Beonnie

The next day, Hild insisted on us going to the beauty salon to get a bit pampered so we could make a good impression on "all the people we would meet". Well, she blamed it on that, at least, but I was pretty sure it was part of a grander scheme of our new life, and my suspicions were confirmed when she donned a completely different look afterwards. Gone was the long black hair, replaced by a shoulder-length natural blonde style that suited her well. A genius move, she thought herself, since she would now be passed off as my mother. 

We had decided to wait until the following week to register me. Still, Hild made an effort to go to the school, "accidentally" bumping into the secretary with her bruised face and making an appointment for us after the weekend.

When she returned, we spent the rest of the day organising and fiddling with everything we had bought, putting them in drawers, hanging them in wardrobes, and just enjoying being in our home again.

Hild called on job ads, and so did I. Fortune shone on us again, as Hild got an interview for a job already on Friday. She then concluded that she needed "interview" clothes, so there was another round at the mall. We went to a photo booth to take new pictures for ID cards and driver's licenses—Hild's, not mine, of course.

We got some cash from an ATM and bought a white envelope. I took out the business card I took at Berta's and printed the address. Then we filled it with the cash we withdrew and a "thank you" note. I added a picture of the two of us that we took in the photo booth earlier. I addressed it to Zac, as I was pretty sure he was behind it all.

Feeling pretty content with ourselves, we returned to our apartment and continued the pampering. On one of the walls, we hung a map, as we had also started dreaming of going on holidays in the future. I had just hung it up when I realised something. I furrowed my brows, looking at the map.

"Hild?"

She left her bedroom with a shopping bag in her hand and stopped next to me.

"What?"

I pointed at the map.

"Didn't you say that you started out here? And then went here, here and here?" I drew a line with my finger over the map. She narrowed her eyes, looking at the map, trying to determine my point. Then she shrugged.

"Yes, sort of."

I moved my finger to another place on the map.

"I started here, then I ran in this direction. I was here, here, and this is where I fell down the waterfall."

"Mhm?"

I took a piece of string wrapped around a fancy blanket we bought and used it to draw a line on the map.

"See, I was coming from here in this direction.. and you were coming from here in this direction.."

I showed her. Her eyebrows shot up.

"Oh. But.."

"We were both meant to end up here all along."

It turned out that my life trajectory and her life trajectory intersected in this very town.

We both smiled.

"We were destined to meet at some point or another."

Zac

If it wasn't for the fact that Alpha Neron Johnson had threatened our entire pack and life, the next few weeks were almost like in the good old days. For some reason, Ben was in a good mood, not by usual standards, but by his standards, a good mood. He was still stern, still serious about things, but there was a lightness in him that had been gone for too long.

The Gathering was still two months away, but it was a big event that required lots of planning. We sent invitations to all the packs in the Prospect, and our warriors started an even more rigorous training regime than before.

The tournament of packs was divided into several sub-leagues, where the pack that became the Prospect pack was required to come out in at least the top 3 in all three leagues. So our warriors needed to beat all the other pack's warriors, the beta needed to beat all other betas, and the alpha needed to beat all other Alphas. If two teams were in the top 3 of all three leagues, any of these teams could ask for a complete final, where the alpha and the warriors fought together. The beta was prohibited from fighting in the absolute final as if something happened to the alpha; the beta was there to take over the pack until the next alpha was chosen.

Only on rare occasions did something serious happen in these tournaments, as the fights were in human form. Some bones were always broken, and stitches were always needed, but deaths were rare as there was a yielding system, and everyone knew not to kill. Give or take, there were about 15 packs in our Prospect, and even if not all packs would show up, each pack was expected to come with a set of warriors of at least 12. The usual tournament number was 15, but it was at the respective pack's discretion how many warriors they put on the field, up to 30.

So at least 15 warriors, one alpha, perhaps a Luna, the betas, the gammas, and pack doctors and pack members from each pack needed to be accommodated during the Gathering. The weekends were more festival-like than serious Tournament of Pack-like, so spouses, friends, youths, and kids were also expected to be there. This meant that about a week after the invitations were sent out, carpenters from the different packs arrived and started to build living quarters and halls for the other packs.

