Vanilla Moon
Acrimony
Airiel Hawkins
Also By Airiel Hawkins
The Legend of Catseye
Legend of Catseye: Nikolaos
Legend of Catseye: Adelpha
Vanilla Moon
Vanilla Moon: Awakening
Vanilla Moon: Acrimony
Vanilla Moon: Acrimony
Copyright © 2019 by Airiel Hawkins
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal.
First Printing: 2019
Airiel Hawkins
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/airielhawkinsauthor
This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, organizations, or locales are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real.
Partial edits by Chadd Hawkins, Jessica Grimm, Arianna Heitholt
Revenge
The problem with revenge is that it never evens the score. It ties both the injured and the injurer to an escalator of pain. Both are stuck on the escalator as long as parity is demanded, and the escalator never stops.
-Lewis B. Smedes
Acrimony (noun)
ac-ri-mo-ny | ˈa-krə-ˌmō-nē
plural: acrimonies
: anger and bitterness : harsh or biting sharpness especially of words, manner, or feelings
Chapter 1 ~ Wolfgang~
I pressed my hand against the cold glass window in my old bedroom at my parents' house. The rain turned to sleet in the chill of the night. Out there, somewhere, my pack hunted with my father leading the way. I could hear their howls muffled through the distance and forest between us. I closed my eyes and I could almost feel the ground beneath my paws. I could feel the freezing air biting my lungs as I breathed it in and continued to hunt.
Except that I was not out there with them. I was not hunting tonight. I was stuck here, at the house. I could only watch the sleet fall beyond my window and cover the residual snow with a thick layer of ice.
We were under threat of an attack. Two weeks ago, a woman named Brenda Caulfield sent us a message. She gave us two options: Abandon the town we created so they could take it over or die. She gave us until the morning after the full moon, tomorrow morning, to decide. Her note indicated that she and her coven would annihilate any Lycan still in town after sunrise.
My father put the decision to a vote. He said that if the decision of the vote was that we stayed in town, anyone who wanted to leave could. He would not begrudge any of them for not wanting to risk their own lives or the lives of their families. The vote was unanimous. We stayed and it was all for one reason: Adamsville belonged to us. Lycans settled it. Lycans ran it. Lycans owned it. The Witches invaded and, one day, we would see them destroyed.
If they didn't destroy us first.
For the last three generations, my family, the Riders, have been at war with the coven, run by the Ainsworths. The war has run both hot and cold and has accounted for more deaths in our town than any other. For the last thirteen years, everything has been quiet. That is, up until Ceres arrived.
Ceres was a lawyer in New York City, once upon a time. She was ahead of the game in so many ways. She grew up wealthy, went to a private school, and graduated years ahead of schedule. She moved on to Harvard where she finished the law program in record time. Afterward, she hit the fast track at her mother's firm. She was on her way to junior partner before she realized that she hated it. She left her boyfriend, quit her job, and then came out here to our tiny town in the Uinta Mountains to help her former stepfather with a legal case.
That was when I first met her. She stopped in my family's diner and ordered chicken strips and fries. I knew that she was my mate the moment I laid eyes on her. She took my breath away, but she didn't know what she was back then. She thought of the world the way that most people do. She didn't know that Lycans, Witches, and Vampires exist, let alone that we have been at war for thousands of years. She didn't know that her parents weren't human. She thought that she was an average rich woman in New York City who hated her life, like everyone else.
I opened her eyes to our world. There are many days when I wish that I hadn't, especially with everything that has happened since. The Witches stole our baby from us. They kidnapped, tortured, and almost killed us in the pursuit of an end to this war in our humble town.
Instead of an end to the war, we've seen more death and destruction than we should have. Ceres became the killer she feared most.
I became the killer I never wanted to be.
I've spent years trying to find a peaceful way to end the conflict here in Adamsville. As Volsunga, or Prince, to my pack, I'm next in line to lead it unless someone else comes along and claims the title of Enkidu before I can. I pray that it doesn't happen. I pray that my father lives a long time yet. I know that I'm not ready to be the leader of this pack. I'm not even sure that I ever will be, even though it is my right and I did fight to get it back after I walked away.
That, more than anything else, is the reason I am here, inside of the window, instead of out there with the others. I can't leave this house because it could mean my end and there needs to be someone to lead this pack if something happens to my father. He took four hundred out on the hunt with him. Four hundred bodies who cannot prevent their shifts.
There are only a hundred of us left within the walls of the house tonight who can stave off our shifts. Most of them are in the bunkers below the house, but a select few are in the main house. The four Guardians are here. My mother and sister are upstairs. My two best friends are up there as well, along with their mates who are also Ceres's best friends from New York. They came to visit us with her mother and never left. I've come to find myself grateful for their presence. They helped pull Ceres through the loss of our baby and helped her maintain a strong front before the pack. Without them, I don’t know where we'd be.
