Word Count: 3838

As the night wore on they discussed strategies and both packs decided it would be in their best interests to have a few patrols at the most populated beaches in their territories. The only thing these wolves would be doing is watching for tritons and making sure no one went swimming in the ocean at night.

The alphas were comfortable committing warriors for this since they would be under orders not to engage the creatures if they saw them, the last thing anyone wanted was bloodshed. The only time the wolves would be allowed to attack is if the tritons were in the process of attacking a human on land. And even then, only if the wolves had a numbers advantage. No one-on-one fighting with a triton unless there was no other choice.

If the tritons managed to lure someone in the water the wolves were to do nothing. No one was happy to stand back and watch someone die, but they realized that they would have no advantage in the water, and anyone who tried to be a hero would likely end up dead too, and that would only make things worse.

They did discuss the possibility of just trying to scare them off and not actually engage with them, if a group of warriors saw tritons on land, they would first follow them and observe their activities. Then the wolves would call in backup, surround the tritons in their wolf forms and growl and snap at them and try to herd them back into the ocean. Maybe this would scare the tritons enough to keep them from trying to come back onshore at a location near humans. No way to know for sure if it would do anything other than scare them away from that particular beach, but it couldn't hurt to send them back into the water if possible.

The wolves were initially very worried about patrolling during the storm and didn't want their people out in hurricane weather, but Matt and Eden assured them that wouldn't be necessary. Tritons didn't want to be anywhere near the eye of a hurricane, if caught in a storm like that, tritons did what every other intelligent ocean going species did. They swam away as fast as they could, and they stayed in the deepest water they could, where the currents weren't affected as much by the strong winds. Tritons absolutely would not try to come onshore during a hurricane, they would find a beach or island out of the path of the storm.

So it might actually be a good thing if the hurricane stayed on course and headed right for them. As long as it stayed small, of course, a cat one hurricane making landfall was manageable. A category five hurricane making landfall was a catastrophe. But regardless of anything else, hurricanes were not something anyone had control over, so they would just have to manage around the storm.

It was nearing ten pm when Harper noticed a movement outside on the deck and looked out the door to find a small family of sirens standing near the path at the edge of the deck. Matt and Eden rushed out to meet them. It was a young couple with a child around two years old clinging to the woman's back.

They were wearing some of Matt and Harper's clothes that had been laid out near the spring for any visiting sirens to take. The man was tall and broad, and nearly as big as Matt, wearing just a pair of swimming trunks. The female was a stunning statuesque woman, who stood at about six feet tall with hair down to her mid-thigh, wearing one of Harper's sundresses. They all had pale blonde hair that was pulled back from their faces in braids but loose down their backs.

"Well, she looks exactly the way I expected a mermaid to look." Luna Penny whispered to Luna Sophia who nodded sagely as if it was exactly what she expected as well.

"Do you think there are any...uh...unmated ones swimming around out there?" Porter asked Harper, clearing his throat and prompting chuckles around the room.

As soon as Matt and Eden spoke to them they brought them into the house and introduced them.

"This is Ara, Sagan, and little Faru." Matt introduced them, they each nodded politely as their names were called, the little boy grinned widely and waved cheerfully. He was not used to being introduced to groups of humans and loved the attention he was receiving.

Harper and Celie immediately made them plates of food and offered them seats. Sirens just coming out of the ocean were usually starving. Celie held out her arms for Faru and he immediately jumped into them and sat on her lap while she helped him eat the shrimp on his plate.

"We have given our cousins the news about the happenings with the tritons of late and they have information relevant to us." Eden told everyone.

"Yes," Ara began after a quick glance at her mate. Her voice was strong, but incredibly lilting and melodic, it seemed to soothe the nervous wolves in the room as soon as she began speaking. "We heard the calls and came immediately to the area to assist. When we neared the islands east of here we caught the faint scent of a single triton, nothing alarming, but when we neared this island, we caught the scent of at least four, possibly more, and the scent is strong. They are very nearby."

"This discovery is very disturbing for us; we have never seen them in such concentrations so close to inhabited islands before. I cannot help but worry there are more in the islands south of here where the water is even warmer." Sagan spoke in an incredibly deep accented voice.

"That's exactly what we are concerned about as well." Matt sighed.

"We relayed your calls and received several responses. Others are on their way, traveling here as fast as they can." Ara told them. "Soon you will have many of our kind as your visitors."

"We were hoping that would be the case," Harper smiled at her. "We have three more open bedrooms in this house already prepared, and our boat has three bedrooms available, though with the storm coming, it wouldn't be comfortable to stay on the boat even in the marina."

"We also have Harper and my condo on the mainland open, it's a three bedroom and fully furnished, ready to go." Celie said. "And I have a couple of empty rooms above my shop that we can put some beds in, if we need to. So in a pinch we can house at least eight or ten people."

"We have ten empty bedrooms at our packhouse," Luna Penny offered. "And we have three safe houses in Miami available."

"And I have another six bedrooms available at our packhouse on Islamorada key as well," Luna Diana offered.

Ara smiled hearing this news, she had been worried about where they would stay if they came onshore.

