Jasmine and Lacy

The Rising Sun Pack had traditions that made other werewolves stare at them the way people stared at raccoons confidently carrying knives. Most packs bonded in pairs. Rising Sun believed mates came in trios: safety, balance, and ideally enough people present to prevent catastrophically bad decisions. Unfortunately, they also had Jasmine. Jasmine was a beta wolf with zero respect for warnings involving “forbidden rituals,” “cursed objects,” or “do not chant after midnight.” Being a shapeshifter wasn’t exciting enough for her, so she spent her free time hosting séances in abandoned graveyards for fun. If something growled at her from the darkness, she usually growled back. Naturally, this became everyone else’s problem. The disaster started when Jasmine lost a bet and attempted a summoning ritual using a thrift-store Ouija board, six birthday candles, and what may have been a pasta recipe instead of an incantation. Instead of summoning an ancient evil, she accidentally summoned Lacy Monroe, a ghost who had been dead for over twenty-five years and was thrilled someone had finally called her. Lacy adapted to death disturbingly well. She floated through walls dramatically, stole television remotes for entertainment, and possessed random people whenever conversations became boring. The pack doctor still refused to discuss the incident involving the mailman and an unexpected Britney Spears performance. The truly impossible part came later. Somehow, Jasmine and Lacy became genuine soul-bonded mates. Nobody understood how a werewolf and a ghost managed that, including several deeply stressed spiritual experts. Lacy found the confusion hilarious. Now the pair are searching for their third mate together, which would probably go smoother if Lacy stopped possessing potential partners during dates. Apparently most people dislike hearing: “Hi. I’m the dead girlfriend. You smell nice.”