THE HUMAN WARLOCK

20 FEBRUARY, SATURDAY, CONTINUED

"You're his dad and probably the only family he's got. You need to tell him the truth - even if it hurts, cos at least you're here for him now." I tried to reason with the snow alpha.

Alpha Gunter took pause. For a moment, I thought he was moved, but then he shook his head, "Alpha Princess, you're a good friend. I'm glad River met you, but no. I am quite sure you don't know what you're asking for. You're still young, impulsiveness is the mark of youth, but I have good reason not to speak of what was in the past. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I believe it is best if we left it behind us."

Oh. Well, I couldn't argue with that.

"But Dad! I need to know!" River pressed on, "I know I'm just a kid in your eyes, but I've done a lot of growing up and I can take it. YOU NEED TO TRUST ME."

Alpha Gunter's mouth was in a hard line.

"Let it go, River. He's not going to tell you." I said softly. Poor River.

River turned to me, eyes wide, "Do you know, Sam? Am I a warlock?"

Alpha Gunter spun around now. Did I know?

But he didn't have to worry. I didn't think I knew all that much to begin with.

It's just that I couldn't help but notice, "You smell 100% human."

That's right, River was human, I knew this from the moment we met, "But your magic... that stone is not. It's warlock."

River touched the stone that he was wearing under his shirt in alarm, "How did you know about the stone?"

Opps. Was that supposed to be a secret?

"You used it in front of me, remember?" I tried to laugh it off.

"So you knew I was a warlock!" River accused.

I shook my head, "I knew you had Fount's stone. You're human."

"Then how is it that I can use this stone? No one else could!" River asked, "Wait, who's Fount? What do you mean I have his stone?"

Wait, so River didn't know?

"River, that's enough. We will talk about this later." Alpha Gunter growled warning, but his growl was directed at the other alphas present.

"Oh," River looked around nervously, "Right."

Yeah, I realized belatedly that we totally shouldn't be talking about a super powerful warlock's stone in front of everyone.

"The inauguration ceremony is starting in five minutes, goddess." It was Ki again. Ki was very good at extracting me out of sticky situations. He bowed to the Alphas present, "Please excuse my Alpha, we are due in the auditorium."

I nodded, "Let's go."

Last thing I needed was for Henry to blame me for keeping all the top alphas from attending his inauguration.

"Wait, Sam! Tell me about the stone." River called out.

"I'll tell you tomorrow!" I said. He was still coming over with Wilhelm right?

"I can't wait that long!" River said, "I need to know where this stone came from."

I thought about the Warlock Fount, the Warlock lands, the rogues, the traps... River was a danger to himself just walking on flat ground.

Maybe it would be a really bad idea for River to come to the Green Packlands.

"Okay, tonight." I agreed. I should at least warn River.

And then Bell put and hand on the small of my back and led me away.

We walked quickly and we didn't stop walking till we reached the auditorium. We were announced, the photographs were taken at the door, and then we were seated.

But while I found all of this bewildering, Bell seemed to step easily through all the hidden hoops like it was a routine procedure, automatically pausing his step before the entrance, stepping out at the right moment we were announced, pausing again at the entryway for photographs, then walking again - at a steady pace so he looked confident and unrushed - exactly like how an Alpha should look.

All I had to do was smile and let him lead.

Bell paused again at our row of seats. Last pose for the photographer of him gesturing to me 'ladies first' kind of thing. He even smiled at me. My heart fluttered so it was a good then we could sit down and the photographer and camera men rushed back to the entrance to follow the next alpha down.

My mate was such a poser, but it did make me wonder how many times he attended stuff like these to know where the points to stop and pose were, and how to do it without looking like he was purposely doing it - in fact, except for that one heart fluttering smile, he had looked nochalent to the brink of boredom the entire way in.

I was almost jealous of his natural coolness in front of the lens. I wanted make self assured and cool official entrances like that too! Instead, what was I? I had no idea how I looked like. I should've taken the chance to check myself just now when mum and Luna Edith went to the ladies. I'm sure Mum would've checked herself. But no... I was too busy gawking at cookies.

Bell took to grand entrances and cameras like a fish to water. I was more like... Like a wet cookie monster who was here for the cookies.

I seriously didn't belong with this crowd. Like I thought I was doing okay, but now that I was walking next to Bell, I realized why the Lorents think of Night Leaf as a barbarian pack.

Bell was really grown up and sophisticated. I was like a kid on my first outing to a fancy place. I think I really hate that about myself.

I've always made fun of the Lorents. It seemed so silly to look posh. And it was pretty silly to put on airs where I came from. But tonight, I had to admit... Or at least right now, comparing this entrance to the one I blundered through on my own earlier, I felt really dumb.

Hopefully, it wouldn't show on the photos what a noob I was at this high society gig.

And no one would notice what a failure I was at mingling with other Alphas. I had always prided myself as someone who could get along with anyone. I could make friends like the sea made waves - at least that's what Mum and the other ladies used to say about me back home. I hadn't made any new friends here. All I did was stand next to Bell and smiled and watched him "reconnect" with everyone else.

