RIVER AND SAVY'S FIRST DATE

RIVER AND SAVY'S FIRST DATE

For all the things I've grumbled against my own mate, I had to say, he knew how to take a girl out on a date. River... not so much. But then again, Bell had a lot of practice. River... not so much. Hahaha, okay, okay, I know, it wasn't a date, but let's just call River and Savy's excursion into the Warlock Forest a date. I'm sure it would annoy Savy - so much for Ferris wheels and fireworks. Bwahahaha.

Disclaimer: The following was written by me based on the account was as told by Ki. You know how his stories are like. But he was the only one besides Dad and Beta Lucas present at the inquiry. And you know how my stories are like. But this is my diary.

The inquiry itself was conducted by Dad and Beta Lucas THE MOMENT THEY GOT BACK. Despite the fact that they had spent all night out in the Warlock lands. They didn't even pause for a shower - but that would just be something I'd do.

It wasn't easy at first, Dad and Beta Lucas were not in a good mood, and Savy didn't help at all.

In a bid to protect River from Dad's fury, Savy had claimed the entire thing was HER idea. I've lived with Savy all my life, and she had never once took the rap for me! But neither man could believe that Savy would come up with such a stupidly reckless plan.

"Did Sam put you up to this?" Beta Lucas had actually asked.

I mean, WTH. Like I would send Savy into the Warlock Forest!

"No." Dad had shook his head, "Sam would have run in herself."

But before I could feel thankful for Dad's good faith in me, he added, "Sam wouldn't think so far as to send someone else in her stead."

Seriously? I flared. Ki chuckled, he was truly enjoying my reaction. Humph, "Just get to the story!"

"Yes, goddess." Ki obliged.

In the end, she got sent up to her room with Mum. Even then, she had resisted our Alpha's Dad instruction. OMO wow, love really changes people.

She only left when Ki promised to stay by River throughout the interrogation. I guess she had no idea that Ki was worse than Dad and Beta Lucas combined. I guess she hadn't seen the Lorent style of interrogation.

Anyway, River was a very honest guy and he admitted everything.

"What do you mean, he admitted everything?" I interrupted. What exactly did he admit?

"He broke his own curfew." Ki answered, "Trespassed Alpha's property to meet your sister behind the Alpha House. He also broke Alpha's command - deliberately defying your direct order that no one is allowed to step into the Warlock Forest before you and instigating your sister to do the same."

Oh, I was just saying back then... mostly because I didn't want Bell to charge into the Warlock Forest on his own and get hurt, but it turned out that Bell would have only added the Warlock Forest to his list of places he was going to charge into. I was naive to not realized that someone like Bell wouldn't have been just chilling at the Underground waiting for something to do. Vengeance was a very proactive project with a long list of things to do.

Arugghhh... the thought of Bell. Now that would be another troublesome person to deal with when I got back although somehow when it came to Bell, I didn't quite mind. ~ ❤️ Hahaha. Okay, no. Get your head in the game, Sam!

"Is my Dad going to press charges?" I asked Ki. Trespassing laws in Night Leaf was never strictly applied - unless you were a grouchy old man like Mr Greene. In Night Leaf, at least among ourselves, and particularly if its just pups up to mischief or young wolves meeting in secret, such rules didn't exist.

Who didn't have any puppy-hood story about climbing over the neighbor's fence or under the hedge to pick apples, look for friends, lost balls, chase rabbits, "borrow fresh snow"(long story)? Even if Mr Greene called and complained, the warriors would only show up, catch the pups, and give them a "firm warning" not to do it again. Or so I've heard. I've never been caught before.

And seriously, if Dad pressed charges on River "trespassing" into our backyard to meet Savy, everyone would be like, "Hahaha, just young lovers!" It'll just be translated into a "When the alpha is your overprotective dad" story. Not that our pack had a lot of those, but it would be Story #2. Story #1 being in which Dad bombed dominance after the bake sale this year.

BUT for breaking Alpha Command. That was serious.

"Don't worry, goddess." Ki assured me, "There is no way Alpha Kingsley will be able to press charges without implicating your sister."

Right, because Savy had gone into the warlock forest with him. What could possibly have possessed her?

Anyway, River had met Savy behind our house to say goodbye. He had decided that the only way to end this Warlock problem was to return the stone himself. The young prince had been reflecting while locked in his room (shouldn't he be studying?), and realized that he was no longer going to allow others to fight his battles.

Actually, since River was so weak, I would say allowing others to fight his battles would be key to his survival. Anyway, I wasn't there to argue any sense into him. Savy was there though, but instead of talking him out of it, she decided to go with him to keep him safe. OMG. Savy! What was your cute snowball wolf going to do? Don't let his innocent good nature fool you! River was a dangerous guy!

