THE SAFE PLAN

"So can we get back to business now?" Ben asked.

I narrowed my eyes at my head beta - he was the one that started all the talk about the assassin teams I had (unwittingly) set up under my betas. I guess this was just the way Night Leaf meeting always went anyway.

I shrugged, that Lorent shrug that seemed to be a bad habit in this life,"Okay, what have we got?"

The Night Forest Healer who was kidnapped was probably my Grandma Wanda. It seemed that she had a history of being kidnapped by rebels, like she was trying to break a world record or something. This was ironic because she was supposed to be a legend, in fact, she was so legendary, she wasn't suppose to have existed.

That was essentially the gist of all the intel gathered from various sources. The most useful information came from EJ's new girlfriend who was the daughter of one of the Warriors in the Elite Secret Patrol.

"The ESP. Think of them as the equivalent of your Special Team." Ben shrugged it off.

"That's hardly the same thing!" I protested.

"True." Ben reconsidered (but in his own wavelength so he was NOT agreeing with me at all), "Our STP is equipped to execute far more advanced missions. In comparison, these guys are just foot soldiers." 

"That's not what I meant, and stop calling everything in alphabets!" I flared. I was out of patience.

For some reason, my flare up made Harvey check his watch.

Ben was also out of patience (but this was his usual self), "Forget your f***ing schedule, Harv!"

"But..." Harvey tried to explain.

"I KNOW it's way past her bedtime!" Ben snarled back, "You don't need a watch to tell she's too tired."

"I'm NOT!" I flared again.

My future Grandma Wanda was out there somewhere, kidnapped, probably by some rebel faction, and these guys were talking about my bedtime?

But no one else was particularly alarmed. According to EJ's new girlfriend, this happened semi-frequently. Usually, the rebels would have taken her to save some lowlife rebel scum, and the healer always would. By morning, the ESP would find the healer left alone in an abandoned campsite somewhere around the packlands.

I shook my head, why would anyone tell her one-day old boyfriend about the internal affairs of their pack? Then again, I don't suppose someone who agrees to be your girlfriend the first day she met you was a particularly discerning individual.

I bet EJ would have been so excited and cute, so refreshingly innocent and amazed, that she probably felt he was just new to the whole scene. It was all the ways that made him popular and Winderhill and Night Leaf too. He's such a flirt in this timeline, he actually made two girlfriends today, but one of them got too serious and used the M-word so they broke up.

"Of course, you're still my favorite, Boo." EJ leaned over from where he was seated on our shared sofa.

I pushed his face away, "I told you, you didn't have to suppress your wolf!."

"21 minutes, 43 seconds." Noted Ink, "It's a new record."

"Mou, that's cold Boo!" EJ pouted, "Why you acting like yous loves my wolf more?"

EJ sometimes talked weird. He says the girls find it cute. I crossed my arms so he would know I didn't.

"Just kidding!" EJ was immediately bright and sparkling again, "Who would like a gloomy guy like that?"

"You know, you and your wolf are the same person, right?" I shot back before remembering that was what Mum always told me about Boo too. I quickly added, "And your wolf isn't gloomy. He's cool."

EJ made a pouty face, "Mou... It's true, yo! My favourite girl's in loves with my wolf, not me!"

"I'm not in love with anybody!" I flared.

"Then, hows bout you fall in love with me, Boo?" EJ waggled his brows.

I laughed because he looked ridiculous (not because I thought he was cute). EJ took this as his cue to jump out of his seat to spin around, stretching out his hand towards me, he broke out into song, "I can show you the world!"

"No." Ben said, before EJ broke out into a song and dance number, "Stop."

EJ laughed and flopped back next to me, "Mou... Scary beta's so mean. Protect me, boo."

Hahaha. Idiot.

Ben groaned, "Sam, try to focus."

"I am!" I insisted.

"Alright. Then give us your order." Ben challenged.

What? I blinked.

