AN EMOTIONAL CLOSURE

17 FEBRUARY, WEDNESDAY, CONTINUED

Madam Principal had to physically hold down the computer lab teacher by the shoulders before the lady calmed down.

"Oh my god. Oh my god..." She kept repeating to herself. 

The rest of the humans got back on the feet to looked around. They looked rather shell shocked.

"What the hell just happened?" Ivan demanded. 

"There has been a sudden sinkhole under the building." Madam Principal said, "It's dangerous here. Please follow Matthew and evacuate in an orderly manner. Coach Williams, please assist."

Coach Williams was looking rather shell shocked himself. It was a good thing he missed all of the actual Maria episodes. I'm not sure how he would take meeting Lord Kosan.

Anyway, we were all shepherded quickly the the next block.

"Zammi, how many jackets do you need to wear in a day?" Krystal hissed at me as we made our way along the school hallways.

Huh? Oh right.

"Why is Ki here?" Leia wanted to know.

"Pretty Alpha was cold so Ki brought her jacket." EJ tried to help me explain.

"What happened to the jacket she was wearing?" Zara asked.

"She lost it." Fluffy chipped in.

Seriously? But Zara just nodded and scolded me, "Sam, you need to be more careful with your things. Nevermind, we can go back to homeroom to look for it later."

"Forget it." Krystal said, "Someone probably already picked it up."

"Then we can check the lost and found at the general office." Zara persisted, "It's too expensive to lose!"

Krystal rolled her eyes, "Exactly, Zara! Think about it, would you bring that jacket to the lost and found if you picked it up?"

Zara thought about it and got really quiet. Then she said, "I would if I knew it was Sam's."

Uh, thanks. I guess.

Leia felt differently though, "I wouldn't. I mean, it's not like she'd miss it. Some people can just call their servant to drive down with a new one."

EJ chortled into his hand, "Shhh... Don't let the Beta hear that! I can't believe you called him a servant!"

"Beta Ki is more of a butler." Fluffy conceded, his smiling mask stretching to smile just that much more.

Did I say how noisy my warriors were? If there was a "Noisest Army Award", my army was sure to win it. 

Matt let us into the music room. The chairs were already moved to form a large circle and Mrs Henderson was waiting for us there, looking frightfully anxious.

She rushed over the moment we entered. Principal Laura stopped her to reassure her that no one was hurt. Meanwhile, they needed to let us sit down quickly so the students could calm down.

I didn't think anyone was particularly frantic. More like bewildered and a little anxious.

Mrs Henderson resorted to pacing on one side of the music room. She was the kind of teacher who cared enough to become very anxious for the welfare of her students.

Once we were seated, Principal Laura started talking, "As you know our school is an old building. Unfortunately, a sinkhole has caused some structural damage... blahblahblah."

Madam Principal established the circumstances so convincingly, even I was getting into the entire "our school nearly got swallowed by a sinkhole story". Okay, I exaggerated a little, but my headline was much more exciting than Principal Laura's.

"Man," Terrence laughed a little, "and I thought it was an earthquake."

"Yeah." Ivan laughed, "You were totally freaking out."

"I was not!" Terrence argued and turned red.

"There aren't any earthquakes in the Gold Packlands." Ivan felt the need to inform the class in general.

It appeared that the CIS debrief was a success. All the humans were all relieved to learn that "it was just a sinkhole" and they were in no real danger whatsoever.

Principal Laura now opened up for anyone in the circle to share how they felt during the tremors.

I waited for no one to raise their hands so that we could all go home. I mean please! What self-respecting cool highschool teen would open up and share honest feelings about being scared over some sinkhole? I mean, you saw how it went with my warriors right?

Hurry up and end this thing, Madam Principal! My ears were feeling cramped under the hood. Plus it was hot under my braids. My fingers itched to loosen my braids... but we were seated in a large circle, so I felt too exposed to everyone's view to do so.

Pearl raised her hand.

"Yes, my dear?" Principal Laura asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Pearl, and I just wanted to share a few words to encourage my friends." Pearl said.

Oh. I just realized that Pearl was caught in the stasis with all the other humans. Opps.

"Just now was a frightening experience for everyone. When the ground shook, and I saw the cracks climbing up the walls, my whole life flashed before my eyes. It helped me realize all the things I've been taking for granted everyday. I'm glad it was just a sinkhole and we were okay, but the experience reminded me to be grateful for the life that I have." Pearl added a small bow at the end of her speech.

Wow, yeah. I get that. I had to admit, I forget to be grateful on a daily basis.

"Oh my god, yes." One of the random girls was moved to add, "This morning, when I left the house, I was angry with my mum and said some mean stuff. The moment the ground broke, I was like, 'Oh my god. I'll never be able to say sorry! It's too late to say sorry, or I love you, or anything!'"

And then she started bawling her eyes out. Her friends comforted her.

Suddenly, it was like a damn broke, and more girls admitted to really emotional things about never seeing loved ones again.

"Who would take care of my babies?" Zara cried, "They are only a few days old. They still need me."

"You'd never guess who's face I saw just before the lights went out!"

Leia confessed. (The lights never went out).

And then she leaned over and whispered the name to Krystal. 

