Chương 280: MEETING THE MINOR ALPHAS

1 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, REFRESHMENTS Alpha Jude was tall and broad, about Ki's size. I think I shall categorize all men from now on in reference to my three Beta sizes. Ki, Harv, and Ben = L, M, and S. Anyway, Alpha Jude was an L and I had to step back because his towering form hovered too closely over me.

"My name is Jude, from the Asphalt Moon Pack next to Night Leaf." Alpha Jude smiled. I heard Ben growl so quietly, I thought at first that he was growling over the mindlink. Oh wait, he was doing that too. Over the Beta channel. Thankfully Ben didn't do anything embarrassing like try to challenge the Alpha for talking to me. Nor did he cower even a little bit. He simply stood still, hand on the small of my back.

"I'm Sam. Thanks for coming." I decided to be polite.

"Sam, isn't that a boy's name?" Jude laughed.

"How old are you?" What did the guy want? Okay, I know I said he was the youngest full alpha in our Green Packlands, but he was at least Flynn and Hank's age. (I. e. old.) Didn't adults know it was rude to ask a lady her age? Or perhaps he simply saw me as a kid shooting my mouth off at the podium just now.

"15," I answered.

"How about you?"

"15... plus 10." Jude flashed another smile. He had a dimple. For some reason it annoyed me. Why couldn't he just have said 25? And what's with the practiced smiles? Was he a grown-up version of Nix?

"So, James... He's your mate?" Jude asked. I nodded.

"Do you know him?"

"Who wouldn't know him?" Jude laughed again. So was that a yes or a no? This fellow seemed to be incapable of answering questions directly.

"Does he know you?" I asked again.

"We've met." Jude answered with a light shrug. I wondered if Jude knew how to say the words 'yes' or 'no'. I tried again. Let's keep it very simple.

"Would you like a cookie?" Jude scoffed a little.

"I'm not into sweets." WTH. What had sweets got to do with cookies? I put the cookie on my plate. I would have put more stuff, but I suddenly lost my appetite.

"Yo, Alpha Princess." Please don't be another weirdo.

"Yo! Jude! My man!" Jude and the fat alpha shook hands and clapped each other on the back.

"Did I just see Jude working his charm on the Alpha Princess?" Fat Alpha said. No. I'm sure that was not what you saw. Jude smirked.

"What do you want, Fatso?" If the fat alpha was offended, he didn't show it. In fact, he responded rather calmly, as if that was his name. OMO, could that even be possible? Alpha Fatso. I considered it carefully.

"I just came to say hi, and give my condolences."

"Hi, I'm Sam. Thanks," I said.

"What's your name?" Alpha Fatso smiled and said, "I go by Big Mac." Alpha Big Mac. I couldn't say it was an improvement from Alpha Fatso, but who was I to judge? And by the way, this was another guy who didn't answer a straight question. I asked his name, not what he went by. Ultimate test.

"Alright, Alpha Big Mac, do you want a cookie?" Alpha Big Mac laughed loudly. His laughter boomed across the hall like I just made the funniest joke ever.

"Do I want a cookie? Do you think a little itty-bitty cookie would be enough for Big Mac?"

"No," I answered quietly, careful to keep my impatience at bay. See, I knew how to answer a yes-or-no question, unlike the two people in front of me. I'm beginning to wonder if all minor alphas had a problem with yes-and-no questions. How did they graduate from high school? Big Mac laughed over-loudly again.

"She's cute, huh?" Jude said to him.

"I don't know, man." Big Mac recovered from his bout of inexplicable humor.

"Hey, Princess, how old are you?" Wow, they were both rude too.

"15," I answered.

"How old are you?"

"I'm legendary, princess. Legendary," Big Mac declared. Last I checked, "legendary" wasn't even a number. I hoped Ben was keeping a straight face behind me, because if the feeling I sensed through my mindlink was anything to go by, Ben was thinking something rude. Big Mac rudely turned to Jude and said, "She's just a pup, bro. 15! You gotta wait at least 3 years to tell."

