Sanctum (Blackwater Pack Book 1)

by Hannah McBride

  And I meant that in a completely objective way.

  I looked up as Katy came over, Maren's hand tucked inside of hers.

  "Mare, this is Skye," Katy introduced. "Skye, this is my girlfriend, Maren. I demand you two be friends."

  Maren laughed and shook her head. She extended her free hand to me. "Nice to meet you, Skye."

  "Same," I replied with a tentative smile.

  Maren grinned at Larkin, reaching over to hug the omega with her free arm. "Hey, Lark."

  Larkin returned the hug and my chest relaxed. Something in me was super protective of Larkin and seeing her at ease with Maren made me happy.

  "How was the run?" Larkin asked.

  "Would have been better if Ryder didn't decide to take a shortcut through the mountain pass that was closed off due to a rockslide," a new voice said wryly. I glanced up to see the brunette that had been with the guys now standing with us.

  She was my height, with intelligent hazel eyes and long, dark hair.

  Her face split into a wide smile and she held out a hand. "I'm Tate."

  "Skye," I replied, taking her hand in mine.

  Her eyes rolled. "Oh, I know. You've caused quite the stir around here. Like these guys have never met a new shifter or something."

  Katy smirked. "Right? I'm taking bets on the first guy to ask her out."

  Larkin's lips pressed into a thin line. "Caleb was already here earlier."

  Tate glowered and Katy looked around quickly, her dark eyes scanning the party.

  "He left," I said when I realized she was looking for him.

  "He's such a dick," Tate muttered, running a hand through her hair. "I can't believe he had the nerve to show up to a Blackwater party."

  "He came by himself," Larkin added, still nibbling her lower lip.

  "That's something," Katy replied with a frown. "But Trace came by our table at breakfast and tried to start something."

  Maren snorted into her cup. "I bet Remy and Rhodes shut that down quick."

  "Actually, Skye did," Katy said smugly, lifting her cup slightly in my direction. "She basically told him to fuck off. It was pretty epic."

  "Good for you," Tate said with a grin. "That guy needs to be taken down a notch or twenty." She took a drink of her own drink and looked past me, her gaze narrowing.

  "For fuck's sake,” she muttered with a huff. She stormed off in the direction of the guys. A petite newcomer was currently stroking the arm of an unimpressed Dante. We all watched Tate walk up and physically insert herself between the two of them until the girl stepped back and slunk away with her tail tucked firmly between her short legs.

  Tate whirled to look at Dante, but Ryder settled his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him. Rhodes said something that made them all laugh. Even Tate relaxed, and Dante reached up to touch her cheek.

  My confusion must have read on my face because Maren leaned over and explained, "They're all three together."

  I nodded slowly, watching Tate smile at both boys. With the decline of female shifters, seeing two guys sharing a female wasn't unusual, but in Long Mesa, it was usually an order by the Alpha or decided by the males, not a choice the female made.

  Tate definitely didn't look coerced to be with both of them.

  I was still studying them curiously when Remy's eyes lifted to mine. Across the fire, his eyes glowed molten gold. His lips curved into a half smile as he nodded to me before turning back to his friends.

  Sucking in a sharp breath, I focused back on the conversation between Katy, Larkin, and Maren.

  Yeah, I could definitely see why girls couldn't stay away.

  14

  The party had gone on until the early hours of the morning, but Larkin and I left shortly before midnight. She was tired, and I was exhausted from all the new people I had met, and I desperately wanted to decompress. It only took seconds for me to fall asleep, but in those few seconds I realized I hadn't talked to my mom in over twenty-four hours, which was a definite first. After mentally vowing to call her after my first day of school, I fell into a hard sleep and only woke up once Larkin's alarm went off.

  We both showered in the omega floor bathroom, and I tried to ignore the curious stares as I left the steam of the room wrapped in a big towel. We hurried and changed to get down to breakfast. I opted to braid my wet hair instead of drying it but regretted that decision the second I stepped out of the dorm and into the brisk September morning.

