Page 86 of Dark Moon Secrets

“So what say you?” asked Luna. “Will Tanjie be able to lead us?”

“No. Not this month,” a soft voice answered.

Gasps echoed around the circle, and the pentagram starlight wavered. I felt as if I was on a boat that had been cast away and rejected by everyone.

“Hold the magic,” said Willow firmly.

Then Luna gasped, her head snapped backward, face up to the dark sky, and her body convulsed with her arms outstretched. It was as if she were possessed. Then suddenly, she breathed out heavily, her head righted, her arms relaxed.

Luna looked at me with disappointment which broke my heart.

“The ceremony can’t be completed.”

“What?” It wasn’t only me who exclaimed in shock.

“Tanjie, you’re not pure. You can’t lead us.”

I never professed I was pure, but this was ridiculous. “You can’t do this to me.”

“It is done.” She swept her hand over the trunk table, the bowl and jug spilling its contents into the dirt.

“You can’t be a witch.”

‘Are you sure, Luna?” asked Willow.

“The ancestral spirit has spoken. For tonight, at least, there will be no initiation.”

“What do you mean pure?” I asked, a horrible feeling rising from within.

“You had sex.”

“What? Because I had sex? I’m no virgin.”

“No, because you had sex with a wolf.”

This made no sense to me. I wasn’t perverted or anything like that.

“I can tell you I’ve ever only had sex with a human, no wolf. No part of a wolf was involved. This is absurd.” But was it?

“He might not have been in wolf form, but you had sex with a wolf shifter. Tonight, of all nights when the moon is dark, a time when your untrained power could be influenced the most. You’re tainted with his energy. We can’t complete the ceremony.”

“If you had told me more about what was going on, then I would have known.” This can’t be true. This can’t be happening. I turned to see the others. Pepper looked away, and Adam looked at me as if I was diseased.

“You had to pledge to us first,” said Luna. “On a dark moon, the one closest to after turning eighteen. Yes, we are late, but tonight your magic was untouched, virgin… or it was until you joined with the wolf.”

“What, you reject me now, and I go back to Sydney and pretend this never happened?” At least Mia and Caleb would like that. But would I?

“No. It’s complicated. Nothing like this has happened before,” said Luna. “We need to have a meeting, now.”

“Good idea, and I’ll present my case.”

“You’re not coven, so you’re not invited.” The words were like a slap in the face.

“What if I just go back to the shop while you meet here and debate my fate?”

“Yes, and don’t let that wolf in, even in human form. Or anyone, not until you’re taught how to tell what they really are.”

“What a shame, we can’t learn your special gift with magic either,” said Willow, shaking her head.

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