IF THE MAD HATTER THREW A PARTY

Wolf and Wil came over to collect Dan from his room.

"Oh hey," Dan opened the door for his new bffs, "I was just about to head down to the lobby to meet you."

He thought that was the last arrangement they had made.

"Wolf worried about you being harassed." Wilhelm said without hiding his mirth.

"You humans don't understand how dangerous it is for you to be wandering around wolf territory unguarded." The fire wolf lectured sternly, "Even friendly warriors can be a little rough here."

"I'm jealous, Wolf. You never bothered so much with my safety." Wilhelm joked lightly.

"Don't be daft." Wolfgang refused to be moved, "I know full well you can hold your own."

"And I can't?" Dan asked. He exchanged cheeky grins with Wilhelm. There was a certain level of excitement at teasing a fire wolf.

Wolfgang growled lowly, "I can't care less, really. But since you are my guest, your personal safety is my responsibility."

Dan and Wilhelm laughed.

"I'm kidding." Dan said, "Thank you for looking out for me."

There was a part of him that wanted to say that he could also probably hold his own against a wolf - but only if he were armed, and he wasn't. It didn't seem right for a diplomat to carry a sword around his host, and to be honest Dan had never felt safer. For one, he was quite sure his King wouldn't be able to send an assassin this deep into wolf territory. And even if someone in his own party were to be ordered to do the deed, he did have Ori tucked in his shadow and Edel lurking somewhere.

And it was true, wolves were very good hosts, and he knew they had taken pains to take care of him. Even after dropping him off after dinner, Alpha Henri had made Beta Damien walk him all the way back to his room.

At first, he was nervous, he wouldn't lie. Alpha Henri's betas were both dark and dangerous looking wolves, but Beta Damien only told him that he had arranged for Prince Ri to be his healer for the duration of his stay and reminded him that his next appointment would be with Beta Ki at 1 tomorrow afternoon for his wardrobe fitting.

Dan was just relieved that the Betas hadn't seem to have picked up any of his less than pure thoughts towards their beautiful alpha during dinner. He thanked the Beta for making the arrangements for his care. He did wonder briefly about why a Beta Ki would be in charge of his wardrobe, but he figured he'd find out tomorrow.

"Oh, and it's gonna be a cold long night so the best suit would be a sweat suit and a heavy coat. Best to wear boots or something that can handle the mud too." Beta Damien advised him, "Do you have anything like that, or should I have some casual clothes sent over to your room?"

Did it seem like Dan only wore fancy suits and patent shoes?

Well, actually Dan couldn't blame them. He was the one who wanted to make a good impression and it had cost him three betamens in a single day. This was not normal for him either. Proof being that he only had three more suits, and none of them Betamen until his servant had them cleaned and pressed.

Dan had noticed that all the betas wore Betamen, so he had thought it would help him fit in better.

Ah well, Dan could dress casual. He didn't actually have a sweatshirt, but he did have sensible plain long sleeved t-shirts, slacks, and sweaters. He decided on a dark blue one and his riding coat and travel boots. He could muck it out with the best of them. He was a diplomat, if the locals did it, he could do... Or at least give it a go. Experience had taught him that failing spectacularly often won him as much goodwill as succeeding in his attempt.

"Sounds like fun." Dan smiled, "I'll be dressed appropriately. Thank you, beta."

"Yeah, sure. See you." Beta Damien shrugged nochalently but Dan had already noticed this was the beta's relaxed state.

They had reached his door.

"See you, beta." Dan bowed him off and let himself into his room.

So here he was all dressed to "rough it out", and based on his cursory survey of his the other two gentlemen beside him, Dan was dressed appropriately.

He was damn tired though. Still he was determined to make the most of this opportunity to mingle and absorb a bit of Moon Bell's unique culture.

How could he describe it? It was unusually informal for a powerful pack with what the media often portrayed as a wild and mysterious pack deeply rooted in Lycan traditions and customs. It was also rumoured that these wolves were so integrated with their origins that they were not only the exclusive distributor of Colored Mountain products, they also traveled freely in and out of the mountains such that many of them were also permanent residents there.

The wolves here also had a strange custom of bequeathing ridiculous nicknames to each other - which seemed to be a sign of friendship and if Wolf's nickname was anything to go by, it was also a mark of recognition, and strong wolves were all known by their alias such that even "Hotstuff" was said with a respectful nod.

But for all its casual nochalence and careless banter, the place was spotless and everything seemed to run on clockwork efficiency. From his paper clearance to the promptness of every follow up arrangement, barring Neil and Jax taking him up without a key card, everything had been taken care of without a single hiccup. It was actually pretty impressive. Even his small party of human guards and servants had been properly oriented.

"The cider's good, the beer from cans and bottles are safe but an acquired taste." Wilhelm informed Dan as they stepped out to of the Packhouse. It looked like the tournament was going to take place just a little further up on a large field adjacent to the Packhouse. There was already a stage and bleaches set up, and the arena lines were drawn directly on the grass.

"Whatever you drink, don't touch the punch." Wilhelm said, "I don't know what's in it... But the last time I had a cup, I blacked out."

"It's an acquired taste." Wolfgang shrugged.

Dan laughed, but took note. He and Wil had already tested each other's limits, and Wil had won. Dan was just going to trust him on this one, "Okay. No punch. Anything else?"

They stopped at the perimeter of the field and looked about. Dan felt butterflies in his stomach and a strange feeling of anticipation. It was at this moment that he realized he was scanning the scene for a particular alpha beauty. He was already past 30, so why was he feeling so... So this was what a crush felt like.

There was no alpha beauty around yet, but that wasn't surprising. The Alpha would usually only enter the scene after everyone else had arrived.

Beta Damien wasn't kidding about the casual dress code, most of the wolves were in jeans and sweatshirts or full sweatsuits, sometimes with their warrior jacket over that - was that allowed?

Apparently so. Warriors here wore their jackets like high school footballers.

It made the three of them looked overdressed for the occasion. Dan wondered if Alpha Henri would also be dressed casually. He was curious to see it.

Was that a band setting up on the stage? Dan also spied the row of tables gradually being piled on with food. A pot luck?

Dan have ever accompanied King River to watch the Snow Wolves train, so he felt he knew what to expect, but hahaha... When was he going to learn? Nothing was as expected in Wonderland.

"Hoi hoi! It's Hotstuff!" Someone yelled.

In the darkness of the night, if Dan had been anywhere else, he would have been alarmed at the gang of towering men approaching them.

He took a step back.

"Hotstuff!" A tall man with violet eyes and unnaturally broad shoulders hunched over to slap Wolf on the back, "It's really you!"

Even in the dark, the man's violet colored eyes was obvious. Special bloodline wolf.

The red head too. Dan felt quite sure all these men were all not ordinary warriors.

"What are all of you doing here?" Wolf went all cat-like and crossed his arms to pretend he wasn't pleased at all.

"The WHOLE harem is here!" The red head announce.

"Even Fluff?" Wolf was too surprised to keep up his stiff upper lip.

"Yeah... He was with us a moment ago." A giant - Dan swore the man was built like a tank and was possibly even larger than Neil.

"76% he has gone to harass Riri." A wolf in glasses said, but it wasn't the fact that the wolf had astigmatism that surprised Dan. It was how this man, who was as towering as the first man with violet eyes was covered with tattoos.

It gave the effect of accidentally bumping into the devil. Dan involuntarily took a step back, but this made him bump into the redhead, "Mou, who's this? Your boyfriend?"

And all the men laughed like it was the funniest thing. Wolf immediately resumed his outwardly displeasure, "This is my friend, Dan Lion."