  Larkin and I grabbed our breakfast from the buffet line, my stomach growling as I smelled all the foods. I mimicked Larkin's choices, grabbing a bright green fruit that smelled amazing, but I wasn't entirely sure what it was.

  Remy, Rhodes, and Katy joined us, each looking more exhausted than the other. No one spoke as we started eating, the cafeteria slowly filling up with students.

  Again, I felt their eyes on me, studying and assessing. Thankfully I hadn't seen Trace or Caleb make an appearance yet.

  Glancing up, I saw Katy smile a second before a dark blur in a red shirt launched at her. My fork clattered against my plate, and I watched in shock as Katy caught her with a laugh, pressing her lips to the human missile.

  Maren laughed, breaking their kiss to settle on Katy's lap and then pressed her lips to her girlfriend's neck. Katy let out a decidedly feminine giggle, squirming on her seat.

  "No PDAs where we eat," Remy said, keeping his eyes on his tray. He stabbed a fork in the general direction of his sister. "Your rule."

  Katy leaned back as Maren settled on her lap, looping an arm across her shoulders and stealing a bite of waffle from Katy's plate.

  "I've barely seen her in three days, Rem," Katy whined.

  He shrugged. "You saw her last night. Besides, you made the rule."

  "When you were fourteen and realized what french kissing was," Katy retorted. She rolled her eyes. "If I had to see you try to tonsil fuck another girl, I was going to stab myself."

  Rhodes smirked at Remy. "I remember those days. You and .... Gina DeVrys! That was her name. The senior from the Quebec pack."

  Remy sighed, shaking his head. I thought he would tell them both to shut up, but instead he looked at them with a wicked gleam in his eye. "I learned a lot freshman year."

  Rhodes laughed, Katy grimaced, and I tried to ignore the ugly feeling worming inside me.

  "Ew. Sick." Katy shuddered.

  I looked up as Tate, Dante and Ryder joined us, pulling over the table beside ours. Rhodes and Larkin stood up so they could drag the table flush to ours before settling in. Dante leaned down, whispering something to Tate who smiled and nodded. Dante and Ryder headed off towards the buffet line while Tate sat down by Larkin.

  "So, Skye," Tate started, her dark eyes like chips of warm amber gleaming at me, "ready for your first day at GPA?"

  I shrugged a shoulder. "I guess."

  "She has English with us first," Katy added, spearing a bite of waffle and then feeding another bite to Maren.

  "Oh, good" Tate said with a grin. "Dante does, too."

  "Am I the only one not in this class?" Rhodes groused, shoving an entire slice of bacon in his mouth and chewing.

  "Ryder isn't." Tate shrugged. She propped an elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm. She gave a sniff of entitlement, clearly teasing them. "I guess you two weren't good enough to make honors English."

  Rhodes snorted. "It's English. I don't see why honors is so different. Ryder and me could absolutely handle it."

  "Ryder and I," Katy corrected with an eye roll.

  Rhodes frowned. "What about you and Ryder?"

  "And this is exactly why you need to be in a different class." Katy huffed a laugh as Dante and Ryder brought their trays over. Dante carried two trays, one of which he set in front of Tate before going around to the other side of the table and sitting down.

  "How's the move been?" Dante asked me from his seat beside Remy. Both of them watched me for an answer and I shifted in my seat under their stares. Two alpha stares was a bit
disconcerting.

  "It's been fine," I finally answered, going back to my scrambled eggs. There was melted cheese mixed into them and I barely wanted to take the time it took to chew. It was like my body was trying to inhale as much food as I could before I was inevitably sent back to minimal meals and crappy food.

  Dante's eyes slid to Remy. "I heard Trace made an appearance over here yesterday."

  Remy tensed, the corners of his mouth tightening. "Just being Trace."

  Dante looked at me. "And I heard you put him in his place."

  I flushed, not sure how to answer.

  "It was pretty fucking amazing," Rhodes admitted with a grin.

  Ryder groaned and leaned back in his seat as Tate reached over and finished his last piece of sausage. "Jesus, I wish you had that on film. I would watch it over and over, man." He pointed to me. "You're my hero, Skye."

