章 5: To Go or Not To Go
*The name at the top of each chapter is the point of view the chapter is based on. Bold is inner wolf voices, italic text is mental links*
Sylvia:
I tossed my phone onto my bed, already regretting my decision. It was the one event I always avoided, no matter what my boss tried. However, my roommate and I were still behind on rent for next month and the double pay was something I couldn't afford to pass up. "Well, rent will be paid!"
Mel poked her head through my door, her short blonde pixie cut a mess, her makeup had one eye in what had to be full glam and the other completely blank, but she had a huge smile on her face. "No way! How much did he offer?" She knew I always skipped the wolf events, and she knew why.
"Double." I walked to the mirror and put my long curls into a large hair clip, brushing them tight and twisting them into submission so they would stay put for the duration of the night. Just to be on the safe side I added a small spray of hairspray and then turned to see Mel's face dropped.
"How did you manage that? Wait, wrong question, how can I manage that?" We both laughed and I just shrugged my shoulders at her.
"Refuse to go and then when someone calls out last minute, still refuse for about ten minutes." If we didn't need rent, I would have stuck to my no, but bills exist and I have to pull my weight.
"Ah, yeah I'm too much of a yes person." She shot me a little wink and I rolled my eyes as I stripped down and pulled on the simple black t-shirt with our company logo on the left chest and a pair of black jeans.
Mel was in the same outfit but it looked so much better on her. She was a borderline tan-aholic with the absent tanlines to prove it. Her body was a perfect hourglass while mine seemed a little too full in comparison, but the uniform was required. At least it was all black, I could be forced to wear pastels like a lot of catering companies. I was as ready as could be, no need to put on any makeup. My plan was to hide away in the background and draw absolutely no attention to myself.
"Sooooo, planning to look around tonight?" I gave her a look of warning, this was a conversation I did not want to have. "Come on, you can't ignore that side of you forever, it's cruel to leave that little wolf all locked away."
"It's not like it's able to complain anyways, and no. I plan to keep my head down and eyes to myself, and avoid any direct contact as much as possible." I actually agreed with her about my wolf being locked away, but unfortunately, it wasn't my choice. Maybe I could get permission to at least remain in the kitchens and just refill the trays or drinks. Not out in the actual event itself. Was it too late to call it off and cancel? I sighed in defeat, because it was definitely too late and rent wouldn't wait just because of my own hang up. These were the regular events we could count on for the most consistent income.
"Whyyyyyyyy? If I had a chance to hook me a wolf I'd be taking every chance I could!" She made a fanning motion with her hand which just received another eye roll from me.
"Well, you can have mine. Besides, even if I found a mate, chances are they wouldn't want some witchy multi-breed with their pack." Mel was a witch from a long lineage, her ancestors had passed down information and taught the next generation each time. I was not as lucky, my family was...unique, and in short, I had to learn on my own. Well, mostly on my own. Not that anyone knew about the unique circumstances of my family. It wasn't something I planned to share around work and I didn't exactly socialize because of the risks.
Mel and I met through our job, although the rest of our co-workers, including the boss, only knew about my witch side. I'd kept my locked wolf to myself. Mel found out not long after we moved in together. Trying to hide something from a witch with a strong intuition gift was hard enough when we only saw each other occasionally. It went out the door with most other secrets within the first few days, but it was worth it in the end.
She was more of a friend than I'd ever had before. Mel never pushed for the information I decided to keep to myself, even if she knew it was there. She knew more than absolutely any physical being in my entire life, but she let me keep the secrets that mattered and helped me keep the ones she knew about. Although she never gave up her goal of convincing me to change my mind about my wolf side.
"If I could, I would." She threw herself on the bed with the amount of dramatics that would make a Spanish soap opera proud. "Besides, from my knowledge about the Moon Goddess, she rarely makes mistakes. It's incredibly rare for a rejection to happen, and I'm telling you yours would be welcomed with open arms."
I knew she was right of course, we both had intuition enough to know. I just couldn't really iterate the full length of why I wanted to ignore that side of me. I'd finally found a balance, one with all parts of myself, and a wolf is known to be spontaneous, emotional, a bit difficult to control, and instinctual to a fault. I didn't want to be any of those things. I needed order and predictability in my life.
My duties from the third part of my life already put enough chaos into it and pulled on me without much notice. At least it was able to be mostly monitored from a distance now. Not to mention the consequences I'd have to face if my wolf was fully awakened and unleashed. "Let's change the subject. Are you planning to be home tomorrow, or should I make plans to have the place to myself for a bit?" She threw her hands up in the air as if utterly shocked, her face once again soap opera level of over responsiveness. "Myself it is."
