DRIVING THROUGH THE LORENT PACK TOWN

23 FEBRUARY, TUESDAY, 2PM

Harvey had been waiting on the porch for us. He had turned my car to face the right direction and lined it up behind Dad's Silver town car. Beta Lucas and Ben were also on our porch. Dad stood with the three betas, their dark coats and serious expressions were stark against the clear day and white snowy background.

For some reason, the snow had resumed again these days. It was weird weather, since it was so late in February, but no one called it warlock weather. I guess it was hard to equate fluffy white bouts of snowfall to the warlock. It looked like powder sugar or white frosting and it made me feel like eating ginger snaps or drinking hot chocolate with mini marshmallows by the window. It was that kind of perfect snowy day.

The moment Mum and I stepped out of the house, the men pulled apart. Dad managed to afford Mum a waned smile. He looked troubled though and almost immediately went into mindlink mode with mum. I stepped away to give them space in case my gift of insight accidentally picked up on their signal again.

Ben had shut and locked the front door and Harvey and Beta Lucas had opened the passenger doors of their respective cars. I wanted to ride with Mum and Dad, but I guess I wasn't a puppy anymore so I got into the backseat of my own car.

Harvey and Ben got into the front seat. At first, I was surprised he didn't go with Beta Lucas but I guess Ben wasn't a puppy anymore either.

I couldn't help but wish just a little bit that we could've stayed puppies. Back in the good old days when vamps and warlocks and Lycan politics were confined in the safety of Beta Lucas' bedtime stories, and the worst accidents merely landed with a broken bone (and not, your know, the loss of a whole arm.)

Part of me still couldn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. I couldn't quite imagine Bell with an arm missing. My Luna was a strong, and powerful, and fast - and at the prime of his youth. On top of that he had the kind of healing ability that allowed him to kill and resurrect such that he could impersonate a death god.

How could he have lost an entire arm? My mum's counsel rang again in my mind, "No one is invincible."

Was the curse so deadly that not even my Luna could heal it away? He had returned without an entire arm. If he were any less powerful, would he have returned at all?

This troubled me the moment it occured to me. What was this dark curse... That was currently stored in an argon box, in Bell's safe at the Lorents (wasn't that kind of too close to home)? What great evil had Bell unleashed on Black Forest?

I huffed a small sigh.

By now, our car was on the road, just behind my parent's car. I could see the scenary change as the Lorents pack town came into view. This was the longer way around... But then again, Beta Lucas was driving up front.

Ben should have sat with his dad. If nothing else, at least to make sure we got there quicker.

"Apologies Alpha." Harvey seemed to notice my impatience, "We seemed to have taken a detour."

Urm, yeah. I've noticed.

We followed the silver town car through the town, along the flagstone roads, and past rows of shops till it pulled to a stop... Not yet at the Alpha's residences, but in front of a gift shop. We pulled up and stopped obediently behind it.

"S***." Ben grumbled, "I've got to get that."

Harvey gave him a light back handed smack, "Language, beta." And then he unlocked the door.

I watched Ben leave the car and enter the shop. He came back out with an overlarge gift basket and stuck it into the boot.

"What's that?" I asked when Ben got back into the car and pulled out his seatbelt.

"Your Mum ordered a gift basket for Luna Bell." Ben said, "Tangerines, I think."

I nodded dumbly. The guy just lost an arm. How was a basket of oranges going to make him feel better? He wouldn't even be able to peel them himself. We were wasting time. I wanted to see Bell NOW!

Our car was moving again now. There were a lot of traffic lights.

"This.is.taking.for.ever." I thumped my forehead on the back of Ben's seat at each word.

Ben chuffed, "Sam... 10 minutes. We're nearly there. Don't break the car."

Hahaha. Lies. It would've been 10 minutes if Ben was the one driving up front. But it was Beta Lucas. Even so, I felt a little better after that and leaned back and watched outside the window. The snow was fluttering outside and the Lorent Pack Town was rather pretty. It looked like a very elaborate snow globe. There were wolves scrapping up the snow from the main walk ways, they were dressed in dark grey uniformed overalls - I had seen three so far at various points. None of them were warriors.

This particular one was scrapping with his shovel until two patrolling warriors walked past. He immediately bowed a couple of times and backed off. The two warriors walked past as if he didn't exist. When they had walked a distance, the wolf in the overalls went back to work.

"Now that's what the life of an omega should look like." Ben said to his window.

I thought the omega was supposed to be the weakest wolf? I definitely saw at least three!

Harvey kept driving, but he had a wry smile on his face, "Night Leaf is the only place I know where omegas are kept nice and fat."

