MUM'S THE WORD

7 MARCH, SUNDAY, DINNER, TIMELINE 3

We normally wouldn't be having dinner so early, but we had a bunker inspection happening early in the evening at the Princess Town. Dad was the kind of Alpha who almost always went home for dinner, so we found ourselves back at the Alpha House, Dad, me, and all our betas in tow.

Wolfgang and Fluffy were excused eat at the Packhouse Dinning Hall with some of the other agents - because that's what they were in this timeline, very cool and professional agents. None of that harem business.

I had mixed feelings about going back home. On one hand, I was anxious to see Mum and Savy and Sabre - just to make sure everything was alright in this world. On the other hand, I felt quite sure Mum and Savy would definitely expose us for the imposters that we were.

Dad, on the other hand, had no hesitation whatsoever. He walked straight into the house and wrapped his arms around mum with a low growl.

I froze at the door, {Dad! She'll know!}

Even if his scent didn't give him away, their mating bond would…

Mum smiled up at him and kissed, "Oh, good. You're home. Barry made something special tonight."

Okay… I watched as Dad kissed her back, just like he always did. Should I be weirded out that my Dad was kissing my Mum from the wrong timeline?

"Sam, don't just stand there." Mum pulled out of Dad's embrace to scold me.

"But… but… but…" But it wasn't like I could tell Mum that the man holding her wasn't the right Dad, "But cooties…"

{Nice save, Sam.} Ben approved.

I thought so too, it was exactly what the dumb pup I was would have said.

"Oh Sam," Mum was far less impressed, "Never mind, come in quickly, you're letting in the draft and blocking the boys from coming in."

I was not blocking them! Our door was wide enough for two! I looked around to see that my betas were politely standing on the porch waiting for me to enter first. I quickly stepped in.

"And please take off your boots." Mum sighed, but she was in a good mood, smiling up at Dad she told him, "Guess what? It's exactly two years since Sabbie joined our family. She chose tonight menu."

"Oh great." I muttered as I peeled off my boots. I was quite sure I put on sneakers this morning, but I must have misremembered, "It better not be cold cereal and milk."

Even as I said this, I could smell something spicy and warm wafting from the kitchen.

Mum laughed and shook her head, "Oh Sam! No, Barry made seafood glass noodles stew."

Oh right, Sabre had developed a taste for spicy food. She was such a weird child.

"He put the chili on the side this time though." Mum added.

As I followed my parents to the dining room Sabre dashed down the stairs to meet us, her red copper curls bouncing with each step, "Guess what, Bzzzz?"

Sabre had recently won the Spelling Bee in her kindergarten class and she liked to punctuate everything she said with "Bzzz…" because she was a very irritating little sister like that.

"What?" I asked.

Sabre raised her arms to show me her damp hands, "We have foam hand soap now, bzzz. I washed my hands till they got wrinkly."

I could smell the peach scent and I could see… that her sleeves were pushed up to her elbows in a futile attempt to keep them dry, and her bare arms did not have slave bands branded into them.

Wait…

"Mum, did you say TWO YEARS?" WTH happened?

"Can you believe it?" Mum asked.

"It felt like just last month." I mumbled.

Mum nodded, "Yes, my baby's growing up!"

She gave Sabre a hug and then turned to me, "Sam, can you go up and call Savy? She's not responding to her mindlink."

But Savy popped into the dining room just at this moment.

"Oh, good. You're here." Mum nodded, satisfied, "Why didn't you answer your mindlink? Never mind, come sit, your Dad and Sam have a meeting after dinner."

"Savy! Guess what, bzzz?" Sabre held up her hands to show Savy, but they had been dried by Ki, "We have foam soap now, bzzz…"

"In honor of your two years with us." I added dryly.

"Really?" Sabre marveled, "Wow. I must be really important huh? Bzzz…"

Can someone make her stop buzzing? The Spelling Bee was LAST WEEK! How did she win a Spelling Bee anyway? The Sabre in the original timeline struggled to learn to spell "Sabrina Kingsley."

Oh right, because in Timeline 3, Sabre never became a slave… she was rescued from a gang of rogues by some masked wolves in the Blue Packlands. The masked wolves brought her to our borders, made a campfire and cooked hotdogs, and then abandoned her there.

Gamma Harry found her while doing his regular patrol. Packland laws dictate that Human intruders were to be shot on sight but common sense led Gamma Harry to take the hotdogs off the fire before they burned, eat them, and bring the little human to his Alpha.

Mum's heart went out to her the moment they met, and the rest was history.

Sabre was adopted into our family, and after two years in our home, had grown to be a healthy, intelligent, and annoying kid sister. Bzzz.

"I remember a time when you used to be cute."  I told the little girl at the table. My betas were serving dinner so I didn't have to pour the water or get the utensils. I just sat there watching the little girl with rosy cheeks and bouncy copper curls.

