Winterlust (COMPLETE)

The Dream

Janie

“Peter, you’re going to have to go check out the house. Violet’s scent may be weak, but she caught a whiff of my wolf twice today”, Janie says as she sits down at the little table in the motor home, “For sure she knows my scent.” “Well that definitely puts a wrinkle in things”, Peter says with a furrowed brow. “We’ll go together. You hang back once we get close. Until then, I’ll go get us some food. Anyone up for Chinese?” Lindsey claps her hands in delight. “Yes please!” “Oh, and by the way guys… this place reeks of your s*x. Pick up some air freshener while you’re out”, Janie says wrinkling her nose.

Unknown POV

“Still searching, boss. We’re getting close”, a man says into his phone. “Her wolf is rising, I can feel it”, the man on the other end says sternly. “Find her and bring her to me before the Cold Moon.”

Violet

Violet hums as she washes the dishes in the kitchen sink. As she places the last of the dishes into the rack, she hears a tree rustling and the crunch of snow underfoot. She freezes. Theres no way I can hear something like that. The woods are over a hundred yards away. She walks down the hall to where her mother’s room is. She can see Evelyn’s silhouette rising and falling, sound asleep. Violet goes back into the kitchen and turns off the light. Wow, I am totally losing it.

She climbs into bed and flicks off the light, snuggling deep into the mountain of blankets. Just as she starts to drift off, Violet awakens with a start. Holy sh*t, it’s hot in here. She throws off some blankets and snuggles back in. This time, she falls sound asleep.

Her dreams are restless. In the dream she can hear a faceless man say, “Still searching, Boss. We’re getting close.” A frightening voice booms, “Find her and bring her to me before the Cold Moon” The smell of basil floods her senses and in her dream, Violet tries to run. She bolts awake, covered in sweat. Violet looks over at the clock on her dresser and sees she’s only been asleep for an hour.

The dream felt so vivid. And how exactly do you smell something in a dream? What the heck is a Cold Moon? Violet fumbles around in the dark for her phone and unlocks it. Opening the search engine, she types in “COLD MOON”.

The Cold moon is this month. Wait. ON MY BIRTHDAY. Well that’s just creepy. Violet scrolls down the page and sees pretty much the same result all the way down. There’s one odd result, though. Something about werewolves. She puts her phone down and throws off the covers. She puts her slippers on and tiptoes down to her mother’s room. Delicately, she slides in to bed with Evelyn and tries to steady her breathing. She tosses and turns the rest of the night, begging sleep to come.

Peter

“I swear to you, she heard me”, Peter’s wolf Baron links to Janie’s wolf Elvira who is waiting about a half a kilometre away. “She was standing right in the kitchen window.” Baron stands motionless at the edge of the woods, straining to hear the heartbeats coming from the bungalow. After about fifteen minutes of stillness, the second heartbeat settles into a sleepy rhythm and Baron emerges from the woods slowly, keeping low. He walks around the house and sees only human tracks in the snow, and some tire tracks from the car in the driveway. He’s careful not to step anywhere near the places that they walk around in the most. “Doesn’t look like anyone else is around. I don’t want to leave Lindsey too long, let’s go back.”

Travis

Tipsy, Travis stumbles into his dark bedroom. He’s relieved to find that he’s alone, and he yanks his shirt off as he falls into bed. No sooner does he fall asleep, and he is jolted awake. He finds himself sitting upright in bed, sweat all over his body. He feels afraid. He flicks on the light and jumps out of bed, sniffing the air. Mate. “Shadow, that’s impossible. She’s three hours away”. Mate. Travis grabs his phone. It’s one o’clock in the morning. I don’t think I can take much more of this. “Hey, call me when you’re up”, he texts Peter and then crawls back into bed.

Evelyn

Evelyn’s alarm goes off at six AM. She turns it off, and feels movement beside her. “Sweetheart? Is everything okay?”, she asks Violet, wrapping her arms around her daughter. “I’m fine, mom. Just a bad dream.” “Aw honey, what was it about?” Violet raises herself onto her elbows. “I’m not sure, to be honest. Something about a Cold Moon?” Evelyn feels her heartbeat quicken and she licks her suddenly dry lips. “Well, don’t worry. It’s just a dream”, Evelyn says, her voice cracking. Dazed, Evelyn stumbles out of bed and into the shower. In the bathroom, she texts her receptionist at the gym. “Elizabeth, can you please see if Corinne can cover my classes today? I’m not feeling well”

Elizabeth: “no problem, Evie! Feel better soon

Evelyn cries in front of the mirror before she straightens up and throws her shoulders back. She knew this day would come.

She makes her way into the kitchen and finds Violet looking pretty tired. “Are you sure you want to go to school today?”, she asks softly. “I’m fine, it was just a dream, mom”. If only you knew, kiddo. “Well come on, then. I’ll drive you on the way to work”, Evelyn says, grabbing her keys.

They drive to school in silence. When they arrive, Violet opens her door and starts to step out. “Sweetheart? I love you”, Evelyn leans over and kisses her daughter’s cheek. “Love you too, mom.” Evelyn watches her daughter until she disappears out of sight. She throws the car in drive and speeds off toward the motel. “Mom! Emergency!”, she texts Muriel. “I’m here. Don’t draw attention to yourself”, Muriel answers back. Evelyn lets her foot off the gas pedal and tries to drive more calmly.

At the motel, Evelyn can’t help but to run inside. Muriel is seated at the window as usual. She stops in front of Muriel, “He’s coming!”, she practically shouts. “Sit down”, Muriel replies sternly. “She slept in my bed last night because she had a nightmare. ABOUT THE COLD MOON She’s playing it cool, but I know she’s spooked. He’s coming for her!”, Evelyn breathes. “You don’t know that he’s coming for her, Evelyn.” Muriel says calmly. “I need to stop taking the wolfsbane so I can protect her”. “You can’t. Being unable to find your scents is what’s slowing him down.” Evelyn crumples into Muriel’s arms and begins to sob uncontrollably.

“I’ll get Lorraine over here to cover the desk for the rest of the day. Come on, let me take you home”, Muriel says, brushing her daughter’s tears away. Cupping Evelyn’s face with her hands, she looks straight into her eyes. “We will get through this”, she promises.