#1 The Rise of the Crescent Moon

August

“Can I ask you something?” I asked with my eyes still closed.

“Anything.” Josie replied sweetly. I opened my eyes and looked deep into hers.

“Tell me about your dreams.” She blinked in surprise and stood from the sofa. I was afraid I had upset my love, but she smiled and reached her hand out.

“Come with me.” She said, and like the puppy I was, I obeyed her. She led me up the stairs and stopped in front of the third door on the right. She let out a breath that she must’ve been holding the whole way up here.

“Don’t you dare make fun of me,” She threatened me, jabbing a finger into my chest. She looked so damn adorable I had to bite my cheek to hold back a grin,

“I haven’t opened this door since I was 14 years old.” I realized that this must be her old room. She twisted the knob and pushed open the door.

Inside was a snapshot of what my mate must’ve been like as a teenager. The walls were a light lilac with dark wood trim and floors to match, like the rest of the house. To the left was a large bed in between two doors, in front of me was an elaborate window seat with built-in bookshelves on either side, and on the right wall stood a small desk and another door. Her bed had a fluffy purple pillow laying on a floral bedspread.

There were framed pictures of flowers all over her walls, some were paintings and drawings while others were pressed flowers. I hadn’t pictured her as a flower girl, good to know.

She walked in silence across the room, towards the desk. Hanging on the wall was a very large bulletin board covered in paper. When I got closer I realized the papers all had the same drawings: a pair of eyes. Some of them were black and white pencil sketches while others were paintings in color. The eyes were all the same shade of blue. She tugged at one of the colored paintings and handed it to me.

“For as long as I can remember I’ve dreamt about the same pair of eyes, these eyes. It started off sporadic and then became more consistent the older I got. When I turned 18, the dream came every single night, and still does. Some nights are less vivid than others. Some dreams are short while other times they seem to go on forever. It’s always just the eyes,” She ran her finger across the bulletin board as she told me her story,

“Over the last year or so, the dream started to get more real. I would wake up not being able to breath or I would be crying; sometimes I was scared, sometimes I was happy. I started to see the eyes and have those feelings while I was awake. Then, I started getting the dreams. I saw flashes of home, of Rhode Island. One day an offer letter just showed up at the house from Little Compton’s hospital. Jared told me to ignore it, Benji had been telling me for years to let it go but I just couldn’t anymore.” I listened to her intently, like I needed her words to breathe.

I was so terrified earlier that she was thinking about rejecting me. I was prepared to cling to every word this woman said for fear that she would stop talking one day.

“My beautiful eyes. I’ve held on to them since I was a little girl and now I never have to let go.” She brought my attention back to her when she touched my cheek and I realized that I was staring at my own eyes all over her walls.

My baby had been dreaming about me since she was a little girl. I had no idea what this meant or why our bond was so different from all the other human-wolf bonds I’ve heard of, but I didn’t care. She wanted to hold on to me forever and that’s all that mattered.

I brought my hands to her face, rubbing her lip with my thumb. I slammed my lips into hers, backing her up against the wall. She sighed against me, her hands exploring my torso over my shirt. I ran my hands down her neck, grabbing at her hips. I moved my mouth from her lips to her check, across her jaw, down her neck. I grazed my teeth against her marking spot and felt her shiver. Arlo howled in my head but I pushed him back. I wouldn’t mark her, not until she asked me to; maybe even begged me to.

“August.” She whispered my name and I growled in approval.

I brought my lips back up to hers and she moaned against me. I smirked and pulled away just enough to see her eyes. I nipped at her nose and her ears as she giggled and squirmed under me. I put my hands on either side of her head, bracing myself on the wall behind her. I was too weak of a man to pull away from her, but I knew I needed to stop. She winked at me and ducked under my arm. I felt her hand trail across my back as she retreated. My little vixen.

I turned to look at her as she danced across her room.

“Should I assume purple was the favorite color of 14-year-old Josephine?” I smirked. She wrinkled her nose at me and crossed her arms,

“Still is.” She said stubbornly.

“And the flowers?” I asked. She went to the window seat and lifted up the lid to the bench that was covered in a purple cushion. She pulled out what looked like a photo album and handed it to me. Inside were pages of pressed flowers. She shrugged,

“My father didn’t let me do a whole lot growing up, especially before he let me train and whenever I was on house arrest from the packhouse, so I spent a lot of time on my own. I liked to collect flowers.” I felt sad for little Josie who didn’t get the chance to be a child because of our bond and whatever her father had against it. The album was stuffed with pages upon pages of pressed flowers.

“My favorites ended up on the wall.” She explained, gesturing around her room. I looked closer at the flowers on the wall, taking note of her favorite flowers for future use. Not that I knew anything about flowers, but I’m sure I could match them from memory.

“Lilics, in case you were wondering.” Josie winked at me like she had read my mind.

“I’ll keep that in mind, baby.” She looked at me, biting her bottom lip. Goddess that drove me crazy.

“Do you have plans for the day?” She asked me, picking at her fingers like she was uncomfortable. I quickly decided that anything I was supposed to do today didn’t matter.

“Just to be here with you for as long as you’ll have me.” The look on her face made my canceled meeting worth it. She grinned and bounced over to me.

“You promised me human moments.” She said,

“Mhm.” I laughed at her innocence.

“Then watch a movie with me.”

“Anything for you.” She took my hand and pulled me back down the steps.

I think she was testing how far I would go for this “human moment” thing because all the movies she offered me were complete chick-flicks. But, when she nuzzled into my chest and let me wrap my arms around her, I didn’t care what movie was playing, I was watching her.

Halfway through the movie, her phone started ringing. She groaned and pushed herself off of my chest. I whimpered at her absence as she grabbed her phone from the side table.

“Hello?” She answered. Her face perked up at the voice on the other end.

“Yes, it’s good to hear from you Dr. Grace.” I resisted the urge to use Arlo’s hearing to listen in on her conversation.

“That’s my fault, Dr. Grace. I got distracted with sightseeing.” I squinted at the phone, glaring at Dr. Grace through it. I was very clear with her and the rest of the board, they would offer Josie the position with whatever she wanted. I told them to offer her whatever she was making in New York and a research grant. I had to get her to stay.

“Oh, your offer is coming a lot quicker than I thought.” She glared at me and I knew I was busted. I kicked myself, would she not accept the offer just to spite me?

“Of course, I would be happy to accept. I can come in tomorrow to finalize the details if you are available.” She rolled her eyes at me. Arlo jumped with excitement in my head and I couldn’t blame him.

“Perfect, see you then, Dr. Grace!” She hung up the phone and reached towards the sofa. Before I knew what was happening, a pillow smacked me in the face.

“Oof!” I grunted, taken aback from the blow.

“Did you threaten Dr. Grace to give me the job?” She snapped. I pushed the pillow away.

“Of course not, love. I may have ordered them to sweeten the offer, though.” I said, being honest. She rolled her eyes at me again and I grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer to me.

“Is my mate mad at me?” I purred. The hardness in her face struggled to stay there before it faltered and gave way to a slight smirk,

“You know what this means?” She asked. I shook my head.

“I have to call my brother.”