Shifting Hope: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance, page 1
Shifting Hope
(Bloodmoon Series)
By: Briana Alisandra
© 2021 Briana Alisandra. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Hope
Chapter 2: Hope
Chapter 3: Wyatt
Chapter 4: Hope
Chapter 5: Hope
Chapter 6: Hope
Chapter 7: Wyatt
Chapter 8: Hope
Chapter 9: Hope
Chapter 10: Hope
Chapter 11: Kane
Chapter 12: Hope
Chapter 13: Hope
Chapter 14: Wyatt
Chapter 15: Knight
Chapter 16: Hope
Chapter 17: Hope
Chapter 18: Hope
Chapter 19: Knight
Chapter 20: Hope
Chapter 21: Hope
Chapter 22: Wyatt
Chapter 23: Knight
Chapter 24: Hope
Chapter 25: Christian
Chapter 26: Knight
Chapter 27: Hope
Chapter 28: Christian
Chapter 29: Hope
Chapter 30: Hope
Chapter 31: Christian
Chapter 32: Kane
Chapter 33: Knight
Chapter 34: Christian
Chapter 35: Hope
Chapter 36: Hope
Chapter 37: Hope
Chapter 38: Christian
Chapter 39: Knight
Chapter 40: Hope
Chapter 41: Wyatt
Chapter 42: Hope
Chapter 43: Hope
Chapter 44: Hope
Chapter 45: Hope
Chapter 46: Hope
Chapter 47: Wyatt
Chapter 48: Hope
Chapter 49: Kane
Chapter 50: Hope
Chapter 51: Melinda
Chapter 52: Hope
Chapter 1: Hope
“You’re an abomination. A freak of nature. You deserve to lose everyone in your life.”
Nathaniel stood before me. He had a stake in his hand and he had Wyatt tied up in a chair in front of him.
“Stop! Leave him out of this! It’s me you want. Just leave him alone! He’s innocent!”
Nathaniel laughed. “Do you have any idea what he’s done? He’s killed countless people. He deserves to die.”
Nathaniel looked at him sinisterly.
Wyatt’s eyes met mine. “I love you, Hope.”
“No!” I tried to get to him, but I couldn’t move.
Nathaniel grabbed Wyatt by the hair and made him look up at him. He stabbed him in the chest and drove the stake through his heart.
“No! No! Wyatt!”
I sat up and gasped for air. My hand rested on my chest as I tried to get air into my lungs.
This was happening more and more.
I barely knew the guy and he was haunting my mind.
“Hope?”
I groaned to myself and pulled the blanket over my head. I didn’t feel like dealing with twenty one questions from my mother. “I’m fine.”
She was still standing in the doorway. I could feel her concern radiating off of her. She wasn’t going away.
“I said I’m fine.”
She lingered for a little longer before closing the door.
Our relationship was still rocky.
It was hard not to be angry with her. So much of what I was going through was because of her. There were so many things that she could have done better.
For one, she should have come for me sooner.
For two, she could have told me I was a werewolf and a witch.
And for three, the biggest mistake of all, she took my werewolf side away from me. She had no right to do that to me.
There was an entire side of me that I didn’t have access to because she made the decision to take it away from me. She did that. She decided.
It wasn’t her decision to make.
I tore the covers off of me and sat up in bed.
My anger had been off the charts lately.
I just couldn’t get myself to calm down. I was even back on a regular jogging routine to let off some steam.
No amount of training was making the rage I felt inside of me go away.
It was so bad that even Hayden and Lexie called me out on it. Hayden found it refreshing, of course.
I got up and went to take a shower. I was drenched in sweat.
I turned the shower on and took off my clothes while I waited for the water to warm up.
I got in the shower and let the water fall down my body. I wished I could stay in there forever.
I was safe in the shower.
I was convinced that I was never going to be happy. If it wasn’t one thing, it was the other.
Rex was gone, but my friends were in even more danger. My uncle was a terrible man, and I was just waiting for him to strike.
Vampires weren’t safe in Salem Point anymore.
I tried to get Christian, Elizabeth, and Wyatt to leave town. They refused, which only added to my built up rage.
I wish they would just listen to me. I could take care of myself. My mother was here now, plus I had the pack.
After I finished washing up, I got out and brushed my hair, throwing on the first outfit I could find.
Here goes nothing.
I grabbed my bag and went down the steps.
Mom and Aunt Gemma were already in the kitchen. Drake was there too. He was sitting across from Mom at the table. Gemma was making breakfast.
When Aunt Gemma saw me, she let out a cheer. “There she is!”
Oh, God.
I knew this was coming.
“Please, let’s not do this.”
“Don’t be silly. Today is huge.”
“It’s hardly huge.”
Compared to everything going on in my life, today was just another day.
“Hope, it’s your last first day of high school. Senior year. This is a reason to celebrate.”
