Chương 94: MAKING EXCUSES

"Hi, Mrs. Beta. Jessica had something at school today, and Dean wasn't feeling well, so he went home," I dutifully reported as I met our tutor at the door of the study room.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Beta's eyes shone with concern.

"What happened?"

"He ate something bad," I told her.

"Well, looks like it's just the two of us today." Mrs. Beta smiled warmly at me.

"Yeah, ah, about that... I kinda lost my homework. I lost the whole file. Sorry." I decided to just take the blame for it, no excuses, meaning not explaining about last night.

"I was careless." Mrs. Beta frowned, but she didn't seem unhappy with me; it was her thinking frown. I could tell from the way her eyes lifted, as if in thought.

"Well, I suppose we could cancel today's lesson then. Let's go to the office; let me print a new copy for you. I'll make a copy of my notes for you too. You can study it," Mrs. Beta decided finally. Lucky! I followed Mrs. Beta to the general office. I was already planning on spending the morning in the library. I wouldn't be distracted. I would focus and finish my Lycan study work. We went up to the third floor only to find the machine out of order.

"Oh dear," Mrs. Beta murmured to herself.

"What should we do?"

"We can use the printer copier in my dad's office?" I suggested.

"I don't think he'd mind." Oh wait, then wouldn't he find out that I lost my homework? Grrr... me and my big mouth.

"Oh, that's a good idea," Mrs. Beta said. She made her way downstairs to Dad's office. Oops... Here's to Dad overlooking this as a small mistake naturally made in the process of growing up. I followed Mrs. Beta down to the second floor, almost meekly. She knocked on the door.

"Come in," my dad's voice replied to the knock.

"Good morning, Alpha," Mrs. Beta greeted.

"Oh!" Mrs. Beta stopped suddenly in surprise.

"Good morning, Alpha Lorent." I stepped out from behind her to take a look. Alpha James was seated in the guest seat in my dad's office.

"Willow, Sam, come in," Dad said. Mum and Beta Lucas were already there, so was Beta Gerald, and Harvey. I made a quick bow in greeting as I stepped in.

"Apologies for the interruption," Mrs. Beta explained gracefully.

"We only meant to use the copier. The one in the main office is under maintenance."

"I lost my Lycan homework," I added. Mum frowned gently.

"It's on your desk, sweetheart. I saw you working on it last night."

"Ah..." How should I explain it?

"I kind of lost it after that."

"It has to be somewhere around," Mum assured me.

"It couldn't have gotten far." I gritted my teeth.

"It's really gone. I'm quite sure." There were a few raised brows, but no one pressed further in front of the Lorent Alpha.

"We were just updating Alpha Lorent about the recent rogue attacks," Dad smoothly switched back to the meeting at hand.

"It seems that our rogue problem is spilling over to your pack. I've come today alone; I hope the visit will not draw further unwanted attention," Alpha Lorent said.

"Don't worry, Alpha Lorent," Beta Lucas assured him.

"We have increased our security since." Alpha Lorent sighed deeply.

"I don't know how we have come to this point."

"The situation around the Green Packlands has changed once again," Dad concurred.

"In view of these new developments, I would like once again to propose a merger of Night Leaf and Morning Light Pack. You have read the details, Alpha Lorent. With this merger, our security would be improved for the whole Green Packland."

"Yes, I've read it and you made a good argument," Alpha James replied, "but I'm afraid I have to reject it."

"May we know the reason?" Dad asked.

"For all these years, the Lorent Pack, Night Leaf Pack, and Morning Light Pack had formed a tripartite, balancing the Green Packland's power with the Lorent Pack in first position. Wouldn't this merger also propel your pack to overtake the Lorent Pack as the leading pack of the Green Packlands?" Alpha Lorent questioned.

"We are not asking for an increase in rank or power," I tried to reason with Alpha James.

"We need to do this to protect our lands and packs. If it's about rank, the Lorent Pack can be number one. If we could merge unofficially but keep separate official papers, it could work too." Stolen story; please report. Alpha James smiled but shook his head.

"Number two is not number one." I bit my lip in frustration.

"You know we had a problem at our hospital recently..." I told Alpha James about the head surgeon who would not agree to exchanging his underutilized space with the burgeoning children's wing, and how now the children's wing ran in two separate buildings of our hospital.

"We made it work, but... don't you think it could be worked out differently?" I asked. Alpha James frowned. I wondered if I had overstepped, but I needed to change his mind.

"I understand your meaning, Sam. Perhaps you would say I am selfish. But as Alpha, it is my duty to prioritize the good of my pack above all. I am sorry, Sam. I cannot agree to this merger." Eventually, it might all belong to the Lorents. I was tempted to tell him. Once Rebel comes and mates me, he would be Alpha not just of the Lorent Pack, but also the Night Leaf and Morning Light Pack. Wouldn't our merger do him a favor by establishing a system for a single Alpha to run more than one pack concurrently?

But I didn't say anything. It might not work out that way. And even if it did, I did not want to use Rebel's name to win my battles. At any rate, he might argue that if Night Leaf was the largest pack, instead of the Lorent Pack absorbing the other two packs, who was to say that it wouldn't be the Night Leaf Pack that would absorb not just the Morning Light Pack, but also the Lorent Pack? I nodded.

