by Tamar Sloan
Prophecy Accepted
Book 2 Prime Prophecy Series
Tamar Sloan
Copyright © 2018 by Tamar Sloan
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
For Sean
You know how to live the power of faith.
Contents
1. Noah
2. Eden
3. Noah
4. Eden
5. Noah
6. Eden
7. Noah
8. Eden
9. Noah
10. Eden
11. Noah
12. Eden
13. Noah
14. Eden
15. Noah
16. Eden
17. Noah
18. Eden
19. Noah
20. Eden
21. Noah
22. Eden
23. Noah
24. Eden
25. Noah
26. Eden
27. Noah
28. Eden
29. Noah
30. Eden
31. Noah
32. Eden
33. Noah
34. Eden
35. Noah
36. Eden
37. Noah
38. Eden
39. Noah
40. Eden
41. Noah
42. Eden
43. Noah
44. Tara
Prophecy Fulfilled
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About the Author
Also by Tamar Sloan
1
Noah
My heart slams my chest with the same thundering beat as my paws pounding the soil. Claws dig into the ground, chewing out clods of dirt as I propel myself forward. Lungs fill like bellows, stretching to capacity then rapidly deflating, keen to do it all over again. The trees become a blur, a camouflage of green on green, the scent of pine hitting me so hard I can taste it.
My head dips, dividing the wind that rushes at us.
Faster.
My whole body smiles as the legs gripping my ribs tighten. Who knew this quiet, shy girl of mine had an inner-adrenalin-junkie just waiting for the right Were to unleash it? Not that I’m complaining—there’s no bigger, better rush than running with Eden.
She leans down, her head brushing close to my ear, breath tickling my fur. “Faster,” she breathes, this time out loud.
I heard you the first time.
I glance back, at the reddish-brown wolf and larger black wolf who are already falling behind. Tara slows, having the competitive spirit of a sloth. Mitch, on the other hand, dips his head, black brows coming low.
Bring it on little bro.
I stretch eager muscles, suck in my essential fuel—Eden and oxygen—and run. I run like gravity is optional, like the sound barrier is just ahead; I run like this will never end.
Mitch slows, and although I can’t hear my twin’s growl of defeat, my victorious mind imagines it. Eden’s laughter bubbles out, a natural sound of joy and freedom, the magical sound that has progressively lost its rough, unused edge.
But I don’t stop; I can’t help myself. Without slowing, I angle to the left, forging a new track past the trees. With Eden, I always feel like I can gain a little more speed, a little more strength, a little…well…more.
Because when we’re running, nothing matters. It doesn’t matter what time it is. As if four months haven’t passed since I banished Kurt, that it’s only weeks since the icy snow of winter melted. That graduation isn’t looming on a very near horizon.
It doesn’t matter who we are. Me, the Alpha heir; her, a human. Well, mostly human. Because it was Eden who called the bears and mountain lions—a surprising, unimaginable act that prevented a blood bath. And the average human certainly can’t do that. But that guy, her male alter-ego, the one who appeared on the rock ledge, has never shown up again. The very same dude Eden won’t mention, let alone discuss.
I head west, knowing exactly where I want to go. Eden leans forward a little more, like it will help us get there a little faster.
Yes.
I smile, feeling canines push into my bottom lip, the wind whipping up the exhilaration. It’s just Eden and me and the miles falling behind us. The sun smiling down on us. Our feelings flowing freely between us. Bigger, more real, more doggone incredible than anything I could have imagined.
Because here, alone and together, it doesn’t matter that I’ve carried a secret for four long months. That I’ve concealed the small circle with a five-pointed star within it, undeniably imprinted on my chest. A little mark with huge implications, implications that make my conflicted heart soar and sink, depending on which way my thoughts take me.
Because no one knows, not one person or Were, that we’ve bonded. An impossible, confusing dream come true. Not even the one it affects the most–Eden.
Impossible because it’s never happened before, impossible because our laws say it can’t be.
A dream come true because, well, because it’s Eden. The heart-tripping, mind-blowing, soul-grabbing girl that already owns my heart.
But ultimately confusing because I have no idea what it means. I don’t know how to tell her. How she’s going to take it. Shoot, if she wants this. I don’t doubt her feelings for me; I feel them every single day, but a never-heard-of-before-bonding to a future Alpha? That’s big. Irreversible, life-changing, how-do-you-even-bring-that-up big.
A stand of rocks crests on the horizon, at the top of a rise, breaking the skyline with their stoic harshness. Every time we run, I find something to jump. First fallen trees, then rocks, eventually the odd monolith. Each jump a little bigger, a bit more of a challenge. I see the rock we jumped last time, all rounded greys and angled whites. But those six feet of granite no longer pose a challenge. My head tilts up, and I angle slightly to the left. The boulder’s bigger brother next door does.
