Page 74 of It All Started with a Bite

“I know,” I muttered. “Keep my mouth shut as much as possible.”

Victoria didn’t look convinced by my promise as we climbed the stairs to the second floor.

I had a feeling this was going to be a very long afternoon.

She led the way into a west-facing corridor, the thick carpet swallowing our footsteps. I eyed the display cases we passed warily. They held strange-looking items that were making my newly awakened wolf senses tingle.

“Those are magical artifacts,” Victoria explained at my expression. “They were used during the Shadow War.”

“What’s the Shadow War?” I asked curiously. “You mentioned it last night.”

“It was a supernatural conflict that coincided with the American Civil War,” Victoria said curtly. “Thousands of our kind lost their lives during the battles that took place across the country.”

She stopped in front of a set of mahogany doors carved with phases of the moon before I could ask more questions. I could hear voices coming from behind them.

Victoria straightened her already perfect bearing. “Ready?”

“No,” I admitted.

Bo gulped beside me. He looked nervous for the first time since we’d arrived at the private club.

“Chill,” Pearl said with dignified poise. “We’ll make sure you two don’t fumble the vibe.”

Victoria sagged a little. She sighed and reached for the handle.

The door opened onto a large, tenebrous room. Bo and I headed inside after Victoria and Pearl. My scalp prickled at the supernatural power that washed across my skin.

Shadowy figures appeared in the gloom. I squinted.

Bo swished his tail hesitantly. “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

A group of werewolves who looked well past their prime sat drinking tea around a long table. Half of them looked like they’d stepped out of a historical novel, complete with lace cuffs, walking sticks, and nineteenth-century sensibilities. Though they appeared innocuous at first glance, they radiated the kind of authority that only came with age and status.

“Welcome to the Moonlight Room,” a voice boomed mournfully behind us.

Bo yelped and jumped an inch in the air. I clutched my chest and winced as a sudden bout of acid reflux hit the back of my throat.

Several of the elderly werewolves spilled their tea.

“For crying out loud, Camilla.” Victoria frowned at the figure behind the door.

It was a middle-aged woman with mousy hair and watery eyes. Her nostrils flared when she spotted me. She gave me a cautious look.

“Yeah, what was that for?” an elderly werewolf with a wrinkled face that made her look like a desiccated prune asked with a heavy scowl.

Someone equally wrinkly shook their walking stick at Camilla. “We told you to stop doing that, dammit. I nearly peed myself. And I’m wearing my best undies and everything, in honor of meeting the new luna.”

I wasn’t sure what to make of this and decided diplomatic silence was the best solution under the circumstances.

“But it’s tradition,” Camilla protested. “As the Council’s secretary, it’s my duty to announce?—”

“So you’re the white wolf everyone’s been talking about,” a voice interrupted coolly to my left.

My gaze found the woman who’d spoken. Her chestnut hair was sprinkled with an elegant dash of gray and her clothes looked even more expensive than the outfits Victoria had bought for me from Moonlight Couture. She was around fifteen years younger than the rest of her peers and carried herself with the same elegance and grace as Victoria.

I got instant Karen vibes from her.

Sparks sizzled between Victoria and the werewolf.

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