"What do you want to do Sam?" Ben demanded, "Do you want us to send warriors to help your uncle? Or to track her down and rescue her? Or steal her, or..."

Wait, what?

Ben stopped talking because I stood up.

"What exactly do you mean, Ben?"

"I mean, tell us what to do! Then you can get to bed, and we can get to work!"

I narrowed my eyes at Ben, wth, "I want to go too. You can go to bed!"

"Like hell, Sam." Ben growled.

As much as I hated to admit it, Ben and I were both tired.

Harvey raised his hand, "May I recommend Ki to lead this mission?"

"WHY KI?" Both Ben and asked at the same time.

"I can lead the mission." Both Ben and I were still yelling in sync. We spun around to growl at each other.

Harvey pressed his lips together and frowned, but he had enough tack not to yell at us. If I put myself in his shoes, I would have yelled, "Because it's late, we are running out of time, and the both of you have regressed to stubborn stupid puppies!"

Instead he answered sounding very much like the calm voice of reason, "Ki can take the team out and track down the lost healer. Although, based on the intel, the healer is often rescued by morning, if we can intercept the ESP warriors, we might be able to investigate the situation from the ground. Ki would also be able to lend a heal should the healer requires it."

Harvey even had the next few steps in mind, "I will remain here with our other warriors to monitor the situation and ensure Alpha's safety while she rests. This way, I would be able to coordinate any emergency actions to follow up the mission. Ben can rest up to take over the reins again tomorrow."

Which sounded like very sensible and grown up advice.

"Alright. The dog can lead the team" Ben surprised me. I never thought he would be the kind who took sensible and grown up advice well.

Ben turned to me, "So you want us to rescue her or kidnap her?"

Why would I want to kidnap her?

"Cos I don't think your Uncle is going to just let you take her home with us." Ben added.

Oh right. How did it work out in the Original Timeline? I had never actually lived in the Original Timeline long enough to see it happen.

"Maybe just track her down first, and make sure she's okay." I sighed. Was this how I met my Grandma Wanda in the Original Timeline? All I knew was that she eventually came to live in Night Leaf.

"Dad's letter!" In the original timeline, Dad had also written me a letter to show Uncle Louis. We were supposed to take Bell to the Night Forest Healer to fix his arm. In this current timeline, Dad didn't write Bell any letter. I didn't even know where Bell was!

Suddenly, the differences in our timelines seemed way too many. I was a fool to think Timeline 3 could be successfully forced into the mold of our Original Timeline. Everything was different and the strands of fate no longer flowed as before.

For example, Lola was supposed to come as my young gamma in the Original Timeline. It was her chance to prove to her elders that she had what it took to be a full fledged gamma. But in this timeline, Morning Light's Alpha and Luna were still alive. Morning Light never merged with Night Leaf. Lola's Dad was still alive... I don't think Lola ever trained to be a warrior or showed up to meetings with her Mum, Edna.

Was that a good thing? Maybe Lola was having her Lala life in this Timeline. Maybe that was for the best. If I had to choose between being Alpha or having Dad alive, I'd choose Dad too. But Lola didn't choose. She wasn't the one who was messing with the Time Gates. She was just living out her fate.

I was suddenly very sure that it was impossible to make everything "as it should be." Wolfgang was right, we would never be able to truly undo the damages. And it wasn't just because we were messing with time - for some reason, our tweaking was also messing with fate, and I didn't have to be Wolfgang to know that heroes who messed with fate always had it blown up in their faces.

I dropped my head in my hands, "We totally messed up."

"What?" Ben asked.

"Boo?" EJ leaned closer. I sighed and straightened, pushing his face away.

I was the alpha. I got this.

"Alright." I decided, "New plan"

"Yes, goddess." Ki smiled his killion dollar smile.

"Oh no." Ben worried.

I smiled, or perhaps it was Boo, "Scared, Beta?"

"Whatever you're planning, I think Harvey's plan is safer." Ben told me. Since when was being safer a consideration in Ben's mind? 

"But my plan is going to be more fun." I promised.