#1 The Rise of the Crescent Moon

Josephine

I was pacing the floor of our bedroom, absolutely seething at August. It wasn’t so much that he did something without telling me or that he went without me, it’s why he went without me. He doesn’t trust my strength nor my ability to take care of myself. He doesn’t think I’m capable of handling things, whether physically or mentally. He doubted me, and that was not okay.

I felt my blood boiling with anger that I had no idea what to do with. I wasn’t stable enough to leave the room and communicate with anyone so just continued pacing the room, burning a path in the rug. My phone started ringing and I foolishly wondered if it was August. Why would he call me when we can mindlink? I answered without looking at the caller idea,

“Hello?” I grumbled.

“Well hello, Susy Sunshine.” I squinted at the voice on the other end, pulling my phone away and looking at the caller idea. I grinned, placing the phone back on my ear,

“April!” I squealed.

“That’s much better.” My sister in law laughed.

“Jared mentioned that you might need some girl talk.” April said. I cursed my brother for telling on me.

“Maybe….” I was so not in the mood to discuss my love life with my idiot mate right now.

“I’m honestly surprised you’re having a hard time with this. You grew up in this world, JoJo.” April echoed my brother’s thoughts.

“It’s not the Luna part or the werewolf part I’m struggling with.” I mumbled.

“Oh.” April said.

“I’m having a little trouble with letting him mark me.” I admitted.

“Ah, yes, I had issues with that too. The whole ownership thing bothered me, but then your mom explained to me what it really means.” She paused, waiting for me to stop her if she wasn’t barking up the right tree. I said nothing so she continued,

“She told me that it expresses the bond and love your mate has for you, it’s a way for you two to fully and truly merge your souls. The mark let’s mates connect on a level that humans will never get to experience and that’s a gift. It’s not about ownership or control. Sure, wolves like their mates to be marked so other wolves don’t try to stick their nose where it doesn’t belong, but that’s not the bigger picture.” April sounded exactly like my mother so I had no doubt those words came from her.

“It’s just all so different from how I imagined it.” I sighed.

“You never imagined being mated to a wolf.” April said knowingly.

“No, not really.”

“Would you change it, if you had a choice?” April asked.

“No!” I said so quickly I surprised myself. I could practically hear April’s smirk.

“You good?” She laughed and I nodded quickly before realizing she couldn’t see me,

“Yeah, I’m good.” Jared was right, talking to April did help.

She didn’t say much, but it was enough to make me realize that I was holding on to something that didn’t matter anymore; a life that didn’t matter anymore. I wouldn’t trade August or our relationship for anything

“Talk to you later, sis.” I said before hanging up with April.

But, none of this changed the rage I currently felt for my mate, which, in hindsight, also made sense. I guess no one can make you crazy like the person you love.

After a while, I smelt Cinnamon Rolls from outside the door. I glared at the door as it opened and revealed my very timid, very frightened, mate.

“Josie…” He whispered, shutting the door behind him.

“Are you kidding me?” I repeated my earlier statement with my hands placed firmly on my hips.

“I’m sorry for not waking you up and including you. I just wasn’t sure what we would find and I didn’t want to get your hopes up.” I growled at him, despite lacking a wolf, and he immediately snapped his mouth shut.

“That’s the problem, August.” I snapped,

“You doubt me and my strength.” August stumbled back as if my words knocked him over.

“Josie, I’ve never doubted you….” I glared at him some more.

“You do though, you doubt me. I’m not some fragile flower, August, we’ve had this discussion before. You don’t need to protect my feelings. This is about my family….” August stopped me,

“Yes, but it’s about my pack.” I could feel his anger start to boil over and I sensed the impending storm that was brewing between us, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“So, this is about your Alpha ego?” I said, crossing my arms across my chest in defiance.

“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to protect the pack, Josephine. I know you judge your father because he put the pack first, but that’s an Alpha’s job.” It was my turn to be blown away by his words.

“You’re honestly suggesting that putting the pack above your family is okay?” I yelled. August sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

“Josie, you are the most important thing in the world to me. Of course your safety comes before the pack because I would be nothing without you. If something happens to you, I’ll die. I won’t be an Alpha, I won’t be capable of protecting this pack. So, no, putting the pack above my mate is not okay and it’s not something I plan on doing,

“But, I still have to make other hard choices in order to put the pack first. Some days, the pack has to come before your feelings, it has to come before your family.” I could tell August was in pain, I could tell that what he was saying hurt him, but I didn’t care because it was hurting me more. I was speechless as he continued,

“Finding a witch isn’t just about whatever deal your father made. He broke the pack laws and whatever he did is affecting all of us. My father told me a story about a time when witches were very much a part of our pack….” August went on to tell me about the day Alpha Maxwell, my grandfather, died. I stared at August in silence for a long time before finally speaking.

“You are an idiot.”

“Josie….” August said in surprise.

“Use your brain, August, you’re talking about the story of my family.” He was so naive, so boneheaded to think he needed to handle this all on his own. He stared at me, confused.

“I know this story, I know this story from my father’s perspective. When he became Alpha, Beta Tatum, your grandfather, told him what happened that day. It’s the secret of the Alpha family, something you would know if you weren’t so damn pigheaded.” I yelled at him again, my hands balled into little fists of fury. His eyes widened in recognition,

“You know what happened that day? With the witches?”

