WASABI AND CRANBERRIES

WASABI AND CRANBERRIES

22 February, Monday, CONTINUED

Alright, I just need to tidy up the loose ends now. I turned to Harvey, "Send an update to Stephan. The entire special team has been demoted to standard warriors and transferred out to my personal guards."

Then I turned my attention to my new special team, "Alright! If you weren't warriors, what would you have been?"

"Urm... guards?" Torque attempted to answer.

"No, I mean like if you hadn't been fightdogs, what kind of life or job do you think you'd be doing?" I tried again.

"Urm... a warrior?" Torque attempted again, "Like... like of my own pack? Maybe?"

I wanted to say no to him again, but then I realized I was looking at a wolf built like a human tank - very Titanium type of wolf. Even their hair color was similar, although Torque's hair was more golden.

"Okay." I had to admit, "Maybe in your case, yes. You would probably be a warrior. But what about the rest of you?"

"Are you asking like our ambition?" EJ asked.

"Ah, yes, yes... something like that." I answered.

"Hoi hoi! That's easy! Then I would be a celebrity!" EJ decided.

"Me too, Alpha." Fluffy smiled. He certainly fit the bill, but I shook my head, "No, Fluffy. You're a Colored Mountain Prince. I already know that. What I want to know is what the rest of you are."

"Eh?" EJ scrunched his face, "I don't get it, we are wolves? Oh, no! I mean we are dogs!"

"No, no, no... you are free pack wolves." I tried to correct them.

"I want to be your dog." Fluffy said, "Just like Ki."

"Ki is my Beta." I corrected.

"I want to be your beta." Fluffy corrected himself.

Harvey growled. But it was Barry who spoke, "You can't decide that on your own Fluffy. That depends on your wolf."

Which would make Fluffy an alpha, really.

"Why don't you work on being an alpha instead?" I suggested, "Then you will be ready to help your dad when he takes you home..."

Fluffy shook his head, "No thank you. I want to be your beta."

I decided to pretend he was a kid being bratty, "No. Like Barry said, this kind of thing depends on your wolf - and your wolf is an alpha wolf!"

Apparently this was news to this team mates.

"Seriously?" Barry looked somewhat stunned, "What kind of alpha is that?"

Hahahaha...

"He's kind of girly for an alpha." Torque critiqued.

Urm... yeah, while I was totally not girly.

"Then I'll be your dog." Fluffy decided, "Since that can be decided."

I sighed. You know what? I'm just going to let this one go. How did Mum put it? You've got to pick your battles sometimes. I never understood until I was faced with these six.

"What about you Barry?" I tried to ask someone who might have a decent answer.

"I've always been the warrior type." Barry told me, "As a pup, I wanted to be a delta warrior."

I nodded. That would be normal for most male pups.

"And if you could have a second job, what would it be?"

Barry answered quite quickly, "My dad used to be a chef. He cooked at fancy restaurants and was saving up to start his own. I thought... well..."

Barry got shy here, and I immediately knew this was something from deep inside his heart.

"I thought maybe I could help him in the kitchen - you know, if he needed an extra pair of hands at his new restaurant."

"Okay, good. What about you Ink?" I asked.

"I don't know." Ink admitted, "I used to be a delinquent. If I didn't get caught and sold to a fight cage, I'd probably end up rogue."

Which would have matched his image on the outside, but I already knew the wolf on the inside.

I shook my head, "There are more than one path in your life."

Then I looked at Cobra.

"Ssss...." Cobra said.

"You still owe me something." I reminded him, "I got the rogue family to safety like you wanted. Now you have to do something for me."

"Ssss,,," Cobra nodded.

"Tell me why you wanted to save them." I said.

Cobra looked pained, but he was determined to keep his end of the bargain.

"We were running away from rogues. My father left us under the tree because we were too slow. My mother died in childbirth. I cried over her dead body for two days. Then the rogues found me. I was the little boy's age. That's all."

Oh.

I nodded, "Okay."

But then I frowned, if it were the rogues who hunted them, if it were the rogues who picked up the boy and sold him to the vampires, then why did he just save a family of rogues? I was dream travelling and couldn't smell them then, but Cobra had to be well aware that they were rogues.

Yet, I suppose he realized they were not the same rogues who had hunted his family? I remembered how Daisy had put it. "Good" blue warriors, and "bad" blue warriors. "Good" rogues and "bad" rogues.

River had that attitude too - to the extreme - with "good" vampires.

I've never thought pack wolves could be bad - but there was Beta Lorent. I've never thought rogue wolves could be good - but there was Daisy and her family.

The heavy silence hung over us for a while longer and then I realized my wolves were all looking to me for my reaction.

I looked carefully at Cobra, "Okay. I get it. But Cobra, you're okay now. You're not alone anymore. It's going to be amazing now."

Unless the warlock came and destroyed everything.

Yeah, there was that overhanging shadow - well if it wasn't the warlock, it would have been something else. I was starting to think life was like that. But that's okay. We're not alone and we can make it amazing.

"Okay! Here's the plan." I decided, "Harvey take note. From now on, Barry and Fluffy will shadow Ki, Torque and EJ will go with you. And Ink and Cobra will shadow Ben. I want the three of you to train them so that they will become my Special Team who would be very useful to this pack."

Harvey's lips pressed down in a firm line, but he nodded, "Understood Alpha."

I nodded, "Then that should be all. Tell Stephan thank you and not to mind this morning's incident. Please take care of everything else."

