Page 71 of Moon Cursed

“You know what’s going on here, andshhh!” I hissed, reddening every part of her face not covered in tattoos. “You’re interrupting Davis’s time.”

“You did not inform me the forums were taking place again,” she cried, rushing between Davis and the screen. “I have a right to know, I am the head— vice headmistress! And turn that off!” Ash slapped Paxton’s phone, sending it and the tripod flying across the room.

A dozen mouths gaped at her.

“What are you doing, Rianna?” Kenyatta, my father’s replacement, asked. “Get ahold of yourself.”

“Excuse me?” Ash whirled on them. “We discussed this, Kenyatta. There’s a right way and a wrong way to influence change in our nation, and this is the wrong way. You agreed to stop entertaining this girl’s fanciful notions!”

“Yes,” Mara chimed in, “and then we agreed there wasn’t any harm in hearing what the students have to say. I can’t say I want women to feel safe in my clan, and then ignore said women when they tell me they don’t. As long as these forums are conducted in an organized, civilized manner—such as they are now—I have no issue with entertaining the high priestess’s fanciful notions for another day.”

Mara got a few murmured agreements from the other alphas.

“Magnus?” Ash cried, twisting to her clan’s leader. “You can’t possibly be on board with this.”

He sniffed. “This entire farce is an affront and a shamble! But,” he ground out, “my mate is an omega, and she says if I don’t participate... she’ll... leave me.” Damned if that man didn’t sound the perfect mix of furious and resigned.

“Whippped,” Paxton sang, startling a laugh out of me.

“Insolent pup!” Magnus shouted back... but he didn’t deny it.

Paxton’s and my eyes connected, sharing a wicked grin.

“Time is wasting, Rianna,” Mara said. “Stand aside, please.”

Ash’s nose shot in the air, her chin quivering with suppressed rage. I could tell she wanted nothing more than to put her claws through the screen, but someone was making an embarrassing spectacle of themselves, and this time it wasn’t me.

“Very well,” she barked. “I will allow this to continue, but there will be no repeat of last week’s nonsense. You will stay in your seats, speak when you’re spoken to, address our leaders with respect, and adhere to the time limits.”

Tracy, Corinne, Davis, and Melisent gave a baffled look at the woman who could clearly see they were already doing that.

“And your phone stays off,” Ash told Paxton. “These forums are closed sessions. End of discussion.”

“Actually, I’m going to go ahead and open that discussion back up,” I chirped. “The open forums will remain open. Paxton, bust out that phone.”

Ash spoke through clenched teeth. “He is under my authority, and if hetouches that phone,” she growled as he bent to pick it up. “He’ll receive five demerits and an escort out of this academy.”

Looking her dead in the face, I took out my phone, launched Loop Garou, and kicked off the live video. “He may be under your authority,” I said for everyone watching and listening to hear. “But I’m not.”

Forget the computer, it was my head she was going to put her claws through.

“Yes, Vice Headmistress Ash?” I pointed the phone directly at her. “You have something to say?”

Stiffly, she smoothed down her skirt, raised her chin, and took a seat in Paxton’s vacated chair.

“You are so fucking hot right now,” Paxton whispered—a confession for my ears, but that was of course heard by everyone.

I flushed deep, and thanked every deity from Luame to beyond that my dark skin concealed my blush. Deep down in the corner of my mind where my wolf lived, something thumped—hard.

“Ow,” Paxton and I cried at the same time, our hands flying up to our temples.

I blinked at him.What was that? Did he feel that too? Why—?

“Uh, Daze?” Tracy probed. “Is it my turn?”

“Huh? Oh, right, yes,” I said, rising up. “Sorry for the interruption, everyone. Let’s continue.”

Tracy inclined her head to me, then the clan leaders. “Hello, alphas. My name is Tracy. I’m an omega andhisniece,” she said, pointing at Callum Bethune—the alpha of the sun clan. “My dear uncle Callumcommandedmy father to hand over the deed to our home, even though my father inherited it from his biological mother—Callum’s stepmother—and then he kicked us out on the street—”

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