"Andrea, can you bring the floral arrangements out please?" called an older woman's voice and the girl jumped to her feet.

"Coming!" replied the girl, Andrea, grabbing a double armful of jars and hurrying out the door.

I looked at the remaining flowers on the table and sighed in tired contentment. "Coneflower, Balsamroot, Lupine and Columbine." My fingers wove another crown, adding in my chosen flowers skillfully. "Coneflower for resilience. Balsamroot for strength-and more resilience. Lupine for overall happiness, and Columbine for hope, resolution, and faith."I smiled faintly as I added a deep green ribbon and tied it into a pretty bow. "Hope and resilience," I murmured, fingers lingering on the finished crown. "Guess I'll take all I can get."

I stared at my creation a moment before crowning myself with a flourish. I placed the other crowns on top of my own in a silly tower and grabbed the remaining jars to take them outside.

It took me a moment, blinking at the setting sun, for my eyes to adjust. While the pack had been bustling the other day, it looked like a veritable swarm today. Pack members were everywhere, each of them busy with their tasks. Some were splitting firewood, others stacking up the wood for the fire pit, some minding the littles, and several more were setting up tables.

This is what a healthy pack should look like, I thought with a smile before heading to some of the bare tables and decorating them with my rustic centerpieces.

"You look silly!" giggled a little boy, watching my tower of flower crowns. I wiggled my head gently, making my stack sway like a skyscraper in an earthquake and the little boy squealed in delight.

"Would you like one?" I asked, pulling a few down to let him choose. His eyes lit up like little fireworks and his grin was huge.

"Flower crowns are for girls," spat a slightly older boy as he walked up behind his younger counterpart, a group of four other boys trailing behind him. The little boy's smile cracked and shattered like a mirror.

"That's not true," I said firmly. "I have made plenty of crowns for alphas and warriors alike." Never mind the people I mentioned were family and friends, but they didn't need to know that. "In fact, they used to fight over the best ones because it made them lucky in the games."

"Nuh-uh," retorted the older boy, crossing his arms tightly in disbelief.

"Yea-huh," I replied in the same tone. "In fact, they swore that crowns with daisies made them run faster."

Before the boy could say anything more, Roger happened to walk by. "Oooh flower crowns!" he exclaimed happily. "May I?"

"Is this for you or for the Luna?" I asked, pulling all of the extra crowns off my head.

"Both," nodded Roger. A smile tugged to my lips to see the older boy openly gawk at his alpha for getting a flower crown. "I always thought the lupine ones made me better at wrestling."

"Excellent! I actually made one specifically for the Luna," I grinned, passing Laura's special crown over. I looked at all of the ones I had made and picked the one with the most lupine. "And for you," I added, gently crowning the Alpha myself.

Roger grinned and gave a small bow. "Thank you kindly! Now I know I'll win the wrestling games." With a grin and wink, he stepped away to find his mate. Not a second later, the boys were clamoring for a crown. The five older ones snagged my wares and sauntered off, bragging about the powers their crowns would grant them. The little boy frowned and his eyes shined brightly with unshed tears as he saw that I didn't have any extra.

"You're lucky," I said, kneeling down. The little boy wiped at his eyes with the back of his wrist.

"I am?" he asked, voice thick with emotion. I nodded and smiled warmly.

"I saved you the best one," I said, reaching up to take off the one I had made for myself. "This one is for hope and resilience."

The little boy looked at me skeptically and I added in, "Plus it makes you better at Hide and Seek."

His eyes and smile brightened once more as I placed the crown on his dark hair. "Really?!" he asked. I chuckled as the too big crown slipped down to his forehead like a sweatband.

"Really. And if you give it to someone you love, they will love you forever."

"I should give it to my mommy then," gasped the little boy before throwing his arms around my shoulders in a hug. "Thank you!!"

"You're very welcome," I laughed, trying to keep my balance. "Now, go have fun tonight."

"I will! Thank you again!"

I stayed crouched down for a moment as I watched his little figure retreat. Breaking gender constructs, guess I should add that to the list of services we offer, I thought with an amused smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note:

Ah yes, the chapter where Allison goes from "don't notice me" to "let me run an entire flower-based social revolution." Truly an icon.

Also, if you caught the symbolism in those flower meanings... no you didn't. (But also: yes you did. I see you.)

Tune in every Tuesday and Friday at noon Pacific for more emotional resilience, accidental therapy sessions, and Allison aggressively minding her own business right up until fate refuses to cooperate.

Can't wait for the next update? You don't have to! I've opened a Patreon for early access to Luna for Hire — read up to two chapters ahead, depending on your tier.

Come join the pack → https://patreon.com/LunaForHire