"I understand. Thank you for hearing me out, Alpha James. I would rest my case here, but I would like to urge you to reconsider the external benefits and how that might make this merger worthwhile for the Lorent Pack in the long run too." Alpha James nodded.

"I will not change my mind." Neither would I. But I nodded silently and stepped back. Sulking to myself, I had to concede that this was as far as I could go for now.

"Well then, if that is all, I must return to my Luna." Alpha James made a move to rise. The rest of the room rose with him.

"How is Luna Edith?" Mum inquired, perhaps in an attempt to soothe our inter-pack relations. Alpha James shook his head.

"We received sad news of our rebel son's passing."

"What?" I accidentally shouted.

"When?" I just saw him! It couldn't be that something had happened this morning!

"A few days back," Alpha James said.

"He was taken off all the fight rosters at Ventali's. My Luna mourns. We will hold a memorial service for him tomorrow. Please come if you are free." I paused, noting the deep sorrow on his face.

"We are deeply sorry to hear that." My dad responded.

"Of course we would be attending." Alpha James nodded. His eyes glassed over with unshed tears. He had been so stubborn earlier, and honestly our life without the merger was left that much more difficult because of him, but...

"Rebel isn't dead," I said quietly. The room froze.

"I'm afraid he is dead. My brother had investigated it himself," Alpha James answered.

"I know you wanted to save him, sweetheart..." My mum hugged me. I took a deep breath and gently pulled out of my mum's embrace.

"At the risk of getting myself into trouble, Alpha James, I need to tell you something." Why should I help him? Alpha James had no care for our pack having to suffer because of his opposition to our merger. But I remembered what my dad had said: never withhold good from your neighbor when it is in your hand to give it.

"Rebel is not dead. They took him off the roster because he had been sold to another coven. He starts a fight tour today, leaving from Ventali's this morning." There was silence in the room. I took out and unfolded the piece of magazine paper and handed it to Alpha James.

"These are his tour venues and dates. You might still be able to intervene while he travels." Alpha James received the magazine paper with a shaky hand.

"How?"

"Samantha..." My dad growled my name so I knew I was in trouble. Mum rubbed his back soothingly. I bit my lip and looked down. Alpha James asked, "You... How? Why?" He shook his head and murmured the realization, "We can still save him."

"Today, you said he leaves today. When?" Alpha James sounded suddenly almost desperate.

"He was supposed to be shipped out at 9: 30 a. m." I answered.

"But, urm... I..."

"You what, Sam?" Mum asked sharply.

"I crashed one of their trucks last night, so if we're lucky, it might be delayed," I reluctantly answered.

"Sam..." My dad sank back in his chair. By now, all the adults had stepped back to their positions in the office and were reseating themselves.

"You what?" My mum gasped at me. Now it was Dad's turn to rub her back.

"Yeah, I left my homework there too," I confessed to Mrs. Beta.

"Sorry, I was using it to keep one of the doors from auto-locking me in." Harvey let out a very low whistle. The rest of the adults just looked shell-shocked. Well, since I can't imagine it getting worse than this, I might as well give Alpha James the rest of it.

"Most of the doors have number locks. Try 696996. Their transport trucks look like blue refrigerator trucks. Rebel is well. They feed him three cooked meals a day. He said to tell you not to waste your time; he will get himself out." Alpha James suddenly laughed.

"That would be what he would say. He had always been stubborn."

"Like you," I muttered. Alpha James stopped laughing suddenly and looked at me.

"Talking to your son was like banging my head on a brick wall," I informed him, deciding to sidestep with a bit of humor so as not to engage the older Alpha head-on. Alpha James smiled, his unshed tears threatening to fall.

"Yes," he managed out.

"He can be quite impossible to reason with." And then Alpha James studied me very carefully.

"You met him last night? How?" I considered how I might answer him without revealing that Rebel was my mate.

"The goddess helped me." Alpha James sighed deeply.

"My Luna and I were not wrong about you, Sam. You have a pure and brave heart. Do not let old stubborn men like me change the way you choose to embrace the world."

"You are not that, Alpha James," I told him.

"You are protecting your pack's position. It was my own fault for only thinking of protecting my own without considering how to make it equally beneficial for you. I was inexperienced and did not understand. Our next proposal would do better."

"Then I will look forward to seeing it," Alpha James promised. I smiled.

"Thank you." As long as he was willing to entertain another merger proposal, we have not lost yet.

"Now I must make haste." Alpha James moved toward the door. Dad and the other adults stood up to walk him out to the car. I sat down in the nearest vacated seat. Harvey poured out some tea.

"Milk? Sugar?" I nodded to both, watching him fix my tea. It felt sort of surreal, having a Beta serve me tea. I remembered Savy saying to me, "Alphas don't serve tea." Perhaps it was true. He placed the teacup and saucer in front of me and sat in the next adjacent armchair.

"You really dropped a bomb on us, princess."

"I'm going to be so grounded," I told him miserably. Harvey smirked at that.

"I highly doubt that would keep you down." The adults returned to find us just sitting there, drinking tea quietly. It occurred to me right then that I had missed my chance of escape. Too late! I sighed and waited for the interrogation to start.