Turn of the Moon (Royal Shifters #1)(57)

We finished our ice cream and walked back to the truck. He was about to open my door, but stopped, his expression guarded. “There’s something else I think you need to see. Do you mind making one last stop before we head home?”

“Sure.” I didn’t ask to where, but stayed silent while he drove us to our destination. It took a while to get there and when we did, he drove us down a desolate gravel road. I recognized it almost instantly. “What are we doing here?” We were back in the Yukon’s territory, or what used to be their territory.

He stopped the truck and grabbed my hand. “Don’t worry, it’s safe. I promise.”

Black ash still lingered in the air, smelling of burnt bodies. “Did you burn everyone?”

“No. Seraphina helped conceal the fires so it didn’t alert the authorities. We buried the people in our packs.” We walked past their village and I couldn’t sense any shred of life. It was like a ghost town.

“Where did you bury them?” I followed him to the open field where the battle had taken place. There were mounds of rocks at each gravesite. There were nine of them. “I thought you said eight of our people were killed?”

He led me over to the ninth spot, where the grave was surrounded by flowers. “I thought Annika deserved to be buried with our people. Tyla told me about how she attacked Maret. She saved us all.”

Falling to my knees, I bowed my head with tears dripping down my cheeks. “Yes, she did. When I found out what she and Darius did, I thought I would hate her. When she came to see me, I just couldn’t. I still loved her and saw her as my mother. Even though I wasn’t her real daughter, she’d always been kind and gentle. She had only been doing her duty to the pack. Darius, on the other hand, only loved me because he knew I could bring him power.”

Ryker put his arm around me. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye to her.”

“Would you have let her join our pack if she was still alive?”

He tilted my chin up and I looked up at him. “Is that what you would’ve wanted?” he asked. I nodded. “Then yes. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you.”

“Good, because now that we’re going down memory lane, there’s somewhere I want to go before going home.”

His brows furrowed. “Where?”

“To the very beginning.”



“Do you remember how to get there?” Ryker asked.

I pointed to the next street on the left. “Just like it was yesterday. We’re not far.”

“What if there’s nothing left? By the looks of everything, it doesn’t appear anyone’s been out this way in a long time.” He was right. The trees and bushes were all overgrown, the branches scraping against the sides of the truck.

“You’re going to need a new paint job,” I said, cringing every time I heard a scrape.

“I’m not worried about it, angel.”

The driveway opened up and I was able to see the house up ahead. Closing my eyes, I could picture the way it used to be, all cozy and bright with the aqua shutters. It was my real mother’s favorite color. The brick was still standing, but the roof had caved in and the windows blown out from an obvious fire.

“I guess the Yukons set it all ablaze before they left. I wonder if my parents were burned along with it.”

Ryker parked the truck. “Most likely, so they could cover their tracks. Want to go in and take a look around?” I nodded and got out.

The door was cracked so we pushed it open and walked inside. Holding in my gasp, I threw a hand over my mouth as I went from room to room, reliving the night that destroyed my family. “I wish I could’ve saved them,” I cried, whispering the words.

Grasping my hand, Ryker soothingly ran his thumb over my knuckles. “I know, angel.”

Our bedrooms were upstairs and that was what I really wanted to see. Glancing up the staircase, I wasn’t too sure the stairs would be stable. Remnants of the roof were scattered all over them. “What do you think?”

“It’s up to you.”

One step at a time, we carefully climbed until we got to the top. Parts of the floor had collapsed, but I was still able to get to my room. Hands trembling, I pushed the door open. The sun shone down through the damaged roof, almost showcasing the total destruction. However, on the floor were the remnants of the board game Faith and I were playing the night of the attack. “It’s still here,” I said, picking up the dice.

The floor started to shift, so Ryker stayed by the door. “You’ll see your family again, angel. Once you have Faith back, we can start searching for Colin.”

“True. And at least now he has his memories back.” I took one last look around the room, until something out the window caught my eye.

“You about ready to go? I don’t think this floor is going to hold up much longer.”

Tears filled my eyes. “I just want to see one last thing.” We carefully stepped out of the room and down the stairs. I briefly thought about seeing my parents’ room, but decided I would rather remember it the way it was before. Once out of the house, I hurried to the back where a brick wall separated us from where I needed to be.

“What is this?” Ryker asked.

I rushed over to the stone angel statue and slid open the hidden drawer at the base. Inside was a large, golden key. “Have you ever seen the Secret Garden?” I asked.