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Chapter 9: The First Concert

Do I love him?

There was no more ignoring the question as she looked at the shaggy dog below, who beamed as he struck the strings on his guitar and pranced around the rock platform he and his crew used as a stage. The dogs were finally playing for the pack. But they were still very much prisoners, and Tony wanted to make sure it was known. He had stationed five alphas at the base of the stage, telling them to pounce if the dogs decided to use their "black magic" to summon screeching howls. Helen promised that they would play softer tunes as not to offend him, and soft they were indeed with slow and calming melodies. Timmy did most of the singing, though he had little personality on stage; it almost looked as if he were singing to stop the glaring alpha guards from crushing him under their paws. Ronnie stood their plucking the thick strings of his bass with a blank face that did let off a smile once in a while. It was not the arrogant look of someone void of emotion, but rather a focused look of someone who like to stay above the fray. Reggie's playing was interesting because as belligerent as he looked banging his head back and forth, his eyes closed, and mouthing off the lyrics, his beat was very steady and precise. One could not help but giggle at him acting this way even when the rhythm and beat of the song was slow. Helen beamed as she pressed the keys on her keyboard in swift articulation, swaying her muzzle from side to side with the beat of the song. But as always, August stood out among all of them. No matter how slow the tempo or how soft the beat of the melody, he would prance in flamboyance around the stage, baring his teeth in a wide grin and the light cast by the moon illuminating his green eyes.

Kate couldn't ignore the question any longer, so she set to resolve it. Okay, if I do love him, why would that be? She looked at August below. The answer was not that difficult, which made her uneasy.

His body may have been not that imposing at all, it was thin, scrawny, and slender, but the look in his eyes made it obvious that he knew what he wanted and was going to do what he could to get it; especially when he would occasionally bat his eyes toward her throughout the performance.

Her heart began to race every time his imposing greens glanced at her.

Further, it was apparent that he knew how to use his body and quite well at that, like an alpha who must master each muscle in effective precision for the purpose of a hunt or a duel. When he would dance across the stage, it was not sloppy or awkward, but his moved flowed with the song, as if he belonged to the song, its physical manifestation. And movements of his body didn't throw his paws off balance as he fingered the frets or strummed the strings, as if his paws and the rest of his body were separate entities that just moved together.

To Kate, he had the vigilant control over himself like any alpha she knew and respected.

And August's smile. Kate's mother had always told her never to trust anyone who smiled too much. No one could ever be that happy all the time, she would say. Yet every time she saw him, one way or another, he was smiling--and it looked genuine! They were never nervous or forced. It was like everything he did he enjoyed.

If anyone could be always happy, and deserved to smile all the time, it would be him.

Kate remembered the thought that flew through her mind last time she saw him.

This is how life should be...honestly happy.

Kate looked over to Garth, who sat beside her on the ledge looking down at the stage below. His eyes were cold, his face blank, his mouth firmly shut as he peered down at the dogs with contempt. Looking at him, she heard Helen's voice below through her right ear. Helen was singing now:

"Thunder only happens when it's raining.

Players only love you when their playing."

Garth did not look at her. Kate tried to count all the ties he disappeared on her; there was a lingering curiosity to find out whom he was looking at. Garth eyes ached as he restrained himself from looking at Kate. Though neither would know it, a sense of tenseness came over both of them as they heard Helen continue her song:

"Now here you go again you say you want your freedom

Well who am I to keep you down?

It's only right that you should play the way you're feeling

But listen carefully to the sound of your loneliness

Like a heart bet drives you back,

To the stillness of everything of what you had,

And what you lost,

And what you had,

And what you lost."

Kate looked back at the stage, back at August. His body moved like the music was piercing right through him as he and the rest of the boys joined in with Helen at the refrain of the song.

"Thunder only happens when it's raining.

Players only love you when their playing.

They say women they will come and they will go.

When the rain washes you clear you'll know.

You'll know."

Kate looked to her far right, and there sitting on a ledge at the face of the cliff was Humphrey.

"Humphrey!"

He looked over. His face was blank but it smiled when he saw her.

