After the Moon Sets 3 (Werewolf Paranormal Romance) Read online

  Lumar took my hand and I led him out of the shadows, out of his exile. He stayed with me most of the time, and my parents assumed I had developed an imaginary friend as a coping mechanism. However, after two years into our friendship, Lumar felt something with me.

  He asked me something I did not understand at the time. Lumar asked if I would promise to stay with him forever, become his bride after I turned nineteen. Being a child in such a fairy fantasy, I agreed. Lumar explained to me how he would tell my parents that he would take me for his bride and leave in preparation for our marriage, vowing not to return until my ninetieth birthday.

  Nevertheless, my parents immediately rejected the notion.

  Especially, since he was a Vampire, something that was unheard of during that time. In fear, they agreed and Lumar was overjoyed. He brought this to my attention, but he never attempted anything more than a friendly hug.

  Something pulled Lumar away from me for a week, and my parents used this opportunity to consult a witch. It was this Witch that cast a spell, banning Lumar from the house and from my life. When Lumar came to give me a final farewell, he discovered my parent’s betrayal. I grew attached to Lumar. I loved him; I did not care who or what he was—I only wanted to be with him.

  My screams for Lumar only amplified his anger with my parents. He promised me that we would be together and there would be nothing that could stop him. It was on that fateful night that he came for me, killing my parents in a fit of rage. When Lumar realized that I was hiding in their closet, the damage had already been done. I rejected him, turning to my dead parents blaming myself for their demise. I hated Lumar, no matter how he tried to console me; I wanted him dead.

  Lumar tried to pull me out of the house, but the hunters came, forcing Lumar to leave me behind. Julian rescued me, saving me from spending my life in Lumar’s grasp. Julian knew of me then; he spoke of things I did not understand.

  Too devastated for comprehend reality, the witch was brought to me once more, and she wiped my memory of all the pain; my only memories were that a Vampire took the life of my parents in my view.

  Tears escaped my eyes, and it was those tears that brought me back to my reality. There Lumar was, standing in front of me fearfully. I could feel all the pain, and I could feel the love I felt for him.

  Chapter 8

  So it was true, I was really bound to this creature in more ways than one. We shared an unbreakable bound, a bond that forced me into his arms, desperate to feel what I once felt with him when I was a child. Lumar held me tightly, weeping into my shirt. I felt everything I felt before I lost my memories. My love for Lumar was always in my heart, but there was a darkness there, a darkness that came to life when he killed my parents.

  We would never have what we had before. It wasn’t in the cards for us. I pulled away, gently wiping the tears from Lumar’s face.

  “I love you.” I told him, and I wasn’t lying when I said it. I did love Lumar. He brought me back to life when I was dead inside. I would keep my promise and be forever grateful for all that he has given me. My confession seemed to over joy him, and he pulled me into another passionate kiss. I enjoyed every moment of it.

  Once Lumar gently pushed away from me, he held me close, pulling down the shoulder of my shirt.

  “I won’t be without you for a moment longer.” He said. I looked up at him and nodded. I was ready for this; I had no other choice. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, allowing him to bite into my flesh. It was a painful ecstasy. The sensation was incomprehensible.

  However, so was my rage.

  Lumar’s eyes widened and he pulled his fangs roughly out of my neck, taking cautious steps away from me. It was the first time I’ve ever seen any real fear in this monster's eyes. Lumar looked down at his chest, noticing the butter knife plunged into him. This time, there was no smugness on his face, only horror and pain.

  “Why?” He gasped as he fell to the ground. I moved to stand over his dying body.

  “I know this won’t kill you, and eventually you will awaken someday. Let’s hope it’s not in my lifetime. I say that only because I will continue to do this to you repeatedly until you get the point.” I said.

  “Why?” He choked, and his body slowly began to turn to stone. I wanted him to hear my words first before he slept.

