Chapter 28: Chapter 28: Get Your Beast Groove On (2/2)

After my disturbing vision, I feel eager to lose myself in the music and the dance along with my fellow beasts. The charming Lightning in particular.

I don’t remember being this aware of girls when I was a human youngster. Girls were interesting, strange, and unusual little creatures. They were my friends, my playmates. I didn’t always understand them. Their giggles, their secrets, their friendships. Their crushes. There were girls that were tomboys and girls that liked pink and to play princess. There were quiet shy readers who never said a word, and girls that could talk all day long.

But at some point, I became aware that I liked girls. That I had a crush on one. I felt warm all over, and awkward, and sometimes didn’t like the effect a girl had on me. Why couldn’t we just play tag together or hide and seek or sports without me feeling like this?

I’m getting to relive that feeling all over again, only with an animal’s instincts. There’s some kind of animal magnetism that keeps drawing me to Lightning.

Our dance ends with the last strains of the Biestwalzer. Gracious, Lightning bows to me, kneeling so she rests on her forearms, her tail and back legs higher than her pretty head.

[Thank you for the dance, Blaze.]

[You are quite welcome. My pleasure. I hope we shall have another.]

She bobs her head in a nod of agreement and stands up. [Now we all dance freely. It’s a free-form Biestwalzer. You can dance any way that you want to. There is something for everyone.]

[In that case, maybe we can still dance together?]

She purrs. [I have other guests to attend to.]

When the tune fills the room, I watch her dance away, shaking her tail and prancing as if she hasn’t a care in the word.

[Well!]

Gussie flutters down, flying low, staring into my eyes.

I flick my ears and start dancing to the music. [She’s a hostess. She has duties.]

[Playing hard to get, more like.] Gussie clicks her beak. [Still, that means I get to dance with you.]

I bow. [I’d be delighted.]

[Gahhh. You two make me sick.]

Demos rejoins us, moving to the beat along with us. No Cupid Shuffle this time. Just freestyle. It’s the best, dancing with friends.

My tail waves freely, becoming like an extension of the dance.

[WATCH IT.]

Lobo’s voice sends chills throughout my body, but I keep on dancing. That’s all I can do. Keep on dancing till the music stops.

Gussie is more direct. [Didn’t you learn your lesson? Why don’t you just leave him alone?]

Demos growls. [Don’t you even THINK about biting him.]

Lobo stalks in front of us, strutting like a furry soldier. [Unlike you lot, I know how to behave.]

Gussie squawks, “Behave.”

I spot Lady Lammermoor giving Lobo the stinkeye. I don’t know why he wasn’t sent to his room. Maybe she’s giving him another chance?

On the other hand, Maartenwitz drilled all those rules into our minds. Don’t fight. Don’t dishonor your house. If we were Klingons on Star Trek, we’d throw down, anytime, anyplace, because our honor had been insulted. But not here.

Also, Lobo belongs to the house giving the ball. I’m sure they don’t want to send him to his room without supper. Maybe Lady Lammermoor has a soft spot for him.

I pretend not to have a care in the world. [We know how to behave, too.]

I am not going to let Teen Wolf be the Alpha here. At least not the Alpha that rules my good time and my brain. He has no right to do that.

[Teen Wolf? What is this?]

Lobo gets in my face, smelling disrespected, his ears forward and his teeth bared.

I need to padlock my thoughts. I need to password protect them. It’s way too easy to just let my mind run amok.

[Sorry! That was a private thought. Or it was meant to be, anyway. I’m not trying to insult you.]

[LET HIM ALONE.] Demos starts dancing in a menacing way, or at least, what he believes is a menacing way. Claws flashing, teeth bared, growling, stomping all over Lobo’s space.

Lobo’s jaws snap in my direction. An unsettling sound. [Explain what this “Teen Wolf” is.]

Think fast. Improv. Think on your feet.

[It’s a folk hero,] I improvise. [He is a folk hero. A young human who becomes a wolf.]

Lobo makes a “woof” sound. Cautiously interested. [A Lycan, you mean?]

That’s right. Tanglewood does have some Lycans.

[Correct!] I feel myself gain steam. [Teen Wolf is a legend that’s whispered among some beasts, especially in the jungle.]

Gussie blinks. [I never heard of it.]

Demos nudges her. [Yes, you did. It’s famous.]

[Oh. Right. I must have.] Gussie can sound rather flighty at times, so she pulls this off. [Tell us more, Blaze.]

[Well, Teen Wolf is a young human that discovers he can turn into a wolf. A Lycan. And then he learns that his whole family are Lycans, but he was unaware. And he becomes popular for a while, until he overdoes the wolf act.]

Lobo blinks, his eyes glazing over. [I’m not following you. Isn’t it part of him? It’s just his nature.]

He isn’t as thick as he looks. [True enough. But the problem is that he lords it over others when he shouldn’t. He lets all that power go to his head, and he thins he can do whatever he wants. He even ignores the people he cares about.]

The light is starting to dawn on Lobo. But then, he howls and snaps at me.

[I’m still insulted, weakling. You compare me to some silly legend? You will NEVER fit in among the beasts. And stay away from Lightning, you mangy stinking jungle rat.]

He stalks off, and Demos rubs his nose against mine. [I have no idea if there really is a “Teen Wolf,” but in my mind, he’s a legend now.]

[Mine, too.] Gussie flutters her feathers. [And don’t listen to him about Lightning. She likes you.]

[Well, she’s not here, so let’s just dance!]

Lightning is one complication I don’t need. I can’t lose my focus. After all, I’m a beast on a mission. But tonight, I party!

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