Chương 1046: MY FIRST CRUSH
7 MARCH, SUNDAY, LATE AFTERNOON, TIMELINE 2.
We spilled out of the watery light of the Time Gate and into Dad's old office. The bright lights and blurry effect made it hard to see, but from the moment I stepped foot on the hardwood office floor, I was greeted by the smell of old papers and Spring air mixed with the smells of the Packhouse kitchen baking oatmeal raisin cookies. We were back to when the floorboards were worn and its varnish faded and bare. Wait… Oatmeal raisin? I was SURE they had been baking chocolate chip cookies! Did our mission take that long?
"SAM!" Ben yelled the moment he stepped through, "You're... you're not…"
And then he clapped his hand on his chest, "I'm not shifted!"
Wait what? My hand moved to my own heart. What's happening?
"So Pretty Alpha is a natural brunette?" Fluffy smiled in his usual unreadable way. Unlike mine, Fluffy's alpha wolf was like new. Strong, bright, and very confident.
I stepped back away from his brightness, reaching for my hair, my now shoulder length straight brown hair. My mind felt like it was free spinning, whirring like the wind with none of the gears catching.
"I haven't shifted?" Even as I said this, I could confirm Boo was missing. WTH. Don't panic. There must be some mistake.
"Strange. We're back at the right time." Ben said after checking his watch, "But why are we still unshifted?"
Everyone still had their wolves. So it was just Ben and me? We looked at each other. How did we change the past such that we didn't shift yet?
The Time Gate took its time closing, dripping in watery lights until the last of it faded away and leaving us back in the very ordinary afternoon sunlight and florescent ceiling lights in Dad's office. The two cats leaped up to their choice of perch to pose like ornaments, Perri up onto the sideboard and Peony on the top of the filing cabinet in the corner.
"All present and accounted for." Harvey reported… Harvey, my good beta, who was suddenly back in his leather jacket and jeans. What happened to his navy blue beta suit uniform?
Even Ki, although Ki was still in a suit. He looked every bit a Lorent Prince. Even his tie was a shiny pale pearl color. (You'd never catch any man wearing a tie that color in Night Leaf.) His hair was swept back and held in a manbun. When did that grow out?
Fluffy and Ben were both in sweatshirts and jeans. On Ben, that was pretty normal on any given day before the beta uniform thing happened. On Fluffy, it was really a new look.
Fluffy was clean cut, short blond hair, no earrings, and when he lifted the sleeves of his sweatshirt to check, there were no fancy bangles and more significantly, no slave bands burnt into his arms.
The only one who didn't change was my good old Dad. Dad still looked the same. I don't know why that made me feel relieved. He was the only who didn't change, so shouldn't that make him the odd one out?
I mean, even Beta Lucas looked funny in the most uncool brown plaid jacket that I had ever seen in my life.
Wolfgang's change of outfit was the real Cinderella deal - he was dressed to the nines, cravat and vest, embroidered long tailed coat, complete with shiny argon buttons and matching cuff links. It was like he was going to a costume ball.
"What the hell just happened?" Ben asked. He took the words right out of my mouth.
No one answered immediately. It was like we were all grappling with the changes. How did kicking Jude out of our packlands make such a big difference?
The door burst opened, "Dad!"
"JUDE?" More than one person yelled.
Jude stopped in his tracks and looked confused, "Who's Jude?"
WHAT? It took another moment, and it was like the gears in my head suddenly clicked in place and my new reality sink in. JUDE WAS MY BIG BROTHER?
"Yo, what are you doing here Lala?" Jude reached out his hand towards my head.
I ducked. Who the hell was he calling Lala? Fluffy caught Jude's wrist.
Jude just looked more confused, "What?"
He looked about the room of stunned faces, and casually shook off Fluffy's grip, "What are you up to now, Kai?"
Who?
Fluffy's smiling mask didn't betray his surprise, "Who me?"
"Goddess!" Jude laughed ruefully, "Who else?"
And then Jude looked surprised again, "Harv? I thought you had to go with your Dad on his Sunday Rounds?"
"What?" Harvey looked just as surprised, and then he looked like he realized something important and muttered into his hand, "Oh s***."
Jude waved it off with a carefree laugh, "Looks like even Mr Perfect make mistakes. No worries, I'll tell him you went out with me to deal with the rogues."
And then Harvey seemed to realize who Jude was, "Thanks… Alpha."
He couldn't even meet Jude's eyes, but Jude didn't seem to notice.
"That's what Alpha's are for!" Jude cheerily declared, "I always look out for my wolves."
Wait, what? Mine! Harv's my beta!
And then Jude noticed Ki, "Eh, Ki? Is Rebel here?"
He looked around belatedly, as if Bell would be hiding somewhere in Dad's cramped office.
Ki answered smoothly, but his gentlest smile was on, "I'm afraid not, Alpha Kev."
Alpha Kev? Who, Jude? Like we didn't have enough Kevs around here!
Jude-Kev looked somewhat puzzled, "Like what's up, seriously? My own beta here without me knowing, Ki's here without Rebel, and what's Lala even doing here?"