  “I love you Lumar, but you killed my parents in front of me. It changed everything between us. I can never be with you because of this, not even in death.” I could not help the tears that fell down my face. Lumar was slipping away from me, and I wept even harder.

  “How?” Lumar asked. I knew that he wanted to know how I knew.

  “You are most vulnerable when you feed. While that’s invaluable to hunters since they will never catch you in such a vulnerable state, I knew that you would eventually have to feed in order to turn me. I had to finish this.” I told him. Lumar did not speak after that; though he watched me until he was completely submerged in stone.

  “How did I not see this coming?” Elizabeth appeared behind me, staring at her resting brother. I held up my fists defensively. Elizabeth smiled.

  “Please child. You’ve done the Vampire race a huge favor. Although, I don’t know how long this will last.” Elizabeth warned.

  “Then help me put him in a place where no one will find him for a very long time.” I pleaded.

  And she did. She helped me bury him at the bottom of the Detroit river and escorted me safely to the treaty line right after. Elizabeth grabbed my hand before I could cross over.

  “Let’s hope we don’t meet again. However, I have a strong feeling that we will.” She said with a smile. “Remember this, I will always be your sister-in-law, no matter who you end up with.” She left me shortly after.

  There was one more place I had to go before I went looking for Aiden. I found myself at the Agency for one final time where Julian stood alone, cleaning up his office. He did not seem surprised to see me.

  “It’s over.” He said. I did not answer. I only came for one thing. Now that I remembered everything, I had to let go of the past so that I could begin my future.

  “I won’t see you again will I?” He asked me.

  “Let’s hope not Julian.” I warned him. With that, I let go of the Agency forever.

  I did not have to look for Aiden; I knew exactly where he would be. Aiden would mourn over me, so he would go to the one place where my scent still lingered—my apartment, and he was there, holding my scarf to his nose.

  I was exhausted; this entire mission had taken everything out of me, but I was happy to end up where I truly wanted to be. Once Aiden noticed me, our reunion was priceless. We must have been in the apartment for days before we finally let each other go. We could not stay here for long; we were still on the wanted list by the Agency, but I needed him just as much as he needed me.

  “Why did you come back for me?” Aiden wondered. I could have been the Queen of Vampires, this much I knew, but I wanted a true love.

  Gently caressing Aiden’s face, I learned in order to kiss him once more. “I wanted a love that no one could take away from me.” I told him. “I wanted a love that I chose all on my own.”

  “We cannot go back to the Island, nor can you return to the Agency. So what do we do now?” I smiled. It was the happiest I’ve been my whole life.

  “I don’t know Aiden, but as long as we are with each other, none of it should matter. We make our own destiny—together.”

  The End.

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  After the Moon Sets Series:

  After the Moon Sets (Part 1): January

  After the Moon Sets (Part 2): Early February

  After the Moon Sets (Part 3): March

 
After the Moon Sets Bundle (Parts 1-3): Late March

  Angels Excerpt By Reba Taylor

  "I thought we had more time."

  Nobody heard Milo say it. His words were drowned out by the bellow of the horns above. It was a deep sound, the sort you feel in your bones, vibrating throughout. A mix between a fog horn and church bells.

  Necks were craned and hands shielded squinting eyes from the midday sun. Everyone's eyes gazed up towards the sky. Everyone's except Milo.

  His eyes were forced down upon the ground and every muscle in his body tensed as if expecting an attack from any direction.

  "Wow. That's so cool!" Came a voice from above Milo's head.

  For a second Milo had forgotten about the toddler straddled on his shoulders. In fact he'd forgotten everything about his current life. His pretend life.

  "Milo, what are the those clouds doing?"

  Milo joined everyone else on the street in gazing up at the sky. From down here he thought they did sort of look like clouds, gliding gradually across the sky. If only they were something as innocent as clouds.

  "I don't know, kiddo." As Milo said this he reached up and hooked his hands under the toddlers armpits and gently lowered him to the ground with ease.

