Read Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition for Free Online

lot.
    “Nothing,” I shouted back, shaking my head. “Just—” I was still shouting when Luna quickly turned down the stereo. “Nervous.”
    “Why are you screaming?” she asked, and we both laughed in unison.
    Luna guided me off the road and down a long gravel path. It suddenly grew into a darkened abyss. Thick masses of trees so tall I couldn’t see past the tops overlapping each other on both sides, blocking out the sky somewhere beyond.
    We drove at least a mile or two before the trees finally parted to reveal a huge opening in front of a cave. There must have been fifty or sixty vehicles parked in no certain order. Kids were scattered all over the place in small groups. Some hung out on truck tailgates, some had already paired up and were busy fogging up car windows, and others, more serious about the art of the bonfire, gathered firewood, placing it atop an already impressive stack.
    Jack, I was told his name by Luna, was the unofficial DJ. Dressed totally in black, with guy liner to match, he had the trunk open on his brand new red Audi A8, showing off a mobile sound system with two massive bass thumpers and a dozen other smaller speakers. “Radioactive” by Kings of Leon blared from his stereo and echoed through the trees and into the cave. I must say, I did like his taste in music.
    I was moving around slowly, taking it all in, when Luna pulled me toward the cave. “Come on, Gen. You’ve got to see this.”
    We stepped around a group of kids that had been blocking my view of the cave. I recognized them from one of the lunch room tables we had eaten at.
    “Gen, you remember Nathan, Darcy, Samuel, and Katy, right?”
    “Oh, yeah. Hi.” I waved and then realized I so must have looked like a dork. After we brushed past them, the cave opened up into this humongous room with a high ceiling. The light from the flames danced off small crystals embedded in the walls, which gave the whole room a glowing sparkle. It was so mesmerizing and beautiful I could hardly take my eyes off of it.
    Several other kids from school sat around a small fire talking and laughing with someone a bit older than everyone else. She was dressed in Eskimo garb. When we got closer, I was shocked to find it was Miss Baylor.
    “Hello, girls,” she said, smiling at us. “Are you going to be around later for the telling of the ‘Legend of the Adlet Royalty and the Blood Moon’?”
    I shot Luna a puzzled look and shrugged my shoulders. Luna quickly spoke up and told her we would be there.
    “What was that all about?” I whispered as we walked to the opposite side of the cave.
    “She’s training to be our first female shaman.” Luna spoke as if it was something we talked about all the time.
    “And? What is that supposed to mean?” I felt like I had to pry the words from her.
    “She believes in the supernatural. The legend tells about the coming of a wolf princess, and how she will unite all the people.”
    “All what people?” I wanted to say but didn’t. I was just as confused as I was when I saw Miss Baylor. “Let’s go back outside.” I nudged her back toward the opening.
    We circled the whole place but I didn’t find William. Maybe he had decided not to come after all. I was completely bummed. Luna and some friends were heading into the woods and she asked if I wanted to go along. I was a good bit behind everyone else and called for Luna to wait up when I stopped to get a pebble out of my boot. I guess she didn’t hear me, because when I ran to catch up I came to a fork in the path and no one was in sight. I played the eeny-meeny-miney-moe game and the path on the left side won.
    The deeper into the woods I walked, the darker it grew. Finally, due to the thickness of all the huge trees completely blocking the sky, it was too dark to see and I took that as my cue to turn around. However, I promptly discovered it was easier said than done. What I thought was taking me back out was only taking me deeper into infinite