THE MORNING AFTER

Saturday, 5 March, Before the Dawn

The morning after, I woke up in my golden clamshell bed, fully dressed from my crystal-encrusted white gown to the black suede boots, and no memory of how I got here.

I never thought this type of opening storyline would ever apply to any point of my life, but here I was.

Hahaha, just joking. This wasn't the first time I woke up and found myself back in bed. I had a bad habit of falling asleep anywhere when I was a pup. So thanks to Dad, I always woke up in my own bed with no recollection of how I got there from the sofa/porch/carpet/etc. Mum said I was a puppy who didn't know my limit. I would just play till I dropped.

What was actually disturbing were the unfamiliar smells I had brought to bed with me. They weren't nasty smells, but they were strange smells, like herb gardens and libraries and printer ink. At least I think it was printer ink. Don't ask, I had no idea where that last one popped out from either.

There were more recognizable smells too, like Bell, my betas, my school friends, and the less pleasent mix of random strangers, perfume, and alcohol... which I guess was going around at the party. There was also a weird taste on my tongue.

Someone had thoughtfully left two bottles of water next to my bed. Just the normal bottled water Ki stocked on the second-floor kitchenette. It sat on top of Lucky's empty enclosure.

So quickly, my hamster baby had grown and flown the coup! Like literally, he had his own car now. Hahaha. This should all be weird right?

But when I twisted the cap of the first bottle and broke the seal, when I took a long drink of the very normal water that didn't glow at my touch, when I unzipped my suede boots and felt the deep carpets sink under my feet... yeah, everything was NORMAL. It was so good to be back to NORMAL again. Yeah, NORMAL is good. NORMAL is the best.

Once upon a time, not too long ago, none of this was normal, but it had become my new normal now. NORMAL was a very relative like that.

I put down the empty bottle and finished up the second one. I can't tell you how good water tasted when I really needed it!

Feeling marginally better, I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom with every intention of showering all the strange smells away.

The faster I got everything back to NORMAL, the quicker I can get back to dealing with another day in school. Tbh, I wanted to get back to a NORMAL day asap!

NORMAL was definitely the better. For a wolf who was supposed to be a catalyst and credited the top quote listed under "change", I really preferred staying in the NORMAL too much.

The world is changing blah blah blah. I was so sick of hearing that! (Even though I was usually credited for it. It was actually my Dad who said it first.)

But I meant NORMAL changes... Things on the Colored Mountains should stay on the Coloured Mountains.

For all the times I had wished to make the Green Packlands like the Colored Mountains, I take it back. That was my ignorance speaking.

More and more, I was starting understand why the first wolves who left the Colored Mountains did so. I think they just got fed up with living with crazy wolves.

My bathroom was a nice normal too - my tub had lost its blue stain ring! I knew Ki-magic would triumph, but that was really quick. I checked it up and down for signs that it had been switched out. I found a scuff in a corner but I had no idea if my original tub had a scuff.

I can't believe I was kneeling on my bathroom floor inspecting my bathtub!

So okay, a little Ki-magic was always a good thing. But no more crazy Colored Mountain adventures. Goddess! I've decided to retire here in the plains. I don't know what cosmic plan you're working out, but I've about had it with those Tygers and Princes! They were all nothing but trouble.

It was really one thing to read a Lycan legend, it was quite another to see it play out in real life. The injustice, the scheming, the unimaginable power in one wolf's hands. In real life, it was crazy. They were crazy!

After a thorough shower, I wrapped myself up and went outside for my school uniform. I was probably running a little behind, but that's okay. I'll just eat super fast. I wonder what delicious thing Ki made for breakfast? It made me happier just thinking about it.

And then I stopped in front of my golden birdcage clothes rack (which was part of my NORMAL now too), and felt very confused because my uniform wasn't hanging in it. Instead, it was hosting a selection of denim jeans, t-shirts, and light knitwear.

My Lycan study group file sat neatly on top of my dresser.

It took a while for everything to click together...

OH, IT WAS SATURDAY!

For the record, this wasn't the first time I had accidentally woken up early on a Saturday morning thinking it was a school day. The last time I did it, I also woke everyone else up. And it wasn't until I stepped out of my house when Dad who just opened his inbox checked called out, "Wait, Sam!"

"Yeah, Dad?" I popped back wondering why he sounded so urgent about it.

"It's Saturday."

"What?" Mum and I both exclaimed.

Savy dropped her head onto the table with a groan, her hair just brushing the rim of the bowl of cold cereal in front of her, "Sam!!!!"

Opps.

"Oh Sam." Mum sighed.

But since we were all already up and it was nearly time to get up for breakfast at the Packhouse with our gang, we didn't go back to bed. Mum let us take our breakfast to the living room to watch TV too, so it wasn't all bad.

"Maybe we should wake up early every Saturday to eat breakfast in front of the TV." I suggested before Savy and I left the house for a second breakfast and Lycan study group at the Packhouse.

"NO!" Everyone else said.

"Do it yourself." Savy said.

I thought maybe I could do just that. Wake up early and watch cartoons with a bowl of cereal - but now I realized what a dumb pup I was, because now I'd much rather sleep in too.

There's no point crying over spilt milk.

I picked a white t-shirt with front pocket made from a dull gold fabric. I like the batwing cut in the t-shirt. I also chose the pair of dark wash jeans (were these denim pieces the ones the Alpha Princess were signed to exclusively wear? They all looked new.)

They were stretchy too, and felt like denim leggings. Was it really denim if it were stretchy? But this was really the softest, most comfortable new jeans I've ever worn. They were tight fit too. I mean, the combination of comfort and tight fit just surprised me.

I looked in the mirror and admired how well it fit. I decided on a pair of white sneakers - which was also new, and so white that they stood out like teeth on a perfect smile.

And then just because they were there, I picked out a blush pink long knit cardigan. I didn't usually wear pink, but Ki seem to like using it as an accent color in my otherwise, black, white, grey, and blue wardrobe. Anyway, I liked that it had front pockets, the vertical knit pattern, and that it had a hood.

I've never thought of myself as a pink kind of girl, and in general, I had always avoided pink clothes... But since Ki, I discovered I can tolerate the really pale pinks, and admittedly, I looked good in them.

Plus, this one was perfect for cuddling into and crawling back into bed - which was my plan for until the sun came out and Ki made breakfast.

Mmmm.... Breakfast. I wondered what wonderful thing it would be today. I climbed back into my golden clamshell. Yup, my NORMAL now was a good place.

Just as I settled nicely into my sheets, I caught the leftover scent of unexplainable weirdness - I felt quite sure it was some kind of ink smell... It was distinctintly black ink in my mind too, but I couldn't quite place how I knew.

Also, I was thirsty again. Grrr... I flipped the quilt off and felt annoyed with myself.

I had already finished both bottles of water. I got out of bed, only stopping behind my door to sense for Ki's wolf outside.

I'm not sure why, but Ki had been sleeping in his wolf form outside my door. I think he said something about sleeping better this way. I don't really get how lying outside my bedroom door would help, but since it was just Ki, I guess it was okay.

I carefully opened my bedroom door so it would swing wide and hit Ki, but there was no white wolf outside my door. Maybe he woke up early today too.

Quietly, I crept down the stairs. Even if Ki was awake, the rest of the Special Team was probably still sleeping. I'll just grab a bottle of water from the second floor kitchenette and be back in my room in a jiffy.

Just as I hit the second floor landing, I heard Ki's voice. He was speaking quietly, but the sound traveled up these stairs, "One wonders how you got into this state."

And then a low deep voice grumbled, "You're not here to wonder. Or speak either. Just shut up."

{Mate! ~❤️ }