Page 2 of Fated Moons
“My father’s transgressions could not be easily overlooked. Not when royal blood was shed. The human law and the Twilight Crossing Council law punished him accordingly.”
“You were a small boy. You should not pay for the sins of your father.” Titus waved a hand dismissively. “While I can force your pack leader to give you a larger role in your pack, I do understand it would cause more of a problem if I did that. However, I want to offer you refuge in this one. For you to become part of our family.”
Jackson pondered that offer for a few minutes. When his father had committed the unspeakable, killing a royal witch, Jackson’s life had already been a living hell. This was just one more way his old man got to torture him. A few years later, his mother couldn’t take it anymore. They packed up their shit and moved from Upstate New York to California. The change should have given them all a new lease on life, and in some ways, it had.
But Chaz was right. Any wolf trying to survive without the support of his pack was a walking dead wolf and it had been slowly killing his spirit.
“My life is in California,” Jackson said. “My family. My career.”
“You can have an acting career anywhere. If you take that role, you’d have to come here anyway. We believe moving back would be good for you and your family,” Nico said. “You need wolf brothers and sisters. So does your family. And regardless, we have tribes everywhere. You could be an alpha with us.”
“Perhaps, but if I return, my old pack will take claim. While they won’t give me a seat at the table, they will expect my loyalty. They will demand it, even though they will still shun me. You know how this works. Leaving one pack to join another is highly frowned upon, for any reason.”
“I have two roles when it comes to wolf packs. One is leader of my own, the second is to represent all wolf packs at the council,” Titus said. “I demand their respect, and they must, in turn, give it. If I make a claim to you and your family, and the council agrees, which they will, your pack will have to honor it. Of course, it is your choice. But we do have an ulterior motive.”
“And what is that?” Jackson asked.
“This is where it gets tricky, because we’re not exactly sure.” Trask clasped his hands together. A bright-green ball appeared. Tiny pulses of electricity filled the space between the ball and Trask’s hands. “These visions have come to me at different times. I don’t know what they mean. I don’t know how they are connected. But you are part of a bigger plan for our future.”
“I understand visions and they change as people make choices.” Jackson held Trask’s gaze.
“That is very true,” Trask said. “Have you ever heard of the Legend of the Fated Moons?”
Jackson jerked his head. “I believe every young wolf is told the story of wolves imprinting on fairy witches at young ages, long before they come of age.” Jackson chuckled. “But one has to believe that fairies will return to this realm and that they will connect with witches, who generally don’t like them. Not to mention it mixes the concepts of how wolves mate in the firstplace. Imprinting isn’t something that happens very often and is reserved for mating with other species that believe in soulmates and cosmic connections.”
“I’ve studies fairies.” Trask played with the ball in his hands. “They believed in soulmates. Their existence was based on it. But centuries ago, they didn’t mate outside their own species, except for the occasional human. However, it was rumored some mated with wolves. It’s also believed that royal witches believe in soulmates.”
“But that’s different than fated mates, which is reserved for alpha wolves, wolf leaders, and some mythical creatures that don’t exist.” Jackson couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. “What does any of this have to do with me?”
“Take a look.” He pushed his green ball closer.
Jackson peered inside. He saw himself on the red carpet with a woman, but he couldn’t make out who she was. Then something similar to a twister appeared and the woman flew up to the sky. Another woman, who had her back to him, crumpled to the floor, holding her throat before evaporating. And then two little puppies appeared on the farm and then ran off with two other wolf puppies. Above, in the dark sky, appeared two moons. Trask clasped his hand together and the ball disappeared. “I’ve had others. And they change. But mostly, I have this sensation that you belong here and that the Legend of Fated Mates is coming.”
Jackson bit back a laugh. “If that’s true, then wolfairies are coming too, and that has to happen first. Which means the Legend of the Princess and the Wolf is around the corner.”
“Yeah, sometimes Trask goes off the rails.” Chaz did laugh. “I honestly don’t buy into the legends or the myths. But I don’t like what’s been happening to you. I agree with my father. You should be a member of our pack.” Chaz rested his hand on Jackson’s shoulder. “You don’t have to give us an answer today.Or even tomorrow or next week. Hell. Take your time. Move across the country and see how it goes. If your pack stakes a claim, you don’t have to banish it right away. You have the leader of the most powerful one at your disposal. But this should be and is your home.”
“I will need to think it over and discuss it with my family,” Jackson nodded. My mother may not want to come back here, and I will not leave her or my siblings in California.”
“Take all the time you need.” Titus shook his hand. “This farm will always be a safe haven for you and those you love. Remember that.”
“Thank you.” Jackson turned and made his way toward his rental. He glanced over his shoulder. A sense of belonging filled his soul. He wanted to trust it, and even if he did, he wasn’t sure he deserved it.
1
PRESENT DAY…
Lady Amanda Windsor’s leg shook violently under the table. Sometimes being a royal witch was more like a royal pain in the ass. It wasn’t like their royalness meant anything. That was until the birth of the wolfairies and her human mother started blinking fairy dust.
What a shocker that had been.
Because some royal family members wouldn’t take too kindly to that revelation, her father had kept that under wraps. They struggled enough with the bloodline being tainted by a mere human. But a human fairy? That would have been a little too much. But her mother had no real powers to speak of, so the hope was that as the world accepted the wolfairies, they would eventually accept their mother being a fairy.
For the last two years, she and her sisters waited patiently for their fairy dust to appear, but it never did. All her father had to say about that was that her mother wasn’t from the royal fairy bloodline, meaning it wasn’t strong enough to pass down to her children.
Her father thought it was for the best. For about five minutes, she disagreed. She thought being a witch fairy would have been really freaking cool. But in reality, it would have been a curse.It would have brought more scrutiny to the royal family and it certainly would have caused an uproar with the elders. Mixing witchcraft with fairy magic? That would have ruffled some feathers.
“Sit up straight, darling.” Her mother glared.
