Logan Chapter 111

-Emory-

I have to admit to myself that I’m never getting a job in public again. It’s been in the back of my mind since Cora wrote that article, but I hadn’t really accepted it until that conversation with Bryan. No way would anyone hire me except for Logan and maybe the other packs, and that would only work if I went into freelance decorating and started my own business. I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that on top of all my new duties as Luna. I’m just now learning about them, and it’s almost overwhelming. There are a lot of things that have fallen by the wayside since Logan’s mother passed, and no one seems sure if I’ll be capable of picking them up as a human.

I’m lucky that Logan’s mom planned for his future mate, and that his dad set her notes aside for when I came along. From what Logan said, mates don’t last long after the first one passes, and Logan’s dad was hard-pressed to stick around long enough to train up Logan and Landon for leadership of the pack. He apparently wanted to wait until Logan found himself a Luna, but I just wasn’t in the picture yet. It wasn’t meant to be. This pack has been waiting for me from the time Logan’s mom stopped being able to do her work as Luna.

That being said, nothing seems wolf-specific about them. It’s mostly about making sure the pack feels like a family- decorating and making decisions for the pack house, keeping track of the pack’s physical and financial needs, planning and staging pack events to make them a family instead of a suburb. All of the shifters have been taking care of their own needs and family celebrations instead of letting the pack help, and that’s led to a lot of cliques within the pack that don’t necessarily get along with each other, now. Even worse, there are a few families that have been struggling financially because they haven’t been able to support themselves with their pack-specific jobs and nothing else. Landon has been essentially living in the pack house as beta, and keeps himself covered financially by living like a college kid with an allowance from Logan rather than a salary from the pack, but the other higher-level officers of the pack haven’t been able to actually do what the should be doing because they’ve had to get other full-time jobs among the humans.

I resolve to find every shifter that should have a pack salary and talk to Logan about how we would go about setting up an account with which to pay them. I know Logan inherited money from his parents’ estate, but I don’t know how much it was or if any of it was supposed to actually be pack money instead of personal. It seems like Logan’s dad pared things down to a skeleton crew with the passing of the boys’ mom, and it’s been like that long enough now that most have forgotten there was a better way. The only thing bringing these shifters together is running together after full moon ceremonies, and only the single people actually run as their wolves. The rest of the time, they just shift as they have the urge and don’t worry about anyone or anything else. I’m starting to see how there aren’t any territorial issues in a city with just the one green space if all the guys are running their packs like this. I need more information.

"Hey Nanny! Just the woman I wanted to see. I have some questions for you.” Nannette ends her conversation with the apprentice cooks and comes over to see what I need. “I just wanted to ask about Luna duties and why there are so many packs like this around here right now. From what I’m reading in the notes Logan’s mom left, there are a lot of things that should be taken care of and just haven’t been.”

Nanny gives me a sad smile and nods. “Yes, it’s a common occurrence with what we call bachelor packs. No matter how many families are actually in the pack, unless someone steps in as Luna, they’re just not tight together like a pack should be. Sometimes one of the elders will step in, but Logan never thought to ask. I think his mother passed when he was young enough that he just doesn’t know any different. He didn’t feel the need for it to be any other way.”

I feel sad for Logan, for a moment. For him not to remember the closer pack of his youth…*I remember it, little rose. I had just dismissed most of it as nostalgia. It’ll be… nice, to have everyone close like that again. Like being able to have the holidays as a little kid again. It’ll bring the magic back to the pack. The heart.*

I’m a little embarrassed that he’s been listening without my notice, but I’m glad I have his seal of approval for bringing back some of the traditions his mom was in charge of. After making sure Nanny has the time at this moment, she and I have a great afternoon just going over the kinds of things we can start with. It’s one thing to continue a tradition, but it’s another thing entirely to start a tradition for an entire generation of adults that grew up without it and are old enough to have kids of their own who wouldn’t have even heard of some of them. We finally decide to start with the easier ones first- everyone is already used to the full moon ceremonies, so we’ll just set up regular parties every turn of the season on the full moon where everyone runs afterward. It’s a chance for everyone to mingle and connect on two legs as well as four, and everyone loves a good party. I feverishly start to plan for the Spring Moon the second I get back to our room.