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PROLOGUE
Harbor House. About twenty years ago…
Nova beckoned me and Sybil to her side. She showed me the piece of paper, and I felt my magic and my Wolf tremble. This was important. She ran inside to where Davian and Erryn waited for us, and Sybil and I followed, our hands clasped together.
“It’s gotta be a secret for a while, but what do you think?” she asked, blue eyes wide and bright.
She turned the paper around, and everyone fell silent. Sketched out with unerring perfection were Davian and Erryn at the center of the image, with me, Sybil, and Nova behind them. Behind all of us were our animals. A Badger Mountain Lion Hybrid for Erryn, a Wolf for me, a Snow Fox for Nova, and an awesome River Dragon for Sybil. Swirling lines surrounded us to represent Davian’s magic.
Beneath the drawing, in perfect script, were the wordsWitch Shifter Clan.
“Wow, Nova!” I exclaimed.
“That’s amazing! But why am I so short?” Sybil asked.
“You are short, though.” Nova frowned.
“Nova,” Davian said in a hushed whisper, and walked to take the paper from her. “This is beautiful.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, I do. We’ll get it framed and hang it up in our training room, so no one accidentally sees it, okay?” he asked.
Nova nodded.
“Erryn? What do you think?”
“I think it is perfect,” Davian’s new mate said.
I liked Erryn. In fact, I had named her. She felt big to me, important. Wolf liked her, so I did too.
Witch Shifter Clan.
That was what Nova had named us, and something about it made my insides warm and my Wolf howl with joy. This was a good thing. I just knew it. And someday it would be everything. My Wolf growled softly inside of me, and though I had yet to meet her, it made me smile that she agreed with the sentiment. The Witch Shifter Clan was important.
I slept that night in the same room as my sisters, with Davian and Erryn in the bedroom they shared, and for the first time my magic and my Wolf were content. It would not always be that way. My animal and my powers often fought on another.
Harbor House was the first place we ever belonged, and I knew it was one of those special places I’d read about in one of the many books lining the shelves in the reading room Mama Anne had set up for us when we were kids.
It would always be the place I came back to. Mama Anne built Harbor House for supernatural runaways and delinquents. Those of us who were unloved and unwanted. But it was so much more than a soft spot to land. It was home. My first home. Just as much as Davian, Erryn, Nova, and Sybil were my home.
I would leave there someday. That was inevitable. But Harbor House would stay with me. The place, the memories, that feeling of belonging. They would always be special to me. Just like the drawing Nova did of us.
Witch Shifter Clan.
That was our name. It was where I belonged. And someday everything would fall into place. I didn’t know what that meant, but my child’s heart felt it with the absolute surety only an innocent could claim. I had things to do yet. Adventures to go on and experiences to have. But home would always be there waiting. Just like Mama Anne said.
Harbor House would always be my home.
CHAPTER ONE MARTINA
“Fuck a duck,” I muttered and kicked the flat on the brand new Tesla Model Y I borrowed from Phillip.
Phillip was sort of my boyfriend. We’d been dating on and off for six months, and our relationship sort of felt like a hamster on one of those spinning wheels. In other words, we were always moving but never really going anywhere.
Phillip was easy on the eyes, smart and not at all needy. He’d just made partner in the law firm we both worked for and was busy with a sudden influx of added responsibilities. I was happy for him. Really, I was. He worked hard and earned the job. Besides, changes were coming for me. Changes I hadn’t shared with anyone. Not yet.
I’d been thinking about this thing with Phil for days now, mulling it over. No, I was not mad about his dedication to his job. In fact, I really didn’t care. It was just, his sudden promotion was the reason I was headed home alone. Typically, we accompanied each other at family events. But this was just another indication of where we were going, in separate directions.
