Page 81 of Full Moon
Because there's always another shoe waiting to drop. There's always another betrayal lurking behind the last one. My entire life has been built on lies and manipulation—why would this be any different? "We think the witches and the shifter council are working together in some capacity," Easton says finally, the words landing like stones in still water. "We're just not sure how deep the conspiracy goes or what their ultimate goal might be."
But the sadness in his golden eyes tells me there's more he's not revealing. Something worse. Something they've been protecting me from. I look around at my mates—at the faces of the men who have fought beside me, bled for me, nearly died for me on more than one occasion. These are the people I trust more than anyone else in all the realms. And they're hiding something.
"Tell me," I say quietly, my voice steady despite the fear coiling in my chest. "Whatever it is, whatever you've discovered—tell me now." Silence stretches between us, thick and heavy as the dust coating every surface in this forgotten room.
"Tomorrow," Easton says finally, reaching out to cup my cheek with a gentleness that makes my heart ache. "We'll tell you everything tomorrow, I promise. But tonight, you have family to meet. You have an aunt who's been waiting twenty plus years to see her sister's child. You have cousins who want to know their Luna." He brushes a stray tear from my cheek with his thumb. "Give yourself one night of happiness before we pile more grief onto your shoulders. Can you do that for us? For yourself?"
It's not a refusal to answer.
It's worse.
It's confirmation that whatever they're hiding is bad enough that they want me to have one last good night before my world shatters again. But I've been shattered before—more times than I can count. By the fire that took my home. By the death of my foster mother. By the revelation of my true nature. By every betrayal and attack and near-death experience that's marked the past year of my life.
And every single time, I've come back stronger than before.
Whatever they're hiding—whatever the witches and the council have done to me, to my family, to my entire species—I will find out the truth.
And when I do, I will make them pay.
Every. Single. One.