"Would there be a safe place for my young one to stay while I patrol the waters?" Ara asked.

"Yes!" Celie, Luna Penny, Luna Diana, and Luna Sophia all said at once. Then they eyed each other, sizing up the competition vying for a chance to stay with the adorable child who giggled excitedly and clapped his hands.

"I'll be happy to watch him," Celie volunteered and made a face at Faru who giggled in her lap. "I've been dying to have a pup to play with for so long!"

Adam's face dropped, pain flashing through his eyes, but the others chuckled.

"A pup?" Ara asked, her head tilted in confusion.

"Yeah, pup," Harper laughed. "We're werewolves, we call our children pups usually."

"I'm not certain I know what a 'werewolf' is," Sagan said slowly. "I have had limited education on human ways."

"Ah yes," Matt said. "What region are you from?"

"Northern Atlantic, my native human language is Finnish." Sagan answered. "But I never lived on land, so I have never been to one of the 'schools' that humans frequent."

"Nor I." Ara agreed.

"Werewolves are not considered real to humans, we are creatures of old legends, so even if you went to school, you may not have been educated on us." Harper said. "Basically, we are beings that can transform from a human into a wolf and back again at will. We hide our existence from humans because in the past they have hunted and killed us for what we are."

Their eyes widened and they stared at Harper intently, it looked as though they were trying to decide whether to believe her or not.

"You are all these beings?" Ara asked, looking around.

"Yes, we are all wolves," Luna Penny answered. "We can show you if you'd like? Porter? Shift for them so they can see your wolf."

"Seriously, mom?" Porter asked, glancing at her like she was crazy. "You want me to strip down right here in the middle of the living room while they're eating?"

"Why not?" Luna Penny replied, shrugging one shoulder. "All the females at the pack have seen you naked more than once, what are a few more?"

Everyone cracked up hearing the remark except Porter, who's face flamed bright red as he scowled at his mother.

"Wooooo Weeee Porter! You dog!" Celie exclaimed, wagging her eyebrows at him, and swatting his shoulder.

"Wolf..." Porter mumbled, laughing through his embarrassment.

"I thought such beings were myths." Ara said, shaking her head.

"We thought the same of you." Harper chuckled.

**

As the night went on they made plans to bring wolves from further inland to stay with others closer to the coast so that they could patrol the beaches for swimmers. There were a surprising number of volunteers, which was entirely due to many mated couples volunteering so that they could spend quality time walking up and down moonlit beaches with their mates. They were going to focus mainly on Key Biscayne for now since all the triton sightings had been around here, but they also made arrangements for patrols on south beach and the busier areas with the most hotels where there would be more people out late partying and walking along the beaches.

Matt, Adam, Lucas, Callum, and Reese would spend most of the day installing Wi-Fi cameras along the beaches south of the house in the edges of the woods so they could monitor areas for tritons in human form. Mating pairs would avoid patrols to come onshore to do their business, and if they weren't hunting, they would avoid anyone they saw so the cameras would help observe what the wolves might miss.

Eden, Sagan, and Ara would spend the day scouting the surrounding waters for signs of the tritons they'd scented the night before and putting out more calls for assistance from nearby sirens.

Harper would be at the hospital doing her rounds all day, but she also made plans to run by the medical supply store to load up on extra medical supplies so she would be prepared in the event of the worst.

Celie was on baby-siren-sitting duty and she was thrilled. She planned to take little Faru to her shop and teach him to paint in the morning, then they would spend the afternoon at the house, playing in the pool, and preparing food for all their guests.

The Luna's were running around preparing the safe houses for guests, purchasing plenty of food, water, snacks, and supplies, and getting prepared for the coming storm.

All in all, Friday was going to be a very busy day for everyone, and Harper was shocked that all the plans were made, assignments were determined, and everything settled by midnight. She had an even greater appreciation for the Luna's now, those three ladies had completely taken over and organized everyone.

As they were finalizing the plans, Celie and Harper had gone to prepare a spare bedroom for the visiting sirens, and Eden and Matt had slipped out to do a quick patrol around the island. Though they caught the faint scent of tritons, none were found in the immediate area. It turned out to be a fairly early night for them and Harper was happy to be slipping into bed.

"C'mere," Harper said, reaching for Matt as he slid under the sheet beside her.

"Mmmmmm," Matt hummed, smiling into her kiss. "You're not tired?"

"Not that tired..."

**

Celie lay in bed staring at the ceiling as she usually did, waiting impatiently for sleep, but for once she wasn't fighting back tears. She was not reliving her rejection, obsessing over Adam, or fighting the pain in her chest. She was actually smiling a little, her mind was busy planning activities for her day with Faru. Celie had always loved children, and spending time with them was something she had missed since leaving the pack. She'd always volunteered to work in the daycare or help with babysitting when she was growing up, but she had no friends with children here in Miami so had not had a chance to spend time with any in years.

Her mind kept returning to Eden, all night she felt herself looking to him, sharing sneaky glances and smiles with him. He'd made his interest in her obvious, and she didn't feel he was the kind of man who led women on. He'd even spoken to her yesterday at her shop of his desire for a mate of his own and his envy of Matt for finding so perfect a mate as Harper.

