floor.

  She giggles before she responds, I’m on my way with Krix. The other three gave me something to sleep in.

  They wanted you to have their scent on you. My wolf is fine since we’ve already bonded. You’ll start to smell like me in a few hours, so I don’t have the urge to do that.

  Oh, that makes sense. Be there in a second.

&n
bsp; “She’s on her way, Cash. Get in the bed.”

  “Ugh, I can’t wait to be linked to her. It would save me a lot of stress.”

  He climbs into the bed, purposely jostling a dozing Mav in the process. Jahla walks in the room with Krix following close on her heels. She pauses when she gets a good look at us, her eyes roaming over our chests and abdomens.

  “You all sleep without shirts? I think this is going to be harder than I thought.” Her arousal is strong in the bond, and in her scent.

  “We usually sleep naked, but thought that would be too much. We were being considerate, babe”

  Cash’s comment causes her to become even more hot and bother, and even Mavrin is sitting up looking at her with alertness in his gaze.

  “Stop, Cash. We all need sleep.” My dick is hard as a rock, and I have to prop my leg up to make it less obvious. “Get in the bed, pixie.”

  She slowly walks over, and we move to give her access to the middle. As she gets comfortable, we pile in next to her. Nothing seems to be working, so I sit up with a huff.

  “Slide down a little, Jahla. Mav, go back down by her feet- “

  “I get her head! I’ve been dying to play in her hair again.” Cash moves to the head of the bed while Krix and I settle in on her side. This time, everyone is able to get comfortable, and Jahla relaxes when she feels all of us touching her.

  “This is nice,” she says as she immediately falls asleep.

  We all mumble our agreements as we drift off into what I know will be the best sleep of my life to date.

  Jahla

  My eyes snap open when I wake up with the feeling that I’ve slept way too long.

  I’m going to be late to breakfast!

  I jump as I feel something stir next to me in bed. A bed that feels way too comfortable to be my little cot. It’s then that everything from the day before comes crashing through my head.

  I don’t have to go to the pack house today.

  We still have about an hour, pixie. Go back to sleep. Everything’s okay.

  Denahi. His voice soothes the panic that had tightened my chest, the calming energy coming through the link pushing the rest away.

  Okay. Sorry for waking you, Denny.

  It’s nothing. I was kind of awake, anyway. Figured your body was on a schedule from your time with the pack.