Pack Life: Three Mates

My name is Olivia Rose and for 21 years, or at least the part of my first 21 years during which I formed memories, I thought I was born lucky. By the time I was born, the packs that had previously been scattered all over the nation had already started combining into super packs. These merged packs covered large regions and had so many wolves in them that my generation really did not feel the pressure that the generations before had. The Wolf way changed in every aspect I could imagine while I was growing up, leaving behind old traditions for a focus on political power to increase our combined resources. At first, it was all about the wellbeing of the packs, and of wolves everywhere. It was a protective strategy for our kind. Alphas of the small packs that combined became packmasters, and functioned as smaller team leaders and members of the superpack board, while one leader was chosen from them to be the superpack alpha. Then, of course, our superpack alphas got a taste of power like they'd never known before. Their power extended beyond the pack and out into the real world. We'll talk more about that later. When I was almost 18, I started dating Joel. The most important thing to know about Joel is that he and I were born in the same station, as it used to be called. We were both the first born children of the alpha of a small pack. Thus, even as things were changing among our kind, we spent a lot of time together and received the same kind of education, resources, and attitudes from others above and below our born stations. There's a special kind of bond that comes from being in the same station, and it's difficult to explain to someone who's never been categorized in a way that defined their past and determined their present and future. We had been best friends longer than we'd been able to walk and talk, but we just started dating after Joel turned 18... and one month before I did. When we were toddlers, our fathers became packmasters in the superpack that we grew up in and neither of them were chosen as alpha of the superpack, which allowed us to live pretty normal lives. Our parents raised us both with a positive attitude about our stations. Our families have always been close; our parents, us, and our siblings... and we all frequently discussed how nice it was to have enough power and authority to really enjoy the resources of the pack, but not enough to be in the spotlight and responsible for thousands of our kind. As far as I can recall, we were all happy to essentially be middle-management. Wolves in the families of the superpack alphas were under a lot of pressure from a young age. The line of succession was important and, honestly, it reminded me of what I learned of kings and queens hundreds of years ago making familial alliances (and marriages) to increase the time that their family reigned and the size of their kingdoms. Our stations, Joel's and mine, allowed us to choose who we wanted to date, and I knew I wanted Joel the first time I saw him hold hands with another girl back in the sixth grade. It took him a little longer to figure out that he wanted me. Another important thing to know about Joel is that he is a big fan of history, and wolf history in particular. It's not as if he wants "the old ways" to still be in place, but he really respects tradition, and the magic that sets us apart from everyone else. He's a researcher. I'm not, by the way. When we were ten, our alpha decided the pack kids would go to public school. That is to say, the kids old enough to be able to keep our secrets would go to public school. Middle school wasn't the best time ever to have us all switched from home school to traditional school... among traditional peers... but at least Joel and I had each other. It was the middle of the sixth grade when I saw him holding hands with Kathy Price. Four months into our integration into "normal" society and at eleven years old he was apparently the boyfriend of some non-wolf child. Before that moment I'd never thought of Joel in any particular way. He'd always just been there, a fixed feature of my life, always around and always mine in a way. I'm not sure jealousy is the right word. At the moment I didn't necessarily want to be holding Joel's hand. I wasn't really that interested in boys just yet. I definitely didn't want anyone else to hold his hand, though. There was also the fact that she was not a wolf that made me lose a bit of sleep as the hormones of puberty started to set in. It's not as if wolves didn't date, and even marry, non-wolves. This is the new life, after all. This is integration. This is one of the ways that we grow our political pack. That's what we call it. Not only has the lifestyle changed from scattered small packs to conglomerate superpacks but, we also started accepting love interests from outside of the pack. That meant we had offspring that were only part wolf. We'll talk more about that later. So, there's the small packs that packmasters are essentially the middle management for, then the combined superpack that is led by the alpha... chosen from several packmasters. That's pretty much the CEO, which is how they functioned. All of this adds up to the pack, superpack, and political pack. When we say pack, that is our small group of families that was together before the super pack merges. Superpacks, once again, are regional combinations of the smaller packs. When we say political pack, we are being more inclusive of the non-wolves and half-wolves in our new extended family. It was, and continues to be, about political power... authority that brings us resources. Joel has always been tall with broad shoulders and dark hair, but he's lean... and in middle school he was downright scrawny. It's his mind, though, and the charm that comes along with complete and utter brilliance, that has always made him popular with the girls and women around him. Throughout middle school there were moments in time when each of us had a crush on the other but, of course, the feelings never happened at exactly the same time. Once we started high school, Joel had decided to only date other full blooded wolves. I told you how he feels about the magic of it all. Well, the dedication to our kind comes from that. You see, one of the best things about being a wolf is belonging to something old and magical. It gives you a sense of purpose and something to defend and protect... which people naturally want to have. Joel always loved the fact that some wolves are born as part of a mated pair. They used to be called fated pairs, but a lot of us don't use that old terminology anymore. Joel does.