Page 1 of Touched By Moonlight
Prologue
Sienna,three yearsago
Inever anticipated dyinglike this at21.
Then again, I never thought my own people would turn on me like a werewolf pack bringing down prey. We are Elven Fae and the most power of all Fae – Fionn – proud, aloof, protectors of the forest and nature, and consider ourselves aboveshifters.
But damn, today I could have used fangs andclaws.
Blood trickled down my neck where the ringleader, Kallan, used his gloved hands to slash me with an iron blade. The cut burned like fire. Every part of my body ached. I struggled to stand as they formed a circle around me. The pretty white robe my mother had spent countless hours embroidering hung in shreds on my battered body. It was all I had left of her memory. I wore it every year on thisday.
“Happy birthday to me,” I whispered through cracked, bleedinglips.
The Fae around me laughed. Pointed. Lusted for what I refused to share. They tried to beat it out ofme.
“Give us your power, Sienna, and we shall allow you to live. Perhaps we shall not torment you anymore.” A lie, for Kallan’s smile hinted of pleasure at the sport. Kallan, once my adoredmentor.
He traced a rune in the air with the iron dagger. “But live here anymore? I think not. You are afreak.”
I didn’t know what hurt more – his cruel words or my achingbones.
“You’re so afraid of what you are. You don’t belong here. Magick is wasted on you.” Lily smirked and flicked out her hands. Energy escaped her fingertips. It lashed the bare skin of my legs, scoring my flesh, making me stumble as Istood.
Lily’s words caused my chest to squeeze tight. Once my best friend, she had listened as I shared the secret of the shadowy wolf shifter who shared my dreams since the day a wolf had rescued me in the forest when I was seven and couldn’t find my way home. Lily and I had roamed the mountains of Oregon, plucking rich, ripe fruit off vines to eat, healing the earth. We giggled as we pretended to be human college students hiking in the mountains, checking our cell phones every five minutes for texts that did notexist.
And then as I approached my birthday, my magick surged, like a nuclear power plant going online. I was no longer like mypeople.
I could not even heal myself. If I released even a tendril of my newfound magick, they would siphon it away and suck on it like liquid through a straw. If I died, the magick escaped into the air, and they would absorb it, fighting for each particle ofpower.
There remained only one alternative. Use it all in one forcefulblast.
My people, the ones I had laughed with, cried with, who had hoisted me on their shoulders when I was little, and taught me about the forests and glens, coveted what Ihad.
They must not have any of my magick. I knew what they desired to do with my power, power I didn’twant.
Power I had never asked tohave.
Movement to my left. I turned and the circle around me parted. The king of the northwest Fae emerged from the hidden lair underground we called home. He led an army of ourpeople.
Rescue at last! “Father,” I criedout.
But he lifted a hand. “Take her away. Destroy her. Do what youmust.”
Staggering back, I put a hand to my chest, unable to breathe. My own sire, turned against me. Warriors marched forth, clad in leather armor, spears at theready.
Kallan retreated to give them space, but the others remained. Eyes shining with greed, Lily watched, rubbing herhands.
Too many of them. Gasping for breath, I summoned the last ounce ofcourage.
“Come at me fuckers.” I gestured to my father’sarmy.
They rushed atme.
“Let us have it,” Lilyscreamed.
I let them have it. And then the world exploded aroundme.