I made a face, going to grab an apple. “I think making it to graduation alive is going to be more reason to celebrate.”
She slapped my hand. “Ow, Gemma, what the hell.”
“Nope. You are having breakfast. A real breakfast. Not an apple.”
“What’s wrong with apples?”
“Nothing, but when I’ve made your favorite kind of pancakes an apple is not breakfast. Sit. Eat.”
“I’m not a dog.”
Drake laughed. “I won’t state the obvious irony in that statement.”
I glared at him, sitting down at the table. “Ha, ha.”
Aunt Gemma put a short stack in front of me. I put syrup on top and cut the pancakes in half, putting a whole half of a pancake in my mouth.
“Geez, don’t choke,” Aunt Gemma said.
“I have to hurry. I told Knight I’d be right out.”
There was a knock on the back door.
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Are we expecting someone?”
My aunt grinned. “That would be Knight. I invited him over for breakfast.”
“Oh. He failed to mention that.”
“Well, yeah. Because this was supposed to be a surprise.” Gemma went to answer the door.
I glared at Knight. He put his hands up. “She made me promise.”
I chewed my pancakes. “Mmhm.”
“Would you like any coffee, Knight?” Gemma asked.
“Sure.” He came to sit next to me. “Are you mad at me?”
“No, I know how persistent Gemma can be.”
“You know it,” Gemma said. She placed a cup of coffee and a stack of pancakes in front of Knight.
He smiled up at her. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.”
“I better get going,” Drake said. “First day duties. I’ll see you two there. Have a good last first day.”
“Thanks, Drake.”
Drake kissed my aunt goodbye. I smiled at how cute they were. He was taking his sweet old time with proposing to her. I was getting tired of keeping it a secret. But, there was no way I was going to ruin Aunt Gemma’s proposal.
I finished off my pancakes and went to put my dish in the sink. I grabbed a bottle of water for the road. “Ready when you are.”
“You’re in a rush to get to school,” Mom said.
“Yeah. I want to make sure Jade is cool. It’s her first day back to school as a vampire. I just want to be there for her.”
Mom smiled, nodding her head. “You’re a good friend to her. It’s awful that Kane did that to her. Becoming a vampire should be a choice. Not forced upon someone.”
I smiled. “Yeah, it’s awful when someone makes such big life decisions for someone. Like when someone decides something completely life altering like making an entire half of them basically disappear. It sucks when that happens.”
Mom narrowed her eyes at me as she stared at me. A small smile graced her lips. “You’re feistier than I remember. I think I like it, but I’m not so sure yet.”
Aunt Gemma laughed.
Knight finished his pancakes and handed Gemma his dishes. “Thanks for breakfast, Gemma.”
“Anytime.”
“Let’s go.”
“Wait.”
I groaned. “Gemma, really?”
My aunt pulled me into a hug. “I know life has been crazy, but just try to enjoy this, Hope. It’s your senior year. Don’t let anyone
I took a deep breath and put my arms around her, hugging her back. She was right.
My life was by no means going to be slowing down anytime soon. But this was still something I worked hard for. I was going to graduate, on time, miraculously. I couldn’t let some man I didn’t even know ruin that for me and my friends.
“Thanks, Aunt Gemma. For everything.”
“I love you, kiddo.”
“I love you too.”
I went to Mom and gave her a hug too. “I’m still mad at you, but I’m glad you’re here for me to be mad at. I love you.”
“I love you, Hope. So much.”
I knew she loved me. It was why she did everything she did. Even if I didn’t agree with her decisions, I knew her love for me was the reason behind all of it.
Knight and I got in his car and drove off to school.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
“But how about an honest answer?”
He knew me too well.
“I just have this bad feeling. Like something bad is about to happen. My gut is usually right about these things, unfortunately.”
“Still nothing on your uncle?”
“Nope. I saw him that one day, and that was the end of it. I don’t like it. I know it’s not the last we’ll see of him. Gemma and my mom agree.”
“I wonder why he hasn’t made a move yet.”
“I don’t know. But, part of me wishes he would just do it already. That way I could stop waiting for the other shoe to drop and live for once.”
Knight slammed his foot on the brakes. The car came to a shrieking halt.
I held onto the car door, my body moving forward and back abruptly. Good thing for seatbelts.
I looked forward and rolled my eyes. Wyatt was standing in the middle of the road.
“Seriously?”
He smiled and came over to my side, bending down to look into the car. “Excellent reaction rate.”
“What are you doing?”
“It’s called a surprise, Hope.”
I was getting a lot of those this morning.
“I hate surprises.”
“I know. Morning Knight.”
Knight wasn’t amused. “Wyatt.”
“I just wanted to tell you that I hope you have a good first day of senior year.” He kissed my cheek, which I couldn’t help but smile at. “Try not to get yourself killed.”
