Casper
I felt more than a little smug that my little Cub had managed to do so much damage to Archie's beta. We may have been reforming our alliance with the Hartley pack, but it still felt good to get one over on them.
Nathan was a fairly new recruit to the Huntley pack. He was not born into the pack, like most beta's are. The previous beta had no offspring, so there was no natural replacement, and apparently none of the other wolves had met up to Archie's standards.
And then one day Nathan turned up. And Nathan was your perfect beta. He was very strong, fiercely loyal, and upheld every value that traditional wolf packs had.
My dad had been quite jealous of Nathan. He often commented that he would make a better beta than Jamie.
I disagreed. As good as Nathan was, he was a little too perfect for me. There was no spark to his personality. In fact, scratch that, there was no personality. I found his company incredibly dull.
Once I'd straightened out Nathan's nose (something else I took pleasure in doing) and gave him an ice pack, we headed back into the lounge.
I noticed that Nathan discarded the ice pack the moment we entered the room, presumably not to show any sign of weakness.
After a few moments, we were called to the dining hall for dinner.
Once everyone was seated, my dad banged on his glass and stood up.
"I would like to thank everyone for coming today, and to join me in congratulating Casper and Emily on their recent engagement."
My dad started clapping and a ripple of applause went round the room.
I smiled at Emily, and she smiled back.
Even if it wasn't exactly the future we would have both chosen, if felt nice to be making everyone happy. It sounds pathetic, but I felt good that I was making my father proud.
My dad continued with his speech.
"I know that things haven't been easy for the pair of them over the last 5 years, but I like to think that everything happens for a reason. This engagement has allowed us to show everyone that we are united once again. And not through a mating bond, but through choice. Casper has chosen Emily just has Emily has chosen Casper and I know that they will make the perfect pairing together."
Various voices 'arrrrred' and I had to fight hard to control my blush. I'd never heard my dad speak like this before and it made me squirm slightly.
"I know that it will take time, but when those two feel that rush of being with the person that means most to them in the world, those five years of waiting will seem like nothing."
As my dad carried on talking about the joys of love, I found my eyes naturally scanning around the room.
It wasn't till I spotted him, that I actually realised that I was looking for him.
He was stood off to one side, casually leaning against the wall, listening to my dad, with a scowl on his face.
I fought off a smile, knowing that he had no idea that he was being watched while he looked like a moody teenager ready to storm off to his bedroom. I hated to say it, but he looked cute.
I had no idea what made him scowl like that, but I wanted nothing more than to go and gently rub the creases out of his forehead with my thumb.
I suddenly felt eyes on me, and looked to the side to see Star staring at me with her eyebrows slightly raised.
I quickly looked back towards my dad, fully taking heed of the warning she was giving me. I really needed to be more careful.
My dad ended his speech (thankfully) with a toast, and the dinner was served.
I was relieved to notice that my Cub left the room during dinner. At least I wouldn't be distracted again.
I didn't see him again until the meal was over and most of the guests had made their way back to the lounge.
Just me, Jamie, Ronan and Nathan were still sat at the table, having a heated debate about the best methods of training the pack.
"There isn't enough time given to training, that's the problem," said Nathan.
"Surely it's quality over quantity that counts," Jamie said.
"Yes, but can you guarantee the quality?" Nathan replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, is everyone fully engaged in the training. Do they always try hard and do their best Or do you have wolves that tend to slack off and not try?"
"But surely that's always inevitable," I said, "in every walk of life you are going to get those that don't care or are too lazy to try."
"I'm not saying that you can change their personality, but you can change the incentive, or the punishment."
I thought about what he had said. I knew that we had a problem with wolves not attending training, or slacking off while they were there. Was there some way we could make a difference?
"Have you tried asking the pack what they think about training?" Ronan asked.
I looked over at him and saw that he was addressing both me and Nathan. Nathan looked a little bemused at his question.
"No I haven't," I replied.
"Oy, Cub, get over here!" Ronan yelled.
My Cub had been helping to clear up the room with a couple of other members of staff. He looked over with a bit of trepidation, but came over as asked.
I tried my best not to stare at him.
"What do you think about training?" Ronan asked him.
He shot a nervous glance at me before replying. "I think it's a very important and valuable exercise."