Or maybe it’s a daddy, because it’s almost twice the size.
Now that’s a challenge.
Through the wind blasting my ears I hear Eden’s intake of breath, sense the jump in her heart rate. I certainly feel her hands clench my fur. The smile grows to a grin as I scan the rock getting closer and bigger.
Paws concertina in and out, over and over, devouring the distance, bringing us closer. Eden presses her front to my back, hands deep in my fur.
With precision timing, I leap, hit its cold hard surface, and push. My front paws have barely landed when they’re replaced by my back legs, and I push up again. A powerful thrust and we’re on the top. Now comes the awesome bit. I compress down as I land, coiling the spring, loading the gun. And bam! All that potential energy is propelled into the sky. Eden lets go, leans back, and arches to the sun.
The air that was rushing past slows, lifting us, holding us in suspended animation as we defy the laws of physics, stalling the passage of time. There’s just a white wolf, stretched and taut, and his gorgeous girl, arched and open. I can just imagine that mane of hers flowing behind like a mahogany sail. It’s a beautiful, breathtaking image.
But all things that go up and over a boulder must come down and honor gravity. A breathless moment later I hit the ground, elbows and knees bending, absorbing the impact. Eden’s body crashes into mine, for a split second blending us into one.
Making our landings equally as awesome.
Neither of us needs to say a
thing; everything we feel is overflowing between us. Two bodies, even one as big as mine, can’t contain such a whirlwind. I gallop over grass and gravel, giving us a bit of time, a little to get our breaths under control, but mostly to bask in the wild feelings our runs unleash.
Because I know. I know it’s the freedom that Eden loves, that makes this so special. She’s had so little choice in her life, so few opportunities to decide. Which is why I’m not landing the bonding in her lap. She deserves to choose, in her own time.
And that’s fine; I really don’t mind.
I’ve waited this long.
Eden’s legs tensing around my ribs bring me back to the present. Her thoughts tickling through my mind suggest we should turn around before we end up in Canada. I slow, making a big arc. A rhythmic lope takes us back to the Glade.
Tara and Mitch are sitting in the middle of the grassy clearing. The pine trees that surround it like protective parents glisten with melted winter snow. Back in human form, they’re both leaning back, propped on bent arms, chests sucking in lungsful of air.
Eden slips off, her hand running down my shoulder, making me shiver.
Thanks.
Anytime, I reply, my response as sincere as her gratitude.
I head over to the Precept rock, the mini mono-lith that has our four laws carved into it.
You shall not reveal the bloodline
You shall not bond with the opposite bloodline
You shall not attack another blood member
You shall obey the Alpha
I don’t look at the reminder of everything I’ve just pushed out of my mind. I slip around the back, doing my usual transformation away from the green eyes I can feel following me. I hate hiding, pretending, but the alternative stirs an uncomfortable feeling I’ve yet to name.
As I return, Mitch grabs a handful of wet grass and tosses it at me.
The green blades are caught in the breeze and swept toward us. I leap in front of Eden. “Hey, that could have hit my girl!”
Eden’s forest green eyes peep up at me as she slips beneath my arm. That sense of connection that never leaves gives me a jolt. I love it. It keeps me anchored. It keeps me high.
“My hero.”
Tara snorts. “Thank Galactus you were there. Eden, you’re going to have to gain some weight. We need to slow this Were down.”
“I won’t if we keep doing this every week.”
I squeeze her hand. “Although if Tony keeps making those cheesecakes…”
Eden’s eyes light up at the mention of the chef who works at her mother’s Inn. A chef that seems intent on spoiling her more than me. “A cheesecake challenge.”
My girl’s version of heaven.
“As your bestie, I should help.”
Eden nods sagely. “Proving there is no such thing as the selfish gene.”
Tara shrugs dainty shoulders, tilting her head in an unsuccessful show of modesty. “I’m a team player.”
Eden’s eyes squint as she stares ahead, her lips puckering just a little, just enough to focus my eyes on them. “We’ll start with the raspberry white chocolate swirl.”
“Or the triple-choc cheesecake with the salted peanut caramel.”
“We don’t want to leave out the baked cherry and hazelnut praline.”
Mitch sits up a little straighter. “It couldn’t be a pizza challenge?”
Both girls turn to him, shocked, a little stunned, looking a bit like Eden did after she witnessed the first time I changed. Come to think of it, I looked like that, too. I shake my head. Mitch has been with Tara long enough; they’re bonded, for heaven’s sake, to know better.
“Of course not!” Tara punches his arm. “They don’t even start with the same letter.”
Eden and Tara laugh as Mitch mumbles something about cheese fitting the bill.
Just as I plonk myself on the grass, bringing Eden down with me so I can rest my head in her lap, Tara decides silence is over-rated. “So, guys, we have a double birthday coming up, and it’s a significant one. I’ve already spoken to your mom about initial preparations.”
