Page 68 of Dark Moon Secrets

“That small clearing near the lake.”

“What about the fire ban?” It was summer, and this wasn’t exactly a good idea for us to be doing, even if we managed to get in contact with our spiritual ancestors.

“Good thing we have pack members in the local fire brigade, and well, let’s say the captain won’t be fit for duty tomorrow night.”

“You’ve got it all sorted then.” Like he always did.

I wanted to end the conversation, put down the beer, get to my apartment, and have that much-needed cold shower. But I forced myself to stay. I had to be a part of this if I wanted a position in the pack.

“When do we attack? Are you going to go in gorilla-warfare style or all-out open war?” I asked, the words not as enjoyable on my tongue as I thought they might’ve been. I blamed the beer. It must be a bad batch.

“What do you think would be the way to defeat the witches?”

I sipped on my beer, taking my time answering. I’d thought about this during the long work hours. It was a no-brainer.

“Divide and conquer, attack them when they’re alone. It will weaken them quickly. And it’s also best not to draw too much attention from the humans, or we might have more than we can handle.”

Our pack numbers were declining, whether it was too much inbreeding, we were away from our natural lands in the Northern Hemisphere, or we were simply evolving, our species dying out, and there was nothing we could do about it. Whatever it was, in our small pack of about thirty members, we had to have a unified front against the witches.

Rafe nodded, agreeing. “You’ve thought about this more than I thought you would. First, before we get too carried away, we need to seek out our ancestors. They will have the best advice for us.”

“They will,” I agreed. This would be a chance to learn the bonfire traditions, and I was eager to learn them along with the other young ones in the pack.

“Then we will change the balance, this time for good. We will have the power, and the witches can do what we tell them.”

“And we can change humans to be like us… if we want to,” said Tyr, quickly stopping what he was saying.

“We can.” Rafe smiled. “Then our numbers will grow, and we can show our true power to the world.”

I rolled my lips tightly, stopping myself from saying words I’d no doubt regret. Changing humans with teeth or claws would increase our numbers and change our genetics. We would no longer be the pure wolves that we were.

This was what we would have to do to survive. I was hungry to stay on the earth and take the risk for the pack. Tanjie was the risk I wanted to take for myself. I could maybe see her when getting the firewood.

My mind went up a few gears, rolling through the possibilities of how I could get to see Tanjie one last time before the bonfire. After the dark moon, I had a feeling everything would be different, and by then, it would be too late.

I’d not get another chance to see her, and that would send me crazy with all this sexual energy building up inside me. No, I would see her before then. I had to for my sanity.

“To the pack,” I raised my beer. I would stay here as long as I needed to gain what little ground I could with the others so when the time came, I would be the new beta. Or if things went incredibly well in my favor, the new alpha.

CHAPTER 24

Tanjie

“Hello up there, sleepy head,” yelled Luna.

Loud banging downstairs followed, drawing me from my sleep and chasing away my dreams before I could recall them.

It’s too early.

My head had only hit the pillow a few minutes ago. Right?

I rolled over and put the pillow over my head, trying to muffle the sound. The image of the wolf licking my hand, its moist, abrasive tongue, a delight as it flicked over the back of it. I had spent hours trying to figure out how to see it again.

“Tanjie!”

I sat up at the tone of Luna, the pillow dropping over the side of the bed. Sunlight streamed in around the edges of the blind that didn’t fit the window perfectly.

It wasn’t early.

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