by Alex Lux
We linked hands, and I thought about where her road would take her. "Have you heard back from them?"
I knew she had, she looked about ready to pop with news. "Dean just brought me this." She pulled out an expensive looking envelope with her name written in calligraphy.
"Wow, fancy."
"I know, right? Check it out." She slipped the card out of it and handed it to me. It said only, "You've been selected."
I waved the card. "What does this even mean?"
Sam looked at it. "Oh my God, you got into IPI? That's awesome!"
"This is how they invite people?"
Sam nodded. "It's how my friends were chosen. Congrats, Ocean. You'll fit in well there, from what I hear. International Paranormal Investigators have a lot of fun in their hunt for not-so-nice paranormals."
It definitely sounded like something Ocean would enjoy. Me? I was content to live the most perfectly boring life, waking up with my husband everyday, kissing him goodnight each night, and filling our days with everyday acts of love. Nothing sounded more amazing to me than that.
Drake joined us with Ana in tow, looking so sweet in her frilly pink dress. Sam reached for her daughter, and Ana smiled a dimply smile at her mommy. Sam settled the little girl on her lap. "So, any plans for babies?"
I choked on my champagne. "Um, no. We're good for now. We're going to wait awhile before we dive into that adventure."
Derek joined us, hiding something behind his back. "I haven't given you your present yet."
I stood and kissed him, wanting to run my hands over his body, but holding back as people watched us. "I thought you were the gift. I have plans to unwrap you later."
He nipped at my earlobe. "You're naughty. And yes, you get that too, but I have something else for you now."
Something whimpered from behind him, and he brought forward a beautiful Alaskan Husky pup. "For you. I tracked down the people who bought Sandy's puppy and told them what happened. Well, the muggle version of what happened. They wouldn't even let me pay them for her."
Tears threatened to destroy the hard work Ocean had done on my makeup as I took the puppy from him and nuzzled her to my face. "What's her name?"
"They called her Hope."
Hope. The perfect name. She licked a tear that had escaped and I fell in love, my heart bursting with joy knowing a part of Sandy lived on in this beautiful girl.
"Thank you, Derek. This is the most amazing present ever."
When the guests left and the sky filled with stars, the next ceremony began— the one I was most looking forward to and most nervous about.
My new father-in-law raised his hands to the sky and spoke in a big voice. "Tonight we welcome a new member into our pack. She and my son will one day lead this group and take up guardianship of the roses they risked their lives to save. We owe her our lives and tonight, we open our family to her and take her as one of our own."
He presented a cup to me, and I drank the bittersweet brew. It burned down my throat and into my gut. Clouds blocking the moon moved aside as if in honor of this night, and under the moonlight my body cracked, bent over, DNA reconfiguring itself into something new.
I landed on all fours, nails digging into the soft earth. The air changed around me, coming alive with sounds and smells I'd never noticed before. Each rose had a different scent, and I found I could tell what properties they would hold. I understood then how the O'Conners chose what to use in their salve and creams.
Derek, in wolf form, howled, and I joined him, enjoying the rumble in my chest. We ran through the woods, chasing each other and leaping over rocks. I'd never felt so free, so connected with the world around me.
For hours, we played under the moon as the rest of the pack went to bed.
Exhausted, happy, and right where I wanted to be, I collapsed onto a soft bed of grass and shifted back into human form, stretching sore muscles that still had to get used to being a wolf.
Derek shifted as well, and we held each other, bodies naked and hungry for each other.
We hadn't needed pain to make love in months, though we still enjoyed it rough from time to time. But tonight we took it slow, savoring each taste, each touch, each moment together. When he entered me, hard and huge, my body shuddered, and I pressed my hips against him, taking him deeper even as it ached. My hair fell around my shoulders as we switched places and I straddled him, riding his cock as he sucked on my hard nipples and teased my clit.
I felt powerful. Loved. Completely filled.
A golden hue of light embraced us as fireworks exploded in our bodies.
Overhead, a shooting star streaked across the sky.
"Make a wish, love." His voice was low and husky.
I leaned down to kiss him. "I already have everything I could ever want. My wishes all came true when I met you."
TWENTY NINE
Fair is Foul
THE BEAST
Fair is foul, and foul is fair:
— William Shakespeare, Macbeth
I WATCHED FROM my place of darkness, from the cover of frost and snow-laden branches heavy with winter. I watched and I pondered and I waited. She was the one. Rose. She was the chosen one I'd been waiting for these many moons. She'd finally come to me. I would have her soon, and our powers would be matched by none.
She clinked glasses with the man beside her, her face aglow in the light of love and laughter. And when she shifted, oh what a sight! She didn't yet know who she was, what she would become. She couldn't fathom the power she held. The old ways that now lived in her. But I could feel it. I could see it. I knew.
But first, I must regain my strength. First, I must feed on the power of others. First, I must take from her those who protect her.
Then she and I will rule the world.
Then, she will be mine.
~TO BE CONTINUED~
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About Alex Lux
Alex Lux is a USA TODAY bestselling multi-genre romance author who fancies herself British and living in a swanky flat in London where she and the Queen frequently have tea and crumpets. In reality, she's a native-born Californian who has a great fake accent and often compels her kids to get their fake British on as well. She does love tea, but drinks it with her Sexy Russian Prince (who's not really a prince, but he is Russian, and he is sexy). Together they write books with lots of sex and intrigue while raising three little girls who are entirely too smart for their parents' own good.
When not penning toe-curling sexiness, she writes fantasy and science fiction with her husband as Karpov Kinrade.
Find her at AlexLuxBooks.com
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