  I ducked my head. "I didn't do anything."

  Katy snorted. "You stared down an alpha dickhead. Take the credit, babe."

  I rolled my eyes and caught Larkin studying her food intently. Shit. Something was definitely going on there. Anytime Trace was mentioned, she all but froze in place. I wanted to give her the space she asked for, but something was seriously not right.

  My stomach clenched and I set down my fork, appetite gone. That checked out look in her eyes reminded me way too much of the last time I had seen Maisie.

  Instantly I felt like the biggest bitch. While I had been bonding with my new pack mates, watching movies and playing with clothes, what the hell had Maisie been enduring without me or my mom there?

  All the things I hadn't thought of in the last several days seemed to catch up to me all at once.

  I had killed another shifter. Not just any shifter, but Preston's brother. Had his body been found yet? Was my uncle on his way to Blackwater to come after us? Or maybe he would just show up here instead. Jesus, or maybe he would send Cassian and Preston.

  I could feel my thoughts starting to spiral when Remy cleared his throat. I looked up into his chocolate brown eyes. For a second, it was just us, and I felt the full weight of his alpha stare as it anchored me to the present. Slowly, the panic receded to a manageable level.

  "Skye?" he prompted, and I realized everyone was studying me, waiting for me to answer a question I never heard.

  "You good?" he asked, keeping his tone light, but I could see the concern in his eyes.

  I nodded stiffly. "Yeah, I'm great."

  "You sure?" Katy pressed.

  I scrambled for a plausible excuse. "Just nervous about today. I hope I can get caught up quick."

  Katy waved a hand dismissively. "Please, you'll be fine. And we'll all help you if you need it."

  A bell rang over our heads and I jumped at the sudden noise. Chair scraped against the tile floors as students started to get up.

  "Warning bell," Larkin explained, reaching down to grab her backpack. "We have ten minutes until first period."

  Butterflies took off in my stomach as nerves started to settle in. GPA was definitely bigger than the school I had attended in Long Mesa, but at least here, no one knew me.

  Yet.

  I still wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

  Everyone finished their breakfasts and quickly put their dirty trays away before gathering their bags. We all headed for our English class, except for Ryder and Rhodes who headed for a different class across the hall from us.

  Half the class was full already and every single student turned to look at us when we walked in.

  No, they looked at me.

  Dante, Tate, Maren and Katy all split off to sit towards the back while I hesitated under the weight of the stares from the shifters in front of me.

  A gentle hand settled against my lower back, the heat of it radiating through my shirt.

  "Come on," Remy murmured quietly, his voice pitched low so only I could hear it. My tummy flipped at his deep timbre, and I resisted the urge to lean back into his touch. "Sit with us."

  His hand on my back, he guided me to an empty seat behind Maren before sitting down in the seat next to me.

  I slid onto the plastic, shivering at the contrast between the cold plastic and his warm hand.

  My thoughts were still churning, but as I looked at Remy, he was methodically pulling his books from his own backpack, completely unaffected.

  Giving myself a mental shake, I pulled out my own notebook as Amanda entered the room. She smiled at me from the front of the board, giving me a friendly wink before turning to start writing on it.

  A few other students entered, including Trace, Caleb, and Sierra at the last minute. They all sat on the complete opposite side of the room, and I could feel the fire spitting from Sierra's eyes.

  Squaring my shoulders, I kept my eyes forward, trying to give my new teacher my complete attention.

  I wasn't interested in getting into any pack drama ever again.

  By the last period of the day, I was exhausted. GPA was more academic than Long Mesa, and I would need to study to catch up. But academics aside, I was over the stares and the whispers anytime I walked by.

  Thankfully, no one really approached me. A few people said hi, but I always seemed to have someone with me to run interference. I hoped the new girl status would wear off soon. I wasn't crazy about the idea of another school where I was stared at, even if it was for a completely different reason.

