Read New Moon Summer (Seasons of the Moon) for Free Online

party.”
    “I should have been watching you.” Resolve hardened his jaw. Her eyes followed the scars from his temple down to his neck, where they disappeared under the collar of his black tank top.
    She faced the waxing moon, hugging her arms around herself. Rylie had to stop staring at him. “I miss Seth,” she sighed.
    Abel didn’t respond.
    “Is there any word on the missing wolf?” she asked.
    “Not yet. And there’s nothing we can do about Seth unless you want to go look for this Isoba kid yourself. So you should stop worrying about it. Come on, let’s go party—they’re playing good music.”
    “That’s a great idea,” Rylie said.
    Abel started to walk back to the barn. “Awesome.”
    “No, not the party. Looking for Isoba. Let’s do it.”
    “Seriously?”
    If the choice was between waiting at the ranch for Levi to challenge her, or leaving to be with her boyfriend… It was hardly a difficult decision.
    “Seriously,” Rylie said. “Let’s go.”

S EVEN
    Seaside
    Rylie called Scott and made arrangements. By the time dinner rolled around the next evening, she was on a flight with Abel to North Harbor.
    She hadn’t flown since becoming a werewolf, and getting confined in a metal tube with a few hundred humans was overwhelming. Cigarette smoke. Body odor. Deodorant. Shampoo. Leather. Cotton. Dirty feet. She could barely distinguish one odor from the others.
    Her hands gripped the armrests. Rylie took shallow breaths and tried not to smell anything until they landed.
    Seth didn’t answer his cell phone, so they headed straight for his hotel when they hit the ground.
    North Harbor was a small town with cramped streets that stunk of fish. A gray haze hung over the air, and a storm brewed over the steely ocean. The damp breeze cooled her to the marrow. Fifty-five degrees in early July—there had to be some kind of law against that.
    The back roads were too narrow for vehicles, so the cab dropped them off at the end of Main Street, less than a mile from the hotel.
    Rylie stopped to look in a shop’s window. They had cable-knit sweaters prominently displayed on the mannequins. Apparently, cold summers didn’t surprise anyone but her.
    “Hang on,” she called to Abel, who had walked away without her. “I want to buy a sweater real quick.”
    He stopped and rolled his eyes. “We’re a block away from the hotel.”
    “But it’s cold.”
    Abel shucked his shirt so that he was wearing nothing but the tank top underneath. He draped it over her shoulders. It was warm and engulfed her in his smell.
    To her surprise, he reached back to pull her hair out of the collar. His hand lingered on her shoulder.
    After a second, he stepped back. Coughed into his fist.
    “You can get a sweater later.” Abel’s voice sounded weird. “Let’s go.”
    Scott Whyte always made sure they had first-class accommodations when they traveled, and the hotel he had put Seth up in was no exception. It was an old building that smelled like it had been recently remodeled—Rylie detected the aroma of paint and newly-quarried stone.
    They went inside. The lobby had marble floors and a chandelier, and the man at the front desk gave them a skeptical look when they asked to call Seth’s room.
    “Are you expected?” he asked without reaching for the phone.
    Abel leaned over the desk, using every inch of his six and a half feet to tower over the receptionist. “Yes.”
    The man shrunk back and dialed.
    When Seth didn’t answer, it took him two tries to hang the phone up again. “I don’t think he’s in his room.”
    Rylie frowned and stepped outside to call his cell phone again. No response. “He’s probably hunting,” Abel said, appearing at her side.
    “But I haven’t heard from him in two days. What if he’s hurt or something?”
    She expected Abel to blow off the suggestion, but his brow drew low over his eyes. “I’m going to look around town. See if I can find Isoba’s house. Stay here, at the