Selene smiled admiringly at the new mark on her neck. She was inspecting it while looking in her mirror; as she turned her head slightly, she noticed the moon with a wolf resembling Lorn's looking lovingly up at it. They were surrounded by stars. If she remembers correctly, her mark was very similar to her sisters. Katia's had a wolf resembling Nathan's staring lovingly at the moon while snow fell around them. Lorn had been so gentle and loving when she admitted to him that she wanted to seal their bond. She blushed thinking about the things they did last night. She had no idea that it could be so wonderful or that it would feel so good. The memory of Lorn's hands stroking and rubbing between her legs before his tongue went there had her shivering and she noticed a wetness between her legs. Lorn came into the bathroom and pulled her against his chest. Leaning down into her neck, he took in her scent and spoke gently in her ear, "I can smell your desire, my tantalizing mate."
Blushing a deeper red she quickly apologized, "I'm sorry. I was admiring my mark and then starting thinking about last night."
"Sweet girl, you never need to apologize for wanting your mate as long as that mate is me," he assured her. Sprinkling kisses along her shoulders. He murmured in between kisses, "If we had more time I would show you how happy it makes me that you desire me."
"Come, my alpha, we are going to be late for breakfast with my sister and her alpha." She giggled at him when he raised an eyebrow at her using his title possessively.
"Goddess forgive us if we are a few seconds late to the kitchen," He stated with mock outrage.
"I will think about it, maybe ask the other half of the goddess what she thinks first," Selene quipped back at him. Both laughed as they headed to meet the other couple. As they entered the kitchen, Katia ran to her and hugged her. Selene hugged her back and was grateful that their mates had decided just to stay in one cabin after the first couple of nights. Once the twins were under one roof their nightmares had calmed. Katia let out what would be considered a squeal for her and started chattering about her mark. She allowed her sister to inspect her mark from Lorn. When Katia turned to Lorn he leaned down some so she could inspect his. Katia then went back to Nathan and pulled him to look at the marks on the other couple.
First Nathan noticed how alike the two women's marks were. The only difference was the one that personalized the marks to the person and couple. He noticed that the marks for the males were similar to the women's but their marks had the moon's glow wrapped around the wolf. Lorn's was still surrounded by stars and Nathan's by snow. The mating marks looked similar to tattoos, but if they were touched by their mates, it was a pleasurable feeling like no other. As Nathan continued to inspect their marks, he wondered what Mark's and Talon's looked like. Were they similar to theirs? If so, what did it mean? Was it something to do with this prophecy?
Katia interrupted his thoughts when she said out loud, "Nathan, maybe we should ask them to join us and find out if their marks are like ours." Smiling at the fact his little mate was hanging out in his mind more and more, he agreed and linked Chipper to ask Mark and Talon to come out to the cabin to join them. While they waited, the four finished making breakfast together and talked about mundane things. Although they were at the beginning of summer now, they needed to make sure they had plenty of supplies for winter. They could get into town up until the heavy snows started, and then they were on their own until the spring. The Colorado winters could be nasty especially where they were. Mark and Talon walked in while the discussion was happening and stated, "No worries, alphas, Cjipper, Kelp, Kane, and I have already been stockpiling the things we will not be able to make or grow ourselves."
Nathan clapped Mark on the back and praised, "Katia made the best wolf alpha of Moon Touched when she chose you. Thank you for holding things together during everything that has been going on. I promise that now that the twins are awake and mending, I will also return to my responsibilities."
Talon stepped forward to look the moon goddesses over as she stated, "You three may be the alphas and we two may be the lunas, but let us not forget who is the alpha luna,"
They all turned to Katia and bared their necks out of respect for her rank. She blushed and waved her hand at them to stop. "There is no need for you to bare your necks to me. You are my equals, mate, family, and friends."
Nathan was seated on one of the stools at the kitchen island; he reached for his mate's hand and pulled her into her seat. He patiently explained to her, "Sweetheart, when you started gathering your pack of damaged wolves at such a young age, you started something amazing, and you were given that name by those who deemed you deserving. I do not mind you outranking me as long as we still work together to run our packs when needed. You will always be my Luna."
Nathan finished putting some pancakes and sausage on her plate and then asked Mark and Talon, "When we are finished breakfast would you mind showing us your marks? We have a hunch that they resemble our marks."
