Preparations

*The name at the top of each chapter is the point of view the chapter is based on. Bold is inner wolf voices, italic text is mental links*

Sylvia:

"Hi there." He said with a small smile as he moved to the side so we could fit next to him. The smell from before was still slightly lingering in the elevator but only slightly. The air freshener must have run out or need to be reapplied. 

"Hello, are you here for the event?" Mel asked without even skipping a beat as she took the middle spot between the two of us. I couldn't help but smile a bit as I watched her work her own bit of magic on the guy.

"I am, guessing you are working for the catering company?" He tilted his head a bit to the side as he read the logo on her shirt. His blue eyes then wandered up and down until they landed on her face and his face broke out into a large smile.

"That we are, I'm Melinda. Nice to meet you." She put out her hand and he took it with his smile growing on his face as his eyes focused on her. Mel let one leg dip, leaning ever so slightly towards the new man and I fought the urge to shake my head. She always found someone to flirt with at the events, but this was a record for the shortest time. The event hadn't even started!

"I'm Daniel, it is a pleasure to meet you." Mel let go of his hand and smiled up at him. I smiled a bit to myself, I would definitely be going home by myself tomorrow. Bright side, there was always someone from work willing to give me a ride. Although it was often an attempt to learn more about me since, according to the general consensus, I was the quiet one no one knew much about. That was how the last person who gave me a ride home responded when I questioned their nonstop line of questioning about my life. "You as well." He put his hand out to me but with a much more polite smile, the energy behind it not at all matching what he had with Mel.

"Sylvia, nice to meet you." I raised my head and gave him a matching polite small smile before shaking his hand very briefly. He nodded once to me before I turned away, letting him put his focus back on Mel.

I'd been here an entire minute and was already making mistakes. The fewer wolves who knew my name the better. Although it was very clear this one wasn't my mate. None of the signs I'd heard about were there. Nothing special about his scent, my locked wolf kept on resting, and no draw or longing came from the extremely brief eye contact I had made on impulse when introducing myself. I'd have to make sure my eyes stayed low the rest of the night. I'd been lucky this time. No more introductions! I could do this, it was one night. 

"So what pack are you with?" Mel had one floor left of flirting before it would have to pause for the events of the night.

"Shadow Moon, I'm the second Omega. My Alpha and Beta will be down shortly actually. Will you be working the main party tonight?"

"Not sure yet, but most likely. Save me a dance for the end of the night?" My smile was now impossible to hide as I lowered my head even further and feigned a cough to cover a chuckle. Mel gave me a very quick and obvious elbow which just made me smile more.

"You got it Melinda." The doors opened onto the first floor and the wolf known as Daniel gestured for us to go before him. What a gentleman, at least he was polite. We walked out, Mel giving him one last fleeting glance as we exited the lobby doors while he waited by the elevator for his Alpha and Beta.

We made it past the doors when I finally let out my laugh. Mel slapped my arm and I recoiled back still laughing. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it!"

She got in her side of the car and I was still chuckling as I got into the passenger side. "He was cute."

"Yeah I'm sure cute was the word that came to your mind." She shrugged, admitting her mind had definitely thought of other things to describe him. "Exactly." This time she joined me in my laugh as we pulled off, heading to the parking location for the park.

I'd quieted my giggles on the drive. As we pulled up Mel turned to me quickly, "Okay, but in seriousness, he did seem nice, right?"

I nodded, "He did seem nice, I think you and him would definitely get along well." She smiled as she walked to me and tossed her arm over my shoulders.

"I'm going to trust that intuition of yours Sylv." I shook my head, she had her own to trust, but she swore mine was better. For what reasons I never understood. If I followed my own intuition I wouldn't be here right now. The growing feeling of regret was starting to pound at my head as we reached the area with the tents set up. 

I saw a few wolves standing in a clearing of trees several feet away from the tent structures. That would be their official meetings, the official main event but in reality, it was the required work to get to what everyone really came for, the party. I walked into the tent with the kitchen and our manager waiting, smelling the fresh meat on the burners and warmers. It did smell delicious, but we weren't allowed to eat the catered food.

"Thank the Goddess you two are here! Okay I know you want to be the main event floor Melinda, wish granted! Sylvia, I need you to at least run in-betweens. I have our new hire who isn't cleared for public contact yet running tent duty on refills, you will be the main tray runner between the event and the tent." Well, it kept me out of the main floor, but my legs would hate me tomorrow. Megan's hair was in a tight bun, the long brown hair restrained successfully in a way mine would never stay.

