HOW WE RESCUED KI

Three months later, Harvey returned half dead from exhaustion and dehydration. He had escaped from the central fight cages during one of their transports. He couldn't quite explain it, his transport truck was attacked by masked attackers who released him and left him there. He ran the whole way on foot without stop from the Central Coven territories.

Our Green Packlands was nervous for a while. What if the vamps came to re-capture their fight dog? But we didn't have to worry, Harvey was small fry in the fight dog world. He only had one black disc, and was scheduled for a death match against the rising star Rebel in his next fight.

Alpha Daniel was furious though, "How dare you return without your young alpha?"

"Apologies, Alpha." Harvey bowed, "But we were separated from the start and sent to different covens…"

But Alpha Daniel would not hear of it, "Get out! You're expelled! Don't come back until you find Matt."

So Harvey was kicked out of Morning Light. He would've become rogue, but Dad and Beta Lucas found him at our borders and offered him a place in Night Leaf.

When Morning Light heard about it, Beta Gerald and his wife came over to personally and very humbly thanked Dad for taking in their disgraced son. They were very, very, very sorry.

I thought they should have been more sorry to Harvey than anyone else, but Beta Gerald was just the Beta. The Alpha's word was law. That was how Harv came to join Night Leaf early this year, how I met him when I first attended the Thursday Night Training Sessions, and how he eventually became my beta - those events were paralleled to how it happened in the Original Timeline. Rogue attack on our Packhouse and all.

We also rescued Ki on that fateful night, but it was an accident. The truth was, Harvey and I were trying to rescue Mac. Let me explain:

It just so happened that I overhead my Dad and Beta Lucas talking about rumors of a transport truck passing a particular road around the time I would be headed home the next day. They were worrying as usual, but it could be Mac's truck. The question was, should they rescue the Morning Light Young Alpha?

Our relationship with Alpha Daniel had taken a nose dive since we had allowed Harvey to join our pack. He accused us of harboring  the traitor, stealing young talent, sucking up to the Lorents, and a lot of other terrible things. Most of his words were said in anger, Dad explained, stick and bones and whatnot.

But here Dad was, the guy who always told me to never withhold good from your neighbor when it was in your power to give it, here he was, deliberating with his Beta: Should he try to rescue Alpha Daniel's son and try to patch up their relationship again or look the other way? Maybe some distance was good.

"Being friends with an angry fool was like standing in shooting range of a madman with a rifle." 

Like Dad really said that, so I think he was not immune to his friend's hurtful words.

The sticks and stones would probably have been less damaging on their friendship.

Anyway, I was sure this was Harvey's chance to redeem himself. I immediately slipped out of Dad's office and told Harvey about it.

"It's nothing to do with me." Harvey answered coolly, "I'm your beta now."

"But Mac's my friend and… and he's innocent!" I said. My good beta raised a brow at that.

"And… and isn't he your friend too?" I pressed.

I had second thoughts the moment the words left my mouth. I just suddenly remembered how Bell had always treated his betas coldly. Alpha James pretty much treated his betas like they were invisible - even if one of them was his own brother.

Just because Dad and Beta Lucas were best friends didn't mean every alpha and beta had to be best friends too. I mean, Dad's other best friend was Roy, the omega and even I knew that wasn't the norm.

Anyway, Harvey's mouth pressed down in a straight line, and then he decided, "Understood, princess."

Because in this Timeline, no thanks to the Lorents, that was my permanent nickname.

The next day, Harvey made sure to pick me up from school and take the quiet short cut through the woods. This was where we found the two vamp drivers dead and the fight dog Keys chained up in the cage at the back of the transport truck. We rescued Ki and in a very parallel way to our Original Timeline, I ended up recruiting a new beta. We didn't even have to kill the vamps. Dad and Beta Lucas and the army of warriors arrived on the scene almost immediately to escort us home. From that day on, Ki was determined to live and die as my dog.

"Hey, I know you." I said, "You're James' beta right?"

"In another life." Ki smiled his gentle smile, and then he leaned in closer to me, "Now I am your dog."

Harvey pushed him away with a low growl, but after the rocky start, the both of them hit it off very quickly.

Despite one being a Lorent prince and another being the barbarian pack's second in command, the both of them bonded in mutual respect and appreciation over things like the technicalities of a legally airtight contract.

And if the topic of fight cages ever came up, they would exchange glances and not have to say a word. It was a true bromance between two betas. Hahaha.

But I think what really cemented their bond was the way they both had a very similar understanding about #betalife. You know how Harv had always wished he had an alpha to run for in our original timeline right? Not anymore.

It was bad enough to make me worry about my future relationship with Ben. 

Ben had always been like a brother to me even in this timeline. You know, because betas were family too. My mum often said it as we were growing up, and I had always assumed this was a universal rule. What if Ben grew to hate me too? I worried about it for a long time, and eventually, it started to show.

"Let's go!" I decided.

"What? Like, now?" Ben looked up from his screen in his usual bad attitude.

"Yes. I mean, no. We could just stay." I backtracked.

Ben gave me a weird look, "Are you feeling okay, Sam?"

"Yes." I answered with forced brightness, "Are you okay?"

"I would be if you stop changing your mind..." Ben grumbled.

After a while, I noticed how my consideration for him only frustrated Ben more, so I concluded that unlike me, Ben had no worries about our future together and I went back to bossing Ben around again like I was the Alpha.

Technically I wasn't. I lost that right to Bell some time ago in that last fight we had, but wolves at Night Leaf seldom saw the need to quibble over technicalities. I mean, why waste your time with words if you could solve it in one punch?

As far as I could tell, even in this Timeline, the Luna gig wasn't too bad. Everyone was always nice to the Luna - or they should be!

"You gotta be nice to me Ben." I told him on another occasion because he took the last cookie and wouldn't share it with me, "I'm probably gonna be your luna."

"You? The luna?" And then Ben laughed till he choked on the cookie.

I punched him for laughing so hard and nearly got into trouble because Mum and Mrs Beta stepped into the kitchen just in time to see the punch and the cookie flying out of his mouth.

My mum's timing was impeccable like that.

"Oh Sam!" Mum gasped.

"It wasn't me!" I automatically yelled because no one said I had to be a ladylike Luna. 

"She was helping him." Lizzy stepped up on my behalf.

I nodded, "Yeah. I was helping him…"

I looked at Lizzy and Savy, exactly how was I helping him?

Ben straightened and coughed out the last bit of crumbs, "I choked. She… ah, dislodged it."

"Oh." Mum said, but she didn't look completely convinced.

"Oh dear." Mrs Beta frowned at Ben, "I told you not to eat so fast."

Was no one going to point out that sucker punching someone in the guts wasn't part of the Heimlich Maneuver? Still, I had to appreciate how even in this Timeline, Ben always stepped up to take the rap for me.

But back to Ki's rescue: Ki had his transport truck attacked by masked warriors too, but for some reason, he wasn't released like Harvey. He was left chained in his cage at the back of the truck until Harv and I came by and released him.

It was very mysterious.