The council of elders laid out the cloaks and the flower crown. Then the ritual of the blessing began, and the elders recited the blessing as everyone looked on.             When the time came, the elders anointed the three before availing them of their symbolic stations. Chris and Brian received the heavy mantles of office and she an intricate set of flowers. Usually, the crowd would break into cheers and mob the happy couple. But that wasn’t the case. The pack recognised their achievement, but Helena got the feeling that the pack may know what was to come. They, however, were self-conscious of how their next actions would reflect on them. She soon discovered a sinking feeling in her stomach. Would they individually give their oaths of continued loyalty to them? Or would they fail to support the pack as it stepped forward under new leade

             “Don’t worry, we have plans to get them to trust us. Just relax. We’ll talk about it in the morning.” Chris assured Helena from his place at her knees.             “Just relax. We’ll talk about it in the morning. Let’s enjoy this evening for what it is and not sour it with work.” Brian stroked her shoulders and arms. He laid a kiss behind her ear as she lay against his chest.             Helena groaned in frustration. “You’re both frustrated. You know that, don’t you?” Chris looked at Brian and the two men looked at each other, but said nothing. That’s when Chris’ mouth replaced the washcloth and Brian kissed her deeply. Their distraction technique worked. They lay there, touching and kissing ea

             “Give me a minute. I’m almost ready. You know you can go on without me. I will be there. She’s my best friend.” Jillian dragged on a pair of shoes after she glared and the hulking mass of man standing at the door of her apartment. “Please, please, don’t ruin this ceremony by making it about our problems. We’ll figure out how to fix this on our own. I don’t want this ruined by my trauma. It’ll be hard enough with all the weird changes in the ceremony and interactions. No one will know what to do or how to respond. So, keep the bite hidden until after the ceremony, please.”             “Are you ready?” Jillian nodded. “Time to go.” Davis held the door for her to leave. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking because his face was blank with emotion. How was sh

             “Alright, now you’re going to have to start from the beginning. How did this all start, and you end up like this?” Helena sat down by her friend and grabbed a tissue from a box on the end table. Then gave it to her just in case Jillian turned on the misery waterworks.             “Okay, I was in the medical centre when they brought him in. I was helping patients get ready to be discharged. You know how it is when there are several people leaving at once. It can be confusing. He was a mess. You saw the bandages on him. He was bloody and such. The doctor asked me to clean him up after they stitched him back together. They needed to drug him to keep him calm, and I thought they gave him a little too much because he fixated on me oddly. When I finished, I went to leave, and he latched on. He wouldn’t let go, just growl

             Brian entered the ceremonial meadow. The lights should all be a glow still and people enjoying themselves. What greeted him, though, were wolves skulking around the edges in their wolf forms and all the lights extinguished. Someone got here before them and must have given them a heads up. Later, he would need to find this person and commend them for their sense of logic. Keeping them here and lowering the chance that the invaders would notice everyone there in the meadow. The location was far too open to defend the pack there. Brian needed to get them back to the residential area where there were several underground spaces that were much easier to defend. This was commonplace in most pack territories.             He found the pups hidden with several of the maternal wolves guarding them. The last thing they needed was them to scatter and get pi