"No way!" Krystal gasped. And then she considered it, "Then it has to be a sign. Don't worry. I'll help you."

It turns out that I wasn't uncool for human highschool girls to talk about feelings and then hug each other and cry.

Even the guys weren't much better. Terrence was crying loudly, his face red and his cheeks tear stained, "I'm sorry Mum! I'm sorry, Mum... I nearly died and left you alone!"

The rest of the guys were quieter in processing their emotions, but they didn't make fun of Terrence. In fact, many of them sported red rimmed eyes themselves.

Mrs Henderson rushed around distributing tissue papper, her own eyes wet with unshed tears.

The atmosphere in the room was charged with emotion. I watched rather shocked. You had to remember, the sinkhole didn't really happen. 

Principal Laura tried again to reassure us that at no time were any of our lives endangered, but everyone was too charged up notice her smoothly executed lies. I suspect Lord Kosan had left quite a different level of "sinkhole" in his "preys" mind.

Either that, or I wasn't the only one who had an overactive imagination. Even though the time and details of the incident varied vastly in each account (some recollections sounded more like something from an action film), the humans were absolutely convinced that something terrifying had happened, and this conviction triggered all kinds of resolution now that they were given a second chance at life.

I took a side glance at the wolves around me. Jasmine was crying on Liam's shoulder. Liam had an arm wrapped protectively around her and looked like he was about to cry too, but he only whispered something to her and pressed a kiss on her forehead.

Okay... Us wolves knew the truth. We really could have died, could have, but we didn't. So really... I didn't get it.

I looked at my wolves... We probably could've died more times we could count on any given week, plus they were wolves, not humans. 

They were quiet. Which felt unnatural coming from them.

"I don't get it." I sighed.

Henry smirked a little, "At least try to look a little bit scared, Sam."

So they were all just acting? I took another glance at Jasmine a Liam. I don't think so...

All this emotion was making me feel uncomfortable though. I returned my attention to Henry and tried to joke it off, "Should I pretend to cry too?"

"I can understand their feelings." Fluffy smiled, "It's always when I might die that I realize I wanted to live."

"Of course you'd want to live. Why would anyone not want to live?" I was out of patience. No one was going to die in the first place, so why all this melodrama? I protected them, didn't I? 

Fluffy shrugged, never taking off his smiling mask, "I wouldn't know. I am happy to be alive."

Was he? Really? Then why was his wolf was withdrawn all the time? I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Me too!" EJ chimed in, but by now I knew his clumsy cheer was just a distraction, "This life is fun!"

"Yeah, but its not always going to be fun." I said. "Eventually, we'll have to grow up and do responsible adult things all the time."

EJ laughed into the back of his hand, "Hoi, hoi, hoi, I forgot our alpha is still a pup."

Wth. You're only a year older! I grabbed my hood to keep it from being thrown off by my hair flaring. On the bright side, the braids had loosened and my ears were more comfortable now.

Jax tried to explain it to me, "For ex-fightdogs like them, this is their second life. Amirite?"

Jax nudged Fluffy with his elbow, "Amirite, or amirite?"

Fluffy tilted his head as if in thought, "Responsible adult things sounds like an interesting idea."

Jax shook his head, "It's tough. Adult things are really complicated. Don't talk about adulting till you finish highschool."

"I really don't think you're one to talk." Neil said, "You didn't even finish highschool."

"That's why I'm young at heart!" Jax grinned saucily at Neil. Neil scoffed, "More like young at brain."

I laughed then, my earlier discomfort at the outpouring of emotions forgotten.

"Sam." Henry raised a brow at me. 

I realized the humans had turned to see what's so funny.

Principal Laura lifted a brow at me, "Is there anything you'd like to add, Samantha?"

Henry smirked. Now everyone in the circle was looking at me. 

These were times when I realize why I was the alpha, because for some reason, I was able to stand up and say with full Alpha Charisma, "I know it felt scary at the moment, but you were all safe. Whatever had happened is over, but it would always be a good story to tell about how you were brave, how you were lucky, and how you moved on. So let's all move on. No regrets."

"Hoi, Hoi!" EJ punched his fist in the air, "No regrets!"

My wolves clapped (because they were loyal like that), then the other kids clapped, whether moved my EJ's determination, or just the general atmosphere.

I sat back down. Now let us all move on...and go home. Please? I don't think I can take another minute of all this rampant emotional spamming happening all around me. Hahahaha.

Thankfully, Principal Laura nodded, satisfied with the outcome of this CIS debrief, "Thank you, Samantha. What about you, Henry?"

I realized belatedly that Principal Laura was simply adopting the traditional lycan closure where the alpha would be invited to speak before the closure. SO WHY DID HENRY GET TO GO AFTER ME? Did that mean he was higher ranked than me? Omo!

"This will do." Henry nodded.

"Thank you, Henry." Principal Laura nodded, "In closing let me just thank all of you. You've been very brave, and I'm sure after such a terrifying ordeal, you'd want to return home and be with your family quickly. The school would be issuing a letter to inform your parents of the incident. If you have any questions for feel you need someone to talk to, Mrs Henderson and I will be happy to hear you out."

Mrs Henderson nodded while blowing her nose. Then she nodded again, just so we knew for sure that she was always available for us.

And it was finally over.