It had honestly been a lot harder than I thought, but I managed to summarize my dream into the following points:
---
In the forest
Two wolves. One midnight blue, one white.
The white one was my mate. He was covered in blood… again.
The white wolf went into the lake and came out healed.
The blue wolf and the white wolf fought.
The white wolf won.
I talked to my mate in human form.
I told him I was in Green Pack land.
He promised to come for me.
The End.
---
There was silence.
Surprisingly, Lizzy spoke first. "What was the embarrassing part? You said it was embarrassing."
I felt myself redden. Ah… Lizzy… what could I say?
"My pajamas," I managed at last. "I was wearing my pajamas."
"That's not very embarrassing," Lizzy frowned. "What was your mate wearing?"
I thought of his tight, shiny leather pants…
"Why is that important?" I asked.
"Details are important," Lizzy said.
I didn't know why the adults allowed this to continue. Surely they had more important questions.
"Pants," I decided to say.
"Oh." Lizzy looked disgruntled, but then she lifted a brow. "No shirt?"
I shrugged and shook my head.
"That's normal for a guy," Ben told Lizzy. "I don't wear a shirt to sleep either."
Lizzy rolled her eyes. "You don't wear anything to sleep!"
Talk about TMI.
My dad cleared his throat. "What do the rest of you think?"
"I think that socks are comfortable to wear on cold nights," Gamma Harry offered.
"I think Alpha meant our thoughts about Sam's dreams," Beta Lucas pointed out.
Mrs. Beta opened her big leather-bound book, flipping through the pages as if she had thought of something and wanted to check.
Laura was frowning in thought.
"So basically, Sam had three dreams," Ben listed. "The first was her mate's dream of an army of some kind. The second was meeting her mate in the forest, covered in blood. The third was meeting her mate again."
Yes. That summarized it. Good Genius.
"Who was the blue wolf?" Beta Lucas asked.
I shrugged. "I don't know."
"It's a unique color," Mrs. Beta mumbled. "Sometimes color is significant."
"Your mate was a white wolf?" Gamma Harry asked.
"Yes," I said.
"That's good! He can heal you when you have to fight," Gamma Harry concluded.
"He can do the fighting and heal himself!" my mum folded her arms and huffed.
Gamma Harry considered that and nodded. "Very good! That's even better!"
It felt like we were all really just waiting for Mrs. Beta to tell us what we were supposed to be seeing.
Finally, Mrs. Beta did speak, but she directed the question to me. "Sam, what were your feelings in the dream? Did you have any very strong feelings?"
I thought about it. I hadn't prepared for questions about feelings. "A lot of pressure, like nothing I decided would be the right thing to do. And then…"
"And then what?" Mrs. Beta asked.
I remembered waking up so mad. "We argued, so I woke up really angry."
"Sam… what did you have to decide?" Beta Lucas asked.
"It's not good to argue with your mate, Sam," Gamma Harry informed me.
"Yeah, especially since he has a badass army behind him," Jonah chuckled.
This earned him a slap on the arm from his mum, Laura.
"I had three options at first: for the blue wolf to submit, assert dominance, or do something crazy," I told them.
"What did you choose?" Jonah asked.
"I chose a fourth option—all of the above," I confessed. "But I don't think I could choose this in real life."
Mrs. Beta was nodding at her book. "I believe I understand it now."
We all looked at her expectantly.
As Laura had pointed out earlier today, a third dream was considered confirmation.
There were two points that Mrs. Beta felt the confirmation was clear about:
Firstly, that my mate was indeed involved in whatever was about to take place.
Secondly, that it would be my choices that would determine how this would take place.
Particularly, since the dynamics between two alphas were so prominent in my dreams, one of the choices I had to make would be how I would respond to my mate.
"You should submit," Jonah told me. "The girl should always submit to the guy."
I blamed Gamma Harry for his upbringing.
"You should fight back!" Lizzy told me. "Girl power! Don't let him walk all over you."
"Don't tell her what to do," Ben said. "Sam can do what she wants."
I was quite surprised by Ben, but yes, thank you.
"Sam… what would you do? Something crazy is still on the table. I don't see how you can do all of the above," Beta Lucas said, running through my options.
I remembered how hard Dumbbell pushed me down when I submitted. I also remembered how useless I was at fighting him.
Actually, both options sucked.
"Something crazy is risky," Gamma Harry pointed out. "It's not good for the relationship. The Alpha and Luna's relationship needs to be stable so the pack can feel secure in their leadership."
So I must submit for the sake of my pack? I remembered my head being pushed all the way down to the ground. I didn't want to live like that forever.
"What do you think?" I asked my parents.
"I think it's your choice to make," my dad said gravely. "You would be the one who would have to live with it."
It being the Dumbbell.
My mum said quietly, "There are advantages to being Luna too. It is not less than the Alpha position, and it's definitely safer."
