THE CATS'LORE

By the time Lord Wolfgang and Sir Wilhelm came to his door to call him for lunch, the cats had resettled themselves around the room. Peri seemed to quite like his perch on the desk, so Dan had to clean up the small mess of spilt tea and cream immediately. Peony asked for the window to be shut for it would like to sit on the ledge and hated the draft. It was a warm winter morning but Dan had felt it was too cold for his comfort too. Edel returned to the pillow and "vanished" all the while purring again. And Ori... Dan had not seen where the black cat had gotten. Perhaps it returned under the bed.

Anyway, when Lord Wolfgang and Sir Wilhelm entered the room, the tea party was cleaned up, the cats were aloof in their own preferred spots, and Dan who had given up the hope of any sleep, was showered and dressed in a crisp pressed suite.

Dan hadn't meant to, but for some reason, the cat's useless comments about his good looks being his strongest asset kept repeating in his head. Dan was not completely unaware that he was attractive, but he had never thought of it as quite to the level that would inspire this much verbal comment, so it was somewhat puzzling at how the wolves (and cats) at Moon Bell would make reference to it so often.

This had not happened in any other Lycan Pack he had visited, so it wasn't a normal wolf thing. Dan reckoned he had been told he was good looking more times today than the rest of his life combined.

As he combed his wet hair away from his face, he wondered how to style his parting, and then realized he was giving his appearance way more thought than he usually would. He must have been more nervous about meeting Alpha Henri than he thought.

The cats were a bad influence on him.

But after setting his hair parting, he decided on his favorite day suit. It was a Betaman, which had been his preferred label since the first time he was introduced to its private collection catalogue. He liked this particular one because it was casual enough for lunch at any respectable gentleman's club, but also smart enough for office wear and any daytime official appointment with dignitaries and nobles.

Such a suit would normally be reserved for when Dan had a full day of back to back meetings - not for a single first meeting with Alpha Henri, but there was another reason for this being his favorite day suit. Dan felt the fabric and distinctly creamed grey hue was particularly flattering on him.

Again, the cats were a bad influence on him.

What was he doing? And even if the cats were right about his looks being his strongest suite (shouldn't he be at least a little offended by that?), and even if he needed something to fall back on, did he really want to resort to something like his good looks to win over Alpha Henri? They were both men!

Dan shook his head at himself, he must be out of his mind.

Despite the mental struggle he had while getting ready, he was ready when Lord Wolfgang and Sir Wilhelm came to the door for him. He let them in, noticing immediately that both men had also showered and changed.

Dan was immediately glad to have taken the trouble to dress up.

Wolves were very sensitive to odors so Dan had learned early in his diplomatic days to shower regularly since he could never with his human nose know what he might smell like to the Lycan dignitaries he met. He had also switched to fragrance free toiletries in a bid to be more considerate to his Lycan acquaintances, but that turned out to be an unnecessary measure on his part. Most wolves did use commercial products. In fact, and this was a surprising fact for Dan when he found out, most wolves were rather tolerant of ambient smells.

Dan realized this because once he had walked past a foul smelling alley while out and about with Lycan associates, and while the humans had gasped and covered their noses, the Lycan had simply walked past. In fact, they had smelled the offensive stench from the distance and were not taken aback at all.

The only reason why he had continued sticking to fragrance free products was because he had once met an alpha who told him, "I don't trust your Three Kingdoms, and I'd be a fool to take you traitor-king's word for anything, but you're different. You're an honest man."

The alpha tapped the side of his nose, "The nose knows."

And Dan had worked out that perhaps the fragrance free products subconsciously gave the Lycans a sense of transparency about him in a world of chemically scented products.

It was purely his own personal speculation, but so far, he had been well received by most Lycans, so Dan felt his theory must hold some water.

"I'm glad you seem refreshed." Lord Wolfgang said, "My apologies for being the absent host."

"Not at all, don't worry about it..." Dan was quick to reassure him, but he was abruptly interrupted by Lord Wolfgang, "Why are the cats here?"

Dan shrugged wryly, "I also wondered that."

