Broken Moon: Part 1 Read Online Free

none shared his log
bench.
    That was fine by Cyan.
He was used to it.
     
    * * * * *
     
    "I'm going to go and
say hello," April whispered to Harper in the doorway of her
cabin.
    "Really? What for?"
    "He's an outsider,
think of all the stories he might have to tell! He could even have
come from one of the other packs."
    "Why would we need to
know about them? It's not like it matters to us."
    April
rolled her eyes at him. " Because there's more to the world than just this little
mountain. It'll be interesting! Besides, who else is going to talk
to him?"
    Harper gave her a
shrug. "Okay then, if that's what you want. I'm going to go get
something to eat. See you on that patrol of ours later?"
    April hesitated as he
leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Aren't you even a little bit curious
about who he is?"
    "Nope," Harper said.
"If it matters Ingrid will let us know. If not, I'd rather spend
today doing something worthwhile."
    "Yeah, sure." April
poked out her tongue at him as he stepped away. "I'll just waste my
day being nice to strangers, I guess."
    Harper chuckled and
waved her off. "I'll see you later."
    Perhaps it really was a waste of her time. Harper had only
been joking, but she couldn't help but feel a pang of frustration
at his dismissive attitude, especially after the uncomfortable
moment they'd shared inside. She'd gotten in trouble before when
her curious streak had led to her flaunting the pack's rules, but
there was nothing wrong with just talking to an outsider,
surely?
    Blackthorn's stern gaze
followed her all the way down the path from her cabin to the
central fire, and she made sure to give him a nudge with her elbow
as she passed by. He cleared his throat audibly and tried to
correct his flinch without making it obvious, but she saw the smile
on the newcomer's lips as he looked their way.
    "Don't worry about
Blackthorn," she said as she sat down on the bench beside the
weatherbeaten, dark-haired man. "He used to boss us all around when
we were little, too. He was the big boy, so he had to be all
"responsible" for everyone."
    The outsider smiled
again, and Blackthorn turned away as though he hadn't heard the
comment.
    "Well it's nice to know
there's at least one friendly face here," he said. "I'm Cyan." He
held out his hand and she took it with a grin, a little surprised
by the firmness of his grip, the hard callouses of his fingers
digging into her skin like claws.
    "April. Pleased to meet
you!"
    He looked a few years
her senior, but couldn't have been older than thirty. A rough
coating of stubble lined his jaw, and his eyes shone a light,
almost amber shade of brown. Though his thick black hair was a
little wild and long, she thought it suited him nicely. After all,
if he was a wild lone wolf he might as well look the part.
    "Are you from one of
the forest packs?" She asked, curiosity tingling inside her.
    "Take your pick," he
replied. "I've been with just about all of them at one point or
another. I take it you don't get much news from the outside world
up here?"
    She shook her head. "I
was a teenager the last time we had any outsiders come to
visit."
    Cyan whistled. "And
there was me thinking the forest was cut off from
civilisation..."
    "Hey,
we can't all be world travellers. Some of us have homes to go to."
April winced. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean — "
    "It's fine. I'd have a
home if I wanted one. Sometimes it's just hard to settle down."
    "Try telling that to
everyone here," she said. "Settling down's pretty much the story of
our lives. Not that that's bad, of course," she added hastily.
     
    Cyan nodded, gazing
into the fire as he held out his hands to warm them. Thin scars
traced his muscular forearms, and when April's eyes flicked up to
his face she saw the firelight glinting off what looked like faint
claw marks running across his nose and cheek.
    She shivered, wondering
again whether Harper had been right about avoiding this man. There
was nobody like this in the Highland Pack.
    "So... what are the
other