章 953: THESE WERE HAPPY TEARS
THESE WERE HAPPY TEARS
Wow? What was 'Wow'? The sun was shining, the sky was blue, the grass was green (and hardly muddy at all), and the forest and fields surrounded us with all the scents of new leaves and flowers, while the smell of picnic foods permeated the air. All around me were the sounds of happy wolves and music.
This was Spring in Night Leaf at its finest.
And this was me, face to face with my gorgeous (albeit arrogant) Luna, and all I could manage as my opening line was "Wow."
I didn't even realize I had said it out loud, except Bell smirked at that and replied far more coolly than I'd ever be, "Same to you, Princess."
Then he leaned in closer and I thought he would kiss me. I don't know what gave me the idea. But I could see his lips come close, and maybe he would have kissed me if not for the sound of Wolfgang distinctively clearing his throat from behind us.
I took a quick half-step back just in time. I had forgotten they were there... My guards, Ki, and pretty much the entire picnic crowd that happened to be in the vicinity.
"Alpha Kingsley is here." Ki announced/warned.
So Wolfgang's subtle interruption wasn't so much censure, but warning of my dad's approach? I felt a little disoriented like I was genuinely surprised to find myself standing in the middle of a pack picnic.
"Hoo boy, were we interrupting something?" Beta Lucas looked from me to Bell.
I shook my head quickly. No, no... Nothing happened.
Bell completely ignored the elder Beta's remark and smirked again (I told you he was in a good mood today), "Hello, Dad."
Dad came over, "Ah, Son. Did you just arrive? We were just about to take a walk about."
Dad firmly took Bell by the shoulders and steered him away from me, "Have you eaten? Why don't you join Lucas and me?"
"Hoo boy. That was close." Beta Lucas sighed from next to me, "Try not to do that stuff in front of your dad, Sam. It's not good for my old heart."
I shook my head again. No "stuff" happened, okay?
I mean, I wasn't sure what possessed me to pucker up... Omo, just remembering it was embarrassing!
Nothing happened. No one saw that. I looked about to make sure. See, everyone was busy with their own conversations and food.
I sighed, not feeling entirely convinced that my sappy kissy lip expression had escaped everyone's notice. I'm so lame. I'm not sure which was more embarrassing, getting caught puckering up in public, or puckering without getting a kiss in.
It was like a PDA epic fail - not that we were going to have any PDA! I meant maybe it could LOOK like we were, and then like we got stopped - Which, surprise, surprise, turned out to be of the greater embarrassment of the two.
"Are you coming too, Sam?" Beta Lucas asked, "Your dad's going start the meet and greet from the other side of the road."
I blinked. Oh right, the Meet and Greet! But I was still feeling the heat of the embarrassment and all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and hide.
And then I saw Bell talking to my Dad. I didn't mean to see him, but the moment he was in sight, it was like my eyes were locked on. Our eyes met and he broke off the conversation to smile and wink at me. Dad turned over his shoulder to see who Bell was flirting with. I'm not sure if he was glad to see it was me or not.
"Hoo boy, your Luna's got guts, I'll give him that." Beta Lucas remark from next to me.
I honestly didn't know how to respond to that, so I just laughed. You know, like one of those weak "Ha ha ha... what can I say?" kind of laughs.
Luckily, Beta Gerald's arrival turned our attention back to work. We'd start at Captain Stephan's picnic mat and he would in turn bring us around to meet the warriors from the Underground as well as some of the families from the disbanded Red Cloud Pack. After which, Beta Gerald hopes to introduce us to various Morning Light families before handing the time to Beta Lucas to take us around Night Leaf wolves.
"Since the Alpha Princess is joining us for the walkabout today, I've arranged for us to meet more families with young daughters." Beta Gerald informed us, "I'm told she has a lot of fans in that demographic."
"Oh?" Dad asked, as if hearing this for the first time.
So Beta Gerald had to tell Dad about the interesting incident he heard from Principal Charlie.
New Leaf Academy had an art program recently where children from K to Grade 6 were given a lot of blue paint to do an abstract hand print finger painting thing. It was a collaboration with a local artist.
They were told to paint "My Hero". This was after the Ceremony of the Departed, so they had expected a lot of blue faces to be drawn on the squares of paper to represent our warriors.
The final vision was to create a collage that would form the shape of a wolf warrior to represent our united wolf pack, all for one and one for all, and a bunch of other noble ideas.
What they didn't expect was for the majority of the female under 12 population - from the kindergartens right up to the sixth graders - to paint a lot of long blue hair.
So instead of the expected blue warrior faces or the occasional creative mind that might produce blue warrior jackets, blue swords, and other warrior-related objects, they received paintings like blue hearts, blue 'girl' stick figures with long, long, hair, squiggly lines (just hair), blue rainbows (which was also hair) and even a couple of blue ponies.
Awww...
The collage was just completed and was now exhibited in the foyer of the Gate City Concert Hall where the Spring Equinox Concert would be held. Beta Gerald sounded very proud of it, "It's evident that the Alpha Princess has struck a chord with the young girls in our Packlands."
Maybe it's because hair was just really fun to draw with finger paint. Did he not think of that?
Anyway, Beta Gerald felt sure that having me stop by to meet the younger girls in Morning Light would mean a lot to them.
I had never felt that Meet and Greet during picnics was a stressful thing... Until now.
