A COURT OF SHIFTERS AND SECRETS

F O U R T Y - S E V E N

NOVA

"Little Moon..." A unfamiliar voice whispered in my ear "Nova Nyx...Come to me my Mate..."

I tossed and turned in bed, flipping from one side to the other as I gripped my pillow tightly to my body.

My dreams shifting from shadowy darkness to the bright sky in an instant.

"Nyxie!" My head snapped around as I heard the familiar squeals of my two best friends, Samara and Lili sounded from behind me.

I turned and found them running towards me, their arms entangling with my own as they squeezed the life out of me.

"What are you guys doing here?" I gasped "How are you guys here?"

They stared at me in confusion "It's the Summer Nyxie, why wouldn't we be here?"

I frowned as I pulled away from them.

They shifted away slightly and for the first time since our encounter, I finally took in my surroundings.

Which made me frown even more.

Because instead of being at the Lupine Manor, surrounded by the boys, I was home.

In the Human Realm.

My home...with my brothers laughing in our tiny backyard and our mom waltzing around the kitchen cooking and muttering something under her breath about buying a new stove.

"How am I home?" I mumbled quietly to myself "Where are the others?"

Well...I thought I quietly mumbled to myself but apparently I didn't because Sam and Lili shot each other a look.

"Nyxie, you feeling alright?" Sam asked, slapping her palm onto my forehead so hard I flinched back "Oh, don't be a baby."

Her words were something Samara would say that my brain was having a hard time separating fact from fiction.

A muscular arm wrapped around my waist as an unfamiliar, yet familiar, voice purred into my ear.

"Is everything alright Little Moon?"

I looked up, expecting it to be one of the guys since they were always so touchy nowadays, but was met with a disturbing surprise.

You know that uncomfortable burning and watery eye feeling you get when you chop an onion?

That's exactly what I felt every time I looked at the mysterious stranger wrapped around me.

I could see his body clearly, right down to the finest detail on his dark cloak...yes cloak...but for some reason I couldn't make out a single detail out of this man's face.

"It's not time for us to meet yet little moon" His smooth, rumbling voice said causing shivers to run through my body "But when it is, you best know that I will come to collect what's mine."

Sam and Lili didn't even bat an eyelash at our exchange, or his voidness face, grinning at us like we were the most interesting thing since sliced bread.

"Who are you?"

I felt hot breath span across my neck, making my nerves stand on end.