So the Green Packlands was fueled with such stories in its early days: A young genius who must have done something unforgivable. A healer alpha burying the evidence of horrific and unspeakable experiments. A temperamental and unreasonable barbarian alpha - all three were mad as hatters, their will was absolute, their dungeons were the darkest and deepest horrors known to wolfkind, and their lands as wild and unpredictable the Colored Mountains.
Of course, they were all rumors! I grew up in the Green Packlands all my life and it was nothing like what popular culture had painted about our land. For example, I knew for a fact that our Blue Demon Wolves weren't created in underground labs and witchcraft. I mean, the very idea was ludicrous.
Anyway, the seasons turned to years, the stories died down, and nothing seemed to happen at first. The world moved on. Perhaps if nothing ever happened, Dad and Night Leaf would have been completely forgotten in the far corner of the continent. Maybe if this was the case, the only times the LNC would feature us would be on their Geographic and Wildlife documentaries. Now that was a thought, huh?
But something did happen. The camp fires became little household lamps in the night, and then it spread to power generated street lights, and it was as if in a blink of an eye, an entire city lit up around the new Gate City Station.
The Lorents began their world domination plans in the healthcare sector. New Leaf Academy broke new grounds, Gate City continued to expand at an unprecedented rate. No time in history had any city pop up and flourished like Gate City had.
Most experts attributed it to the location - it was so far away from Gold City and Black City that it was surrounded by a large and untapped new market of packs and wolves who didn't want to, or didn't have the papers to travel out to the central continent.
You could say that it was just a small city that appeared in the right place and time.
With the right fiscal policies and a surprisingly safe and stable political environment, Gate City became a financial and trade center for the wolves and humans living on the northern side of the continent, and boasts the highest standards of healthcare facilities, education and training centers, and business infrastructure. Why or how this happened continued to be studied by experts and discussed in journals and serious magazines like Times and New Economist.
And that was probably the peak of Night Leaf's story. They lived happily ever after, the end.
The world shut the story book and moved on.
Most of the story didn't really connect together in any logical sense anyway. It was as if the story teller randomly pieced together news headlines, conversations, and events as they popped up in his mind, which was actually what happened since the star storyteller of my puphood was Beta Lucas.
By the time I was born, most wolves (and humans) knew about the Green Packlands as the wildlands on the far side of our continent. It was the elusive home to the newly respectable healer wolves from the Glorious Lorent Pack attached to a young a modest Gate City.
Beyond that were the barbarian packs. (That's us, lumped together with Morning Light and the 10 or more minor packs living on lease in our lands.) Whatever happened beyond Gate City, stayed there.
Based on what I heard at Winderhill, the Green Packlands was still a place to be avoided. I used to think it was because we were so far away, but the cool girls had informed me that it was a dangerous place for humans.
Even for pack wolves, Gate City was more of a business location than a leisure destination of choice, and no one, whether wolf or human would want to cross into the forest beyond there. I didn't really think much about it until that time Principal Laura and Mrs Hen came over. I never saw Principal Laura so anxious. Haha.
When I typed Green Packlands in my google search bar, I got search suggestions like "dungeons", "Alpha Princess", "demons", "healers", "New Leaf Academy", "Beta Ki", "Lorent"…
WTH was the first three words though? Why was "Alpha Princess" sandwiched between "dungeons" and "demons"? (And why was Ki trending search?)
Anyway, growing up, Dad always sent me to schools outside my packlands, and the kids there would call me a barbarian wolf. I had ever been asked if I had a phone number by a classmate. (She wasn't sure we had phones in the Green Packlands.)
I just assumed it was like that because we were so far away from everywhere else. In fact, I had always assumed things would remain this way. It never really bothered me if other wolves didn't think we had running water or pavements, mostly because it never came up in conversations. Like all the other pups around me, I had assumed running water and pavements were a normal thing. How was I to know barbarian wolves weren't supposed to have things like toilets and driveways? For all I know, they might have thought we lived in caves like our wolf ancestors used to do. Hahaha.
And then one winter morning, after the largest snow storm the continent had seen for a while, a girl decked in H&M and the likeness of the goddess herself stepped out of the Langston.
Actually, everyone in Night Leaf would tell you I looked like my Mum/Dad, while everyone in Night Forest would say I looked like my Grandma Luna, but the rest of the world just saw the endless blue hair and shocking blue eyes, the intimidating blue demon warriors, the matchy fancy cars, and the fact that this was THE ALPHA KINGSLEY'S daughter. The very same one who once ran ahead every other alpha demanding change and shaking the lycan world with the most radical and transformative ideas to make the future better by making the future generation better through public education - shocking, I know. (I did tell you my Dad was very idealistic.)
