I COULD HAVE BEEN KISSED?

I only realized this, like only moments after we got to the packhouse. It came as quite a shock to me. Was Bell really going to kiss me in front of our whole pack? I mean, I knew what they were chanting, but if Dad hadn't stepped in to physically separate us, WOULD HE, REALLY?

I felt my cheeks grow hot at the thought.

I COULD HAVE BEEN KISSED?

I still couldn't quite believe it. Dad had claimed Bell had "a gleam in his eyes." Bell's eyes were always a perfect golden glow. ~ ❤️

To be honest, the prospect of being kissed by Bell didn't sound safe. I was also going weak-kneed at the possibility. If he really did kiss me, wouldn't I have definitely gone gaga and melted? How would I be able to face anyone after that?

I was honestly undecided if I should be mad at Dad, or thankful.

But I COULD HAVE BEEN KISSED!

And the realization felt electrifying. I can't even explain why - it's not like we had never kissed before, but maybe it's because we had kissed, like really kissed, that I could remember what that felt like. AND GOSH… I couldn't believe I let Dad take that opportunity from right in front of me like that. I COULD HAVE BEEN KISSED!

By now, Mum had also collected Sabre. We had stopped to deposit our jackets, and Mum had discovered that Savy had lost her gloves, and hat, and possibly her scarf too - Mum was quite sure she had wrapped her precious human warmly for the outdoor Spring activity, but Savy was insisting that she didn't have a scarf.

Beta Lucas wanted to mindlink all pack to be on the lookout for light purple mittens and beanie, "She probably just dropped it while running about. Sam used to do that a lot."

I think it was unnecessary to mention my name as an example.

"You can't mindlink an alert to the whole pack just because of a pair of mittens Dad." Ben rolled his eyes, "That's a misuse of the pack link."

"I neva had a scarf Mama." Sabre was still insisting.

"But baby, I put it on you…" Mum started.

"I took it off." Sabre told her.

"So just the mittens and hat?" Beta Lucas tried to clarify.

"The pack link isn't a lost and found centre." Ben reminded his father.

"When did you take it off, baby? In the house?" Mum asked.

This was going to take a while.

PS. I COULD'VE BEEN KISSED. Just saying.

If I had been kissed, would I be standing here next to the coat cupboard, waiting for a little human to account for her missing scarf?

If I had been kissed, would I be standing at all? Omo.

If I had been kissed… would all the Disney Princess songs start to play again? Heck, it was playing even when I hadn't been kissed.

"Dad! I could've been kissed!" I told Dad a little accusingly as we stood on the sidelines. The packhouse was busy with wolves coming in and out. We had to move to the side so they could access the coat cupboard too.

"You're welcome." Dad said stubbornly.

"But Dad…" But Dad what? I had no idea. It's not like I could say, "You stopped something incredible from happening."

He could just as well had stopped something incredibly embarrassing too, but dang it! I COULD HAVE BEEN KISSED!

"Sam, you're too young to be…" Dad started. A few warriors bowed past us. I recognized them… they were from the Underground army - I mean, the Princess Town, the top performing squad this month.

"We'll talk about this later." Dad said sternly.

I straightened a little, and then I sighed, "Forget it, Dad."

The last thing I needed was an extended discussion about how I was too young for the kiss that could've happened. The fact of it was that it didn't happen. It could've, yes. And I imagined it would have been incredible, but I would never know now, would I?

Dad sighed too, his sigh sounded deeper than mine, "Sam. There is no hurry. You're only 14."

"15!" I insisted. I opened my mouth to argue that this wasn't like my first kiss, and then I shut my mouth again. It was mostly instinctive - like I had a feeling that telling Dad Bell had kissed me before wasn't going to go down well.

It was just a kiss, or two, or three… and they were arguably "accidental."

"15 is still too young." Dad informed me.

"When's not too young?" I demanded.

"A hundred." Dad said.

"Dad!" Like seriously!

"Alright fine." Dad reluctantly allowed, "45."

WTH.

"How old were you when you had your first kiss?" I challenged. Notice how I didn't say Mum, cos Dad met her late. Like they were both in their twenties when they met.

Here's hoping my dad was as hot and happening as Roy made him sound when he was in high school.

"26." Dad answered.

"No way! But that's like when you met Mum." I said.

Dad shrugged, "And she was worth the wait."

"No way!" I couldn't believe it, "So you're saying you've never kissed another girl besides Mum?"

