Coincidences

*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*

Sinlan:

"What now?" He seemed to stop as his eyes shot to me, wide and curious. 

I could understand his surprise. "Yeah, my wolf seems pretty certain and I can't quite get the woman out of my head. I didn't want to think of it as more than a dream, because the Goddess doesn't exactly guide our path to our mates. That's on us you know?"

Sie lowered his head in thought. I gave him a moment to process. "You're right she doesn't." He sounded disappointed. Had I taken away his hope already? We had to be realistic about the situation. If it was just a dream, being hopeful our mate is near and then let down could really cause his wolf to finally snap and take control. He'd been fighting to keep it under control and I didn't want a big disappointment to cause a domino effect leading to the wolf being in the driver's seat long term. 

His voice was more focused when he spoke again. "So, why would she be making an exception this time? Although knowing you also shared a similar dream, I can't possibly accept it as a coincidence. It must be a sign, and you know what that means." He wasn't truly asking me, he was reminding me of our honor to the Goddess.

I nodded. "We follow it." He went back to looking out of the window, his jaw tensed and his foot tapping as his mind raced. I looked ahead, wondering what the Goddess had meant for us to do next. If it was a message, it is clear she was telling us our mates are still out there. No additional signs about where to go could mean we were on the right path to finding them, but where were they? 

Sie turned on the radio, "Well, no use worrying for now. We can't exactly skip this meeting to go mate hunting. So, we'll talk more about what we can do or where we can look when we return home tomorrow." 

"Sounds like a plan." "We should be looking now!" I shook my head to my wolf. We had an obligation and we had to honor it. I felt him snuff and then lay back down. It was a useless argument, as the leaders of the Shadow Moon pack we had to be there. Our mates had waited this long, what was another few days?

Sie let out a small laugh, "My wolf just yelled at me for waiting. I don't think he's as patient." I smiled at my best friend. I know he played it lightly, but his wolf had to be getting difficult to separate from himself. Difficult to focus or contain. He needed his mate. Mine wanted his, but Sie was different. He needed his Luna. Our pack had been struggling without one lately, the women feeling unheard, the children unguided. We needed his mate more than any other. I could wait, so his would be who we looked for first. He thought I didn't know about his efforts to contain his wolf. The time he spent every night taking his wolf hunting and for extra runs to try and curb its energy. It was my main job to keep an eye on him. I'd be a poor excuse for his Beta if he'd slipped by me that easily. 

"Maybe we can find them together." I smiled at my wolf's optimism, hoping he was right. The rest of the drive was relatively quiet, we made small talk about the statistics of our pack. Daniel woke up around lunchtime.

"I'm starving!"

"Staying up all night tends to do that. We still have a bit of a drive, we can stop for something quick though." Sie motioned to the upcoming exit that had a few restaurants posted to it. We stopped at a restaurant on the next exit and got something quick to eat. Burgers and fries, the burgers weren't anything like at home, but it filled the void for food at the moment.

"This food tastes like crap." Daniel said as he scarfed down the double cheeseburger. He hadn't been away from base often and was used to the fresh food we ate at home.

I laughed a bit before responding. "Well it's only part real meat, a lot of synthetic things go in to make it last. It gets the job done though." He nodded as he finished it quickly, not wanting to suffer the taste longer than necessary. "The fries are good though. Fake potatoes, but crispy and salty." He took one with caution but quickly changed to a much more satisfied smile as he took the first bite.

"What kind of food will the meeting have?" 

Sie took a sip of his water before answering, "It's usually catered by a company we use for all the events. Think of them as paranormal food service. They cater to all species equally. Most of the workers are rogues or other species that live in the mortal world. It lets them get paid a bit more than standard jobs because we offer extra for their silence after the parties. So does the mortal government. Meaning, there will be real food, and fresh!" The food was one of the plus sides of these meetings. 

The catering company was an agreement arranged with the mortal government along with the other laws and regulations monitoring who handles what situations and the privacy of various species. They provided the company with a regular bonus for their confidentiality. In turn, paranormals who wanted to live a mortal life had a job with like individuals and got opportunities to meet others of their kind. A handful of full humans worked with it as well but there was a very long screening process in order to make it, and then an even more thorough one to get past the kitchen and to the actual events. 

"Good! And one more question, should I plan to be awake early tomorrow?" Sie and I shook our heads at one another. He was meaning should he drink or go to bed sober.

"We leave after lunch, but don't be late. One pm is when this car leaves the hotel!" 

"Understood Beta, thank you." I smiled, thinking of what it would be like to be so free even for an evening. That would be a reward in itself. Sie and I can't afford that luxury. We had to be ready for anything at all times. 