We both let out a long laugh, "Hey they don't have to be my mate for me to enjoy a bit of fun." I shook my head at her freedom, she didn't have a mate of course. Not an official mate like a wolf, although she was convinced her perfect man was out there waiting. "I'm off to finish my look for the evening, be ready to go in ten minutes."
"I'm already ready, go on, I'll wait for you." She sighed in defeat as she walked away into her own room.
I walked over to my altar in the corner of the room and pulled out my pendulum, "Help me tonight." I closed my eyes and let the energy flow, filling the small blue agate moon charm with as much peace and calming energy as possible. I would definitely need it. The charm began to warm in my hands until it was finally at maximum capacity. I put it on and tucked it into my shirt, sending a silent call to the moon goddess to grant me my solitude.
I said a quick farewell to my snake, a ten-foot female burmese python, "See you soon Nyx." She was in her 12ft by 5ft tank, filled with tons of shrubs, fake plants, places to dig and climb alike, and three sides had a background to mimic the jungle environment. Nyx gave no response back except a slight head poke out to confirm she'd seen me before turning back to her hide and returning to sleep.
My intuition was screaming for me to stay home, but for the first time in my life, I couldn't follow it. I had to go, and would just have to trust myself to avoid any close contact. Mel came out of her room a little over five minutes later and we walked to the car together. It was just hitting one pm when we drove off, it was about a five-hour drive from Savannah, Missouri to the meeting for the North packs. We had just enough time to get there, set up, and get everything in position for the party that started at eight. We blasted the radio most of the way. I let the music take away my worries for the night and just focused on enjoying the ride there. We got to see a lot of beautiful scenery on the way at least.
We reached the hotel where we'd have a floor for the workers. We also doubled up in a room since they took the hotel stay out of our pay. This way we both only lose half the pay instead of dishing out extra money for two rooms. Mel checked us in and we went to the elevator. As we walked into the elevator a strong scent washed over me. It smelled like a forest on a rainy day, the dewey water and moisture in the air reminded me of early mornings or late nights outside in the spring, just before the chill left the air.
I took in a slow breath, savoring that scent. Whatever air freshener the hotel was using I definitely wanted for our home! We reached our room quickly and dropped our overnight bags onto a bed. She took the one by the door, I took the one by the balcony doors. She was the early riser, I was the star watcher, and together we had our overnight visit system down.
"We should head out in the next few minutes. The meetings will be going on, but we won't be going to that side of the park. Apparently, Megan set up a large travel cook station this time though, and the packs ordered a tented environment for the dancing and even the mobile dance floor." Of course, they did, the wolves like a party more than any others it seemed. Mel was responding to a text, most likely from Megan about when we should be at the park.
"That will be fun to set up. How many tents total?" Please tell me at least one work tent away from the main event.
She took a moment to read through the messages about the setup. I didn't get them because I wasn't originally scheduled to be here tonight. "Three in total, one for the music and main attractions, another for sit-down dining that is attached to the dance tent by a small open walkway, and one for the cooking and drink storage that is closer to the road so it has easier access to the trucks for restocking. Apparently there is a general path marked out as a go-between for the work tent and the other two. Not sure where she's putting us yet though, apparently you weren't the only call-in. We had three people that got sick last minute, so we'll find out." She shrugged without care. She didn't have a reason to care, I was the only one secretly hoping to be locked away in the worker tent.
We set up our dinner requests on the card that could be placed outside on the door, that way we would come back to food instead of having to wait for it. "Ready to go?" I asked as I slipped my phone into my back pocket and rearranged the clip for my hair so it would hold a little tighter.
"Yep, let's go make some money!" Mel was shouting, very excited and ready to go. It made me smile, she could make just about anything fun, even work. "Come on! Time to feed some people, probably watch someone fall on the dance floor, maybe a few fights if they get drunk enough to forget the rules. Whooo! Party time!" She half ran down the hall to the elevator, I laughed as I took my time behind her just shaking my head at her purity in the situation. She was definitely the best person to have for a night at work.
"Did you down an energy drink when I wasn't looking?" She started laughing as we waited for the elevator to stop. When it finally did there was a young man in it. He had shaggy blonde hair that hung around the edge of his face, blue eyes that seemed to pop a bit extra compared to his tan skin.
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