"Our omegas aren't fat." Ben argued, "They're a little pampered though. I mean compared to these guys."

"What about the omega in Morning Light?" I asked. I knew the warriors did snow duty in Morning Light too - or more like everyone did. Morning Light snow duties took a more "all hands on deck" approach. If you could crawl, you could dig.

Harvey pressed his lips together, and then he admitted, "We don't have omegas in Morning Light, exceptions being those from the Sawyer household."

Eh?

"When Sean and Priscilla Sawyer joined Morning Light, the agreement they had with our late Alpha Daniel was that Sean would be exempted from warrior duties. This was in exchange for the legal counsel they provided for our packhouse. And then later, when their son, Spencer was born, they had sent him to the boarding house at Black Forest the moment he shifted, so we were unable to roster him down for any warrior duties. Maybe Spencer leaving the pack permanently was a good thing. Weak wolves usually die within the first two years of shift - once they start patrol duties, their days are numbered." Harvey continued. His gravelly voice maintained his usual calm, making it sound like a fact of life.

"Then why do you send them out?" I asked. I thought about Dean - was Dean an omega? I tried to think who else might be considered omega. The other guys only ever called Dean that.

"In Morning Light, every male must start warrior duty from the year of their shift." Harvey explained, "Patrols run very real and regular risk of rogue attacks, and weak wolves naturally get weeded out pretty quickly."

"Sucks to be teamed with an omega." Ben realized.

Harvey nodded, "Having an omega team mate in your patrol does add pressure to all the other warriors involved. Should the omega fall prey, the team leader will have to make the call. But usually, if it's between risking good warriors and losing the omega, most deltas would be forced to sacrifice the omega. Preserving the warriors would ensure the future survival of Morning Light. Goddess knows we are short-handed as it is."

Well, maybe that was because you guys kept sacrificing your omegas.

"Omegas can help the pack a lot too." I tried to argue.

"Yeah, I know one who can play the guitar pretty well." Ben smirked.

I hit the head rest of Ben's seat.

"Ow! Sam! My brain is important!" Ben complained.

"I thought you liked Dean!" I argued.

"I do. He's my friend, but if we're under attack and I had to choose - I'd keep the warriors alive."

"Even Nix?" I asked.

Ben frowned and admitted, "That would depend on the circumstances."

And in the next second he decided, "I will keep Nix. I hate him, but I'd hate our pack being one gamma short more."

Grrr... I don't think I would ever want Ben to be in charge of life and death decisions.

"I'd have to agree with Ben." Harvey nodded, "I like Dean, but if Morning Light loses Nix, we'd be in deep sh- trouble."

"Why? Who would you save, Sam?" Ben asked when he noticed my expression through the rear view mirror, "No, don't say it. You'll save Dean."

I shook my head, wrong! "I'll save everyone."

"And get yourself killed." Ben concluded for me, "Game over. We're all f***ed."

What kind of attitude was that? Well, it was Ben, so I guess that was normal. If Ben was known for any two things aside from his genius brain, it would be his bad attitude and penchant for being the doomsayer.

"I'm the Alpha. I will protect everyone's happiness." I maintained.

"It's all fine and dandy during peace time, our pack can well afford to keep our omegas now." Ben said, "But it won't always be peace time."

See, what did I tell you? Ben was a natural doomsayer.

But Ki had ever said something in the same vein before, Night Leaf was a great place for a normal wolf to start a family, but it forces the leaders to take the brunt of supporting the pack.

"If you guys had the choice, would you rather be a normal wolf and live an easier life in Night Leaf?" I asked.

"And give up my beta rank? No way." Ben's answer was immediate, "The beta's life's the best."

It took me a spilt second to realise that Ben wasn't answering sacarstically.

What? Was today opposite day?

"What about you, Harvey?" I asked.

"This guy is a workaholic." Ben cut in, "If you take his beta job from him, he would have nothing to live for."

Harvey shook his head, "I'm not that bad."

"If he could legally marry his job, he would." Ben continued with a grin.

Harvey shook his head again, but his mouth was arranged into this usual wry smile, "I do enjoy my work though. I like the complexity and challenge, and I can't deny some of the privileges that come with it are pretty sweet."

"Yeah." Ben leaned back, both hands folded behind his head, "Betas rule."

I laughed at that.

And Harvey, naturally had to continue his essay length answer, "I also find it meaningful work - when I see my pack prosper and grow, there is a sense of fulfillment."

Model answer - as expected from my good beta.

"So you guys won't rather be born a normal wolf at Night Leaf?" I asked.

Ben made a chuffing sound, "As if we had a choice!"

Then he put down his hands and turned around to face me, "What's up with these questions, Sam? Whatcha thinking?"