Page 21 of Moon Cursed

“It helps us because texts and emails... can be intercepted.”

It took a beat, but soon, nothing but grins mirrored mine.

Melisent jumped up. “So every negative email they send, we’ll intercept them, change them around, and then send them on to Sunella with both of them having no clue anything went wrong.”

Ava snapped her fingers. “And the messages that come back from Sunella! We’ll change them too. We’ll put in all the expected shock and horror so that the little spy thinks everything is going to plan. They’ll have no idea we’re onto them.”

“But what if Sunella risks it and calls them directly?” Ayana asked. “To find out why every report is rosy? If her spy isn’t delivering, she may come up with a reason to replace them.”

See? This is why I had no interest in being an actual paranoid-loner tyrant. I needed my pack of war-mongering wolf sisters to keep me on my toes, so I was always covering every angle.

“That’s why we won’t make their reports too rosy,” I replied. “We’ll feed Sunella crumbs so that she doesn’t notice we made off with the whole cake.”

Ava laughed, kicking back to finish off her drink. “That’s why they call you the queen.”

“The title does suit me, doesn’t it?”

We busted up. Power looked good on all of us.

***

AFTER WE FINISHED UPtalking about next steps, keeping control of the school, and consolidating our power, I took off for the cafeteria to get some real food in me. My wolf was ravenous.

Or, she should be ravenous.

Any other day if I pushed up against noon without having my breakfast, she’d gnaw and claw her way out of my stomach trying to get food. That morning... nothing.

“What’s up with you?” I murmured, rubbing my chest. “How are you not hungry?”

I barely got a stirring of a rumble from her in response. She was raring to go that morning when Edric took off his pants, but now she was acting like Nia the wolf tranquilizer was hanging around.

I paused, sniffing the air to be sure.Nope, no Nia.

Shaking my head, I continued on to the mess hall.

I changed up the rules after mixing all the students. No more sitting around like princes and princesses, forcing the kitchen staff to run around taking everyone’s order. Instead, there were menu pads waiting at each table and said tables were numbered.

The students wrote down what they wanted, brought it up to the window, and then when their orders were complete, they went up to get them. Not a big deal, but the alphas had been bitching about it nonstop.

I braced myself for another wave of whining when I went through the door.

“Daciana!” Three alphas shot up from their table and were on me in a blink. “Daciana, we need to talk about these changes,” Megan began. “I don’t understand why they can’t just bring us our food when our order is ready. What’s the point of making us go back and forth, back and forth?”

Even though I knew the whining was coming, I would’ve loved to be wrong!

“Megan, do you really want to imply to the woman signing your graduation recommendation that you’re too delicate and dainty to walk the length of the mess hall?” I cocked my brow at her as her pinched face tightened. “Is this really the hill you want my opinion of you to die on?”

She sniffed. “Call me delicate and dainty all you want, but you’re theheadmistressnow.” She loaded that word heavy with sarcasm and scorn. “You have the job, so you have to do the job and listen to our concerns. Dagem would’ve never ignored us.”

“Dagem didn’t need to bother with ignoring you because she gave you everything you wanted,” I returned, but then I rocked back—considering. “But okay, you have a point.”

Megan blinked at me. “I do?”

“Yes, you do. We’re moving toward an equal and fair society, and that doesn’t happen by leaders blundering ahead, doing whatever they want, and never listening to the people in said society.”

Megan shared shocked but pleased looks with her friends, their chests puffing up. “That’s right. Absolutely. So this means you’re putting everything back the way it was.”

I snorted. “Don’t be ridiculous. What this means is I’m going to hold an open forum where you can put forward your suggestions for improving school life, and I’ll let you all vote on them. But,” I stressed, “they have to be real suggestions that will improve life foreveryone. Not just yourselves or for the alphas. Agreed?”

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