"Yes, Alpha." Harvey nodded a bow.

I picked up my screen and made a beeline to the door. This was how my dad would've done it. Make a decision and leave it to Beta Lucas to deal with.

I've changed. I keep realizing anew that I've changed. And no matter how much I think I've changed, I'd surprise myself by changing some more.

But I had to say, I felt pretty proud of myself as I walked down the packhouse corridors. The passing wolves bowed politely. I nodded and kept walking, my big smile plastered on my face. I was the Alpha - and even though I might not know half of what an Alpha was supposed to do, I was changing, and little by little, I was learning to deal with it - even the complicated things.

At least I was proud of myself until I realized I forgot one very important thing. I U-turned and rushed back to the Conference Room. Bursting in, I yelled at my very surprised Beta and the Special Team, "Ink! Can I have a protein bar?"

"What?" Barry asked, although I was quite sure he heard me.

"That nutritional food bar you make... do you have any?" I asked.

Ink smiled, his glasses glinted under the light, "Of course, Alpha."

He produced from inside his jacket a small ziplock bag with two bars, "I only have these two left though."

The bag was labelled, "Wasabi and Cranberries."

Perfect. I grinned, "Thanks."

Ink handed it over to me with a closed mouth smile.

"Mou,,,, Alpha, Ink's protein bar is... is like..." EJ tried to warn me.

"Is like what?" Ink asked.

"It's an acquired taste." Fluffy supplied with a smile, "But its very healthy."

Ink smiled a close mouth satisfied smile.

"Then it'll be perfect." I smiled too.

Barry and Torque looked extremely troubled. EJ opened his mouth to say something but two sharps knocks on the door interrupted us. EJ made a popping sound with his mouth instead.

Ben and Ki entered.

"You wanted to see us, Harv?" Ben asked, "Oh, hi Sam."

He completely ignored the other six warriors standing in the room.

Ki made a short bow towards me, his usual smile in place.

I quickly pushed the ziplock to Ben, "Urm, Harvey and I ate one of your protein bars in the car, so you have have these."

"Oh." Ben said. He took the ziplock bag from me.

The room suddenly got quiet.

"It's homemade." I decided not to say it was from Ink, in case that would get him in trouble with Ben.

Suddenly EJ and Fluffy were on either side of me. Scoundrels.

"Scary Beta should try it." Fluffy beamed.

"Yah, yah! Its made in the underground and is delicious!" EJ lied cheerily.

These two! I told you they were scoundrels. And it wasn't just them either, the rest of the Special Team was now smiling, somewhat slyly...Note to self, should I ever find all six members of the Special Team smiling at me like this in the future, I should run away as fast as possible.

"Thanks." Ben said. I nearly felt bad, but then I remembered the taste.

"Your protein bar was the worst thing I've ever put in my mouth." I told him. Blech.

Ben just laughed and shrugged it off, "It's not that bad."

He put the zip lock bag in his jacket.

Harvey cleared his throat and did the introductions, "Ben, Ki, I want you to meet the rest of Fluffy and EJ's team mates from the Underground. This is Barry, Torque, Cobra, and Ink from the Special Team."

"Cool." Ben said in his usual monotone.

Ki kept his smiling mask on, but said nothing.

{Oh, its really Keys.} Barry mindlinked to the others.

{Cool right?} EJ boasted.

{Shhh...} Cobra answered.

"Ben and Ki are the other two betas running with our Alpha." Harvey introduced. To Ben and Ki, Harvey elaborated, "The Special Team is being transferred to the Alpha House for the time being. Ki, you're taking Barry and Fluffy.

Barry and Fluffy stepped forward, Barry looking all excited, "It's a pleasure to run with you, sir!"

Hahaha... Fluffy just mirrored Key's smile. Opps... I might have accidentally assigned Ki two of his biggest "fans." Hahaha.

"Ben, you're taking Cobra and Ink." Harvey said.

Cobra and Ink stepped forward with a bow. Cobra hissed. Ink didn't say anything, and I'm not sure if it was because he said he was a high school delinquent, but he suddenly gave a very strong delinquent vibe I had never noticed before. It did make me worry about grouping him with a middle schooler.

I worried just a little, but Ben didn't back down. He only shrugged and looked disinterested, "What exactly do you mean by 'take' Harv?"

"Alpha wants us to train them so they will be useful to the pack." Harvey explained,

"Wait, 'Alpha' as in this Alpha right?" Ben pointed directly at me, just to clarify.

"Yes." Harvey nodded, "I'll be taking EJ and Torque."

Harvey sounded most reluctant to admit it himself. I realized I had just assigned him to two wolves both with special physical abilities... what would Harvey do with a super fast and bouncy EJ and muscleman Torque, I had no idea.

Maybe I should've thought the groupings a little more. But I didn't have to worry, none of my betas looked particularly fazed by their new assignment.

Ben looked like he was still trying to figure out their assignment, "So they're the special team because they were selected to be the Alpha Princess' special team?"

Harvey looked like Ben just enlightened him, he hesitated and then nodded and then threw me a side glance as if trying to sense my reaction.

I grinned, I quite like the idea of having my own special team, "Yah. So make sure you find and maximize their abilities. They're going to run with us."

"Men, dismissed. Go collect your things from the Underground, settle your affairs there, and report to the front porch of the Alpha House at 2000hrs." Harvey ordered.

"Yes, beta!" And all six of them filed out.