Witch

"Sit down, now! My grandson makes a valid point. We lived to witness a cursed generation when we must allow a male to test as a hunter. We must also resign ourselves to this fate. Kieran is the last of the House of Beauty. With his death, our line ends."

"I'm not dying any time soon, old woman. I've got too much to live for. Oh, I'm so much more than my sisters."

"A disappointment is what you are, boy."

"Only to a closed-minded old woman, who couldn't do what was needed to be done before she let an entire generation of huntresses be slaughtered. Serena and Rosie both died as full huntresses. My other sisters were never given the chance to properly test. The Alpha who rules this pack now is a direct descendant of the Beast himself. I'm the only one who stands a chance to defeat him."

"Male arrogance. Your chances of defeating a monster of such an ancient a lineage are less than even your sisters."

Beauty's tale

All at once, the merchant lost his whole fortune, excepting a small country house at a great distance from town, and told his children with tears in his eyes, they must go to there and work for their living...Poor Beauty at first was sadly grieved at the loss of her fortune; "but," said to herself, "were I to cry ever so much, that would not make things better, I must try to make myself happy without a fortune." When they came to their country house, the merchant and his three sons applied themselves to husbandry and tillage; and Beauty rose at four in the morning, and made haste to have the house clean, and dinner ready for the family. In the beginning she found it very difficult, for she had not been used to work as a servant, but in less than two months, she grew stronger and healthier than ever. After she had done her work, she read, played on the harpsichord, or else sung whilst she spun. On the contrary, her two sisters did not know how to spend their time; they got up at ten, and did nothing but saunter about the whole day, lamenting the loss of their fine clothes and acquaintance. "Do but see our youngest sister," said they, one to the other, "what a poor, stupid, mean-spirited creature she is, to be contented with such an unhappy dismal situation."

"Beauty and the Beast" by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont, 1757 English translation."

Those of you who follow me as chronicler of the House of Beauty must continue the tradition of keeping the truth in these records secret from all but the huntress of the house. In some cases, keeping secrets will be best if even the huntress remains unaware of some events. Mother became a bitter woman when she founded our house. I am aware how the stories portray her as bright and cheerful. After all, I helped craft some of those stories. She resented her life and her sisters most of all. She never expected to marry into royalty. At best, she figured on marrying a farmer. Shortly after, mother convinced father marriage to her would be in his best interests and lost touch with her youngest brother. No trace of my youngest uncle can be found, although rumors are often carried to us of his marriage to the daughter of a count in a distant land.

The first entry from the first chronicles of the House of Beauty, translated in the nineteenth century from the original French.

Chapter One:

The brown minivan pulled into a gas station in Bangor, Maine after a week and a half on the road from Little Rock, Arkansas. The trip shouldn't take so long, but the young lovers driving the van stopped often to explore the sights and to work a couple of tracking jobs. After rolling the van to a stop at the pumps, the driver put the van in park and shut off the engine. After opening his door, Kieran, a tall man in his early twenties, dressed in blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and sneakers, emerged; his long black hair flowed down his back to below his firm ass. Out of the passenger side stepped Cory, a man in his mid-twenties, his blond hair and beard trimmed short, also dressed in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers. The blond opened the rear passenger door and a huge black wolf leapt from the car, a silver collar with a wolf's head clasp hung around its neck. The boyfriends glanced at each other across the roof of the station wagon, and with a knowing nod, Kieran turned to the pump, putting gas in the car. Cory signaled the wolf and crossed the parking lot to an open grassy area where the wolf relieved himself. Once the wolf finished, they returned to the car, and the blond put him back in the car before heading to the gas station's store for supplies and the restroom.

Cory returned and put the supplies into the car as Kieran finished pumping gas. His dark-haired companion crossed the lot to the store for his own turn in the restroom; when he returned, they continued on their way.

As they left the gas station, Kieran glanced at his boyfriend and could tell what he was thinking.

"We still need to drive for about another hour, Wolf,” Kieran said, calling his boyfriend by the nickname he’d given him over Christmas break. “Granddad's family built the place on a secluded section of the coast so no one would bother them."

Cory reached into the backseat and stroked the wolf’s head between the ears. Only a few months back the black wolf had been his barely thirteen-year-old nephew Billy Cooper. After Billy’s very first shift, the boy had opted to stay in wolf form in order to remain with his Uncle Cory and with Kieran. The silver collar with its wolf head design contained a powerful binding spell, which kept Billy in animal form.

"I hope we'll get time to relax and check out the ocean while we're here. Billy and I would love to visit the ocean."

Cory's voice held a bit of a nervous tremor, causing Kieran doubt over the idea of introducing his boyfriend to his father's family. Perhaps introducing his shifter-related boyfriend to his magic-wielding grandparents and uncle didn't rank as a brilliant idea.

"I'm sure we'll find time to play in the ocean. Granddad's estate owns about two miles of private beach. We can camp out on the beach one night and make love under the stars."

Unless, of course, Kieran thought, Dad's chasing me around the estate, and I'm dodging the spells he's hurling in my general direction. I can imagine all the fun of trying to make out with my boyfriend while ducking fireballs and other dangerous spells.

"Camping on the beach sounds like fun. Did you ever go before?"

"Not since I was a kid. Dad and Uncle Brom took about a dozen guys from school and me out camping on the beach one weekend. The trip didn't go well. Turned out a couple of the guys were allergic to shellfish."

Kieran’s thoughts refocused on his paternal heritage from his father and grandfather; he was a descendant of the Silver Witch, a figure so wrapped in secrecy not even fairy tales made any mention of the most powerful line of mages the world had ever known. Part of the reason for traveling to Maine was the coming magical challenges. I wonder when Dad will start the test. With my luck, Dad started the test when we called to tell him we left Arkansas. I hope I can keep Cory and Billy safe until I can go on the offensiv