Eden's presence had completely distracted Celie from Adam, who she had barely noticed all night, despite him doing everything he could to stay close to her and catch her eyes and attention. Celie knew Adam had noticed her growing obsession with Eden, and while that made her wolf sad, she found herself not caring about his hurt feelings. He hadn't cared about her hurt feelings when he'd rejected her, she was finding it harder and harder to consider his change of heart for her as his mate.

The first days he'd been here, when she'd seen him and spoken to him of his regret and desire to reconcile with her, the bond had still been strong within her, she'd felt she would probably take him back. But now she was not inclined to consider having a future with him. The acceptance had seriously reduced the feeling of the bond pulling her toward him, and her anger at him for the pain she'd suffered had remained strong and in the front of her mind whenever she saw him.

Celie had also thought a lot about Harper's words to her that night on the deck when they spoke of a future with Adam. She wondered now if she truly could let go of the past. Would she ever be able to look at him and not remember his rejection, her pain, her years of suffering? Would she ever be able to put her anger, resentment, and bitterness behind her? Would she ever be able to fully trust him not to hurt, betray, or reject her again? She honestly didn't think she could.

So now the question became, did she want to live a life where those things were always in the back of her mind? Or did she want to put her life in the hands of moon goddess and have faith that she would find her second chance and have the love she'd always dreamed of?

Celie believed, more completely now than ever, that the moon goddess had a plan for her and Harper, the mark on her wrist was proof that the moon watched over them. She wondered if that's why Eden had shown up the day after Adam arrived, to let Celie know she had another option, a better option, than to accept the mate who had rejected her.

For the first time since her rejection, she had hope, she had a feeling of endless possibilities. She watched Harper and Matt tonight, as she often did, but this time she didn't feel jealous, she felt inspired. Harper had found her dream, maybe...just maybe Celie could too. Then she thought of Eden again and smiled wider, maybe...just maybe...her second chance was already here.

**

Everyone was set to meet back at Harper and Matt's house in the afternoon to discuss whether or not they had any clues as to where the tritons might be and decide where they should concentrate their patrols.

Celie could never have imagined that playing with a two year old siren baby could be the most fun and exhausting thing she'd ever done in her life. They'd been in and out of the pool playing tag, and boy was that little stinker fast. When he ran around the house he was about the same speed as a normal baby, but when they jumped into the pool, it was like trying to swim with a super-fast minnow. They spent the whole day going between the pool and the house, and back again. They would swim for a while and Celie would try and chase Faru. Then Celie would change into her blonde wolf and Faru would ride on her back while she ran around the house and little walled in courtyard.

That's how everyone found them when they returned to the house after completing their tasks for the day. When they came outside looking for the two of them, Celie had bound onto the deck with giggling Faru on her back and grinned wolfishly at them with her tongue lolling out. The shocked look on Ara's face followed by her deep laughter was a moment none of them would ever forget. The normally very composed Ara laughed so hard she had to sit down to catch her breath, because she said she never imagined a wolf could have such a happy, goofy, expression on its face.

It was clear to everyone that Celie was in love with little Faru, and he was just as taken with her, he'd learned to say 'wolf' and would just shout it out randomly and giggle. He even refused to get down from Celie's lap, turning away from his mother and burying his head in Celie's chest when Ara reached to take him.

Seeing Celie with a baby on her back and in her arms had only reminded Adam of what he'd lost and had been missing out on these last seven years. He'd watched her share moments with Eden all night, and he felt her slipping further and further away by the second. Even her wolf had not been as responsive to his today, where she had been eager to communicate with him before. He sat quietly during the meetings, staring out over the horizon, lost in his own thoughts and oblivious to the worried glances of his friends.

It was decided that Key Biscayne was the island most at risk, though they'd had no day time sightings of the tritons, they had caught multiple scents of them concentrated around Key Biscayne, but no scent of them further south or around other nearby islands.

As they ate dinner they worked out a series of howls they would use to alert each other if tritons were spotted anywhere on the island. Since the wolves were from three separate packs, and Celie and Harper were lone wolves, they could not all mind link each other to keep in touch. They just hoped if any residents heard them they would chalk it up to someone playing a prank and blasting wolf howls on speakers somewhere on the island.

Matt, Eden, Sagan, and Ara planned to stay as close to shore and the surface as possible to hopefully hear the howls so they could swim to the area the tritons were spotted. They could easily sing to one another and communicate in the water and project their voices loud enough to be heard by the wolves on the island if they found any in the sea. The sirens were traveling in pairs just in case of another attack by a group, everyone remembered the damage done to Matt when he'd been attacked by three at once, and no one wanted to see anything like that happen again.

They determined that Reese, Callum, Adam, Lucas, Harper, and Celie would patrol the east side of the island, Alpha Alexander, Porter, and four of the Everglades wolves would patrol the west side of the island, and Alpha Michael and the Keys wolves would patrol the south side of the island. The Luna's would stay in the house with the baby and watch the cameras, ready to communicate with their mates if they saw something on the cameras.