"Humphrey, come here and sit by us." He happily got up, climbed up the rocks and joined her side.

"Where's Lilly?" Kate asked.

He shrugged, "I think she said that she needed to be somewhere."

Garth huffed, "Don't you ever know where she is?"

"Garth," Kate scolded.

Humphrey shrugged, "The girl's a free spirit. That's why I love her." His voice was grave, which gave Kate an unconscious sense of relief. But she drew her eyes back to the stage when she heard Timmy's echoing voice. The rock bed they stood on was used for special howling occasions because the cliffs behind it curved, allowing for the sound to resonation throughout the area.

"That was Dreams_by the human pack called _Fleetwood Mac," then Timmy walked over to August, putting his paw on August's shoulder, "And now Gus is gonna sing for you, Beast of Burden!"

The omegas standing around the bedrock below erupted in applause. There was a short pause, filled with August counting down. Then the song dropped. It had a euphoria that captivated Kate, making her close her eyes and tilt her head back with a smile. The sound of the guitar seemed to bounce around time and space. Then August began to speak again.

"I'm gonna need a little help with this one," he said as the crowd exploded again, "so let introduce you to one of your own. We've been working on this number with her all day, but she's still a little shy. So give her some love."

Then, without introduction, Lilly walked slowly across the stage. She would not look at the crowd, she kept her eyes looked on August, like a scared pup using her father's loving gaze as her only guide for her first steps of life. Garth's eyes widened as he stretched his head down farther at the sight below. Kate's jaw dropped a little in pure amazement. Humphrey did nothing. August grinned at her as she joined his side. Then he began:

"I'll never be your beast of burden.

My back is broke, my feet are hurt'n.

All I want if you to make'a love to me."

Lilly stood still, but with a gentle tap on her neck by the end of August's muzzle, she began:

"I'll never be your beast of burden,

I've walked for miles and my feet are hurt'n.

All I want is for you to make'a love to me."

Then, with a little more confidence, they rang out the chorus, staring at each other the entire time.

"I'm I hard enough?

I'm I rough enough?

I'm I rich enough?

I'm not to blind to see."

Kate suddenly saw August's glowing green eyes face her as he continued with the next verse.

"I'll never be your beast of burden.

So let's go home and draw them curtains.

Music on the radio, come on baby, make love to me."

Then the entire band joined in with the chorus.

"Oh sista," August continued.

"Pretty, pretty, pretty girls.

Pretty, pretty, such a pretty, pretty, pretty girls.

Come on baby,

Please, please, pleeease."

Garth looked at Lilly, who was peering at him with her glistening lavender eyes.

"You can put me out on the street.

Put me out without shoes on my feet.

But put me out, put me out,

put me out of misery."

Then with one swift move, August pulled his guitar over Lilly's head, entrapping her in his arms that held the guitar as he proceeded to play a solo. He and Lilly swerved with the riffs he played. They smiled at each other, their feet dancing to the flowing rhythm in unison. Garth's eyes froze in a deathly stare. He turned to Humphrey, "Doesn't that bother you?" Humphrey shrugged, not looking at him all he said was, "Like I said, free spirit."

Kate looked down to see August's glowing greens locked on her as he continued:

"All the sickness, I can suck it up. For all like me, I just shrug it off.

There's one thing better, I don't understand.

You keep on telling me I ain't your kind of man."

Lilly joined in again.

"Aint I rough enough?

Ain't I tough it enough?

Ain't I rich enough and love enough?"

With the last chorus, the crowd of wolves began to join in. Mostly omega, but some of the alphas couldn't help it either.

"I'll never be your beast of burden.

I never be your beast of burden.

Never, never, never..."

Then, with one last strum of the string, August ended the song abruptly, and the crowd went wild. Lilly drew August's face in closer and licked his cheek, taking him aback in a surprised smile. Garth glared, scrapping his claws against the ground. Kate couldn't keep her eyes off the sight of the two, but joined into the applause. Humphrey still did nothing.

"I'll be right back," said Garth coldly, and walked off. Kate and Humphrey looked at each other. "Come on, Humphrey," she said, "walk with me for a while."

"As you wish."