THE "NOTHING" BEHIND MY HAREM

4 MARCH, FRIDAY, CONTINUED

I flared but my friends just laughed. Grrr...

Lizzy actually laughed till she snorted, "Oh wow, Sam... I can't believe you've been secretly keeping a whole harem!"

"We used to secretly keep guinea pigs in our walk-in wardrobe." Savy remembered.

"Trust Sam to take it a step further." Lizzy laughed some more.

"I'd say it's a lot of steps further!" Jonah exclaimed, and then he quickly held up his hands to me, "I mean, sure. Okay. You're the alpha."

By now, I honestly couldn't tell if they were just messing with me anymore.

Ben smirked, "Normal wolves would just keep a skeleton or two in their closet."

No, they wouldn't!

"Well, a harem of super gorgeous wolves is much better than some old skeletons." Lizzy argued.

Savy grinned, "I was pretty surprised Bell accepted it."

Me too, actually.

Since I was obviously clueless, Savy turned to Ben, "So what's actually going on here?"

Eh?

Ben smirked, "How would I know?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was sounding more and more like his Dad.

"Come on, Ben, spill it." Lizzy ordered.

Ben shrugged, "It's nothing."

And then he told us "nothing."

Now, it was Ben's turn to do some explaining, but unlike River, Ben's explanation was much shorter, "Wolfgang's situation required us to dig up some really old lycan legal code, which we discovered could be used to keep our dogs on leash."

Just because it was shorter, didn't mean it was better.

Naturally, Lizzy and Savy forced him to "explain it properly."

Historically, alpha wolves had ever taken in more than one mate, especially during wars, either as war trophies or as a way to protect the Luna of a fallen ally. Or during the expansion of territory, it was not uncommon for the alpha to mate a high-ranking she-wolf of the newly assimilated pack to ensure their future cooperation.

There was actually a common code governing what was honorable and acceptable in such a situation. Although, it only applied to Alphas or highly ranked wolves who might actually find themselves in such a politically sensitive situation.

But it was called a common code because it was based on historical cases and was commonly accepted by most packs as the honorable way to go about it.

The common code identified the Luna to be the first betrothed or mated to the Alpha. She must give her permission for the acceptance of each new mate. (As Bell had "clearly done.")

Everyone around the table nodded as if that was canon. Wth.

Also, the Alpha must not mark the Luna or any of his other mates. Because you know, the pain of his unfaithfulness will probably kill her if she was marked.

"He should just remain faithful to his mate. Full stop." I cut Ben off. This was a stupid code.

"You're one to talk." Ben smirked.

But he went on to explain that Bell was allowing the harem ("We call them the Alpha Princess' Special Team.") Because they were useful to have around, and also because the Green Packland has laws against slavery. The Harem was a perfect way to separate my dogs from the other wolves.

"But I don't want them to be dogs. I want them to be full pack wolves, like you and me!" I argued. If I freed them just to keep them, wasn't that defeating the whole purpose of freeing them in the first place?

"It's not like your dad or Luna or any alpha in their right mind would be alright with having so many strong young alphas running among us." Ben shrugged, "It's like a recipe for a coup, or worse, a full-blown civil war. You saw what happened with Jude. Black Forest is right now s*** too."

Pretty much, Jude's treachery and the coup on Black Forest was being taken as prime examples of "too many alphas in a pack."

There can only be one alpha. Even I knew that. But... but...

"Dad even gave Jude the seed money and land to start his own pack to absolve this peaceably." Savy was not happy with Jude.

"Yeah, this Jude guy is the worst." Lizzy nodded. Which was how most of our pack and Morning Light regarded Jude now - the worst low-down traitor in the world (or at least the Green Packlands). He betrayed our alpha, he betrayed ALL of us.

"But my wolves are NOT Jude!" I said.

"Exactly. Because they're YOURS. They swore their allegiance AND bonded their wolves to yours. They're your dogs whether you like it or not, Sam." Ben told me.

I did NOT like it! I crossed my arms and sulked so that my displeasure was obvious.

Ben ignored me and continued.

This was the only reason we were allowing the likes of Stephan and Fluffy to stay.

"One day, they'll meet their soul mates..." I warned.

"Then you may gift them to their mates at their mating ceremony." Ben said. Yes, that was in the charter too. Mates, not the Luna, may be gifted.

That's why Alpha Gunter refused to accept Wolfgang for free. As a gift during their mating ceremony, Wolfgang would be considered the first of River's harem.

River made the funniest face when Ben explained it like that.

Okay, so Wolfgang would be redeemed and then reclaimed by a challenger after defeating me. This would wash away the stain of his disgrace. Everything will be okay.

Wow. You know what? If I were a fire wolf, I would NEVER go out in the rain, or mud, or draft, or pretty much anywhere that might extinguish my flame and risk someone lending me a coat. The consequences were just unimaginable.