"What should I do when I meet them?" I asked.
Beta Gerald smiled at me, "You don't have to worry, princess. Just be yourself."
I felt quite sure my Mum would have something to say about that!
Luckily, Mum and Mrs Beta only arrived on the scene after this report.
"Sorry, were you waiting for us?" Mum asked when she reached Dad's side.
"Luna is here." Beta Lucas announced.
"No, you're just in time." Dad assured her.
"Oh, hello Bell." Mum smiled at my mate, "Have you eaten?"
Bell smiled, his beautiful smile, "I had something earlier."
"You can eat as you meet then." I guess Beta Lucas interpreted it as a "no."
Mum smiled at Bell, "Please don't feel like you have to stand on ceremony with us, Bell."
She turned to me, "Sam, why don't you show Bell around during our walkabout?"
I think Mum was trying to make Bell feel more at home. Maybe she felt that Bell was being aloof because he was still unfamiliar with our pack. I was quite sure that Bell was aloof because he was an arrogant stuck-up Lorent Prince though. The funny thing was how I thought that side of him was kinda cute, really. (And not obnoxious at all.)
Bell nodded at Mum's invitation and reached out his hand for me, but Dad grabbed him by his shoulder again, "He can walk with me."
"Okay..." Mum raised a brow at that. And then she turned to Ki who smiled like a flower to the sun.
{Alpha Kingsley seems determined to keep our Luna Bell at arm's length from his daughter.} Ki succinctly explained to my mum over mindlink.
{Oh. Not again.} Mum sighed, but decided to go along with it, "Well then, Sam, come walk with Willow and me."
So I did. It was probably for the better anyway. I was going to meet little girls who painted me (or my hair) as their hero. The last thing I wanted to do was be caught swooning and ogling over Bell's pretty face - NOT that I did.
I had NEVER swooned or ogled at anyone in my life, and I wasn't going to start now.
Everything went just as Beta Gerald had planned. We met Stephan who introduced us to the top squad in the army. Stephan had decided to use meeting the Alpha as the incentive for the top-performing squad every month.
Meeting the Alpha was apparently a big deal. And the warriors were seriously beaming with pride when Dad (and Bell) went over to talk to them and thank them for their good work. Mostly Dad thanked and praised them. Bell just smirked and nodded, "Keep it up."
Because Bell was a slave driver, but again, that was kinda cute too.
Then Stephan brought us to the family mats and we met a couple of warriors who had recently mated - one with a Free Wolf rescued from the warlock lands (they had met when he was on duty by the borders) and another with a lady from the former Red Cloud Pack. Dad and Mum congratulated them and wished them happiness. They bowed and thanked Alpha Kingsley and his Luna multiple times. The lady from Red Cloud Pack cried.
After that we met Cornelius and his family. From there, Cornelius joined us to visit the remnants of the Red Cloud Pack.
The ladies of Red Cloud Pack were very prone to tears. They kept crying over every little thing. When Mum reached out to hold a lady's hands and said, "I'm very happy to meet you. Welcome to the pack."
It started the waterworks. At first, we were all rather taken aback by this emotional outburst, but it happened on EVERY Red Cloud mat.
Even when we didn't touch them or say anything to them, they would just suddenly cry. Like at the last mat, there were two little girls. They were sitting there quietly like they were trying to blend into the background. Remembering my alleged fanbase, I waved to them and smiled - like from behind my parents. I wasn't even within 2 feet from their mat.
The mother burst into tears. She was so thankful, her girls would be starting school soon. Their new home was beautiful. More than anything she could ask for.
I concluded that Red Cloud Pack was a very emotional pack, which was surprising to me since Stephan, who was supposed to be their true Alpha, owned no trace of emotions. Not even when the women were crying. He just stood there like a rock.
Okay, so did most of the men. The first time it happened, all of us froze at least for a moment. But even after having it happen mat after mat, the men still seemed to taken completely by surprise and just freeze up.
Mum and Mrs Beta had to deal with the tears for the most part.
But when we came to the end of our walkabout among our new wolves, Stephan thanked us stiffly for our time and apologized for the emotional outbursts, "Our wolves are not used to direct contact with the Alpha and Luna."
I'd say! But then Cornelius went on to explain the situation.
They were wolves who thought they would have to live without an Alpha for the rest of their lives. To belong in a pack again, to have a place to call home, to have the papers to get real jobs, send their children to real school... They were incredibly thankful.
"You and Stephan are the ones taking good care of everyone." I pointed out. I've read the reports. I know the two repeated names working behind the scenes without rest to settle the community into the Princess Town and keep order in what must be the largest house move ever was Stephan and Cornelius. Training and rehabilitating ex-fightdogs into a disciplined army was no joke either.
I mean, I know the reports also listed a lot of improvements that could be made for their living conditions and we had several disciplinary issues, BUT given the circumstances, Stephan and Cornelius had really come through for their wolves and proven their capabilities without a doubt.
All we did was show up to meet some of these wolves at the pack picnic.
"Alpha Princess," Stephan shook his head, "I've only been carrying out my duties. You have given these wolves what I had failed to provide for them. More than I could ever hope for or my useless life was worth."
"I thank you for your grace towards the wolves who once were mine." Stephan bowed.
Cornelius bowed too, "The Red Cloud Wolves had rained tears for many years, but today, these were happy tears."
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