TWO BUTTERFLIES IN CONVERSATION

4 MARCH, FRIDAY, SOME EARLY AM HOUR

I felt my heart hammering in alarm. I couldn't smell anything, so I was dream traveling again - which didn't help me figure anything out.

After last night, I couldn't tell where I'd wake up anymore. Most times, I'd wake up where Bell last slept, BUT I've also woken up at some pretty random places too, some worse than others.

I never really thought about it before, but we're they really just random places? Sometimes it felt like I went straight to where I wanted to be - like the vampire hunt at Black Forest (although I regretted it almost immediately.) Sometimes it felt more like it was where I was needed, like the rogue king's summer house, so I could meet Roy. I mean what kind of coincidence was it that he just happened to pass me a map and crystal key to the warlock lands?

Sometimes, I had no idea why I appeared where I did. Like last night.

I could hear the shower running next door, but the room was otherwise quiet. Carefully, I poked my face out of the covers and recognized the familiar room...

I can't describe the relief!

I was in Mate's room, specifically his room in Night Leaf, on the second floor of the Alpha House. Yay and whew! I sat up just feeling the relief wash over me like a wave.

{Mate! ~❤️ }

Shushhhhh, Boo! I quickly double-checked to make sure our mating bond was sealed tight.

And then the shower stopped and the bathroom door crashed open, {KI! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?}

For some reason, I dropped back under the sheets. Don't ask me why. I had moved purely out of instinct at the loud bang when the door opened.

{Mate!❤️ }

I resisted the urge to jump out at Bell.

What should I do? I had accidentally dream traveled to my mate's bedroom just as he was getting out of the shower.

I should've gotten off the bed and out the door the first chance I got. I mean, now I'm stuck here under his sheets.

And even if I had stayed in bed, I realized I should've at least not covered up all the way - I could've pretended to be asleep...

{And gotten a peek. ~❤️ }

ACK! Omo. That wasn't me. It was Boo!

I flattened myself under the sheets in a bid to not be there.

{KIIIII!!!!} Bell bellowed into the mindlink. I heard drawers opening and slamming, {KI! Where the hell are f***ing towels?}

Awww... my mate's so cute when he's mad.

{So naked too. ~❤️ }

Two quiet knocks on the door and Ki let himself in, "Did you need something, Luna?"

"The towels are missing." Bell growled lowly.

I heard Ki go into the bathroom before returning 2 seconds later, "These towels, Luna?"

"Yes. F*** you, Ki." Bell replied.

"You're most welcome, Luna." Ki demurred.

"Is my princess in bed?" Bell asked while Ki moved around his room.

I froze. Yes. In YOUR bed. But my presence went largely unnoticed for some reason.

I heard the drawers quietly shuffle and an odd book or object being slid into the shelf as Ki's magic took place, "Yes. Goddess went straight to bed. I imagine she must be exhausted. It has been a long day for her, and the fight alone must have been all-consuming... Would you prefer the grey suit or the black one?"

There was a pause like Bell was deciding.

"Black. Is everything ready for our meeting with Ed?" Bell's low voice eventually answered.

{Mate!❤️ }

Shut up, Boo!

"We are ready to leave at your leisure, Luna." Ki calmly answered, "Should we bring Fluffy or Stephan along? For old time's sake?"

"Hn." Bell said.

And I realized the last bit about taking Fluffy and Stephan was a joke because Bell was amused.

"I took the opportunity to request for Lucky to be moved out just now." Ki reported then. Okay, that was out of the blue.

"Oh?" Bell asked, "How brave. I wouldn't have thought you'd bring it up when she was in that state."

"As terrifying as her powers are, Luna, my goddess has never hurt me." Ki boasted.

"And?" Bell pressed on, "Did she agree?"

"Not exactly, but she didn't disagree either." Ki said.

"Right." Bell said again, "You know the rules."

"Yes, I understand, Luna. A harem is harmless but a male hamster's presence in her room is insufferable." Ki demurred.

Bell growled a little, "If we didn't have an anti-slavery law, there wouldn't be a need for the harem!"

