First Moon (The Koto Chronicles, #1)

by Morse, Jody

  Before I had time to give it any more consideration, though, Akar was telling us, “Okay, so what I’m going to ask you to do is take one step forward if you want the Koto to join forces with the Shondi. If you’re voting ‘no’, then I want you to take one step back.”

  “Wait,” Ashton interrupted. “I have a question first.”

  “What is it?” Akar asked, glancing over at him.

  “If we decide to merge packs with the Shondi, are we going to become Shondi? Or will they become Koto? Or are we going to come up with a whole new pack name?”

  “The Shondi and I have already discussed this, and they’re willing to become Koto members. So, we will keep our name.” Glancing at the rest of us, he said, “Now, if there are no other questions, we’re going to begin voting. We’ll do this on an individual basis, starting with Ashton.”

  It took him a few moments, most likely to think about what he was doing, before he took one step forward. A part of me wanted to curse at him and tell him he was making the wrong choice, but I knew how that would make me look to my pack.

  It probably sounded crazy, but I didn’t want to give Akar a reason to send me back home. As much as I didn’t want the Shondi members to be a part of our pack because I thought they were shady, I didn’t want to go back to Alaska, either. I knew that my mother would never let me forget it if I wasn’t able to make things work out here. Before I’d left, she’d told me I wouldn’t be able to make it anywhere outside of Alaska. I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction of being right. No matter what happened, I was going to tough this out—just as long as our pack didn’t participate in black magic. Nothing good could come from black magic.

  It was bad enough that Ashton voted yes, but things just kept going downhill after that. Hunter and Chance didn’t even hesitate before they stepped forward simultaneously, toward Akar and what he wanted for the Koto. I wanted to curse at both of them, too, but I didn’t, of course.

  When Akar got to Thane, I was convinced that he would actually be the logical one of my pack members and actually take a step backwards, but he shocked the hell out of me when he stepped forward, too. He met my eyes, and I knew he wanted to apologize for taking a different position on this than I was, which he obviously knew about from listening to my thoughts.

  I stared at him dumbfoundedly, questioning my own stance on the whole thing. If Thane thought it was the right thing, could I have been overreacting?

  Since the majority had already won, I expected Akar to completely pass me up, but he didn’t. Instead, he asked, “How about you, Skye? What do you want us to do?”

  As my pack members glanced over their shoulders, staring at me expectantly, I hesitated. As much as I didn’t believe that we were doing the right thing, I also didn’t want to be the odd one out, either. So, instead of taking a step back the way I’d originally planned, I moved forward, joining the rest of them.

  Akar’s mouth twisted into a wicked, toothy canine smile. “Perfect. So, we all agree on this, then. Why don’t we meet here tomorrow night with the Shondi pack? I want all of you to be on your best behavior. We need to make a good first impression, or otherwise, they might change their minds. Now, I need to get back to my dinner.”

  With that, he morphed back into his human form, the orange cloud of smoke enveloping his wolf body as he changed. It swirled around him until it eventually began to evaporate, revealing his shirtless chest. His abdominal muscles looked more ripped than they ever had before.

  Without saying another word to us, he dashed across the backyard and went into the house, slamming the door behind him.

  I wondered if Akar had any idea that I really didn’t want to merge packs with the Shondi. Did he know what a bad feeling I had about this whole thing? Of course, he probably wouldn’t have cared, even if he did know.

  I also wondered if, deep down, he had the same bad feeling, but was choosing to ignore it.

  Chapter 7

  The next morning was a complete whirlwind. I went to the same classes I’d gone to the day before, and they sucked just as much. The first day had been awkward since no one talked to me, despite how many conversations I’d tried to start, but I assumed it was just because I was the new girl. I hoped that I would start making some friends the next day, but everyone continued to ignore me. I heard the hushed whispers occasionally as people stared, but I had no idea why.

  I saw those same two girls in the lunch line. This time, they were far enough away from me that I wasn’t able to hear their jokes, but I saw them staring at me again. I wasn’t sure what their problem with me was, but I assumed that it must have been some sort of stigma that they had against new girls. They were probably more curious about me than anything else.

  At least, I hoped that was all it was.

  When I carried my lunch tray back to the table I’d sat at in the cafeteria the day before, I noticed that Thane had gotten his food before me today. He was sitting with a group of guys, laughing with them and talking. I wondered how he had made friends so quickly, but it didn’t surprise me, either. Thane had always gotten along with everyone, no matter what the situation was.

  As I approached my own cafeteria table, I felt relieved to see that Amanda, Jenny, and Kristina were already sitting there, across from my empty seat. Amanda glanced up at me and gave me a small wave.

  When I slid into my seat at the table, Amanda flung a piece of paper in front of me. “Here,” she said. “I’ve already started to hand them out to people. I didn’t print out that many. I assume word of mouth will do most of the inviting, but I thought you should get an invitation yourself.”

  I read the words on the paper in front of me:

  Our annual back-to-school party, which we normally hold at Jenny Cross’s house every year, will be moving to another venue. This year, it will be held at our new friend Skye’s house.

  The party is going to be held this Friday at 7 pm at 320 North Pine Street. Be there or be square, bitches.

