First Moon (The Koto Chronicles, #1) Read online

  “Yeah, I do,” I lied, mostly because I wanted it to seem like we had something in common. I actually had no freaking clue what rock music was or what it sounded like. The only music we listened to back home was folk music. The werewolves in our pack who played instruments sometimes sang around a circle at night. Since it was all I’d ever heard, I wondered what other types of music there were.

  “Awesome. They’re actually going to be playing at the Harlow Café this Friday night. You should come check it out. I could even meet you there if you want,” Gage told me. I wasn’t sure, since I didn’t know him well yet, but it seemed like he was excited about the idea.

  “Sure,” I replied, probably a little quicker than I should have. It was only Tuesday, but I would find a way to be at that café on Friday, no matter what came up between now and then. The worst case scenario would be Akar calling a pack meeting, but I would find a way around it.

  “Cool. The show starts at eight, but I’ll be there at seven to help the band set up. So, if you want to get there early, I’ll be there,” he explained.

  I nodded. “Sounds perfect.”

  “Cool.” Gage grinned at me. “I should get to class. I’ll see you on Friday, but hopefully, I’ll see you before then, too. I’d hate to wait four whole days to see you again.”

  “Me, too,” I replied, not even bothering to suppress the smile that spread across my lips. I watched as Gage went inside the building, thinking about how today seemed to be off to a good start already. And maybe it was going to be easier to get over the way I felt about Thane than I thought, even if we did live in the same house.

  That was, until I spotted Thane out of the corner of my eye as he walked across the street, carrying his backpack over one shoulder. He was staring right at me, and somehow, I knew that he’d heard my whole conversation with Gage—and probably my thoughts about him, too.

  Shit. I really needed to figure out a way to block Thane from hearing my thoughts; I still hadn’t found a way yet, even though I was able to block Akar out whenever I wanted. A wolf’s mate and their Alpha are the only two who can hear our thoughts while we’re in our human forms, but I wondered if the same rules applied to me and Thane, since I wasn’t sure if he was actually my mate. But, if he wasn’t, then how could he hear my thoughts to begin with?

  It was all too confusing, but right now, I didn’t have time to think about it. I needed to focus on surviving my first day of school.

  Chapter 4

  The rest of the day didn’t go as great as I’d been expecting it to. It wasn’t until lunch when I realized that people just weren’t as friendly and welcoming as I thought they were going to be.

  While I was standing in the cafeteria line, a girl with long, curly blonde hair who was standing in front of me whispered to her friend, a tall, skinny girl, with ebony hair and dark skin, “Ew, do you smell wet dog?”

  The girl glanced over in my direction and then burst into laughter. “Yeah, I think I do.”

  I darted my eyes away from them and down at the tiled floor beneath my feet. It sort of felt like the two girls somehow knew that I was a werewolf, but…I didn’t see how that could be possible. Neither of them smelled like werewolves. In fact, I hadn’t picked up on the scent of any other wolves all day. I knew that it was possible for werewolves to mask their scent with a purple flower called wolfsbane, so that no other packs in the area would notice that they were nearby, but it seemed unlikely that these two preppy-looking girls who stood in front of me could know anything about it. As far as I knew, only the most powerful werewolf packs had gotten wind of the whole wolfsbane trick.

  Chances were, they were just being mean.

  After I paid for my lunch and stood in the center of the cafeteria holding my tray, I scanned the room for a seat to sit in. Everyone’s tables seemed to be full, as they chatted loudly with their friends. It took me a few moments to spot an empty table at the very back of the cafeteria. I began to head over to it, just as Thane walked into the room.

  Damnit.

  We’d been passing each other all day so far in the hallways, in between each class. Even though it looked like he wanted to say something to me every time I saw him—probably to ask how my day was going so far or maybe even to complain about his—I didn’t give him the opportunity to. I didn’t want to talk, and it wasn’t because I was trying to be mean.

  I knew how bad I must have looked to Thane. He’d come all the way here to be with me and, yet, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking about Gage. That might not have been so bad, if it weren’t for the fact that Gage was the first guy who was around my own age who I’d even spoken to since we’d arrived in New Jersey. I knew that Thane probably thought that I was willing to throw myself at any guy who came my way, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

  I felt a genuine connection with Gage, and I wanted to explore where it would take us. It wasn’t just because he was cute; his touch made me feel a way I’d never felt before, not with Thane or anyone else. That had to mean something.

  As Thane got into the cafeteria line, I hoped that he wouldn’t sit down next to me. He must have heard my thoughts again, because he glanced over his shoulder at me. He gave a slight shake of his head, letting me know that he wasn’t going to sit next to me.

  When he turned back around, I let out a slight breath of relief. As lonely as it was for me to sit alone, I imagined that it would feel even lonelier for me to eat with Thane. The silence between us had been deafening lately and, even though I still had to eat at the same table with him at home most of the time, I wanted an escape from it here.

  As I dug my teeth into the cheeseburger I’d bought, which didn’t taste too bad, I noticed that three girls were heading over to the table towards me. At first, I expected them to tell me that I’d sat at their table and that I needed to find somewhere else to sit, but when they slid into the seats across from me, it was obvious that they didn’t care that I was there.

