630 BETAMEN

23 FEBRUARY, TUESDAY, DINNERTIME

"Oh, s*** Ben." Harvey grabbed the blanket to cover Ki's body and scrambled up.

"Alpha's here." Ben smirked without any apology whatsoever.

I hesitated. Should I leave? Act like I hadn't seen anything?

Harvey sighed and looked at the mess around him, "Apologies Alpha."

The smell of blood was sickening in the single room, I was sure even a human could smell it. There wasn't much standing space either now that Harvey, Ben, and I were inside.

Taking care not to step on the mangled pile of bloody clothing I stepped closer to the bed, "Is Ki okay?"

Harvey nodded and winced a little, "I'm just trying to check his wounds and clean up all the blood."

Ki was covered modestly by the white quilt up to his chin.

"Is he still bleeding?" I asked. I could smell it actually... The blood, a lot of it was caked on the clothes but I could still smell fresh blood somewhere.

Harvey nodded, "Unfortunately. His healing is considerably slower right now."

Harvey nodded towards an opened first aid box on the side table, he also had an half empty box of bandages next to Ki's bed, "I bandaged most of them. I thought it might be best to make sure the wounds were clear of debris so when his healing picks up, it'll heal nice and clean."

I nodded and stepped back, nearly tripping into a basin of water that was on the floor, well, it used to be water. Now it was stained red, like the wet towel draped on one side.

Luckily I was an agile wolf and managed to regain my footing all on my own, even though both Harvey and Ben immediately reached out as if to catch me.

They dropped their hands back down to their sides.

"I should pour that out." Harvey said.

"I'll do it." Ben took off his jacket and tossed it onto the desk by the door. Then he folded his sleeves.

"Thanks." Harvey nodded a wry smile, "but can you help me with something first?"

Ben was about to bend over for the basin, but he righted himself and came over to the bed.

"He's still bleeding. I think it's the wound on the back of his shoulder. But I'm having trouble turning him to check." Harvey said, his brows creased.

"I can help." I offered.

Harvey stopped there.

"No, Sam. You're a girl." Ben said, nodding towards the blood soaked shirt tangled with Ki's pants and urm... other clothes on the ground, "And Ki's NAKED. Although I'm sure the dog wouldn't care..."

"I'll wait outside." I fled the scene.

I felt my face reddening. Stooopid Ben, why did he have to say it out loud like it was a big deal?

I mean, it was just Ki. And he was probably mummified with bandages under that quilt anyway... I crossed my arms outside the door and sulked.

I couldn't go hunt down - I mean rescue Savy, I couldn't help Ki apply first aid. Was there anything useful I could actually do?

Ki's door opened and Harvey and Ben let themselves out.

"Apologies for keeping you waiting Alpha." Harvey was first to speak.

"Your mum's calling us down for dinner." Ben added.

Harvey nodded a bow, "Please excuse me. Delta Oran would probably have settled Luna Bell in by now. I'll get him to come treat Ki and then take him for dinner and orientate him."

"Yeah." Ben nodded, "You go TAKE CARE OF HIM."

And then he chuckled. Ben. Chuckled. For the second time today. And when Ben said "take care of him", immediately, I was relieved that Harvey was the one doing it. I nodded, "Thanks Harvey."

Ben hooked his jacket lazily over his shoulder and I let him lead me down to the dining room.

"Don't you find that troublesome?" I asked.

"What?" Ben asked.

"The jacket. Isn't it troublesome?" Of course this was coming from me, someone who would not wear my winter jacket outside if I thought I could get away with it.

Ben shrugged, "Nah. It's very useful."

"In what way?" I challenged.

"It adds pockets. Conceal weapons. And these puppies have an inner lining that's supposedly cut-proof with level 3A protection." Trust Ben to make everything sound like a sales pitch of a gadget.

"That's why Ki should've kept his jacket on." Ben said, "It would've been a good chance to test it."

"Then why didn't he?" I frowned.

"He probably didn't want the Lorents to know." Ben shrugged, "Its still pending patent rights."

Wait what?

Ben chuckled, "You know the truckful of crap-vamp-fighting gear your Luna bought from Alpha Solomon to curry him right?"

Ben showed me the label on his jacket, "We've just found a way to resell them."

The label... "BETAMEN"

Ah. Hahahahaha. Seriously? My betas were like the smartest dumba**es in the world.

"I'm doing technical testing. Ki designs. Harv runs the ops." Ben told me.

"Were you also the one who named it?" Because BETAMEN? That was kinda literal right?

Ben shook his head, "Harv did."

"Harv?" I tried to imagine what kind of long-winded thought process my good beta went through before coming up with that one.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be some old word to mean behoove or befit." Ben explained.

Behoove or befit were actually pretty old words in themselves. Betamen must be dinosaur language.

Wait, wait, wait, "You three convinced Bell to turn all that vamp fighting gear from Black Forest into a menswear line? What are you guys going to do with the spray cans of scent masks? Make cologne?"

Hahaha. I'm hilarious.

But Ben didn't laugh, "That's a good idea."

No! I mean did he not see how ridiculous the whole thing was? Even with their pack's backdated tech, Alpha Solomon was selling us some serious battling gear. And that's what they came up with?

"Ki's sourcing for a leather workshop to incorporate some of the alloys into accessories..." Ben told me.

"Like what kind of accessories?" One handed sword earrings? Bwahahaha.

