The Cursed Shifters - Mateless

Whats With The Peonies

Everything in the pack ran around the training schedules, with the regular loss of well-trained men to insanity training had become a top priority. Food was kept our and replenished all day long by Janine and her staff. Walking into the dining room at two in the afternoon, well past the typical lunch hour, there were few people present. Other fighters who had come in from the fields sweaty and dirty to fill their bellies, likely before going back out. The wonderful smell of garlic hit Shiloh square in the face and her mouth began to water, those two doughnuts hadn’t really done much for her. The five of them piled plates with garlic roasted chicken, seasoned green beans and potatoes, yams, roasted carrots, and broccoli casserole and headed to the empty end of one of the long dining tables. Looking at all their plates they all burst into laughter, the girls had piled just as much food as the guys, Michael probably had the least amount on his plate.

              The room was being decorated, much like the rest of the house, garlands of ivory and pink peonies sat in every windowsill, the curtain rods had been draped with garland as well and even the tie backs had been changed out. Twinkle lights had been hung at the front of the room covering the entire wall, in front of them the dais was being brought into assemble. Shiloh began to wonder what all the preparation was for.

              Swallowing her mouthful of chicken she asked, “Anyone know what all this frill is for? They’re even putting it up in the halls.” Then stuffed sweet potatoes into her mouth.

              “I heard it was for some alphas daughter, Terry has gone and gotten himself a fiancé and she’s coming to meet everyone, so they are decorating the place for it.” Swallowing the bite, he was talking around Dre shoveled more chicken into his mouth before speaking again. “Waste of time if you ask me.”

              “She likes pink peonies? What kind of sissy is he bringing in here? We all know sunflowers are best.” Everyone knew Bex’s sunflower obsession, her training clothes today shouted it to the world with the stripe of sunflower print down the leg of her black fitness leggings and the crop top being all that same sunflower print, she practically glowed yellow. Gesturing with her fork the entire time she was talking she pointed it at Dre’s face, “Mark my words she’s going to be frilly and pink and make us all want to gag.”

Shiloh about sprayed Ale8 out of her nose as she choaked on it holding in her laughter, her eyes burned and teared as the ginger soda burned her nose and throat. Seeing her distress, the boys busted out laughing and everyone remaining in the dining room looked to see what all the ruckus was about. Shiloh’s face heated up and turned beet red, she was sure it looked cute against the purple bruise on her cheek from Bex’s elbow. She took another sip of her soda and finally stopped coughing enough to glare at the boys, shutting them up instantly.

“So,” Shiloh cleared her throat, “I guess,” another effort to clear her throat, “I need to talk to Alpha Terry again. This wasn’t mentioned this morning and it is rather important to the future of the pack.” Her voice was low enough none of the other shifters around could hear her, no more then a breathy whisper lost in the ting of forks and rustling of garlands. Her team nodded once in unison that they agreed and continued eating.

“Do you think we are invited to the festivities, or will we be removed in an effort to keep things calm?” Michael mused aloud. “There are still rumors of an assassin team lead by a redhead circulating, though not as prevalent as they were before. They could start up again if we aren’t careful handling Vareese.”

“I don’t give a s**t what Terry says I’m gonna be at that party, I wanna put eyes on any women that come with his new wifey.”

“Always so elegant and honorable Dre. I think we all know we will be on guard duty that night, perhaps undercover but guard duty none the less.” Bex was right, we would most likely be on guard duty.

“I will find out what our role is that night when I talk to Alpha Terry but first, shower and clean clothes sounds nice. I want you guys to hit the range today, it’s been a while since we have been out on a job where we had to use projectiles of any kind so refresh on your firearms, knives, everything.” Having finished her food Shiloh pushed away from the table and stood to leave, “see you guys at dinner.”

Shiloh walked briskly to her room, more then ready to wash the sweat off and put on some normal clothes. She hated wearing the workout clothes that looked like they were painted onto her. Showering quickly and smelling of rosemary and black currant she dressed in her usual attire, ripped jeans, and a black top with her favorite combat boots. The poor boots were starting to detach from their sole, but Shiloh was not yet willing to give up and replace them. She gathered her gross sweaty clothes and threw them into the hamper before turning to the mirror. The bruise on Shiloh’s cheekbone was already fading, the mess of hair was another problem entirely. When she came into shower, she had just ripped the hair tie from the half out messy bun and the shower had just made a bigger mess of it. Still too damp to brush she reached for the blow dryer before deciding to just finger comb it, shake her head out, and go on. “Alphas are supposed to care about appearances Shiloh.” Fayrah chimed in her head, “What if our mate saw you in such a state?” Shiloh laughed aloud.

