He clucked his tongue. "Alright, fine. Just promise me you'll still come visit. Maybe pass along any wolves who swing the non-traditional way. I have no issues being a beta to their alpha."
She paused. "You don't get this whole pack hierarchy thing, do you?"
Colby laughed.
"I'm part Fae, I don't have to get anything 'wolfie.' I've seen you wolf out once and that was good enough. I still don't get why you don't try a matchmaker or something."
Chewing on her lower lip, she absently grabbed out some Halloween lights.
Why hadn't she? Oh right. Because it would break her dad's heart. No. She would do as told. Packs had survived like this for hundreds of years. Those that found fated mates were happier ultimately, but those matched learned to love each other. Well, those not sent to the asshole packs out there. How the hell they hadn't killed each other off was beyond her.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Ellen glanced up.
"Maybe we should live it up tonight? Halloween's only a day away and there are a few parties throughout the city. Roswell loves their parties, especially those surrounding the unexplained and creepy. Let's finish this up and just go crash them all."
The squeal Colby let loose pierced her ears.
"I thought you'd never ask. I'm so excited. Oh, baby-girl. Let's do this."
She'd regret this. Well, maybe not. Roswell, New Mexico was the perfect place for her kind to hide in plain sight with all the other creepy and unexplained, from aliens, vampires, witches, Fae, half-breeds of just about anything that mated with a human. Halloween was simply a night to let your freak flags fly. What had she always wanted to be? Think. Think. What could she never be in real life? A supermodel. Yeah, she didn't care about that one though.
Animal costumes were out. She could be a wolf any time she wanted.
"I know that look."
She taped up a few more leaves along the inside windows at the front of the bar.
"What look?"
Ellen could practically hear the eye roll from Colby.
"You're trying to decide what to wear. Let me come up with all that. I'll also find out where the best parties are and we can hit up those."
She sighed and weighed her options. No. She needed to tell him. "There's a party hosted by another pack, my future pack. I'm not supposed to meet him before the official negotiations tomorrow afternoon, so it's a masquerade."
A hair fell along her brow, hanging in front of her eye, and Ellen blew it away.
She hoped Colby would take the bait since she pretty much had to go to this thing.
He ran up next to her and hugged her. "This is too good."
Yeah, as long as she was anyone but herself tonight, maybe she could come to terms with being someone else's mate, someone she didn't know or love. Someone she wouldn't meet until the meeting of the packs.
2
West glared at the monstrosity of a house his father had rented for a few weeks. It wasn't the house's fault he hated it. It was huge and yeah, it needed to be. His pack moved in, or well, most of the pack had. Coming down from the mountains was fine, they did that from time to time. But, this time it was to meet his future mate. Mating ceremonies were a big deal. They'd do it on her pack's land. Something that meant a lot to her. Whatever. It wasn't like he wanted to be here anyway. He didn't want to know anything about her until he absolutely had to. Tomorrow was that day.
He ran his hand through his hair. Fuck fate.
It's not like he hadn't tried to find his mate, and this is what he got. Mated off to another pack. What the hell did he do in another life for fate to hate him this much?
West jolted forward as Eric clapped him on the back. "What's going on in that thick head of yours? Worried about this whole mated-for-life thing?" He laughed.
West glared. "Just wait until it's your turn, little brother. You think they will let you slip under the radar? Good fucking luck with that."
"Aw. Why you raining on my parade. It doesn't matter what they do. You still had to do it first. Bonus for being the younger, much better-looking brother."
West punched his brother, hard.
"One of these days you're going to regret your words."
He smiled as he rubbed his arm. "Nah. Or well, maybe. But for now, I get to go out and party it up. Speaking of, the females are planning a huge party. Some kind of masquerade to not fuck with any traditions of you meeting your mate before the designated time. All local packs are invited. Maybe the coven around here too. You know, play nice with the locals."
"A party?"
God. Like he'd ever be able to enjoy anything with his brain a massive twisted string of thoughts and his stomach a mess of knots. Yet, they wanted a party? Wonderful. Of course. How often did they have an excuse to celebrate? The pack had a small, modest town on the mountain. They made a decent living with the trades handed down through generations, a few held jobs in the cities around the foothills, but all in all it was a quiet pack. They kept the peace in those areas. From what he knew about his mate's pack, they weren't much different. They owned a few local businesses in town, but they kept a lot of the old ways. Great. She was probably homely and sheltered.
He rubbed his forehead. Dammit. He couldn't live with some pathetic female. He needed someone
