Chương 562: BEN SAYS ITS A BAD IDEA, BUT...
21 FEBRUARY, SUNDAY, BEFORE DAWN
"Sam, what about you? What do you think I should do?"
I surprised myself by hesistating.
Despite the fact that Alpha Gunter and River were taking me into their confidence, I was suddenly uneasy. How did Alpha Gunter put it? It was just too convenient.
All the clues suddenly fell into place just like that. Event the carved letters in the tree - "F&A" were Fount and Amanda.
If this were some kind of story plot, then it was like the plot was suddenly summarised - like not reading the actual literature book and just reading the book report, or fast forwarding through half the episodes of the drama you were watching because you've read the episodic synopsis online.
And in the light of Alpha Gunter's words about the blue wolf stitching the events of history together...
I know I was the slow type, but I couldn't help but that the feeling that something unnatural was happening.
It shouldn't be so easy.
Was this my catalyst power at work again?
Normally, they shouldn't trust me. They shouldn't tell me what they knew, so that I would be stuck with only half of the pieces of the puzzle while they held on to their other half.
We weren't even in the same pack. Yeah, I'm still having trouble reconciling this. I mean, River, yes, because River is a young idealistic fool. But Alpha Gunter should know better than to entrust personal back stories to a wolf from another pack. Even if that wolf was honest, his loyalty always fell with his pack and alpha.
Was Alpha Gunter playing tricks? I did not sense it. I studied the elder alpha carefully. I didn't know him well, but in the earlier episode, my betas had voiced their suspicion of his hand at provoking Alpha Solomon into losing control of his wolf. But he also did try to rescue me after that.
"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked then, "What do you expect me to do?"
River shrugged uncomfortably, "Sorry, Sam. Did what we say put you in a difficult position? I wasn't really thinking..."
"I think she was talking to me, River." Alpha Gunter said.
"Oh." Said River, the confusion clear in his eyes.
He looked at me and then at his dad, "I don't really get it Dad, but Sam's my friend. If you harm her, I would find it hard to forgive you, even you, Dad."
"Are you so fond of her, son?" It was Gunter's wolf speaking now, and his tone had turned a sharp and icy edge. Talk about showing your true colours.
"No!" River shook his head quickly, "It's not like that, Dad! Its just that Sam is a good wolf. She's not scheming or manipulative like you."
Hahaha, Alpha Gunter looked like River just slapped him in the face, "Who are you calling scheming and manipulative, son?"
River shrugged, but he figetted with his fingers, "Ah... I didn't mean it that way, Dad. I know you're a good wolf too... But Sam's different. She's not like the other alpha wolves."
"You don't know that, River." I cut in, "My loyalty is always with my pack."
"And my loyalty is to myself!" River shot back, "I'm going to do the right thing. Above all, I will be fair to everyone and I will protect the innocent, no matter which pack they are from."
Such typical human idealism. I looked straight at Alpha Gunter, "And you're making him the next alpha of your pack?"
"I'm making him the next king." Alpha Gunter corrected.
"Your pack won't last more than a generation." I told him.
"So I've been told." Alpha Gunter smiled.
"Sam!" River protested, "It's going to work. I'll make it work somehow!"
"Oh yeah? You and what army?" I shot back, "Even if, and I am saying it's a big IF, even if I help you, loan you warriors, share with you the systems and policies we had used to sustain and prosper Morning Light... They will only be stop-gap measures. You'd still need to mate an Alpha's daughter or something, and have some kind of alpha heir by the next generation."
There was a silence.
"It looks like the Alpha Princess was also worried about you River." Keanu smiled.
Now it was my turn to shake my head, "I was not! I don't have time to bother with your Packlands across the continent. Its really is none of my business."
"What will it take to convince you to help my son?" Gunter smiled now.
"What "help" do you want?" I asked carefully.