Mark and Talon nodded that they would both be willing as Talon inquired, "Resemble whose? It would make sense for our marks to resemble yours and Katia's for our two packs have mostly merged without actually merging."
Lorn interjected, "We think your marks will resemble all of ours."
Mark stuttered, "Really, why do you think that?"
Nathan replied, "I think it has something to do with this new prophecy."
Selene could not take another moment of questions and speculated, "Enough eating and talking. Could we just see your mating marks already? I am going to lose my mind if I have to listen to you all much longer."
Lorn laughed and told her, "Mate, I will have to show you how rewarding patience can be." Selene cocked an eyebrow at Lorn as Katia leaned forward and whispered to her, "Don't believe him; Nathan tried teaching me that lesson once, but he failed."
Mark and Lorn burst out laughing at Katia's words as Nathan growled, "I cannot help that I want to give you everything you ask for when you ask for it." Looking at Lorn, He continued, "You will see. It is impossible to teach that lesson to a mate when you want nothing but to please them."
Selene clicked her tongue in frustration and reminded them, "Mark and Talons's marks, remember?" At that, the couple exposed their necks, showing their marks. As they had thought, Talons' mark was a white moon with a wolf exactly like Mark's staring lovingly up at it, and they were surrounded by a purple glow. Just as Mark's mark was his wolf, with the moon behind him wrapping him in her loving white glow while surrounded by a purple glow, Mark's mark was his wolf, with the moon wrapping him in her loving white glow while surrounded by a purple glow. The other four individuals showed their marks to Mark and Talon, and they all gasped at how much alike they were.
Talon's eyes were black, and she whispered in astonishment, "It has begun; the decisions made from this point forward will shape what the wolves become." Once she finished the sentence, her eyes were normal again, and she was beet red. Mark pulled her against his chest and hugged her to him. He let her get her bearings after the short trance she had been thrown into. Once she was more herself, she said, "Sorry, as a mystic wolf, I never know when that will happen. We are given no warning. However, the predictions are never wrong."
Katia had been repeating the prophecy in her mind for the last thirty minutes while the others were tending to the mystic wolf and discussing the marks. Finally, she used the link she had with them all; sometimes it was easier than talking. "I think our marks are so much alike because the six of us are meant to oversee one large pack."
Nathan and Lorn both spoke at once, "The council will never allow that to happen. It would be too large of a pack with too much power."
Selene agreed with her sister and warned, "I am willing to bet that whatever this council has to say is not going to matter." Talon shook her head in agreement. She did not know how she knew what Selene and Katia said was accurate, but she did. Mark voiced what everyone else was wondering, "How do you think the packs will react to merging into one?"
Talon spoke up because she had heard some of the pack's opinions that their separation seemed foolish when they all worked and played together. "I believe the pack will be more open to the suggestion than you think. From some of the things I have heard, it sounds like they wish for it already."
Selene questioned, "How would the six of us oversee one pack together?"
Mark voiced the idea he had been playing with, "We would be our own council. We would make decisions together. When we did not agree, we would give each other a chance to be heard and vote on why they felt the way they did. The majority will when."
Lorn added, "We can make everyday decisions separately and link one another so we are on the same page, but anything huge is discussed and decided by all of us.
Nathan kept running the idea through his head and looking at each individual working together to carry the new pack into the future. "I think it could work and as a safety net, we have the gods as our advisors. They can help to guide us when needed. Now if we are all in agreement to this idea, I suggest we get ourselves out to the training grounds for the game of tag we promised the children."
Laughing, they cleaned up the mess from breakfast and headed out to the training grounds. The men were heading to meet with other pack members and discuss strategy. The women declared that they would gather the children and ensure they were fed a good breakfast then escort them to the training field. The three alphas looked pointedly at their mates and warned them,' You are not to interfere with the children's strategies. It will not go well for you three if you do so. The children are smart and know how to play the game. They will win if they can work together."
The three lunas smiled sweetly, saying, "Of course, we would never think of interfering in a game that is used to teach the children how to work together. Please do remember what you stated, mates. The children are very smart, and things may not go well for you either way."
They blew their men kisses, and the women were on their way to the packhouse to ensure the children were fed properly.