HARVEY'S ONE PUNCH PHILOSOPHY

21 FEBRUARY, SUNDAY, PRESS CONFERENCE

Alpha George opened the Press Conference with a small introduction. He thanked everyone for making time to attend, especially his most honorable and distinguished partners. He sincerely hoped that this session would adequately cover the overwhelming media response to his son's breakthrough announcements last night.

He was so proud of Henry! Hahaha. He didn't say it, but he was so proud of his son's foray into the new and rather lucrative partnerships, that he was beaming.

I wondered briefly if Dad would be so proud at my inauguration too. I don't think I had anything amazing like securing my pack's future with partnerships with the young alphas of multiple packs around the continent.

I wondered what I did have? So far, it's just a lot of hair. Maybe my dad would have a press conference to answer questions about my hair. Sigh.

Anyway, Alpha George ended his introductions by saying that since this was a youth initiative, he would leave it to us young ones to answer any questions. With that, he opened the press conference.

Immediately Beta Robert took over the mic with instructions on hand raising, and taking turns to ask questions. Given the shortage of them, they would only take one question from every network.

Beta Robert also reminded honorable partners to identify themselves by name and pack before giving their response.

For any other questions, press members may scan the QR code on the screen and leave their questions there. The panel might choose to answer them, or else the Silver Mountain FAO (Future Alpha Office) would be publishing the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) later on their website.

I realized belatedly that Harvey was setting up his laptop to receive the questions in real time, but now he was sitting at the other table, so I won't be able to see any of it.

I tried to take a peek at Ben's screen. It was a science paper on Five Primary Areas of Robotics. Something about "manipulators and effectors."

{What's that?} I asked over the mindlink.

{Homework.} Ben answered in a bored monotone.

Ben was still in middle school right? I didn't remember learning anything remotely like that during middle school. Maybe he was studying on an alien planet which used a different language in science.

But that wasn't the issue here. Why was Ben doing his homework in the middle of a press conference?

Anyway, we were starting.

First question was for Silver Mountain's Young Alpha Henry, "Was there a selection process of criteria set used in choosing Silver Mountain's partners? What was it, and would Silver Mountain be open to partnering other packs who also met these criteria."

That was technically three questions, but Henry answered them with a smile, "Yes, the partnerships were all carefully selected based on different criteria depending on the nature of each partnership. One should also note that different cultures in different packs would also influence the type of interaction Silver Mountain had. Due to time constraints, I won't be going into the details of the selection process or criteria used for every one of the partnerships, but as a general rule, our partners need to contribute towards Silver Mountain's development and add value to our existing processes and infrastructure. And yes, I'm glad you asked. We are always looking out for opportunities to collaborate in a mutually beneficial way."

Wow Henry, that was amazing. You answered all three questions without actually answering a single one directly! I would slow clap for him except we weren't in school or anywhere I could clown around like that.

The next question came in two parts, "The first one directed to the Alpha Princess at Night Leaf: How did the Alpha Princess feel about the relatively unknown Night Leaf pack suddenly being in the coveted seat of the Lifetime Alliance position with the Silver Mountain Pack? Also, what are some of the initiatives Night Leaf and Silver Mountain are working on through this alliance? And the second part is opened to everyone else: Even though partnerships among various packs is not a new thing in itself, how do the alphas feel about being part of Silver Mountain's new partnership program, and if they felt the heat of competition working together with the other packs.

Okay, this was NOT one question. These reporters were so sneaky. Plus their questions were so long.... I couldn't even remember the first one.

"I am Beta Killion Oran of the Lorent Pack. If I may have your permission to speak first, princess?" Ki smiled at me. I nodded like the dummy that I presently felt like.

"The Night Leaf FAO was both pleasantly surprised and naturally delighted at the official offer and terms of our alliance we have with Silver Mountain's FAO. Even before our alliance was made official, our Alpha Princess and the Young Alpha Henry had collaborated on various projects."

Urm... Was that the PR way to say we did a lot of school projects together? Like Horneo and Bulliet?

"Currently, our major collaborations together include the construction of the Princess Town, a socio-economic town designed to celebrate and protect second chances to life for former Lycan slaves, as well as destitute women and chilren whose families had been victims of rogue attacks. As a testament to Silver Mountain's generous donation and support, the central park would be named in the Young Alpha Henry's honor."