Dad cleared his throat, "Yes."

He wasn't lying.

"No way." I said, but more to myself. "How's that possible?"

"He doesn't count the times he GOT kissed." Beta Lucas explained from next to me.

Dad cleared his throat again.

Beta Lucas quickly stepped over to Dad's side, "Alpha, we are due for a meeting right now."

Dad nodded, but he was determined to get the parting shot, "Sam, there is no hurry. Wait for the right one, at the right time…"

I grinned, "Got it, but it's not counted if I got kissed, right?"

Hahaha. Dad's face, but Beta Lucas was already leading him to the lift, {Your son is currently using the conference room. I don't know why he brought Lorent wolves here to meet.}

And yes, I had overheard their mindlink. It was an accident. It's like I had an antenna that randomly caught private conversations mindlinked around me. I had gotten used to it. I used to block it out, but nowadays, I usually just ignored a few stray lines. Dad and Beta Lucas were walking away and the distance would naturally remove their conversation out of my antennae's zone.

{Let him be. This is his home too.} Dad shrugged, back to Alpha mode, {I'm sure he has his reasons. We can use my office. We have fewer wolves in our meeting.}

{I knew you'd say that.} Beta Lucas nodded, {Hoo boy, you always let him be.}

{Not always.} Dad said ruefully.

{Got it.} Beta Lucas sounded confident, {Let him be, unless he get too close to Sam.}

Dad and Beta Lucas did realize that Bell was MY MATE right? How long were they going to keep us from getting "too close"? Till I was 45?

Sabre's lost items had been found and returned. Savy had just come back from wherever she had gone. But we were still standing around because Mama Rosa was talking to Mum.

"Poor boys." Mama Rosa had said, "I think they are too shy. They would have starved there."

I had trouble picturing it though. The next gen of Lorent Core leaders starved in the Night Leaf Conference room because they were too shy to join the picnic outside.

Our packhouse kitchen had been kind enough to send up food and hot drinks. Mum thanked Mama Rosa and the ladies for their hard work, and for taking care of our unexpected guests.

"Mum, Ben and I are going upstairs." I decided to excuse myself.

"I thought you were coming home with us?" Mum said, and then she seemed to realized, "Oh, do you have to go to the office?"

For some reason Mum seemed to believe that there would be a reason I was needed at the FAO.

I caught Ben's eyes. Ben would've known the FAO ran fine without me, but he was taking my cue, "Apologies Luna, Sam has something to do."

Which sounded blatantly shady to me. "Something to do"? Was that the best my genius beta could come up with?

But {Mate! ~❤️}

And I wasn't going to complain about something that worked.

"Okay." Mum nodded, "I'll see you later then."

"It's not fair!" Sabre said, "Why can Sam stay and play?"

"Sam is working… come on, baby…" Mum decided enough was enough.

I quickly made my escape, Ben just at heel as always. It's been a while since Ben shifted, but I still feel surprised each time I noticed he was right behind me. I never had to slow down with Ben.

I guess I was so used to slowing down for Dean, or one of the girls as a pup, it was strange that I didn't have to anymore. In fact, there were times, I felt I was in danger of being outrun.

Thinking back, I was almost always running with Dean at this events. Today, I hadn't even met him during the picnic. Maybe it was because I was on the Walkabout with Dad. Maybe I just hadn't noticed him in the crowd.

Did it mean I didn't even miss Dean? That seemed harsh. Like we'd been running together since we could walk. He was my training partner for as long as I could remember. Every year… since the both of us were the only two pups in our pack who were the same year.

And I didn't even notice his absence today. Dean and I were supposed to be best friends and training partners for life. We were supposed to spur each other on, survive all the training, and become deltas together. Whenever there were pack events, we'd look for each other to hang out with the others.

Like we sat together at breakfast before every Lycan Study Group. I'd wait for him to arrive at every training session… but today, I totally forgot about Dean. I didn't even miss him.

Wow. I had no idea I was such a superficial friend.

From the moment his car tried to drive through our picnic, everything else flew out the window.

{Mate! ~❤️}

Omo! I'm the kind of friend who forgot you the moment their soul mate pops up.

I didn't even really feel terribly guilty about it. A little sorry, yes, but only for the relief of not having to look back and slow down at all today. It was almost as if I was having a better time without him around. I felt a bit bad for feeling this way about Dean.

Anyway, just forget it. I was sure Dean was having a great time with the others.

Wow. Worst best friend ever.