Belonging To The Luna

Casting Bones

Jaz

“He really offered to exile them from the pack?” Shanna asked. “That’s not some small thing, Jaz. If he’s offering to exile them, you should consider his offer.”

“I don’t know, Shanna. Life as a rogue, even the one I’ve built, isn’t easy. I’m not sure I could put that on anyone, even the people who made my life hell growing up.”

My date with my mate had ended on a sour note. Sloan seemed eager to rectify the issues I had in the past with Deep Fang pack. He was willing to do anything to get me back there, but I wasn’t confident it was the right thing for me. Even if he exiled the wolves who had tortured and bullied me as a child, it wouldn’t eliminate the long history of hatred within the pack. They might keep it to themselves for fear of being cast out, but the feelings would always be there, bubbling under the surface.

“Why not go back on a trial basis? Times are changing for the better, Jaz. I don’t want you to lose out on your only chance at happiness with your mate if people back there have changed.”

“What if they haven’t changed?” I asked, looking at my friend.

“Alpha Sloan is your mate. Take it from me; the mate bond will drive you to do anything to ensure your mate's happiness and wellbeing. Go back on a trial basis and if the pack is the same old backwoods, outdated thinking, tell Sloan to approve your transfer to my pack.” Shanna reached across the table, taking my hand. “Jaz, you and I both know rogues never find a true mate. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it actually happening before you. They definitely don’t get second chance mates. I don’t want to see you ending up alone and outcast for the rest of your life.”

“I’ll think it over, I promise.” I assured her before downing the rest of my coffee. “For the time being, I need to focus on doing my actual job. I was wondering if you could help me with that.”

“Tell me what you need.” Shanna smiled.

“Even with his Beta explaining why I need to speak with them, Silver Pelt pack members aren’t exactly lining up to speak with a rogue. I need a pack wolf to get their statements. Just the general feelings toward their Alpha and what pack life is like for them under his leadership. The usual.”

“I can handle that. The usual number of interviews?”

“That should be enough. With the public announcement from Alpha Maxwell that he was handing over the territory to Sloan, we shouldn’t need an extraordinary number of character statements. If it really is Gregory Lemont behind the hold-up in the council, my connections will be able to push things along once I get them the proper paperwork.”

“I’ll call you sometime tomorrow with an update.” Shanna assured me.

She had always worked fast. She wasn’t a lawyer by trade, but I had learned in my first year at my old firm, connections made the world go round. Shanna had a forensics degree and had branched out into private investigating. She excelled at her work in the human world; werewolves had the distinct ability to sniff out the truth. When combined with our ability to track someone by scent, it allowed her to uncover information that human PIs couldn’t find. Nobody could hide from Shanna for very long.

“Bill lunch as a business expense.” I told her as we parted to make our way back to our respective offices. “I’ll let Holly know to expect your invoice at your usual rate.”

The rest of my afternoon flew by in a flurry of paperwork preparation. I had made a few calls to my connections on the werewolf council to let them know what I was sending and see if they required any additional documents with the leadership transfer approval packet. The council had existed for over a century, but they seemed to change their rules regularly as new members replaced the old. Keeping up could be quite the headache, but it was better than before their existence when a pack could forcefully take over another. Fighting between packs still existed, but it was nothing compared to the battles documented in our history.

I had everything except the character statements prepared for Sloan to sign by the end of the day. I wasn’t ready to face him again after the previous night’s events. I needed time to consider what was best for me. Mostly, I wanted my grandmother’s guidance before I made a decision. I left the file with my secretary with instructions for her to obtain my mate’s signature before leaving the office to make my way outside of the city to my grandparent’s farm.

“I had a feeling you were coming to see me.” Sookie smiled as she answered the door, a steaming cup of tea in her hand. “Come in, child. Tell Sookie why you’re here.”

I sipped my tea and told her about finding my mate. She listened carefully as I told her about him and the pack that I had absconded from a few years prior. She knew most of the issues I had faced growing up in Deep Fang but repeating my concerns aloud lifted a weight from my chest.

“So, you come for me to toss the bones.” She asserted.

“Yes. I was hoping they could give me some guidance. I don’t know what the right path is here.”

She led me into the small room where she worked her magic, gesturing for me to take a seat across from her witch’s table. Her greatest frustration with teaching me our family magic was that I had never been able to read the bones myself. No matter how closely I followed her instructions, they never spoke to me. I had come to her several times over the last few years for answers, and Sookie’s bones had never been wrong.

I watched as she gently spread the goat fur across her table, placing black candles on either side before lighting them. She filled a small bowl with water before picking up the black velvet bag that held the bones. She grabbed a small dagger from the table, slicing her palm and letting the blood pour into it. I knew from her teachings that she was feeding the bones; it was meant to make the connection stronger, the answers clearer. Satisfied that she had offered enough, she lifted the bag to her face and began to whisper to it. I waited patiently as she continued her fervent one-sided conversation. As a teenager visiting her over the summer, I had learned that I shouldn’t interrupt while she called to the ancestors and told them what answers she sought.

With a quick nod, she dumped the bag across the skin. I held my breath as I waited for her to tell me what she saw, the small bones and various objects splayed across her table. Her brow furrowed as she studied them, the crease between her brows becoming deeper the more her eyes searched for answers.

“I see danger in your future girl.”