Page 11 of Dark Moon Secrets

“We should be the ones to lead the pack and only us.”

I added my approval. So many times I’d told this to Dad. I never thought he’d been listening to me.

His eyes locked with mine, and my skin prickled. My inner wolf pushed to the surface, and it was hard not to let my animal loose.

“It is time to make a change and turn things around so we are the ones in charge, not the witches.”

Rafe raised his beer. “To the pack.”

I raised my beer, my eyes remaining locked with his.

“To the pack,” I responded with everyone else. Then we drank, sealing the start of a change.

Would I be ready to stand with the pack and do what my dad asked me?

CHAPTER 4

Tanjie

The coffin lowered into the ground, and I repressed a sob. The sun was high in the sky and did nothing to cheer me up. The solemness of the funeral weighed heavily on my shoulders.

What was Maria thinking, leaving me a bookstore?

It wasn’t as if being surrounded by books would get me to study. Why would she, like my parents, think I needed to study?

I’d finished high school. My grades weren’t excellent, but they didn’t need to be. I wanted to get out, make my own choices, and not be pushed down a path I neither liked nor wanted.

The coffin stopped.

“I invite you to say farewell to Maria,” said Reverend Fields. Her words blurred in the soft breeze, barely audible to my grief-fogged mind.

I went forward, throwing the lily I held onto the coffin. It felt like my choice was inside the wooden box, resting in the soft material with Maria, both cold and dead.

“Goodbye,” I whispered.

Regret squeezed tight around my chest. The ‘if onlys’ were building up. If I had taken the time to talk to her, I might know why I had to manage the bookstore.

I turned away, seeing the dozen or so of Maria’s alternative friends. I hadn’t even known them. She’d mentioned no one.

Had I really even known Maria? Or had I shut her out, too scared to hear what she might say?

Maria had a list of who needed to be contacted, and Caleb and Mia helped to ring them during the last week of preparations for the funeral. It had been too much for me. I kept working as much as possible, actively looking for ways to distract myself.

Fortunately, Maria had everything organized, including Reverend Fields. I had no idea why Maria had chosen a more traditional and not alternative option. But it was what she’d wanted, and I upheld her wishes as instructed. I felt I had to. I also wanted to honor her, say farewell properly, and then get on with my life. Yet, this ball and chain was on my ankle, waiting for me to acknowledge it was there. It was weighing me down, stopping me from doing what I wanted.

“I’m Willow. I knew Maria when we went to uni.”

The soft voice broke through my thoughts, dropping me back to reality. First things first, I had to get through the funeral.

A middle-aged woman looked at me, her eyes moist with unshed tears. Her black dreadlocks fell below her shoulders. She wore a summer dress of different materials patched together, which looked oddly fashionable.

“She went to uni?” I frowned. She never mentioned that.

“A private uni.”

That made more sense.

“Luna wished she could come,” added Willow.

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