"Yes, but that's because I'm already in kindergarten, bzzz." Sabre told me seriously, "I'm exchanging a little cuteness for beauty every year. By next year, I'll be in first grade and I will be drop-dead gorgeous, bzzz..."

"What kind of first grader is drop-dead gorgeous?" I snorted.

Sabre shook her head at me, "Oh Sam. Never mind, bzzzz. You wouldn't understand."

(I told you she was annoying.)

I opened my mouth meaning to tell her so, but caught my mum's warning glance as she passed me the bowl of chili.

I shut my mouth and carefully took the small glass bowl. Its contents were a miniature mountain of dark brown-red paste surrounded by orange-colored oil… like a volcano swimming in its own molten lava.

"Just take a very little bit, Sam." Mum advised me, "It's quite spicy."

"I like spicy, bzzz!" Sabre announced. Sabre in this timeline was not afraid of big scary male wolves at all. In fact, one should note, it was the big betas around me who were being rather subdued in her presence.

Humans, even very little ones, can be such wildcards.

I took half a teaspoon of the red stuff and dropped it into my bowl of white seafood stew. Most of the liquid was white due to the coconut milk. It was warm, sweet, savory, and tangy. Thanks to the chili, it was also accompanied by a slow burn.

"Oh, it's really spicy." Mum covered her mouth with her napkin.

Ki got up to fetch more ice water from the kitchen. The burn was real.

By the end of dinner, the casualties were as follows:

Mum's lips were reddened and slightly swollen.

"I think I permanently scared my tongue." She waved her hand to fan her mouth.

{I think I should check.} Dad told her, over a private mindlink that I had the misfortune of overhearing.

Don't flirt with your soul mate from the wrong timeline, Dad! Omo.

Ben was sweating buckets.

"You need a shower, Beta." Ki kindly informed him.

"Shut up, dog." Ben grumbled while wiping his brow with the table napkin.

"How did you get like that from eating?" I asked, I was panting like a dog myself, the cold milk helped, but only marginally.

"Must be some chemical reaction." Ben muttered.

I nodded. If someone told me the chili was radioactive, I would have nodded too.

Ki was glowing, but he was otherwise fine.

Harvey looked the worst for wear. He was red in the face, he eyes were tearing, and his lips were swollen and red. It was like he drank tear gas.

"I'm okay." He insisted. He did not look okay at all.

Dad was fine but only because he didn't put any chili in his stew.

"Are you okay, baby?" Mum was worried for nothing though.

"It's so hot!" Sabre cried because she was tearing through the dinner, "But so good!"

She wouldn't let Mum exchange her bowl for one without chili.

Savy put only a very tiny bit of chili and she looked like she thoroughly enjoyed the meal. She could - since she could actually taste it.

I think my tongue had lost all its senses within the first 30 seconds.

But it was Beta Lucas who was truly impressive. He had started with one full teaspoon, and then after tasting it, added two more heaps of the red stuff.

It was after he did this that my Betas all added a teaspoon of chili into their bowls as well - but unlike my Betas, Beta Lucas finished his entire bowl of stew without even touching his water.

He was sweating and his face was really red though.

"Are you okay, Beta Lucas?" I asked.

Beta Lucas shook his head, "I don't feel anything. I'm fine."

No, I'm pretty sure that's because it wasn't just your tongue that lost all sensation.

When Beta Lucas finished his meal, he looked around at the other betas who were downing milk like there was no tomorrow. Ben even had a warrior deliver fresh milk from the packhouse kitchen. My betas were drinking it directly from the gallon bottles.

"Hoo man," Beta Lucas shook his head and chuffed at the sight, "You guys look like hell."

"We feel like hell." Ben said, "How can you be okay?"

Beta Lucas was very proud of himself, "I'm okay because my wolf is strong."

I'm pretty sure with the amount you ate, your wolf was probably dead or at least unconscious. But on the bright side, in the chaos of putting out the fire in our mouths and guts, even my Mum didn't seem to realize that none of us were quite ourselves tonight. 

Yeah, whatever happened, I was going to just blame it on the chili.

My lips felt hot. I needed a colder milk, "Ki, do we have ice cream?"

Of course we did, but only in three flavors - lime sherbet, strawberry fields, and coffee. This was the time of After Ki, where ice cream was "gelato", and hand-made was "artisan", and these "artisan gelatos" were served in large perfect spheres in glassware accompanied by long-stemmed golden dessert spoons.

Ultimately, it was all thanks to those mysterious masked wolves who saved Ki and left him there for me to rescue that I could enjoy the era of After Ki in Timeline 3. Come to think of it, what were the chances that the mysterious masked wolves who saved Ki were the same ones who saved Harvey AND the same ones who saved Sabre - they even brought her to our packland with campfire hotdogs… very mysterious.

And by very mysterious, I meant, "very suspicious."