JUST ONE MORE THING
JUST ONE MORE THING
The third item Sabre brought back really surprised all of us. Alpha Solomon was ecstatic, so I shall assume we had once again "missed" our chances of picking his real treasure, in fact, we probably got one of the bottom tier things.
"Are those Mating Bands?" Mum gasped.
Well, I did say we would give it to her when she got mated. What a practical child.
They were the most special looking mating bands I had ever seen too. Not that I had seen very many mating bands. They were kind of rare in the plains. Savy and I had just plain rings and I had assumed that all mating bands looked as such, but the pair of bands in Sabre's hands had leaves and birds and flowers motifs engraved all around it.
"I'll need them when I get mated right?" Sabre answered very reasonably.
Well, yes and no… Most wolves in the plains didn't need it.
Did I mention how delighted Alpha Solomon was with our pick?
"I assure you, although this is a replica of the original royal mating bands, they are very much real." Alpha Solomon told us, "I must say, this little one's hand is impressive."
Ah, so it really was a last tier item. A replica at that.
"Every item here is exquisite, Alpha." Fluffy surprised us all by speaking out of turn and responding directly to Alpha Solomon, "There was nothing the child could take that would not have yielded this boon."
Fluffy also spoke funny, who said "yielded this boon"? What the hell was a boon?
Alpha Solomon nodded, "True, true. How could I risk adding insult to injury by bringing anything of inferior quality to the table?"
He cast Bell a fretful glance and chuckled nervously, "But remember, this was the game we had agreed to play."
Bell only shrugged and adverted his gaze.
Alpha Solomon quickly remembered the time and had all his other things packed up and returned to his trucks. We went up to the porch and waited there for his covey to arrange themselves so we could send him off properly.
Dad was carrying Sabre on one arm while she held the bangles, one on each hand. She hit them together and sang something about a nightingale in the tree. I know it was a replica of some historically fancy mating bangles, but they were still REAL from their magic to the argon and craftsmanship! Was it really alright to take out a pair of priceless jewelry for a six year old to use as hand held percussion instruments?
Oh whatever. At least Sabre was back to her usual self.
"That's good." Dad approved, "You should wear them right now."
Wait, what? What happened to mating gift? Like I had to wait till 45 to kiss Bell, and my six year old sister should wear her mating bands "right now"?
That's how I found out that Dad and Beta Lucas had done some research since the Alpha's precious daughters seemed to require mating bands one after the other. So historically, like back in the Colored Mountains, it was common practice for a wolf to wear both mating bands the moment they had their first shift. The double mating bands would serve as a "lock" on their mating instinct.
I remembered how Hayao had two mating bands on his arm because he was unmated. I think the availability of mating bands were the sole reason the wolves on the colored mountain were such a mess right now. They also mated way later than we did here in the plains.
"But Sabre hasn't reached her shifting year!" I argued. I realized only after I said it that Sabre was human, she wasn't going to have a shifting year.
I got a few weird looks, but no one pointed it out aloud to me. Instead, my parents explained that if Sabre wore them now, Dad wouldn't have to worry about another daughter meeting her soul mate early (e.g. little cousin Eddy), and triggering an early mating response.
"The probability is low, but not impossible." Dad was wearing his thoughtful frown at that.
"It would definitely make family trips to Night Forest less worrying." Said Mum who was in charge of the department of worrying. I wouldn't be surprised if Mum had been worrying in preparation of our next trip.
Technically, Eddy had already met her, but Mum had convinced herself (and now the rest of us too) that they were too young for it to count. Little Eddy might have just randomly decided the human slave was his soul mate too. He was so young. He wouldn't have understood what a soul mate was - these were all Mum's reasoning anyway.
So anyway, I took the bangles from the little girl and put both of them onto one arm, just the way I had seen Hayao wear his, "Here. Early present for you."
As proof that these were indeed the high quality magical items that Alpha Solomon claimed they were, the mating bangles morphed to fit the little girl's scrawny arm. Now they were quite fat bangles. It was cute. Even the engraving were fat squiggles and looked cartoon.
Sabre got off Dad and approached Fluffy. She tugged at his jacket to make sure she had his attention. Pulling up her sleeves, she showed Fluffy her slave bands and the two fat bangles on her little arms, "Now I'm like you too!"
"Why would a daughter want to be a dog?" Fluffy smiled.
Sabre looked confused, and then she told him, "You're the only other one like me here. We are brothers in arms."
Omo. Like what? Did Sabre even understand what brothers in arms meant? Hahahaha Cute.
"Aren't you a girl?" Ben pointed out.
"Sisters in arms." Sabre corrected herself.
"But he's a b…" Ben started. I punched his shoulder and he shut up.
"It's cute. Don't ruin it!" I hissed at Ben. Ben grunted but shut up.
"Okay. I will do as you say." Fluffy smiled his beautiful smile, "Please take care of me."
Sometimes, I really worry for Fluffy.
Alpha Solomon and Trevor returned to us with their betas and entourage. Their convoy was lined neatly across the curve of our packhouse driveway.
"Well, it was a pleasure." Alpha Solomon smiled and nodded in parting. He was really too happy about his "win."
I smiled widely back because I couldn't wait for him to leave so I could play with my new toy. I still had the bronze finger tabs on my right hand, and I could still feel the metal liquefy every time I put my fingers together. This was really MY WIN.
"Thank you for coming." Mum said politely when no one else extended any form of thanks towards our guests.
"Oh, it was my pleasure." Alpha Solomon repeated again.
"There is one more thing, Alpha." Trevor prompted.
"Oh, that's right." Alpha Solomon remembered, "Since we are here, Kingsley, I just thought to personally inform you that I have decided to retire."
"What?" Dad sounded properly surprised.
"Yes, well, I have finished my full term as Alpha." Alpha Solomon said, "And Black Forest would be in the good hands of my protégé here, so there is nothing to fear."
"You're not extending your term?" Dad asked. That was what the news said.
Alpha Solomon shook his head, "We were considering it, but I think its time for new blood. Let the next generation step up."
"Well, I'm surprised." Dad admitted, "But alright. Black Forest and Night Leaf have been working together for a long time. We will support your decision. All the best to you in your future endeavors, Alpha Solomon."
"Thank you." Alpha Solomon nodded. Black Forest was now out of lockdown and Alpha Solomon was confident that everything was going to be okay, "I just need a bit more time to tidy up, but you can expect the handover ceremony this year."
"Congratulations, Alpha Trevor." Dad nodded to Trevor next, "Perhaps we can start discussing new terms for the continuation of our future cooperation."
"Trevor and I are old friends." Bell said, "Dad, let me lead the negotiations for a future alliance on behalf of our combined Moon Bell Pack."
"An alliance?" Dad raised a brow to Trevor.
"Ah, yes Alpha." Trevor nodded. He winced a little at Bell's direction, "I think this would be a very natural next step…"
Dad nodded, "That is convenient. Alright then, I will leave it to you, Son."
Yeah, it was really too convenient.
I narrowed my eyes at Bell who smiled his beautiful smile at me. I wondered what kind of strings one would need to pull behind the scenes to manipulate the circumstance to this degree. What a scary guy my Moon and Rose is!