RANDOM POINTS OF CONVERSATION

"I see no need to feed caviar to animals that do not serve my purpose." Bell told my cats haughtily.

I saw no need to feed any animal caviar... Just saying.

The cats were immediately all very interested in my new Luna. In fact they were sure that they would be extremely useful to him. I had not known these cats for very long, so I couldn't say I knew their character in and out, but I was still surprised at how willing they were to serve and be helpful.

Was my Luna so charismatic that even the goddess' cats would fall over themselves to please him? Was it the caviar and champagne?

Whichever it was, by the time Bell opened his portal to leave, 3 out of 4 cats had decided that it was their sworn duty to guard my Luna. Because these cats were all about duty and responsibility and safety like that.

It was only Ori (the black one) who stayed.

"You're not going?" I asked when he jumped out from my shadow after their departure. Did he not know his brothers had left him for more caviar pastures? I stroked the large black silky head. He purred under my hand and told me as a matter of fact, "Your Luna does not need my skill. His killer intent carries the scent of a thousand bloods."

No, he smelled liked salted caramel.

"But don't you want caviar too?" I asked. What kind of cats ate caviar? Maybe it was like chocolate to felines.

"I am different from my brothers. I am a hunter and I only eat what I hunt." Ori answered, "This is my warrior code."

Urm... Okay. I was beginning to see that Ori was the type of cat who lived by his own rules... His own very weird rules.

"If one does not hunt, one does not eat." Wolfgang quoted. Actually, he quoted in Lycan so it was more like, "******** **** **** ********"

One of those things only wolves of ancient times might say because they didn't have grocery stores, supermarkets, hypermarts, or real chocolate.

But my Lycan had improved through Lala's (and Lady Amber's) commendable efforts, and I could actually understand the words as he spoke them.

Ori nodded, "Well said, young warrior. Your fire is bright, and your spirit is pure. If you should choose to run the path of a warrior, I will be happy to guide you."

"I thank you for the compliment," Wolfgang answered politely, "But I am a scholar at heart."

And that was how Wolfgang won over Ori.

"The pen is mightier than the sword. You choose wisely." Ori said, "But where the pen fails, the sword would not."

Ah, hahaha. I think of all my cats, I liked Ori best.

Wolfgang remained steadfast, "There is truth in your words, but the most powerful warrior is only an extension to his sword."

"It is the strongest who survive on the battlefield." Ori said.

"I have learned it is the wisest who circumvent the war." Wolfgang countered.

The rest of us stood on the sidelines and watched the argument go back and forth like it was Wimbledon.

And finally, Ori conceded, "Well done, young warrior. You have passed the test. I will accept you to be my disciple."

It was a test?

And then Wolfgang nodded a short bow, "Thank you. I will be in your care from now on."

I think Wolfgang had a gift. He was extraordinary at making friends. Especially with old wolves and cats.

Ori returned to the shadows after promising his new disciple a suitable gift the next time they met. After that, Dad's office returned to normal. It was like none of it ever happened.

"Good job, Sam. You did it." Beta Lucas said after considering everything that happened.

"I knew you could do it." Ben said. The others nodded.

Please note that they were the same "others" who had raised their hands earlier.

Beta Lucas happily told my Dad, "Now we don't have to go back and fix that Lorent boy anymore. Sam's already fixed him."

What? Apparently, that was dad and beta Lucas plan to make everything as it should be.

"Alright then, but Sam..." Dad looked super serious suddenly.

"Yeah?" I went over to his side. What was it?

"You're not allowed to kiss him." Dad said, still in super serious mode.

"What?" I thought this was going to be something as super important as Dad's super serious mode!

"You're not allowed to kiss anyone until you're 40." Dad decided.

I felt my wide smile tug on the sides of my mouth, "No issue, Dad. I'm 45."

"What?" Now it was Dad's turn to stare at me nonplussed.

"I've lived three times." I explained, "15x3=45."

I'm such a math whiz.

Beta Lucas burst out laughing, "Hoo man, she got you there Alpha!"

Dad was not amused.

My betas had the sense to excuse us and usher me out of my Dad's office quickly. We had to hurry, what with the storm brewing above us.

This was enough to distract Dad. He looked out of the window at the dark grey skies, "Hopefully the storm won't follow you out."

I was quite sure storms had better things to do than follow me around.

When we got down to the Packhouse Porch, my convoy was ready and waiting. It started raining, slow fat heavy drops that went splat on whatever surface it hit. Lighting had been sighted, so instead of a motorbike convoy, we would be accompanied by three additional double cab trucks with motorbikes piled up in the back.

Cool. We got bigger cooler trucks in this timeline. Midnight blue cab trucks with a second row of passenger seats in the cab. The truck beds even had convertible black roofs, but the bikes hadn't fit, so they had opened up the back, stacked in the bikes, and then tied a tarp over it - which was what we used to do when our trucks were unfancy.

Matching navy blue umbrellas were immediately opened and I was put into the car untouched by the rain. I watched from inside as my betas rushed to their assigned places. Ben was sitting front passenger. Ki was taking the other car and Harv would drive his truck.

Oh, talking about cars. In this timeline, Bell had never given my betas his cars. So Ben had no Lambo, and Harvey faithfully drove his truck. Was this also as it should be?

{Do you miss the Lambo?} I asked Ben over our mindlink. Ben was surprised enough to turn around, {What's this about, Sam?}

{Just wondering.} I said.

Ben smirked, {Nope.}

Wait, WHAT? {Who are you and what did you do to Ben?}

Ben actually snorted aloud. The warrior driving looked surprised and a bit confused, but then he figured that maybe the young beta had sneezed and said, "Bless you, Beta."

{I got something better.} Ben told me, {But don't tell Dad. I'll show you sometime.}

This piqued my interest. Something better than a lambo? This I got to see, {When's sometime?}

{Maybe the next time we're at Gate City.} Ben said.

Shadier and shadier.

The rest of the ride was quiet. Ben was on his screen, our driver wasn't chatty, and I spent most of it looking out of the window watching the scenery pass us and the storm race us across the First Road…

WTH, was it really following us out of the Green Packlands?

I twisted around to look out the back window of the car, "The storm is chasing us, Ben!"

Ben tried to turn around from the front passenger seat to look. He soon gave up and used the side mirrors, "Wow, would you look at that."

It was really the weirdest sight - the rain was pelting behind us, but the road in front of us was dry and clear. It was like we were the pencil tracing the wet line on First Road as we passed it.

But eventually, the storm blew over us and we were driving right in the thick of it. We raced the storm but lost.