I feel Eden tense in the legs cradling my head, but more so deep within. “How big is this thing going to be?”
“I’m defs keeping it low key this time. Some peeps, some dancing…”
I hear Mitch shift in the grass. “Can I do the music?”
“No!” Three voices chorus their horror.
Mitch grins as the girls laugh, and I look up to the sky, seeing the weak spring sun doing its best to warm us. It’s all I need to expand my chest in a deep breath and squeeze out any residual doubts that I’m doing the right thing.
Sitting there, in this place where time seems to stand still, I look to the girl I want to spend the rest of my life with, a girl I’m not supposed to be able to. I suck in another deep breath, a breath full of hope, her wildflower scent…and patience.
I can wait.
2
Eden
“A themed birthday party?” I hope my slightly higher pitch sounds curious, maybe even excited.
Noah gives me a squeeze, pulling me closer to his heated side. I don’t look at him, hoping he hasn’t noticed my anxiety. I focus on the dainty redhead doing a little jig before me. Mitch lets go, admitting defeat as he tries to contain a pepped-up cricket.
Tara’s hands bunch beneath her chin. “Mythical Mayhem! It’s going to be amazing–fairies, witches, goblins…”
“How many?” Do curious, excited people cut their sentences short?
“Oh, the whole year group!” In a town as small as Jacksonville, that means about forty. That’s thirty-seven too many. “Then there’s the Phelans.” And the numbers just doubled, just like my eyes and my heart rate. I know Noah has sensed my feelings now. They’re too close to the surface for him to miss.
Tara springs over to Mitch, wrapping herself around his arm. He lifts dark brows into dark hair, an amused twist to his lips. She smiles up at him. “Come on, mate-of-mine, let’s go talk to your mother about a smoke machine!”
“Now?”
“Yes, now.”
“But we were going to…” He glances at Noah and me.
“Oh, yeah.” A look passes between the three. Some Were secret I’m not part of, that I pretend not to notice. Tara frowns for a second, before the furrows are washed away by her smile. “Don’t go anywhere!”
She part walks, three-quarter drags Mitch toward the house. Out here on the open lawn of the Phelan backyard, I look over to Grandfather Douglas. The giant Douglas fir has been our protective canopy through so many moments. It’s seen our beginning, my tears, our first kiss. Our love takes root and blossom until it is the living, breathing connection that binds our hearts, our emotions so closely that we can feel each other, sense what the other is feeling. I wouldn’t mind being there now.
As Tara and Mitch round the house, I turn to eyes the color of a summer blue sky. Through the long winter months, they never failed to warm me. Either with tenderness and love. Or with passion and desire. Sometimes all at once.
“It’ll be fine.”
My head tips to his chest. Here at home, he doesn’t need to wear a sweater to keep up the pretense. My words are muffled in his t-shirt. “I suppose you only turn eighteen once.”
Noah’s hands stroke up and down my arms; the warmth of his palms, his chest meaning suddenly I don’t need a jacket either. “We’ll have a good time, you’ll see.”
“If you say so,” I grumble into his chest.
“Who will you go as?”
“The abominable snowman?” Something that covers me from head to toe, leaving me anonymous. Maybe the invisible man; nobody would care what he wears.
“Maybe you could borrow your mother’s Wicked Witch of the West uniform.”
I smile into the warm muscles in front of me. I take a deep breath of spiced sandalwood, my favorite smell in the world, then tilt back to regard his handsome features. My favorite sight, the one I never get tired of looking at. “
What about you?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
He wouldn’t.
Noah wiggles dark blond brows, that delicious mouth of his tipping up at the corners. He leans in like he is going to share a big secret. One I already know.
“A vampire.”
A spluttering laugh slips from my lips. “A vampire?”
“Yep. Mitch and I both.”
I realize my reclusive tendencies aren’t normal for someone my age. For someone who wants to desperately fit in with this guy, his family, his life. I suck in a little extra oxygen. “You know what? It should be fun.”
“Really?”
I can already see those two in black, hair slicked back, white canines peeking out. “Sure. I’ve never seen a shifter dressed as an overgrown mosquito before.”
Noah looks like he just won a prize without the fight. He puts his hands up in a you-won’t-get-an-argument-out-of-me gesture. “Great.”
I smile as I snuggle back into that hot, hard chest. I’m determined to enjoy every moment I have with Noah. I’ve had four months of getting to know this patient-leaning-toward-stubborn, hunky-hedging-toward-jaw-dropping-gorgeous, strong-to-the-point-of-being-recklessly-brave Were. And the more I’ve learned, the more I’ve fallen in love.
Enough to know that I need to savor, memorize every moment we have. Enough that I know a life with Noah has crystallized as the dream I never let myself have. Enough to know that whatever comes, wherever this goes, there will never be any regrets.
