GONE TOO FAR

SATURDAY, 13 FEBRUARY, AFTER THE AFTER PARTY

Ben and Lizzy were having a stay-over at their place for the guys and girls respectively, but we were just lounging in front of the fireplace, eating the party leftovers, and looking at our phones.

"I need to take Cindy home now." Dean told us.

"Yeah, okay Romeo." Ben smirked, "Go on."

Dean looked around for an adult, "Urm, it's kind of far you know. Can you give us a ride out?"

Ben shrugged, "If you needed a ride, you should have gone with Flynn or Hank."

Dean kept silent.

It was late, and Jude's pack wasn't in a safe part of the packlands, "Come on, Dean. I'll help you find a ride."

Ben got up, "Fine, I'll drive."

"You can't!" Lizzy said immediately, "Dad said the guys are only allowed into the house if you're there."

"Can't you guys wait here till Ben gets back?" Dean asked.

"We can't do that!" Jonah panicked, "This is a girl's house."

This made all of us laugh.

"Let's not overstay our welcome and overtax our host." Shannon said sensibly,

Okay... I WAS going to ask Ki to send Dean and Cindy home, but now I wondered if that would overtax Ki.

Ki had been cleaning and cooking and serving non stop. I could hear him in the kitchen working quietly even now. He would probably wait for the last guest to leave before cleaning up this leftover party. It didn't seem fair to make him drive out for an extra two hours.

I was stumped.

"Maybe you guys can wait on the porch at the Beta's house till Ben gets back." Angela suggested sweetly.

"Grrrr... You just have to make trouble for everyone!" Tim snapped at that. The weather had been mild tonight, but it was still after midnight, so everything had turned icy. I stifled a yawn.

Just at that moment, I heard the rumble of motorbikes drive up our porch.

Everyone perked up to listen to the unfamiliar sound.

I heard Ki open the kitchen sliding door and step out onto the porch. Savy went over to the sliding doors and drew the curtains so we could all have a good look.

But I didn't have to look to know who they were. I walked over to slide open the doors to meet them.

Out on the patio, Ki was berating the two warriors, "If you call yourself warriors, why are you running here in the dead of the night to whine like brats?"

"You and Rebel hadn't come home for days!" Jax said.

"If you could call that a home. We really don't belong there." Neil said, "Isn't there some way we could stay with you, at least till Rebel gets back from the rogue hunt?"

Ki was wearing his smile like a mask, but his tone didn't sound happy in the least, "This is Alpha Kingsley's home. I don't have the authority to accept guests here. And even if I did, I wouldn't accept the both of you - are you sure you aren't running away from trouble?"

"Trouble?" Jax asked a little too nervously, "What kind of trouble do you mean, bro?"

Neil shook his head, the way an old lion might, "Well, what can we say, beta? When have we ever NOT been in trouble?"

Ki's smile did not waver, "What should I do with you?"

I was sure Ki knew exactly what he wanted to do with them, but I had my own plans.

"Neil, Jax!" I called and stepped out to the patio, "You're just in time."

"Princess?" Jax looked surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I live here." I answered simply. I gave them a minute to take it in, and then I said, "You can stay if you do whatever I say. Since Bell isn't around, you can be my slaves instead."

"Slaves?" Jax all but spat out, "You can take away my life, but you can't take away my freedom!"

Neil, who was the more reasonable of the two, sang a different tune, "Alright, alright, princess. We'll be your slaves."

"Now I know you two are definitely in trouble." Ki mused aloud to himself, "I have a good mind to send you back right now."

"Please let us be your slaves, Princess!" Jax decided.

I didn't give them a chance to change their minds, "Then its settled. First send my friends, Dean and Sandy home."

Perfect timing! Sandy stepped out to get a closer look. Dean tried to pull her back, but got pulled out instead.

"Cindy?" Neil asked.

"Yeah, Cindy." I corrected quickly, "Then come straight back when you're done."

"Yeah, alright." Neil agreed. "You're the boss. Come on, Cindy, I'll send you back. Jax can send your little boyfriend."

Dean did not look comfortable about his arrangement at all.

"Don't worry, Dean." I tried to assure him, "Neil and Jax are great. Plus they will definitely get you and Sandy home safely."

"I believe her name is Cindy, goddess." Ki smiled, he was in a good mood again.

I nodded, "Yes, Cindy."

Dean hesitated.

"Er... Brother, maybe you should stay over with us." Darlyn suggested.

Cindy had already gotten onto Neil's bike. I couldn't quite read her expression, but she hadn't hesitated.

"Last one back buy the drinks, Jax!" Neil shouted as his engine sputtered to life, and he was gone, the deep throttle of his bike reverberating through the quiet winter night.

