A LITTLE MORE COMPLICATED

"We could also just go back to the Undo Point!" I reminded everyone again. That's what it was for right?

Oh Undo Point! My Dad was infinitely wise to have thought of setting it up. None of this future would happen with me as alpha! I mean, not to sound arrogant of anything, but I was seriously doing a lot better than either of my brothers in the alpha department!

The two men smiled out at the road at my insistence.

"Ever the optimist." Fluffy said and Wolfgang nodded.

Which was when it occurred to me that I was not alone in wanting to return to the Undo Point. I wondered what was in it for Fluffy and Wolfgang though, but I didn't say anything.

Right now, it didn't matter what anyone wanted. Dad was the Alpha. The decision would lie with him.

But Dad wasn't Kev's Alpha anymore. Kev was the Alpha of Morning Light now, so maybe what he was doing wasn't really betraying our pack. Why was I even making excuses for him? He was Jude, the traitor! And even if he was the Alpha of Morning Light, he still had to keep the Green Packland Council Laws. On top of that, except for the Lorents who owned their own land, Morning Light and the other Minor Packs were all "tenants" who paid tribute (aka rent) to Night Leaf (or the Lorents depending on whose land they occupied.)

These circumstances were due to a certain event in history (the Great War), and various political pressures and legal technicalities in establishing the new boundary lines post war... But never mind the history lesson. My point was that Kev was breaching some serious political and historical boundaries.

And black wolves didn't take well to territorial infringements.

It was honestly upsetting. Kev was the brother I loved the most in this life. My trust felt betrayed in a way I couldn't express. I couldn't even cry for him, just the thought of the consequences that our wolves and everyone around me would have to bear made me so angry, I really wanted to hate him, but I couldn't.

If I were to be absolutely honest, I didn't know how to feel about it so much I would rather feel nothing. Was this considered denial? It's like my head understood perfectly, but my feelings couldn't catch up. Wow, for once, my head was ahead of my heart.

Part of me harbored a secret hope that Fluffy was wrong. I knew he was probably right, clever people usually were, but I hoped he was wrong. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding. Maybe there was a good reason for this. And there was a part of me who believed that Kev was different from Jude! He had to be different! My big brother would never be a traitor! Why was I thinking in exclamation marks? I needed to calm down.

Maybe Kev would realize he was going about this all wrong and stop before it was too late. Maybe if I had a chance to talk to him… he would listen to me right? Then again, this wasn't asking for limited edition pokey or strawberry yoghurt sodas.

As if to prove how well he knew me, Fluffy smiled, "This will be our secret, okay, La Sweetheart? Don't say a word to Kev."

"I… I won't!" I squeaked. Dammit. Why did it feel like Fluffy could read me like a book? Could soul mates read each other minds?

Fluffy laughed, "What strange thing are you thinking of now, hn?"

"Nothing! I'm not thinking anything!" I shook my head quickly.

"Your expression says otherwise, my pretty La." But that was it. He didn't pursue it. It was like it didn't matter what I thought. Now that Fluffy had "settled" me, he turned his attention back to Wolfgang and dropped his tone to the low and serious one Alphas used when they were discussing work, "This is our game plan. When we meet the others in Dad's office, let's see what Big Brother Beta will report first. If he reports Kev's betrayal, I'll back him up. Dad would not be able to ignore me."

I never knew Fluffy could talk seriously like this. He sounded exactly like how an Alpha's son would talk, which I guess he was, at least in this timeline.

"If it were Alpha Kingsley," Wolfgang answered Fluffy just as seriously, "he probably already knows. Do you think this is a test?"

It almost sounded like Wolfgang thought Dad was some kind of master mind.

"He did instruct the Princess to gather the wolves she trusted…" Wolfgang reasoned, "He accepted the both of us into the team on a mission involving several highly sensitive and confidential issues. Didn't you find it strange?"

"Hm? Did you notice it too Wolfie?" Fluffy asked and tilted his head and beamed, "I did wonder why you would agree to something that is obviously a trap."

What? What part of our mission was a trap for Wolfgang? Why was this news to me?

Wolfgang nodded seriously, "So it was a trap... In truth, I didn't know what to make of it at first, but since the Princess requested my participation, I agreed. Even so, a part of me knew that there would be only death ahead for me."

Raise your hands if you knew Wolfgang had a melodramatic side.

Wolfgang frowned at Fluffy, "Why did you accept the mission, since you saw it for what it was?"

Fluffy shrugged, "I was curious. I wanted to see what Alpha Kingsley was up to."

"Wait, what? What was Dad up to?" Now I was alarmed. I thought we were just getting good wolves to help Dad out, Dad said I had "a good eye", but why did Wolfgang sound like he was running to his death, why did Fluffy call it a trap? AND WHY THE HELL DID NO ONE THINK TO WARN ME?

I was the alpha! How was I supposed to protect my wolves if they didn't tell me anything?

"Fluffy report!" I ordered, with zero alpha command because I was weak like that, but whatever. I refused to be put aside like a cute and pretty puppy. He better tell me what was going on properly, "What did Dad do?"

"Nothing terrible…yet" Fluffy smiled in a way that I knew he was enjoying himself, "I suppose what he does will depend on our performance."

"This is only speculation on our part." Wolfgang warned reasonably, "There is a possibility that Alpha Kingsley truly wishes to save Alpha Kev."

"Explain properly." I commanded. Why were all my "clever" wolves so incapable to explaining themselves?

So between the two of them I had discovered that my Dad was pretty much the ULTIMATE MASTERMIND if these two's theory held any water. (You be the judge.)

According to Fluffy and Wolfgang, this mission was definitely the highest level of Black Out Missions. There were just too many secrets revealed through it - from the existence of Time-Traveling Cats, to the location and historical development of key locations of Night Leaf, to multiple aspects of the personal lives of the Night Leaf Alpha Family.

The only wolves who should have been involved in such missions were the Alpha and perhaps his Beta, the fewer wolves who knew the better, because post-mission, it would be messy to clean up if too many others knew about it. Where "clean up" could be anything from taking a sworn life allegiance, to the assassination of everyone involved.

But Dad not only allowed me to bring all three of my betas, he allowed Fluffy and Wolfgang to join us. Surely the fact that they were temporal residents with rather powerful backgrounds would not have escaped Dad's attention. Surely an experienced Alpha such as Dad would know that the moment they returned to their home packs, there would be no way to ensure that any of our vital information revealed during the mission would not be leaked and used against Night Leaf.

Therefore, the invitation to join the mission was either a subvert way to tying them down permanently to Night Leaf, or a trap that would end with their execution.

In fact, Wolfgang was certain that the entire mission could be just a test for the both of them. One that he was determined to pass the moment he had accepted the mission, "Be it fire or high waters, or even death itself. My flame already belongs to this princess. There is no turning back."

Did it never occur to you that this princess might have wanted you to just go home and live out your normal life, Professor Hotstuff?