  I glanced up at the other girls sharply. “How did you know where I live?”

  “We watched you walk home from school yesterday afternoon,” Jenny explained, giving me a small smile. “And we were sort of excited to find out which house it was that you live in. My grandma used to rent that place. It’s huge! There will be more than enough room to fit all of the people we’re planning on inviting to the party.”

  The fact that the house was big enough only meant that there was more space that I was going to need to clean before the day of the party, I thought bitterly. Glancing over at them and trying to sound as calm as possible, I said, “I thought I told you guys I was going to let you know which day would work the best for me. You know, because of my brother being strict and all.”

  “Well, yeah. You did tell us that, but we were talking about it last night after school. We realized that, like, everyone expects us to have the party on the first Friday after school starts, since that’s when it happens every other year,” Amanda explained. “So, if you really want to host this thing for us, you’re going to need to do it on Friday. Besides, everyone already has their invitations, so it would be kind of hard to cancel the party now.”

  “But I already made plans for this Friday,” I realized aloud. I had completely forgotten that I was supposed to go to the café where Gage’s brother’s band was going to be playing.

  Kristina shrugged her shoulders. “You could always reschedule. I’m sure that whatever it is can’t be more important than our party. I mean your party.”

  I shook my head. “I can’t just reschedule.” Gage had been looking forward to Friday night just as much as I had been. I had a feeling that it would crush him if I cancelled our plans. Hell, it would crush me, too.

  Amanda met my gaze, staring at me evenly. “Well, whatever, then. I guess we can just find someone else to host the party for us, instead. Come on, girls. Let’s find a new table to sit at,” she told her friends, rising to her feet.

  It made me realize how alone I would be
if I didn’t throw this party. As much as I didn’t want to have to reschedule on Gage, I blurted, “Wait! It’s okay. I’ll just cancel my other plans.”

  Plopping back down in her chair, Amanda glanced back over at me with a wide grin on her face. “Good. I just knew you were going to make the right decision on this. I don’t know what your other plans were, but this party can either make or break you this year, Skye. We’re going to have to do some major shopping before the party,” she noted, eyeing my clothes. “And maybe we can get your hair and makeup done, too. It’s going to be the social event of the year for you, so I want everything to be perfect.”

  I forced a vague smile while I played with my food. I knew that I hadn’t made the right decision, and I had a feeling that Gage would end up getting hurt in the process, but…hosting the party meant that I would have friends. Right now, that seemed so much more important.

  If I was really meant to be with Gage, he would forgive me anyway…right?

  *

  When I arrived at the gymnasium during ninth period, I found Gage sitting on the bleachers, staring at me when I walked into the room. From the look on his face, I could tell that he already knew.

  Shit. I had been hoping that I would be the one to break the bad news to him, but he’d probably gotten one of the invitations that Amanda had been handing out to people earlier that day. It seemed like half the kids in my class had gotten one, which made me feel slightly nervous. I thought there were only going to be a few people invited to the party, but it looked like it was going to turn out to be much bigger than I’d been expecting.

  Of course, there was nothing I could do about that now. Not unless I wanted to finish out my high school career being ignored by everyone. And that was the last thing I wanted.

  As I climbed up the bleachers, walking past Thane, and sat down next to Gage, he turned his head away from me.

  “Hey,” I said quietly.

  Gage didn’t even look in my direction. “Hey.”

  “I’m sorry,” I told him.

  Still avoiding my gaze, he shrugged. “It’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. I get it. I really thought you wanted to go out with me, but…it’s cool.” He was trying to play it off like everything was okay, but the tone in his voice told me that wasn’t really how he felt.

  “No, it’s not like that at all. I really do want to hang out.” I sighed. “It’s a really long story, but I wasn’t planning to have the party at my house on Friday night. I know how it sounds, but it was sort of planned without me knowing.”

  Gage glanced over at me and studied my face. “Really?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, and I wanted to cancel it, but…I can’t.”

  “I get it.” He nodded. “I’m not going to lie, though. I am disappointed about it.”

  Hesitantly, I said, “I know that you’re going to the café to support your brother, but maybe you could come to the party, too. Once your brother’s band is done performing, I mean.”

  Gage shrugged. “Yeah, it would be cool if I could make it to both places. I’m not sure if I’ll actually be able to, though. Maybe we can hang out some other time, or something.” He rose to his feet and climbed down the bleacher steps to a group of guys who were sitting below us.

  As I sat alone, I tried not to seethe. I knew that being angry at Amanda, Jenny, and Kristina was the worst thing I could do right now; I could end up transforming into a wolf if I got mad enough. But I wasn’t sure how not to be pissed off over this, either. I knew that Gage probably thought I didn’t care about him, when that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

  I sighed. When I decided to choose the party—and, ultimately, friends—over Gage, I should have known that this would happen, but I didn’t think it would. I thought he would understand it, but there was nothing I could do about that now.

  When Mrs. Lyle told everyone to get a partner, I glanced around the class awkwardly. I didn’t know anyone yet, but it seemed like everyone already had someone to be partners with.

