章 1050: AN HONEST MISTAKE OR A TWIST OF FATE?
Back to Dad in his office. Now that Jude-Kev was gone, he was back in his chair behind his desk frowning his thinking frown.
"Dad?" I couldn't see why he was hesitating. What was there to think about? Wasn't it obvious that we had made a terrible mistake? Undo!
"Alright, Sam. Hear me out first..." Dad said. The moment I heard those words I knew I wasn't going to like it. It reminded me too much of when Mum and Dad needed to talk to me about accepting a certain human slave girl as my little sister.
"Dad! I want an undo and I want it NOW!" If I had shifted, if I had my blue hair back, I would have full blown krackened, blades and all, "I'm the Alpha! I want my wolf back, I want my betas back, I want..."
"Your harem back?" Fluffy-Kai asked. I kicked him in the shin.
"Ow..." Fluffy-Kai gave me the satisfaction of stepping backwards from the injury, but he was laughing, "How unladylike!"
Which would have been a huge blow to a young lady like Lala, but I was Sam now, and the insult wasn't so much that I was unladylike, but that I was so weak in this girly puppy form that my most vicious kick was laughable. I felt my fist clench, but it was only a reminder of the lack of strength in my hands.
I don't care what this Lala had been doing all my life, I was going to have to get down to some serious training… no wait, why should I have to train this weak body when we could just UNDO!
Calm down, Sam. Focus. I can't let Fluffy get to me. The key to fixing everything was a simple undo. I returned my attention to Dad, "Dad! We need to undo this now!"
"Sam, listen…" Dad started again, but I wasn't having any of it. THERE WAS NO WAY I WAS GOING TO LIVE LIKE THIS!
"Obviously, something went wrong with our mission!" I argued hotly, "Now that traitor is here. He's running the Morning Light and pretending to be your son. We need to undo this mess!"
Sorry, my heroic big brother. I was honestly sorry, but you were the traitor of my original life, and even though you were only the best brother I ever had, it was also your fault that I was so weak. Maybe I was ungrateful to think this way, but you were the wall that blocked me from my destiny.
Dad sighed. It was a long sigh, but he didn't say no, "Lucas is not back yet. We'll send an invitation to Black Forest University for Sir Wolfgang to meet us first thing tomorrow morning. In the meantime, we'll have to stay for a day or two."
So Dad was not saying "no". He was just saying "wait." That's alright. I could wait.
The only problem was the way Dad was pinching his brow. If it were a simple matter of just waiting a day or two, why was Dad acting like this was a big deal?
Dad sighed again, "Alright. Ki, you may leave first. Send my regards to your Alpha."
Ki smiled his gentle smile when he took his bow, "Understood, Alpha."
"Please ask Rebel if he wants to contribute to Kev's surprise party." Fluffy smiled.
"Understood, Alpha Kai." Ki bowed again.
And then Ki nodded a bow to me, "Until we meet again, goddess."
Fluffy smiled from next to me, "It's good for dogs to remember where their loyalty lies."
"You may go too, Harvey." Dad waved my good beta off.
Fluffy decided to help Harvey come up with a good excuse too, "You may tell your alpha that our Alpha Father is taking my long history of grievances against Lala into account. I'm going to be very sorry and spend the rest of my life making it up to her."
"You weren't that bad." I shrugged.
Okay, from Lala's POV, Fluffy-Kai was THE WORST. But as far as I could tell, it wasn't Fluffy-Kai that was bad, it was Lala who was weak. Fluffy-Kai was far worse towards the other kids in school, even Ben was not always spared from his torment, but Lala was a crybaby and scaredy cat.
I mean, it was pretty obvious now that I looked back on all the times he made me cry. Usually he would tease me about something stupid, or blackmail me with my diary, or threaten to burn my hair, or clothes, or whatever he was holding in his hand. Lala would like to say in her defense that sometimes he would be holding a live animal in his hand, BUT he never actually used his lava power on ME, just my stuff or whatever small animal he had captured. And as weak and useless as Lala was, he always allowed her to escape from his grasp unharmed. Like he would literally let go so I could run away crying to Jude-Kev/Mum/Dad… even Kenna. Like even Kenna, who was a head shorter than I was, could hit him and scold him and he would immediately retreat/return/release/repent… or whatever it was that was demanded.
I don't know why Lala hadn't realized that Fluffy-Kai was just playing. Lala was a really silly girl like that.
"Or you can just beg him not to ask you anything until after his birthday is over." Fluffy smiled beatifically, "Then you'd be able to meet us secretly with his full blessing."
"Understood. Please excuse me, Alpha Kingsley, Young Alpha Kai." Harvey took his bow to leave.
"I don't have to remind you." Fluffy's smiling mask never wavered.
Harvey stopped in front of the door, "Of course not." When he turned back, his mouth pressed down in a tight line.
He nodded a bow towards me, "Forgive me in the meantime, Alpha."
And then he let himself out.
Just like that, it was just Dad, Fluffy-Kai, Ben, and me left in the office.
Dad sighed for a third time, "So the day has finally come."
"What day?" I asked.
"Sit down, Sam. Kai and Ben too." Dad said wearily, "If I think about it, it was a very good thing that we brought these wolves with us. It makes everything easier... Especially, with Kai around."
I didn't understand anything in what Dad said, but I did catch something important - from the way Dad was calling Fluffy "Kai", it was as if Dad truly considered Fluffy his son.
If, and this was just my own postulation, but IF, Dad now regarded Fluffy as his son Kaius, would Dad in the same way regard the traitor, Jude, as his son, Kevin?