  “Hi,” the girl who had sat down directly across from me said. She had curly, light brown hair that was parted to the side and light hazel eyes. She shot me a friendly smile. “I’m Amanda.”

  I smiled back at her. “I’m Skye.”

  “These are my friends, Jenny”—Amanda motioned to the girl with bleached blonde hair that sat to the left of her—“and Kristina.” The girl, who sat to the right of her, had short dark brown hair. She gave me a small smile.

  “Hi,” I told them both. I got the sense that Jenny and Kristina were used to Amanda speaking for them. It was obvious to me that Amanda was the leader of their little group—the Alpha, in a sense.

  “We’ve never seen you around here before, have we?” Amanda asked, popping the lid off of a drink called Snapple.

  “No, today is my first day,” I replied, wondering if it was that obvious that I was a new student, or if everyone at this school just seemed to know who everyone else was. That idea seemed crazy to me, since the number of people at the school was still so overwhelming.

  Amanda nodded. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Where are you from?”

  “Alaska,” I replied, hoping she wouldn’t ask me what school I’d gone to or anything, considering I hadn’t gone to school back home. Our parents had homeschooled us. Even though I’d always wondered if we learned the same things as humans did, I’d learned to read, write, and do math well enough to place into the eleventh grade, which was actually one year higher than most people in my age bracket. Ashton and Thane had also placed into the eleventh grade, but the twins had both ended up in the tenth grade. They weren’t happy about it, to say the least.

  Amanda’s eyes widened. “Wow. You know, it’s sort of weird, but I’ve never actually met anyone who was from Alaska before. Is it as cold there as it sounds?”

  “Yeah, I guess.” I shrugged. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have known even if it was freezing in Alaska most of the year. Werewolves had a much higher body temperature than humans, even when we’re young and haven’t made the
full transition into wolves yet. So, I’d never even worn a coat during our Alaskan winters, though the few humans I’d seen had always been bundled up. The only reason I needed winter clothes now that I was going to school was because people would have thought I was weird if I wore tank tops and skirts all of the time.

  Really, though, there was no better feeling than cooling off in a pile of snow.

  “You’re probably just used to the colder weather,” Amanda noted. “Things must be so different for you here.”

  I gave her a weak smile. “Yeah, it’s definitely different.” If only she knew that the differences had more to do with adjusting to human civilization than moving from one state to another.

  “People must dress a lot differently there, too. It must have to do with how different the climate is,” Amanda went on. “Maybe if you’re interested, we can go to the mall sometime and do some shopping.”

  It had always been one of my dreams to go to a mall. After reading Kyana’s letters, malls sounded…well, amazing. She made malls sound like the most perfect places on Earth. Smiling at Amanda, I replied, “Sure. I would really like that.”

  “Cool.” She smiled back at me. “The right wardrobe will really make people notice you, especially considering how pretty you are.”

  “Thanks,” I replied with a smile. It was the first time another girl had ever called me pretty. One of the “rules” of the Koto pack was that potential suitors were the only ones who were allowed to tell a girl or a woman she was pretty. I still wasn’t even sure why we had that rule, though.

  “You know, there’s something else you can do, too, if you want to fit in around here,” Kristina spoke up.

  “Like what?” I asked with raised eyebrows. I lifted the small carton of milk on the tray in front of me. I’d never tasted cow milk before. Back home. We’d only ever drunk water or juices that we made from the fruit we picked. I’d never been able to fathom why humans would drink milk that came from cows, but Kyana had assured me that it was delicious.

  As soon as the milk hit my tongue, I wrinkled my nose. It didn’t taste delicious to me. Yuck!

  “Well, every year we throw this big annual back-to-school party,” Amanda explained. “It’s the most important social event of the whole year, aside from, like, Homecoming, maybe.”

  I didn’t know what Homecoming was, but I knew that I would probably sound weird if I asked about it, so I didn’t.

  “And we normally throw it at my house, but my mom won’t let me have it this year,” Jenny chimed in, a pouty look on her face. “She’s usually really cool about it, but she thinks I partied too much over the summer after I had a series of hangovers.”

  “Really bad hangovers,” Amanda said pointedly.

  “Bad or not, it still sucks,” Jenny replied with a sigh. “I’m going to need to lie to my mom and say that I’m studying or something in order to even get out of the house on the night of the party.”

  Even though we came from completely different worlds, I couldn’t help but notice how much Jenny’s mom sounded like my own.

  “Yeah, so what we were thinking is that, since Jenny can’t have the party at her house this year, maybe you would like to be the one to host it for us, instead,” Amanda said, glancing over at me with a devious smile in her eyes.

  “I don’t know…,” I hesitated. I’d never even been to a party before. I had been too afraid to sneak off to the clubs or parties that my other pack members had sometimes gone to, mostly because I’d been so nervous about getting caught, since I was underage. From the letters that Kyana had written me over the past year, I knew that parties could get really out of hand. I wasn’t sure if I was prepared for that.

  I knew that I should probably talk to Akar about throwing the party before giving them a definitive answer, anyway. After all, he was technically the one whose name was on the lease of the house. If anyone could get into trouble over this party, it would probably be him.