  When I met Thane’s questioning gaze, I held in the sigh that I wanted to let out. As much as I didn’t want to be his partner, I knew there were no other options. He was my last resort.

  Chapter 8

  “But I want to be the one who vacuums,” Chance whined.

  “I saw it first,” Hunter insisted.

  “Did not,” Chance replied.

  “Did too.”

  I rolled my eyes. The twins had been fighting over who would use the vacuum first since we’d found the thing in a storage closet—which had turned out to be fortunate for us. We needed to get the house cleaned up, and there were already cleaning supplies at our disposal.

  Chance reached for the vacuum handle. “Come on. I’ve wanted to vacuum ever since Kyana told us about them in her letter.”

  “No, I want to.” Hunter reached for the handle, too. “I’m the oldest, so I get to do it.”

  “Only by one minute,” Chance argued.

  As they both tugged at it, I threw my hands up in the air.

  “Guys, why don’t you take turns since, for whatever reason, both of you are so excited to vacuum?” I asked, shaking my head frustratedly. “Chance, you vacuum the living room and dining area, and Hunter, you can do the bedrooms. That way, you’ll both have a chance to use the vacuum, and we can get our cleaning done quicker.” I secretly hoped that they’d want to try out the laundry machine next.

  “Fine,” Hunter relented.

  Chance nodded. “Yeah, fine. But I’m going first.” Glaring at me, he added, “I still don’t know why you’re only making us help you clean. It’s not fair that Ashton and Thane don’t have to.”

  I’d told the twins that if they wanted to be at the party, they were going to need to help me clean our house. Even though they were both excited to vacuum, they still hated the idea. Actually, I think it was more that they hated being bossed around by me—someone who wasn’t even their Alpha—more than they hated the actual cleaning part itself.

  Shrugging, I told them, “It’s not my fault that Ashton decided to join the poetry club, and Thane has a lot of homework. I’m sure I can find something for both of them to do later on. But, in the meantime, we need to work on getting this place cleaned up. The party’s only two days away, and everything needs to be picture perfect.”

  “We know. You keep reminding us. I don’t even think this place is that messy,” Chance said with a sigh before plugging the vacuum in and turned it on. He jumped a little at the whirring noise it made.

  I grabbed a bottle of surface cleaner and headed upstairs to start on the bathroom. I read the directions and sprayed it onto the mirror, keeping it a safe distance away from my body. As I began to wipe it down with a cloth, my nose tingled from the chemical scent. A moment later, I sneezed.

  I’d never cleaned anything before. Since our den was made of stone and dirt, we’d never needed to worry about cleaning back home. That was probably why the guys thought the house was already clean, too. They were used to dirt and rocks, so the house already seemed clean in comparison.

  As I began to scrub away the buildup on the sink, I wondered how the party was going to turn out. Sure, the house would be clean…but I just hoped that no one would think it was strange that I was a girl who lived in a house with five guys. I knew that most of the people at school probably had traditional families: parents, either married or divorced, siblings, maybe a dog or a cat.

  Well, technically, we had the whole dog thing going on, but no one would actually know about that. As long as no one saw any of us change into wolves, at least.

  That was actually another thing that had me worried. I assumed that there was going to be alcohol at the party, even though it didn’t actually say that on the invitation. I’d heard, over the years, that some of our pack members had bad reactions to alcohol. I’d never actually seen it happen with my own eyes, but now, as I began to clean the windows, I couldn’t help but worry about it.

  Supposedly, alcohol made it har
der for us to control our emotions. I worried mostly about Hunter and Chance. I knew Ashton had a level head, but if someone said the wrong thing to one of the twins, there was a chance they could lose their temper and transform into wolves right in the middle of the party. And then, everyone would know the truth about us. We couldn’t let that happen.

  I couldn’t ask the twins not to drink, either, though. If I asked them not to, they would make sure that they did, just to spite me.

  I was going to need to take matters into my own hands. All I had to do was keep alcohol far away from Chance and Hunter—and Ashton, too, for that matter, since the twins would probably want to do whatever he did.

  I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task, but it was the only way for us to be certain that no one would find out what we really are.

  *

  That night, we gathered around the fire pit in our wolf forms. Akar had mentally communicated with us—which Alphas could do whether we were in our human or wolf forms—to let us know what time to meet. He told us he was going to be bringing the Shondi pack with him.

  I was nervous about meeting them, to say the least. Knowing that one of them had probably killed the guy who most likely would have been the Alpha of their pack wasn’t the only thing that made me nervous. I also wanted to make a good impression on them, too. I wanted our packs to get along. There was a possibility that we would have to be stuck with these new members for many years to come…or even worse, forever. And I wasn’t sure what we would have in common with a pack that included at least one killer.

  “Skye, can I talk to you?” Thane asked from his place next to me. Since everyone was already laughing and joking around us, I figured that there was no need for us to go somewhere else for privacy. Plus, Akar always got annoyed if the pack wasn’t waiting for him whenever he called a meeting.

  “What is it, Thane?” I questioned as I turned to him. I noted that he wasn’t looking or acting like his normal self. He looked so...sad. It was obvious that he was depressed about something. Maybe he was homesick?