Peri and Peony came over to the door. Peri automatically leapt up for Lord Wolfgang to carry in his arms. Peony looked beseechingly up at Dan.

Dan folded his arms, "Sorry, I'm just a weak human. I wouldn't be able to manage your weight."

He also wasn't about to appear before Alpha Henri walking and smelling like cat hair.

Peony huffed and then leaped up onto Wolfgang's shoulders. It didn't look very comfortable for either cat or fire wolf, but neither complained.

As they made their way down to the dining hall, Lord Wolfgang explained that these cats were very choosy about whom they associated with, and only allowed particularly individuals to carry them.

It did occur to Dan that is was strange that one of these particular individuals was a foreign fire wolf, but Lord Wolfgang said, "They are Alpha Sam's cats."

Oh, well then it was a good thing Dan had not commented on finding Lord Wolfgang's close relationship with the cats strange.

"But they had taken a liking to Alpha Henri since she was a pup and chose to stay with her at the Alpha's House." Lord Wolfgang would have shrugged except that there was a huge orange cat on his shoulders.

"Should I help you with that?" Dan felt bad that his host had to bear the brunt of both cats.

"That's alright..." Wolfgang said, but Peony had hopped off his shoulders and into Dan's arms.

Peony was, as Dan had guessed, rather heavy. It was like carrying a new born foal or a sizable boar, just much fluffier.

"Thank you." Wolfgang said after his initial surprise.

"Don't mention it." Dan laughed it off, "Since serving these cats an honor and privilege."

"Oh." Said Wolfgang.

"He's being sarcastic." Peri informed the fire wolf, "Dan Lion is a very petty and sarcastic human."

"Oh." Said Wolfgang again.

"Only to cats." Dan quipped affably.

"Oh." Said Wolfgang for the third time.

Wilhelm was the one who laughed, "It's rare that Wolfgang is at a loss for words."

Dan laughed too, "Perhaps the cat's got his tongue."

At that Wolfgang relaxed and laughed too, "Dan Lion, you are definitely more than meets the eye."

"You think so too?" Peri seemed to regard Wolfgang's opinion quite highly, "I said the same thing just this morning!"

"If even you think so, Peri, it can't be far wrong." Wolfgang also seemed to regard Peri's opinion quite highly.

The cats left them the moment they entered the dining hall. Dan had found that surprising until Wolfgang explained that the ladies in the kitchen would feed the cats special meals behind the Packhouse kitchen. No one knew what those meals were, but the cats definitely preferred it.

Dan followed Lord Wolfgang and Sir Wilhelm around the buffet counters. It was self-serve and everyone from servants and warriors on their lunch break to packhouse guests could help themselves to the food.

It was a very new experience for Dan and he was very surprised to find it in a Lycan pack where hierarchy was cannon.

"Moon Bell has a very flat hierarchy." Wilhelm seemed to understand Dan's confusion, "They have the Alpha, betas, gammas, and deltas, Elite Warriors, and then everyone else."

"The other unique thing about Moon Bell is that their ranks are functional." Wilhelm continued, "Within the pack, there are many alpha wolves, but only Alpha Henri is THE Alpha. The other alpha wolves run with Delta Ranks - and only if they are taking a leadership role. Otherwise, they are just the Alpha's family."

"Alpha Henri has 4 older brothers." Wolfgang added, "But they are all useless and Henri bears the brunt of the pack leadership."

The eldest, Alpha James Lorent IV was a blue blade wolf. He had returned to the Colored Mountains to revive the Blade Wolf Pack, previously known as the Blood Lake Pack, it was now the Night Blade Pack.

It was a good name. His grandfather, Alpha Kingsley had left Night Forest Pack to start Night Leaf Pack. So now Alpha JLIV continued multiple legacies - his grandmother's blade wolf bloodline, his grandfather's pack start-up tradition, and his mother's blue wolf bloodline, his father's name…

That didn't sound "useless" at all. It sounded like a lot to live up to.

The second brother was adopted. He is a healer beta wolf and now serves as the beta in charge of the Lorent Town.