“Yes, you moran.” August sighed,

“Can you stop calling me names?”

“Can you stop being dumb?” I countered, pacing the room again,

“I’m not telling you anything until you apologize and admit you were wrong.” I said. August appeared in front of me, his hand stopping my pacing.

“I should have trusted you, Josie, I should have asked you about it before I left, you’re right. But, I won’t apologize for trying to protect you,” I started to argue with him but he silenced me with a kiss.

“You are my life now, Josephine Valentine, I cannot live in a world where you don’t exist. So, yes, I’m going to be a little crazy and I’m going to want to wrap you in a bubble and never let you leave. I’m trying to do better, but I’m never going to be perfect.” August’s voice was low and husky, his eyes boring into mine as he spoke the words from his heart.

“Fine.” I grumbled, trying to hold back a smile. August grinned, sensing my dissolving anger.

“Fine?” He laughed. I rolled my eyes at him and brought his face down to mine for a kiss. I backed him up towards the bed and pushed him down, never breaking away from his lips. Straddling his waist, I grinned against his face and sat up.

“Don’t you want to hear my story?” I whispered. August groaned loudly and I could see Arlo flashing in his eyes.

“You suck.” He growled. I laughed out loud, pushing off his lap and crawling across the bed behind him.

“Not today.” I smirked and August stared at me wide eyed.

“Well, well….” He purred and I smacked his hand away as he tried to grab my inner thigh. I pulled myself to the top of the bed and sat criss cross against the headboard. August rolled his eyes and took a similar position across from me. He grabbed my hands and held them in his lap, waiting for me to go on.

“The witches of Wilbur Woods were known as the BloodMoon coven. They were here long before our pack. When my ancestor, the original Alpha, first settled here over a hundred years ago, he had to form an alliance with the witches first. The witches pulled their strongest powers from the moon, hence why it was such an ideal place to start a wolf pack. The coven had created the perfect environment for wolves to grow strong,

“Alpha Tobias, the first Alpha, and the leader of the witches, Marlow, formed a contract. They would live in peace so long as the wolves stayed out of the witches business and provided them with protection. Together, they formed one of the strongest covens and wolf packs in the country. All was well, until the witches changed the deal,

“In the time of Alpha Maxwell and Beta Tatum’s leadership, the witches started to mobilize on a plan set in motion long before our pack had settled here. You see, it was no accident that the land was fertile for werewolves and it was no accident that our ancestors settled here. Marlow lured them here. She wanted to create a hybrid.” I paused, catching my breath and watching August’s face for a reaction. He blinked at me in shock, absolutely left speechless. I continued with the legend my father told me so many years ago,

“Marlow wanted to create a witch-werewolf hybrid; she had been working on it for hundreds of years. Our grandfathers found out about her plan and approached Marlow, reaching out a hand of peace but making it clear that there was no possibility of creating a hybrid. At first, Marlow claimed she would let her plan go but our grandfather’s new better,

“A few days later, the witches ascended on the pack. That’s when the women and children were hidden away in the safe house and the warriors went into battle. Our wolves were able to push the witches back, but not without casualties. The witches were also able to kidnap several of our younger warrior wolves. That’s what pushed the battle into the woods to the coven’s home,

“By the time Alpha Maxwell got to the camp, the captured wolves had already been killed. Nobody knows what happened, but one would assume it was an experiment gone wrong. The battle nearly burnt down the entire woods and the town with it. For whatever reason, the witches were determined to save the woods and the town, so they created a tomb around their coven, preserving the remains and stopping the fire,

“The coven suffered tragic losses but so did the wolves. The witches fled and the alliance came to an end. News spread about the witches’ plan and their attack, with the death of the Alpha, the fate of our world was sealed. The Elders decided to outlaw species interaction and the segregation of the species began.” I sighed, finishing my story.

I was so lost in my own world that I didn’t notice that August was just staring at me, wide eyed, refusing to blink. I waved my hand in front of his face,

“Earth to Alpha?” I sang. August jumped and came back to life, making me giggle.

“I never knew about any of this.” He said in a breathless voice. I shrugged,

“It’s the legend of the Alpha, secretly passed down from Alpha to Alpha, father to son. I guess my father died before he could pass it down to you or Benji. Jared and I grew up with it, it was the only bedtime story father ever told us; even our rare family nights around the campfire involved a retelling of the legend. He told it to us so much that I could recite it by the time I was five.” I never really thought about it as important, which sounds odd, but when you’re told this story more than any other Disney movie or Harry Potter book, it just starts to feel normal. I paused, thinking,

“Wait, do you think that this has something to do with my father making a deal with a witch?” I asked. August looked at me like I was clueless.

“Right, yeah, that makes sense.” I said quietly, nodding to myself. August squeezed my hands and I met his gaze,

“Are you okay?” He asked me. I laughed at nothing in particular,

“Not really. My father may or may not have broken one of our pack’s most important laws. A law that was created after the massacre of our pack and the murder of his father. And if it is related to the Alpha’s legend then does that mean it’s related to creating hybrids? What the hell did my father get involved with?” August shook his head at my rhetorical question,

“We’re going to find out, Josie.” He promised me. I fell against his chest and let his warmth take me over.