OF ALL THE PLACES I COULD GO...

25 FEBRUARY, THURSDAY, LATE

25 FEBRUARY, THURSDAY, LATE

I can't say how glad I was to leave the meeting with River. I was quite sure our combined second plan was just as impossible as River's first plan.

The moment I got home, I beelined to the bathroom and buried myself in a warm bubble bath.

The first part of my bath was spent worrying about what kind of first impression I should make at breakfast and then all the reasons I might give to convince Beta Glenn and his A-List wolves to join our party.

It was just my first day since being grounded! I can't believe I was going to skip school and get into trouble. I was going to be so grounded again after this. I couldn't imagine what my parents would say.

Arugghhhhh.... Forget it. I'd hate to disappoint everyone with my lack of charm, but maybe if it didn't work out, Beta Glenn would intercept us and drag us all home safe and sound.

As long as we didn't stumble on the Rogue King's hideout, it should be okay. Probably. The warlock forest was filled with hidden dangers, and there was no map. Not even satellite images from online maps. Except for Gate City, our entire Green Packlands up to the Colored Mountains was just a green space denoted as "Protected Space."

I should never had agreed to go along with River. What was I thinking? That guy was sure to lead us into some kind of misfortune.

But it's not like I could go back on my word.

If I ever lived through this, I would never agree to help anyone so easily ever again.

The more I thought about it, the more I was glad about the guys' erroneous belief in my persuasive power.

By the time I got out of my bath, I felt quite sure that I shouldn't worry about succeeding. To begin with, success was impossible, and the sooner we failed, the safer we would be.

I'd still be in trouble for missing school! Gah! And Archery too! It would be my first session with the seniors too! Anyway, I was quite sure this second time would be enough to get me kicked out of the club.

Ah well, I had to leave the club anyway. We were nearly at the end of the term. Sigh.

Maybe I was just tired. Distracted by my thoughts, I accidentally put on the second option of training gear instead of my PJs. I realized this when I saw how Fluffy had arranged two outfit choices for everything. There were now two sets of PJs and my school uniform with a choice of a deep vneck knit vest or a cardigan. Fluffy seemed to like setting outfits with a lot of layering. I guess Fluffy was complicated like that...

Oh well, training gear was pretty comfy to sleep in. I had on the usual white inner wear, a black long sleeved tshirt, and then a cropped navy blue hoodie with wide three-quarter sleeves so that my t-shirt sleeves were longer. The joggers were also in navy and cropped. Now that I've put on the second outfit styled by Fluffy, I was starting to notice a difference. Fluffy's sense of style not only included a bit more layering. The colors were darker, and the overall feeling was infinitely cooler. It was a pity I was only going to sleep in this.

I climbed into bed and tried not to think too hard about tomorrow's stupid impossible plan.

I'm going to be okay. I'm good at winging it. What are the chances of walking into the Rogue King's home? Maybe I should make sure River didn't take the lead in this expedition. A map would be nice...

I must have fallen asleep because the next moment I opened my eyes, I found myself in somebody's living room.

I was sleeping on an old red couch. The color was faded, but it was comfortable. There was an old wooden coffee table. It was really scratched up, and had water rings on it, and a newspaper, but I could tell at a glance that this was a good table. The sturdy kind like our old conference table before it broke.

The room was dimly lit, just a reading lamp standing on one side of the couch. And the walls on both sides of the room were lined with shelves of books.

I had a clear view of a wooden patio from where I was lying, the patio doors were opened to let in the comfortable cool night breeze... Oh wait, I sat up and squinted out into the dark, why was it not freezing cold on a winter night? Where was I?

This wasn't Heller's, or the Underground... I looked around for some clues. Where was this place? Outside the moon was clear and large and perfectly round, but only because I was dream traveling.

But the moonlight shone down brightly and I could just make out the shadowy grey rows of bushes beyond the patio. I knew this shape of garden. Back at Night Forest, Grandma Luna's rose garden also grew this way, rows and rows of roses. But it was winter at Night Forest too. There would only be sad little brambles in the snow, waiting for spring to arrive.

And then, like a lighting strike, I remembered River and Savy's first date... They had seen a rose garden in full bloom right behind the Rogue King's house.

The Rogue King's house. OF COURSE I HAD TO DREAM TRAVEL TO THE ROGUE KING'S HOUSE. T.T

I heard foot steps from somewhere behind me and quickly slammed myself back down and curled up on the couch. There was no where else to hide. Grrr...

It sounded like there was a passageway behind me. I didn't dare to pop up to look for the door. I just curled up and hoped very hard for the echoing footsteps to keep walking and not notice me.

Afterall, I was dream traveling, and just as I could not smell the riot of roses carried in by the breeze, they shouldn't be able to smell me either.

The footsteps approached. There were two persons. One was heavier, with one leg stronger than the other, so I could hear his uneven footsteps, his second foot dragging just a bit each time. Not quite the old wolf Bert's level of drag, but it was still distinct enough to pick out.

The other was wearing heels, so I knew it had to be a woman. When she spoke, my heart ran cold because I recognized her voice.

It was sultry and seductive, it was what I had always thought I would like to grow up to sound like, worldly and sophisticated - but I had since changed my mind after meeting this particular person.

It could hardly believe my ears, but I knew it had to be her! Or at least, it was her ghost.

Please don't find me, please don't find me... I was shocked enough not to notice the actual conversation, but it got clearer as the footsteps got nearer.

"What a waste!" She exclaimed with a theatrical sigh, "And not a cent to show for it!"

"I told you it wouldn't work." The male voice also brought back bad memories, "Night Leaf is not stupid enough to exchange the alpha's daughter for a rogue pup."

"But I was sure that blue b**** was the type who would jump in to play the hero." The woman's voice drawled, "She was the young and impetuous type, and you yourself said her moral character was highly praised by your brother."

