Page 351

Shadowed Moon

by SE Welsh

Chapter 1

Tabitha threw her satchel on the passenger seat, clipped her seatbelt and turned the ignition, tapping the wheel. A quick glance at her watch proved her fears were about to be realised.

Winding down the window, she slammed her hand on the horn. Twice. “LUNA ROSE LEWIS! Get your butt out here right this instant or I swear, you’re going on a total tech ban for a month!”

“Chill, Mum,” Luna drawled, locking the door then flicking her school bag with dramatic flair over her shoulder. “I’m here.”

Chill?Where was the attitude coming from? Luna was eight, not eighteen!

“We’re going to be late, chick, and it’s our first day.”

“Then let’s go faster.”

The little imp grinned at her in the rear-view mirror as she closed the car door behind her. Tabitha sighed. It was never easy, trying to explain the rules to her daughter. Their lineage put more restrictions on them than others. What eight-year-old wanted to be bound by rules when, with a wave of her finger, she could do almost anything elementally possible?

Elementallypossible. There were limitations. That, and the rule of three. But try explaining that to a girl who saw the world through rose-coloured goggles.

“I’ve told you before sweetheart, we can’t use our powers to—”

“I know, Mum,” she said with an eye-roll. “I just meant maybe you should put your foot down on the acceltorator.”

And her eight-year-old was back again.

“Accelerator,” Tabitha corrected as she reversed out and put her foot down. Thankfully, the five-minute drive to school wasn’t interrupted by sirens or traffic lights.

They’d only just arrived when the bell sounded. Tabitha raced up the front stairs, Luna’s hand in hers, and stopped outside her daughter’s classroom. Luna fidgeted with her bag. Tabitha waited. Mum-sense told her to give it a minute. The kids in her Year 6 class could wait. Her daughter couldn’t.

“What if they don’t like me?”

Tabitha smiled, pulling her daughter in for a hug.

“Then they’re the ones who lose, chick. You be you. I guarantee there’ll be someone in that class who has good taste.” She dropped a kiss on Luna’s forehead. “Now hurry up. My big kids will be waiting.”

Luna’s nose wrinkled. “Mum, you should ask the cleaners to use a different detergent. It smells like wet dog in here.”

And with those final words of wisdom, her girl screwed up her courage and pushed through the door.

Wet dog.From the mouths of babes. That ‘wet dog’ smell would keep them safe. No right-minded Inquisitor would hunt for a witch in a town teaming with wolves. And this town had the healthiest pack of werewolves in the Southern Hemisphere. That, and the fact this was Tabitha’s first job outside her hometown, were the two strongest reasons they’d stay safe.

They could’ve stayed in Carnarben, a tiny country town inhabited solely by witches where both Tabitha and Luna were born, but Tabitha felt claustrophobic. Too many memories, with not enough space to escape them and the well-meaning meddlers. Echo was her next best option.

As long as she kept her head down, made sure she introduced herself to the Alpha and stayed on his good side, she was sure they could make a life here. And that afternoon she’d make it her priority—right after she got to know her new class and colleagues.

* * *

“Miss Bright,are you going to the markets this weekend?” asked Cole.

The cheeky little scamp, and the party child of the classroom, stood in front of her, just outside the door. Or maybe she shouldn’t say ‘stood’. The boy shifted from foot to foot, hands in constant motion, whether he was talking or not. His dark brown hair was a wild mess around his head and cute little freckles dusted his nose, an observation Tabitha knew he wouldn’t appreciate.

He smelled like wet dog, the forest, and ‘boy’. Wolf.

“There’re markets? I hadn’t heard.” She balanced her work on one hip and locked the classroom with her free hand. “Should I be going?”

“You sure should, Miss. They have them once a month, in the park by the river, and everyone brings their home-made stuff to sell. There’s food and music and—”