THE OLIVE ROOM

All along, whenever Hayao said "olive room", I imagined it like how Mum's home decorating magazines would style it. Like a sitting room with olive green accents, and white trimming. Maybe they'd even take it a step further and hang paintings of olive trees with other members of their bloodline hiding nude among the foliage. Lol. Okay, not that part. I'm just kidding.

But you know what I mean, something from the pages of House and Living or Better Homes. Probably in an "eclectic baroque" style like the rest of this crazy place. How else might I describe this castle (at least I think it was a castle)?

Heller's white castle surrounded by pink and white flowering trees all year round looked like a scene out of a romantic Lycan tale. This place was... how should I put it? It was like quite a different kind of Lycan tale with its extra tall rooms and haphazard mix of different colored and styled furniture. Throw in its bizarre art and collection of dragon motif vases and jars on every side table we passed - what? I didn't tell you about the dragon-headed vases?

Well, I suppose it wasn't the strangest thing in this world. And given the strangeness of everything else, it didn't really stick out too much.

I only noticed because there were too many of them. And because it was just a tad creepy looking because they reminded me of urns when lined on the sideboard like that. But they were uncovered. Nobody would leave an urn uncovered right? And since it was probably rude to ask, I didn't.

Anyway, Hayao seemed determined to get to the Olive Room, and I was equally determined to not cause my polite host undue trauma.

The Olive Room was through a large ornately carved wooden door - which slid open. All the doors here were wooden and sliding and the large ones along the cave passageway were polished and carved with flowers and vines.

We were quite deep in the cave part now, and I wasn't sure what to expect behind the door, but I was very surprised to find that the Olive Room literally had an olive grove growing out of it.

"Very surprised" would be an understatement. Stepping in was more like a "mind-blown" moment.

To my credit, the Olive Room was indeed a sitting room. Just not one that I had ever seen in any of my mum's magazines.

I mean it had all the respectably wide cream and white sofas and stately polished wood. It was also the first room that wasn't disproportionately tall, but that was only because the room was huge.

It had to be to contain a circle of trees - I'm going to guess they were Olive Trees. I had never seen an olive tree before, but the trees here hunched around the sitting area like silent sentinels. I paused to make sure none of them could talk or move. You know, just in case. But they didn't seem to be that kind of trees.

Their trunks were stout, rough, and gnarly. Their branches twisted and draped in grey-green leaves, and heavily laden with bright green oval fruit. I wished I could smell it.

I wouldn't say the trees were terribly large. The lowest boughs were dangerously low and we had to duck our heads as we passed under the trees at times, but they were very proper outdoor trees.

I looked up past the branches. Were we outdoors? But it was as bright as day! I understood why the moment I caught sight of the ceiling. It was just like the ceiling in the Warlock Tower on the Tropical Jungle floor. Not the happiest memory.

I looked down at the floor - a mosaic of broken terracotta tiles. Each tree was planted in an extra large round pot, the size of a small fountain and sunken mid-way into the broken uneven mosaic floor.

I caught sight of the wall, paneled in the same yellow wood of the bathroom with the tap I didn't know how to work.

There were no windows, we were probably deep in the mountain or something anyway. That's how caves worked right? Long ago, before we had our human forms, the wolves on the mountains lived in packs. Every pack had its own cave and as the pack expanded, so did their cave.

Don't ask how wolves could dig caves out of solid rock. I did, and I promise you, the adults didn't know.

I would guess though.

Beta Lucas: Hoo boy, Sam. Well... How do YOU think they did it?

Me: Maybe the wolves were magic.

Beta Lucas: Maybe. Yes. Why not? You never know.

Me: Because the Mountains were thick with magic. (Mrs Beta had said so!)

Beta Lucas: Yes. Yes, the Mountains were pushed out of the ground by the force of magic. (Which had to be right because Roy had read this story to me before.)

Me: Maybe the wolves punched the mountains and made caves. Maybe if you punched a mountain, you can make a cave too, Beta Lucas."

Beta Lucas: "I can? I mean, Yah man! My one punch can demolish a building like Legos!"

Me: Let's go try it!

Beta Lucas: What?

I don't remember actually seeing Beta Lucas punch any mountains though. But I did remember how Ben had made Beta Lucas mad once. Beta Lucas threw the Lego "bomb" that Ben made for the science fair out the window. It exploded with a very loud boom that had warriors running over to the Beta House backyard.

Turned out to be a real bomb.