Even before my first shift, I had always had a superior sense of smell and hearing, AND my lucky sense of direction. Lady Amber had noticed me using it and told me I had very good instincts.
Well, my very good instincts was giving me a very bad feeling.
"Hm?" Fluffy seemed to be considering Dad's words, "Dad... are you perhaps hiding something important from us?"
Why was Fluffy calling Dad, "Dad"? That's MY Dad!
Dad chuffed, "You are always the fastest to catch on, Kai. The truth is, Lucas and I have been waiting for this day for the last 14 years."
"So you KNEW someone messed with the past even before our timelines merged?" Fluffy asked.
"Not only that. But I am also aware of the future of this timeline." Dad paused, and then dropped his eyes to the large hands he held clasped on his table, "Let me explain."
I felt my weak hands clenching by my side again. I had a very bad feeling about the way things were heading, but what could I do? In this life, I was just a weak girl - like literally.
Dad seemed to think so too, "I need you to protect your sister and Night Leaf, Kai."
The Lala in me took a peek at her brother, Kaius. Was it ironic that her fate was now about to be placed in the lava hot hands of Fluffy?
"I am here to be her protector." Fluffy smiled, "This was the agreement when I was saved and allowed to be adopted into your pack."
"Back then, when you requested it, did you know?" Dad asked, "Did you already foresee this future?"
Fluffy shook his head and laughed lightly, "You're giving me way too much credit, Dad. No, I only wanted to ensure my Pretty Alpha's survival. Every change in time produces a ripple effect that grows with time, a falling leaf can become a whirlwind 20 years down the road. Since we had travelled so far back in time, it only stood to reason that the effect of what we had done would ripple out into an unpredictable future. At the time, no one could have foretold the consequences. I only wanted to increase the chances of Pretty Alpha being born and surrounded by us who would be loyal to her."
Yeah, right. I've already lost all three of my betas! Wolfgang was a good as a stranger...
"You've thought it out well, Kai." Dad nodded, "You have earned my trust. From today onwards, you must be the bright and sharp sword to protect my daughters."
"Or we can just return to the UNDO point." I reminded Dad.
Dad sighed for the fourth time, "Sam... he might have been a traitor in the past timeline, but who is Kevin now?"
"My brother." I answered, "But he wasn't supposed to be here! It was a mistake!"
"A mistake?" Dad chuffed a little bitterly, "Or fate?"
WHAT? What did Dad mean by fate?
"Don't call mistakes fate, Dad!" I was seriously freaking out now. There was no way... I didn't want this life! Gimme my UNDO!
Dad sighed, "From the day he came to our home, your mother loved him."
She would. Mum's heart was soft like that. I mean, didn't we all see how Sabre got adopted?
"And we took him in and loved him as our own son." Dad continued, "As we did Kai when we found him in front of Lucas' apartment."
"Was that when you started to suspect someone was altering the timeline?" Fluffy asked.
I mean, I guess finding one blond alpha baby boy was one thing, but finding a second blond alpha puppy a few years down the road screamed foul play. It wasn't like blond alpha orphans were something that magically appeared in the Green Packlands (or anywhere at all).
"I did wonder... But it was only after Kayla was born that Lucas and I investigated it." Dad admitted, "Mostly it was because we didn't have a cat until then."
"Ah!" Fluffy-Kai was way ahead of me, "Rebel's white cat!"
Bell had a white cat? Since when?
"What a stingy bastard." Fluffy-Kai smirked, "We've been running together since we were pups. We even became sworn brothers, but he never told me his cat could time travel."
Wait, what? Sworn brothers? And why was there suddenly a third cat that somehow appeared to Rebel in this timeline?
"That guy is full of secrets." Fluffy-Kai's smile widened, "I can't wait for him to realize you're his soul mate... Heh, heh, heh... Lala sweetheart, you're going to help me torture every last secret out of that bastard."
I froze at that. Fluffy-Kai always called me "sweetheart" when he was bullying me.
"Perhaps he already knows." Dad shrugged, completely ignoring my brother's threats to use me, "He is already of mating age. A mating dream, or his wolf might have sensed it... Alpha Rebel is difficult to read."
"Wait, but how did you get his cat to help you?" I asked. I didn't remember Dad being close to the Lorents.
Dad looked embarrassed, "He was only a small pup then. Lucas simply stole the cat."
What???
"We always returned it after use." Dad justified, "So it could be considered a loan."
They stole his cat multiple times?
"And the cat was mine to begin with." Dad continued, "He used to guide me in my youth."
That was still stealing.
"We had to stop after he shifted." Dad was in full confession mode now, "His wolf was too fierce."
Fluffy Kai burst out laughing at the end of Dad's confession, "No wonder Rebel always liked to joke that the Night Leaf Beta was a catomaniac ."
Huh?
"Its a play on the word kleptomaniac, sweetheart." Fluffy smiled at me, "It means..."
"I know what it means!" I lied.
Fluffy laughed, "Lala sweetheart, I'm going to miss teasing you so much."
"Call me sweetheart again, and I will make you hurt." I told Fluffy, "I won't be weak forever."
There was no way I was going to leave it to Fluffy-Kai to protect my happiness. No way.
Fluffy's laughter rang freely in the room. He sure laughed a lot in this life.
"Even without the hair, she's so easy to read." Fluffy told Dad, "Sorry it took us so long to grow up, but we can help you bear your burdens now. Please tell us what you know so we can align ourselves to your plan, Dad."
And that's the other thing, since when had Fluffy ever spoke properly like this?
I didn't want to admit it, but this timeline definitely did Fluffy good. What if, just what if this timeline was better for everyone else too? Could I bear this fate?
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