  Suddenly he felt Kat beside him, she gave him a little nudge with her shoulder. He glanced down and saw she too was staring into the sky.

  "Hunny, looks like a storm is brewing - lets head back, yeah?"

  Milo knew this was going to be hard for her. After all she'd been through, now she was about to lose him as well. But there wasn't enough time to think or put into words how he felt. He had to go.

  He slipped the backpack off and let it drop to the ground. Then he gripped the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it off. The sun's rays warmed his bare torso and he closed his eyes for a second. He took a deep inhale. In all the centuries he'd been alive, this was going to be the hardest thing he'd done.

  Kat squeezed his bicep. "Okay Mr. Muscles, which way to the beach?"

  Milo took one last glance at the sky and then turned towards them.

  "Listen. This is going to be hard to understand and there isn't enough time to explain. I need you to run to the nearest church. Run as fast as you can. When you get there, bolt the doors shut and don't open them - no matter what."

  Kat gave Milo a weird look. "Er, what? Church? We haven't been to church in years? Whats going on babe?"

  Another blast of horns echoed throughout the sky.

  Milo looked into her eyes. He guessed none of it would matter soon anyway. No point hiding anymore.

  Please. Just go.

  The words echoed in her head. It was Milo's voice. But how could it be in her head? She shook her head violently and shouted: "What the hell is going on? Is this some kind of prank?"

  He couldn't wait any longer.

  Milo closed his eyes and concentrated on his back, the space just between his shoulder blades. It was a wonderful sensation, one he'd missed so much. It was a feeling of utter freedom. Like a tiger being freed from captivity after years of being kept in a cage.

  His wings rapidly grew out from his back, unfolding and unfurling gradually. He could hear Sam screaming just feet away from him, but he couldn't open his eyes - he had to concentrate.

  There was no pain, just an odd tingling sensation in his back. Just a few more seconds and it would be finished.

  He opened his eyes. Around him people were no longer gazing at the sky, there was something else more amazing.

  Kat's mouth was agape. Her boyfriend. Or who she thought was her boyfriend stood in front of her. "Wha.. What are you?"

  In one fluid motion Milo leaped into the air and flapped his wings, pushing himself upwards. A gush of wind blew Kat's hair around and Sam desperately grabbed onto her leg. Another flap on his powerful wings and he rose higher into the sky.

  "Your angel."

  **

  Kat stood with her mouth wide open. Not in shock, but in awe. Milo had always been exceptionally handsome. His bright blue eyes, high cheekbones and boyish blonde hair earned him admiring glances wherever they went.

  But now his handsomeness took on a whole new angle. He was beautiful. The purest sense of beauty she had ever seen. It radiated off him.

  "Mommy, where is Milo going?" Sam's small hands tugged on the lapels of her denim shorts.

  It hadn't been the first time Sam had asked Kat a question she had no idea how to answer. He was a curious kid and fiercely smart, he wanted to know the answer to everything, but sometimes she just didn't have an answer for him.

  Milo always did.

  Oh, god. I miss him already. She bent down and cupped his cheek. "I don't know, Sammy. He'll be back soon, okay?"

  Another horn blast rippled through the sky, Kat looked up but Milo was gone. Above them she could now see it wasn't clouds but hundreds and hundreds of wings circling.

  Angel wings.

  * * *

  The ground shook violently and was shortly followed by a loud crack. There was a second of silence and then screams rung out from a few blocks away. Kat stood up and, eyes still on the sky, reached for Sam's hand.

  "Come on Sam. Milo said to get to a church. There is bound to be one around here somewhere."

  Kat jogged slowly down the street, past various shops and businesses. Shopkeepers were popping their heads out of their doors, shouting to each other from across the street.

  “Why are we running, mom?”

  “It’s, er.. good exercise hunny.”

