THE WHOLE WORLD IN MY MOUTH

I slept and had weird dreams all night. I blamed the jelly beans. In my dream, I was hanging out with Estella and Esmeralda but they were wearing maid outfits.

"The guys say they want to see the girls in maid outfits. It will give them energy to serve better." Estella said. The two girls laughed.

"See they even made a sign." Esmeralda showed me.

A printed sign was pasted on the wall, "Today's outfit is the 'Messy Maid' style."

All the girls working in the packhouse were dressed in maid outfits. One of them had a neat hairstyle, so the other girls helped fix it into messy pony tails.

"I can't imagine even asking the girls in our pack to wear skirts!" I said. That alone would probably start some kind of protest.

My cousins laughed, "Everyone listens to the Alpha and Betas here. We'll all do what they say."

Yeah, that was a freaky dream. Everything about it was so wrong, I didn't know where to start. Luckily the bright light and loud knocking on my door woke me up and I didn't have to continue the weird dreams.

Where was I? Oh right, Night Forest Pack, at my Grandpa Alpha and Grandma Luna's pack house... and Grandpa Alpha was gone... I sat up rubbing my eyes.

"Wake up, Sam!" Savy was the source of the banging on my door, "It's lunch time!"

I wished I could say Savy was exaggerating, but the sun was high in the sky, and I was hungry.

So hungry... grrrr...

I stumbled out of bed and pulled open the door.

"I'm up." I yawned.

I walked back into the room. Savy followed me in.

"So Bell didn't come back with you?" Savy asked, looking around the room.

What was she talking about? I shook my head. Oh yeah. Video! I looked at my phone. If Dad and Bell fought, who would win?

"What time did you get back?" Savy asked, she picked up the tube of jellybeans I had left on the dressing table, "Is that Bell's scent on you?"

What was Savy sniffing around for?

I opened up the luggage to grab my clothes, eh... What's this? Oh, I flipped over the dark suits and larger clothing item. Smelled like mate. Gunpowder and metal... gun! This was definitely not my bag. I let the pieces of clothing fall back shut and opened the luggage next to it. Okay, this one was mine. Grabbing my clothes, I went into the attached bathroom.

I heard Savy leave just before I turned on the shower.

"Bell didn't stay the night, Mum!" I heard Savy announce as she left, "I told you they wouldn't."

"I didn't say they would!" Mum protested, "Are you eating jellybeans? We're about to go for lunch!"

The sound of the shower washed away anything else they said.

I sighed under the spray of hot water. It's hot! But that was kind of nice too. The sleep did me good. I felt a lot calmer this morning. Seemed like I slept off most of a perfectly good Saturday though.

I got out of the shower to check my phone. There was a video from Ben and a text, "They just talked :("

Eh what? No fight?

I opened up the video, it was a noisy windy sounding clip, and obviously nothing could be heard between the two men through the thick glass but the angle was clear.

Yeah, they were just talking.

Dad even reached out and patted Bell on the shoulder. They looked like they were taking turns saying serious things to each other, and then listening and nodding at what the other said.

Arughh! What were they saying? Were they talking about me? Why weren't they letting their fists do the talking? Hahaha.

"Sam! Ben's here!" Mum called out, "And we have to go downstairs for lunch now! Hurry, your Grandma Luna hates tardiness!"

I opened the bedroom door.

"Good morning, princess." Ben smirked.

"Why don't you turn on your mindlink?" Mum sounded exasperated.

"I left the last one for you." Savy returned me the jellybean.

My jellybeans! My hair flared.

"Savy, don't provoke your sister!" Mum scolded.

Savy put her hand to her mouth to keep from cackling in honor of Ben's presence, but this only made her looked actually sorry.

I popped the last black jellybean into my mouth. Yuck! What the hell was this thing?

"What was that?" My hair was truly furious now, "That tasted like... What was that?"

"We really need to go now girls." Mum sighed.

"That wasn't candy." I grumbled as we proceeded down the corridors, "Ben, one of the jellybeans was defective."

Ben chuckled at that.

The packhouse was pretty busy today. There were a lot of visitors, warriors in black suits and ties, both ours and theirs were on duty ushering the guests through the receiving room where Grandma was presumably stationed, and then to the main hall to pay their last respects.

The elder betas were stationed to greet visiting Alphas. Dad and Uncle Louis received them from the main hall. But only after they had passed through Grandma Luna though.

"We will have lunch at the Banquet Hall with Aunt Jade and her children." Mum told us, "After lunch, Aunt Jade and I will be greeting the guests with your Dad and Uncle Louis. You girls stay out of trouble. Especially you, Sam."

"What trouble? Why me?" I sulked.

"Sorry honey, it's just for 24 more hours." Mum said.

