The Moon Goddess [3] ✓

☽ Against the World

"Your mom's nice."

"She's crazy, she doesn't know what she's talking about." Zack sighed in exasperation.

We walked in silence again until we reached the front entrance.

"Do you have a ride home?" He asked randomly and I looked around, seeing a couple of people studying me.

"Yeah, Landon said he'd drive me home after he talked to the Alpha and Luna."

"Did you meet Penny?"

"Yes, I did. She's nice."

"She's clingy, especially for a mate."

That, too.

"How did he meet her?" I asked curiously.

"It was when you went missing. He was talking to other packs about you and then he saw her. That's it." Zack made it sound like it wasn't special but I thought finding your mate was one of the biggest parts of a werewolf's life.

Just then Landon himself found us.

"Hey, Maddy, you ready to go?" Landon asked from the stairs, Penny by his side. He walked up to me and Zack with keys in his hand.

"Yeah," I looked at Zack, "Bye, Zack,"

"Bye, Maddy," He walked away, his job to protect me done.

After Landon found me, he gave me a ride home. Penny wanted to come along but he told her to stay at the castle.

When I got home, I asked Mom and Dad if I could sleep over at a friend's house and they couldn't say yes fast enough. They wanted me to have at least one friend other than Cassie, who wasn't really my friend right now.

As I got upstairs, I wondered what I should wear for the induction tomorrow. It wasn't like I'd been to one before, was it a formal thing or casual thing? Or semi-formal? Should I wear my hair up or down?

I was going to ask Cassie but realized she wasn't home. Not that she'd tell me.

Wait a second, Cassie never invited me to her induction. Did she forget or just not want me there?

I took a deep breath, torn between two choices.

.•*•.

It was insanely different from how the rogues held my induction. The celebration was outside, everyone talking amongst each other in small circles.

The Alpha and Luna were standing in a gazebo, gesturing for me to join them. It felt weird to be singled out and join the most powerful wolves in the pack.

Cassie wasn't there. I wanted her there but decided that I didn't want to anger her more. Seeing me would only irritate her and I doubted that she'd want to see Landon with his mate.

"Can I have everyone's attention?" Alpha Ares announced loudly and everyone stopped talking.

All eyes were on me. Some were captivated, some were passive and some were suspicious. My heart raced when I met their stares. I hoped I wouldn't make a mistake.