Dean stood there watching his date ride away into the night.

"Come on, runt." Jax swung his leg over his own bike without a moment to lose, "You can't possibly live further than Cindy. I'll get you home chop chop!"

"Yeah, Romeo. Chop chop." Tim snickered from the side.

Dean still looked wholly unconvinced.

"Go on, we don't have have all night." Ben's patience was at its limit.

"No, wait. I think I'll stay here with you guys." Dean decided, "Since Cindy is already on her way home. I might as well."

The guys paused, almost as if they were reluctant, and then Shannon sighed and said, "If its okay with Ben, I guess."

Ben shrugged, "Whatever."

"Yes!" Jax was triumphant, "I win!"

"Come with me, Jax." Ki instructed, his expression back to a smiling mask.

I watched Ki walk Jax into the kitchen and slide the door firmly shut behind them.

"Come on in, Sam. It's freezing outside." Shannon urged.

Oh right. I quickly re-entered the living room. Dean came in after me. Ben shut the sliding door firmly behind us.

"Who were they, Sam?" Angela asked.

"They look like they're from the biker pack." Delilah said in a staged whisper, as if she didn't want Jax to hear it.

The biker pack was Jude's pack. They were loud, mean, and big. Yeah, Neil and Jax looked just like one of them. They weren't even in the Lorent Warrior jackets tonight - which would be their only shred of respectability, I suppose. Hahaha.

"They're Bell's bodyguards." I answered, "Since Bell is away, I guess I'll borrow them for a bit."

"Why, Sam?" Ben immediately narrowed his eyes at me, "What are you planning on?"

I grinned and mindlinked my secret to Ben, "Motorbike lessons."

Ben grinned at that and mindlinked back, "Me too."

I nodded.

"Okay..." Tim said, "Let's all just stand here and watch Sam and Ben have their moment in awkward silence."

What? We all laughed.

"Hurry up and finish the food." Ben snapped, "It's late."

I needed to use the washroom, so I left the group. I met Dean on the way back to the living room, "The washroom is straight down there."

"Er, Sam, can we talk?" Dean said

Okay... Was Dean going to ask for a ride home now? I hoped Jax was still around.

"Are you mad at me?" Dean asked.

Eh? What? I shook my head, "What are you talking about Dean?"

Dean shook his head, "No, it's nothing."

But it was definitely something.

"What? Tell me what's the matter?" I demanded.

Dean sighed, "I don't know, maybe its nothing."

"Tell me. I'd be the judge of that." I told him.

"What did you tell Ben after our talk on the bus?" Dean asked.

I tried to remember and ended up shaking my head, "Nothing."

"You must have said something." Dean scratched the back of his head.

I tried to remember again and shrugged, "I really don't remember, Dean. Why?"

"Well..." Dean shrugged and his shoulders hunched a little, "Ben was pretty mean today."

"Ben's kinda moody, you know how he is." I tried to soothe it over. Sigh, my beta and his stormy moodswings!

"No... I mean, at first I thought he was just in a bad mood, but..." Dean had to pause for a moment to take a breath before he burst out, "You saw what happened just now in the pool, Sam."

Actually, I didn't. It was really chaotic.

"One of the the Morning Light guys who pantsed you?" I hazzarded.

"Yeah, but our guys were in it too!" Dean's voice broke and octave, and then he made a low whining sound, "Never mind Sam. Just pretend it had nothing to do with you."

"Why? What has it got to do with me?" Seriously, what?

"Don't you see, Sam?" Dean was gesturing wildly now, his frustration evident, "Ben was out to get me from the moment I broke up with you. And the other guys will always follow Ben now."

Wait what? Who broke up with who?

"Never mind Sam. I'm not blaming you." Dean calmed himself and offered me a small smile, "It's my own fault for being the omega."

"You're not the omega." I said at once, "And Ben doesn't think of you that way either. Ben had always admired you. Don't you remember? You were the reason he picked up the guitar. He watched you play at camp and wanted to learn..."

"That was a long time ago, Sam. We've grown up now." Dean brushed it off.

But...but... even if it were a few years back, we were all still us right?

"Sam, we've shifted. We aren't puppies anymore." Dean sighed, "We need to move on."

"Urm... okay." I gave up. Maybe Dean was right. For one thing, it was hard for me to understand Dean lately. Maybe its because Dean grew up. And Ben grew up. And everyone grew up. Everyone except me.

I sighed, "Okay, Dean. Whatever."

"Sorry Sam." Dean said, "The last thing I wanted was for you to be hurt."

I waved my hand to brush it off, "I'm fine, don't worry."

I was the alpha. I could take it. Even if everyone around me grew up and left me behind, I'll be okay, right?

