Read The Lunam Ceremony (Book One) for Free Online Page A

area will be illuminated by the moon. A moon that will determine my fate.
    Layla is surrounded by people; her old pack I assume. She is glowing in her black and white sundress. I look at the older men and wonder which one is my father. Will I know him when I see him? Will he know me?
    “Kalysia?” says a voice from behind me. “Are you Layla’s daughter?”
    I turn around and find a girl in a blue strapless maxi dress. “Yes,” I say and hold out my hand.
    “I’m Cassie, from Dunsmuir, I mean, Shasta,” she corrects and shakes my hand. “I think we’re sort of cousins.” She laughs shyly.
    I wonder why she thinks we’re cousins. I don’t have time to ask because I am bombarded with faces I’ve never seen before. They all know my name. They give me hugs and say we’re related in some way or another. I try to be polite to everyone, but it’s so overwhelming.
    “Kalysia, do you think you can help me in the bathroom really quick?” Cassie grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowd. “Girl stuff, you know.” Her warm smile softens the hard looks she’s getting as we ease out of the circle of strangers.
    “Thank you,” I say and loop my arm with hers. “I have no idea who any of those people are.”
    “They are mostly cousins and aunts on your mom’s side.” Cassie seems pretty knowledgeable of my family tree. I wonder if she knows my father?
    A group of girls shoot dirty looks our way as we walk into the bathroom. It’s really more like a locker room with a line of shower stalls and open cubbies in addition to the bathroom stalls and sinks. It’s only slightly cooler in here, but at least we’re out of the sun.
    “Nice shorts. Is that what human girls are sporting these days?” one of them says, and the others fall over themselves laughing. I am slightly underdressed. Most of the girls are in sundresses while I’m in ripped jean shorts and a white tank. I practically lived in this outfit back home. I already feel out of place, I at least want to be comfortable in my own clothes.
    Cassie says the girls are jealous because I was raised out of the pack.
    “How do they know where I was raised?”
    “Everyone knows who you are, Kalysia. You’re famous.”
    I tell her my life wasn’t as glamorous as they all think.
    “Well, at least you got to go to school. Most of us were homeschooled, and the only socializing we get to do is with each other. Everyone is so freaked out we’ll get knocked up by a human we barely leave our compound.”
    Hearing words like homeschool and compound make me wince. “Ever heard of birth control?”
    “What do you mean?” Cassie asks while she splashes cold water on her arms and neck.
    “You know, condoms, the pill? Layla put me on it after—”
    “What!” Cassie shrieks. She pulls me into a shower stall for privacy. “You were on the pill?” She whispers like it’s top secret information. Pack life must be a lot more sheltered than I even thought. No wonder Layla took me away. This is what she meant by me being stronger, smarter than she was.
    “Cassie, chillax. A lot of girls take it.”
    “Human girls, not us,” she says.
    “Maybe if more of us took it, we could solve the teen pregnancy issue.”
    Cassie doesn’t find my offhanded comment funny. “Kalysia, never tell anyone, not even your match, that you were on the pill.”
    “What difference does it make now? I stopped taking it last month.” Apparently, I won’t need it after Lunam since I can only get knocked up during mating season, and only by a pureblood.
    “Some believe the pill makes us sterile. There have been instances where females that took it were unable to conceive, ever.” Cassie’s tone is serious. She really believes this, even though modern science says otherwise. Even if modern science doesn’t apply to us, I know Layla would never jeopardize my ability to have children. It’s basically the reason for my existence.
    “It doesn’t always happen the first time,” I tell