  Larkin and Ryder had just finished Earth Science with me and walked me to my last class - English Lit. No one I knew had this class with me except Remy, and as I stepped into the doorway, I could see he wasn't there.

  Keeping my head down, I hurried down a row towards the back of the class, sliding into an empty seat in the back corner.

  Several students turned to look at me, and I kept my head down as the whispers started.

  Taking out a fresh notebook, I was rooting for a pen when I heard footsteps approach.

  Thinking it was Remy, I looked up with a relieved sigh, but found a guy I had seen in a couple other classes smiling at me.

  "Hey," he said brightly, with an easy smile that showed off twin dimples. "Skye, right? I'm Andy."

  He seemed harmless enough - average height and build, dirty blonde hair cut short and bright blue eyes. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his jeans and I got the distinct impression he was ... nervous.

  "Hey," I said slowly, my fingers closing in around the pen at the bottom of my bag.

  Andy glanced back, probably at his friends, who were openly gawking, before looking sheepishly back at me.

  "How do you like GPA so far?"

  "It's fine," I answered slowly, wondering where this was going.

  He nodded enthusiastically. "Good, good. That's good." He glanced down at his shoes for a second. "I think we're in some of the same classes."

  "Yeah, I think so," I agreed cautiously, leaning back in my seat.

  His cheeks flushed and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Right. I mean, you were there so ... of course you probably noticed. Not that you noticed me, I mean. Classes aren't that big. It's good, you know? Keeps student to teacher ratios low, which improves test scores and ... stuff."

  I cocked my head to one side, trying not to smile as he rambled on.

  He was definitely nervous.

  "Anyway," he said brightly, and so suddenly it made me blink, "I just wanted to offer to show you around, if you want. Or not. But maybe we could grab dinner or something? If you want. Totally up to you."

  My eyes went wide as he stammered on.

  “But your pack is probably showing you around,” he went on, shaking his head with chagrin. “Blackwater is a big pack.”

  I nodded slowly, unable to keep my lips from curving into a small smile.

  "Or we could just hang out. I'm from the Salt Lake Pack. From Maine? It's a small pack. Not like … yours. Or maybe you came from a small pack? And now you’re in one that’s … big.”

  Definitely rambling.

  Andy
cleared his throat. "Fall Fest starts next week. Maybe we could go to the kickoff bonfire together?"

  Wait -what? Was he asking me out?

  His eyes went huge and wide. “Not like a date. Unless you wanted a date, but as, like, friends. Not that we’re friends, but we could be. If you want.”

  I started to open my mouth when I was saved, yet again.

  "Hey, Andy." Remy clapped a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder and tossed him a grin.

  He eased past Andy and sank into the seat beside me, tossing me an easygoing smile. "Thanks for saving me a seat."

  Andy coughed and stepped back. "Um, hey, Remy. I didn't know ... I mean, I didn't ... " He looked wildly around the room, his Adam's apple working as he stammered. "I need to make sure I have everything for class."

  Andy turned and nearly crashed into the desk behind him as he scrambled to get away.

  Remy chuckled under his breath, plucking a pencil from behind his ear.

  "What the heck just happened?" I was still stunned.

  "I think Andy was asking you out," he replied, eyes grinning as he looked at me. "You didn't seem like you knew what to do, but if you're interested, I can have him come back."

  "No, thank you," I said quickly.

  Remy chuckled, shaking his head. "I was kidding, Skye."

  I looked over to see Andy looking at me. He blushed and quickly looked busy as he dug through his backpack for something.

  "What's Fall Fest?" I asked, leaning forward on my desk.

  "It's basically GPA's version of homecoming week," he explained.

  I gave him a blank stare.

  "In normal school, they have this week of school spirit shit followed by a big football game, and then there's a dance at the end."

  "Oh," I replied slowly. At least I knew what football was. Cassian and his friends used to play pickup games, mostly as a way to literally throw their weight around and hurt other wolves.

  "Each day has a theme next week," he went on, his eyes rolling to the ceiling. He pushed the sleeves of his Henley up, and I swear I tried not to linger on the way the muscles of his forearms corded and shifted.