FATHER AND SON

19 FEBRUARY, FRIDAY, DINNER

There was no smoke without a fire, and rumors were not entirely off the mark when it was said that the father and son did not get along.

"Son, as your Aunt has said, your investiture is only a month away." Alpha James was suddenly serious, "What are you going to do about it?"

Alpha James was using that tone he used when taking his wolves to account, and as if to explain why he was asking now, he added, "I'm sure Alpha Kingsley would be interested to hear your plans too."

To which Bell glared at his father and responded in cold indifference, "I've told you, I'm busy right now. I'll send you the plans when they're ready."

"Busy? What can you be busy with?" Alpha James sounded truly exasperated, "Your elders and I can plan and organize your investiture, but after that, you will be the Alpha. You will need a plan and time to communicate that plan the gammas and deltas. You need to appoint your beta--"

"I told you I'll work on it when I am free." Bell cut him off sharply.

"Why can't you do it now?" Alpha James insisted, "Look at the Silver Mountain's young alpha..."

"Alpha Henry." Ki prompted without missing a beat.

"Yes, Henry." Alpha James nodded, "He has been working hard preparing for his inauguration for months now. Every time you turn on the news, you'd see him working hard to connect with the wolves in his pack and understand the different challenges his wolves face."

"That's because the LNC belongs to Silver Mountain, so they would only curry favor the young alpha and show him in a good light." Charles interjected.

Alpha James ignored Charles' comment, "That young Henry is working hard. What were you doing at his age? Dressing like a hooligan and riding motorbikes head first into trouble - that's what!"

Mate growled a low warning.

"Alright, alright, what's past is past." Lady Amber quickly stepped in, "Let's not dwell on the past. Brother, James is strong and intelligent. I'm sure he has the capability to lead our pack"

"I'd like to see his plans to do that first..." Alpha James muttered, but he stopped himself when Luna Edith tugged his arm.

But you know how it took two hands to clap, right? The other hand was still unhindered. Opps, was it supposed to be my cue to step in? I hadn't thought of that, so Bell said, "Do I still look like a hooligan to you?"

Well, not now, but he did still ride around on a motorbike dressed in a Halloween costume. (Of course I didn't say that aloud.)

Alpha Lorent frowned at Bell's dark suit, "The material is different, but the colors are the same."

Now Bell got mad, I could see his jaw tick from where I was seated, "I don't know why I bother. No matter what I do or wear, its never good enough for you."

Alpha Lorent was unapologetic, "You have plenty of perfectly nice suits back home, why did you have to make new ones - in black - you know the Lorent Alpha NEVER WEARS BLACK."

Oh. Actually, no, I didn't.

"If I really am the Alpha, I can wear whatever I want!" Mate countered.

"It's just clothing." Lady Amber tried to help the father and son come to a compromise, "The styles change, and young people like to wear black a lot now. It's not just vampires anymore."

Oh, well, I did wonder why older wolves didn't like black clothes. Mum had ever told me to wear any other color when visiting the older folks. Someone told me it was because it made us look like we were attending a funeral. So black was a vamp thing too? Noted.

Alpha Lorent sighed and shook his head, "Alpha Kingsley, see this son of mine. Rebellious to the core. I say white, he says black. I tell him to do this, he goes and does that. I don't suppose you have any ideas."

Dad shook his head, "I have no sons."

Dad said it really smugly, as if it were a good thing.

Alpha Lorent shook his head, "Fine, wear whatever you want - you can count your blessings that Alpha Kingsley is large minded enough to overlook your dress sense, but the Silver Mountain's Young Alpha's Inauguration is this weekend - I hope you at least remember we are attending it together."

"Of course I remember." Mate grounded out, "I do not have dementia, like someone who had been texting reminders repeatedly since last week."

"You never reply." Alpha Lorent grumbled.

"I replied the first one. I don't have to reply every single time you repeat it." Mate growled.

"Don't embarrass us." Alpha Lorent ignored the insult, he was focused on giving Bell instructions now, "Take the chance to be introduced to the Young Alpha, Silver Mountain is one of our long term business partners, and I understand they are in an alliance with Night Leaf. That young..."

"Alpha Henry." Ki supplied again.

"Yes, young Henry will be a powerful alpha one day." Alpha Lorent said, "I know you always hate these things, but you are going to be the Alpha now, you need to network and make connections --"

"If you know I hate these things, why do you still ask me to do them?" Mate cut him off again.

"Because its your responsibility!" Alpha Lorent raised his voice now, his wolf surfaced. I think he was trying to talk civilly to his son in front of their host, but the two of them could never talk without riling each others' wolves, "I shouldn't even have to tell you this. You need to take responsibility for your life, and your pack. Your mate is still so young and tender. How would you protect her or help her lead her pack if you can't even handle your own affairs?"

"You're right." Mate's voice was deadly and low now, "You really shouldn't have to tell me this."

Mate stood up from the table, his wolf was dangerously on the surface.

{So fun!} I pushed aside Boo's reaction. This wasn't good. They were going to fight, and Mum's perfect dinner was going to be ruined.

I touched Mate's arm, "It's okay. I'll take care of it."

Now the table stopped to look at me.

"I know I'm just a girl, but I'm also the Alpha." I tried to explain, "Bell doesn't have to do anything he doesn't like. I'll take care of it. I'll deal with the networking, and think about the Lorent Pack's future direction... I just need a bit more time for that. Maybe an extra week."

I looked at Ki, "Can you help me gather the preliminary information I'll need in the meantime? Just for the Lorent Pack. For Henry's inauguration, I've already read the reports."

I thought everything should be settled now, right? The Lorent Pack would be taken care of, and Mate would get to do whatever he wanted. But as usual, I've somehow only triggered Bell's anger. He slammed the table, "Stop."