  Another tremor shook the ground. Kat had been through earthquakes before. Milo had always wrapped her up in his strong arms. She’d joked that she felt safer in his arms than any underground bunker. But this earthquake was different. It felt like the tremors were coming from far deeper within the earth. Not just below the crust, but from its core.

  Car alarms started to go off all around them.

  As they rounded a corner, a fire hydrant exploded behind them.

  “What the fuck!” Kat screamed. She’d been trying to cut down on curse words around Sam, but this was too much.

  BLAH

  They practically fell through the heavy oak doors of the church and landed in a heap inside. Kat and Sam both breathed deeply as they recovered from their run. Running from what? They still didn’t know. But now they were in the church they somehow felt safer and protected. It was a weird feeling, sort of like how when you know someone is watching you.

  Yet the church was deserted, and the only person watching them was the virgin Mary in a huge stain glass window.

  “Ouch.” Sam was grasping his knee.

  “Oh, Sammy!” In the fall Sam had grazed his knee slightly. 12 months ago this would have resulted in a teary eyed tantrum, but that was before Milo. He’d helped Sam as much as he’d helped Kat. He always knew the right thing to say and how to soothe.

  “Up and at ‘em!” Kat mimicked Milo’s deep voice.

  Sam smiled. “Haha, good one.”

  Kat broke out in a cheesy smile too, she couldn’t help it, Sam’s smile was so contagious. “Right, you. Let’s find somewhere to wait.”

  She couldn’t show how scared she was to Sam. She had so many questions running through her head. Everything seemed so clouded and upside down. Why were there angels here? What is the strange earthquake? But, most importantly, where was her Milo?

  **

  Her shoes pressed softly into the red velvet along the aisle of the church. Her footsteps were as light as a feather as she made her way down to the front of the altar. Too quiet for the priest as the front to hear her approaching.

  Outside terrible unhuman noises ripped through the air. They sounded so distant, but at the same time so close. Whispering into her ear. She picked up her pace slightly, wanting to put as much space between her and the door as possible.

  Kat hadn’t even noticed the man kneeling before the altar. His head was leant against the great marble block, hands clasped together around a red ribbon. As she got closer she
pushed Sam behind her. The man was muttering something inaudible.

  “Sir..”

  Even from 5 feet away she could see him shaking uncontrollably.

  “Excuse me..”

  Now she could see it wasn’t a red ribbon his hands were clasped around. It was blood. His hands were clasped so tightly together the nails were digging into the skin. Drawing blood.

  “Oh!” Kat gasped and retreated a step. She had always hated the sight of blood. She would get over that phobia by the end of this day.

  Kat’s gasp drew the priest out of his meditated state. He spun round swiftly. But he didn’t even seem to see Kat and Sam standing right in front of him. His bloodshot eyes stared straight through them.

  “Sir, are you okay?”

  “Can’t you see, my child? The day of reckoning is here.” The priest’s voice echoed throughout the ancient walls of the church. He started the chanting again, but this time louder. It sounded to Kat like Latin, but she hadn’t really paid attention in Mr. Michael’s class so it might as well have been Russian for all she knew.

  But his voice was soon drowned out by a great roar from outside the church. The ground literally trembled and she was sure the stain glass windows would shatter if it would get a decibel louder.

  “Mommy, I’m scared!” Sammy cried as he tugged on her shorts.

  “JUDGE ME!” The priest was shouting now.

  Through the stain glass window of the western wall burst a ball of black. It was a blur of blackness that tumbled and bowled through church pews before resting in the centre of the aisle.

  Out of this ball rose something horrific. It wasn’t any kind of creature that existed on Earth. All its limbs seemed to blend into each other. It was pitch black apart from its red eyes and thick yellow horns.

  It’s hunched over posture reminded Kat of taking Sam to see the gorilla enclosure at the zoo and how the big silverback had stood hunched. It’s fascination with Milo had been a running joke for many months since. Just another one of his admirers. The day after our visit it’d been shot for attacking other gorillas.