I think at that moment, today's earlier episode with the rogues just played in everyone's head.
"You'll make a beautiful Luna!" Laura decided then.
"You do have many qualities of a good Luna," Mum pressed in.
"Yes, we should let the mate come fight the war!" Gamma Harry agreed heartily.
Mate said he would come in a few years. That was roughly the time we expected the war. Coincidence?
Besides this, I also had a question. "Who was the blue wolf?"
Mrs. Beta looked surprised at me. "Why, of course, that's you, Sam!"
"I'm blue?" I gasped.
"Not necessarily. It is the moon goddess's color," Mrs. Beta explained.
"Sam's the moon goddess?" Ben and Jonah exclaimed together.
Mrs. Beta shook her head. "No, no, boys. But it does mean that the moon goddess is highlighting her role."
"She has been chosen!" Laura agreed.
"Chosen… for what?" I asked.
"Who knows, my dear," Laura said. "It could be anything from leading this pack to saving the world… but I think… I think it's something to do with your bloodline."
"What?"
"True," Beta Lucas considered and agreed. "It's probably the bloodline."
Mrs. Beta nodded. "Due to the distinct and unique color, if your wolf does turn out to be blue, Sam, that would be a deviation from your natural genetics. Usually, this indicates a new bloodline."
So in the end, my greater purpose comes down to bearing pups to continue a new bloodline? Seriously?
Goddess, I wanted to be the Alpha… but why did everything keep pointing me back to being a good Luna and bearing pups?
Usually, I'd be growling by now, but I was feeling strangely subdued tonight.
"What do you want to do?" Ben asked me.
I don't know.
My dad spoke again. "There is a different power in being a Luna."
Laura was quick to agree. "The man is the head, but the woman is the neck that turns it."
Gamma Harry just laughed until his shoulders shook. "And they also say hell has no fury like a woman scorned. That's scary! I never want to make a woman angry."
"At the High Council meetings, the Lunas would just stroll in and smile and say, 'Sorry, are we late'. No man would dare to do that," my dad added.
Seriously, Dad? Was that the best you could come up with?
I think it was quite obvious what the adults preferred.
I looked at Ben. I figured he was the one who, after me, would have to bear most of the consequences. "What do you think?"
Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't want to tell you what to do, Sam."
"I'm just asking for personal opinions," I said.
"I vote Alpha," Savy surprised everyone by speaking.
"Me too!" Lizzy chirped. "Sam for Alpha!"
"This isn't up for voting," I said, laughing wryly. "But thanks for your vote of confidence."
"Then I vote Luna," Jonah said. "But not because I don't have confidence in you, Sam!" he quickly added. "I'd run with you to hell, Sam, but I think if someone has to be covered with blood at the end of the day, I'd prefer it not be you."
"Yeah, it's like her mate should be used to it… he's been bloody two dreams straight," Ben muttered.
Yeah, about that—am I the only one who found this worrying? What kind of mess was my mate in, anyway?
"Ben… Sam asked you for your opinion. You must answer your Alpha… even if she might actually be your Luna," Beta Lucas reminded Ben sternly.
I suddenly noticed that Beta Lucas might have been training Ben to be my Beta all this time. It certainly explained how strict he had been with Ben lately.
"I don't care," Ben finally answered. "I mean, Alpha or Luna, it's just a title. Sam will always be my Alpha."
"But she might get hurt out there!" Jonah argued.
"Not if I'm there," Ben growled. "I'll take all the hits for her."
Ben looked completely serious.
Beta Lucas nodded approvingly. "So there is your answer, Sam… what would you choose?"
I don't know.
Assuming all the adults voted Luna, that would be six votes for Luna. Adding Jonah made seven.
And Savy, Lizzy, and Ben made three votes for Alpha.
I hadn't voted yet. Wait—this wasn't a vote. My vote was the only one that counted. I was the Alpha! What kind of Alpha made decisions by taking votes?
I didn't feel like the Alpha right now though. It's true that I would have to live with my decision, but it wouldn't be just me. Everyone would have to live with my decision.
Wolfie, if you have anything to say, you should do it now.
{Wolfbane…}
What? Where did that come from?
{Weak now. Wait…}
What? Wolfie? Seriously, I could hear my wolf? But I hadn't shifted? OMG! This was a milestone right?
Oh. But the Wolfbane… so my alpha wolf was weakened by the Wolfbane. No wonder I wasn't feeling particularly angry, or aggressive, or protective, or anything really.
My strongest emotion right now was stress.
I knew what everyone wanted me to do, but I couldn't cave in and make the decision based on that alone.
I needed to choose what would be best for the pack—but which choice was that? And would it be a choice I could live with? Because I would have to live with it every day for the rest of my life.
Everyone was still waiting for my answer.
"Wolfbane," I told them. "My wolf is weak now."
