ALPHA WOLF GENETICS

"Actually, nothing happened." I said. The moment I spoke, all eyes turned to me.

"Sam?" Mum narrowed her eyes at me as if discerning my wolf.

I nodded and swallowed a little.

Mum sighed, and then she took the last three steps seperating us and just hugged me. I was so surprised by that, my hair flared up. Which was really a good thing because my hair was currently just a hundred thousand papercuts to even the gentlest touch.

"Oh Sam. What would I ever do with you?" Mum was crying. I hadn't realised just how anxious she had been about me till now. I patted her awkwardly on the back.

And then as my hair settled back into its usual disarray, I started freaking out about my hair accidentally scraping her, "Urm... Mum?My hair... I still can't control it. You really shouldn't..."

Mum just hugged me tighter, "My poor baby..."

Okay... Mum was the type who when told "No one ever wants to hug a cactus." would feel sorry for the cactus and want to hug it. I mean, that had always been my mum... But maybe the cactus never really felt the need to be hugged, you know?

"Mum... Really. I don't want to cut you." I gently tried to pry her off.

"Then you won't." Mum decided.

That didn't even make any sense.

"Dad, do something!" I demanded.

Dad was just watching, frowning his thinking frown. And then he said, "Why is your hair like that?"

Wha- what kind of question was that?

"How should I know?" I flared at my Dad.

"It's not characteristic of a blue wolf." Dad seemed to be thinking aloud suddenly. I actually checked to make sure I wasn't accidentally hearing him on mindlink, but he was really just speaking out these thoughts, "It's not characteristic of a black wolf either."

And then suddenly all the betas were thinking too. Mum released me at this point, "This is my fault."

Everyone turned to my Mum now. Mum sighed, "My family... My family was... is very large and used to live together in a village. As you know, most of my relatives have been absorbed into different packs since."

Then my mum started to cry again. Dad immediately came forward to hold her. I gently pushed her to him and stepped away to avoid cutting them both (or smelling them either).

Mum said to Dad, "My grandfather. He was a very old wolf, and was also known by another name when he was alive. They used to call him Blades."

"Wait... Like THE Blades?" I interupted, "You mean he's real?"

Blades was the bedtime story ledgend of my childhood. I would bug Mum for stories about him. They were stories from her childhood, the most amazing stories.

Blades was a really old wolf, so old he could've been one of the first wolves who left the colored mountains. He was a auburn wolf with magical red hair. But he wasn't no Rapunzel singing in a tower, no way, this guy had smooth hair AND even smoother kungfu moves.

Because of his hair, no one dared to come near him. He had no friends growing up, so he spent all his free time practicing his martial arts alone. One day he would become so strong, he would become the Alpha!

"I suddenly understand you better." Ben said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I wanted to know. I thought Ben was already the resident expert on all things me.

"Nothing, I just recognize that your mother's stories had heavily influenced our growing years." Ben shrugged.

Anyway, Blade's hair was like the sharpest blades and was dangerous even to himself. He was scarred from head to toe but he neither feared pain nor blood. His hair was amazing, he could use them like arms or a whip, a single blade or many flexible blades. His hair could form an invincible shield around him. It could even extend and contract as needed. In his wolf form, his hair was like spikes and armor on his body at the same time. AND my favourite was whenever he got angry enough, his hair/fur would shoot out like quills of a porcupine in all directions, and everyone would have to seek cover.

Oh, he had the most exciting stories! He saved damsels and fought rogues, even though he was arguably a rogue himself, but he was a good rogue. His own pack in the colored mountains had kicked the young alpha out because they were tired of papercuts, and because they feared he would lose control of his wolf and cut everyone to pieces.

But one day, he passed by a village of free wolves being attacked by rogues, so he decided to save them. While doing so, he rescued a white she-wolf from the rogues. She was beautiful, with healing powers and a kindness that took away the aches of his heart. So it was very lucky that she turned out to be his soul mate, and even luckier that she was a very brave wolf and was not afraid of coming near to him.

At first he tried to reject her anyway, "I'm cursed to be a monster. I do not want to hurt you."

And she replied, "Then you won't."

And she was right, because the women were always right in my mum's stories.

