While he didn’t run the security team normally, he was in charge while his friend Brick was on a short honeymoon with his mate Jade, an albino wolf.Solan took the duty seriously.
He passed his friend Leo’s house.He’d found his mate recently in a gryphon shifter named Mira.Her family had joined the pack as allies, moving into empty homes in Thorn Hollow, working at the pack-owned car dealership, and supporting the pack in other ways.He liked the gryphons and the other members of Mira’s family’s clan, and he considered anyone who wanted to help keep the pack safe to be good people.
Picking up the pace, he resumed his trek around the neighborhoods that dotted Thorn Hollow, finding nothing amiss and no one who didn’t belong.
When he passed by Brick and Jade’s empty house, his stomach twisted a little at the thought of his friends all mated and him still alone.
Not all wolves waited for their truemate, but Solan was going to, just like Adam and Brick and Leo had.Eventually, Solan trusted that fate would smile on him and he’d meet his forever girl.He just hoped it happened sooner rather than later.
He was damn lonely, and the ache had seemed more prominent lately.
Maybe because of Leo and Mira finding each other.
The last of his unmated friends was now wrapped up in love and happily ever after.
As he made his way through the woods to the other neighborhood, he saw the security building behind Adam and Cinder’s home and the pack’s hunting territory surrounding it.They held full moon gatherings in the woods, in a cleared space with a fire pit that seemed like the flames could touch the stars if they tried hard enough.
The back door of the alphas’ house opened as he neared the security building, and Adam stepped out and waved him over.
“Morning,” Solan said, climbing the steps of the back porch.
“Morning.Anything going on?”
“Nah.All quiet, just the way we like it.”
“Abso-freaking-lutely.”Adam took a drink of coffee and cleared his throat.“Brick just checked in.Wanted me to remind you not to burn down the woods while you’re in charge.”
Solan chuckled.“I’ll do my best.”
“I’ve got a favor.”
Solan straightened.“Name it.”
“Would you mind going to the bluffs tomorrow night for the witches’ equinox celebration?Cinder wants to go, and I’ll obviously be there to escort her, but I’d like to have you along as well.”
“Yeah, of course.”The witch coven in Cleveland was allied with every shifter group in Northern Ohio—tiger, wolf, bear, dragon, falcon, and white lion—plus the vampires downtown.During the solstice and equinox celebrations, the coven asked for several from each group to join them as guards, as they’d be vulnerable in their circle when they were distracted and casting spells.
When he was younger, Solan had volunteered for the task.Partly because, as a young male, he’d liked that the witches only wore cloaks and nothing else, and he’d been a typical horny male.But the witches had stopped the naked-cloak stuff a few years ago after deciding it wasn’t truly necessary.They now wore clothes that were magically blessed.
“I hadn’t picked anyone to come with us, so take whoever you want.”
He thought over the schedule for the next few days.“I’ll see if Linus wants to go.”
Adam nodded.
The breeze blew, rustling the trees and grass, and bringing a strange whisper of energy along with it.Solan’s wolf rose inside him, alert and listening.
“You feel that?”Solan asked.“Something’s coming.”
Adam nodded.“Tomorrow is the equinox.Cinder says the veil between worlds thins during the major calendar events.Boundaries flex and give way sometimes.It could be that.Or maybe…”
When he didn’t finish his sentence, Solan prompted, “Maybe what?”
“Maybe it’s a change that’s coming.”Adam looked at him pointedly.
“You mean I might be meeting my mate soon?How on earth would the breeze make that a reality?”
Adam chuckled.“Listen, I don’t fully get how finding mates works out, but I know it does.When I saw Cinder in the club that first night?I realized everything in my life had been leading up to it.And then I met her, and it was like tumblers in a lock and everything aligned.Ifsomething is coming, we shouldn’t just think about the worst-case scenario; we should also think about what the best-case might be.And the best-case scenario is that you’re going to meet your truemate sooner rather than later.”
