Page 51 of The Barren Luna

It was heartwarming. “Go ahead, Regina, just ignore him. God knows I do.”

“The pack has been great so far,” I responded with a smile. “I’ve been healing and adjusting in other ways during my first weeks here, so exploring and integrating hasn’t really been a priority. Now that my wolf is back, I have a feeling that will change.”

“Yay for your wolf!” Helen clapped her hands together excitedly.

“Congrats!” Dylan said at the same time and raised his glass to me. “We should schedule a check-up next week, just to be safe. And there’s other things I want to talk to you about.”

“No shop talk,” Helen fixed him with a glare.

“Sorry, hard habit to break,” he smiled sheepishly. “Come to my office tomorrow, Regina?”

“Will do, Doc.”

“Don’t give him a cool nickname, please; he’s insufferable already,” David groaned, and Dylan actually threw a napkin at his King.

“You’re the insufferable one, pup!”

“Are you all from this pack?” I wondered, because they all seemed so close.

“Charlie, Dylan, and Alex aren’t,” Helen clarified.

“Oh. Where are you three from?”

“I’m from the North Carolina pack,” Dylan said and it surprised me.

“I’m from Alaska,” Alex said in a gruff voice.

“And I’m from Nebraska,” Charlie told me, and John added, “He’s our cousin on our mother’s side.”

“I’ve always been fascinated with mating customs of different packs, can you all please tell me about yours?” I looked around the table excitedly.

“You first!” Alicia suggested.

“Well, I’m originally from the Pennsylvania pack, Allegheny. Our males have to gather berries in the forest for their female, and build her a bed with their own two hands.”

“Why the berries, though? I mean, I get why the bed,” Dylan laughed.

“The way I always saw it was, both of those things are very unwolflike. Is that even a word?” I laughed. “But you get my point. We’re hunters, not gatherers, and definitely not carpenters. By doing something that isn’t in your nature, something that doesn’t come easily to you, you demonstrate your commitment, your willingness to step outside of your comfort zone for your mate,” I explained and I could feel David’s burning gaze on me as I spoke.

“On the other hand, the Spruce Mountain pack males would hunt and kill the biggest animal they could find, and the hide would be displayed in the couple’s home afterward. A nicethought, but we’re regularly hunting anyways, you know what I mean?” I looked around the table.

Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully, “I know exactly what you mean. Our pack kind of has two customs, and unlike other packs, ours apply to both the males and the females.”

Interesting.

“After meeting your mate, both the male and the female will always wear something the color of their mate’s eyes, the closer the shade, the better. Some people like experimenting with all the different shades of the color. But like you said about hunting, some wolves will just get earrings with an emerald and wear them all the time, where’s the effort in that?”

“Boooo, you’re nitpicking,” Alicia booed from the other end of the table, and I could see that she, in fact, did have amber earrings on. Alex just smiled at her.

“Ask anyone, Alicia, and everyone will tell you the same thing! The more effort you put into something daily, the more it is appreciated. Now, you’re getting away with it because your mate is from another pack, but I can tell you for a fact that a Rocky Mountain male would have picked a fight with you over this by now.”

“You don’t mind, babe, do you?” Alicia gazed up at Alex, who seemed mesmerized.

“No, babe. As long as you honor the customs of my pack, I’m good.”

“What are those, if I may ask?” I interrupted their almost-kiss.

“The newly mated couple must spend two months in the wilderness in the dead of winter. The first month in their human form, and the second month in their wolf form,” Alex told me.

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