"Alright." Dean decided, "But if you need to talk, I'll always be here for you, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks. You too." I promised.

Dean's smiled bitterly, "Yeah, if you ever find the time...anyway, I need to use the washroom. It's that way right?"

"Yeah." I nodded, "Just straight down."

"Okay, see you." Dean gave me an awkward nod and turned to go.

"Yeah. see you." And I left, returning quickly back to the living room.

I can't explain it, but in that moment, I felt like a fish that had been caught and freed. I hadn't even realized I couldn't breathe till I was back in the water, swimming away back to the safety of my group.

I nearly ran, but my house wasn't THAT large. I reached the living room in a blink of an eye. Except for Dean, my friends were all where I had left them, lounging across the sofas and on the carpet around the coffee table. Snacking on the leftovers, sipping sodas, and texting on their phones.

"Alpha is here." Ben drawled lazily.

"Yo, Alpha." Some of the guys made equally lazy greetings. Most of them barely looked up from their screens. It was like we were all in the same room, but texting each other.

"Oh whoa, Tim." Shannon made of show of nearly spitting out his soda, "You've got a really clear photo of Dean in the pool."

"Where?" Lizzy immediately started scrolling on her feed.

Tim looked very proud of himself, "No s***, I nearly dropped my phone in the water. But it was worth it for that shot of Dean's tomato head."

The guys laughed.

It wasn't like them - okay, maybe Tim, but none of the other guys would do this.

"You guys have gone too far!" I told them. Somebody had to!

"He deserved it." It was Lizzy who spoke.

I blinked. What?

Lizzy proceeded to explain, "Dean gatecrashed the party. The rest of us - Morning Light and Night Leaf had to earn Pack Contribution Points to buy an invite to the pool party. Dean just showed up."

"I had to run errands the whole week for the packhouse kitchen to earn enough points for a ticket." Shannon exclaimed.

"We had to pack care packages for two night straight!" Angela said. Delilah and Darlyn nodded solemnly next to her.

"Wait, what contribution points?" Did I just gatecrash the party too?

Luckily, Ben was quick to clue me in,"The pool party was the FAO's initiative to reward young wolves for their voluntary efforts towards the pack. We'll have more parties in the future, and anyone who wants an invite could earn one by taking odd jobs from the Party Mission Board. It's the fairest way to decide who got to attend our parties."

And the fastest way to get lots of volunteers to do the thousand and one odd jobs around the pack, I bet. Oh Ben! sometimes I'm not sure whether to praise or scold this beta of mine.

"On top of that, he brought a plus one." Lizzy added, "That's two tickets he didn't work for."

"But we had enough food and space for two more." I tried to reason on Dean's behalf, "And it's kinda sad to miss a party all your friends are at."

"But Sam," Savy spoke up now, "It's not fair for EVERYONE ELSE who worked hard for an invite. Dean isn't the only one who had to sit out."

"Jay was devastated" Delilah laughed, so I knew she was only half joking.

"He kept procrastinating and then he forgot." Angela rolled her eyes, "Even though I reminded him like, ten times."

"I reminded him like, 17 times, okay?" Delilah said.

"Even Carlie had to babysit to earn her points." Angela said.

Carlie babysitting? In what way was that safer than leaving your pup on its own?

"Anyway, he shouldn't have brought her. If she's just for fun. Don't bring her home." Shannon quipped.

Eh? Was there such a rule? Apparently, among my guy friends, yes.

"Yeah, you don't see the rest of us parading our passing girlfriends around the pack." Tim smirked.

"Guys shouldn't bring their trash home." Ben agreed.

I raised a brow at them. If those girls were trash, why were you dating them? Stoopid boys. And may I just point out, Cindy wasn't one of the idiots who misbehaved tonight!

"Er... I don't think she's just a passing girlfriend... Or trash, or anything like that." Darlyn meekly tried to clarify.

"I'm quite sure he's HER passing boyfriend." Delilah said. And the other girls laughed.

"Sorry, Darlyn." Shannon said sympathetically, "I doubt it'll last more than a month"

"Then shouldn't somebody tell Dean?" I asked, "I think he's serious about her."

Shannon rolled his eyes, "Sam, it's not like we didn't try."

"Dean isn't even on talking terms with Drew anymore, just because Drew tried to warn him off her." Lizzy said.

"Yeah." Drew looked down.

Jonah patted him clumsily on the shoulder, "You still have us."

"He's not your only brother." Shannon promised.

"Bros before hoes." Tim lifted his can of soda.

Drew lifted his can in response, "Yeah."

Lizzy shrugged and said to the rest of us girls, "That's the bro code for you."