Ashley followed Sal to a cottage not far down the road. They were now in the dark. She saw where they were going from; the moonlight reflecting off the leftover snow. A day that snow piles would disappear. It was just one of those things.               Rachel met them at the door. “Hi, come in, both of you. We’ll get started soon. Craig won’t be with us. Something is happening at the packhouse tonight. He’s needed there. Get comfortable and have a seat. I’ll be with you in a minute.” She disappeared into a room while they settled themselves in the main living area. A laptop rested open on the coffee table.               The silence was more noticeable because of the anticipation and fear of job loss. Ashley glanced at Sal. He sat across from her. His elbows rested on his kn

              Ashley and Sal left Rachel’s cabin to return to what Ashley realized was their home currently. She realized she felt numb. Numb from shock because she didn’t have anywhere to turn. Everyone abandoned her, even her father left her to her own devices. What was she going to do? She couldn’t believe this was happening. She either accepted Sal or abandon her life. Meaning she’d have to find a new pack. Either way, she’d be walking away from her life. That was terrifying to her.             Inside again, with coats off, Sal moved into the kitchen and Ashley settled onto a sofa. She contemplated what to do. With a staggeringly larger number of confusing and conflicting things floating in her head, she watched Sal moved through the kitchen. Curiously, she watched him for the first time move about in the kitchen. It wasn&r

      The last of the decorations finally arrived. Jessie found the delivery room in chaos as people tried valiantly to organize it, and handle the influx of deliveries. The older pups were hauling out abandoned packages. It was their job to figure out who the package was for and then deliver it. They added the new packages to the new system, and they sent the package owner’s notification to pick them up. Some packages were so old no one knew the names on the packages, or the owners were no longer living. They placed them on a shelf to be dealt with later.      Jessie took possession of the decorative greenery baskets. With them in hand, she left them in the dining room. “Bonnie, the greenery is in the dining room ready for the volunteers. I need to get over to the Iron Hill packhouse and check how things have started there. Now, are you sure you have this managed?”      “Yes, Luna. We’ll be ready for t

              Jessie finally returned from her day. Tomorrow was the New Year’s Eve event. Once that was over, it would move all available hands to get the cleanup done and everything as close to readiness as possible for the refugees. January third would see NARC workers coming in to help speed things up. There weren’t many because many of the supernatural factions were dealing with similar issues. However, it was the shifter and the vampire communities that were hit the hardest. Within the shifters, the worst hit was in fact not the Wolves, but the Beard. All over North America, the Bear Communities were choosing to change the fundamental way they lived. Choosing to leave the isolated family homesteads to live similarly to the Wolf Communities in enclaves could promote communication and provide better security.              Silver Ridge was lu

              Finally, the meeting ended with promises that they’d come back for the start of the celebrations at noon.              “I’ll go finish up figuring out when we have time for any of this and attempt to prioritize it all.” Alrick closed the door behind the NARC investigators and looked at his mate.              “I wish we knew something of the timeline of how events will play out. I’ll keep you company while you work. I’m tired but I don’t want to have another trip into the Dream Realm again.”              Alrick frowned. “You might get more clarity.”              “What if cl