They immediately looked concerned.
"I'm fine," I waved off their concern, "but I think I'd like to sleep off the Wolfbane first. I don't feel right about making the decision without my wolf."
My dad nodded. "You don't have to make any decision now. Just think about it."
I nodded.
"Is there anything else we should address?" Dad asked the rest.
Everyone looked around, and then Gamma Harry spoke. "If your mate is a white wolf, could he be Alpha James's son?"
The room froze in disbelief.
"That would be quite the coincidence," Beta Lucas said at last.
"But the moon goddess likes to pair soul mates with a lot of coincidence!" Gamma Harry argued. "I happened to be on patrol and rescued Laura from rogues! Think about it—it could have been anyone else on patrol! It wasn't even my shift; I was covering for a friend. And you," he pointed at Beta Lucas, "you got drunk at a party and got into a total stranger's car, who turned out to be Willow, your mate, who forgot to lock her car door!"
Beta Lucas and Mrs. Beta froze. From Ben and Lizzy's faces, I think this was the first time they were hearing it too.
"Ahem," my dad cleared his throat. "Coming back to the topic at hand, Harry…"
I wondered what Gamma Harry would have said about my mum and dad's meeting.
"Willow, what are your thoughts on the possibility?" Dad asked Mrs. Beta, and I knew I wouldn't be hearing about Mum and Dad's coincidental meeting now.
Mrs. Beta fumbled with the pages of her book. I don't know if she thought the answer might be found there, or if she just needed time to shake off the shock of Gamma Harry's info bomb.
Then she said, "In many historical and anecdotal accounts, soul mates do happen to be rather coincidental in nature. Serendipity."
"They could also coincidentally be best friends, best friends' siblings, neighborhood or enemy packs, schoolmates, rescue victims, captured rogues…"
"The question is," Beta Lucas interrupted, "what are the chances that the Lorent's future Alpha is the same white wolf as our Sam's mate?"
"Does that mean Sam's mate might possibly be in a vampire fight cage right now?" Jonah asked.
There was silence. I swallowed. It would explain the blood when I saw him.
"Well, the Lorents did come to visit us just after the third dream," Laura pointed out.
"He would also be the neighboring Alpha male to our pack," Mrs. Beta said.
"If his healing powers were anything like his father's, he should survive it," my dad said. I'm not sure if that was meant to be comforting.
Earlier today, I had mistaken Alpha James's white wolf for my mate's wolf. Only the eye color was sightly different… but wouldn't two large, perfectly white wolves look the same to anyone?
I didn't say anything.
It would also explain why my mate's wolf pushed my wolf's head down so hard… Lorent male dominance at its finest.
I didn't say anything again.
"But there could be about a hundred other male white wolves of mating age out there," Mrs. Beta said finally.
Only a hundred? "Like in our continent?" I asked tentatively.
"In all the plains, Sam," Mrs. Beta corrected. That meant the whole world minus the Colored Mountains.
"Well, white wolves are very rare," Laura said.
I suddenly remembered how my wound disappeared after my mate's wolf bit me, and how Alpha James also healed me with just a quick touch on my arm. In both cases, the blood on my clothes was the only proof of injury.
"How many white wolves can heal like Alpha James?" I asked.
The adults looked blankly at me.
"She means Alpha Lorent," Beta Lucas explained, remembering our introduction in Dad's office earlier today. So I guess Alpha Lorent doesn't give his first name to just anyone.
"Ah!" Gamma Harry grunted, enlightened.
"Very few," Mrs. Beta answered.
"When it comes to healing, only three other wolf bloodlines in the continent can match or surpass the Lorent Alpha Wolf's," my dad said. "Alpha Lorent told me so himself."
Everyone nodded at this piece of information. I guess we were all learning new things every day.
"Maybe," Beta Lucas suggested, "it's not so impossible that they are the same person."
"In that case, we should help the Lorent Pack more!" Gamma Harry said.
"No—Harry, you can't be rash," Beta Lucas shook his head. "It's not the only possibility."
"He'll be dead if we wait!" Gamma Harry argued. "He's in a vampire fight cage! That's serious!"
"We can't just storm Ventali's Coven," Beta Lucas said pointedly. "It's suicide."
Mate… I didn't like the idea of my mate fighting for his life every night.
Normally, the do something crazy option would pop into my head, but maybe it was the Wolfbane. As usual, I spoke before I thought any further about it.
"Wait," I said. "We wait."
The adults were quiet now, and I realized I was navigating my options the same way I let my lucky sense of direction guide me. Deep down, I knew this had to be the right choice.
"If he is my soul mate, then by some serendipity, we will meet. So instead of forcing our way through against the current, let's ride with the waves for a bit and see whether they take us closer."
My dad nodded in assent. "Then this meeting is adjourned. We'll meet again tomorrow night to discuss preparation plans."