Chương 238: 15 JELLY BEANS LEFT

VERY CHERRY As luck would have it, the next item on the agenda was our merged pack name. Of course everyone had an opinion. It could be all three pack names combined in some order. E. g., Leaf Lorent Light Pack. It could also be just the top pack. E. g., Lorent Pack. Or it could be anything else. E. g., Green Pack, which was really uninspired, but it's just an example. And of course, no one could agree.

CRUSHED PINEAPPLE STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE TOP BANANA CAFE LATTE JALAPEÑO Five whole jelly beans were spent listening to everyone share their thoughts on the pack name. TUTTI FRUTTI Finally, Dad asked me, "What do you think, Sam? It's going to be your pack." Urgh, I was afraid he would say that. I just wanted something everyone would be happy with.

"If you could name it anything you want, what would it be, Alpha?" Ben asked.

"Anything?" I asked.

"Jelly Bean Pack," I said and laughed.

"Seriously, Alpha," Ben scolded. Hahahaha. You should have seen the looks on all the elders' faces. Hahahaha. If I could name the pack anything I want? {Moon Bell}"Well, Sam?" Dad asked. I took a deep breath and looked out at the full moon. The others looked out with me.

"Moon Bell," I answered. There was silence.

"It isn't very scary sounding, is it?" I joked.

"The Moon Bell Pack." Beta Lucas tested it on his tongue.

"After your Luna, Goddess?" Ki asked. Arugh, was it? I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. Stupid Wolfie. I should have known better than to blurt out whatever she suggested. Lovesick puppy. Gah!

"I must say it's a peculiar name," Beta Lucas said, "but I don't see why not."

"We can keep our original pack names in our towns," I said, "to mark the packs' history." The elders nodded immediately to that. History was important to them. Then Alpha James said, "Perhaps this would be the only way we can move forward." He sounded disappointed. I knew he wanted to name the pack Lorent, and if not, share the name with the other two packs but with Lorent in front. BUT he must also have realized that this was not about to happen. Not if anyone else involved had a say (and they did).

FRENCH VANILLA We were at jelly bean number 20 now, in case you've lost count. I've never wanted the jelly beans to finish as much as I did tonight. We were way into the a. m. of the next day now, and I couldn't help but feel surprised that Mate was still here.

"Don't you have a match tonight?" I leaned over to him and asked. Mate shook his head, growling just a bit.

"My match is tomorrow night." I wondered what I should say in response to that. Good luck? Break a leg? Have fun? I was so tired I couldn't think straight, and I had to admit the smell of Mate's clothes when I leaned over made me feel suddenly very sleepy. My eyes actually fell shut on their own. I think my head fell forward too, but I woke up with a jerk—and head-butted Mate in the chin. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Mate swore just a little, then growled, "Are you hurt?" His hand touched my head, but my head was fine. For the entire third-grade year, my gang had called me Coconut Head—and for good reason too. But his touch and smell were very calming. I felt my eyelids grow heavy with fatigue. Naturally, I pushed him away.

"You're making me sleepy." Dad looked at me. He seemed to be considering something serious.

"You've had a long day, Sam. And we've already made significant progress. Let's adjourn the meeting here."

"I'm fine! I still have more jelly beans!" I protested.

"Even if you're fine, Sam, let us old men rest," Beta Lucas said. There was a bit of laughter. I guess I really wasn't the only one barely holding out. Even the laughter around the table sounded washed out.

"Son, I need to speak to you after this," Dad said. Uh oh, was Rebel in trouble? Was it because I cried?

"Ah, Dad, Rebel must be tired too." I tried to excuse my mate.

"Maybe you could talk to him tomorrow morning?"

"I won't be here tomorrow morning," Rebel answered calmly.

"And I am technically sleeping right now, so tonight is fine." Stupid, can't you see I'm trying to protect you? You're in trouble. Whenever Dad used that tone, it meant somebody was going to get it from him.

"Don't worry about me." Rebel gently lifted a lock of my hair, letting it slide between his fingers before bringing it up to his lips.

"Goodnight, Princess." Then his tone hardened to its usual steel.

"Ben, take the Princess back to her family's apartment." I didn't want to go. Ha! Ben would always follow my will. So why was he getting up and coming over? Ben scooped up the last seven jelly beans and returned them to the tube. Grrr.... If I went with Ben... I looked at Rebel once more. Then I looked at Dad. They were both wearing the same stubborn Alpha expression. Fine, I'm going. I'm too tired to be dealing with this!

