There aren't many wolves in Florida. Other than an attempt to introduce a breeding pair up in the panhandle, in fact, you were unlikely to find any wild ones in the state. That made life difficult for the local werewolf population, which was also very small. Most werewolves liked to live in the same territory as their wild brethren and were slowly losing ground to the encroachment of housing developments and urban sprawl, just like all other creatures. Many had already found places near national parks and state forests that would hopefully be protected for years or had emigrated to more wild places like Canada.

               But not the little South Glades Pack that huddled in an old rundown motor inn on the edge of the Everglades. The buildings consisted of about a dozen little cottages plus an office that had been bought years ago when it had gone bankrupt and had a permanent No Vacancy sign on it so none of the humans thought that they could stay there. If they ever ran out of space in the buildings, there was ample space for tents, though at present they didn't need it.

The pack was partially transient, with a bit over a dozen core wolves that had been there for years, and then another few dozen that stayed part time. The little pack was overseen by an Alpha by the name of Wesley, who tried to be as fair as he could to everyone and believed in second chances. Considering that that pack was in Florida, that was a big necessity, as the state was a bit of a mess. For instance, not every pack would have allowed Karano to bring in a vampire for a mate, and the pair knew how lucky they were. Karano was the pack's Beta, though they never stood much on formalities with such a small group.

               The little motel was based around an Everglades airboat tour company, along with the related support businesses like souvenir shops, a diner, a few Uber drivers, and a maintenance shop. They weren't wealthy, but the pack had all their needs met and really felt like more of a family than a pack. But while they had their needs met, it was still a huge event when Karano and Hazel appeared with the remains of the python. That meat would provide a good addition to a meal for sure. While it wasn't the same as the big forests up north, the Everglades at least let the little population get a chance to let their wolves out to play and run free.

               The little pack had grown a bit over the last few days, as a single mom named Maria and her two kids had joined us from a pack up in Wyoming. Evidently her mate had died in a duel after he'd been injured fighting rogues, and the winning wolf had tried to make her his. She didn't want anything to do with that, and had fled, not even realizing that there was a pack in Florida but just trying to get as far away from him as possible. She'd stumbled across them thanks to the scent of one of the pack members, Paul, who happened to be her Uber driver for the day. She'd quickly settled in as a waitress at the diner, and her kids were thrilled with the local wildlife as we had several peacocks in the area along with the hundreds of lizards and frogs that were always all over the place.

               "What is that?" asked Eliza, the oldest daughter of Maria who was all of seven years old looked on in curiosity with her headful of tousled brown hair and wide hazel eyes. Her little brother Jack tagged along behind her, peering shyly from behind her. He was not quite three, and still adjusting to all the strangers. Eliza seemed fearless though.

               "This is dinner!" Karano told her. "Do you two want to help us get it ready?"

               "Yes!" screamed Eliza. "Please, please, please!"

               Karano couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm, and Hazel reached out a hand and ruffled her hair. "Come with us and we'll show you how. Maybe we'll even do something exciting with the skin!" Indeed, the hide could be made into some boots for the souvenir shop, but any leftovers could be made into a few cool bracelets that the kids could have.

               They dropped the snake near the back of the diner in a grassy area that nobody would be upset about getting messy and got to work. Hazel grabbed a bucket, while Karano carefully slit the belly open, removing the innards and placing them into the bucket so they could be used by any of the people that were always fishing for extra food. Eliza watched with wide eyes, not getting squeamish at all, and the two wives were impressed with her fortitude. With that done, the pair worked together to carefully skin the carcass, making sure that it came off in one piece for greater use. Neither of them was good at treating it, but Jerry, who was an assistant in the souvenir shop, was adept at making a ton of things with the scraps that they brought back. With the carcass skinned, they cut it up into big steaks, and then brought it into the diner for cleaning and cooking.

               "Eliza, are you going to help us carry this?" Hazel asked, acting as though the snake was too heavy.

               "Yes! I can help!" The girl quickly grabbed a few chunks and helped carry them inside.

Maria saw her daughter helping the pair, and quickly smiled at them. Most of the people that joined were only there for a season or two before going home, but Maria had every intention of staying in the pack permanently because she'd had such a warm welcome among the little tribe. "Is she bothering you?" she whispered to Karano.

"Nah, not at all. She's a great kid, and I thought she might want to get involved," the she wolf assured her. "You really have some amazing kids."

Maria blushed at the praise, then gazed lovingly at Eliza who was trying to get the chunks of snake steak up onto the counter. She reached over and grabbed them quickly. "Thank you! What a great helper you are today!"