"Sounds good to me. As long as I'm not on the main floor!" I put up my nicest smile trying to comfort her. She'd had an incredibly stressful day with the last-minute staff changes for such a big event. I'm sure the big boss man was hounding her all day to have it settled in time.

As if to confirm my suspicions her phone rang and she answered without even checking the name, "Hello sir, yes they are both here. I have a total of four servers on the main floor, Sylvia is the go-between but she's the fastest we have, our newbie is on kitchen duty, and the remaining staff are handling the dining tent for sit-down service. I will personally handle kitchen restock and any other fires as they come." She took a slow breath as she finished, a small smile forming on her lips. 

Then she continued with a nod as she spoke. "Thank you sir, yes, I will update you when we are cleaning up and send pictures to ensure we are covered." She put the phone back in her pocket, another slow sigh escaping as she did. "Okay, let's go team! We have the first round of trays to prepare, the dining tent to finish setting up, and I need the main floor decorated with the lights and sound system checks." We all began to hustle with our normal setup duties.

I was on light duty because I was the only one with enough agility to climb the trees without worrying about hurting myself. My wolf side had its benefits, not that anyone knew it was a skill due to anything other than practice. It was a bit of practice as well, so I hadn't completely lied when it came up. 

I loved climbing, always had, and trees were definitely my comfort space. I took the boxes out to the outside of the tents and main floor. The main floor wasn't a complete tent. There was no top to it tonight, it was removable and only used when the weather called for it. All the wolves would prefer a cool and clear night like this with the stars above their heads instead of some fancy tarp.

I grabbed one end of the battery-operated light string and began to climb the corner tree to the main floor, being sure to twist around and intertwine the lights on branches along the way. Once I was about twelve feet up I anchored it around a branch, tying it in place. A quick jump down and I was off to the next tree. This one was a little closer to the pack's meeting. I could probably hear their discussion if I tried, but I was trying very hard to ignore the chattering and not notice any voices in particular. A strong breeze blew in my direction and I breathed in the absolutely beautiful scent of the forest, it was the same dewey tree scent from the elevator. That was strange, it hadn't rained today. There was no dew in place this time of day. 

I shrugged it off and climbed up another tree, once again repeating the pattern of interweaving between branches and anchoring the lights properly before jumping down. I repeated this process five more times around the main floor, then on each corner of the outside for the other tents. The entryway had lights that were placed onto the ground showing the path to take towards the main floor and the path from it to the dining tent. The remaining path was from the two party locations to the food tent and it was for me only so it didn't need any lights. Inside the dining tent, lights were wrapped around the bars of the tall roof and the base around the tent as well as the small light-up centerpieces.

"Lighting is complete. Want me to start the sound system?" I asked Megan as I put the empty boxes away.

"Yes please, apparently the meetings will be wrapping up a bit early, make sure the speakers are in the four corners, and remember,"

"The blue edge one has a short I know. I got the tape." I picked up the electrical tape and waved it to her as I took it to the main floor. The speakers were already waiting for me in the center. I was the setup person, but another worker usually got them to the right part of the event at least.

At least I got to work on such a beautiful night. The stars were bright, and my lights made everything twinkle in the air around the floor. It was such a huge space that even the speakers seemed somehow small in comparison. The nature all around was definitely the main attraction for me, anything else was just adding unnecessary touches. It wasn't my job to judge the decorations though, it was my job to put things where they belonged and those speakers belonged in the four corners.

Once everything was in place the crew members met in the food tent, which was essentially the employee lounge as well. "Okay guys, the party is about to start. It looks beautiful and the night will be amazing! Go team on three?" Why Megan insisted on this every time was still a question I had not answered. We all put our hands together and smiled as she counted to three, "One, two, three!" A booming 'Go Team' was heard from everyone before a set of laughter and small chatter as everyone left to take their places.

As if on cue the wolves in the distance began to make their way to the main floor, a flood of others walking from the edge of the park. The ones who had come with their packs but were not a part of the meeting itself. I lowered my head, took a slow calming breath, and let my energy ground into the earth sending a silent call to the moon goddess to help me hide and survive the night. It was party time.