Sapphire Moon

The Meet

Oliver had made it back to his room in the pack house, when he realized he still had the ring on. He decided to go shower before bed, so he could be ready for what lays ahead tomorrow. He tried to remove the ring, but it would not budge. He could see it wasn't too tight and was able to spin but would not come off. 'The ring must be spelled. *SIGH* I guess I'll just have to include this as a topic for tomorrow. Emma should be able to tell me how to remove it.' Oliver thought as he turned on the shower.

After his shower, he felt a bit more at ease, however still anxious about the meet. While he tried to get some sleep, he couldn't stop his mind from wandering. 'What happened to Jareth? He lived. Why hasn't there been any sightings? Does he know I'm blood? If so, why hasn't he tried contacting me? I really need to stop thinking of these things. I'm just going to have more questions than answers. I'll get some answers from Emma tomorrow. Hopefully. I just hope she can give us more information on the Golden Honey Clan.' Oliver thought as he drifted off.

The morning sun seemed to have risen sooner than anticipated. While Oliver hadn't made it out of bed yet, he was already thinking of Emma and Jareth. He lay there with the same thoughts he had last night, when he received a mind-link. 'Alpha, are you up yet?' It was Devin's voice that filled his head. 'Did you talk to Shawn about going with you?' He asked.

'I'm awake. I'm in the process of getting dressed.' Oliver said as he sat up, still not leaving his bed. 'Shawn should be arriving shortly.' He lied. 'Do you need anything, Dev?'

'I need you to tell me the truth. I get that you just found out your family is basically royalty, but you shouldn't shut us out. That should be the reason Shawn goes with you. You are more than capable, I know, but it would bring us much more comfort knowing you had someone else with you. At the very least, so we're able to be notified if changes are made and help is needed.' Devin countered. Oliver got up and started toward the closet to get dressed. 'I've taken the liberty to notify Shawn.... and Anna. They both accepted the mission as if it were their own. I'm sorry to go behind your back. I only did what I thought was right. You'll thank me for this later.'

'I don't know how to respond to that. I wasn't intentionally shutting you out. You're my best friend, my brother. I guess I just wanted to do something alone. Where are Shawn and Anna?' Oliver asked as he tied his shoes..

'Actually, they are waiting for you in the living room.' He answered. Oliver nodded to himself and walked downstairs. When he walked into the the room, Shawn, Anna, and Devin were all talking. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. They all looked to their Alpha and waited.

"Alright, let me start by apologizing for leaving you in the dark." He said to Shawn and Anna. "Now, let us begin our hike." Just as he was about to open the front door, he was bombarded by his pack's preschool. He had 5 sets of little arms wrapped around him, while heard crying. Oliver looked up and noticed the teacher was in tears while she was trying to get the pups off of him. "What's wrong Kate?" Oliver took Kate's hands to stop her from prying the children off. In a soft calm voice, Oliver  addressed the kids, "Would you guys be so kind to play in the living room for a few moments? I'd really like to talk to miss Kate." He also quickly mind-linked Shawn to let him know he'd be out in a moment.

Kate still sobbing, let the kids go and stood up with her face in her hands. "I... I ca... can't... f-f-feel... m-m-my m-m-mate!!" She managed to stammer out.

"Shhhhh. It's ok. We will find him. I'll have a search team sent out now." Oliver said as he wrapped his arms around her to help console her. He knew what she meant. Her mate was dead, or at least very very close to dead. Once your mate dies, you can feel the connection snap. This usually sends the living mate into a tale-spin of despair. It's rare that a mate survives the loss. 'Hey Dev, would you mind getting a search team together and having them look on the outskirts of pack lands? Kates mate is missing, and she's feeling the disconnection.'

'Ah man, James is good people. Who would want to hurt him? I'm getting the orders together now. I'll head over to the pack house so you can go, or you'll be late.' Devin replied.

Pulling away from the embrace, Oliver looked at Kate who was still inconsolable, and said, "Alright Kate, I know you're having a hard time right now, but Devin is on his way over. I'm also going to ask Anna to stay so you don't have to worry about the pups. I've got a meeting to attend and can't stay, I'm sorry." Just then, Devin walked in with Anna in tow.

'No worries Alpha, I asked Anna to stay and she agreed. I thought it would be best to have another woman watching the pups.' Announced Devin. Oliver nodded in acknowledgment and signed thank you, then walked out the door.

"You ready Alpha?" Shawn asked.

"As ready as I'm ever going to be." Oliver replied. They walked to the pack borders and shifted into their wolves. Trees and brush went by in a blur. Each paw thundering below them, taking them faster and faster toward their destination. Birds and other wildlife staying clear of the two huge wolves running through the forest. The sun rose higher in the sky, which signaled it being close to noon. They could smell the sweet smell of honey and fresh water. That means they were close to the meeting place. Soon, a beautiful waterfall came into view. This is was halfway point between the Sapphire Moon Pack and the Golden Honey Clan. They shifted behind a big Myrtle tree and put on some shorts they had brought. After dressing, Oliver walked over to the base of the waterfall and sat on a boulder to wait. Shawn stayed behind the tree in case he needed to get help. It didn't take long for Oliver to notice an unfamiliar presence that put his wolf on alert. His eyes shifted around trying to pin point the source, but could see nothing out of place. Emma appeared out of thin air, standing right in front of him.