"And Hazel said maybe we can make something with the skin! Can we mom?"

"If Hazel said it was okay, then I'm sure you can."

With the meat delivered, Hazel and Karano brought the hide over to the shop and handed it over to Freddie. "Hey, I want some bracelets for Eliza and Jack, but the rest is for whatever you can make for the store, okay?" Karano told him.

"Damn! This is a big one!" His eyes were wide at the sight of the skin. "That should be a piece of cake, no worries! This will easily make a pair of boots and a couple of purses or wallets. Great job!"

The girls were happy to hear that because those were some of the biggest sellers. Even a smaller boa could make a belt or something, but boots were harder to make. All the tourists wanted alligator boots or purses, but the community never killed any gators unless they got too aggressive or attacked them. Usually, it was easier to scare them off and protect the wildlife. But they were happy to collect the snake skins and get their previous owners out of the swamp.

Every night when the diner had closed, the boats were put away and the shop locked up, the little community had a bonfire where they all relaxed together. It was a way to develop a sense of belonging that they all appreciated and allowed newcomers to become accepted faster. Maria sat next to Karano and Hazel that night, if only because Eliza wanted to sit next to the women that she had started to idolize.

"Thank you both so much for taking Eliza under your wings. There aren't other kids here her age, and I know she can be a handful," Maria whispered over to the pair while her kids slept in her lap.

"Ha, that was me at that age!" assured Karano. "I was a handful too." She had Hazel curled up next to her on a lounge chair and their limbs were loosely tangled.

"You still are my little wolf!" Hazel reminded her with a soft kiss. "You have been ever since the moment I first laid eyes on you!"

"Wait, how did you meet?" Maria wondered. "I can't imagine that there are many werewolf and vampire mates out there."

"Oh, I love this story!" called out Wesley from across the fire. With their enhanced hearing, it didn't take much to hear anyone else. "Hazel, you have to tell her!"

"Nooo!" Karano complained. "She makes fun of me when she tells it!"

"Oh, hush bebé, I just tell the truth. It isn't like you can tell it, you don't even remember it!"

Karano groaned and buried her face in Hazel's neck. "Fine, just tell her."

Maria was already smiling and couldn't wait to hear the story.

"My vampire coven is a small one in Puerto Rico," Hazel began. "I was still new to being a vampire and wasn't sure how to find a mate. Some people had explained it to me, but you know there is nothing that can prepare you for actually meeting them. Anyway, Karano was in Puerto Rico too- "

"I grew up there, and I was visiting some friends," Karano interrupted.

"Yes, she was visiting friends, and I guess some old high school friends of hers took her on a tour of a rum distillery there," Hazel continued.

"Yeah, the Ron del Barrilito distillery, the oldest in Puerto Rico!" Karano cut in again.

Hazel poked Karano in the ribs. "No more bebé or I'll really embarrass you!"

"Sorry!"

"Anyway, her friends all dared her to drink shot after shot, but you know with a werewolf's metabolism it wasn't doing much. But they somehow got her an entire rum barrel, and she drained it all on her own. That was enough to get her completely wasted, and they had to throw her in the back of the car they'd come in. Now, I was just shopping downtown, walking around and relaxing and checking out the stores along the sidewalk, when the car came rolling to a stop near me. Her friends told me that Karano had woken up by then, but she was still pretty sloshed. As I walked past a little deli, I heard a voice call out 'Hey pretty lady!' and I turned to see who it was."

"And that's the whole story! She saw me, and boom, mates, all done!" Karano said quickly while trying to cover Hazel's mouth. Hazel quickly stuck her tongue out, licking her palm.

"Hey! Let her finish!" Wesley said with a laugh. "She's just getting to the good part!"

"Ugh! Fine!" Karano took her hand away with a giggle. "I guess it was a little funny."

"As I was saying. I heard her call out, and I turned to look, and there she was, my mate. It was like getting hit with a sledgehammer, right between the eyes, and I couldn't stop staring. But, like I said, she was still drunk, and I guess to her, the proper way to flirt with me was to pull her pants down and moon me through the window."

The whole group started to laugh at that, and Maria's eyes went wide as she blushed at the image. "For the record, it worked! I got my mate!" Karano pointed out, Even she had to laugh at the memory, muddled as it was.

"Yes, you did." Hazel leaned over, nuzzling Karano's neck before kissing her cheek. "I know that werewolves worship the moon goddess, but ever since that night, Karano has been my moon goddess. I love it when she moons me, and I will worship at that altar whenever I can!"