"We've also assisted in Silver Mountain's war against rogues, I believe you've read about the results in the news yourselves on how violent crimes were consequently at near zero rates in and around the Silver Mountain Packlands. Our warriors continue to provide additional assists in ensuring the peace and security around the Gold Packlands as requested. This is the hand we are happy to extend as a token of our good relations with Silver Mountain."

Oh. Well, yeah, we did do those things too, but Ki made it sound so fancy. It's like the difference between drinking honey milk tea and enjoying a cup of honey infused earl grey in Wedgewood blue.

"Our Young Alpha Lorent is also in close confidence with the Young Alpha Henry. Given that our Young Alpha Lorent and our Alpha Princess are soulmates, and the eventual merger of our Packlands, we are confident that this lifetime alliance with Silver Mountain would continue to grow fruitfully for many years to come." Ki the master of pouring tea, whether it be about people or packs concluded.

Harvey raised his hand at this point, "I am Beta Harvey Langston from the Morning Light Pack, right now in the midst of merger with the Night Leaf Pack. I've noticed quite a number of related questions being posted, so I'm going to respond to that on behalf of the Night Leaf FAO. The first group of questions is in relation to if and how our lifetime alliance with the Silver Mountain Pack would continue after Green Packlands merger. This would definitely be continued, due to the nature of the lifetime alliance being bonded to our Alpha Princess and the Young Alpha Henry. In fact, given our increased capabilities and resources after our merger, I would expect our affiliation with the Silver Mountain pack to continue with further expansions to the current collaborations and joint ventures. The second group of questions relate to the possible transfer of the lifetime alliance after the Young Alpha Lorent mates the Alpha Princess. The short answer to this is no, there will be no transfer nor need for the transfer even after the merger with the Lorent Pack. Whether the partnership or alliance is made with the Alpha or Luna, they would be honoured by the combined packs after merger."

There were some murmuring and nodding among the reporters. Apparently, what Harvey said was very important to them.

Harvey then turned to me, "Alpha Princess, do you have anything else to add?"

Eh? What? I thought I wasn't supposed to talk etc etc? But I knew Harvey was just showing deference to me. The Alpha always got the last word.

But the truth was, they've done all the heavy lifting. Whatever I said was just fluff... Or at best the alpha seal of approval to whatever was said.

I smiled, because Dad had ever said to smile if you needed a moment to think when you're making a public speech. Except that whenever Dad did it, it was pretty scary. Dad didn't have the kind of face that smiled a lot, so when he did, the other wolves worried that he was thinking something fearsome. Then again, then Dad frowned, even if it were just his thinking frown, the other wolves also worried that he was thinking something fearsome. When I smiled though, the cameras decided to flash a bit more. Nobody found it the least bit dangerous, much less fearsome.

"I think you asked about how I feel about being Henry's ally?" I remembered and grinned, "It's okay. Henry's quite fun to work with if you ignore his bossiness."

Henry leaned forward on his table to face me, "Hey. I'm right here, you know?"

The reporters laughed. Yeah, whether they be my wolves or someone else's. I just liked it when they laughed. I grinned, "Did you hear something, Ben?"

"See no evil, hear no evil." Ben smirked wickedly.

"Are you looking for a fight?" Henry asked, but his eyes were laughing. It would've been fun. And I would've said yes, but Mum had said no. I shook my head and demurred, "I'm too cute to fight today."

Henry burst out laughing at that. So ROOD!

"I'll fight." Bell offered from beside me, but he was smiling too. ~ Smiling Mate = ❤️

"A round of fencing after this then?" Henry immediately looked hopeful.

"Sure." Bell shrugged, "I probably could do with the practice."

Henry grinned, "Good."

Ki smiled, "A hundred apologies, alphas and princess, perhaps we may conclude our answer here."

Hn? Oh right, press conference. Bell nodded coldly, "Proceed."

Henry nodded, "Yeah. Let's move on."

Beta Peter now had to reiterate the rest of question that was for the other alphas and opened the mic for their responses.

The atmosphere shifted after that. I noticed some of the reporters were still smiling just a bit at us, but they straightened to get back to work.