Ronan let out a snort of laughter. "My god, you've got him well trained Casper." He turned back to Joel. "Now tell me what you really think, not what you've been told to say in the handbook."
Joel glanced at me again, and I nodded my head slightly to show it was ok for him to tell the truth.
He sighed and slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Fine then. I hate it. I mean like really hate it. And I'll do anything to get out of it."
I saw Jamie clench his jaw, clearly annoyed by his response. I was surprised, but not in a bad way. For some stupid reason, any information I found out about him was like a little nugget of gold. And I just wanted to pop them in my pocket to analyse later.
Ronan laughed at his answer, and Nathan's lips twitched upwards, which for him was the equivalent of a full cheesy smile.
"So why do you hate it?" I asked, "and what would make it better for you?"
My Cub looked thoughtful and plopped himself down on one of the chairs as if he was part of our group. I loved how he fit in so easily around the higher ranked wolves and didn't seem to let them phase him.
"I think it's incredibly repetitive for a start. All we seem to do most of the time is fight."
"Isn't that the the whole point though?" Jamie asked.
"What about survival training? Or using our brains as well as our muscles?" my Cub came straight back with.
I could see that Jamie was getting annoyed at being spoken to in this way by someone so far beneath him.
"Your brain isn't going to get you very far out there, especially one of your size, and using our wolf strength is surely what gives us an advantage," Jamie argued
"It didn't work out too well for you during our last training test did it?" Joel shot back.
Jamie immediately stood up and backhanded Joel across the face.
A loud growl erupted from within me at the site of Joel being hit. I leapt up off my chair, but was immediately blocked by Ronan.
I looked up at his face ready to yell at him to move, when I saw the warning in his eyes. Not a threatening warning, but a very similar look to the one Star had given me earlier.
I felt the anger leave my face, and I nodded briefly at Ronan to show that I'd understood.
Ronan stepped to one side, and I saw Joel stood behind him, a bright red mark across his face, and a small drop of blood coming out of his nose.
I swallowed the whimper that threatened to come out of my lips.
Nathan had placed himself between Jamie and my Cub, a scowl across his face.
I looked at Jamie. "If there's any punishment needed. I'll be the one to dish it out."
"Fine," Jamie replied, then stormed out of the room.
As soon as he left, the atmosphere relaxed.
"Wow, he's got a temper," Ronan said, chuckling lightly.
"Are you ok?" I said to my Cub.
"Yes, it just stings a little, but it's nothing," he replied with a smile.
But I saw the slight tremor in his hand when he lifted it to wipe the blood from his nose. He noticed it too, and he quickly pulled his hand back and put it in his pocket.
I grabbed a napkin off the table and walked over to him.
"Here, let me get it," I said.
I leant towards him to grab hold of his head, but Joel quickly backed away.
"No, no it's fine," he said.
"No, let me help you," I said, moving closer again.
By this time he was backed up against the wall, and couldn't move back any further. He looked scared, but I was intending to be gentle with him, so I leaned forward to take hold of him.
A loud crash to my left caused me to jump in surprise.
One of the waiters had somehow managed to drop a tray of plates and glasses, some of which had smashed onto the floor, and others bounced onto the table we were seated at, spilling left over food and drink everywhere.
"Oh fucking hell!" I heard Nathan shout, and I turned to see his shirt covered in red wine.
"Where the fuck do you find your staff," he growled.
I looked over at the waiter who'd dropped the tray. He looked vaguely familiar, but I think he was new. He was now frantically trying to clear up his mess.
"You!" I shouted at him.
He stood up quickly, keeping his head bowed down low.
"Get out of here!" I spat out at him.
He stood still frozen to the spot.
"NOW!" I shouted at him.
The loud noise seemed to jolt him out of his paralysis and he quickly scurried away.
"I'm sorry," I said turning to Nathan. "I'll fire his ass later."
"Never mind Nathan," Ronan said, patting his shoulder with a grin on his face, "at least you've got your camouflage gear to change back into."
Nathan just scowled at Ronan before walking off.
"Wait Nathan," Ronan said, hobbling after him. "You'll need my car keys."
I shook my head at the pair of them as they left the dining hall. I couldn't quite make them out. I'd have to ask Emily about them later.
I turned back round to finish helping my Cub, but in the commotion he had vanished.