The Lost Priestess of Circle Dusk Treader (book 1)

War, it is all around us and swallowing up our hidden world. The prophecies told of a time witches would near an end and the mixing of magic would come about. Well, magic is mixing and covens are being killed, today two great covens are coming together to try to survive. I am the only daughter of the high priest of Circle Duskbringer and today i will be getting married to the son of Circle Dawntreader, our union is supposed to strengthen our circles to help us outlive this prophesy, and as the next born leader here ... i intend to keep my people safe. --later that day-- "Storm have they arrived yet? have you met them?" i am way too anxious for this ... i am getting married tonight and i still have yet to meet them... any of them. I have heard they are good people , the Dawn Treaders ... we will have to figure out a new name if we combine ... do i really want to do this? ughhhh . "nope" my best friends voice broke me out of my inner turmoil and made me sigh " Everly Fyre are you nervous? i have yet to see you nervous even when i was giving birth you were calm and collected ... even when i freaked because my weird ass child shifted half way and got stuck" Storm laughed, her eyes shining how only a panther shifters eyes could. they were prowlers of the night but that didn't stop them from being hunted to near extinction. she came to us young and scared and changed my life forever. I grinned and shook my head "nope not nervous ... not with you around" and there it was.. shouts from the distance ... they were here. Their land had been burned to a crisp so we were going to expand the land here after the joining of circles. Why did this feel so hard? Storm and i threw open my window and watched as my mother greeted a woman around her age and a man near my age. He was handsome... but we were polar opposites and it was obvious. Everything down to our affinities, mine being fire obviously, and his being ice. Alexander Frost ... his blue eyes were mesmerizing. "HELLO EARTH TO EVERLY" Storm tapped on my head giggling and pulling my attention inside. "instead of ogling him lets go meet him ... i have to go pick Rayne up any way Mrs.Lacy just called." I gave her the stink eye then suddenly bolted. We normally raced to the door... and she normally won ... not today though. As we entered the front room i stopped at the bottom of the stairs as if i were stuck to the bottom step. Storm however didn't get the memo and plowed right into me forcing both of our bodies to the ground. Except ... i never hit the floor. I looked up and there they were again ... those beautiful blue eyes. "why hello there .. did you have a good trip? Did it take you all fall to come back that beautiful?" He grinned and my heart stopped .... i may only be 19 but i knew this was rare... it was infatuation ... i could tell by my instantly soaked undergarments. i smiled back as i allowed him to help me up. "Alexander i presume?" I lifted an eyebrow and he nodded, even his nod was cute. I looked on to see our mothers in deep conversation and looked back at storm who looked at her watch, my face then set in panic before I forced it calm. " if you would excuse us we were actually on our way to the circle nursery to pick my friends daughter up" his hands were still on my arms, the way they made me feel I started to wonder if the human concept of soul mates was really a thing or not. "I can escort you if you would like .... i need to learn the circle grounds any way if we are going to go through with this." he smiled but only half way almost like he expected me to tell him off at any minute. "that would be great ... its been a few months since my mate went off to battle... we have yet to have another escort since he left." Storm interjected pushing us together and out the door. Panther shifters had a type of mate bond that made them finding each other nearly impossible to mess up. Though she sounded strong the loss of her mate killed her inside. as we walked we talked and i learned he was the only son.... with 3 younger sisters, his father was killed in a witch hunt when he was 9 and his mother was still pregnant with the youngest 2, he had been acting High Priest since he was 13 with his mother still being High Priestess. It was fun to see how other circles worked. Storm disappeared into the building and came out with a small girl just over 4 months old with the prettiest bushiest softest black hair ,ears, and tail you would ever see. as she opened her eyes she smiled at me with her bright yellow eyes. Alex looked taken aback. "what?" i asked him confused as to why he looked confused. "are those ears natural?" he was cautious about his questions. "i thought this was a witches coven .... i wasn't aware that shifters lived here" oh he was going to have to get over that. "as far as the rest of the world knows .... we don't... Storm and Rayne are the exception .... Storm has been my best friend since her parents died bringing her to my parents for protection and i am Rayne's god mother ... Storm hasn't shifted since Marco left and failed to come back ... so its easy to hide till little miss starts walking" Storm stuck her tongue out at me as I grabbed Rayne and snuggled her and he seemed to calm down a little. "since you and your circle will be here, wedding or not, I see no reason to hide her from you all." that look as if I shot him was back .... if he was going to be worried about something it should be my cooperation not my shifter sister.