Word Count: 3897

Everyone dispersed and the visitors were shown to their rooms as the couches were made up and Harper and Celie got PJs and more clothes for everyone.

"We're going to have to go clothes shopping tomorrow," Harper said. "We're going to be running out soon."

"Target here we come," Celie laughed, as she folded a load of clothes she's just pulled out of the dryer and stacked them neatly in the basket.

Then out of the corner of her eye she saw Sana eyeing Eden and she felt a wave of possessiveness bubble up from her stomach. She played off sorting a pile of clothes and listened closely when she saw Sana approaching.

"Hello Eden, might I speak with you?" Sana asked, smiling coyly up at Eden when he turned to her. His pleasant expression cooled a little when he saw her smile.

"Hello, Mena, is it?" Eden asked, and watched her eyes narrow slightly when he seemed not to remember her name.

Celie felt a spike of humor and resisted the urge to snicker.

"Sana," Sana said a little stiffly, but smiled sweetly again. "I cannot tell with the human clothing you wear, but I was wondering if you are mated?"

Celie stiffened, her humor vanished and anger began to take it's place, how dare this siren chic start hitting on Eden the second she walked through the door. Who the hell did she think she was?

"I am not mated," Eden replied, then paused. "Yet... But I have an intended mate."

Sana's smile vanished and her brows drew together in a slightly annoyed look.

"Ah, I see," Sana said, "that is unfortunate."

"Not for me. I don't think it's unfortunate at all. I'm blessed and I'm grateful for it." Eden shrugged, turned, and walked away, ignoring the narrowed eyes burning holes into his back.

Celie smirked to herself and hid it by biting her lip, but she glanced up and saw Porter grinning at her with a raised brow. She felt her cheeks heat up and he widened his eyes and blinked at her. The boy came off as goofy, but it was all a façade, because nothing got past him.

Celie returned his wide eyed look, then quirked a brow in Sana's direction, giving him a mischievous smile.

"Maybe you could keep being promiscuous for a little while longer, Port," Celie whispered as she passed him.

"I might just do that, Cel," Porter snickered, then winked. "But only as a favor to you."

"I knew I could count on you," Celie giggled.

**

The next morning Harper, Celie, Sana, Mena, and Hera went shopping, and they ended up buying so many clothes Harper had to call Matt to bring his work truck to load the bags and bring them back. Harper cleaned out four different Target stores, and two Old Navy's of everything they had, she figured they were probably going to be getting a lot more siren guests and she'd rather be prepared. It also never hurt to have extras around, and she could always give them to the packs if they ended up not needing them. Werewolves were notorious for ripping their clothes to shreds so they knew nothing would go to waste.

Then they had another truck load of supplies from the grocery and liquor stores.

Porter called the pack and made arrangements to have full patrols so everyone else could have a break and enjoy movie night.

Celie and Porter gathered an enormous array of snacks and drinks and piled onto the rec room couch and argued over which movies to watch while Eden sat laughing at their antics. He'd immediately dropped onto the space next to Celie and casually draped an enormous arm over the back of the couch behind her and rested his hand on her shoulder. Celie hid a smirk when Sana came in, her eyes narrowing when she saw Eden sitting with Celie, and she sat on the other couch with her arms crossed over her chest with an irritated look on her face.

Celie and Porter shared a giggle over that, playing it off as part of the movie discussion.

The sirens simply listened to the argument in confusion, not understanding much of what was said, so they waited patiently for the wolves to explain. Laro was the only one who really understood what was going on, as he had spent a lot of time on land with his sister and family, but the others had lived their lives at sea, and though they understood the language very well, they didn't understand the culture or the technology. So Celie and Porter tried to pick movies that would show modern weapons, and tactics. Of course they picked John Wick, Underworld, and Terminator one and two, which made Harper and Matt crack up.

Adam, Reese, and Lucas came in to join movie night, but after only a few minutes Adam couldn't stand seeing Celie and Eden sitting so close together with Eden's arm around her, so he excused himself to go out and relax on the deck. Reese followed him a few minutes later, also uncomfortable watching Harper snuggled with Matt in an oversized chair.

