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Margie, an extremely pretty older lady with a long brunette ponytail that she wields fiercely for effect in conversation, insists on feeding us large plates of food from the barbecue cranking around us. Not that she has to push too hard. The food is delicious, and we’ve been surviving on hiking rations and whatever we foraged from the Woods for over a week now.
I sit back and just listen to the conversation around us while we eat. Margie is keen to catch Caelan up on all the gossip. Apparently Seff’s younger sister, Breanna, isn’t able to make the gathering, as she is at school and a cousin has left the country altogether to travel to Ulydessia.
Caelan makes all the right noises, and I’m pretty sure that he isn’t really sure who she is talking about ninety percent of the time, given Seff’s heavy eye rolls and regular huffs of “come on, Ma.” Eventually Margie gets distracted by one of her friends, giving her apologies and disappearing into the crowd. Caelan, clearly sensing this is his chance for an escape, slaps his hands to his thighs, moving his plate to the pile collected next to us.
“Right, I’m going to go set up our camp for the night?” He phrases it like a question, but it is very much a statement.
I eye him with gentle concern. “Do you need any help?”
He just waves me off, shaking his head and brushing off his clothes. “Nah, you enjoy yourself. I’ll get it all done.” There is a scrunchy tenseness to the corners of his eyes as they quickly roam over the pack of shifters around us. He nods once, almost like he is reassuring himself, then smiles at Seff and me. I think he is trying to convince us he is fine but he is failing miserably. I look at Seff, who looks back at me, and we share a silent beat of understanding that Caelan justneeds time to get his shit together. I just nod at Caelan, reaching out to squeeze his hand. He squeezes back and I feel it inside me.
“Go, take your time. I’ll keep him busy.” Seff winks again, a deliberate, sleazy edge to his voice, teasing Caelan into a smile. He flips the bird at his ex, pulling a face, but there is no heat behind it. Then he leaves us to go “make camp”, no doubt in the furthest spot he can possibly find that is still technically within pack grounds. I’m still watching his plaid shirt disappear into the dark when I hear Seff call out next to me. His big hand lands on my shoulder and I raise an eyebrow at him. He just smiles. Of course he does.
“Seen a friend. Wanna come say hi?”
I shake my head, settling into the camp chair I’d pinched from somebody here. “Nah, I’m good.”
He is quick to leave and I miss who he runs off to, but he is quickly replaced by Margie, who seems to have anointed herself my babysitter. Not that I am complaining. She has that lovely maternal air that I rarely get to enjoy.
She sinks into Seff’s vacated chair with a sigh, staring deeply into the fire. She passes me a beer and I chink it against hers in thanks.
“It near killed us when Collin denied him pack status.” She doesn’t look at me as she talks, instead looking out past her pack laughing and celebrating around the blazing bonfire, but I turn to face her. I can see the fine lines around her eyes and mouth as she gazes into the flames like they can absolve her of these big feelings she is obviously holding onto. “It was wrong. He was such a bigoted ass, and he hated Caelan’s grandfather with an obscene passion, which only made things worse. There was some bad blood from their childhood or some other nonsense. We should have spoken up, but…” She trails off, anxious hands patting at her brown hair tucked into her ponytail.
My hand finds hers as they settle on the arm of her chair and I pat it gently, trying to be reassuring. She is right. Theyshouldhave spoken up. But I have enough experience with being politics, and shitty families, to know that sometimes staying silent is safer for everyone until the time is right.
“It’s ok, Margie. I can’t speak for him but he’s doing ok, I think. All we can do is the right thing now.”
Margie tilts her head to give me a smile. Her eyes drift over my face before she leans in conspiratorially. “It feels incredibly disloyal to my son to say this, especially because it all hit Seff pretty hard, but it seems like Caelan managed to find a good one, anyway. I’m happy for him.” I know I am blushing at the compliment. Mother figures complimenting me is a weakness. Sue me. She sniffs in a way that I know means that she is done with emotional talk and we are on to lighter things. “So a little birdie told me you are a dancer.”
Unfortunately, I have taken a large swig of my beer and her comment catches me off guard, sending the bubbles down the wrong way, leaving me spluttering and coughing. Because yeah, I danced at the clubs, but it probably wasn’t the type of dancing she means. It was the type of dancing where people shove money in your teeny, tiny underwear.
“Uh, yeah, I guess you could say that,” I say with a grimace, but Margie just laughs. She has a lovely laugh. It suits her. Throaty and pretty and fun. She looks nothing like Seff, with dark hair and deep, tanned skin, but she has that same perpetual effervescence that makes you just trust her warmth. She stands, brushing her hands on her jeans and then extends one out.
“Well then, Tor, I believe you owe me one.”
With the music having switched to a livelier beat, who am I to resist? I stand and clasp her hand, my shimmering purple skin glowing against her. “My darling, I would be delighted.”
Caelan
I’ve never been toa full moon gathering. When I was with Seff, they were closed to non pack members. For the Everfyr pack, celebrations run for three days, the night before, the night of, and the night after.
Tonight is the night for family and gathering, and the pack has really thrown themselves into it. In the old days, you officially joined the pack when you reached puberty. Now in more modern times, the age has been set at eighteen. These nights were a chance for young pack members to get to know each other and join in the celebrations together.
Tomorrow night, those young pack members will leave, as will any that do not wish to join the full moon revelry. It is a night of gluttony and indulgence. They eat, they drink, they hunt, and they fuck.Or so I am told.
When Seff and I were together, we spent most of our full moons together, taking advantage of the energy of the night. I know there is talk in the cities, and especially in Whisper Wells, that full moons in the Woods are just one giant orgy. While it’s not entirely the truth, it is definitely not a time for the faint of heart.
The third night is a night of pack business, communion and ceremony. The pack takes its responsibilities to its members seriously, and with the minor pack members no longer present, they take this time to work through pack business. This can be anything from arranging aid for members who need it or dealing with grievances between pack members. All pack presentation ceremonies are held on this night too. Just like mine was.
My first experience has been more than a little overwhelming. It is so loud and there are so many peoplehere.
I didn’t know that you could get claustrophobic in the wide open, but you can. And I did. So I had taken the first opportunity to escape the crushingtogethernessand fled under the guise of needing to set up our tent. Which, I guess, is a pretty valid excuse.
I hope Tor isn’t too mad at me, but as I watch him chatting to Margie and other pack members around the bonfire, he seems in his element. Tor is a people kinda guy. He is the type that needs others, where I need the quiet and the solitude.
Maybe it’s a good thing I was turned away from pack status all those years ago. It might have been humiliating, standing there buck-ass naked, as is required in all grand pack presentation ceremonies, in front of the whole pack, in front of that same altar, Collin sneering down at me with derision and distaste.
A shifter who can’t shift. I was no use to him or his pack, and so I had been discarded and banished from the gathering place. It had hurt, and it had taken a long while to lick those wounds healed, while also processing the grief of the sudden loss of my grandparents and learning how to run the homestead without them. Mum hadn’t even bothered to come back for the funeral. Wasn’t exactly a great time in my life, and now they are all smiles and welcoming.