I shook my head. “I can’t make any promises. You know me.”
“You two have a morbid sense of humor,” Knight said.
I was lucky that I had so many people in my life now. And everything would have been perfect if it weren’t for this feeling of dread flowing through my body.
My uncle was out there, and it was just a matter of time before he made our lives a living hell.
Chapter 2: Hope
The senior hallway was bustling with excitement. Everyone looked so refreshed and ready for a new school year.
Well, mostly everyone. Some would rather be anywhere than here.
I found Jade right away. She was with Christian and Elizabeth.
“Hey. How’s it going?”
“Fine,” Jade said.
We made some improvements, but she was still a little ticked off that we had been keeping so many secrets from her.
At least she wasn’t giving me the bitch stare anymore. She was just short with me sometimes.
Christian smiled at me knowingly. He nodded his head at me, silently telling me that he had this and that Jade was going to be just fine.
He was amazing with Jade. He really helped her get a hang of this vampire stuff. I’d probably need him to do the same for me when I turned.
If I turned.
Who was I kidding? It was definitely when. Knowing my luck, I wasn’t going to find a way out of this vampire thing.
“Hope, you look well rested,” Elizabeth said. “Are you as excited as I am?”
“Probably not.”
“Don’t be such a bore. I have been waiting for this day for over a century.”
Christian cleared his throat. “Might want to keep it down.” He looked around to make sure no one heard her.
The Hale’s were being more protective of their secret these days.
Salem Point wasn’t a safe place for vampires anymore. The fewer people that knew about them the better. You never knew who was a hunter in this town.
Apparently, there were quite a few families that used to be hunters. Some still were. They were just retired.
But my family thought they might be coming out of retirement soon if my uncle was sticking around.
Knight came up to us. He did some kind of handshake thing with Christian.
Talk about a turn around. The werewolf and the vampire had a new bromance going on. I was pretty sure Christian liked Knight better than me now.
“Isn’t that sweet,” Elizabeth said. “I’m sure your ancestors are turning in their graves, Knight. A werewolf being friends with a vampire. How blasphemous.”
Christian shot his sister a glare. “Are you trying to get us killed?”
“Relax. Nobody's listening to us. I’m not stupid, Chris.”
He sighed and shook his head.
Elizabeth closed her locker. “We all have our first period together. I took the liberties of making sure we had as many classes together as possible.”
In other words, she compelled one of the secretaries.
When we got to class, Lexie and Hayden were there too. They were already sitting in the middle row.
Lexie smiled at Jade, but Jade just nodded at her.
I cringed, squeezing Lexie’s shoulder supportively as I passed her and sat down behind her. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
Knight sat at the desk on my right, and Christian sat at the desk on my left. It was officially going to be next to impossible to concentrate.
It was a good thing this was just English. I could pass English in my sleep.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw a text from Lexie.
Lexie: I think she seems less mad today.
I looked over at Jade. She was sitting a couple desks over, talking to Elizabeth and completely ignoring Lexie.
Lexie looked back at me.
I nodded in agreement. I was completely lying, and Lexie could tell. She rolled her eyes and turned around to doodle in her notebook.
I felt terrible. Here I was surrounded by three great guys, and poor Lexie couldn’t just get the one girl she always loved.
I understood why Jade was mad, but I didn’t think she could stay mad at Lexie for this long.
It was clear the baby vamp was in love with the witch too.
Becoming a vampire didn’t change that.
Those two were made for each other. They just had terrible timing. It didn’t help that they were both so stubborn.
I wished one of them would just grab the other and kiss them already. They were being all angsty for no reason.
We already had plenty of angst going around. We didn’t need anymore.
I was about to text Jade that she should forgive Lexie already, but the new teacher walked into the classroom.
I froze.
There he was.
The man that had been haunting my dreams for the last couple of weeks.
My uncle.
He looked right at me and smiled before going to his desk and putting his bag down.
I looked over at Christian. He was already looking at me in concern.
“Hello, class. I’m Dr. Sinclair, your new English teacher.”
Of course he’d want to be called doctor. He was that kind of person.
This was bad.
He doesn’t know about them. They’ll be fine. Everything will be fine.
Nathaniel looked right at Christian. His eyes shifted to Elizabeth. And finally to Jade.
He knows. Dammit, he knows.
Somehow he already knew exactly who the vampires were, which meant that Christian’s worry over their secret being kept was moot. He already knew, which meant anyone in town working with him knew too.
He smiled, looking around at the class. “Let’s get started.”
I take it back. This wasn’t bad.
This was hell.
* * *
As soon as class ended, I went right to the principal’s office with Lexie and Hayden.
“Dad, what the hell?”
Principal Drake looked taken back at Lexie’s tone, but already knew why we were here.
“Alexandra, let me explain.”