"To tell what?" I asked. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I've been waiting for my soulmate for a long time, princess," Jude told me. Of course, why did I think he would have been able to produce a straightforward answer?

"I can wait three more years." Jude winked at me, and then the two of them walked away.

"What the heck is wrong with them?" Ben grumbled. I relaxed and laughed then.

"I think they're suffering some kind of cognitive incompetence." Ben laughed at that.

"Ben?" Oh, someone new. This time it was a girl. She was wearing a black low-cut dress and a red paper poppy. I guessed she was a student from New Leaf. She looked a little older than me.

"Oh, hi, babe," Ben said. Babe? Cool. I finally get to meet one of Ben's babes. Very pretty. She looked at me and then back at Ben.

"Whatcha doing here?" Ben didn't move towards her, nor did he remove his hand from my back. I stepped out of his grasp with my cookie. Ben's babe hadn't looked happy to see me. I didn't take it personally, though. Call it a woman's intuition, but I doubt she would be happy to see any girl close to Ben. Okay, fine, I never really had a strong woman's intuition, but even I could sense I was in the way.

"My Dad is the Alpha for Evergreen Blood Pack," she said, tossing her head towards the direction of some Minor Alphas. She looked at me and smirked just a very little bit. Her dad looked like he was in the middle of discussing something important, and from the uniformed black mourning suits of his companions, it was next to impossible for me to differentiate them without effort. I decided to go with the lazy way and let Wolfie register them. {Weak Alphas}, Wolfie decided.

Meanwhile, Ben remained frozen on the spot, unspeaking. It was kind of awkward. I bet Ben's babe must be wondering why she hooked up with such a cold and unmoving guy. Even I felt he was being pretty unfriendly to his babe.

"So... you wanna go hang out or something?" Ben's babe finally asked. She tilted her head coyly and offered Ben a flirtatious smile. I decided to eat my cookie. The cookie was yummy, but the moment I crunched into it, I realized I was also pretty thirsty. I looked around for the drink stand. Ben suddenly moved then, as if snapping out of whatever it was that was going on in his head.

"I'll get it, Sam." He'll get what? But before I could even ask him, he had left. Ben's babe growled at me. I could tell immediately she was the type of girl with very complicated mixed feelings. Flirting and smiling one moment and then growling the next. Her father and the other minor alphas were by her side almost immediately. Unlike Jude or Big Mac, they were rather ordinary men.

"Calista, sweetheart, what's wrong?" One of the men said. He had a moustache. Okay... This was bad. I looked carefully at all the men stepping forward with him. Even up close, I would never be able to remember their faces, much less their names. Ben's babe, aka Calista, pouted but didn't answer. Calista, what a beautiful name!

"Why don't you introduce me to your friend?" Calista's dad said.

"She isn't my friend! She's my rival," Calista said, stomping her foot. Finally, someone who could speak her mind directly. Well, maybe a little too directly. Her dad laughed indulgently.

"Now, now, my dear. This is Alpha Kingsley's daughter, right?" He looked at me and smiled. Why was he asking something when he already knew? I nodded to confirm it.

"That was some speech there," one of the alphas said. Let's call him Alpha 1.

"Yes, you seem very popular with the students here," Calista's father said.

"She's not popular!" Calista protested.

"She doesn't even come to this school." Calista's dad didn't reprimand her for interrupting him, or contradicting him, or being rude.

"But the kids called her the alpha princess. Not just the kids, the folks from Night Leaf behind me were shouting too."

"You know, I've been hearing rumors that her dad planned to hand over Night Leaf to her." Another random alpha, from now on known as Alpha 2, said.

"A female Alpha? What next?" Calista's dad laughed.

"Doubt it. She did say her mate was Alpha Lorent's boy." Alpha 1 said.

"And I did hear they were betrothed recently."

"Not waiting for her soulmate to show up?" Yet another alpha asked.