"I guess that's that," Adam said after a few minutes of them sitting in silence.

"Looks like," Reese sighed. "Maybe we should head home, Adam. We don't need to stay until the end of mating season, the Everglades and Keys packs are here taking care of things, they don't need us."

Adam sighed, he was divided on what to do, his wolf was howling at the very idea of giving up and going home, but his mind was telling him it was the only logical thing to do. Staying here would only prolong his pain and make everyone uncomfortable. They'd come here to apologize and try for another chance, and they'd done that. They'd given their sincere apologies and it was obvious they would never get a second chance.

"Maybe," Adam said looking off on the horizon where the sun was starting to sink toward the water. "I feel weird about leaving in the middle of this, I'd like to see it through, but it might not be a bad idea to move back into the hotel or to one of the safe houses. Give everyone a little breathing room."

"That's actually a great idea, I don't want to share a bed with you again," Reese joked. "Let's go ask, if they have the safe house already full, we can go ahead and move back to the hotel and enjoy some solitude. I don't know about you, but I really need some time to myself."

"Absolutely," Adam agreed, getting up and heading back into the house with Reese.

The argument over which movie to watch first was winding down when Reese and Adam came back in. They decided to play it cool, and act as if nothing was wrong.

"So, before the movies get started, we were wondering if the house situation had been discussed?" Adam asked. "I really don't want to sleep with Reese again. I mean, he's cute and all, but not really my type."

After the laughter died down everyone looked at Porter.

"I'm glad you brought that up, I meant to ask you guys earlier what you wanted to do. I didn't bring any new warriors in to stay at the safe houses, so they are both open at the moment." Porter said, getting serious for once. "They're on the mainland, so about a twenty to thirty minute drive away, but both are four bedroom houses, that are fully stocked and ready to go."

"Honestly, I'd rather be on the island," Reese said. "We'll just go back to the hotel and get rooms there, it's only a couple of miles away and we can get here fast if you need us."

"I hate for you to pay to stay here though," Harper frowned. "The Ritz is expensive as hell but it's not the only hotel on the island, there are a couple of others, but you won't get many options. I get you wanting some privacy and your own beds, but you don't have to do that, we can try to work something else out, so that you each have your own rooms."

"I agree with the boys," Alpha Lucas said. He knew why they wanted to get out of here, and agreed wholeheartedly, he didn't want them to end up losing control seeing their mates with other males. "I could use my own room again too, and the Ritz isn't that bad, we're not paupers you know. But if you can recommend another place we can check it out."

"I know, Alpha Lucas," Harper smiled. "I get it, I just hate that we don't have enough room for everyone. You shouldn't have to pay for a place to stay when you are here helping us."

"It's no problem, Harp," Adam smiled. "You don't have to take care of us, we're big boys."

"It's our choice to stay and help," Reese assured her. "And it's our choice to have our own rooms and maybe some room service, maids, and a mini bar. We'll do a quick search and see if we can find something close but a little less expensive."

"Yeah, you're definitely not getting room or maid service here," Harper laughed. "We do have a full sized bar right there though."

"There is one place," Matt chimed in. "I think it's called Coral Reef? Not sure, but I'd definitely look it up and check that first."

"We're going to head over to the hotel then, and I'll do a little research tonight and see if I can find something that would do for a longer term stay," Reese said, relieved to be getting out of here. "Let us know when you're having meetings or if you find out anything new. We'll be available for any patrols you need us to be on, just shoot us a text and we'll be over."

Celie and Porter had started arguing again and she didn't look up when they left the room. She knew Adam looked at her, trying to meet her eyes but she avoided it. She would go talk to him tomorrow and officially, once and for all, break things off with him. She'd told him she didn't think she could have a relationship with him, she'd been pretty clear, but she could see where she might have left the door cracked a little and she knew she needed to firmly shut it so they could both move on. What she absolutely didn't want was anyone thinking she was messing around with both Eden and Adam. No love triangles for Celie, she was a one man woman. She felt a surge of sadness from Sira, but her wolf stayed silent, and Celie knew Sira was letting her make the final choice, even though losing her wolf mate would hurt her.