But apparently, it wasn't supposed to be that easy to extinguish a fire wolf's flame. Especially one as powerful as Wolfgang.

"It's really quite shocking that you were able to subdue his wolf so easily. Dad said he can't imagine what monster of a wolf you're hiding." River informed me.

And then he quickly qualified, "He didn't mean it in a bad way though!"

I know. Of course, my monster of a wolf took it as a compliment. Boo liked being called a monster.

With every wolf I subdue, every allegiance I gain, I grow stronger. My strength wasn't in my hand, or my bloodlines or even my rare potential to manipulate magic. My strength was rooted in the wolves who ran with me.

"Sam?"

"Maybe she's on mindlink."

"She totally just zoned out."

I only realized my friends were trying to get my attention when Ben waved a hand in front of my face.

"Is she okay?" Savy sounded worried.

I blinked, "What?"

And I swatted Ben's hand out of my face. Wth.

"Oh, haha..." Lizzy sounded relieved, "You just suddenly, I don't know... Your hair... and then you kinda..."

My hair what? I kinda what? Usually, Lizzy was the best explainer around, but right now? Not so much.

Lizzy shrugged, "Oh well. It's probably nothing."

Yeah.

"I was just thinking." I decided to play it down, "You know how I always zone out anyway."

"Yeah... But..." Lizzy started.

"I thought your wolf was going to burst." Jonah blurted out.

Ben jabbed him in the ribs, "Whatever, Sam. Don't surface your wolf randomly like that."

I was not! Was I? I tried to think, what was I doing?

I was using my gift of insight!

Oooohhhhh.... The realization made me quite excited. I was using my gift of insight - like for real! I mean... I don't know... But it's a bit more accomplished than the gift of eavesdropping. No, who was I kidding? It was WAY more than eavesdropping or random inspired quotes or whatever it was before.

{I'm evolving.} Boo sounded quite pleased.

Again? How? Why?

Because my "harem" had increased - by a particularly magical Fire Wolf.

Omo.

{Maybe I won't want to return him after all.}

I shook my head to clear it. No, no, wth.

"Hoi, Hoi! Pretty Alpha is here!" Speak of the devil... Or devils. The entire harem was here.

"ACKKK! Scary beta too!" EJ jumped back, smack into Torque the human tank.

Torque gently pushed the redhead off.

"Yo, Alpha." The rest of my special team ignored EJ and bowed politely... Wolfgang in tow.

"Did we interrupt anything important?" Fluffy asked all too politely. His arm was slung casually around Wolfgang and they posed like two very blond and good-looking guys.

"Omg." Lizzy said under her breath and covered her mouth.

Fluffy winked, his smile shining brighter than all the fireflies... Which were all gone now by the way. It was really too cold for fireflies tonight.

Ben growled warning, but to the group, he said meaningfully, "No, it was NOTHING."

And then he changed to subject, "What are YOU guys up to?"

"We're just showing Hotstuff around, beta." Barry slapped Wolfgang hard on the back.

"Yes." Fluffy beamed, "We're up to NOTHING too."

"Let's go dance, pretty alpha!" EJ invited. He started pumping to the music where he was.

I shook my head, "Alphas don't dance."

"Get lost, dogs." Ben ordered, "You didn't see us here."

"Understood Beta." Ink bowed at once and started walking, {Come on guys. 97.8% Beta Ben isn't supposed to be here.}

"Shhhhh...." Cobra said. He nodded a quick bow to follow.

The other guys nodded little polite bows to take their leave too. Now that was unexpectedly obedient of them, but Ben looked like it was normal for them to obey his every command.

Not five steps away, EJ spun around and called out loudly, "Come on, Hotstuff. We'll intro you to all the pretty ladies!"

"I'm not accustomed to this kind of dancing." Wolfgang stopped walking.

"Don't worry, Hotstuff. It's easy." Barry said encouragingly.

"Yeah, we'll teach you the moves." EJ said, "Do like me and all the pretty ladies will line up to dance with you."

Wolfgang narrowed his eyes at EJ's demonstration, "Those movements are just vulgar."

And all the guys laughed like Hotstuff said the funniest thing.

"Cut it out, EJ." Barry said.

"We all consider him a disgrace." Ink assured Wolfgang and all the guys laughed again.

EJ was laughing too, "You fools are just jelly cos you know I move like jagger."

"I would prefer you use the English language as is commonly spoken by the rest of the world at large." Wolfgang answered primly.

And the guys laughed again.

"You're the one speaking weird, Hotstuff." Torque patted Wolfgang on the back in a friendly way.

"I don't find anything strange in his speech." Fluffy smiled.

"Come on, the food's always good here." Barry said.

"Yes, stick with us, Hotstuff, and we'd show you the BEST LIFE EVER!" EJ declared.

I looked at River. See, Wolfgang was really the popular kind of wolf.

Wolfgang turned and narrowed his eyes at our table suddenly.

River gulped audibly.

The fire wolf waved off the other guys, "You gentlemen go ahead. I'll only be a minute."