Trevor took the mic and answered something serious about Black Forest being a long time partner with Silver Mountain and their historical partnerships which was a great contribution during the Great War and that he was happy and felt it apt that their Packs could formally recognize this long term relationship together. It was very boring, and I think he knew it too. At the end of his monologue, he added half in jest, "If you two are fencing later, may I join in?"

"Yeah, sure." Henry allowed graciously.

"If you don't mind losing repeatedly." Bell added.

Trevor shook his head, "Just try me. Black Forest Academy is home to the strongest fencing team in the continent."

"For now." Bell allowed, "But only because I wasn't in the Lorent Academy fencing team."

"Whoa... James. Let's talk this out later - with our blades." Trevor smirked.

Bell smirked back, "Don't regret it."

The reporters tittered a little, like high school girls... Please note though, they were all grown up, and some of them were men.

"Are there any other honourable alphas who would like to respond to the second question?" Beta Peter prompted.

"Or join us for a bit of fencing after this?" Trevor invited, "The more the merrier."

Why had I never learned to fence? It's so unfair that I can't play. Why wasn't punching a fancy alpha thing?

And then Alpha Gunter spoke, still smiling, "I do have a comment to add, although I think I will leave the fencing games to the young ones."

Good feelings gone.

"The Snow Moon pack is thrilled to be one of Silver Mountain's preferred partners, and the only partner representing the Blue Packlands. As you know, the Snow Moon Pack has traditionally been running behind closed doors, but we are opening up. With the advancement of our new kingdom, we are opening to new partnerships. For example, our new alliance with Night Leaf promises many exciting developments. I am looking forward to working with you, Alpha Princess."

Wait. WHAT??? What alliance? When did we agree on anything like that? Okay, so Alpha Gunter did say he wanted an alliance between our pack... But mainly to keep River out of our packlands. What kind of alliance was that?

{That sly fox.} Ki tutted into the mindlink.

{I want to punch him. Just one punch! Can we punch him without really punching him so Mum won't get mad at me?} I wanted to know.

{You mean like throw him a backhanded compliment or something?}Ben asked.

{Yeah, but harder.} I said.

{Please, leave it to me, goddess." Ki smiled like a flower to the sun.

{Sorry, Ki. I'm going to take this one.} Harvey decided.

And to my surprise, Ben and Ki nodded and went silent.

Eh? What was my good beta going to do? Politely correct him?

Harvey raised his hand for attention, and then his usual calm gravelly voice spoke into the microphone, "Beta Harvey for Night Leaf: Given how freely and generously the terms and conditions of Snow Moon's alliance aligned to our Alpha Princess' causes. We were only too happy to accept. We look forward to their continued support in the construction of the Princess Town among our other shared initiatives. Thank you."

That certainly wiped the smile off Alpha Gunter's face. I guess since Alpha Gunter said he wasn't particular about the terms and conditions, announcing our alliance before they were discussed was pretty much signing us a blank check.

{Nice one.} Ben was wholly satisfied.

Harvey was always my good beta so I often forget that he was quite the shark when negotiating.

{If you only have one punch, don't waste it on petty backslaps. Aim where it hurts and hit it hard.} Harvey explained.

And there was that too. I forgot how cool Harvey could be.

There was a new murmuring among the reporters. Now this was another bombshell, propelling the "little known" Night Leaf out front with not one but two bombshell alliances. We were amazing! (Even though it sort of happened accidentally. Hahaha.)

Bell leaned over, his forehead so close, his breath fanned my cheeks, "Looks like my princess has been busy."

My wolf nearly purred aloud at his praise.

Mate thinks I'm amazing! (Although he said nothing of that sort). {Mate! ❤️ }

"It came up last night." Ben explained on behalf of my bessotted self, "Ki'll update you later."

Mated nodded. I had a super close-up view of his lips press together. Such a perfect mouth! I wonder what he was thinking?

Omo. If this crush didn't let up, I was going to be an embarrassment to all of wolf-kind. Love was really the greatest power. No matter how powerful a wolf, it seemed that love - even its juvenile form (the adults always called crushes "puppy love") could reduce an invincible alpha into a sappy fool.