Oh, like the anti-slavery law was a bad thing, but the conversation did another little skip.

"It's an ingenious workaround." I could hear the smirk in Bell's voice, "Fluffy was surprisingly useful. Harv did well in assigning him as advisory."

"Yes, although it was my goddess who instructed it." Ki informed me.

Bell sounded mildly surprised, "She did?"

"Yes, Luna. Her gift of insight is impeccable." Ki boasted, "Alpha Kingsley thinks it's likely that goddess will one day surpass her own grandmother."

"Who would've thought a mastermind would be hidden behind that kind of pretty face?"

"Well, Fluffy had always been manipulative and sadistic like you." Ki pointed out lightly, "Maybe goddess noticed he was well endowed with traits of great tacticians."

"Hn." Bell acknowledged, "Well, a war is won with many advisors."

And then the conversation shifted again.

"Harv was saying it would be safer if we put Lucky up with Ben though. To minimize risk of roadkill." Ki said now. It's like their conversation flitted from one thing to the other, "You can always open a portal to summon him when you want him."

"Ben spoils him." Bell grumbled.

Ki actually laughed, just a chuckle, "You should see the new car. Lucky drives just like you when you're sloshed."

"I never get sloshed." Bell replied tersely.

"Of course not. My mistake, Luna." Ki answered placidly, "Far be it for our lovely Luna Bell to drink and drive."

"Hn." Bell said.

"Then should I make the arrangements for Lucky's move?" Which I realized was Ki's agenda all this while.

"Whatever." Bell allowed, "Just get the b***** out of her room."

Poor Ki. Was this how he had to fish out instructions from his Alpha and Luna over every little task?

Suddenly, both men became silent. Like totally silent, even the quiet sounds of their movements in the carpeted room ceased.

Complete silence was the sound of wolves made when their prey was in striking range. I held my breath when I felt a weight lean into the side of the bed.

I think I had been discovered!

Bell growled lowly, it was almost a purr, and then he very carefully turned over his quilt, just a bit to reveal my head.

Of course, I shut my eyes and pretended to sleep. But I felt his hand touch my head, {She's sleeping.}

Bell released the breath he was holding and leaned in.

Was he going to kiss me? I accidentally tensed and he froze. But he was only confirming my scentlessness.

"She's dream traveling." Bell informed Ki. The mattress dipped as he sat back up again.

Did he know I was faking it? Should I pretend to wake up? Pretend to sleep more? What should I do?

I pulled the quilt over my head again and curled up in a ball to sulk. Why was I such a kid? Why?

Bell stood up, "Hn."

"Goddess must still be tired." Ki was most empathetic.

"Let her sleep then." Bell decided magnanimously, "Hurry, I want to get dressed."

Because he couldn't put on his own clothes without help from his beta. Some alphas really took their betas as their right hand too literally.

"Will you be donning your sling, Luna?" Ki offered.

"No. The mask." Bell decided.

"Excellent choice, Luna." Ki replied dryly.

"Hn." Bell said in response... Which I've come to interpret as a reluctant laugh. Like so reluctant that instead of "ha", it came out as "hn".

My Luna was very stingy with his happy expressions.

But the point was Bell was laughing at Ki's jokes. And what more, Ki was intentionally making them for his Luna's amusement.

I don't remember them being like this the last time. I felt hope swell up in my heart for my Luna and his true beta. Maybe time really healed all wounds. Either that or laughter is really the best medicine.

Whatever it was, it felt like they were heading towards a better direction now.

"What should we do with my princess?" Bell asked over his bed, and then before Ki could answer, he said quite firmly, "Not Fluff or EJ or Neil.... Definitely not Jax. Where the hell is Harv?"

"I believe he's cosseted in a meeting with Alpha Kingsley and his betas. Alpha Kingsley wants to discuss tonight's events and draft the MOU asap." Ki answered.

"Goddess, is there no one else who isn't an idiot around here?" Bell fumed.

"Ben's at the moment with Lizzy and Savy." Ki suggested.

"Ben's even worse." Bell gritted out, "He's bound to drag my princess into some kind of trouble sooner or later."