"He's the least useless of the brothers." Wolfgang allowed.

The third brother was also known as Dr/Prof Silas Lorent, a healer alpha wolf who was currently Dean of the Lorent Healer College. He used to be the wild one, but had since mated and settled down into medical academics. He serves as the Delta in charge of general healthcare and the specialized medical emergency response department in Moon Bell's.

Which didn't sound useless to Dan either.

The fourth brother was fostered, and a Colored Mountain Prince by birth. He had since moved back to the Colored Mountains.

Which was more like he had to return to fulfil his birthright than "useless".

Although these men were all older than Dan, Wolfgang still spoke of them as pups. These four were his most terrible and troublesome students.

There were other wolves with alpha bloodlines in the Princess Town, Lorent Town, and Morning Light Town, and Wolfgang had tutored them all.

Unfortunately, none of them wanted to pick up the Alpha's responsibility, even though Alpha Sam had offered them resources to start their own pack in the Green Packlands, or their own town in Moon Bell... with the exception of Captain Zane Reid who was now the alpha wolf in charge of the Walking Fortress.

Dan might recognize Captain Zane's name. He was also known as Stephan Reid's eldest son and heir to the Financial trading giant, Reid Inc.

Dan nodded dumbly. It seemed that Moon Bell not only produced alpha wolves by the dozens, they were also popping out multibillionaires who's personal fortune could possibly rival the Three Kingdom's annual relief fund, although fat load of good that did.

Every year, the relief fund was inflated, but except for the appearance of emergency supplies and shelters reported on the news, Dan had never seen any relief befitting the billions reportedly spent.

Why was it that they couldn't even rebuild a damn bridge to send supplies to Turtle Island when a barbarian pack of wolves could build a f***ing walking fortress?

"You'll probably be able to meet Zane when we visit the Walking Fortress?" Lord Wolfgang promised Dan.

"Can I really visit that?" Dan was surprised. He wanted to, for sure, but he also wanted to live, "I understand if it's classified information..."

Wolfgang waved it off, "You're my guest. It's fine."

Dan didn't know how to politely respond to that. Surely there had to be some limitations, even for Alpha Sam's lover!

"We can go after meeting Henri." Wolfgang decided, "The fortress won't be staying long, I've helped them charge the core and the engineers think it's enough to get them back to their dock in the Color Mountains."

Dan didn't know how to respond to that AT ALL. But then he remembered that he had been doing pretty unbelievable things himself.

"I had tea with the cats this morning." He said.

Wolfgang frowned a little, "I was meaning to talk to you about that."

Dan leaned closer at the other man's behest, "It should be safe enough, since it seems they like you, but keep in mind that not even Alpha Sam could fully control these creatures."

"They are not normal cats." Wolfgang continued, "Be careful, especially of the black one. He is a deadly opponent, even for a warrior wolf. The white one's power is of the scale of a natural disaster too, but both these two are usually aloof, even to me."

Dan nodded solemnly. If he had been told sooner, he probably wouldn't have let them into his bedroom, much less have tea with them or tease them.

"And no matter what, do not follow any of them into the woods." Wolfgang added darkly.

Dan swallowed. The healer, Delta O had warned him the same thing earlier, "Why? What happens - not that I would, but I'm just wondering..."

Wolfgang shrugged, "It's not for me to say and I'm not too clear of the specifics either, but I believe the warning was based on a Lycan lore and then popularized by Alpha Sam."

"I've heard of it." Wilhelm kindly offered, "They say there were wolves who followed cats into the woods and only returned a hundred years later."

"What?" Dan was properly shocked.

Wolfgang shrugged and adverted his gaze, "So that is the general understanding."

Immediately, Dan knew that Wolfgang must know more than he was letting on, but he politely changed the subject.

If a Walking Fortress was okay to show him, but a local cat lore was not okay to explain, he really didn't want to know either. Who knew what dark things happened within these forests? Dan made a proper note to himself to NEVER, in any circumstances (short of immediate death), step foot into those woods alone - and definitely not with a cat.

Dan wanted to live.