2: The Immediate Impact of Action

Keion got into his car and drove the distance home on his own. Playing a recording of his father’s last council address, he reviewed his day and his overall feeling about the party he’d just attended.

It had been fun and perhaps kissing that many girls in one night had been a foolish thing to do but he was pretty sure he hadn’t sent any mixed signals or done anything that his dad would disapprove of. He often heard his father say he was still a boy and he was allowed to be a normal kid every now and then.

Nancy had apologized for her actions because she’d never expected that he would then be forced to kiss everyone who had been upstairs. Keion had forgiven her and made it clear that he had no intention of holding it against her.

“It was all in good fun,” he assured her as she was walking him to the front door.

Looking up and down the nearly empty road, he spotted the security detail. One of them nodded in greeting and he returned the gesture.

“Thanks for coming out tonight,” she said, “I know you could have been at home with your brother and sister or mom and dad.”

“Hey, don’t mention it. It was a great party. Good night Nancy. See you back at school.”

With that he had insisted she remain indoors and lock up. Once he’d heard the bolt click into place, he’d jogged lightly to his car.

Now, as he was driving into his parking space at home, Keion knew his mother was still awake and he wondered if she was going to lecture him about his recent choices. Turning off his engine, he stepped out of the car and once again looked up and down the driveway and across the expanse of land just off to the side of the house. There was hardly anything moving at that hour of the night in this weather. Snow was falling lightly and he knew that the outside air was only going to get colder.

Heading inside, he stopped in the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. He hadn’t had any alcohol, but it was a habit for him to hydrate before bed. Stepping into the room, he smelled his mother before he saw her. She was leaving the pantry with a jar of marshmallows, and the fragrance of jasmine and orange blossoms wafted around her as she re-entered the kitchen.

“Good evening, mother,” he said congenially.

Their eyes met and his mother’s face spread into a genuine smile.

“Good evening, baby.” Pause. “Would you like some hot chocolate?”

“No thanks. I’m just here to get some water.”

“Alright, then.”

He opened the large double door refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water. Twisting the cap, he leaned against the wall and watched her stir her cocoa powder in a copper pot with milk.

Keion still wasn’t sure why she insisted on making her hot chocolate from scratch when she could just use a premix like everyone else, but he had to admit that it was the best tasting cocoa he’d ever had. She had once said that the process soothed her and made her feel like she could still do stuff for herself, since they always had so many people around helping run the house and the kingdom. Remembering that now made him wonder what had made her unsettled.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, she look up and smiled. “How was the party?”

Shrugging, he said, “It was fun.” Pause. “Are you asking me that because you know I kissed a lot of girls today?”

The queen chuckled but her eyes also flashed. “Maybe.”

Keion recognized that telltale sign of his mother’s ire despite the calm response. “Come on, mom. I was just having fun. I didn’t do anything reckless, I promise.”

Kaliah Hamadi’s eyebrow went up. “Okay, Keion.”

Something about the way she said it made him pause. “Why were you even there in the first place? Don’t you trust me to behave myself and represent the family well?”

“I had no intention of spying on you at that party, but something woke me up. I can’t tell you for sure what it was. You obviously weren’t in any danger,” she finished wryly. “Sometimes I do wish this motherly intuition wasn’t hard-wired to our cursed gift of telepathy.”

Hearing his mother say that told him she’d have rather not have watched that many girls kiss her son in quick succession. For some reason that made him laugh. “My wolf and I apologize most sincerely to you, Queen Hamadi,” he said earnestly, going over to kiss his mother on the cheek. “I didn’t think that you’d be privy to that experience.”

It was her turn to shrug. “As long as you had fun... some of those girls won’t sleep tonight and your wolf wasn’t even involved.”

“You and dad are completely to blame for making me this amazing.”

“Blame I gladly shoulder,” she smiled. “Go to bed, baby. I’ll be done just now.”

“Alright, Mom. Good night.”

“Good night, Keion.”

That night Keion threw himself into bed, feeling a little more tired than usual. He boiled it down to the sheer volume of young people he’d had to interact with while battling the cold as well. Now that he was home and feeling warm, he was sure he’d be perfectly well in the morning.

His dream started out with him in the company of his family and closest friends, standing on a summit, overlooking the expanse of their kingdom. The Kingdom of Eastern consisted of his father’s clan which was originally from Kenya, his mother’s clan from New England and hundreds of others that covered the territory from the Atlantic to the expanse of the Great Lakes region. Wolves of every color looked proudly toward their leader. Msia Hamadi stood looking over the land under his jurisdiction, acknowledging every alpha that had ceded their theocratic and natural authority to him as the democratic principle they called The King.

From nowhere, a bright orange aura rose from beneath the earth. The wider it spread, the more Keion could feel the ground reverberate underneath his paws. He looked at his father and recognized the change in stance as the king readied himself for battle. Taking his position beside him, Keion asked him what was happening.

Before he could get an answer, the mountain they stood on erupted into a pile of black dust and Keion felt himself falling to the ground. As the dust began to settle, he noticed that none of his family was injured, but in the sky above them the orange light was dissipating, shining over their kingdom and the neighboring regions.

The light began to spread and Keion found himself howling. Not against what it had just done, but in companionship, as a wolf would answer the call of their alpha. The next thing he knew, Keion took off running, as if chasing the light, pursuing the source of the joy in his heart. As he continued running, Keion realized he wasn’t alone and there were many wolves behind him. A sense of triumph and utter pride welled up inside him as his body surged forward toward the source of this life-changing sensation.

When he woke up, Keion almost felt disappointed that he wasn’t actually running toward that feeling of euphoria. He sat up and shook his head. His heart was pounding in his chest and it literally bowled his wolf over in utter shock.

“What was that?”

 I need to talk to my father.