"No, I mean, why me? The girls get in trouble too! Even Ben makes trouble!" I argued.

Mum lifted a brow, "I highly doubt Ben would. But I don't mean read too much manga kind of trouble, Sam. I mean get into a fight, shed blood, create a scene kind of trouble."

"It's not my fault." I flared.

"Please Sam." And then Mum brightened with a good idea, "How about this? If we get through the next 24 hours without any major incident..."

Was Mum going to bribe me? That's a first. Let's see what she's got! Heh, I'm 15 now. I'm not a kid anymore. It isn't going to be that easy to buy me over!

Mum took out a lollipop from her purse, it was dark blue with something glittery swirled inside like a milky way across the night sky.

"Gimmie." I said.

Mum handed the lollipop over, "You can eat it in the car on the way home - if you stay out of trouble for the rest of our time here."

"Cool. Okay." I said.

"Mum, I thought you said it was bad parenting to bribe your kids?" Savy said.

"It seemed to work for Aunt Jade and Luna Edith, and their kids turned out fine." Mum said, "Anyway, it's just a lollipop."

I scoffed, "Bell is like the most ungrateful grown up brat in the world. And Estella and Esmeralda, don't get me wrong, they're angels, just the really spoilt princess variety."

"Today a lollipop, tomorrow a laptop." Savy said.

"Alpha James is already bribing me with bling." I told mum.

"This is edible bling." Mum told me.

"What about me?" Asked Savy, "For not inciting Sam, I mean, for keeping Sam out of trouble."

Mum handed over a red lollipop. This one had a gold ring in it and looked like Saturn.

So cool.

And just because I think Mum was new to this whole bribe your kids thing, or that she was used to doling out candy to Ben and Lizzy too, she automatically took out a green and blue one for Ben.

"Is that earth?" I asked.

"Thanks Luna." Ben accepted the lollipop, "But you're not doing the bribing thing right."

"Why did you give him earth?" I asked, and more importantly, "How many of those suckers have you got in there?"

"Three more." Mum said.

"How about a bonus, like for... Urm..." I looked to Savy and Ben for help.

"For being really good at lunch?" Savy offered.

"Why do I have to pay for your good behavior?" Mum asked.

"You started it." I pointed out.

Ben said nothing, he just looked amused.

"How can you girls extort from your beautiful mummy like that?" Mum gasped dramatically.

This made us laugh.

We got to the Banquet Hall in time, as in we got there before Grandma Luna. Aunt Jade and the girls were already at the table. They waved us over hurriedly.

"Good, you're here." Aunt Jade sounded relieved.

"Where's Eddy?" Mum asked.

"Oprah volunteered to babysit him, so we won't see him till later." Aunt Jade said.

"Oprah, oh, your beta's daughter? That's so thoughtful of her! I had thought it might be terribly boring for a small boy like Eddy." Mum concurred.

"Poor Oprah has to be stuck with Eddy." Estella whispered to us, "I told her if she babysat Eddy today, I'll introduce her to you. So later you must let me introduce you, okay?"

"By the way, Oprah thinks Alpha Sam is a very cool guy." Esmeralda said, "Dad and Beta Larson was talking about you at the breakfast table. Now Oprah thinks you're a strong and cool alpha."

The two girls laughed.

"Wait, who is Oprah?" I asked.

"My cousin, Oscar's twin sister." Ben answered, "She's been studying at the Lorent's Girls School and stays at their boarding school most of the time."

I see.

"Wouldn't Oprah be disappointed when she meets Sam?" Savy asked.

Hey!

"But I am a strong a cool alpha!" I protested.

"Yes, but you're not a guy." Savy pointed out.

Estella and Esmeralda laughed.

"It's okay. It'll serve her right." Esmeralda said.

"We don't like her very much." Estella admitted.

"She's always showing off about how all the guys are in love with her." Esmeralda said.

I looked at Ben, he merely shrugged, "Don't involve me in this Princess."

"Is she the cousin who made Lizzy cry at the last family vacation?" Savy asked.

"Lizzy cried?" Ben asked.

"Anyway, she's stuck with Eddy for the whole day." Estella said.

"I think that's enough to make anyone cry." Esmeralda said.

The two girls giggled happily.

"And then later when she meets Sam, she'll realize she suffered all day and Alpha Sam isn't even a boy." Esmeralda said. And then they laughed again.

Ben remained silent behind me. I doubt just making her babysit was going to cut it for Ben. From what I had heard, Lizzy hated visiting her extended family because of one particular cousin. I'm not clear about any of the details though. I didn't know she cried either.

I tried not to feel too sorry for Oprah.

Grandma Luna entered the room at that moment with Mindy by her side. Our table got quiet very quickly.

Ben held out the chair for her.

"What a good young beta." Grandma Luna said as she sat down.