Suddenly, the Night Leaf Pack tucked in the wild and dark corners of the continent was suddenly thrust into the spotlight again. What was the Mad Maverick of the Green Packlands up to now? Unlike Alpha Lorent, whose motives were rather obvious to the other Alphas (but let's all just pretend we believe the Lorents were truly altruistic in their medical business expansions), nobody could understand what Alpha Kingsley was after.
There was a reason why they called him the Mad Maverick, and it would come as a compliment or an insult depending on the wolf who was calling him. No matter how one thought about it, this alpha was either truly uninterested in worldly gains and personal benefit, OR he was bidding for something greater than what anyone else could put their finger on. I guess if you believed it was the latter, then Fluffy's theory that Dad wanted to control the entire continent wasn't too farfetched.
But that was during our Original Timeline, which felt like something from a modern lycan legend in comparison to the very normal timeline we were currently in. Even with the Young Alpha Kai's frequent social media mischief, our Night Leaf continued its daily life deep in our packlands and away from Gate City and the rest of the continent.
So one of my brothers was about to become the enemy of the state and the other brother was my soul mate. But unless this escalated into a Great War, it would just be another dark rumor from the Green Packlands Wilderness.
What could I do about it? I hadn't shifted yet. There was no Alpha Princess. I didn't have any betas or Special Team or Blue Demon Army here. I was so weak in this timeline, I was probably the side character in this story.
I certainly didn't feel like the protagonist in this timeline - how did I know? For one thing, I wasn't on the news everyday, I actually knew most of the people who "follow me" on social media, nobody swore their allegiance to me… and oh yes, I didn't have a single prophecy about me in this timeline.
My soul mate wasn't cursed by a warlock or anything overly dramatic like that - I mean, I guess the fact that he was kidnapped and in reality a Colored Mountain Prince could be something, but he didn't look like reuniting with his family was in his plans. It didn't even look like I was in his plans! He was going to send me away at the first sign of war. T.T
My point was that Lala was more like the supporting character. She was the supporting character for Kev, for Fluffy, for her dad, for her friends in school. Basically for everyone else around her.
If that's the case, I want to be the cool one that helps the hero out and then inspire him with some kind of uber cool skill and a quotable one-liner. Sort of like Leon (the one in the movie, not the one in real life.) If I had to be the side character, I'll be the most OP side character EVER.
I better work hard! If I let Lala continue the way she was, she'd be the weak soul mate cast aside early in the story development because the hero had more exciting adventures ahead. Maybe I would be the foil for the hero to realize that the one he loved was the smarter sexier she-wolf he had yet to meet.
Maybe Fluffy would fall in love at first sight, defy fate, and live happily every after with someone else.
If that ever happened, I don't think I could ever feel happy for him.
I must be a horrible person. I wouldn't even consider accepting him because I already had Bell, but I didn't want him to leave me for someone else either. Wow. Who knew? I wasn't the weak side character after all, I was the villainess.
If this was a pink cover manga, I'd be the jelly-eyed villainess that the female protagonist would have to beat with the power of love or whatever. I'd be the Alpha's daughter who rejected the male lead, and then when the female lead appeared, I'd make her life miserable.
Because if I can't have him, no one could.
Wait, wait, wait… I was thinking about this all wrong. Why should I settle on being a petty villainess when I could become the ULTIMATE VILLIAN. And suddenly, I think I understood Bell a bit better. Why settle for being the small fry and some petty revenge when I could take over the world?
Muahahaha, let's see how Fluffy could dare be happy with someone else then! O.o
I think… I think it would be best if we returned to our Original Timeline - which brought me back to a full circle to this question: How could I convince Dad that we need to go back ASAP?
Fluffy and Wolfgang believed that this was Dad's test for them and we'd return once they passed his test. I still didn't buy their theory. My dad was amazing, and I'll admit there was a whole lot I didn't know or understand about him, but my Dad would never manipulate a life or use wolves as test props. It wasn't about whether Dad had the ability to or not, it was the principle of it.
So I didn't know all Dad's secrets, maybe I didn't understand his thoughts at all, but I knew his nature, and I understood that Dad was a kind of wolf who wouldn't withhold good from another if it was in his hand to give it. That was enough for me.