Celie also sent a relieved look at Porter who winked at her, he'd seen the uncomfortable situation and provoked her to engage with him to avoid it and give her an excuse not to pay attention to what was happening.

"Celie, Harper," Porter said, seriously. "I have something I want to say to you two."

Celie and Harper stopped and stared at Porter, he was almost never serious, so his demeanor caused them to pause.

"I want you to officially join the Everglades pack," Porter said. "You don't have to stay with the pack, you don't have to change your lives at all, but this will give you the ability to mind link us, and we need that right now. Plus, you're my family, my big sisters, it bugs me you're not pack."

"Awww," Celie said, her eyes almost tearing up. "Porter, if you get any sweeter, you'll be made out of sugar."

"What makes you think I'm not now?" Porter asked, his face screwed up in false confusion, which prompted Harper, Matt, and Celie to crack up.

"Seriously, though," Porter said again, his face solemn. "Think about it, it would be safer for everyone, and we don't expect anything from you, you wouldn't owe the pack anything. We already consider you pack, the only thing that will change is that you'll bond to us."

"It's a good idea, Harp," Matt said, squeezing her hand. "I know how you feel about packs in general, but I also know how you feel about Everglades, they've been nothing but great to you."

"I will," Celie said, suddenly. "I'll join the pack, Porter, I'm honored. You are my family, and it's time I acknowledged that."

"Me too," Harper said after a moment. "We're just skittish, you know? Been lone wolves a long time, but you guys...you guys are family to us, and we should be pack members."

"What are you talking about?" Mena asked.

"Wolves are pack animals," Celie turned to explain. "We live in groups, usually pretty large groups. Where your people are mostly solitary, ours are communal. We live together, eat together, work together, play together, train together, hunt together, provide for each other. We're bonded to each other like family. Harper and I are a little different, we left our pack a long time ago, for reasons that aren't important now, but we have been on our own since then. We're what you call lone wolves, meaning we are not part of any pack."

"It's rare for a wolf to be a lone wolf," Porter took over the explanation. "We as a species are dependent on each other, without a pack, many wolves go crazy and become what we call rogues. Which are basically the tritons of the wolf world. They lose their humanity and give in to their animal side, which makes them violent and dangerous."

"This happens to wolves without packs?" Hera asked.

"A lot of times it does, wolves who are banished from their pack almost always go crazy," Harper answered. "It's unusual for a wolf to be a lone wolf for very long, unless they are with their mate, it is against our every instinct to be alone like that. Wolves are basically the opposite of you. Where you can live alone, and often prefer to be alone except for your mates, we need other wolves to survive. Most wolves literally cannot live without other wolves."

"But you can?" Laro asked.

"Yes," Harper said simply, then held up her arm so that the moon symbol on her wrist was visible to them. She saw their eyes widen when they saw it, and she knew they recognized it. Celie held up her own wrist and showed her symbol to them. "Celie and I were marked by the moon goddess when we left our pack. So there is no chance of us ever becoming rogues or going crazy, she blessed our leaving and protected us."

"But we're very close with the Everglades pack, which is Porter's pack, and we've just decided to go ahead and officially join their pack," Celie explained. "If we join the pack and pledge our allegiance to them, we will be able to mind link them, which is the ability to communicate telepathically which is very important and will help us to fight the tritons."

"You can communicate telepathically with each other?" Sana asked, shocked.

"Yes, members of the same pack can hear and speak in each other's minds, mates can do it as well, as long as we are within a few miles of each other," Harper explained. "We can't do it over large distances though, we just have about a twenty or twenty five mile range."

"You say mates can do it," Hera said looking closely at Harper and Matt. "Can you?"

"Yes," Matt answered. "I developed the ability to mind link Harper when we sealed our mate bond."

The sirens gaped at them in astonishment.

"This is amazing," Javen murmured. "What a world we live in, with such strange beings."