"I shouldn't have listened to you." The man said irritably.

"I should have slept with your brother instead." The woman decided.

"Do you think my brother would associate with a whore like you?" The man spat out.

"As long as no one knew." The woman smiled, "If he were a man, he would not have minded."

"You!" The man raged now, "Do you know how much that last stunt had cost me? That was the last of our reserve and now I owe those wretched rogues money too!"

The man growled, "This is all your fault b****."

There was a sound of his hand connecting to a face. It was a hard slap. At first I thought she must have struck him, but then I heard her heels hit the floor as she stumbled from the impact, they were just outside the door now.

"Elliott, now that was uncalled for!" I could hear the woman slam her hand on the wall and push herself upright.

"You better pray Roy has cash to spare, or I'm selling you back to the vampires." Beta Lorent threatened lowly, he didn't seem to feel it was wrong at all to have struck his female companion.

"I wish!" Ruby snarled back, "My life was far better with Lord Ciara than here with you in this hellhole."

Yes, I was really sure now. Beta Elliot Lorent, and Ruby the leader of the Jewels of Ciara, in the flesh.

I'm not sure how, since they were both supposed to be dead, but it wasn't like I could pop my head out to see. I continued to lie there, my back pressed against the back of the couch, wishing for the two of them to hurry up and walk away.

"He's not here." Beta Lorent observed aloud into the room I was in. I held my breath and stilled my heart. Please don't see me! Please don't see me!

Ruby sighed, it came out rather sensually, "That's too bad, I was hoping he might want me to convince him."

"Have you looked in the mirror, my love?" Beta Lorent sneered.

"At least I've still got all my bits on." Ruby chortled.

"B****!" Beta Lorent swung his fist - I didn't see it, but I heard it crash on the door. I guess Ruby must have dodged that one.

"Rebel must really hate you." Ruby was still laughing, her laugh was husky and her malice unfettered, "To think he cut off all five limbs!"

Eh? Two arms, two legs... and a tail? Was Beta Lorent's wolf missing a tail?

Ruby's laughter echoed in a way that made me think beyond the door behind me had to be quite a long an empty corridor.

And just as I thought the two of them was about to leave, heavy boots clomped up the wooden patio, a tall gangly man stepped into the room. His light brown hair was messy and he had outdoor clothes on, "What do you two want now?"

He didn't see me at first, although I saw him very well. I froze there in plain sight wishing I were more transparent.

But I was quite opaque because the man saw me soon enough. He startled a little, and his first reaction was to point accusingly at the door, "What did you two do now?"

"Ah, no, its nothing, nothing, at all!" Beta Lorent, immediately in slimey weasel mode.

"I told you not to make trouble here." The tall man said, "We are supposed to be lying low."

"Yes...yes, of course we are well aware of that." Beta Lorent was quick to placate the other man. The tall man looked at me again and pointed. I immediately put my finger on my lips.

The tall man shifted his finger to point at the coffee table, "This newspaper... It's last week's news. What does a man have to do to get a newspaper around here?"

"Ah, oh... I forgot." Beta Lorent said, "But, I'll have someone go out for the paper first thing tomorrow morning. It's just that..."

Beta Lorent took a step forward to approach the tall man.

"Don't come in!" The tall man yelled.

"Wh... What?" Beta Lorent seemed confused.

"Ah..." The man hastily blurted out, "You two stink. Don't come closer!"

Was he hiding me?

Beta Lorent shuffled his bad leg back. Ruby laughed, but it sounded hollow. Her voice turned coy, "You used to pester me to come closer all the time."

"That was before you were a walking corpse." The tall man answered bitterly.

"Who knew we would find ourselves in such a sorry state?" Beta Lorent muttered, "This is all my damned nephew's fault. But this old beta isn't done yet! There will be a day, mark my words! I just need to collect enough material and rebuild my resources. When I crawl out of this hole, I'll..."

"Haven't you had enough, Elliott?" The man sounded truly agitated now, "It's over for us. We're washed up. Rebel has hunted us down and cornered us here."

"An omega will always be an omega!" Beta Lorent spat back, "You can rot here in this hole with your roses and books, but I will exact my revenge with my own hands!"

"You're mad." The man informed Beta Lorent, but Beta Lorent only laughed like on my engagement day, his mad, mad, evil, Jafar laugh.

"Just get lost, the both of you." The man said, barely able to hide the fact that he really wanted them to leave RIGHT NOW.

"Oh?" Naturally, Ruby picked up on that, "Aren't you lonely?"

"No!" The man waved his hands in a flustered manner, "Get out!"

Ruby laughed, "Fine, I know when I'm not wanted."

"Ah, Roy, there's this one thing though..." Beta Lorent did not move from the door.

"What is it now?" The man snapped back.

"I might need to borrow some money..." Beta Lorent started.

"What?" Roy sounded genuinely shocked, "What happened to the money I lent you? Now I know you two must have done something..."

"No...no... Nothing of the sort!" Beta Lorent lied, but I guess Roy was really an omega because he did not seem to sense it at all, "You know the medicinal baths aren't cheap, and this slut here just wasted the last of it..."

"Fine!" Roy really must have wanted them gone, "I'll lend you a few hundred more. But no more! Now get out!"

"Yes... Yes... We're leaving." Beta Lorent backed away, "Don't forget, I need that money tomorrow morning... so I can pay someone to go to town and get your daily newspaper for you, of course."

"Whatever, just go." Even though Roy got his way, he looked utterly defeated.

When he was sure they had left, Roy sat down heavily on the matching armchair in the corner of the room, "I curse the day I met them."

I sat up, sensing around to make sure we were truly alone, and then I turned to face the man named Roy, "Who are you?"