HOW IT DEVIATED FROM NORMAL

8 FEBRUARY, MONDAY, AFTER HOMEROOM

It seemed that Mrs Henderson was very concerned for me. So concerned that she pulled me out of my next class. I followed her to the teacher's lounge and she gave me a biscuit and a hot cup of chocolate from the dispensing machines.

Then she asked me if I really did throw a party as described by the kids. She spoke a little about gun licensing laws which I informed her didn't apply in the Green Packlands.

She mumbled something about that being the reason that there were such high fatalities in the Green Packlands among young people.

I tried to explain that the high fatalities was due to rogue attacks.

But Mrs Henderson believed strongly in applying this human gun law from her town on every single packland. She thinks that would stop the crime in the city.

We didn't have crime where we were. We had rogues. No rogues, no crime.

Okay, we had a little bit of crime in Gate City, since there were a lot of outsiders coming in and out everyday, stuff like scam crimes, petty theft... I think there had been a few cases of attempted outrage of modesty, but if you outrage a wolf, you got shredded up really bad. And I don't think the woman was charged for assult because it was in self defense.

Okay fine. We had crime. We just dealt with it differently. Every packland is different.

Anyway, Mrs Henderson was concerned about my home environment. She would call my dad about it and arrange a home visit today.

She had got to be kidding.

"But I live in the in the Green Packlands. You need a special visa." I said.

"I've been to Gate City before." Mrs Henderson smiled.

"But I live further up. We are all werewolves!" I tried again.

"You don't have to worry, I'm not going to make it hard for you, Samantha. I'm your form teacher. I'm on your side. Trust me." Mrs Henderson said in her most reassuring tone.

"Yes, but I'm okay." I tried to tell her.

It wasn't just about the guns. Mrs Henderson was concerned about my family's arranged marriage for me at such a young age.

"They're actually protecting me from mating early." I tried to explain, "The arrangement gives the packs stability while allowing me time to grow up first."

By now, it seemed that Mrs Henderson believed that my Dad was a gang leader like the mean looking guy in the video and all of us were gun slinging, bike racing, thugs.

Which would be a funny story one day, but right now, not funny at all.

Especially since I had specialist fight training tonight! I definitely did not want to miss the first lesson because of a teacher's home visit! But that's not something I could say to Mrs Henderson.

Mrs Henderson was googling up child protection codes. I sighed, "Mrs Hen, I appreciate your concern but I promise you, I'm okay."

And then I had a bright idea, "Madam Principal knows my dad. Maybe you can talk to her first!"

Yeah. Sorry Madam Principal, I'm going to swing my human form teacher by you and let you figure out how to explain it.

"Alright, let's go to her office." Mrs Henderson decided.

Wait, what do you mean "let's"? Gah! Why did it feel like I just shot myself in the foot?

That's why on TV they had rights to remain silent, and rights to call a lawyer...

But they didn't have that here, so next thing I knew, we were in Principal Laura's office office.

"Yes, oh Samantha! It's nice to see you. And Mrs Henderson too! Please come in." Principal Laura kept an open door policy to her staff and students because "she cared".

All this caring is great, but really misplaced.

Anyway, I let Mrs Henderson explain her concern for my home environment and waited for Principal Laura to explain it all away.

I watched as Principal Laura frowned mildly. Mrs Henderson believed that my home environment might be unsuitable for a delicate girl like me. She was also concerned about my being pushed into an arranged marriage at such a young age.

"When is your mating ceremony, Samantha?" Principal Laura asked.

Mrs Henderson made a face at the term "mating ceremony." Maybe it sounded kind of animalistic to her. But we were wolves... And sigh...

"Not till I'm 18." I answered properly, "There hasn't been a set date."

Principal Laura nodded.

"I'm fine." I said, "I told Mrs Henderson that there was nothing to worry about."

Principal Laura nodded, "I see. Yes. Well, then let's go pay Samantha's home a little visit. I happen to be free this afternoon. Mrs Henderson, please call her parent and arrange for a visit from the both of us."

Grrrr....exactly what did you see when you said 'I see', Principal Laura? But my experience with this Principal had taught me that she was never a straightforward person.

Okay, fine. Let's see what you're planning Madam Principal.

"No wait, tell you what, I'll give Alpha Kingsley a call right now!" Principal Laura smiled widely at the idea. She seemed way too keen to visit my dad.

Mrs Henderson's face broke out in palpable relief. She had been worrying about how to save this poor girl, and now with the formidable Principal Laura at her side, she felt a tremendous weight lifted off her shoulders.

Samantha was going to be alright - mainly because I was alright to begin with.

Anyway, Principal Laura called Dad's office, identified herself and asked if Alpha Kingsley was available to answer her call, "Yes? Thank you."

Then she was all, "Alpha Kingsley! What a pleasure! Thank you for taking the time to answer my call."

While Mrs Henderson and I sat quietly on the sofa watching her. Having an audience didn't faze Principal Laura at all, "Yes, yes, oh, no problem at all... Samantha's form teacher had some concerns and we would like to pay you a house visit. Yes, a house visit. Sometime today would be good. Ah, would this afternoon be convenient for you? No? Oh. That's too bad."

Yeah. Too bad. We tried.

"Why yes, I suppose right now... Please give me a moment to confer with my teacher, Alpha." Madam Principal looked up at us, "Mrs Henderson, is right now alright for you? Can Mr Pickwick take over your classes for the rest of today?"

Mrs Henderson nodded, "Actually I have no other classes today. Monday is my marking day."