"So," Porter turned back to the girls. "You realize Mom and Dad are going to plan the party of the century to celebrate this right? They've been wanting you two to officially join the pack since the first time they met you. I've got to say, they worried themselves sick over your safety when you first arrived in Miami and refused to join the pack. They hated that you were so far away from the protection of the pack. My dad was convinced that you'd come around and join, but my mom didn't believe it for a second, she said you two were too strong for that, and you wouldn't join us until you were ready."

"Luna Penny is always right," Harper chuckled.

"Do not tell her that," Porter said flatly. "She already thinks she's the all-knowing oracle."

Celie and Harper couldn't help crack up over that comment.

"I'll go ahead and give her a call and I'll find out when she wants to plan the ceremony, it's really too bad that Luna Sophia had to leave, mom would love to have her here for this," Porter said, pulling out his phone.

"Maybe you should send one of your private jets to pick her up for the party," Celie said, making Porter snort.

"What does the ceremony entail?" Matt asked when Porter stepped out of the room to talk to his parents on the phone.

"We go up on a stage and the Alpha and Luna say a few words introducing and welcoming us, then we pledge our alliance to the pack and the alpha cuts our palm and his, then takes our hand to mix our blood. That forms the bond between us and the whole pack, and we will be able to hear everyone. Then there is a big party where everyone welcomes us and eats and drinks way too much." Celie explained. "The actual joining the pack part is really quick and easy, but the whole thing is really just an excuse to have a big party for the whole pack."

"And for everyone to meet the new pack members, but everyone already knows us," Harper said. "We've lived in Miami for seven years now, and we have gone to a lot of pack festivals, runs, hunts, and functions over those years. So it will just be a big party this time, and they'll probably invite the Keys pack to come for this too, since they know us so well now."

"Sounds like it will be fun," Eden said.

"Oh, it will be," Celie laughed. "One thing wolves know how to do is throw a party, and Luna Penny is like the party planner queen."

"Wouldn't surprise me if she had a champagne fountain or something," Harper laughed.

"So, were you able to hear my mom scream through the phone from the other room?" Porter asked, laughing as he came back in. "I swear she hasn't been that happy in years, you can count on a full on formal party with ball gowns, tuxedos, and probably a small orchestra."

"What?!" Harper and Celie exclaimed together.

"Ok, so, there may not be an orchestra," Porter chuckled. "But it will be a formal affair, so be prepared to go dress shopping tomorrow. Mom said she will pick you up at ten, and you will be meeting up with Luna Diana at the boutiques."

"This is gonna be awesome!" Celie cheered.

"This is gonna be a nightmare," Harper groaned at the same time, making everyone laugh.

"You guys are going to love this," Celie turned to the sirens. "You're going to see just how amazing it is to party like a werewolf! We'll probably spend all day tomorrow shopping because we'll get all dressed up. We'll definitely have to take Eden to a tailor, there's no way we're going to find a suit big enough to fit him."

"I can take him to the place I go, I can't find suits big enough to fit me either," Porter said. "Unless Matt has one, he's as big as me."

"I don't really have anyone I use; I only have two suits and I wear the same ones whenever I have to dress up, and the only time I dress up is for one of Celie's charity events or gallery parties." Matt said. "Cel is the only person I'll wear a suit for."

"Well, you better get used to wearing them, members of the pack have to dress up for a lot of functions," Porter said.

"It's a good thing I'm not a pack member then," Matt laughed.

"Oh, you will be, you're joining the pack too," Porter grinned.

"What? But I'm not a werewolf," Matt said, looking confused.

"You don't have to be a werewolf to join the pack, we have a few members who are not werewolves, human mates join," Porter explained. "I guess we'll have a siren mate member for the first time."

"Wait," Celie said, her head tilted to the side, confusion on her face. "You let humans join your pack?"

"Of course," Porter answered, looking slightly confused at her question. "Mates are always invited to join, doesn't matter if they're wolves or not, they're pack, they're family, if they're mated to one of us, they get all of us. Your pack didn't do that?"