Longing For A Luna

Chapter 7: Mates & Pancakes

On Saturday mornings, we had a routine. Usually I would sleep in late while Nick went to his training class, then we would go out for brunch; either just the two of us or sometimes meeting up with friends. Since Nick was going to the game later that day and wait times for brunch were often long, I decided to cook pancakes at home.

Nick came back from his run and winked as he stole a piece of bacon, “It’s a little overcooked. Two out of five stars, chef.”

“Keep talking, mister,” I pointed the spatula at him, “And you’ll end up with wolfsbane in your syrup.”

He chuckled and kissed me on top of my head before heading back to take a shower.

‘It smells heavenly,’ Ana replied with indignation. ‘Hide the rest before he comes back. Tell him he can’t have any if he’s going to complain.’

I grinned at that and took a bite. The bacon was absolutely not overcooked; it was just extra crispy.

After Nick cleaned up, he helped me to cut up some fruit and we sat down to enjoy our breakfast together.

“Dani,” Nick began, “I was thinking about our anniversary. We had to cancel our trip because of everything going on with their Rebirth. How would you feel about rescheduling it for the first part of December? I really want to get out of town for a while.”

Of course, he had to ask me this right as I’d taken a huge bite of my pancakes. I tried to chew and swallow as quickly as possible, then choked when I took a sip of coffee. Nick started laughing at me.

I glared at him, “It’s not too late for me to get the special syrup.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” he said, still chuckling, “I’ll try to time my questions better from now on.”

“Well, as I was going to say – before my husband so rudely laughed while I almost died, was that I would love to go on our trip then but it’s only three months away. Are the mate meet-ups going to have taken place by then? Pack leaders still haven’t said we’re allowed to travel freely yet.”

We had booked a week at a resort in Cancun for our third wedding anniversary in March. But since it was only a couple of months after the Rebirth, we had to cancel. At that point in time, only werewolves on essential Council business, i.e. crisis teams, were allowed to travel outside of home territories. Presently, travel was allowed as long as it was for job-related or family reasons, and only if Alpha Phillip or Beta Richard approved it.

Nick looked at me and grinned, “I think it’s likely, babe. When we had the meeting earlier in the week, they briefly told us about what was in the works. It’s going to require a lot of work, but they said the initial round should happen in the next week or two. One thing I forgot to mention last night: Alpha Phillip wants all the employees of the law firm and the private security division to go first.”

“Why is that? And are the spouses going to be included?”

“They didn’t mention spouses,” Nick continued, “but I’ll ask on Monday if the first round will include spouses and partners, too. We were told that the Council wants us to travel to other packs to facilitate legal mediation on-site. The current systems aren’t allowing enough flexibility for scheduling and it’s taking too long for some clients to get matched with legal representation.”

The current systems Nick was talking about included speaking with clients only through video conferences to avoid travel between packs, and matching clients with attorneys through a complicated system meant to prevent mates from accidentally meeting during divorce and custody litigation. Attorneys were only allowed to speak with their own client and the attorney for the opposing party without meeting the soon-to-be ex-spouse, even over an online platform. There hadn’t been any cases reported of mates finding each other through video calls, but Alpha Phillip declared that our pack’s employees would not be the guinea pigs.

The biggest problem was that the pack’s attorneys, as was the case at most legal firms, were overwhelmingly heterosexual males. This had really slowed down the rate at which cases could be resolved.

“That’s kind of some important information you left out last night, Nick.”

Nick put his fork down and grinned, showing his dimples, “I didn’t do it on purpose. I just had more important things on my mind, like getting my wife off.”

“Are you kidding me?”

He shrugged, “I just didn’t want you to worry, and thought I’d wait until there was more info to tell you.”

I cut my eyes at him, trying to not get completely pissed off. Last night, he convinced me to wait another six months to start trying for a baby; now he wanted to plan for a trip three months away that we weren’t even sure we could take.

‘Don’t poison him! It’ll hurt Riker, and Nick is the i***t,’ Ana blurted out.

I snorted at her comment and speared my last pancake a little too harshly.

“You’re lucky. Ana convinced me not to poison you for Riker’s sake. And before you say it, I’m not overreacting. The details you left out last night paint these mate mixers in a different light, especially since it seems we may not be able to go at the same time. Plus, you’re going to be traveling to other packs. That is huge, Nick!”

I thought about Rafe and how he met his mate on a business trip on a plane full of humans. Not knowing the particulars for these mate meet-ups, my mind started conjuring all kinds of slip ups. What if Nick’s mate couldn’t or wouldn’t attend any of them, then they accidentally met when they ended up stuck on an airplane for hours?

Nick started to rub my shoulder, like he was trying to calm a spooked animal or crying child.

I was tempted to stab his hand with my fork.

“Dani, I’m sorry. You’re right, and I should have told you everything as soon as I knew what was going to happen.”

I gave a small smile. Very, very small.

“So,” Nick started cautiously, “that’s a ‘no’ on the December trip?”

Ana made a big, exaggerated sigh, ‘How can someone so smart and so pretty be so dumb at the same time?’

“Of course it’s a no!” I said with exasperation, “Pack leaders still aren’t allowing leisure travel and we don’t know for sure if that’ll change within the next two months. I don’t want to lose any more money on another trip that will probably have to be canceled.”

“That’s why I married you, because you’re smart,” Nick stated cheekily while kissing my hand. “I just got ahead of myself, I guess. Started thinking about how once these meet-ups are done and we get the okay to travel, everyone is going to be fighting to take time off. I was hoping we could nail down plans now, so we’re ready when that happens.”

We stood up and started to clean away the breakfast dishes. I noticed there was no bacon left. Two out of five stars, my foot.

After thinking for a moment, an idea occurred to me, “Let’s just plan on a fourth anniversary trip next March. It should be safe by then, right?”

‘And right at that six-month mark for making pups,’ Ana noted with a shake of her tail.

Nick smiled at me, “Definitely by then.”

“Six more months. Just six more months before I can day drink on a tropical beach, in a bikini, with my husband.”

Nick slipped his arm around my waist and kissed me softly, “It’s a date.”