Page 38 of Dark Moon Secrets

Possibilities I hadn’t thought of came into my mind. I was becoming more calculating. Was this because of the upcoming attack on the witches? I didn’t know what, but I liked it.

The excitement in the air prickled the hairs on my neck. Had something been announced, and I had missed it?

I held my breath, cursing silently. I hadn’t cared while watching Tanjie when seeking her out, but now I did. I didn’t want to lose my power in the pack. Not when right now I could sense I could get more. Things around here had stayed the same for decades, but they were changing quickly, so it was hard to keep up.

I scanned the crowd of pack members, all thirty men and women—no kids tonight—split off in small groups. Drinks in hand, there was a lot of quiet chatter, low voices passing on information, debating what would happen.

Something was brewing. And I knew I’d been wrong. I wholeheartedly wanted to be a part of it.

I searched for Raine, not wanting to draw attention to myself for turning up late. He could tell me what was going on without blowing my cover that I hadn’t been there.

Where was the bastard?

I couldn’t be angry at him. At least he’d texted me to get down here before it was too late.

Then I saw him. He held up a beer, a gesture of invitation. He was talking with Tyr, and another member, Orion, was standing with them. I nodded to let him know I was coming.

I pushed past the milling people as they downed their beers, catching snatches of conversation that didn’t make much sense. What was going on?

I had to get to Raine to find out what I’d missed. For the first time, I realized how reckless I’d been to go after a woman I didn’t know at the expense of the pack.

My gut turned to rocks. That might be the case, but it wasn’t like I had control over how I felt. It would have to be something I dealt with later.

I needed to find out what the hell was causing such a stir in the atmosphere and why it was affecting me to want to change my mind about everything I believed in. It was intoxicating and had nothing to do with the drinks that were being consumed.

Closer to Raine, I was about to call out to him when something went tight around my arm. Before I could react, I jolted back, spinning around.

I came eye to eye with the alpha, my dad.

And he looked like he was ready to pull me from limb to limb.

I swallowed hard, trying to shake his grip on my arm. He held tight, pulling me closer, then shuffled me to the side away from the others.

“Where the hell have you been?” he hissed at me.

“Just had a few things to sort out.” I swallowed hard, keeping my eyes in a cold lock with his. I didn’t think a straight-out lie that I was here would serve me well right now.

“Like what?” He tightened his pressure on my arm, and I could feel the blood flow slowing.

“I’m here now,” I answered. My breath was shallow and fast. I couldn’t let him know what I had been doing, not even a hint.

“Not good enough. I’ve warned you about your actions. It will bring you down.”

Yeah, I could see that. For the first time, I actually got what my dad was saying.

The problem was I didn’t care. Not since I got a whiff of Tanjie’s scent and had seen her. I had to finish what was inadvertently started between us.

“I’m not doing anything to harm the pack,” I said firmly.

Not yet, anyway, but she wasn’t a witch, so it didn’t count as anything terrible, right? It was hard to convince myself, glaring into Dad’s eyes.

He growled softly, the sound setting me on edge, but I kept his gaze.

“I’m not up to anything,” I repeated. “I want to be part of this.”

“You need to be here then. At every meeting called.”

“But nothing happened this week, no progression or anything big.” Except there was a new witch in town who didn’t know her powers.

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