I stood up to face him, my hair flaring, "What? Isn't that what you want? Now you can be free to build your underground army and take over the world or whatever it is your heart desires. I'll take care of everything else. Shouldn't you be happy?"

Mate ran his hand over his dark hair. It was swept back today, but his action had ruffled his hair out of position so that it looked a little wilder. I liked that look.

Maybe I was the kind of girl who liked guys who looked a little wild? I had never thought about it, but based on a magazine that Krystal subscribed to, I suppose Bell did fall in the free spirited wild type - just that he was a really angry version of it.

Mate was so angry, his wolf was growling and it took a while before he could stop growling enough to form the words, "Those are my lines."

Eh? I blinked up at him. Now that I looked at him more carefully, I could see he looked more tired than usual. There were dark rings under his eyes. Taking account our Alpha wolf's regenerative abilities and the fact that he was the all powerful healing wolf...

"When was the last time you slept?" I blurted out.

Mate opened his mouth, and then shut it again. Then he sighed impatiently, the way Harvey had sighed at the traffic earlier. Impatiently, but he seemed to suddenly deflate, like he just didn't have the energy to fuel his anger, or maybe that last bit of anger blew a fuse, "Princess..."

He reached out his hand to me, but withdrew it again, he clenched his fist by his side as if restraining himself, "I told you princess, I will take care of everything. Just leave it to me. Henry's investiture - I've already made arrangements with him. By the end of tomorrow's event, the rumors would be pinched out. Have Ki send me the list of whichever alphas you need to talk to and what you want from them. I'll secure it. The plans for the Lorent is well underway. I just need more time to work out the details. Ki has the draft. You don't have to worry about it. You don't have to worry about anything, or do anything for me. I'm not the kind of man who needs to rely on his mate to get things done. The Underground Army is reaching financial independence. YOUR underground army... and as much as I would like to grab all those who had opposed me and smash their faces repeated into the ground, I will settle for pushing Moon Bell to the top, and watching them squirm on the ground like the worms they are."

Okay... my Mate thought of people as worms. Yeah. I'm sure this was a bad guy trait. I narrowed my eyes at him.

And then Ki spoke. It wasn't often that he spoke up on Bell's behalf, "It's true, goddess. Luna Bell has been working hard, and had made a great deal of connections through the business dealings for the Underground Army."

That wasn't the problem. Did no one else notice Bell's tyrant vibes?

"Well, then since you have everything in hand, why didn't you just tell your father?" Lady Amber scolded. Apparently not.

Bell shrugged and gave his Dad a hard stare, "It was none of his business."

"None of my business?" Alpha James spluttered. Now he was on his feet, "You ungrateful brat. Do you have any idea how hard your elders have been working?"

Luna Edith stood up too, but only to tug harder at Alpha James' arm. I think she was afraid Alpha James would strike Bell.

"And do you have any idea how many of your elders are actually working - or how many are just working hard at plotting their way around?" Bell snapped back, "You trust everyone else more than your own son."

Bell's anger fired up again, he sneered at his dad, "I give you my word, the day I become Alpha, I will bring my army down, and everyone would give an account. Every fat and lazy old dog in your precious leadership would be brought to justice by my hand. If I were them, I would invest my ill gotten wealth into upgrading the dungeon facilities, because it would soon be their retirement home."

What happened to it being MY army?

"Ungrateful brat! Those wolves were the pillar of our pack for years!" Alpha James slammed on the table now.

"Crooked pillars who stole from the pack to line their own pockets!" Bell shot back, slamming the table on his side.

Like father like son? Bell was taller than Alpha James by a few inches and more muscular (I guess Alpha James didn't follow Ki's special way of healing to grow his muscles), but they wore very similar expressions and their bodies were posed like mirror images. And their Alpha dominance was flared now. Savy ducked away, Charles put down his fork annoyed he could not continue eating under the oppressive atmosphere. No one else was eating by now.

And then just as I thought they would really come to blows, Bell pulled away, "Thank you for the dinner. Please excuse me."

I would have panicked at his leaving and chased after him, except that I could hear his footsteps move deeper into the house and I figured he was going to his room in the side wing, and not home to the Underground or anywhere far away.

Now it was Alpha James' turn to deflate, he sat back down, Luna Edith rubbing his arm soothingly.

Alpha James sighed, a long suffering sigh, "Forgive our rudeness. My son had always been difficult."

Dad was frowning, but it was his thinking frown, I wasn't sure if our guest knew though, "Our son, he reminds me a lot of my younger self."

Eh? No way! Dad was evil? Our guests looked similarly surprised, but probably for different reasons.

"How can that be?" Alpha James laughed a bit, he looked ruefully at the door where Bell had stormed out, "That boy, he's wild and uncontrollable, and the most stubborn wolf I had ever dealt with."

If Alpha James was criticizing his son, why did I sense a trace of pride in his words?

"He's young, but he has a strong sense of justice, and an even stronger wolf." Dad nodded, "Given time, he would far surpass us."

"That's what I fear." Alpha James shook his head, "Soon, even I would be unable to curb his vengeance. I fear that boy will not rest until he razes the entire continent."

Dad laughed, "Revenge is a never-ending cycle. The whole world wouldn't be enough to contain it."

Gee... thanks Dad. That should make Alpha James feel much better.

"Maybe some of his mate's sweetness might rub off on him." Alpha James sighed, "I give up. I'm ashamed of my failure as a father."

Luckily Mum was around to say the "right" thing, "Please don't think that, Alpha Lorent. Your son is a very capable and polite young man. I'm sure he would make the right decision when the time comes."

"I... I truly hope so..." Luna Edith said softly.

Mum looked at me and then she smiled, "I'm learning that sometimes we just need to have more confidence in our children."