THAT'S WHAT LOVERS DO

There was nothing that screamed being alone more than finding yourself padding the lush carpets of a humongous three room suite on the top floor of the Langston all alone. As Dan understood it, the Alpha Suite was the entire floor and included suites, rooms, bunkers and private pool, gym, and meeting facilities for the Alpha's entourage, security personnel, and personal guests. There were only two Alpha Suites in Gate City's Langston, and it was opened to only the most important visiting alphas. The Alpha Suite, it was Dan Lion's first time up here. Very nice.

Exploring the space, Dan guessed this must be one of the suites for the Alpha's personal guests. It had a living room, a meeting room and a bedroom with an attached bathroom.

The view from the floor the ceiling windows was simply breathtaking. Now this was coming from Dan Lion who had done his fair share of traveling, stayed in more hotels than he could count, and seen every cityscape on the continent, and abroad too, but how could he describe this feeling. The top floor of the Langston - this was a first. He took a deep breath, even though he was behind the glass, as if he could breathe it all in - below him the city glittered, the roads like streams, the buildings like jeweled lights, and from his side of the hotel, he could see a single road. This was the famous FIRST ROAD. It was the road legends claim the first wolves from the Colored Mountains had to pass to get to the rest of the plains. Of course Dan knew it was just romantic idealism talking since a very long time ago, there was nothing here. Nary a building nor a road. The entire land called the Green Packlands were wild forests and marshes and open meadows. How amazing that in a century, this dark corner of the continent was ablaze with lights in the night.

Beyond the First Road, there loomed a deep black darkness when Moon Bell spanned, and on the far away hills a few twinkling lights - some say those were the lycan towns belonging to Moon Bell, some say they had to be something else altogether because their locations would be different every night.

There was an interview with Blue Alpha Sam on the LNC, now these were getting increasingly rare since the enigmatic Blue Alpha had retired with her Luna to the Colored Mountains, but it was in commemoration of Moon Bell's Founding Day or something. Dan could not remember, except that when he heard the question being asked, it caught his full attention. He had been curious too.

"The lights?" Alpha Sam wondered, "Do you mean our towns?"

She looked over her shoulder to one of her betas standing on guard behind her and then back to the interviewer, "Do you mean the lights if you look over from Gate City?"

"What other lights are there?" The interviewer tried to ask.

"The stars." Alpha Sam answered, "If you were in Moon Bell, you would see the brightest stars."

"But if we were in Gate City?" The interviewer persisted, "What are the lights we see beyond the first road?"

"The towns?" Alpha Sam hazarded.

"Then how do the towns move?" The interviewer asked. She showed a time lapse of the lights changing position across a single month.

"Oh." Alpha Sam seemed to realized, she laughed, "I didn't know it looked like that."

She shook her head, "No, the towns do not move."

"But… " The interviewer started, and stopped to glance worriedly over at the Beta when he growled. Still this interviewer wasn't a coward, she adjusted her approach and pressed in "Please don't take offense Alpha, I don't understand how else to explain these photos. Can you explain it for us?"

Alpha Sam didn't seem offended in the least, she didn't even seem to think it was a big deal, "It's a mirage. A protective magic."

The interviewer didn't seem to know what to do with that information. Was there even such a thing as magic? Till today, the existence of magic was still highly contested. Most people believed the Lycans own special technology derived from their special abilities.

And if it were magic, and really a security device, how could the Blue Alpha simply blurt it out on LNC prime time?

"Why?" Alpha Sam teased, "Would it be more believable if I said the towns could move on mechanical legs? Or maybe tracks? That might be fun… a moving town…"

After that there were rumors of such a town being constructed within the Green Packlands… but Dan had not seen it on any credible source, only heard about it here and there over drinks. It was a crazy to think of…

"A moving town?" I felt excited at once, "That's incredible."

"It was nothing but trouble." Bell informed me, "Please refrain from ever attempting it."

"How is it possible?" I had to know.

"It's not." Bell growled, "Not without magic and some crazy mechanical genius who I hope you'd never met."

Funny, I was thinking the total opposite about meeting the same said person. I hoped it was a fortified fortress!

Anyway, Dan's first night went well. He got a shower, changed unto clean pressed clothes and underwear, called room service for a surprisingly delicious dinner of trout and cous cous. Maybe it was because he was at the Langston, but everything just felt so much better.

"I know right?" I interrupted again, "Even their coke tasted more expensive."

Bell narrowed his eyes at me.

"Go on." I quickly urged before he got fed up and stopped talking, "Go on with the story."

Dan met Wilhelm for drinks at the Langston's lounge. It was very pleasant, and Dan was not sure if he became so comfortable with the other man because they shared so many interests or because Wilhelm was just the kind of guy who naturally made others feel at ease, but their "one or two drinks", became four, and then coffee.

"It was an amazing first date." Bell concluded. I was this close to socking him one.

"Will you stop that!" I scolded.

"It's a love story remember?" Bell said.

"Between Dan and Henri right?" I said with emphasis. It was at this point, I realized that Bell was baiting me on purpose.

"Hn, cute." He said. He didn't even bother to keep the thought to himself.

I resolved to stop reacting to the stoopid extra scenes he was inserting in Dan Lion's story.

Dan went to bed in the early AM hours knowing that he was definitely going to regret all this tomorrow when he would wake up dehydrated from the combined effect of alcohol and caffeine… and the lack of sleep.

It had been a long day, and even longer since he last had the luxury of stretching out in the safety and warmth of a clean soft bed.

In his haziest thoughts, just before falling asleep he had the wildest notion of mating a powerful rich Lycan woman like Wilhelm had. But unlike Wilhelm, he wouldn't continue active military service or representing King River's inner circle.

Nope, not Dan. He was done with politics and warfare, done with trying to change the world, done with uncomfortable and dangerous traveling. If Dan was going to get something as impossible as a powerful and rich Lycan mate, he was going to live the rest of his life as a socialite on silk pillows.

Maybe that was why Lord Wolfgang did it. Life was better for a lover than a warrior.

And then it struck Dan why Lord Wolfgang headed out, decked to the nines, all on his own, OVERNIGHT - that's what lovers do.

(Don't react to it. Don't give Bell the satisfaction.)