"That's perfect." Madam Principal said, "Yes. We will come over now. Oh yes, of course.... Yes, good morning Beta Lucas! Yes. There will be three of us. My car number plate? Yes. Yes, it's my personal car. Yes, send me the details on this number and I'll respond right away. Alright. Thank you for your hard work, Beta. "

Then she put away her phone, "Alright, that's settled. We do need to send a copy of your ID over. Do you have it Mrs Henderson? Green Packland visitor rules are rather rigorous past Gate City."

"Past Gate City?" Mrs Henderson asked, awashed with new worries.

"Yes, of course. Would that be a problem Mrs Henderson?" Principal Laura asked.

"No, no, of course not." Mrs Henderson's mouth was fixed in a determined line. If her student had to live in that barbaric wasteland every day, she could make one trip to visit it.

Principal Laura typed in her phone, presumably to provide the details for Beta Lucas to push the paperwork out.

"Alright, please let me send a picture of your ID Mrs Henderson." Principal Laura said.

Mrs Henderson snapped out of whatever internal dialogue she was having to dig it out of her purse for Principal Laura to scan.

I just sat and watched the adults.

"Alright. The paperwork and visas would be given to us at the check point within an hour." Principal Laura frowned. She looked at Mrs Henderson and then she looked at me, "Maybe it might be better for Samantha to come with us."

Wait, what?

"Just in case the paperwork takes a little longer." Principal Laura decided.

And then we had to follow her out of the school to the porch where an elderly warrior wolf appeared. He had a scar down his face and a limp on the same side.

Mrs Henderson gave the man a double take.

"This is Bert. He is a retired soldier. He has been working for my family for a long time and will be driving us there." Principal Laura introduced.

I looked at the man with interest. I think he was blind in the eye that the scar ran over, but his wolf was still sharp and alert.

{Fun}

I nodded at him and smiled, "My name is Sam. Nice to meet you."

And then I turned to Principal Laura, "Can I sit in front with Bert please?"

Principal Laura looked surprised, "If you like."

I got into the front passenger seat.

Bert hobbled over after letting Principal Laura and Mrs Henderson into the car. I buckled up and waited.

Bert got into the car. I watched him use some effort to swing his bad leg up. He regarded me quietly and then started the car. His wolf was on the surface, but it was calm and alert.

Wolfie was very curious about this old warrior. Old warriors had the best story.

"Did you fight in the Great War?" I asked. I was never one for small talk. It didn't make any sense to ask like, "Nice weather we're having huh? Yeah, snowing properly like winter should. Did you fight in the Great War?"

Bert grunted, "There is no such thing as a great war, nothing great about war."

I liked Bert's wolf because it reminded me of Grandpa Alpha's.

"I'm going to fight a war one day too." I told Bert.

"You gal?" Bert scoffed, "Little gal like you best stay home and leave it to the big men. You'd just get in the way."

"What happened to your urm... leg?" And arm and face and eye? But I didn't want to be rude.

"I fought a wolf in my human form to escape capture." Bert told me.

"Why didn't you shift?" I asked.

"Couldn't. Wolfbane." Bert grunted. He needed to make some effort to shift gear because of his foot.

I remembered the wolfbane from the rogue attack incident at the destitute house last month, even though mine was only a little from a blade. It really messed with my wolfie though. I think it took me two whole days to recover.

"My Wolfie doesn't like wolfbane." I told Bert, "A knife may cut us in the flesh, but the wolfbane cuts our soul."

Bert paused a little, "Is that what they tell you gal?"

"No. No one told me that." I said. And then I changed the subject because last thing I needed was to admit in front of Mrs Henderson that I was involved in some rogue attack. She already thought my home environment was unsuitable as it was.

"Tell me a story about the the war." I asked the old warrior.

Unfortunately, the magic out here in the plains was almost non-existent and the spell didn't cast.

"There is no war story with a happy ending." The old warrior told me.

That sounded pretty bleak. I guess war, full body-length scarring, and a life long disability could do that to a person.

When my Grandpa Alpha remembered the war and felt sad, he would always sing this song because it made him feel better.

If songs were a spell, even though the magic in the air was thin, I hope this spell could make Bert feel better too.

I mean, I hesitated at first. I didn't have a voice like Lola's, and well... anyway I decided to go with my guts on this one. So I sang softly:

Find a life and lose it

Lose a life and find it

I'm not afraid of those

who can't destroy my soul

I'm not afraid

Cos I know

And to my surprise, the old warrior started singing too, his voice a very rusty barritone:

I'm not afraid of those

who can't destroy my soul

I'm not afraid

Cos I know

"What do you know?" I asked him then, "What is the thing you know so that you're not afraid?"

"I know I am protecting my pack." The warrior said from the depth of his wolf.

Oh.

My Grandpa had answered something different. He had said, "It's a secret."

"I want to protect my pack too." I told Bert, "So I'm not afraid either."

"Just stay home gal. Let the big men do the fighting. You'd just get in the way." Bert said again.

I laughed at that. He sounded like a grouchy old record.

"The Green Packlands eh?" The old warrior drove past the large sign into the territory.

Oh, that was fast.

Usually Packlands had something that was welcoming, like Gold Packlands had a sign that read, "Welcome to the Gold Packlands."

Our Green Packland sign said "You are entering the Green Packlands." And then later, after passing Gate City, it included other signs that said, "Warning: Restricted access. It is unlawful to enter this area without authorisation. While in this area, all personnel and property under their control are subject to search. Use of deadly force authorized."

And "Danger: Use of deadly force authorized beyond this point."

You know, just in case you missed the first few signs.

"Luna, do you have authorization?" The old warrior asked.

"Not quite yet." Madam Principal answered, "But I'm sure we'll be alright."

She didn't sound sure though.

I looked at the two ladies seated behind us through the rear view mirror. The mirror made Mrs Henderson look decidedly pale.

Bert slowed the car when the signs read "Slow. Security check point ahead."