It had been nearly a hundred years since war amongst the four main territories was outlawed, but territory battles among the packs within each group were still allowed and a very big concern. No pack from the North could attack the South, West, or East, but the packs that made up the North could fight one another. Harvest Moon was never a threat, they were happy with their reach and land. They'd also earned an unspoken immunity to attacks from others. 

Harvest had earned peace from all the Northern packs in the big war, nothing official, but an unspoken agreement. They had sacrificed their Alpha and Beta to the war to protect the remaining Alpha lines. The only reason the pack didn't disintegrate after the war was their welcoming arms to rogues. A rogue alpha who had lost their pack took over and kept the Harvest Moon together. In turn, we gave them space to rebuild and solidify their new pack.

Blood Moon and Claw Moon were the ones we had to be on alert from, and they were our sharing border neighbors as well. The last battle for territory had been Claw attempting to take Iowa from us. They'd lost easily enough, but that was only ten years ago. It had been a battle Sie had to take on as soon as he took the position of Alpha. I hadn't become Beta yet, but I'd fought in that battle. We knew it was unlikely we'd avoid another war in our time. We'd hope for peace, but our kind was not known for peace. 

Blood's pack size had been growing quickly. They had gotten rid of rules preventing she-wolves from procreating before they found and accepted or rejected their mates. It was even encouraged and rewarded if a pup was born regardless of mating status. Typically dating was to each their own, but procreation by intention was reserved for mated bonds and only those births were given a celebration. They would need more land soon, and they wouldn't try to take Harvest. We were the only pack it made sense for them to attack. Sie and I had been preparing for it, just so we wouldn't be caught off guard. 

"Do you think we beat Blood's statistics this season? I mean we probably had fewer rogues since they border Harvest, but we handled the ones we had super quickly." Daniel was finishing his drink as he asked about the topic we had been discussing most of his nap.

Sie chuckled a bit, "Well if our sources are correct we did, but you never know until we get there."

The rest of the car ride was quiet except for the radio. I glanced at Sie a few times and caught a slight smile on his face. It was nice to see it again. He'd been without one so long it was almost forgotten by some people. Daniel would sing along with the music and kept pointing out landmarks we passed. It was like a kid on their first trip. Which is basically what it was for him since he'd never left the pack's territory. When we reached the hotel he literally gasped. It was probably one of the tallest buildings in the city. It looked clean and upscale, which just made me miss home even more. It made me miss our woods. Daniel and I grabbed the bags, Sie headed to the desk. 

The woman there got red in her cheeks seeing him and then more so when we joined him. She stumbled a bit with her words asking for the name on the reservation. Sie didn't look at her directly, just the guards around, gauging their strength and identifying risks. I was counting the doorways and windows within range, analyzing escape routes if necessary. Daniel however was watching the woman with a huge smile on his face. He wasn't as accustomed to the reaction women gave Sie and I. We both knew from her scent alone she wasn't our mate, and that was all we needed to know to not care about anything else about her. 

Sie gave his first name and the woman found it. Quickly grabbing a business card and the three keys under his name. "Here are your keys and a card with the company phone on it." She grabbed a pen and wrote something on the card quickly, "It also has my name and number. Call if you need anything." She twirled her hair as she said the last part, giving a knowing pause between need and anything. Sie finally turned to face her, his face neutral and uncaring. He put his hand out and accepted the keys and card. As we turned away he dropped the card into the nearby trash can and handed us our keys. We all heard the woman give a loud scoff in response. 

"I don't think she was used to being ignored." Daniel said with a chuckle as we reached the elevator. We got in and turned to push the button and the woman from the desk was staring daggers in our direction, clearly upset. Sie and I looked ahead, ignoring her further.

"Yeah, but she'll get over it." The elevator door closed and we headed to our floor. All the packs were on different floors. The leaders each had adjoining rooms and an extra for their protection under the Alpha's name, but the entire floor was reserved in names for any members who had wanted to join. We'd had a few who planned to come, but they were in charge of getting here on their own and most wouldn't come until later since they didn't have to be there earlier than the party itself. Meetings started around six, the party was set to start at eight. We had the full Good Earth State Park reserved with entrances taped off and guarded. It would be after the park's regular hours so most mortals wouldn't be trying to enter regardless, but it never hurts to be extra cautious.

We reached the three rooms we would be in for the evening. Sie turned to look at Daniel and I. His voice was clear and even, his commanding tone. "Okay, we will meet at five-thirty to go to the park. We'll drive since they don't want us shifting to avoid upsetting the mortals in the area. Don't be late, I won't remind you." 

"Yes Alpha." Daniel and I said in unison as we all headed into our rooms.