BOOK ONE - promised series
When a new family moves to Everett Valley, Catherine vows to find out what they are searching for in her secluded hometown that doesn't normally welcome new people.
Catherine must choose between the council and her pack le...
I moved to punch his arm, almost falling from the bench as I leaned towards him.
When I landed the punch, I sat back down.
"Then I guess I have my answer. Immos vote for more humans, humans vote for more humans. Leaves us shifters to deal with the inevitable mess it will cause."
Groaning, I tried to keep my emotions balanced.
I'm not supposed to get emotional. It won't do anyone any good.
A few strands of his wavy hair fell into Emmet's boyish face when he nodded. Eighteen winters old but still no five o'clock shadow. One would think that as a wolf shifter, males grew facial hair earlier than those naked human men.
But Emmet?
His case was hopeless.
"Anyway, Emmet, tell me why you don't have a—" I stopped mid-sentence.
With a loud, ear-piercing craackkk, glass shattered in the distance.
Fear pumped into my system almost instantly.
"What do you think that was? Reece throwing down mother's vases again?" Emmet's light, careless tone only made the panic worse.
"Reece isn't here," I deadpanned.
Both Emmet and I looked at each other for the shortest of moments before we both jumped up and ran out of the kitchen. Emmet knocked down his chair, the sound of wood hitting wood reverberating through the walls. It was soon replaced with the frantic beat of my heart, drumming in my ears.
"What the hell—" Emmet started but never finished.
Just when I passed the threshold to the hallway, I saw my brother fly several meters along the wall and crash onto the wooden floor. Trying to register what had just happened, panic washed through me in a new, stronger wave.
I watched him fall, almost as if it'd happened in slow motion. The house-door behind him was ajar.
Those locks the humans invented might have been useful after all.
I was turning back to the patio doors when something punched me in the face.
Hard.
My vision shattered.
Like a cloud moving to block the sun, darkness enveloped around me, and the blood in my veins ran cold with fear.
My nose throbbed as thick, dark liquid ran down the side of my mouth. Pain followed thereafter. My stomach churned once the coppery taste of blood clouded my senses.
The force of the hit sent me flying to the ground, my back colliding with the hard floorboards. I gasped, the air completely knocked out of my lungs. After a few painful moments of heavy coughing, I began to taste more blood in my mouth.
I hated the taste of it and spat it out, utterly disgusted.
A figure stepped into my view then. Another slow, cold feeling of raw fear went through me. It crippled me so heavily, my body wouldn't move. The ghost of a person loomed over me, standing almost two meters tall. I couldn't move, even if I'd wanted to.
His towering height only magnified the panic coursing through my body. He had a dark grey, torn hood pulled down, covering about half of his face. The other half should have been visible.
But it wasn't.
The moving shadows there looked like thick, black smoke, lingering beneath his hood. It had been him. In the hallway. I hadn't imagined it.
A hissing sound began to surround him but seemed to come from everywhere. I couldn't tell if he was the source or if he was causing it, somehow.
Ssssssk. Sskkkkk. Clack. Ssssssk.
Sneaking around the lower part of his face, the shadows made it impossible to see what was beneath. It was some sort of magic I'd never seen before. It was so surreal, I started questioning the level of my sanity.
How—What the—
Before I could utter a word—if it had even been possible—I watched as his fist smashed into my face a second time, blind pain searing through my cheekbones.
I screamed as loud as I could. The gut-wrenching pain caused white dots to blur my vision and my head to spin. Blackness closed in soon and filled my vision completely. My agonising screams faded.
The last thing I saw was a grey, torn and ragged cloak sweep across the hall and out of the shattered doors that led to the patio. The figure disappeared into the darkness of the forest what seemed only a split second later.
Finally, I welcomed the darkness—and forgot all the pain and fear.
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Chapter Question: What did you think of Shadowman/Woman? Any theories as to what he or she wants, who he is?
Reader Question: Who's your favorite actor/actress?
I really like sooo many. Probably Christian Bale and Meryl Streep to start off with two, lol.
I hope you liked the first chapter of The Ancients!