"How was I supposed to know it'll actually work?" Was Ben's defense, "I'm only 9. It's not like I would know any better."

Ben was sent to clean up the backyard every day after school.

"You're on yard duty every day until every grass grows back, young man!" Beta Lucas decreed.

Ben, Lizzy, Savy, and I found the Lego pieces all over the yard over the next few days. Most of them were still intact, not even a scratch, and some of them still joined together.

Anyway, my point was supposed to be that Lego was probably stronger than buildings.

Where was I? Oh right, yes.

What a strange room. I regarded the sight of the hunched and gnarled olive trees growing around the cream sofas as if they were guarding the conversation.

It was like something out of a Lycan tale.

Which in hindsight, was only natural since I WAS in the Colored Mountains.

Hayao bowed politely to his elders. I quickly dropped a bow behind him.

"His majesty was not in his room." Hayao reported apologetically.

But his father completely ignored him, his eyes widening when I stepped forwards.

"Blue alpha." Haku stood up and nodded a quick bow.

Hayao seemed surprised at his Father greeting me. I would be too. Haku was some Prince here and minimally a whole generation older than I was.

Hierachy. We were wolves after all.

Gareth immediately got to his feet too, but he took it a few steps further, crossing the distance between us and dropping down on one knee before me, "Alpha! Your servant, Gareth greets you."

And then his mate, followed suit, "Your servant Anna, greets you."

Hayao was stunned enough to take a step back. Not that I blamed him. I would too, except I knew these Tygers were all crazy.

"This is my princess and soul mate, Anna." Gareth touched Anna's shoulder as he introduced us. Anna was a beautiful woman, with dark hair and green eyes. She was dressed in long robes over her gown - it seemed that the long robes were the standard healer uniform here.

I felt quite sure. Especially since all three of them wore robes of the same deep green.

One of the Tygers had mentioned Gareth's mate being from Haku's pack, but from their coloring, it was pretty obvious, they were also from the same family line. Let's just say after studying generations of alpha portraits, I could be considered a bit of an expert in recognizing Haku's family members.

Like Haku and Hayao, she was also a powerful healer wolf. Maybe it ran in the family.

Back in the plains, Bell was like the most powerful healer wolf I'd ever met, but admittedly, he wasn't as powerful as Hayao when I first met him.

Right now though, Bell was definitely stronger. {Mine ~❤️ }

But Hayao wasn't mated yet. Unlike Bell, Anna, or Haku, he wasn't linked to a powerful mate or a Tyger's fire. Hayao was running on pure potential. With the right setup, who knew how great a healer he would become?

"I see you've met my son, Hayao." Haku smiled and adjusted his monocle.

Hayao took another step back, and then he quickly nodded a bow to me, "Forgive my earlier rudeness, princess. I had not recognized you."

I don't think Hayao understood the meaning of "rudeness."

I shook my head, "You were not rude at all."

"Blue Alpha, would you do us the pleasure of joining us for tea?" Haku picked up the teapot.

Oh. I was so thirsty! I nodded and immediately went over to him.

Gareth and Anna came over too. But just as I thought we were going to all sit comfortably down to talk (and drink a lot of tea. There was fruit on the table too. Which in my current state looked like nature's juice packs.)

"Hayao, the tea is cold." Haku put the teapot back down, "Please warm it and pour for the Blue Alpha."

I resisted the urge to groan. What can a girl do around here to get something to drink? But barbarian princess or whatever, my mum had taught me better than that. I was a guest. Guests did not drink or eat without being invited or threw tantrums about having to wait for the tea to be warmed. I sat down where Haku had indicated earlier and waited with admirable patience. Mum would have been proud of me.

Even though I was SOOOOO... thirsty! I don't think I've ever been so thirsty in my life. It was no joke. I swallowed, but my mouth was still feeling like it had dried up and stuck together in some places. It was a good thing I was dream-traveling and scentless. I felt sure my dried mouth breath would have been bad.

But I was the alpha. I could take it. And I didn't really want to make a fuss over being really thirsty either.

The last thing I wanted to do was appear to be a messy ravenous raccoon slurping on tea and gorging on fruit in front of everyone. I adverted my eyes from the temptation laid out on the table and hoped Hayao remembered his promise about the fruit juice.

Meanwhile, Haku decided to fill me in while we waited for Hayao to return with a fresh pot of tea. Like his good friend Heller, Haku was also skilled at pouring tea without a teapot.