*Ainslee*Sophia and Karl kiss, and the ceremony is over in a cacophony of cheers.The High Priestess sets the goblet of blood Karl had grudgingly shared with Sophia back on the altar, and the king waves at the crowd to be silent. “I know you are all excited to begin your celebrations. But we would also like to thank the Moon Goddess for the miracle of Paisley Poe’s birth.”Rafe squeezes my hand and waves while I hold Paisley against my chest.“And for the fruitful union of Marcus and Lucia Lightfoot,” the king continues. It’s kind of him to do this during his wedding ceremony.Lucia blushes, and Marcus pats her belly fondly.“And, let us not forget, Zeke and Annamarie Winters, who were unable to join us today, but I hear are expecting a beautiful baby themselves,” Karl concludes.Everyone claps.“Now, you may all adjourn to your celebrations.” The High Priestess waves us all off.Karl kisses Sophia passionately, and they walk hand-in-hand down the aisle.“Were we that cute when we we
*Ainslee*My sock is wet.It’s really not a surprise. I have a hole in my boot, and it’s been raining on and off for nearly three weeks now. Everything is gray. The sky. The muddy earth. Even the buildings. No one in my village has any money to paint anything. Everywhere I look, I see nothing but gray. Miserable, bleak, sickly gray.“Ainslee?”Lenny’s voice brings me back to reality. I turn and look behind me where he holds his place in the line outside the bakery. Most days, we end up giving blood at the same time, so we find ourselves standing here together as well. I don’t mind. He’s one of the few people in this town whose company I somewhat enjoy.“Did you hear what I asked you?” He has that goofy grin on his face, like he knows the answer already. No, of course, I didn’t hear what he asked me. I was in my own little world as usual.“Sorry.” I shrug, the exhaustion I’ve been carrying around in my bones beginning to radiate up to my brain. I’ve given so much blood this week, I’m p
*Rafe*“Pardon me,” I mutter as I bump into someone coming around the corner near what smells like a bakery. I’m in too much of a hurry to say more as my two highest ranking advisors and I rush from the sheriff’s office to our meeting with the mayor. Our conversation with Sheriff Brown hadn’t gone as expected. I asked about crime rates, the number of officers they keep on staff, budgets, etc., and all of his answers were vague, as if they kept no records, and he wasn’t even familiar with his staff.“I’m telling you, it’s always like this in these outlying villages.” Kris, a wiry fellow with short dirty blond hair narrows his eyes and shakes his head. He’d been a secondary advisor to the king before being assigned to me recently, and I’m still not sure how I feel about him. Something about him just seems to rub me the wrong way, though I’m not sure why. “The mayor will be better prepared.”“I hope so,” I say, preparing to add to that remark when I hear a voice behind me.“Hey! Hey you!
*Ainslee*“Ainslee, what the hell were you thinking?”It’s not the first time Lenny has asked me this question since we left the bakery—since we left the street outside of the bakery where I’d accosted those three large male vampires. He’s right to be angry because I could’ve easily drawn him into a fight we couldn’t possibly win. Just because he wouldn’t help poor Ms. Mildred, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t have stood up for me if those vampires had attacked. Lenny would do anything for me.Except for give me his loaf of bread. The smell of it has my mouth watering as we make our way along the muddy streets toward home. He lives a few blocks over from me and always walks me to my house after we got bread together.“I don’t know what I was thinking,” I admit. “I was just… mad.”“Why do you have to be so mad all the time, Ainslee? You’re going to end up getting yourself killed.” He shakes his head, kicking at a rock in the road.Again, he is right. He is always fucking right, which I of
*Ainslee*“I’m not thrilled to see you again either,” the thin, tall vampire says. I manage to toss the bow behind the door, but I’m pretty sure he’s already seen it.He doesn’t seem to care, which is contrary to everything I’ve ever heard about vampires. I stand there, staring at him, trying to figure out what the fuck he’s doing here.“Ainslee, invite our guest in.” My mother’s words are clipped as she is likely talking through a fake smile. That or she’s terrified. Maybe both.“He’s tall,” Brock says. The vampire’s eyes flicker to my little brother, and I don’t like how he’s looking at him like he wants to chomp the child in half.“Brock, Sinead, go into Mom and Dad’s room.” I turn and give them a pointed look, and they both know better than to argue. They meander in that direction, not disobeying but not in a rush to get out of the room with the strange new visitor either.I remember my mother has asked me to invite him in, which I haven’t done yet, but it doesn’t matter. He’s com
*Ainslee*Looking up into the grin of the vampire I’ve just run into, I take a deep breath. “Shit,” I mutter under my breath and take a step back.“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you,” he tells me, his glowing amber eyes disturbing. But he’s not smiling at me in a menacing way like that other asshole.“It’s okay.” I’m not sure what else to say. This guy was there earlier, and he’d seemed relatively nice, at least compared to that last guy.It’s not the vampire I’d been hoping for, though. Where the hell was the hot one?Not that I preferred to run into a vampire—hot or not. On any given day, I’d choose running into a vampire over nearly nothing. Maybe I’d prefer this to getting my foot stuck in a fire ant mound, if my foot was slathered in honey. But maybe not.“Can I speak to you for a moment?” His tone is polite as he folds his arms across his massive chest. This guy is the largest of all of them. That one who just walked away was tall and wiry. The other one, the one that had actually
*Rafe*“They’re just lazy, that’s all there is to it,” Kris says with a flourish of his hand and a shrug of his thin shoulders. “We need to whip them back into shape.”The carriage bumps along over uneven ground. The mechanics are top of the line, making it as smooth as possible, but the roads away from the area near the castle are not maintained like the roads I’m used to traveling, and it’s not comfortable.Not that I leave the castle much. Until King Axel declared that I would take over the throne for him, to me and a few of the other royals, not the entire kingdom yet, I rarely left the castle. Now, I find myself visiting a new village at least three times a week.But we are on our way back to the castle now. I’ve seen several smaller villages in one day before visiting Beoutown. That took longer than expected. While I’d sent Kris to fetch and deliver the food, Zeke had been off on his own errand, and I’d taken a walk through the woods. I’d wanted to visit Stone River, the site of
*Ainslee*Laughter spills from inside our house. I stand outside with my arms wrapped tightly around my body, watching the familiar forms of our neighbors’ pass between the candles lighting the small dwelling and the windows. A smile takes over my face. I can’t remember when I last heard that sound—laughter--but it makes me happy to know that, at least for one night, some of the people in the village here can find something to be joyful about.“Cold?” Lenny’s voice cuts through the darkness as he comes to stand next to me.“A little,” I admit. The two of us back further away from the house, finding shelter beneath our favorite pine tree. We’ve spent many hours sitting here together, discussing the fate of Beoutown and our fellow wolf shifters. I’m always cynical and pessimistic. My pragmatic friend often reminds me that things tend to work out for the best. I’m not sure I agree with that, but today I feel more hopeful than I have in years.Beyond the tree, the moonlight gleams on a cr