"Bags, shoes, belts..." Ben said, "Ki's going to draw me a vest that can also be used as an upholster. It's pretty cool."

"You guys would be dressed to kill." I told Ben.

"Ya-" Ben's started to agree, but was too sharp to not notice, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." I grinned, "I guess it was just unexpected. I kinda thought you guys were going to be the next Stark International or some kind of black market arms dealership."

Ben shrugged, "It did come up, but there were a lot of pesky terms and conditions in the sales contract, and it's not like we wanted to get the Green Packlands outlawed or anything."

How very considerate of them.

"But don't worry, Luna Bell says he has a plan." Ben sounded uncharacteristically optimistic. Did he not notice that the last time Bell said he had a plan, he came home without an arm?

"You're pretty psyched about this, aren't you?" I said.

"Am I?" Ben looked like he only just realized that he forgot to use his bad attitude to talk.

"You didn't even call Ki a dog once." I decided to goad him a little. It's not everyday that Ben would slip up like that.

"Why should I if he isn't here to hear it?" Ben shrugged. And then he added, "Betamen is going to be huge, Sam."

Yeah, I'm sure. Because that many real men in the world required multiple layers of armor cut and fitted to the exacting standards of the upper echelons of designer fashion.

Well, in the worst case, I know a pack who just might actually buy into it. (Give you a clue - starts with L, loves their suits, and lives right next door to us.)

I really couldn't see what Ben saw in it. And what could Bell be thinking?

We slowed our steps as we approached the dining room.

Mum, Sabre, Mrs Beta and Lizzy were all there. Looks like Ben would be the only guy at the table tonight.

Dinner felt kind of strange. At first I thought it was because Dad and Beta Lucas weren't around. And then I realized this wasn't the first time Mum and Mrs Beta had dinner together with their children while their husbands were out on overnight business trips of rogue hunts.

Savy was missing.

I pouted at the perfectly good lasagna.

Mum sighed, "Now I know it isn't Ki's cooking, but our packhouse is doing its best."

Mrs Beta nodded, "It's been much busier at meal times there lately. Lucas had to wait half an hour the other night, just to pick up our dinner."

Mrs Beta was more of a scholar type than a cook type of lady, so the beta family usually took out from the Packhouse Kitchen. Usually. Every now and then, Mrs Beta would be inspired to cook and then they would only take out later when it was absolutely and irrevocably proven that what came out from the beta's kitchen was inedible and the family was still hungry.

Mum was half right. It was weird without Ki around too. It felt a little like we were having a throwback to a time before Ki. Only without Savy - which really was the strangest feeling because I had almost never had a dinner at home without her.

This was partially due to the strict curfew Mum and Dad had set on Savy. She was always due home for dinner. The exceptions was - yes, there was this exception - she was allowed to have dinner at Lizzy's if she had to finish a school project or homework there.

BUT when such exceptions occur - Lizzy wouldn't be here.

So dinner felt strange, like I time traveled or stepped into another reality - one where Lizzy would come over when Savy wasn't around, and we ate with the good china and cloth napkins, but without Ki.

I stuck a forkful of lasagna into my mouth. I wasn't really hungry, but I just noticed that Ben hadn't touched his food. The moment I ate, he picked up his fork and finished everything on his plate. Then he excused himself to the kitchen to get seconds.

"What a lovely lasagna." Mrs Beta complimented.

"Yes." Mum smiled, "It's been a while since we've had something like this."

Yeah, Ki never made lasagna. The last time I thought he did, it turned out to be some eggplant pretending to be pasta.

The Packhouse kitchen had sent over a really nice lasagna - with real pasta in it.

Anyway, Mum and Mrs Beta continued conversing over little bites because talking about lasagna reminded them of the ladies who made it and Mum had to wonder aloud how Mama Rosa was doing, and Mrs Beta remembered a funny thing that Mama Rosa told her just last week when she dropped by to pick up dinner for the family.

Ben got up again for thirds.

"You might as well just empty the whole tray into your plate." Lizzy told her twin.

Ben chuffed and left the dining room. He returned with the entire tray and ate directly from it.

"Ben!" Mrs Beta admonished, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Ben asked.

Mum just laughed, "Young wolves eat so much."

"You might not the only one who wants seconds." Mrs Beta scolded.

"I took out two pieces if you want them." Ben shrugged, "They're on the kitchen counter."

And then all of the sudden, Sabre started tearing up. Her little mouth pressed down as she roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her sleeve. Her mouth wobbled as she tried to keep her tears in. I watched the little girl somewhat confused. Did she want seconds that badly?

"Oh, sweetie!" Mum immediately turned her attention to the little girl sitting next to her, "What's wrong?"

Yeah, and that was the third thing that was strange. Sabre was here, but she had been quiet all through dinner. If this was a "spot the difference" picture, I'd have nailed it.

Mum and Mrs Beta immediately got busy consoling her, but Sabre wouldn't be consoled. Neither would she tell Mum and Mrs Beta what was wrong. In fact it looked like they were making the little girl cry harder.

Finally, Lizzy had enough. She put down her fork with a sigh, "Sabre, you wanna come with me? You can tell me, I won't tell them."

Lizzy was lying, but Sabre wasn't an alpha wolf so she didn't know this.

Sabre nodded and solemnly slid off her chair, her face red and blotchy from crying. She took Lizzy's outstretched hands and left the dining room with her.