"I'm really surprised that Alpha Kingsley would agree to it, but I guess he had no choice. Better to secure his pack's future with the Lorents. I know I would."

"See that, Calista?" Calista's father said.

"That's the reality and fate of the alpha's daughter. You mate who you need to mate."

"I heard there is a strong likelihood that she could have been Jude's mate," Alpha 1 said.

"Poor Jude. Looks like he waited for nothing." Alpha 2 said.

"I mean, a Lorent young alpha would beat him down anytime!" Alpha 1 frowned, though.

"Pity. He waited so long." At this point, I began wondering if there was an invisibility spell on me so that these alphas were talking as if I was not there, but I kept a tight rein on my wolf. {I can beat them up easy!} Wolfie informed me. Luckily, Ben returned with a drink in hand. He took my plate and handed the drink to me. He looked really cheesed off. His wolf was on the surface too. The other men didn't fail to notice Ben at all.

"Daddy, this is Ben," Calista said. She fluttered her lashes.

"The guy I've been dating. Can I stay out with him later? Just for a bit, I promise I'll be home before midnight."

"No thanks," Ben said.

"Wha- but Ben..." Calista whined. Ben looked annoyed. Calista's dad growled, "So you're dating my daughter?"

"Not anymore." Ben answered back coldly. His eyes had darkened. His wolf... I wondered who cheesed Ben off so bad.

"What the hell does that mean?" Calista's Dad growled even deeper.

"Daddy, stop it! If you scare him away, I will hate you forever!" Calista seemed to believe her daddy was the bad guy. Guess again, babe. I looked at Ben, and then at Calista's dad. I guess they could fight it out. Ben would quite definitely win. Calista's dad's mustache started twitching. He was that mad.

"How dare you date my daughter!" I couldn't help but stare. I had never seen a mustache twitching in anger before. It was hard not to laugh (but I didn't.)"I didn't know she was your daughter. I don't even know her name." Ben shrugged nonchalantly. Calista gasped.

"How could you! Ben! That's mean." Ben shrugged.

"You didn't mind it before." Calista pointed at me.

"It's because of her, isn't it?" Wait, what? What had this got to do with me? Oh no... If Ben pinned this on me, I would bite off his head.

"I'm a beta. I've told you before, babe, I only live for my work," Ben answered.

"Ben!" Thankfully, this time it was a familiar voice. It was Beta Lucas... and Dad and Alpha Lorent, and even Uncle Louis and their mates. Ben frowned, looking a lot less thankful than I was.

"It's fine, I got this, Dad."

"Alphas, Lunas, and Beta Lucas too... This is your boy?" Calista's father asked.

"Yes," Beta Lucas answered. He narrowed his eyes at Ben. Oh boy, Ben was in trouble, and I mean grounded for at least a fortnight type of trouble.

"Sam, I enjoyed your speech. My wolf was very impressed." Alpha James tried to diffuse the situation by changing the subject.

"But my Luna and I have to take our leave." Luna Edith stepped up and gave me a quick hug. I was a little shocked by the gesture.

"Ah yes, I mean thank you. Thank you for coming." I managed. Lame, I know. Don't judge me. I was hugged off guard. I waved at their departure, and they waved back just before exiting the hall. Beta Lucas walked them out so he couldn't continue on Ben's case. I looked at Ben. He should get out of here while he could. Although, he did kind of deserve it, dating girls without learning their names and all. I stood on the fence, undecided if I should help him out of this one.

"Congratulations, I just heard of your daughter's betrothal." Maybe it was Alpha 1. The men had changed positions when Dad and the others came, and now I wasn't sure which number I tagged him with earlier. Uncle Louis was staring at me a little too hard. I saw Aunt Jade tugging at his arm, as if to pull his attention away. She gave me an apologetic smile which I managed to return. And then suddenly my mindlinks went crazy. It all started with a spark: NIX: {Princess I caught you two. Big noisy f**ers.} And then it was as if all my mindlinks fired up at full power...