Marked

Chapter 2: Mate

I gripped the armrests on the plane chair as we got closer to the ground. The plane bounced as it landed, making me grip tighter and curse airplanes' existence. They were the worst. Giant, metal contraptions that trapped you in the sky so if anything did happen, you would have absolutely no way to escape, just fall to your death and watch it happen.

I fucking hated flying.

We landed in Atlanta, Georgia the same day of the first meetings. It was too last minute to get here any earlier. As soon as the doors opened, I was off that damn plane. Cassie and Renzo trailed behind me, their fingers interlaced as we rushed through the airport.

"It's so fucking hot and sticky here," Renzo whined.

I nodded in agreement, I wasn't used to this heat. Humidity, I thought I was used to, but this was much worse than what we experienced in Washington.

We got our bags and rented a car before heading to our hotel where a lot of the supernaturals were staying. It was owned by someone who was married to a fae and relatively safe for us. I was staying in a room alone so I wouldn't have to wake up to Cassie and Renzo sneakily trying to do it while I was asleep. It happened before and I wasn't keen on experiencing it again.

I changed into a skirt and a tank top. I didn't normally wear skirts or dresses because it just wasn't practical as a ranked wolf but I figured shorts wouldn't be acceptable at this kind of thing and it was really fucking hot out. I tied my hair back in a ponytail and changed to sandals, anything to escape that heat. Renzo and Cassie barely lasted two minutes in their room before they were fucking, it was a time I wasn't thankful for my werewolf hearing. But they both came to my room shortly after that to talk.

"Okay, I'm going to probably skip out on a lot of the meetings so I can find as many witches and fae as possible," Cassie informed us, tapping a notebook. "I have a list of the best regarding healing and since there's only like three meetings that actually have everyone in them, I'm going to avoid the werewolf meetings so I can talk to the most people."

"Good," I nodded.

"Can I skip out too?" Renzo asked.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "Since we're here, we have to attend the stupid meetings or it will seem disrespectful. I know it seems like that's not helping our Luna but that's not necessarily true. Other packs have fae and witches in them, too. We get chummy with some packs we don't know and find out if they have any exceptional healers, we should try to find as much help as we can get. But be careful who you give information to, we don't exactly want it put on display that our pack is vulnerable right now."

"Got it," Renzo agreed.

"Okay," Cassie said, flipping through her notebook.

Renzo watched Cassie with a small smile as she scanned through her notes. I wasn't her mate but even I found it adorable the way she took ridiculously detailed notes any time she was in a pack meeting. She tried so hard. Renzo knew she did partially for him and it was obvious in the way he gazed at her with that adoring smile. They were adorable. It was gross.

"I'm sorry, that meeting happened so fast," Cassie said, blowing a loose piece of hair out of her face. "Who are the packs we need to be extra cautious of? I remember Alpha naming three but I only have two written down. Hunter's Moon, Harvest Howlers, and..."

"Blood Moon," I finished.

She scribbled into her notebook and Renzo's mouth quirked into a smile. Goddess, I was really over mates at this point. I was surrounded by them. It was disgusting. A small part of me said it's because I was jealous and I told that part to stick it where the sun don't shine.