The servants immediately started serving our food. Ben went with them and returned with two plates for Savy and I.

"Is there anything else I can do for you, princess?" Ben asked me.

I shook my head, "Go have your lunch and rest or whatever you need to do."

"Thank you, princess." Ben bowed and left.

"He called her princess again!" Esmeralda whispered. The two girls giggled.

"Ah! I forgot to tell Oscar to call us princess too!" Estella suddenly remembered.

I laughed along with my cousins, but I was a little less into it than before. I mean, with my cousins, I've always felt like it was just harmless fun, so it was easy to laugh off whatever they said.

But after hearing about Oprah, I couldn't help but feel a bit bad. My cousins were the Alpha's daughters, there were two of them, and they were so very beautiful.

This was the Beta's daughter, she came home from boarding school, and had to spend it babysitting while we laughed over lunch. Okay... It sounded like she was a show off, and I'm not sure what she did to Lizzy, but well...

I'm not going to get in trouble. How did Ben put it, "Don't involve me in this."

I know, I'll just let Estella introduce me to Oprah, and be polite. I'm staying out of this one and minding my own business.

"Quiet." Grandma Luna suddenly, "Your poor grandfather is lying in his coffin, I barely have any appetite, and you silly girls are just giggling away over your meal!"

The giggling immediately stopped. The girls put down their cutlery and looked down.

Grandma Luna went on, "Is this what your human mother taught you? This shameless disrespect for your deceased elders? When I die, will you two girls be laughing away without a care too?"

I looked at Estella and Esmeralda. Their wolves were no doubt furious, but they controlled and suppressed the beasts within them and kept silently looking down at their laps.

They were just going to bear it.

My wolf stirred.

Savy put her hand on my lap. That's right, I promised to stay out of trouble.

"Mother, the girls are still growing." Mum tried to intervene.

It was in the thick of lunchtime, so the entire Banquet hall was crowded, and now silently watching the Alpha's table too.

"The girls are already 16!" Grandma Luna said, "At 16, I was mated to Silas and rebuilding this pack from the ruins of the great war. At 17, I was already with child. You girls know nothing of hardship or responsibility. All you do is laugh and play everyday."

"The girls had been so helpful today, Mother. They helped Jade and I prepare all the guest rooms, and they played such beautiful music for Father last night. I'm sure he would have been touched by their music. And their laughter lifts up all our spirits..." Wow, Mum was really going all out to defend my cousins.

Mum had always been kind like that. That was her greatest beauty.

Grandma scoffed, "You don't have to say anything. I may be old, but I'm neither blind nor deaf. It's obvious as day. Look at Sam."

What me? Oh no. What did I do now?

"You don't see her giggling off her head and teasing betas or playing silly games. She was greeting guests at the gate, and negotiating business for her pack last night. She has already found a splendid Alpha mate and wears his bangle at 15. Even the betas obey her! Why? Because she commands their respect with her grace and poise!" I would had laughed at that except that Grandma Luna's words... They were so hard to listen to.

I could feel the way the words were like thorny brambles hurled against my heart. I didn't want to hear praises used as whips to punish others.

I looked as my cousins, head bowed and letting her words lash out at them. And I understood why they were so afraid of upsetting Grandma Luna now.

I gritted my teeth. She was my Grandmother afterall. But hahaha, my control over my wolf was far less than my beautiful cousins.

I stood up, hair raised.

"That's enough." I all but alpha commanded, "Grandma Luna, my beautiful cousins have been nothing but lovely for as long as I had known them."

"Sam..." Mum warned.

Grrr... I hate to do this, but... I took out my precious lollipop and placed it on the table.

I was done here.

I can't be good and stay out of trouble after all. Not even for a hundred lollipops.

"Please excuse me." I left the table.

Ben quickly came to my side.

I didn't wait. I stalked out of the Banquet Hall.

Okay, now what?

Ben indicated the stairs, so we went back up to my family's apartment. He used his keycard to unlock the door and turn on the heating and lights.

I sat crossed legged and crossed armed on the sofa.

Ben held the earth lollipop in front of my face, "Here. You know I don't like candy anyway."

I took it and felt better.

"I hate what my Grandma Luna is doing!" I growled. "I know she is having a hard time with my Grandpa Alpha gone and all, but... Arughhhhh."

I was too angry to talk. Just grrr...

"So what now, Alpha?" Ben asked.

How would I know?

I pulled open the lollipop wrapper and put the whole earth in my mouth. Hahaha. How could I stay mad when the whole earth was in my mouth?

"Savy just linked. She is bringing Estella and Esmeralda over to hang out. I'll see what grub Oscar and I can get from the pack kitchen." Ben said.

I shook my head, "I want to eat pizza."

Ben smirked, "Me too."