CHAPTER ONE
For most of my life, the moon's cool light had been a comfort—a reminder that I wasn't alone and maybe, just maybe, someone was watching over me. Now the full moon shining overhead seemed to mock me with every step I took across the empty beach. It peeked out between the dark clouds, casting an ominous light across the lone house standing before me, the only thing I could see in the distance other than sand and waves.
It seemed impossible that only minutes earlier I'd been somewhere else entirely, where the sun had shone while battle waged on all around me. Shifters from different packs had fought one another in the forest while the Sun Witches closed in on us, casting their deadly magic. Magic that had taken down the man I loved, seconds before I was whisked away to this strange place by the mysterious Moon Witches. I'd begged them to take me back, but they'd refused, leaving me here on the beach with nothing but my grief and the slight chance that I might be able to save Kaden with their help. That small flicker of hope was the one thing that kept me moving forward.
Cold raindrops soaked my clothes and sent a chill through my bones as I approached the wrap-around porch. The house looked like something out of an old movie, a two-story Victorian with faded yellow and white paint, complete with spindles and spires. The front door was solid dark wood with stained glass windows depicting the moon in its different phases.
I stopped outside it, gathering my strength and resolve. Celeste, the Moon Witch High Priestess, waited behind that door with the answers I'd been searching for ever since I'd found out about my heritage. I needed them if I was going to save Kaden, but my emotions were still roiling in my gut after what I'd just been through, all clashing together and making it hard to think straight. I drew in a breath and wiped rain and tears off my face. I didn't have the luxury of grieving Kaden right now, and if I stepped inside the house, maybe I'd never have to truly grieve him at all.
I reached up to touch the door and it creaked open before me, revealing an entryway with a rug covered in an elaborate star pattern. The first thing I noticed was the flickering light dancing across the walls, illuminating the house from many candles on trays and dishes. No electricity—had the storm knocked out the power? The second thing I noticed was that the moon and stars theme continued throughout the house through knick-knacks and pillows, in paintings hanging on the walls, and carved into the dark wood of the furniture.
Celeste appeared through a doorway, pale as a ghost with her long, silvery-white hair, and motioned for me to follow her. She'd discarded her black and silver robe along with the moon crown and now wore a simple blue long-sleeve dress. “Come to the kitchen, let me get you something to drink. We have a lot to talk about, and I find it's best to do that over a hot cup of cocoa.”
Her voice was cool, calm, and inviting, but most of all, it promised answers—and a way to save the man I loved. As I followed her, it quickly became apparent that the house was well-maintained but clearly trapped in the past, though it was a mishmash of different eras. I was no expert, but some of the furniture looked Victorian or even Medieval, while others had an Art Deco style, though a few pieces were more modern. The kitchen was just as unusual as the rest of the house, with a beautiful star tile across the floor and an old-fashioned wood-burning stove that seemed straight out of a history book.
“Please, sit down,” Celeste said, motioning to the round breakfast table on one side of the room, underneath a half-circle of windows overlooking the beach and the stormy night sky.
I sat in one of the chairs and watched Celeste move around the kitchen. I couldn't pinpoint her age, despite the white hair. Her face put her in her forties perhaps, but her eyes were timeless. She grabbed a kettle and filled it with water, then put it on the stove. She twitched her fingers, and suddenly a flame licked at the bottom of the kettle. I gasped out loud, and Celeste looked over at me with a small smile. I'd only ever seen the Sun Witches use their magic for important things like rituals and combat, not small things like lighting stoves. I wondered if the Sun Witches used their magic like this in private too.
I shook myself out of that train of thought as Celeste went to the pantry and brought out a startlingly modern box of hot chocolate packages. She poured one into a mug and stirred hot water into it, then slid it in front of me. I noticed she didn't make anything for herself, just sat opposite me with a little smile on her face.
I wrapped my hands around the mug, its warmth instantly making me realize I was cold, almost to the bone, and not just from the rain. Shock, my mind provided. You're in shock. I took a tentative sip of the hot chocolate, and it settled in my stomach and pushed back some of the unease I felt from sitting in this outdated kitchen with a strange Moon Witch. Unfortunately, it didn't help with any of the pain I felt related to Kaden or how I'd left him, but at least I could concentrate a bit better to ask Celeste some questions. This was my opportunity and I needed to take it, despite the crushing weight of the grief pounding through me.
“You must have questions,” Celeste said. “I will do my best to answer as many as I can.”
"Am I a prisoner?" I asked. My voice sounded rough, and I cleared my throat.
"No, of course not." She looked horrified by the very idea. "Why would you think such a thing?"
"You kidnapped me and brought me to a strange place without any warning," I muttered. "Usually when that happens I end up inside a cell."
She touched her throat as if alarmed. "That has happened before?"
"More than I care to admit." I glanced outside as lightning flashed across the beach. "Where are we?"
“This is my house," Celeste said. "I promise you'll be safe here. You're my guest, not a prisoner."
"That doesn't answer the question."
Celeste tilted her head and gazed out the windows. “It's a tricky question to answer. This area is called Lunatera. The Moon Witches have been hiding here for decades to escape the attention of the Sun Witches.”
“But where?” I pressed, growing impatient and annoyed. "Back in Oregon it was still daytime, but here it's night. It was a new moon there, but somehow the moon is full now. That should be impossible."
Celeste's eyes rested upon me again, and she still wore that little smile. I couldn't tell if it was kind, or sad, or pitying. "The moon is full because we're in an alternate realm ruled by the moon goddess, Selene. Here time stands still and it is always night."
I swallowed the cocoa I'd been sipping, nearly choking on it. "I'm sorry, what? An alternate realm?"
"Yes, this place does not exist in your world. Only those blessed by Selene can journey here, which is how we've stayed hidden and safe all this time. The Sun Witches cannot find this place, and they have no power in this realm.”
I shook my head, finding all of this hard to accept, though it did explain why no one knew how to contact them. "How do I get back to Kaden and my pack?”
Celeste laced together her hands and rested them on the table. “Time moves differently here. Unlike on Earth, it does not march forward in a straight line, so we can return you to the moment when we took you. Once you're ready, that is."