And also because as his mate, the white she-wolf was able to soothe Blade's alpha wolf and keep him from hurting his new family of free wolves when he was angry.

So Alpha Blades never really became the Alpha, but he did become the village chief.

"I always thought those bedtime stories were about us." Dad sounded a little betrayed.

Mum looked surprised, "No... They were just stories I heard growing up. I never even believed them, even as a pup."

Yeah, because hair that turned to blades was just a stretch.

"So may I conclude that Sam's Alpha wolf is basically an augmentation of three bloodlines?" Beta Lucas asked.

"Four." Ben corrected his dad, "ONE is Alpha Kingsley's bloodline from his father, Alpha Silas. The wolves that seek the changes. TWO is the Kingsley bloodline from Alpha Kingsley's mother who holds the Ring of Idonia. THREE is the dream travelling blue wolf that the goddess injects into our history at various points. And FOUR is Luna's grandfather's blade wolf."

WTH. So I was not just one but 4 monsters? At this point my brain short circuited. But I've since drawn up a cheat sheet to help me figure it out:

Grandpa Sila's Black Alpha Wolf Bloodline - the 'Catalyst' bloodline. "The ones who seek the changes that yet could not be seen." These Alpha wolves were territorial and agressive, said to be the offspring of the original black wolves in the Colored Mountains. They were unafraid of risks and "instinctively successful" when taking them.

Grandma Luna's Black Alpha Wolf Bloodline - Passed down under the Kingsley family name, this Alpha Wolf was passed down from mother to daughter. One of the only two known alpha bloodlines that was inherited via the female succession. Historical records before the great war painted them in a rather cruel and overbearing light for the way they dominated the pack and their male mates, using their great wealth and warrior strength to oppress everyone else. The Alpha of the Kingsley bloodlines were those who had insight. No one knew how they knew, but like my Grandma Luna and Uncle Louis, they knew things. (Although Uncle Louis' ability was "half baked", according to Dad and my other uncles. Maybe because he was a male wolf, he couldn't get the full power.)

Dream travelling blue wolf bloodline - Known as the Moon Goddess' angels, they appeared somewhat randomly in our history to hasten or change its course, and was not linked to any real bloodline. So far, all the wolves who were blue wolves kept dying young for one reason or the other. None had ever lived long enough to produce an heir.

Mum's Grandfather, the Blood Blade Bloodline. It was quite a famous bloodline in the Colored Mountain, enough for it to be mentioned in some of our Lycan Poetry. A red wolf with fur and hair that could become blades. According to legends, this wolf used to be white, but had his fur soaked in blood so often, he became a red wolf. Suffice to say, history had him painted in red. His kind was no stranger to violence and were often wandering lone wolves for most part of their lives (and our poetry).

In general, the Alpha wolf gene was dormant in female offspring. So technically, since I was a girl, I should have just been just a blue wolf.

But because I had inherited my Grandma Luna's Alpha Wolf Bloodline, I was also able to manifest the other alpha bloodline traits. And tada. That's what happens if you made a cocktail of powerful wolves.

At least that's what the clever betas managed to piece together with Harvey's encyclopedic knowledge of Lycan facts and figures, Ki's vast literacy in Lycan poetry, and Beta Lucas' personal knowledge of Black Forest's history, and whatever Mrs Beta had researched and shared with him about the blue wolf, and Ben's genius ability to figure out how to piece everything together to form an actual theory.

Gamma Harry was called in to join us since he was just downstairs inspecting the stock. Dad wanted to hear the Gamma's "unique point of view".

"I think this is very confusing!" Gamma Harry decided with his customary frown, "So how many wolves does she have?"

"No, Gamma." Ben huffed a little with impatience, "She has one wolf, but 4 bloodlines."

"Good!" Gamma Harry declared immediately, "Very good! Our Future Alpha is very strong. Think of her successor! Very good! If she has 4 bloodlines, her heir would have even more!"

Oh. It was kind of off tangent, but oh.

"Luna Bell is here." Ki announced.

