Rise of the Moon (Moonlit Series Book 1) Read Free

to buy me a new one, but it was otherwise a still useable bag –I just now had to carry it over my left shoulder, instead of the right like I was used to. Zipping it closed, I headed back into the hallway. Maddie was gone, presumably in the bathroom.
    I headed downstairs, stopping at the bottom to debate whether or not I should go and say goodbye to Maddie’s parents. If I did, they’d insist on driving me home, and I didn’t want to be a burden. So I turned towards the front door and ran into my third and fourth redheads of the nights.
    Philip was Marissa’s twin brother, and the only other red head that was supposed to be at the party; Maddie had invited him. If I had to guess, I would say that as babies almost right into their tweens, the twins would have been identical. I was almost willing to bet that their freckles matched up. Although they were the same height, puberty had made Philip a much more masculine version of his sister, starting with his stronger jawline and ending with his thicker eyebrows. He was, in all honesty, attractive, and it wasn’t hard to see why Maddie had a small crush on him. He was probably my second favourite redhead that I knew.
    Cole, on the other hand, was my least favourite redhead. His hair was darker than the other three, bordering brown in darker lighting. His face was oval, and slightly feminine with his high cheekbones, though he was such a jerk that I doubted anyone called him out on it. He was taller than Philip and me by mere inches, but he made them count since he never failed to look down on me. Part of me wondered if he and Philip became friends solely because of their hair colour –they didn’t appear to have much else in common.
    I was a little disappointed that the third member of their trio wasn’t there. I wondered if Evan was sick. Hopefully I’d see him on Tuesday, the first day back of the new school year. It was hard for a girl to crush on a guy in the summer when she never had the chance to see him.
    “And I was beginning to think my night wouldn’t be complete,” I spoke loudly again as I rolled my eyes, not at all happy to see Cole. The music made my head throb. “Hey, Philip.”
    “I don’t want to make assumptions, but you look like you’re leaving,” Philip called over the music.
    “You’d assume correctly,” I shouted back. “But, hey, I’ll catch you at school next week.”
    He nodded, and I walked away before Cole could make any digs –which he would if he’d had the chance. I knew I should find Maddie and tell her of the second unwanted guest, but I had confidence that Philip would keep him in line.
    I exited through the front door, hopping off the front porch and narrowly avoiding stepping where someone had decided to throw up. Nothing a hosing down couldn’t fix in the morning, though I dreaded the number of people that would be walking through it before the night’s end.
    The night was warm. Humid. Not that I felt the change when I was already gross and sticky from the beer that’d been spilled on me. That aside, it was a lovely night to walk home. I hummed as I did so, glad to be leaving my worries at the party –not so glad to be leaving them with Maddie to deal with, but there were so many people there that I seriously doubted they’d try anything.
    As I passed the first intersection, I heard an animal cry out. I stopped to listen, closing my eyes, but it was over before I could fully enjoy it. A wolf’s howl. I frowned, though I didn’t think I’d mistaken it. My not-so-secret obsession of werewolves stemmed off into my obsession with wolves. I’d go on YouTube and listen to the howls of wolves, coyotes and foxes, over and over again until I could tell them apart nine times out of ten when Maddie played them for me. Maybe I needed more practice though, because wolves didn’t inhabit the area. 
    I couldn’t be sure without hearing it again, but there was nothing to be heard. There wasn’t a second howl to make a final