December's Moon

27 | AURORA

| AURORA |

Aurora's eyes blazed with fire.

A power beyond her control latched onto her mind, submerging her beyond a darkening veil. She struggled to regain control, but the more she fought, the harder it became to remember who she was or why she was even fighting to begin with.

Flashes of flames and silver danced in the edges of her blurring vision. Screams echoed around her, but she couldn't remember who was screaming.

Her throat burned. Was she the one screaming? No, that couldn't be right, could it?

Then, everything went silent and dark, like being yanked underwater. The damp, cool atmosphere shifted to something warm and calm. She was falling asleep in front of the last remaining coals of a bonfire one late July in her childhood. Fireflies flickered as cicadas sang. The hum of the memory consumed her.

Listen to me, Aurora, a soft, feminine voice murmured through her head. The sensation was like fingers stroking her hair—the same way her mother had when she was little. You don't need to worry about anything else right now, just listen to me.

Something cool and sharp pressed into the palm of her hand, but she didn't know how it got there. Beyond the sensation of the blade in her fist and a trickle of warm blood running over her fingers, her entire body was numb.

Finish the job, Aurora, the woman's voice whispered.

Aurora ground her teeth, her fist tightening around the silver in her palm. Something fought back against her—feet and fists clawing to get free—but a strength like hardening steel cemented her body firm.

She did want to finish it.

She wanted to feel the blood drain from another living body until her skin was soaked in red. She wanted retribution for what had been done to her and her coven. Three hundred years frozen in stone. Reckoning time had come for the wolves of Cypress Pass Pack, and the payment would begin with their young Alpha male.

Yes.

It would begin with the offering that would set her coven free, but it wouldn't end until the rest of their pack was petrified or bleeding out into the Earth. The Earth Goddess, Terra, was thirsty. After three hundred years of her children's imprisonment, she wanted payback. She wanted blood.

Aurora's hands shook. Something deep within her diaphragm held her back, fighting and keeping her from slicing the blade an inch deeper. Her heart hammered against her rib cage.

Aurora!

Like a zap of lightning, the thought rung through her mind.

That was her name. Someone was calling to her.

Aurora, you need to listen to me. Now!

Her mind stretched around her, tugged in every direction as thoughts competed to consume her.

What is happening? She called out, not knowing if she was saying it aloud or if it only remained within her mind.

Aurora, don't let her control you. She's trying to hypnotize you. Remember me?

The voice sounded familiar, but Aurora's mind refused to make the connection, like trying to tie her shoes in a dream. She knew how to do it, but she couldn't get her body and mind to cooperate.