At this point Bell heavy footfall sounded in the training hall, his face arranged in the usual p***ed off expression and his hair the usual wild curls. Dressed in the dark blue Night Leaf warrior uniform, he surprised me because he looked really good in it, especially now that it wasn't shredded and bloodied.

I thought guys looked best in suits, but now I changed my mind.

Gamma Harry didn't seem to notice how smart the new uniform looked on Mate. Nor did he waste any time on pleasantries, "May I know, Luna Bell, how many wolves do you have?"

"He means bloodlines. Specifically, how many magic bloodlines does your wolf carry?" Ben impatiently corrected.

Bell stopped and looked at Ki.

"Two." Ki answered, now that he was given permission to divulge, "His healing wolf, which is no doubt magnificent and the more obvious bloodline, is of a beta origin though. His alpha bloodline is one of the Lorent Pack's deepest secret, one which only the closest and oldest of the Lorents know."

"Just say it already, dog." Ben's patience was really something to be desired, in that everyone desired that he would have some.

"His eyes." Ki said, refusing to reveal such a carefully guarded secret without the appropriate fanfare and relish, "If you notice they are golden."

"The Midas Bloodline." Harvey realized first, matching it to something he had stored in the trove of knowledge of his mind.

"Yes." Ki smiled beautifully.

"What the hell is that?" Ben growled, "Get to the point!"

Hahaha. I think if Ben could cut open Harvey's brain and take out all the information, he would. I should tell Ben the story of the goose that laid golden eggs.

The Midas Bloodline was an old legend about an Alpha named Midas who loved gold. One day, the Moon Goddess paid him a visit and was treated very well. In return for his hospitality, she offered him any wish, and his wish was the ability to turn anything he touched to gold.

In a human rendition of the story, they called Alpha Midas "King Midas" and they took the story quite literally in that everything he touched really turned to gold. So he couldn't eat and even turned his beloved daughter into gold.

But in the Lycan tradition, Alpha Midas' pack gained much wealth in his many business ventures. His shifted his pack to the Red Mountains and became one of the central trading ports in the Colored Mountains. When trading with all the existing Colored Mountains didn't yield enough gold for him, he was one of the key founders of the Orange Mountain. And when that was not enough, he became the first trader who dealt business with the humans in the plains.

His successful track record was credited to his "Midas touch" and it was said that as long as the Alpha had a hand in the project, it was bound to be very lucrative.

Not surprisingly, Alpha Midas and his pack became very wealthy. He was so rich that his home was a villa made of pure white limestone and every metal object was made of gold.

Which explained the the decor in the Lorents' Alpha's house.

Later on, Alpha Midas retired and left the Mountains. Everyone said he had gone mad. How could the plains ever hold more gold than the treasures of the mountains?

No one knew where he went.

Well, now we knew. Ki told us according to the Lorent documents, Old Alpha Midas came with some of his pack to the plains. Here he mated a human woman, and they started a new pack and trading business. They were very wealthy. He was Rebel's grandmother's forefather.

The Midas Bloodline was dormant in female wolves, and it's manifestation required two parts, a true alpha wolf (i.e. a male wolf born with a Midas Bloodline), and the true mating (i.e. his parents had to be soulmates.)

So it was scandalous when Rebel's father did not have the golden eyes, even though he proved himself to be a true alpha wolf.

But now we all know it was because Rebel's grandmother did not mate her soulmate, she mated the first James Lorent, an ambitious, powerful, and handsome white beta wolf, who killed his own soulmate so he could leave his life of beta servitude in his old pack, and use his young, newly orphaned mate's family money to start a new life, a new pack, and build a name for himself.

"My grandfather was scum." Rebel concluded in a deadpan.

Even though his grandmother was not a male alpha, she had great business acumen, and successfully carved out the Lorent's pack continued prosperity. Something Alpha Lorent was able to replicate for his pack, even under the financial duress of his late brother.

And that was the secret of the Lorent Pack. It was actually the Midas Pack usurped by a Lorent.

"So your offspring will have six powerful bloodlines!" Gamma Harry concluded, "Good! Very good!"

He obviously didn't believe in having too much of a good thing.

"Six?" That was news to Bell. He raised a brow at me and then proceeded to reach out of my hair.

"Be careful, it's sharp- oh."