"Goodnight, everyone. I'll take my leave first," I said to the rest of the room. The Betas and Deltas stood up and bowed. I made a quick bow too because these were my elders. Ben picked up the rest of my things and waited by the door.

"Why are you so keen for me to go?" I complained the moment we were outside.

"The faster you leave, the faster your Dad can beat Luna up for making you cry." Ben smirked.

"Ben!" I flared at him.

"Nobody makes my Alpha cry." Ben growled lowly at me.

"Not even my Luna." Ben's wolf. I growled back. Ben and I had run together ever since I could remember. Our wolves had a natural affinity I couldn't deny. I guess it was like Dad and Beta Lucas' wolves. Dad had said how Beta Lucas had grown up together with him. Their two families had been together as Alpha and Beta for generations. There were records that our forefathers had even come from the Colored Mountains together. For all we knew, our two families could have been together since the dawn of the first wolves!

(Of course I'm exaggerating.) Beta Lucas was a really bad wolf when he was younger. You couldn't tell right now, but he was apparently quite the accomplished troublemaker in his younger days. Still, he was the Beta's eldest son, and Dad was the Alpha's eldest son. Both of them were born the same year and shifted less than a month apart. They were pretty much inseparable ever since. When I had first heard this story, I thought perhaps this was like Dean and me. Dean and I were like twins!

I told Dad this, but Dad had scoffed at it.

"Sam, only a Beta wolf would be able to run fast enough to keep up with your Alpha wolf." Beta Lucas had even followed Dad out from Night Forest. Dad had always felt bad because Beta Lucas' parents never quite accepted Beta Lucas' decision. Actually, they told him "no," but he ran away, leaving his younger twin brother to take over for him as Beta... Omo, did that make Beta Larson his twin brother? So Ben wasn't alone all day—he was with his cousin? And bubble-bath-loving Oscar was Ben's cousin?

The dots suddenly connected. Newsflash: Beta Lucas was Beta Larson's twin brother. Lucas and Larson. Never mind the matching names! They all had the same emerald-green eyes and black hair. I was an idiot to only notice that now.

"Come on, Sam," Ben said impatiently. Yes, Mr. Bossy. But I followed him without a word. Hey, wait, this wasn't the way back to our family apartment.

"Shhh..." Ben warned me. We had gone into another room and then out to the balcony, and were now backtracking toward the conference room from outside!

"What are you doing?" I whispered to him.

"Do you think your Dad would punch him?" Ben asked. He had an evil glint in his eye. That's it! I've found the common trait that Ben's wolf and Mate's wolf had that Wolfie liked so much! The thing that made Wolfie excited that something fun would happen. Ben's wolf was bad. He was probably evil too. But I'm not one to judge, especially since my Wolfie had been excitedly and rather enthusiastically referring to it as "fun" whenever she sensed them surfacing.

"I don't want to watch my Dad and Mate fight," I tried to emphasize to my childhood friend.

"Really? Don't you wonder who would win?" Ben asked. Actually...

"How would we see it without them sensing us?" I asked. Ben smirked. He took out his phone and turned on the camera in video mode. Then he carefully slipped it onto the edge of the conference room window.

"We have to go. I'll double back for my phone later," Ben told me. We quickly left.

"I'll text you the video clip later." Ben handed my phone back to me. We were back on the regular corridors on the way back to the apartments.

"Too bad there's no sound," I said. Ben chuckled.

"Yeah."

"Where are you staying?" I asked.

"I'm bunking with Oscar. Ki and Harv are in one of the guest rooms," Ben answered. I nodded. So Ben was staying with his cousin, and Ki and Harvey were treated well enough not to be sent to the servant/warrior quarters. Ben used a key card to open our family apartment.

"Do you know which room is yours?"

"Yeah. Probably." Now that he mentioned it, I realized I had no idea.

"The first door," Ben said. I nodded.

"Don't forget to charge your phone," he reminded me, "especially if you want to see the video when you wake up."

"You're evil," I told him. Ben laughed.

"No, I'm manipulative. There is a difference." Eh, what?

"But don't worry, Alpha. I'm your Beta. I will manipulate everything to your advantage." Ben passed me my file and tube of jelly beans, whatever was left of them anyway.

"Goodnight, Alpha." Then he shut the door in my face. Grrrr.... Hahaha. He dared to shut the door in his Alpha's face? So fun. His wolf was present tonight. I can't wait for him to shift! My wolf was going to beat his wolf up!