WILL YOU BE ALRIGHT, DAN?

"You're so cute." Dan murmured into the curve of the Alpha's neck. Her hair was like silk against this cheek…

At least that was the last thing Dan remembered. If he said last night was wild, it would be an understatement, but never mind the party last night, Dan was currently having heart palpitations from a mild panic attack because he had just woken up in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed, completely naked - but with all his major organs still in. Probably.

He really shouldn't have drunk the punch.

At least Dan was alone. He ran his hand down his face. How did this happen? For the record, this had never happened before. Dan was not someone who made one-sided sexual advances on an alpha in the lift (or any other person), he was always above board when it came to separating business and pleasure, he had always been careful with his drinks while on official visits, and he had never drunk enough to blackout in his life, much less wake up in a strange bed with no memory of how he got there.

Here's hoping he spent last night alone too. Here's hoping he just slept in the wrong guestroom? Here's hoping he was still in the Packhouse… The room he had woken up in was spacious and airy. The winter sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling glass, and the white four-poster bed smelled faintly of roses and lemon.

What probably happened was that one of the betas in the lift knocked him out when he...

He really shouldn't have drunk the punch.

But if that were the case, shouldn't he be waking up in the dungeon?

Rewind, because Dan was trying to remember.

The tournament was loud enough that Dan worried about permanent hearing loss. Maybe he should bring ear plugs to future events in Moon Bell, just in case.

The young Snow Wolves showed remarkable skills, but Moon Bell's young warriors were another breed of monsters. And unlike the Snow Wolf contingent, the bloodline powers displayed by Moon Bell's wolves were as unpredictable and varied as their nicknames. (Their nicknames didn't really help clue you in either.)

There was a 15-year-old who was larger than Dan, and he fought exactly as he looked like he would. It reminded Dan about the barbarian wolves he had been told about. This boy won purely by his size and strength. His poor snow wolf opponent didn't have a chance. One couldn't cast if one was being crashed into head first and bodily flipped in the air.

Anyway, it was Moon Bell's win and Neil was so proud of his grandson, he came over to Dan with beer to celebrate the win.

Dan was so surprised by the fact that Neil was a grandfather, he accepted the beer. If someone told him it was a mixture of glue and coffee, Dan would have believed it.

Neil had 3 grandsons to date. This one was the runt, so Neil felt the win was particularly poignant. Dan could only wonder how it was possible to consider a 6-foot-4 15-year-old a runt.

Anyway, he had a beer. No problem.

The other fights were less straightforward, with Moon Bell youths displaying powers from sonic booms to poisons.

The last fight for 17-18-year-olds was the most spectacular, it was also when Dan found out that Prince Ri was only 18.

Dan had known that Prince Ri was younger than he was, but he thought he would be at least in his early twenties.

"It's because his father had him late." Fluffy had joined Dan, Wolf, and Wil for their promised card game. Four players were needed anyway.

Prince Hayao's heart was swayed by a beautiful princess and after meeting her, his heart could not be moved by anyone else.

It almost seemed as if he would not ever take a mate, but because of certain events in the Hami Clan, he had no choice but to take the head position and produce an heir. Thus Hanari was born.

But Prince Hayao's heart was still with the beautiful princess, proof being that till today, although Hanari's mother wore Hayao's mating band, he had never marked her nor allowed himself to be marked by her.

"But that isn't why Riri hates his father." Fluffy shrugged, his smiling mask never wavering as he told the story.

Dan didn't feel like it was right for him to hear any of this, at least he felt certain that Prince Ri would not have liked having his family's laundry aired in front of an outsider like him. He tried to change the subject, "Prince Ri is a very talented and mature young man. I was just surprised. I thought he would be older."

Fluffy's smile widened at that, "Hotshot, you... no, Dan Lion... Here, let's drink together."

So they had sake. It was a specialty from his part of the Colored Mountains. It was exquisite and very strong. Dan stopped at one and a half shots. He would've stopped at one, but Fluffy had insisted.

"It seems like you've even charmed Fluff." Wolfgang smiled when Fluffy finally left them, "Fluffy is not an easy wolf to engage."

Dan honestly didn't think he was doing a good job at "engaging" Prince Ri's godfather. At best, he was only avoiding trouble by the skin of his teeth.

Beta Dante came by later and joined them for two rounds of cards. He won both. He had also brought them apple cider - but the bottles were unlabeled. It was homemade, in his Dad's basement, and was "better" than the ones produced by the local winery.

"It's the same formula since that's our family business, but the apples are different." Dante told them.

Dan had read that the Kane family business was half of the power trading giant, K&K, but far be it for Dan to tell Beta Dante what his family business should be.

The smell of the cider reminded him immediately of his dinner with a particular Alpha beauty. That cider was good, but this one was on a whole different level. The smell of apples, the smooth clear texture, the buttery and tart flavors - it was light and dry like the best champagne, yet fruity and sweet. Dan was beginning to think that apple cider might just become his favorite drink here.

Especially since it brought back the feeling of when he was with the Alpha Beauty. He suddenly felt a yearning in his heart, which was weird because he wasn't even sure what he was yearning for - but he felt as if he was SO CLOSE. Almost like reaching out for the moon and seeing it just in his grasp.

"Will you be alright Dan?" Wil asked when the three of them were alone again. He looked concerned at the bottle in his hand.

Dan managed a wry smile and held up the bottle to show his friend, "I just going to hold on to this, and ration it out for the rest of the night."

Dan pointed just an inch under the bottle's neck, "This will be my stop line."

Wil nodded, "Yeah, good idea. Me too."

Wolf stopped drinking and frowned, "You must be tired. Sometimes I forget you guys are just human."

"Thank you." Dan smiled. He was going to take that as a compliment. Wil laughed, "Ditto."

Wolf ignored the cheerful mood of his companions, "You two should just turn in for the night. It's freezing and the official event is over."

Yes, but just from the sounds coming from the arena-turned-dance floor, the party was just getting started. Still, Dan felt it was for the best too. He did need sleep - he was honestly surprised that he lasted as long as he did.

"Then I'll just get going." Dan agreed sensibly. He was in a good mood. Everything was going well. He would go back to his room, put his bottle of the best apple cider into the fridge for tomorrow, and go to sleep. Dan could already imagine the soft bed and crisp sheets. He had been traveling the grey lands for two weeks, and the guest bed in his room was indistinguishable from the one at the Langston. Moon Bell was really treating him well.

"I'm good. I can still keep going." Wil grinned, "I need to stay and keep an eye out for the snow wolf youths."

"You don't have to come with." Dan waved Wolf and Wil off when he realized the two men were going to walk him back, "I know the way."

Didn't Wil just say he had to keep an eye on the young warriors in his delegation? Dan was having such a good time, he had forgotten that they were all here for work.

He pointed at the packhouse porch, "I can walk all of 2 minutes on my own."

The other two men didn't look terribly convinced, but then Wolf shrugged, "Fine. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon, but I'll stop by your room before our departure."

"I'll see you tomorrow too." Wil waved, "Have a good rest."

"Thanks and good night." Dan smiled and waved his goodbye.

He made his way through the general party crowd toward the packhouse feeling very independent. He was surely going to miss Wolf and Wil, their friendship was just warming up, but he couldn't keep relying on them. He had to find his own feet here, build his own network, and work his own way towards the negotiation table. They've already done enough for him.

If Dan had made it back to his room at this point, everything would have been fine, and he would have awoken in his own bed, in his own room… because he really shouldn't have drank the punch.