Read Online Promised at the Moon by Rebekah R. Ganiere - Free Book Online Page B

picked up her new purse and stuck the pink phone and wallet inside, along with a stack of money. She located her yellow bag and shoved her emergency items inside. After slinging the bag over her shoulder, she walked to her car and put it in the trunk. She touched the plastic on her window and thought of Liam. She bit her lip. She should tell him where she was going. But he hadn’t tried to contact her. It was obvious that his relocation duties were over.
    It was time for her to find a new pack.
    * * * * *
    Natasha pulled into a spot overlooking the beach. The bonfire blazed into the night. A huge group of people danced and milled down below. She opened her door, and music floated all the way up to where she’d parked. It wasn’t hard to distinguish Clint and his crew from the rest. Rock and Buck wrestled while Clint cheered them on.
    She descended the steps until her feet slid into the lukewarm sand. The feel of it between her toes made her smile. Her pack had vacationed in Hilton Head, South Carolina every year. Memories of Daniel and Cole playing chicken in the pool, walking the beach with her parents, bonfires on the sand, flooded her. Her smile fell, and she swallowed hard.
    “Hey, beautiful!” Clint ran toward her. His surfer blond hair flapped as he ran. He hugged her in his strong, tanned arms. “I thought you were gonna ditch me.”
    “I told you I’d come.” She pushed away, but he took her hand.
    “Come on, let me introduce you.”
    She wanted to remove her fingers but was afraid of hurting his feelings, so she let him lead her along.
    There were more than thirty young people on the beach. Most of the males held beers and the females drank from clear plastic cups. Buck and Rock waved at her from where they wrestled. She returned the wave. A pretty redheaded girl stood by, cheering Buck on.
    Over the next ten minutes, Clint dragged her around the group introducing everyone by name. She forgot the names as soon as they’d been spoken. When he finished, he leaned in close and asked her if she wanted a drink.
    “Water, please, if you have any.”
    He led her to a cooler, taking out two waters and handing her one. She opened it and took several large gulps.
    “So are all of them your pack mates?”
    “Yeah,” he laughed. “A few I’d be okay without, but for the most part, they’re good wolves.”
    “I thought there were only a dozen of us on campus.”
    “Oh, there are.” He gestured to the group. “Most of these guys go to the state school down the road. Buck actually applied to a bunch of performing arts schools but got his applications in too late for this year so he’s waiting to hear back about next year.”
    “Buck? At a performing arts school?”
    “Crazy, right? He’s mad talented on the piano. Though you’d never know it from the way he screws around with everything else.”
    “I’d love to hear him play.”
    “He’s playing next weekend at Pinky’s. You should come.” Clint gulped down his water.
    She smiled. “Maybe I will.”
    “So, what about you?” he asked. “You planning on staying here for a while or is this just a rest stop on your way to better places?”
    “Why would you think this is a rest stop?”
    “Because it’s a community college and you seem more of a private school kind of girl.”
    “Oh really? And what gives you that impression?”
    His eyebrows drew together. “Seriously? You wear Ralph Lauren. Your purse and sunglasses are real, not something you picked up in Chinatown. Your flip-flops alone cost over a hundred dollars, and you take your school work seriously.”
    “Wow. That is quite the assessment.”
    “Besides, you’re drop-dead gorgeous. Girls like you don’t stay at community colleges, they end up in mansions in Beverly Hills.”
    “Well who says I want to end up as someone’s trophy wife?”
    He shrugged. “I didn’t say you wanted to.”
    “And what about you, Mr. Eighty-five-dollar Shirt, tucked into one-hundred-and-ten-dollar