I think the more pressing issue here was WHY AM I LALA?
"And who's this?" Jude-Kev raised a brow at Wolfgang.
Just one question, and all of us from smiling masked Fluffy to my respectable alpha Dad froze like a bunch of pups caught red handed in deep trouble.
I racked my brains and flipped through all my new found memories… I had never met that man in my life! From the look on Dad and Beta Lucas' face, they were stumped too.
Who was Wolfgang?
"Who me?" Fluffy was the first to recover. He tilted his head and pointed to himself, "Of course, I'm your superior genius younger brother, Kaius!"
Jude-Kev sighed a bit, "Now, you guys are really acting off. I go out to defend the borders for a few hours, and come back to find this weird s***."
"Language, Big Brother." Fluffy was quite the actor, "Our Lala is still here."
"Oh yes, why are you here, Lala?" Jude-Kev's expression softened, "Were you looking for me?"
Why the hell would I be looking for you?
But for some reason, in my memories, Jude-Kev was someone who always did his best to give me whatever I wanted. He was the one who would carry me on his back when I was tired of walking, give me the last piece of chocolate, save up all his allowance to buy me a build your own pony for my 8th birthday because I was convinced that "all the other girls had one", and defend me from constant teasing from my second brother, Kaius - AKA Fluffy.
Basically, my memories seem to paint Jude-Kev as the knight in shining armor big brother with a smile as bright as the sun (Face it, I totally hero-worshiped him Omo), and Fluffy-Kai as the genius but maddening pain in the neck second-brother (Like he appears in my nightmares in this life.)
Because looking back at the memories of this life, it was like I accidentally stepped into some other girl's life.
I didn't even have the same name in this life.
BECAUSE (yes, I'm going to blame my two older brother for this), because Mum named Jude Kevin, and then she named Fluffy Kaius. When I was born, I guess she wanted a "k" name, so I was named Kayla. (At least I wasn't officially Lala.) And Savannah was Kenna.
There was also no Sabrina.
"This is..." Beta Lucas tried his best to introduce Wolfgang, "Of course, we all know this is..."
We all knew he was originally Wolfgang, but who was he in this life? How should we explain why he was now standing among us in Dad's office instead of wherever he should've been in this life?
So here we have a total stranger, without any papers or authorization in Dad's office. At least he wasn't a rogue. He was also very good looking, like the live version of a prince from the hand-printed Lycan Legends.
Luckily, it seemed that Wolfgang was the same proud and over qualified wolf as he was in his original life. With an air of quiet confidence, he introduced himself "I am Sir Wolfgang, the Fire Pillar of Snow Moon Pack, but I am here in the capacity of an adjunct professor at Black Forest University. "
Wolfgang stepped up and introduced himself with an elegant bow, "Please to meet your acquaintance, Alpha Jude."
To Dad he bowed again, "Thank you for having me, but I am somewhat urgently pressed for time and have to return to Snow Moon to accompany my Alpha on official matters."
"Wait..." Beta Lucas raised his hand, "How... How can we contact you again, ah, Sir Wolfgang?"
Yeah. Good question. It's not like we could just return back in time to undo this mess without him.
"The University of Black Forest." Wolfgang had already thought of a perfectly respectable excuse, "Please send an invitation to the University if you require any further consultation on the matter. I will put this research as first priority. My Alpha is understanding of the sensitive nature of my research work and does not pay mind to it."
"Alright. I understand. Thank you." Dad agreed, "Lucas will see you to Black Forest. Will that be fine?"
I guess Dad realized Wolfgang probably had no papers or permissions to travel.
Sir Wolfgang bowed again, "Yes. I can make my own way back to Snow Moon from there. Thank you for your consideration, Alpha."
"Hoo boy." Beta Lucas walked over and reached for the door, "Come this way, Sir Wolfgang. We'll stop by my office for a bit for the papers."
"I appreciate your assistance, Beta." Sir Wolfgang was very formal. Just exactly like a real prince. He was even fancier than the Lorents next door. I, Lala, was very impressed.
I, Lala, was an idiot.
What kind of stupid girl puppy life did I take over?
Sir Wolfgang stopped at the door Beta Lucas was holding open for him, "Then please pardon me, Alphas. I will make the first move."
He met my eyes and nodded a polite bow, "Until we meet again, Princess."
I felt the blood immediately rush to my face. Oh my heart!
Luckily, Wolfgang turned and left immediately so he wouldn't have seen my face or heard my heart. Omg.
Unluckily, Jude-Kev was right next to me. He growled a little, and muttered under his breath, "Over my dead body."
The moment the door shut, Jude-Kev's complaints overflowed, "What was with that guy? Who does he think he is? Acting all uppity, and who the hell is he calling princess? Did you see how he looked at Lala? She's still a puppy for goddess sake!"
No one answered him, but Jude-Kev was way to agitated to notice, "What kind of shady deal is going on?"
I don't think the original traitor was allowed to throw shade at anyone. Especially not on someone as noble or princely as Sir Wolfgang. O.o (that last bit was the stupid girl, Lala, speaking. Please ignore her.)
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