Alpha Gunter nodded, "It seems the Alpha Princess is not as simple as she portrays herself to be. I definitely feel more assured if we should ally now."
Eh, what? I got the feeling Alpha Gunter was certainly reading too much into it.
"You want an alliance?" That's still me, trying to figure out what was going on.
"I am not particular about the terms and conditions," Alpha Gunter answered smoothly, "although now that you understand River's background, I would appreciate it if you would deny him entry if he should, I don't know... invite himself over to your Packlands behind my back."
"Ah, busted!" River bemoaned.
Eh...
"A hundred apologies for asking, but could it be that Prince River's official visit later today is really an unofficial one?" Ki stepped up with a smile now. I felt a little relieved someone else was going to do the talking from our side.
And as with all traditional packs, wolves were not obligated to answer someone below his rank, so the snow beta answered on Alpha Gunter's stead, "Affirmative."
"Then please allow us to withdraw our authorization for his entry." Ki offered, his smile never faltering because Ki was the master of smiles.
"That would be best." The snow beta answered stiffly.
River looked most unhappy about the turn of events. He looked to Keanu who only shrugged haplessly back. Then he looked to me.
Oh, no, don't look at me like that, River! For a human, he had a pretty good set of puppy dog eyes but I was not going to get involved with this. It was an internal Snow Moon Pack thing. In fact, I would say it was an internal Alpha Family of Snow Moon Pack across the continent thing. Totally NOTHING TO DO WITH ME.
And to be honest, I didn't want to deal with Alpha Gunter. And I definitely didn't want to open the can of worms Amanda/Mandy/River's mum had left behind.
How did Alpha Gunter say it? Sometimes the past was best left in the past.
For some reason, I suddenly thought of Mr Greene, and the tulips he grew.
I was the Alpha. I would protect the happiness of my wolves. Even grouchy old ones. I just wished I knew what exactly to protect them from.
"Forgive the slowness of this stupid beta, but might I just clarify," Ki pressed on, this time speaking to the snow beta, "Your honourable alpha would like to form an alliance in which we agree never to allow his heir to step foot in our Packlands?"
Yeah, it sounded ridiculous when Ki put it like that. Actually, it sounded very opposite what ally relationship usually was.
"No! Dad! I need to bring the stone back!" River said, "And I need to... "
"Dad, the truth is, I had a dream... There was this girl in the woods. She told me to come to the Green Packlands." River said finally.
"I thought you were bringing Wilhelm over to visit Sabre?" I blurted out.
"Yes!" River said, and then he turned to Wilhelm's shocked expression, "I mean no! I mean... Yes." River admitted miserably, "I thought I could kill three birds with one stone. You know, let Wilhelm see his sister, find out more about the stone, and well... Maybe I would see her again."
"See who again, son?" Alpha Gunter asked.
River looked embaressed then, "No one. It was just a dream."
"Was she a wolf?" I asked. Could it be a mating dream?
River shook his head, "She was a fairy."
Okay... That was just dumb.
"There are no fairies at the Green Packlands, River. Just wolves, and Rogues, and traps and trees and lots of things you might trip over." I told him, "Your dad is right. You should stay where you are."
I wished at this moment, I knew how to wink like my betas did. Because in my heart, I was totally, *wink* River, just agree with your dad now. I'll see you later at home.
But not anywhere in the woods. Even I knew better than to let River into the woods. He was too danger prone.
I didn't know how to wink though, not in a way Alpha Gunter wouldn't notice. So River looked honestly dejected, "Oh."
And I felt honestly bad anyway.
Alpha Gunter nodded, satisfied, "As for your suggestions for sustaining my pack, I am interested to hear more about it. Perhaps I might pay a visit to you later today instead of my son."
Oooohhhh... Busted. Hahaha. Did he know what I was planning?
I tried to look nochalent, "Yeah, okay."
Not!
