Dark Hollow

DARK HOLLOW MEGAN MOTLEY Copyright © 2023 by Megan Motley All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. Created with Vellum To the eight-year-old girl who was laughed at for wanting to be a teacher: Don’t worry, you found something better. To the thirteen-year-old who used to hide her notebooks filled to the very last line: We’ve got millions of empty journals now, love. To the high school senior who was told in the middle of class that she’d never be a writer and that nobody would ever read her work while the whole class laughed: He can suck it. This one is for us. <3 CONTENTS Love Note Trigger Warnings Trigger Warnings Prologue 1. Sunny 2. Sunny 3. Sunny 4. Sunny 5. Sunny 6. Sunny 7. Harvey 8. Cilla 9. Sunny 10. Ash 11. Finn 12. Sunny 13. Cilla 14. Sunny 15. Harvey 16. Sunny 17. Ash 18. Sunny 19. Sunny 20. Sunny 21. Finn 22. Harvey 23. Sunny 24. Ash 25. Sunny 26. Cilla 27. Harvey 28. Sunny 29. Cilla 30. Sunny 31. Sunny 32. Ash 33. Sunny 34. Sunny 35. Finn 36. Cilla 37. Finn 38. Sunny 39. Sunny 40. Sunny 41. Finn 42. Ash 43. Sunny 44. Harvey 45. Sunny 46. Ash 47. Sunny 48. Sunny 49. Cilla 50. Chris 51. Harvey 52. Finn 53. Sunny 54. Sunny 55. Sunny 56. Harvey 57. Sunny 58. Sunny 59. Sunny 60. Sunny 61. Finn 62. Sunny 63. Finn 64. Sunny 65. Sunny 66. Sunny 67. Sunny 68. Sunny 69. Cilla 70. Sunny 71. Sunny 72. Sunny 73. Harvey 74. Sunny 75. Sunny Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author LOVE NOTE Dear Readers, Thank you so much for picking up my very first book baby. The story written within these pages has been a work-in-progress for the last year. I’ve cried. I’ve laughed. I’ve killed some people. It’s been quite the trip. I hope you enjoy Sunny’s story as much as I enjoyed writing it. XOXO Megan TRIGGER WARNINGS My Dearest Readers, I created the tiny little bubble of Dark Hollow. In a sense, it’s my own little world, and that puts me in charge. As you step into this quaint little town, as you run with the guys through the forest, and hide in the library with Sunny, it’s important to me that you feel safe and protected. You will find on the next page a list of possible triggers that are woven throughout Dark Hollow. Please take care of yourselves. TRIGGER WARNINGS Talk of past/present drug and alcohol use Abandonment Death/Murder/Slight gore Abuse Self-harm Redwings Knotting (wolf/human) Group scenes Gun violence Car crash Explicit sexual scenes Suicide PROLOGUE Excerpt from the journal of J.R. Mathias Cotter was a warlock who lived deep in the forest protected by mountains. He craved the quiet, so he had built his cottage as far away from civilization as possible and adored that he was enveloped by the lush greenery. Mathias spent many solitary years just existing in his self-made exile. That is until one day he found himself wandering through the trees around his home and heard a noise behind him. Upon his inspection, he discovered a large, brown wolf. He told the wolf to leave the surrounding forest, and then he went back home. The next day, Mathias encountered the wolf again. This became a routine of sorts. The warlock would find the wolf, tell him to leave, and they would meet the next day all over again. After several weeks, Mathias finally asked the wolf why he was following him. Of course, the wolf could not speak in the same way that Mathias did, so the warlock said a spell to help him read the animal’s mind. He found loneliness and sadness. Need. The wolf was following the warlock because he was the only wolf in the forest. The wolf considered the area to be his home, so he expressed that he did not want to leave, but he needed and wanted companionship. The warlock told the wolf to come back the next day and maybe he would be able to help. The warlock went home, dove into his spell books, and plotted. By nightfall, he thought he had a solution, even if the idea made him think himself to be half-mad. The next afternoon, the warlock found the wolf and proposed his plan. Over the years, the warlock had become lonely as well, even if he didn’t want to admit it. He still found it hard to be around others, but what if you didn’t have to have another person to have a friend? The warlock had written an incantation that could combine his spirit with the wolf’s, therefore creating two entities inside the same body. There was some arguing over which body would be kept. The wolf, as desperate as he was for friendship, still wanted to run free through the forest. He told the warlock he would miss being an animal and would thus still be sad. The warlock told the wolf he would rewrite the incantation and figure out a way for him to still be part animal. They agreed to meet again. A couple of days later, the wolf walked to the warlock’s cottage. The warlock greeted him with great enthusiasm. He had found the best answer for both of their problems. The warlock explained that he could rework the magick, for that’s what most things were made of anyway, and not only could he weave their souls together, but he could combine their bodies. They could be a man when convenient and a wolf when there was an ache for freedom. The wolf readily agreed. The warlock took the wolf inside of his home and said the incantation. Great big waves of magick enveloped them both, lifting their