“I would hope dear Fayrah that our mate would make a much bigger mess of my hair.” Fayrah howled a laugh.

“Fair enough, you are right.” Fayrah conceded, still laughing.

Shiloh chuckled to herself about her brief conversation with her wolf and the ridiculous images of her hair in an absolute disaster of a rats nest that Fayrah kept throwing up in her mind, as she made her way down the ivory halls for the second time today to the Alpha’s office. The entire hall smelled of the peonies from the endless garlands.

Alpha Terry was still in his office, it seemed like he had never left but he had to of gone to eat lunch because there was no scent of food in the room. His beta was no where to be seen so they could speak freely instead of keeping up pretenses which Shiloh was thankful for.

“Two visits in one day, to what do I owe the pleasure Shiloh?”

“Well, I assume you haven’t found any information for me yet so why don’t we address the flowers covering the packhouse. What exactly are we decorating for Terry? I do not recall any holidays or solstices coming up.” Shiloh leveled her gaze on Terry and basked in his strain at trying to hold it.

“I am to marry. The pack is becoming restless without a Luna, alphas of other packs have even begun to apply pressure. We all know she won’t be my mate and will not stop the inevitable, but the pressure is still on to mate and produce an heir to take over when I can no longer lead. It wouldn’t be an issue if you were to take over.” The last part was a verbal slap that had Fayrah gnashing her teeth and a growl rumbling out of Shiloh.

Shiloh, seeing the terror on Terry’s face, took a steadying breath before she spoke. “No, the situation would be worse because we would have every unmated alpha on the east coast trying to mate me. I would be facing the same pressure to choose but my options could wipe us all out once they go mad. That being said, I need the details of this arrangement to weigh the risks and we need to decide how much she will know regarding me. My team would also like to know what their role in the festivities will be.” Terry looked like she had struck him, his face was paper white, and he still held fear in his eyes.

“You are right of course, she is the daughter of the Alpha of Blue Moon pack, her name is Vanessa. I do not see any threat from her, or her father’s pack given the are a quarter the size of ours and will be absorbed by us with the union. Her mother has been trying to run the pack since her father was put down and as she is neither alpha nor luna the pack has grown weak. Vanessa is young, only nineteen and vain. As long as she has money to look pretty, she should be well occupied. I do not think she needs to know the truth of how this pack runs because she will have no interest in being involved in doing so. We can play that part by ear if you like.”

“We will play it by ear, if she is a problem, I’ll let you decide whether you deal with it, or I do. The pack comes first, even if you decide you like her. My team’s role at the welcome party?”

“Your team will be guarding; I do not expect any threats, nor have I received any but this is a political occasion so we should be careful. Patrols will be out, and guards will be stationed but I want you five dressed and within the party on alert. Shiloh this is a formal occasion.” Terry eyed her ripped jeans and worn boots wearily.

“Well, it looks like I’ll be shopping on the pack card then doesn’t it.” Shiloh smirked.

“As you wish.”

“My team will need new attire as well; we don’t have much in the way of fancy garb. I couldn’t tell you the last time we infiltrated a ball on a mission.” She eyed him with one brow raised, daring him to argue with her.

“Of course, you will all need something new to wear that fits the crowd. There will be alphas from other packs and their betas, possibly their families. Make a good impression for the future, in case you do save us all and take over. I found this for you,” he reached over to the stack of books on the desk and pulled out a journal that looked like it had been through a storm and dropped in the mud. Sliding the book across the desk he looked at Shiloh again. “You may find what you need in here, but I have sent word out that I am looking for all documentation on the curse so more should come.”

Shiloh took the journal from the desk and stood to leave, a step from the door Terry spoke again. “Bring me any questions you have Shiloh, what little I know is yours.” With a sharp nod Shiloh opened the door and walked out, closing it behind her. She looked down at the worn leather cover in her hand, this was someone’s personal account, was it firsthand or full of rumors? Could she find the answers in this tiny handwritten journal?

“Are the answers in there?” Fayrah asked hopefully.

“I don’t know, Fayrah, but I certainly hope so. For all our sakes.” Shiloh turned and headed straight to her room with the little book tucked to her chest.