Page 6 of Omega Haunting

“You have fun. Getting laid isn’t a crime here either,”he said, kissed my cheek, and disappeared before I could protest.

I sat down in the front row reserved for relatives of Daliah and Sequin. There were even more faces I didn’t recognize but at least most of them smelled like Fred. The ones on the far left were Feral and Ty. They ran the shifter group of the GGB and currently owned Glitter Bomb. Elio had gotten to know them quite well when his family visited so that Nelum could wrap up his life as Lotus Cromwell. I glanced around for Nelum but he wasn’t around either. He was in the back with the rest of the family who was part of the bridal party. Daliah had practically shimmied the poor guy into a dress for the occasion.

I blinked, almost dozing off, and homed in on someone talking behind me. It was the rabbit who asked if I had a date talking to someone else. I wasn’t close enough to smell what sort of shifter he was, but it didn’t matter. Anything to focus on to keep my scaley ass awake would do.

“He bought the car when he went to visit his boyfriend – the one he met online. He’s part of the Appalachian Wolf Pack.”

Appalachian?

Appalachian!

The voice had said that word more than once!

“Anyway, he met this guy….”

I turned to ask him if anyone from the Appalachian Wolf Pack was here but a high-pitched squeal cut through the room and everyone shut up because the guy with a microphone told everyone to sit down and get ready for the happy couples to make their grand entrances.

“Focus. Just a little bit is all we need. Don’t fall asleep. Elio will never forgive you,”my dragon rattled off into my thoughts.

An unfamiliar song played and I picked up from Fred and the others on the flight link that it was some old Moonscale Wedding March. It wasn’t a bad tune but fortunately for me it also wasn’t music to sleep to.

I made it through the ceremony without nodding off. Fred walked both of his children down the aisle one after another. Rosemary’s parents walked her down the aisle too in a deep mauve dress. Her mate and soon-to-be wife, Daliah wore white. The gown looked more like she was about to be crowned queen than pronounced married. It had tiny little stones sewed into so that she shimmered as she walked down the aisle. Sequin and his mate, Xav, were done up in blue and silver robes. We had similar outfits for special occasions back home but these were Moonscale designs through and through with their tiny crescents along the hems, collars, and cuffs.

“I don’t want this if we ever find our mate,”my dragon cut into my thoughts as Daliah began proclaiming her everlasting love to Rosemary.“I don’t want any party at all. I think I want to kidnap my mate onto the top of a mountain or something. This is---”

I let him ramble on but turned my attention back to the vows because I was sure Elio would want to discuss them later.While I was comfortable working for the flight behind the scenes and enabling things to run smoothly I wasn’t much of a public speaker. I’d never admit it aloud, but I agreed with my inner beast. This would be too much for me but if it was what my other half wanted, I’d figure out how to do it.

As soon as Xav opened his mouth the whole club turned icy. I half expected that it was some showy off magical thing about him since his magical status was out of the bag but instead an icy patch of air drifted out from the back of the room where someone sat with all the babies. Sequin laughed and Xav paused in his vows, chuckling, to sprint down the aisle a and snatch their baby, Glacier, up. He held him to his chest for the rest of the ceremony and I had to admit it, with the baby there with them, it was sort of perfect.

It was the sort of perfection that lingered into the reception where Glacier stayed right on Xav’s chest as he and Sequin shared their first dance as a married couple. My tired brain ached watching Xav lead Sequin around the dance floor. So much of my life had been dedicated to finding Elio’s mates and I didn’t begrudge my brother one second of his happiness. Everyone deserved to find their true-mate. Everyone deserved a chance to live their best life with the person or people they chose. Only now I wanted my chance.

Perhaps it was the wedding that left me staring into the void of my life. I didn’t spend much time contemplating when, where, or how I’d meet my true-mate in my day-to-day life. Only watching the couples spin around on the dancefloor celebrating what fate had brought together left me wishing my life was a bit fuller. I’d feel better after some sleep. Teddy and a few of the others were leaving as soon as dinner was over, and I contemplated going back with them. I hadn’t given a definitive answer on how long I’d stay on Earthside and was grateful that I hadn’t committed to any amount of time beyond the wedding.

Dinner didn’t give me the second wind I hoped it would. I was seated between Teddy and Sunny. Daliah insisted that the duo not be seated together as she couldn’t count on them not to crack jokes the whole time. My being sat in between them didn’t slow them down the way she hoped it would. Though, I did manage to sneak in a few Earthside related questions.

“What’s the Appalachian Wolf Pack?” I asked.

“It’s a pack across the continent sort of,” Sunny said. “Stateside geography always breaks my brain. It’s not here. There was a pack of wolves who are still up and coming. Nowhere near the size of the Hemlock Wolf Pack.”

“Not across the continent. They’re closer than that. Like next doorish?” Teddy added.

“How far of a flight is that?” I asked, unsure of what I might do with the information.

“Not far if you’re flying yourself,” Teddy shrugged. “Most people go there for fertility treatment, I think. I don’t know what else is there.”

“Fertility treatments, a lot of magic, and some wolves with really big attitudes. I think the Seer of the Hemlock Wolf Pack is married to one,” Sunny said. “I should know more since I’m related to them but Ross has always scared me. I’d much prefer Liam deliver seer-related news.”

“Definitely,” Teddy chuckled and launched into telling a story about Ross that I was too tired to follow.

Before dessert, I ducked outside for some fresh air and rolled a smoke. I didn’t smoke often but from time to time the boost of energy was nice. I made my way around the back of the building and pulled out my ‘Earthside’ phone. It took a few tries but it was easy enough to figure out that I could be to the Appalachian Wolf Pack Territory before dark if I left now. Was I leaving now? I was too tired to think much beyond getting there but first I wanted to finish my cigarette. There was somethingcomforting about the purple smoke wafting from its cherry. So I kept scrolling while I smoked because more likely than not nothing would come out of this trip and I’d need something to show Elio for all my trouble. Despite my earlier promises I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell him about the voice until I knew where it came from.

I scrolled through some stores sites and patted my pocket to make sure I had the weird paper that they used for currency here. Whoever invented their system had something loose inside their heads.

“Yeah, they did. They weren’t shifters. You flesh bags need us to keep from losing your minds,”my dragon chimed in.“Let’s go to the moonshine place. We can buy some as gifts for the folks back home and we can drink until we unhear the voice.”

Warden’s Moonshine sounded like as good of a plan as any other. So when my cigarette was finished I set my GPS there and started walking. Somewhere along the way I found a field big enough to shift in and after strapping the phone to my wrist I did. The strap held up so that it was still around my foreleg when I shifted.

“Disembodied voice here I come!”my dragon roared as he took off into the air.

---