Hunger of the Heart (Wolves of Ravenwillow Book 1) by Magenta Phoenix Read Free Book Online

by the sound of Emma’s cry of denial.
    “No! I wanna hear more! Come on, Becca; you promised.” She cried out with a pout.
    Rebecca winced when her gaze collided with Emma’s beseeching dark brown eyes. The same big eyed, pleading look a small puppy gave. Emma always knew how to guilt her into anything. Glancing down at her wrist watch, she affirmed it was well past eight-thirty, within the time the twins should already be asleep.
    “It’s time for you to go to bed, Emma. We’ll read some more on Tuesday.”
    Closing the book, Rebecca rose from her comfortable seat, replacing the book on the tall white bookshelf beside bedroom door. Tonight had been Emma’s turn to choose which book would be read; unsurprisingly she’d chosen “Beauty and the Beast, The Madame Le Prince de Beaumont version”. The very same book that Rebecca had given Emma as a gift, when she’d made the highest grade in her kindergarten class.
    Turning around she made her way to Emma’s bed, where she still sat up clutching at her stuffed tiger, idly rubbing one of the orange ears. Sitting down on the edge of Emma’s flowered comforter, Rebecca reached for the small lamp that set in the large space between Emma and Travis’s twin beds. Turning the small switch and with a small click the bedroom smothering the bedroom in moonlit darkness. Almost immediately a small crescent moon shaped nightlight on the bookshelf began to glow in the shadowy room.
    “Why can’t we read more tomorrow?” Emma asked grudgingly, when Rebecca stood, pulling aside the thick comforter, Emma obediently crawled under it.
    “Because tomorrow you guys are going to your Grandma’s and Monday night it’s Travis’s turn to pick the book we’ll read.”
    Emma crunched up her face in disagreement. “He only likes video games.”
    Smiling gently, Rebecca nodded her head in agreement. “That reminds me.” Walking across the room, Rebecca could clearly see Travis in the dimly lit room, the lit up screen of his game boy illuminated his small face. He still sat on top of his navy colored comforter; his blue eyes flickered back and forth across the screen of his black game boy. Coming to stop near his bed, her hands closed over the game boy, pulling it out of his two small clutching hands.
    Travis made a hopeless grab for the game boy. “Hey! Give it back!”
    Turning the game boy off, she folded the screen down. “Go to sleep.”
    “I was almost to level twelve!”
    “Well, Zeda can wait until tomorrow.”
    “It’s Zelda.” Travis grumbled with a pout.
    Her unflinching gaze settled over his stubborn one. A look no doubt he inherited from his even more stubborn father. “Go to sleep Travis.”
    Giving her a pouting look, like his twin he crawled beneath his comforter and settled against the soft matching pillow. Laying the game boy down on top of the bookshelf, her eyes slowly swept over the twins bed one last time. Somehow both of Eric’s children always seemed to fall asleep the second their heads hit the pillow. Travis had lain down with his back toward her, no doubt put out with the confiscation of his video game. Emma snuggled on her side; in her sleep she continually rubbed the side of her face against her pillow in effort to get comfortable. Her stuffed tiger still clutched to her small body.
    Deep in her heart, she knew that she wouldn’t always be needed for Emma and Travis. But in the past few months they both had found a way to weasel through her armor and into her heart. How would she walk away from them afterwards? No doubt Emma and Travis could tell she wasn’t a shifter like them, but they had done nothing but treat her like a member of the family.
    Quietly closing the door behind her as she left, Rebecca slowly made her way down the short hall way and down the maroon carpeted stairs. Her eyes drifted over the collection of framed baby photos and other pictures that documented Emma and Travis’s memories. She spotted several photos of the twins