This negotiation really wasn't working out the way I wanted it to. I had meant to still help River, and let Wilhelm meet Sabre. I had meant to tell River that the free wolves needed the stone. I had meant to... I don't know, everything was happening too fast.
But Ki had stepped forward once again, "Thank you for stopping by Alpha Gunter. It is nearly dawn and the princess has a packed schedule today."
Alpha Gunter narrowed his eyes at the Beta's insolence for speaking directly to him, but he managed to smile and nod at me, "Then I thank you for your audience, princess."
All the men stood up now, our two packs facing. They made stiff bows and Ki showed them the door.
"Bye, Sam. See you in school." Keanu said.
"Yeah, bye Sam." River mumbled.
And then Keanu winked. Hahaha. Okay!
I grinned immediately.
Ki had the sense to quickly shut the door before Alpha Gunter caught the shift in my mood.
"Sam!" Ben groaned, "You really gotta work on your poker face."
"I don't own anything like that." I was still grinning, "I don't even own any ability to wink."
Now that our honourable guests were gone, I laughed, "What kind of mess did I just get myself into?"
"I don't trust him." Ki smiled.
"Yeah, he reminds me of Ki." Ben said.
Ki feigned hurt, "I'm hurt, beta!"
Harvey watched the other two briefly and then nodded as he turned his attention back to the issue, "It was wise of you to withhold information about the free wolves."
"It didn't seem fair. They told me their side of the story." I murmured.
"They told you only to gain your cooperation." Ben got impatient now.
"Yeah, but..." I sighed, "I don't think it's a bad thing for Alpha Gunter to want to protect River."
"AND the stone." Ben said pointedly.
Yeah, there was that too. In the end, was it all about the stone? I sat cross legged on the sofa my hair flaring lightly. I needed to think but that wasn't my forte.
"What do you guys think?" I asked instead. I was getting good at being an Alpha this way. I have 3 betas with super-sized brains, I might as well use them.
Unfortunately, super-sized-brained people tend to skip steps in their workings so I had no idea how they got to the solution.
"Revoke the visas." Ben said, "This River is bad news."
The other two betas nodded.
"But River is the good guy." I tried to defend my friend.
"Yes, but he is also the son of Alpha Gunter AND WORSE, returning his stone is probably going to fulfil whatever prophecy hanging over your Luna's head." Ben said, "You are going to DIE, Sam."
Ben could be a real doomsayer sometimes.
"You don't know that." I argued.
"I'm not going to take any chances, Sam." Ben was growling lowly now.
I looked at my other two betas. Harvey had his arms crossed, his usual wry smile was absent. Even Ki had stopped smiling.
Great, now I have 3 upset betas.
"Okay, I get it, I get it." I had to take a step back at this point, "We'll put it on hold for now. I won't do anything about the stone, but can River come anyway? At least so that Sabre can see her brother again."
No one looked convinced.
"Just arrange something wih Keanu. But we won't let them near the warlock lands. That should be fine right?" I can't believe I had to persuade my betas like this... I was the Alpha! My betas were just too damn protective!
Harvey was the first to cave, "Perhaps if we kept them under strict escort, and as Alpha says, keep them out of the woods and away from the warlock lands."
Ben growled at that.
"If that pleases the goddess, then I will make the arrangements." Ki relented.
Ben growled at that too, but he said nothing else.
"Please, Ben?" Wth! Why did I have to make puppy dog eyes at Ben? But at this moment, it just seemed like my puppy power would be more persuasive than my alpha power. I needed my betas in on this.
"Fine." Ben sighed.
"Yay! You won't regret this!" I cheered.
"Yes I will." Ben the forever pessimist grumbled, "It's a matter of how much I'm going to regret this."
I shook my head, "It's just a little visit. It'll be fine. If we are extra careful, River won't even fall over, trip, get lost, or break anything! Not even once!"
Ben the doomsayer groaned, "Bad feelings exponentially increased."
He was being overdramatic of course. I mean, how bad can it get?
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