We had an ample open space by the lake where the Gathering usually was held, and it was now packed with builders all day. Houses were not erect per se, but for each Gathering that passed, the constructions were not taken down, so subsequently, the tents looked more and more like semi-permanent buildings as the years went by.

As we were the Prospect pack, our building was permanent. It was a big hall with a roof that was open to the second level and served as a greeting hall, party hall, ball hall, and dining hall for the Alpha King Prospect and his guests. On the second floor, lining the hall's open roof, were the warriors' sleeping quarters so one could stand by the railing and look down at whatever was going on on the first floor. Thus, it was more about cleaning and preparing than building something.

An extensive training ground was also available in the area, and we decided to increase and improve it. Then there was the Tournament of Packs arena, which needed repairs and improvements. It was a classical gladiator-style arena, so everyone could watch the games as they progressed.

All in all, we had lots of things to do.

Ben had granted me my own office, deciding it was time for me to take more responsibility for our legal affairs. He even ventured to suggest that I should continue my education to get a proper degree, but I didn't hold my breath about that. Not that I thought he wouldn't go through with it, but more because I didn't feel inclined to. There was too much going on with Prospect business right now, and I didn't want any distractions.

I was busy organising my desk and getting in place when there was a knock on the doorframe, and Ben's secretary Anne peeked inside the already open door. I looked up.

"Sorry to disturb you, Beta Zac, but Zane was at Berta's this morning, and there was a letter for you."

She held out a white, kind of thick, letter and looked down in submission. I took it from her, nodded, and smiled for, well, because she was kind of cute.

"Thank you."

With another smile, she backed out and left.

I was not in the habit of getting letters from anyone and was puzzled. Carefully, I smelled the envelope. Nothing threatening. I pressed it, and it gave way a bit as if there was something soft inside. I took a letter knife from my drawer and opened it carefully.

The first thing I saw was cash. I took it out and held it up, intrigued about why someone would send me money. I didn't know anyone who owed me anything. I put it on the desk and took a second look inside the envelope where I found a note and a photo strip with two photos, one of two girls blowing kisses towards the camera and a second where they were smiling towards it. Uh-hum. For a second, I pondered the prospects of Betas getting fan mail from younger she-wolves, but surely that was not a thing. Right?

I looked at the note.

"Dear friend with a nickname,

I have decided that Zac is probably a nickname for something else already, so I will call you Zac until I find something better.

We have already checked out of the hotel Tristan paid for, and here is all the money back.

I am in a much better place now and just wanted to say thanks for saving me. I owe you one.

/B"

I smiled and looked at the photos again, now recognizing B as one of the girls in them. She looked healed enough and smiled happily towards the camera. I would have assumed the other woman was the one Tristan talked about, but this one had blonde hair instead of black. She was a bit bruised, though.

"Love letters?"

Ben stood in the doorframe with a crooked smile on his face.

"At least it looks that way with that grin you are sporting now."

I waved with the note and the photo.

"It was from the girl," I indicated, pointing to the bankroll on my desk. "She sent the money back for the hotel."

He raised his eyebrows in disbelief, walked up to me, and took the note. He read it and gave it back. I pointed at B in the photo.

"This is her."

He took the photo and casually looked at it. Then he double-checked it and looked up at me, narrowing his eyes.

"Who is the other woman?"

I shrugged.

"I don't know exactly, but I guess it is the woman they all saved, only I thought she had long black hair, and this one doesn't. But I don't know who else it would be, and there is a bruise over her eye, so maybe she cut her hair or something."

He still looked at the photo and then up at me, narrowing his eyes again.

"There is a resemblance there."

I raised my hand to take the photo back to check what he was on about, but he didn't offer it back right away. I frowned and gave him a questioning glare, and finally, he gave the picture back, but not without some hesitation. I scanned the photo again, and sure, there was some resemblance between them, but it could also be the colour scheme that gave the illusion.

I hummed.

"Maybe."