And then the conversation flitted to a new topic, "How's the Trojan situation by the way?"

"It's going swimmingly." Ki answered. I could hear his smile from under the quilt, "They are going to drown in their debt."

"Good." Bell's hand rested on my head over the quilt, "If they come knocking, be sure to lend them whatever they need."

"Should I inform Ben to accompany our goddess for the rest of the her dream travel?" Ki flitted back to the previous conversation.

{Like two butterflies in a garden of flowers.}

I don't know why but I suddenly thought that.

"They're planning to sneak out and rejoin the dance party." Ki divulged, "As you say, Luna, Ben is always getting in trouble, but this trouble seems harmless enough."

"I suppose." Bell seemed satisfied, "Let's not keep Ed waiting."

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind." Ki placated. He opened the door for his Luna.

"Did you pack the damned jacket?" Bell asked, "Because I'm going to wring his neck with it..."

The door shut.

I waited a moment and then I sat up. Ki had left the lights on. Did he know I was awake? Did Bell? Omo. Were they just pretending they didn't know?

But I doubt they would have talked like butterflies if they weren't alone. And I felt quite sure Bell wouldn't have talked about wringing some guy's neck with a jacket.

Seriously, Bell wasn't someone to complain about Ben always getting into trouble. It was like a pot calling a kettle black.

At any rate, I got the feeling Bell's level of trouble was far more catastrophic. I mean, whoever this Ed guy was, he was in deep sh... Oh.

Ed + jacket = Lord Edward Ciara the Vampire Lord who lent me his smoking jacket last night.

Oh s***.

It was a good thing I wasn't a fire wolf huh? Omo. Hahahaha. Looks like the elephants were determined to dance tonight.

But on the bright side, I felt quite sure without a doubt now that Bell and Ki believed I was sleeping.

I sat up in Bell's bed and considered my options. I didn't have all that many. I didn't change out to pajamas before crawling into bed, so except for shoes which I had kicked off earlier, I was dressed. Anyway, my room was just upstairs.

And no, I wasn't going to rush over to rescue Ed, even though it was kind of my fault that he was going to be strangled by Bell. Maybe this would end our contract with the Ciara Covens - particularly if Bell did kill Ed. BUT it had occurred to me that Bell was not the kind of guy who would kill someone quickly, and also that he probably had some kind of plan, especially if he had the mind to take Ki along and make preparations. It was probably some kind of dastardly plan too, but sigh... Ed would probably survive it.

If I had to be perfectly honest, I was just too tired to be bothered. Whatever. I'll deal with it tomorrow - I'll deal with my parents, the harem, Wolfgang, everything...Was it too much if I just wanted to do nothing today? Was this what they meant by feeling burnt out? What a weird feeling... to be awake but not feel like doing anything.

I flopped back on Bell's bed. It would be really nice if I could smell him, but I was dream traveling so I couldn't smell anything as usual. I stared at the ceiling and the flat LED rectangular light mounted on it. Was this what Bell looked at before he slept every night? Did he even sleep at all? There was a clock by the side of his bed, "03:11"

And then I noticed that his bedside table had a single drawer in it. I used to have a bedside table with a drawer too. I kept all my treasures in it. I paused at the thought and regarded Bell's bedside drawer. If I opened it and shut it again, who would know? I wouldn't even touch anything, just look. I guess I should open and shut the drawer very slowly too - just so that I wouldn't shake up its contents.

I reached out my hand to the drawer.

Two sharp raps on the door startled me, and I retracted my hand like the drawer was hot. WTH!

"Sam? Are you awake?" Ben waited one second, and then he opened the door, "Sam?"

Lizzy and Savy spilled in from behind him.

"Oh my goddess, Ben!" Lizzy scolded, "You can't just barge into a girl's room!"

"It's Luna Bell's room." Ben shrugged.

"But Sam might be..." Lizzy started, and then she rolled her eyes at her brother, "You're such a doofus."

Savy was grinning, "Come on, Sam. Let's go to your room and change."

And suddenly, I felt the energy come back to me. I pushed off the quilt and hopped off Bell's bed, "What kind of trouble are we getting into tonight?"