Tree Among Trees 🌶

Sky

~Chapped lips.~

~Wet tongue.~

~Chilly body.~

~Heated heart.~

I’d never kissed a ghost before.

I’d never kissed a ~girl~ before, either.

But as I let go of Harper, I felt completely revitalized. It was as if the kiss had undone the toll of this exhausting day.

Looking at her, I could see she was back to her old self. Jodie’s influence had disappeared.

But before I could say anything, I felt a hand clutching my wrist, yanking me up.

It was Zara. She was pulling me toward the nearest exit, yelling, “Run! Run!”

I grabbed Harper, and we sprinted together out of the Vulpes camp and into the open.

When we reached the edge of the forest, we stopped to catch our breath. Somehow, thanks to the Goddess, Alex had managed to distract Jodie long enough for us all to escape.

Alex, Zara, and I looked at each other in disbelief.

We had all expected death to be a more likely outcome than this.

“Can you believe Harper’s back?” I said.

“Harper,” Zara pulled her into a hug. “I’m so sorry we lost you. We should have done more. We should have kept you safe.”

“I’m just glad I can see you guys in this world.”

“What happened to Jodie?” I asked.

“She ran off, tail between her legs,” Alex said with a proud grin.

“You did great,” Zara added, patting Alex’s shoulder and then quickly pulling her hand back.

“Where did Quinn and Jax go?” I asked the group.

None of us had had a chance to discuss the shocking scene we had just witnessed: Quinn grabbing Jax’s hand and disappearing.

“I don’t know,” Alex said, “but Quinn seemed like she was in a pretty bad situation when I last saw her. I'm sure they'll need our help again. We need to rest and regroup.”

“I’m starving,” Zara said.

“I’m thirsty,” I added.

“I’m…a ghost,” Harper said. “So I’m fine.”

“Let’s find some food,” Alex said. “We’ll need energy to make the journey back to the Shadow Moon Pack House.”

“I’ll come with you,” Zara replied before turning to me. “You two stay here and rest.”

She winked at me before turning to leave.

Zara and Alex disappeared from sight, and we were alone.

Embarrassment flooded me. Harper hadn’t reacted to the fact that I had kissed her. I didn’t know how she felt about it, and now I was too nervous to even look her in the eye.

“Thank you for saving me. Again,” I said, shuffling my feet, staring at the ground, kicking up dust.

“Yeah,” she replied, “that’s what friends are for, right?”

“Friends?” I looked up at her.

Then I felt her hand on my cheek as she guided my gaze up to meet hers.

She kissed me, her lips meeting mine, her tongue dancing with mine.

She pushed her body into mine, pressing my back into the tree trunk behind me.

As her body made contact with mine, I felt my excitement rise, my panties getting wet as she moved from my lips to my neck.

“Sky,” she said between kisses. “You have no idea.”

“What?” I asked her, holding back a moan.

“You have no idea how badly I wanted to do this when I was alive.”

“Really?” I asked her.

She locked eyes with me again and nodded.

I had never wanted to kiss her before, but now, in her arms, it just felt right. Harper’s presence always brought me comfort. And from that comfort, I found deep pleasure.

“You’re going to make it very hard for me to go back to my new world, you know that?” Harper said to me with a smirk.

“Go back to your world? What do you mean?”

“I can’t stay here forever,” she said. “You must know that.”

~What?~

Actually, I didn’t know that.

“But why? You’re alive to me,” I said. “I can touch you. I can feel you. I can kiss you.” I pressed my lips to hers to prove it again.

“I know,” she said, kissing me back. “But it’s against the laws of nature. Eventually, I will have to leave.”

“When?”

“I don’t know, but I fear it’s inevitable.”

“But—”

“Don’t fight nature, Sky,” she said, pushing me further into the tree with her hips. “Just enjoy it.”

Jodie

I had been running for who knows how long.

I was out of breath.

My feet were torn and bloody.

I was lost.

I was tired.

I was broken.

I was ashamed.

I had let down my master and my pack.