I turned away from the window and looked at my mate. Ceres slept light tonight. Like me, she was restless. The full moon does that to us when we aren't out celebrating it. She's stronger than I could have hoped. For only knowing what she is less than three months and shifting for less, she's leagues ahead of others like her. It was January when she joined us. At the end of March, I am still in awe.
With the storm outside, there is more than enough light in our borrowed bedroom. She slept on her side with the blanket over her legs and hips. The upper half of her body bared to the world. Her platinum blonde hair fanned out over my forest green pillows, like sunlight filtering through the leaves. She'd wrapped her arms around a pillow, holding it close. She looked peaceful, even though I knew she was anything but on the inside.
There were a dozen new scars now. We have the power to heal ourselves and our pack with energy, but some wounds from leave a lasting impression. Silver is the bane of our existence and most of her scars were because of silver weapons.
Her stepfather's death flashed through my mind. It was less than a month ago. His people managed to kidnap both of us. They trapped Ceres and I in their basement after they rammed into my mother's minivan. They forced something into Ceres's system that caused her body to abort our baby. It worked so fast that she lost too much blood. In the time it took for me to get her out of there, the others in the van got help. Our parents came crashing through the front door as I fought my way to it. Her mother ripped out Alan's heart. His death was justif
iable in so many ways.
I sat down on the bed next to Ceres, causing her to stir. She stretched out before she opened her deep chocolate eyes and looked up at me. She gave me a half smile before her eyes darted to the alarm clock. She sighed. I knew what she thought. Fifteen minutes. That's how long she'd slept this time around. Fifteen minutes. Both of us were far too stressed for sleep.
"I didn't mean to wake you," I said.
She cleared her throat. "It's alright," she replied. She rubbed her eyes. "I wasn't going to get much more sleep anyway. I'm too worried about them," she said as her gaze drifted to the window.
"Coffee?" I asked.
She nodded. "Yeah," she replied.
I leaned over to give her a kiss. As I pulled away, she reached up and pulled me back for more. Ceres hadn't shown a desire for intimacy since Alan's coven stole our baby, so I was eager to accept her advance. The act of pulling me back to her gave me hope. I leaned into the kiss. I slipped my arm around her back and pulled her closer to me. She moaned into my mouth and I swallowed the sound. Her back arched, pressing her body into mine.
I pulled away again and met her eyes. They turned amber with her arousal. I could smell the sweetness in the air like a musty blanket around us. The wolf inside of me brushed against the inside of my skin as if it was a separate being that lived beneath the surface. I felt her wolf respond in kind. A growl rumbled within me and I smiled at her. Ceres smiled back before she peeled the blanket away from her body. I slipped out of my pants as I crawled under the blanket with her.
Coffee could wait.
I took things slow with her this time. There have been moments between us when we have gone so hard and fast that neither of us could breathe. Other times, we've taken so much time that it was almost agony. I'd take my time, but not that much time. I wanted to enjoy every lasting moment of this. It had been too long.
Being with her, at her side and inside of her, was my comfort. The feeling of her body wrapped around mine was an exquisite bliss that made every word inadequate. If I could get away with it, we would never leave the bedroom.
Responsibilities dictated that we couldn't stay in here forever. Locking ourselves away was never going to be an option for us because we were too important to the pack.
Unless, of course, a blizzard snowed us in a motel room for a week or two.
I threaded my fingers through her hair and smiled down at her before I kissed her and allowed myself to disappear in the moment. I made love to her as if it was the first and last time. In my mind, I flashed back to the first time we were together like this. It was the day I met her, and instinct had taken control. We were snowed in her motel room for five days of pure bliss.
Afterward, coming down from the glow, I pulled away from her and gave her one more slow, lazy kiss. I walked into the bathroom and cleaned up before I returned for my pants. I kissed her again before I left the bedroom. As I reached the door, I looked back at her and saw her staring at the ceiling. The moment I opened the door, I smelled the coffee and knew someone else was already up. I couldn't hear it percolating, so I was certain that it would be ready when I reached the coffee maker.
When I reached the kitchen, I gave my cousin a tired smile. "You can't sleep either?" I asked.
Riley shook his head. "Of course not," he replied. "I don’t think anyone is actually asleep at this point. Except for the kids. None of them know what's going on."
"They know that something's up," I disagreed. "Most of them aren't old enough to remember the last time we gathered like this. With the tension in the house, it would surprise me if there's anyone who doesn't feel it."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Riley said with a grin. "You seem pretty relaxed."
I laughed. "Yeah, well, she was ready," I replied. "Finally. I wasn't going to say no."
"First time since the accident?" Riley asked.
I nodded as I heaved a sigh. I walked to the cupboard and pulled down two black mugs. I filled them with coffee and creamer before I took a sip from one of them.
"That's rough," Riley said. I could hear the pain in his voice. The difference between us was that his son was alive and well, living with his mother in Moab. Riley talked to him as much as Angela would allow, but that wasn't very often. He talked to his son once every three months or so. Holidays. Riley and Angela had one of those horrifying breakups and she found out about the baby after. They agreed that Riley would have limited involvement because they didn't want their son to see how much they hated each other. The kid turned six a few months ago and was one of the rare examples of Lycans having an accidental child.
