Page 47 of Dead Wolf Rising (Bad Moon Academy 3)

“Well, I guess I’ll start at the beginning.” I shoot my gaze to Draco, and he grimaces. I hadn’t considered what to say about how I was bitten. Aunt Lou would definitely not be happy if she found out that Draco was the one that did this. So I decide to tell her most of the truth. I forgave Draco a long time ago.

“One night while I was running,” Aunt Lou glares at me and I lift a shoulder, “I know I’m not supposed to run in the woods, but it was a really bad night at work and I just needed a little relief. Anyway, I was running and a wolf attacked me.”

She gasps and her fingers tighten on the arms of the chair. “I told you not to run in those woods.”

Nodding, I continue, “The next morning I woke up on the porch. You remember you found me?”

“Yes.” Her eyes veer to the left as she recalls that day. “I thought you’d been drinking.”

“I was so confused when I woke up. The bite mark was gone, there was no blood.” I pause, giving her a second to take in what I’ve said. “After my shift that night, I walked home. Something happened when I saw the full moon and, well. This is going to sound crazy, but I promise I’m not lying. I turned into a wolf.”

There, it’s out there. She stops rocking, the wood floor creaking with the force of her feet stopping the chair.

“Excuse me?”

Blinking, I wait for her to process.

“I want to believe you. But you’ve said a lot of things to me in the past to cover up for your drinking.” The flat look she gives me makes my heart squeeze.

I bite my lip. “I know. Maybe if I show you, you’d believe me.”

When I stand from the couch, Adler grabs my hand. I look back at him, and he shakes his head. I smile an apology and shrug. “This is the only way.”

I understand why he wants to protect me; he doesn’t want me to go through what he went through, but Aunt Lou isn’t like his mom. Or at least, I hope she’s not. I have faith that whatever comes next won’t result in her shunning me. She might scream, but she’s not going to banish me. I’d do anything to make the trickle of distrust in her eyes disappear. I start to take off my clothes, because I need something to change into afterward, and Aunt Lou gasps.

“Raven, what are you doing?”

I shoot her a pointed look. “I’m showing you.” Ignoring her ranting about there being men in the room, I quickly strip out of my clothes and shift. We land on four paws and Aunt Lou screams. We peer at her, dipping our head to the side and shuffling forward. She pushes back into her chair.

“What the fuck?” She points to me then looks at Adler. “Adler, what the fuck?” she asks again, this time her voice cracks.

Adler leans forward, resting his elbows on his legs. “Raven was bitten by a wolf shifter. She’s a wolf shifter, Lou, nothing’s changed.”

She shakes her head and continues to grip the arms of her rocking chair so hard her knuckles turn white. “What do you meannothing’s changed?”

“She’s still Raven, is what I mean. She may be a supe now, but she’s still your niece.”

Deciding she’s seen enough to actually trust my story, I shift back. She silently watches me tug on my clothes, lips pursed and eyes filled with theories.

“So. Like I was saying, I became a wolf when I saw the moon. I’ll save you all of my emotional turmoil, but everything you’re feeling right now, I felt it times a thousand. Some shifters found me.” I also don’t point out that those shifters are Draco and Carter because I don’t want her to be mad. “And they took me to an academy to learn about being a shifter.”

I let this part of what I told her sink in for a little while. It’s a lot to take in, and I know she has questions.

She begins to rock, pushing her foot on the ground so furiously the chair might break. “So all this time, you were at an academy? Why didn’t you call me?”

Here’s another hard part.

“So things got really complicated. The academy had a demon that was consuming shifters.”

She stops rocking again and glares at me. “Now you’re just being rude, Raven. I spent weeks worrying about you.”

I shake my head. “Aunt Lou, I’m not making up stories.”

“She’s telling the truth,” Adler says.

Narrowing her eyes at him she scoffs. “And you, what do you have to do with this?”

Adler stands, and she shoots to her feet. “I’m not afraid of you.”

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