Anyway, they managed to get to the border on foot. River was slow like a human, so they only got to the border closest to the Central Look Out Tower - where River promptly triggered one of the traps there. But Savy was quick enough to pull him out before it snapped on him.

From my first alpha duty patrol there, I had known that none of those traps were set to catch rogues. So far, they only caught our warriors and now River. It's not anything the matter with the traps themselves, but no rogue in his right mind would wander so close to our pack town, and warrior look-out towers.

I was pretty impressed Savy was fast enough to save River from getting himself trapped. Even my good beta had gotten himself caught in it. Hahahaha. Harvey was usually so perfect, I felt we should put his fails in golden frames, just to help everyone else feel better about themselves. E.g. "Even Beta Harvey had done this before, you still have hope."

Anyway, after narrowly escaping the trap, River and Savy made their way into the warlock forest without trouble. They stepped in carefully, following River's floating stone. The stone lit up the moment they entered the warlock forest, and the crystals in the trees lit up as they passed, but did not harm them.

Later on, when Dad and Beta Lucas passed by the same route, they had followed the lit crystals - and were shot at, entrapped, blocked by invisible shields... repeatedly. Most of their time spent at the warlock forest was just surviving these stupid lit crystals.

Anyway, River and Savy passed through quickly - more quickly than expected, in fifteen minutes, they found themselves quite deep in the forest. At least Savy had noticed that she was rather far from home,

"Magic paths." I told Ki.

"Pardon me, goddess?" Ki paused his story to ask.

"There are secret paths in the warlock forest." I told him, remembering my own little adventure to the red maple tree from Mr Greene's backyard, "We can walk 10 clicks in like five minutes through it."

"Ah, I see." Ki smiled, and because he was Ki, he didn't question how I knew of such paths.

We stopped the car and got off in front of a nice looking cafe. The signboard claimed to be a patisserie, but besides the baked treats in their display window, they sold artisan ice cream. I looked at my companion. Right, I was with Ki.

The lady behind the counter was all smiles. This was not because we bought a pint of every flavor. She was smiling the moment Ki stepped through the door. But yes, we bought a pint of every flavor. I mean, at first it was just for me, and then I thought I should bring some home for Savy, and maybe River, so probably Bell too, if he ever woke up... and Daisy, that should cheer her up, and Sabre! How could I forget Sabre. Ben would probably want some. And Fluffy, and EJ... and... yeah, so we bought a pint of every flavor.

Ki had a freezer bag in his boot and the lady gave us dry ice for free, along with her personal phone number. I should take Ki out with me more.

Back in the car, Ki continued his story.

The next thing they knew, they were on the side of a very large stone mansion. Savy was alarmed because she clearly smelled rogues. She knew this smell due to the brush we had with them outside the destitute house earlier this year, she pulled River down to hide behind the shed. Which was a good thing too - an old white merce rumbled up to the front porch. Savy and River watched from their hiding place as a few rogues got out. They took out a small crying rogue pup from their boot.

River was immediately on his feet, but Savy pulled him back down to crouching position. The wind direction was on their side right now, but Savy felt it shifting, and she didn't want to take the chance of their scents getting picked up by the big mean looking rogues with River's head sticking out from the back of the shed.

Anyway, having a pup in their car boot wouldn't be out of place, given that they were rogues. It was probably as common as normal wolves having groceries in their boot.

And then one of the rogues suddenly remembered, "****, I forgot the box."

He reopened the boot and took out MY LUNCHBOX.

"That's Sam's lunchbox." Savy told River. She knew because she had a matching one, and it was hand carved.

"Are you sure?" River had asked, "It looks like a wooden box."

The rogue also had the lunch bag crumpled up in his hand, so yes, Savy was very sure. She had the exact same bag in red.

River was adamant about going in - more for the little girl than the lunchbox. Savy would've preferred to return home to report what they'd seen, but decided she couldn't let him go on his own.

They snuck in through the back patio which overlooked a large rose garden - which was in full bloom.

River who was more familiar with the idea of magical micro-climate controls, didn't seem to notice the miracle in front of them. Instead, he realized at that moment how much Savy loved roses, because she stood there a full minute just looking at it.

Well, no, actually, I was quite sure Savy was only too shocked at the sight of a full rose garden in winter. And if the roses smelled anything like Grandma Luna's rose garden in the late summertime, that was like POW! to our wolf senses. Savy had smelled it before she saw it and still she paused at the sight completely shocked.

I knew for a fact that Savy didn't think much of roses.

"It's so cliché." She had ever told me.

Someone should warn River not to buy red roses for Savy.