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I lean in closer as our shoulders smoosh together so we can both see the screen as she scrolls down to the comment thread.

@wildshift says: 2h ago – Jasper “Calling it now Chase & the mystery girls from Denver” 143 howls | 27 Growls | 89 Clipped

@moondustmage says: 2h ago – Jasper “Chase better get mates that are good to him!” 298 howls | 68 Growls | 12 Clipped

@alphatease says: 1h ago – Jasper “I’m hoping one of them has to streak through town. I’d pay to see that.” 103 howls | 89 Growls | 0 Clipped

@howlsbeforebros says: 1h ago – Jasper “@alphatease I’m there with you man! Let’s place bets on it! I have 50 on the girls having to streak.” 103 howls | 89 Growls | 0 Clipped

@purrfectlywild says: 1h ago – Jasper “@alphatease @howlsbeforebros You guys are gross. If you aren’t going to offer real predictions then don’t chime in.” 290 howls | 101 Growls | 77 Clipped

We both look at each other before we burst out laughing. Howlr is always unhinged with a constant flow of threads. Between what we chat about locally all the way to what we chat about around the world. This app lets us meet other shifters around the world without having to leave Jasper. It can be fun, but I’ve also seen how nasty it can be too.

“The top trending hashtags is #Moonbinding2025, #MysteryMates, and #GuesstheMate. With so many of us turning 18 this summer, there is an entire thread dedicated to people guessing each other’s mates.” She clicks on the hashtag opening a whole new thread full of comments. Some of them are as recent as seconds ago.

“Want to see who they are guessing is your mate?” She nudges me with her shoulder.

I shake my head. “Absolutely not. I would rather live in my bubble of ignorance a little longer. Thank you very much.”

She shrugs her shoulders as she scrolls through the thread, probably looking for our names to see if anyone has mentioned us.

“I’ve got to run over to Flash Me Studio to drop off some rolls of film I’ve been meaning to have Lou develop. Are you coming with me or want to meet me there after I’m done?”

“I’ll walk with you.”

Kids are pouring out of the building as the rays of the sun warm all of our skins. There are so many conversations going on at once that it’s hard to even think, let alone hear what anyone issaying. One thing is for sure, everyone is talking about the Guess the Mate Thread on Howlr. Seems I might be the only one not wanting to know what their guesses are.

Odessa is still scrolling through the threads as we walk down the path until she scoffs and throws her hand up. “There isn’t even a single comment saying Raiden is my fated mate. Everyone is guessing it’s going to be Kai and like, ew.”

I can’t help but giggle. “Kai is cute, what’s wrong with that?”

She lets out a sigh. “There’s nothing wrong with it. I just don’t see how they came up with that one. We don’t even talk to each other or go in the same circles.”

“I guess they see something that you don’t. Who knows! It’s just a stupid social media app full of people with nothing better to do.”

We are just coming around the corner of Flick the Bean when she gasps and holds out her phone for me to take. There on the screen is something I can’t even believe.

@thegraywolf says: 30s ago – Jasper “I think Selene’s fated mate might just be the math nerd, Caelon. My money is on him.” 178 howls | 16 Growls | 6 Clipped

I look from the screen to Odessa… “Who’s thegraywolf?” We huddle together as I click the hyperlink to his profile. “Of course it’s blank. Why wouldn’t it be?!” There is only one post and it’s the one we just read. There’s no name, photo, or anything to go off of.

I hand the phone back to her as I walk off to the studio. Odes runs to catch up.

“Don’t you want to know who that is?”

“How do you expect to figure it out?

“I say we comment back to them. Maybe we can get some details out of them.” She clicks back on his comment and hits the Growl button to open a box to write a comment back to him.

I grasp onto her wrist bringing her attention back to me. “I don’t want to know. I said that earlier. It’s weird, I get that. But honestly, nobody knows and maybe they guess right but it's just that, a guess.”

She nods her head in understanding before clicking the button to turn off her screen. “Alright, I’ll let it go this time. But, I’m going to watch for more comments. You know I love this part of the mating. The guessing and seeing who’s right. Plus, I can’t resist the comments coming in over the Moonbinding Ceremony. Imagine if we had to do something like that instead of just ‘oh hey here’s your mate’.”

As we finish walking to the studio, I can’t help but think about yesterday and brushing my hand against his outside of Gail’s office. Maybe that electric shock was more than just static electricity? What if it was another sign from the Goddess?

The bell above the door to Flash Me Studio chimes as we push the door open. Lou is walking out of her dark room with a couple photos stacked in her hands.

“Oh, hey now! Perfect timin’! You’re the one I wanted to see. Had a little somethin’ I wanted to ask ya, seein’ as how we got a pretty good mess o’ your work piled up.” She ambles over with a slight drag of her right leg. She says it’s from years of squatting to take photos. Her skin looks almost like leather from years of being outside taking photos under the blazing sun. I hope when I’m her age that my skin won’t look the same.