Silver Mist

Danielle Thomas didn’t really have much to complain about in life. Her pack, Silver Mist, built and ran The Northern Ski Resort from their previously small and isolated town. The expanse of snow covered hills, dense wood and rocky mountainsides gave plenty of activity for both the wolves and humans. With an influx of tourists and adventurers, the pack created a successful and profitable business, allowing for the upgrading of the school, log cabins for self-catering tourists and pack members alike, they were also able to fund scholarships for graduates who wanted to go to college for teaching and medical qualifications. Dani lived quite comfortably helping her parents run the ski resorts town restaurant, Ralph’s. She worked hard and for long hours but when you had mountains of snow on your doorstep the free skiing was definitely a great bonus. She had turned 18 at the beginning of January and despite being amongst her classmates also coming of age, Dani had still yet to find her mate. She had thought perhaps at graduation when older siblings were home from college it would happen but no such luck came to her. It hadn’t worried her too much that her mate could be from a different pack, her wolf felt at home amongst the snow and mountains without any urge to travel rogue. However there were very few males left to come of age this term and she only vaguely knew them from her classes, a couple will be entering the Guards rotation and one she knew would be going to college. Then of course there was the future Alpha, but it was highly doubtful that someone like her within the pack would mate to an Alpha, Beta or the Warrior Lead, so she didn’t give it much consideration. Dani was never fussed about popularity in school, she was shy and studious, had a few close friends and had no interest in getting in with the right crowd to elevate her ranking in the pack. Her dark brown hair and equally dark eyes in sharp contrast to her pale skin, garnered her a bit of attention around puberty; but her quiet nature soon blended her into the background. And she was perfectly content with that. Walking up Main Street towards the restaurant, Dani caught sight of Kim, her best friend, coming down the slope from the large Chalet which sat a half mile up the hill. There was no mistaking her, big bouncy gold curls flew about her face as Kim practically skipped down the hill towards her. “Dani!” Kim called, grinning when she caught sight of her friend. “You’re awfully excited for the beginning of a dinner shift.” Dani teased, knowing full well that the girls 18th was now only three days away and she was simply giddy at the thought of meeting both her wolf and her mate. Kim laughed, “Well it won’t last too long will it.” Dinner shifts at Ralph’s were frequently busy and long. While the Chalet had a huge dining hall and there was a convenience store for self-catering, the restaurant was fully booked every night of the season. With 2 floors of tables including a balcony, the waiting staff were well paid for their efforts and generally only ever did 4 dinner shifts a week. Ralph’s had been in Dani’s family for generations and with her parents at the helm it was flourishing to possibly the most successful of the packs Main Street ventures. They never spoke of it but Dani knew her parents, particularly her father, were sad Ralph’s wouldn’t be kept within the family. It was traditional to inherit occupations male to male within the pack environment, females were not given there own housing or positions within the pack until they were mated. It seemed a very outdated culture to the younger generations but with the possibility of women mating to males from other packs, it was customary when they came of age, to wait until the female was tied to the pack by mating instead of parentage. Kim’s joyful mood continued as the two of them, along with 8 other waiters, set the tables, humming to herself and dancing around with napkins and cutlery. She suddenly gasped and turned to Dani. “I completely forgot! You’ll never guess what I saw at the Chalet this afternoon! I had gone to talk to Mum about the party but she kicked me out, so I was walking back near the Alpha wing and I saw Will with a human girl! She was trying to follow him to his room and kept running her hands all over him, batting her lashes, Will was totally flirting with her. And then they ran into the Luna who looked so sour, said about three words to the girl who then stomped off. Luna ripped into Will after but she took him off to their wing. Hey did you know that Mia bonded with Tim’s older brother Lucas? He only got back from college yesterday! They were there to see Alpha. She’ll probably have to go back with him now, they say the first few months are hard to be apart for too long.” Kim frowned, pausing in her babble, “I never thought of that, I hope my mate isn’t one of the college boys, I don’t want to leave.” “I’m sure you’ll be here, after all there’s only 1 guy from our year going to college at the end of summer and there are lots of unmated men here as potential mates. That’s good for Mia though, I think she was hoping to be a teacher so that works out well.” Dani tried to reassure Kim but her happy dance didn’t make another reappearance. Before long the doors were open and the girls didn’t have time to talk while the first wave of guests flooded in.