I had been defeated by a ~Beta.~

~ME! An Alpha.~

It was a reality too terrifying to face.

What would happen to my pack now? Would they scatter? Or would they unite and choose a new Alpha?

Who could possibly fill my shoes?

I laughed at the thought of any of those weaklings trying to do ~my~ job. They would die trying. I guess I almost did too.

I had no one to turn to, no one left on my side.

Darkness was falling. I collapsed on the ground and curled up, rocking back and forth.

And I prayed, to no one in particular.

I couldn’t exactly pray to Matheius anymore. He wouldn’t answer my calls.

So I just prayed to the emptiness that I would wake up again in my chamber, with Quinn lying in front of me. I prayed that I would get another shot at this day—a chance to redeem myself.

Then it happened—the sound I’d been both longing for and dreading. ~His~ voice echoed in my mind.

Matheius

Jodie.

Matheius

Jodie, wherever have you gone?

Matheius

Do not ignore me when I speak to you.

Jodie

Hello Master.

Jodie

I never meant to fail you. I apologize with my whole being.

Matheius

You did not fail me.

Jodie

Really, My Lord? Do you mean that?

Matheius

This is just one small hiccup in a grand plan.

Matheius

But all is not lost.

Matheius

I know how we shall rectify this situation.

Jodie

My Lord, that brings me great joy to hear you say that.

Matheius

I need my most loyal servant by my side.

Matheius

Join me at my temple, and we will work together to right all of our wrongs.

Jodie

Oh thank you, Master, thank you.

I sprang up from where I’d been lying.

I wasn’t forgotten. My Master hadn’t given up on me, and I had one last shot to prove myself. To show him that his faith in me wasn’t misplaced.

This mental connection was enough to reignite my spirit and body.

With renewed vigor, I began to sprint through the forest toward my Lord’s earthly temple.

Isabelle

We’d journeyed through this land before, hundreds of years ago, when Matheius had summoned Theodore and me to his earthly temple.

We were taken aback that the lost soul had sought our company. He’d cut off all ties with us after his mate Gilly’s death, and we’d started to believe we might never hear from him again.

When we did, we were overjoyed, hoping he’d turned a new leaf—that Gilly’s loss had become less painful, and he was finally ready to reconcile with those he’d pushed away.

But when we arrived at his temple, he had a completely different reason for our visit.

He revealed a plan so wicked that it hurt my ears just to listen.

He wanted Theodore and me to join him in a rebellion to overthrow the Moon Goddess and divide the power among ourselves.

When we naturally rejected this appalling proposal, he started hurling deadly spells at us. We barely escaped with our lives, and both Theodore and I swore never to step foot in his temple again.

And yet, here we were.

The issue was, I’d suppressed the memory of that terrifying experience over the years and couldn’t recall how to get into his temple.

I knew the entrance was hidden in a tree trunk, but I couldn’t remember which one.

We followed the trail of magical energy to the right part of the forest, but there were thousands of trees that could potentially be the entrance.

I glanced at Theodore in desperation, but he looked just as clueless as I felt.

Jax and Quinn were waiting for our guidance, but I was at a loss about how to proceed.

Then I heard a noise that disrupted my thoughts and made me even more anxious: the sound of footsteps crunching through the forest.

~Oh no…~

~We’re not alone.~

“Hide,” I ordered Quinn, Jax, and Theodore, and we all scrambled to take cover behind a cluster of trees.

I peered in the direction of the noise, and my jaw dropped when I saw who was threading her way between the trees.

“Is that—?”

“Jodie!” Quinn exclaimed, equally stunned to see her aunt.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. She’d lost the stone, and Matheius was a vindictive creature. He must have demanded her presence.

I watched as Jodie stopped in front of an old, gnarled tree and laid her hand on the bark. It split open to reveal a perfect doorway. She stepped into the tree trunk and vanished.

~Thank you, Jodie.~

“Let’s go,” I said as we all came out from our hiding spot and headed toward the entrance to Matheius’ lair.