"He called us gentlemen, yo!" EJ crowed.

"Shhhh..." Cobra said.

"Gentlemen coming tru! Ladies get in queue!" EJ tooted.

"Take your time, Hotstuff. Just follow the trail of broken hearts when you're done and you're sure to find us." Fluffy beamed.

And then they left, slapping and play-punching and laughing at whatever guys thought was funny when they were walking together.

Wolfgang took the few steps up to our table in all seriousness though, "Prince River, I am very sure you are not supposed to be out here at this hour."

River winced, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize." Wolfgang scolded.

"Ah yes, sorry." River fumbled, and then he bowed before he realized what he just did and when he did realize, he panicked, "I mean no!"

"Don't bow." Wolfgang growled at him, "You are the Crown Prince of Snow Moon Kingdom. You represent the strongest race of Snow Wolves in the plains. You do not bow. You do not apologize. You do not say yes and no in the same breath."

"Ah, sorry. No, I mean, yes...sorry!" Poor River was seriously just tripping himself with every word now.

If River was trying to fuel Wolfgang's anger, he was raising an internal inferno. At this rate, Hotstuff would rekindle his flame in no time! Hahaha.

Wolfgang bit off a low growl to say, "I won't be around to guide you for the foreseeable future. I hope you would take the time to reflect on yourself and apply what I had been trying to teach you."

"I'm sure your father would find you a tutor in the meantime." Wolfgang said, "I hope you apply yourself diligently to your training - if not for your father's sake, or even the entire kingdom you will one day inherit, then at least for your soul mate - that you will become the man who would not embarrass her."

And then, because River was totally wimping out under Wolfgang's admonishment, and because love changed people, Savy spoke up, "You don't have to worry, Sir Wolfgang. River will never embarrass me!"

And Sir Wolfgang nodded a bow, "One can hope, Lady Savannah."

"Don't mind it Savy. He's just nagging at River cos he's worried for him." I don't know why, but I just felt like I needed to step in on Wolfgang's behalf.

I mean, from the way River told it, Wolfgang sounded like a terribly blight in his otherwise perfect princely life at Snow Moon, but part of me also felt like River needed it.

The way I needed Mum on my case all the time. Or Flynn's torturous training sets. Or Ben's straight talk.

"Forget River for now." I told Wolfgang, "Teach me instead."

"What?" More than one wolf yelled in my direction.

"You heard me." I was probably going to regret this as soon as tomorrow (which was like less than an hour away), "Like teach me everything you're supposed to teach River. Prepare me to be the Alpha of Moon Bell."

Wolfgang considered this, "Alpha Gunter had already taken you as his disciple, Princess."

"Then be my tutor." I said, "Or one of my advisors... Like Flynn."

"Very well. I humbly accept your request, princess." Wolfgang agreed, very formally.

"Good." I grinned.

"Are... Are you sure about this, Sam?" River worried for me.

"Yeah." I nodded, "I only have Hotstuff here for a few years. The more I can learn from him, the better."

If I couldn't retain his wolf power in my "harem", at least let me gain some knowledge!

"Knowledge is power, Prince River. See, the Alpha Princess' admirable thirst for knowledge." Wolfgang said, "I hope the young prince would learn from her example and apply himself to attaining wisdom."

This was weird not just because he was talking to River while referring to River in third-person, but also because Wolfgang wasn't that much older than we were.

He was Wilhelm's age... Which was like Ki or at most Flynn and Hank's age right? Old, but not old enough to talk like a fancy version of Beta Lucas!

"Lesson one, Princess." Sir Wolfgang didn't waste a single moment, "A moment ago, you said that Alphas didn't dance, why is that?"

I was totally caught unaware. I shrugged, "I don't know. They just don't?"

Even without Ben smirking at me, I knew I answered badly.

Wolfgang smiled suddenly, "It surprises me, Princess. I would have expected you, of all wolves, to have realized by now that perceived expectations are sometimes all that's standing between you... and what you want."

And then Wolfgang took off his jacket and dropped it over my shoulder. It was surprisingly warm on the inside, and heavy too.

"I have no gift suitable for my new student on hand, but please accept this. A reciprocal gift for what you had given me earlier."

"But..." I stammered.

Wolfgang bowed and took his leave, but not before saying in perfect Lycan, "Those who dance do not need coats to keep warm."

Which sounded as legit as any of those ancient Lycan sayings, but I felt quite sure Wolfgang had made it up on the spot.

"What..." I frowned.

And the fire wolf disappeared into the crowd.

"What the hell." Ben muttered the moment he was gone, "He's gonna get himself killed."

"Wha..." I trailed off.

"Don't worry, Sam." River tried to console me, "I never understand what Sir Wolfgang is saying either."

But that's because you're an idiot! (Luckily, I didn't say that out loud with Savy around.)

It wasn't that I didn't understand the words! I pressed my lips together. What just happened?