The more I thought about it, the worse I felt about myself. It's one of those humbling moments.

"What is this about the warlock's stone?" Bell leaned over and whispered.

Hn? What? Not now dear, can't you see I am emo-ing? But of course I didn't say that out loud.

I shook my head, "It's nothing to do with us."

It was really none of my business. I regretting speaking of it just now. Let's just add this as another strike for what Sam messed up at Henry's inauguration. Now River was in more danger than ever, and it was my fault. I forgot it was a secret. I wasn't supposed to know about it. So why did I know about it?

"Master to the ring of vampire, brother to the warlock's fire, remember?" Bell quoted his prophecy. His hand reached over to clasp mine, the Ciara ring gleamed on his finger.

Oh right, it might have a little bit to do with us. At least it might have something to do with my Luna's overhanging prophecy-curse thing. But the prophecy said fire and what River had was a very unfire-like blue stone. It was probably totally unrelated.

But Bell must have thought quite differently, "Princess, promise me, you will stay away from this."

The auditorium lights dimmed then. Bell tightened his grip on my hand. The feelings from our mating bond was protective but also uneasy. I squeezed his hand a little to reassure my mate. It was going to be fine. I mean, everything that was supposed to happen had happened. We were right on track.

Alpha George begin his a very long handing-over speech and Bell let go of my hand and pulled away to sit more comfortably.

Alpha's George's speech was distinctively boring, and I found myself tuning out almost immediately. I didn't want to continue beating myself out over my many failures and dumb noob moments today either, so I idly ran through Bell's prophecy as if it were a checklist.

For the sound of the bell - We knew that started it. Check.

His name would be Rebel - I noticed most of his friends called him this. It was also his fight dog name. Check.

For his army so fearsome - Blue demon warriors complete with secret underground army base. Check.

You will cower at his return - I'm not sure about "cower", but it would seem that "dread", "worry", "fret", "panic", would all be apt descriptions of the general reception the other Lorent leaders were giving him.

Master to the ring of vampire - He's got the ring. It was a literal ring. Check.

Brother to the warlock's fire - So would this be a literal fire? And nothing to do with a stone right? Anyway, like I said, we were right on track. With any luck, River's stone would lead us straight to the fire. That would be another check mark. Let's see what's next:

He will not take a Luna mate.

The Last Lorent Alpha will be his fate.

Oh. Hm. Oh yeah, there was that part. I'm not sure what to make of that.

I squeezed his hand again, "Don't worry. I'll protect you. No matter what."

I heard him growl, just a little.

What should I do? Would I really die after this? Technically, the prophecy didn't say anything about anyone literally dying. It didn't even mention death. At most it eluded to an eventual end that was only negative in that it was a general perspective that all Alphas would desire to mate their lunas and conceive heirs. It was kind of a big deal to wolf packs.

Ben was probably right (as usual), it would be better not to hasten the prophecy's fulfillment. If we stayed clear of the warlock (and whatever fire he had), maybe Bell and I would be able to live a long and happy life together.

But then I remembered the song from Lullaby Route:

"When you see her tell her

Our Fountain needs her

To bring back River's stone"

I couldn't leave the free wolf pups hanging like this.

I'm glad I was going to meet River tonight. I'll tell him about the Free Wolf pups and ask him if he was willing to return his stone to Fount.

Maybe River would say no, his whole pack was relying on him, and given that he was nothing more than a wimpy young human without it, I wouldn't be surprised if he refused. But its the very least I could do for those pups.

And maybe River would say yes.

And then I realized what made River different from all the other humans I've ever met. Yes, River was 100% human. But he was also 100% unselfish. There was a very good chance River might just say yes.

That guy was really worrisome that way. A guy who didn't know how to be selfish wouldn't know how to conserve anything for himself or his pack. What kind of king was River going to be that way? I had to help him. Maybe I could lend him warriors or something.

Or maybe he already had enough warriors who were loyal to him. I thought of Wilhelm and Keanu. Hopefully his dad and friends would be successful in making his new kingdom a safe and good place like he wanted it to be, then all River needed would be to mate a she-wolf with an alpha bloodline. It's the same for Harvey in the previous Morning Light situation too. All they needed was to mate someone with an alpha bloodline and their next generation would have an alpha. I wonder if in River's case, his son would be the Alpha King since he would be both? That would be pretty cool.

Okay, I know Alpha Gunter and River planned to set up a human-type kingdom where wolves and humans could co-exist equally, but my idea to shoot for an Alpha King heir was better.

Its not that I was very experienced with human-type kingdoms. TBH, I had zero experience with them, but I knew wolves, and wolves needed an Alpha. Without an Alpha, they would be nothing more than Free Wolves, or worse, rogues. With robust policies, effective administration, and faithful leadership, like what they had at Morning Light, they could maybe last a whole generation without an Alpha.

But eventually, the pack or kingdom or whatever you called it would feel like an empty shell. It might be okay for humans, but wolves NEEDED a pack to run in and an alpha to follow. We could survive without one, but coping was not the same as living. Trust me.