  “We promise that we won’t let it get too crazy,” Kristina chimed in. “Our parties are usually pretty tame, considering.”

  “I don’t know if tame is the best way to describe them,” Amanda muttered under her breath. “But, usually, no one gets violent or anything like that. Our parties are real chill.”

  Jenny nodded. “Yeah, and it would only be a few of the coolest people from school. We would get a few snacks and maybe some soda. And, more importantly, it will give everyone the chance to get to know you, Skye. They’ll all think you’re super cool after throwing this party.”

  “They will?” I asked, my eyes widening with hopefulness.

  “Um, yeah, they will! I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Amanda leaned in really close to me and said, in a hushed whisper, “Everyone in school knows that we’re, like, the most popular girls in the whole eleventh grade. They all want to be our friends. If you throw this yearly party for us, it would make you, by default, one of the most popular girls in school, too.”

  I considered what this whole thing could mean for my social life. More than anything, I wanted to have friends. I wanted to fit in here and, so far, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen. Not all on its own, at least. When no one had even spoken to me during any of my classes this morning, it made me feel lonely and alienated. It definitely wasn’t what I wanted when I’d made the decision to move here. If I was going to see the world in a whole new, I should at least be able to have fun while I was doing it. I had missed out on so much by being kept secluded from the human world in Alaska.

  So, screw Akar and whether or not he would be okay with me throwing this party. I needed to do this for me. “Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll have the party at my house.”

  “Yay!” Jenny squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.

  “Perfect,” Amanda replied with a grin. “I knew you’d agree.”

  “Is it okay if I let you know when the best time to do it will be, though?” I questioned. “I live with my…brother.” I knew that was probably the easiest way to describe Akar. They would think it was weird if I told them I lived with an older guy who I wasn’t related to, and it wasn’t like I could let them in on the fact that he was a werewolf. “He’s sort of strict about things, so I’ll just need to plan it for a time when he’ll be busy.”

  “Of course you can let us know,” Amanda replied with a wide smile. As the bell that signaled that lunch was over chimed loudly, she rose to her feet and gave me a kiss on each cheek. “We’ll see you around.”

  “Bye,” I replied, smiling to myself as they walked away from me. A cute guy and new friends all in one day? Things were definitely looking up.

  *

  The day before school started, Thane had tried to talk to me about our school schedules, but I had completely blown him off. I’d locked myself in the bedroom, avoiding having any sort of private conversation with him to avoid the awkwardness that would be sure to follow.

  As I walked into the gymnasium later that day, though, I completely regretted not talking to him. If I had just listened, I would have been prepared to be in the same class as him.

  When I passed him as he sat on the bleachers, his eyes locked on mine and there was a stony expression on his face. He was probably angry at me for not wanting to sit with him at lunch.

  As I took a seat on the bleachers behind him, I didn’t think that things could get any more awkward than that, but then the worst (and, at the same time, the best) possible thing that could have happened actually happened. Gage walked in through the door to the gymnasium, too. I watched as he scanned the room for someone he knew. His sparkling blue eyes met mine, a wide smile took over his lips, and he gave me a small wave.

  Feeling nervous about having class with both him and Thane at the same time, I managed to raise my hand and wave back. Before I even had a chance to think about what was going on, Gage was climbing the steps to the bleachers. As he plopped down next to me, he said, “Hey, Skye. How’s your first day going so far?”

  I hesitated, consideri
ng everything that happened that day so far. It was definitely a mix of good and bad things—like actually making new friends, even if I did have to sort of buy my way into their group by hosting this party. Plus, there was also the other bright side of my day, which was that very moment as I sat on the bleachers next to Gage. I’d been secretly hoping that we would have a class with each other all day, but why, out of all nine periods that it could have been, did it just have be during the same exact class period that I shared with Thane, too? That really sucked.

  Glancing over at Gage, and trying to ignore the way my heart was racing, I said, “It’s going okay. How’s your day going?”

  “A lot better now that I’m here with you,” he replied, glancing over at me from behind wispy eyelashes.

  Oh my god. He was so cute.

  I tried to ignore the blush that appeared on my cheeks, hoping that Gage didn’t notice it, either. “So, um, tell me more about yourself.”

  Gage shrugged. “I never know what to say about myself. I’m really not all that interesting.”

  “I’m sure you’re more interesting than you give yourself credit for,” I insisted. “Are you from this area?”

  He shook his head. “No, I was actually born and raised in Patterson. My mom and dad split when I was maybe seven or eight. My mom stayed in Patterson. I visit her on the weekends—when she actually wants to see me, that is. I live with my dad now.” He paused for a moment before asking, “How about you? What made your family move out here? Did one of your parents have to relocate for work, or something?”

  I shook my head. “No, my mom actually stayed in Alaska. I came out here with my brother, Akar,” I replied, deciding to stick to the same story that I was telling everyone else. It was the easiest lie I could think of, and I knew that if I didn’t tell the same story to everyone, someone might be able to put two and two together.

  Gage raised his eyebrows at me. “Are the two of you really close?”