"We're getting through," I said. "What about you and Selena?"
Riley grinned. "You know how it is," he said. He let out a chuckle before his face sobered.
At that moment, I realized that he was keeping something from me. I studied his eyes and saw the secret. I looked at his neck and saw the healing bite. I swallowed the bitterness before I said something I knew I'd regret. "When did you two do it?" he asked.
I had to give him credit. He tried to look confused, but it came across more as guilty. "What are you talking about?" he asked
I glared at him. "Don't fuck with me," I said. "When did you do it?"
Riley cleared his throat and looked away from me. "Four days ago," he replied. "We weren't planning on it. Instinct took over and…."
"I get it," I said. I did, but I couldn't help the anger and bitterness I felt toward them. On the flip side, I was happy that he was going to have a family of his own that he would be a part of. It just didn't stop me from thinking about the one I almost had. The child I almost had.
I cleared my throat. "Congrats," I said before I gathered up the coffee mugs and walked out of the room. I stopped outside of our bedroom and tried to let it all go before I opened the door. If I wasn't careful, Ceres would take one look at me and know something was wrong.
"Wolfgang."
I turned and saw Riley staring after me. "What?" I asked with a voice that broke, betraying my emotions.
"I'm sorry," my cousin replied.
I nodded. "Me too," I said before I let out a heavy sigh. I opened the bedroom door and heard the shower running. I let out a breath of relief and set the mugs down on the nightstand. I sat down on the edge of the bed and closed my eyes. The smell of sex was still thick in the air. I let that smell drive the world away. Aside from the shower running, everything was quiet. The tension was still here, though. Still thick.
In the silence, I heard a distant scream. My head snapped up and I focused on listening to the world around me. The scream was almost an echo, but, like wolves, our voices didn't do that. The sound was distant, distorted by the storm. I grabbed a shirt from the dresser and pulled it on as I left the room. I rushed to the front door because I couldn't shake the feeling that it came from one of ours.
I put my shoes on as I opened the front door. The rain was the only thing I could hear. I felt Riley come up behind me. He must have heard something too. I squinted into the dark.
"HELP!" she screamed. It was distant, but clearer now that we were outside. Riley and I took off running in the direction of the scream, without caring about the freezing rain.
It took us almost five minutes to find her. She'd fallen on the road, naked as we all are after the change. She had gashes across her body that oozed blood. I could smell the acrid stench of burnt flesh and hair from the silver weapons. The Witches attacked the pack.
"Grab her," I said to Riley.
He gathered the naked woman up in his arms, careful to be as gentle with her as possible.
"Back to the house," I instructed. "Now."
Riley moved ahead of me on the way back to the house. I kept my eyes and ears open as we moved through the streets. I didn't want to risk anyone sneaking up on us as we walked. We were quick but careful.
The only thing I wanted to do was go to the Hunting Grounds, but it was too far for us to do any good if we didn't get a car first. We'd also need mo
re people with us to be any good. If I sent Riley back alone and went on ahead, the only thing I'd be able to do is to watch as our people suffered. We needed people… and a plan.
When we reached the house, Riley and I rushed her into the dining room and laid her down on the table. I focused on her while Riley went to the library to set off the alarm for the Guardians. I studied the wounded woman who made her way back to the pack to warn us. Her eyes were wide and amber with pain, although her eyes were always golden. The rain plastered her black hair to her skin and her body shook with violent shivers.
I gathered her up in my arms because I knew she was cold. It was the first time I held her so close to me after our breakup and, for the first time, I felt nothing. "What happened?" I asked as I cradled her.
"Witches," she struggled to say. "Th-they at-tacked af-f-fter the ch-change back. Al-almost ev-ev'ryone's d-dead."
The cold of her body seeped into me. I went still as I stared down at my ex. "What?" I whispered. "My father?"
Anica shook her head. "I d-don't know," she stuttered as Riley and the Guardians entered the room.
I looked up at them with the shock I felt at Anica's words. My eyes found Margaret, our Rusalki. "Call Dr. Cyrus," I said. "Take Anica to the clinic now. The rest of you, find me as many volunteers and trucks as possible. People with strong stomachs. Now."
They nodded. Margaret took the blanket Riley brought and wrapped Anica up in it before carrying her out of the house. Now that my duty to Anica was over, I went to my bedroom. I saw Ceres pacing between the window and the door, the coffee untouched. She looked at me and I knew that she already knew. She had a gift for knowing things. Sometimes she called it a curse. She couldn't explain how it worked, but she was always right.
"What happened?" she asked.
I stared at her for a moment before I walked to the bathroom. I peeled off my clothes and tossed them into the hamper. Ceres followed me as I stepped into the shower to warm up for a few seconds and rinse the blood off me. She stared at me, patient as always, as I dried off and followed me as I returned to our room to get dressed.
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