Shadow Falls: A Sensual Werewolf Romance (The Wolves of Shadow Falls) Read Online Free

We were drawn to the mine for more than some mating ritual but it was impossible to know truth. In the images that Despina transmitted there was a stairway that led to an old wine cellar and in it there was a silver casket bound by heavy iron chains. Perhaps whatever lay inside the casket held the key to all that was happening to us now; it may be the reason that she appeared to us after all these years.
    The women were anxious and the babies made them crave for things they would not normally eat. Their increasing appetites kept the males busy hunting for food and dragging the dead carcasses back to the mine for them to consume.  We tried everything, deer, rabbit, birds, snakes and even rats, but they rejected them all. I was growing weary, Aislen had lost weight, the skin around her ribcage sunk between the spaces and I knew she was starving. My heart ached because there was nothing more we could do. One night as I tossed and turned, sweating profusely from my head, Despina appeared to me. In the vision she cradled a human child, giving it her breasts to suckle, but as the child nursed, tears formed from blood rolled down her cheeks unto the babe until the child was immersed in it. Although the she appeared to be crying, in her cold heart, there was no sorrow. She stood before a den filled with starving wolves. The wolves were emaciated, their faces hung low and their skin sagged making them haggard. They were all pregnant and the babies moved restlessly within them till the impressions could be seen stretching the thin skin covering their abdomens.
    Despina looked up at me and spoke.
    “ Fear not ” she said preparing me for what would come next.
    Her voice was deep and solemn, but I found no comfort in it.
    “His sacrifice will be rewarded” she continued before casting the infant into a den of hungry wolves.
    I watched in horror as the beasts tore the child limb from limb and devouring every piece of flesh.  I sprung to my feet, as though someone had dowsed me with a bucket of ice water, determined to confront Despina with what I had seen. I ran down to the mine, hustling like a busy squirrel up a tree, only to be confronted with the horrific confirmation of my dream. Despina surrounded by the women as they consumed new born babes stolen from the nursery at Shadow Falls hospital. I wept, sickened by the sight and was afraid to look into the eyes of Aislen, afraid to see what a monster she had become, but as I looked away I saw her, shivering in a corner, refusing to partake in the gruesome feast. She had the same dream as I did and she kept herself from joining her sisters. I knew now that we had to get out of there; I had to take her far away from the madness.
    Despina could not be trusted, she was insane, she wanted to bring back the dark ages where she pillaged, slaughtered and fucked freely to unleash terror in Shadow Falls. But Aislen and I were not going to be a part of it, not if I had had my way. I knew nothing of killing a vampire let alone the very first ever created. The one thing I did know is that whatever was bound in the casket that I had seen in the images Despina transmitted to me was the key to defeating her. Aislen looked up at me, and I could see in her eyes that time was running out.

Panic
    The disappearance of forty new born babies from Shadow Falls Hospital nursery did not go unnoticed. Not all the wolves responsible were careful enough to commit such a heinous crime and not get caught. One was clumsy and reckless, leaving unmistakable muddy tracks behind. Perhaps he was the lookout or maybe he could not control his metamorphosis. But they all drank Despina’s blood so that was impossible. They probably weren’t even thinking straight. It would be impossible for eight animals to walk into a hospital and kidnap a bunch of babies, surely someone would have seen this and sound an alarm. Perhaps they had help or they were smart enough to enter as humans.
    The headlines were buzzing with the