ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?

7 FEBRUARY, SUNDAY, BREAKFAST

Ben and Beta Lucas were at this moment facing off in the middle of packhouse foyer.

"Well, you see me. Happy now? Want to smell the inside of my shirt too?" Ben asked his dad.

Beta Lucas growled, "Son, if you are staying out, you need to let your mum and I know."

"I told you I'd be working late." Ben growled back.

"What did you have to do that took all night?" Beta Lucas asked.

"I helped Harvey check the training hall and dungeons, and took Alpha Henry out for a spin in the Lambo. Then I sorted out the work on the Alpha's desk and finished my own work. If you checked your email, I've handed over the rat problem to you. I closed the accounts for the party last night and sent you the expense report and updated budget. I've also included the quotations from the pest control companies Harvey contacted previously." Ben told his dad.

"I've already seen it." Beta Lucas said.

"Then you'd know I was still sending emails at 4am in the morning." Ben told him.

Beta Lucas waved his hand to brush it off, "Fine, alright, you were working hard. Go home and shower. You stink of so many things I don't even know what they are."

Ben shrugged at his dad, then dropped a quick bow and excused himself.

Beta Lucas shook his head, "That boy's rotten attitude. I don't know where he gets it from."

Dad smiled at his old friend, "An apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"What? Me?" Beta Lucas looked honestly shocked.

Mrs Beta giggled a little and patted his arm, "It's true."

Beta Lucas looked particularly disgruntled, "I might have been a little rebellious, but I wasn't that bad."

"You were worse." Dad told him. And then Dad patted Beta Lucas on his back, "Come on, old friend. We can reminiscence over breakfast."

"I might have been a little rebellious." Beta Lucas admitted, "But I didn't make that kind of face!"

I heard dad's warm rich laughter. And then Mum and Mrs Beta's laughter chiming in like bells.

Apparently, Beta Lucas was EXACTLY LIKE BEN when he was younger, except he had a pony tail and got into a lot more fights.

Dad remembered how he couldn't take Beta Lucas out to town without factoring an hour or two to deal with the "unexpected" run in with ex-girlfriends or rogue ambush.

"The rogue ambushes were for you, Alpha." Beta Lucas said.

"Ex-girlfriends?" Mrs Beta asked.

"Well...I was very hot - but I'm a changed man now." Beta Lucas quickly added.

"You're still hot." Mrs Beta allowed.

"Yes. That's true." Beta Lucas nodded.

Omo.

Mrs Beta and Mum laughed.

"I remembered I had so much trouble when I first moved into Night Forest with Lucas." Mrs Beta said, "I kept wondering what I did to make those ladies hate me so much."

Mum shook her head, "It wasn't you, Willow."

"I know that now... But back then, I was really perplexed." Mrs Beta said. She laughed, "Now that I remember, it was rather dramatic."

What Ben needed was his own Mrs Beta to straighten him out.

If Ben had his own Mrs Beta, he wouldn't be messing around with babes.

And Harvey wouldn't think his work was his life.

And Ki... Maybe he wouldn't feel so hollow inside anymore.

Because it's undeniable that my Betas were all HOT guys - as in they were HIGHLY ORGANIZED TROUBLE.

(Yes, I knew Ki's soulmate was technically dead. But I've been praying, not every night, but most nights. If the moon goddess could turn Shiro into the first werewolf, she could give Ki a new soul mate - my own theory entirely.)

I was hanging around the buffet table with Savy and Lizzy, my mind full but my plate empty when I heard Shannon's voice call over in a friendly way, "Hey, no one told me there was a dress code."

Lizzy laughed, "You wouldn't be able to follow it."

I belatedly noticed that Lizzy was wearing a longish grey cardigan. With her messy bun, and light blue jeans, we did look like we were in a kind of dress code.

Shannon shook his head with a rueful smile, "It's true, I'll never be as cute as you girls."

Flirting so early in the morning, dude?

"Even Sam." Drew pointed out.

I remembered the two hair buns on top of my head. Right.

"Next time get her into a dress too." Tim's eyes twinkled of mischief, "A short one."

He winked at me. Shannon hit him over the back of his head, "She's your alpha, you idiot."

"Yeah, show respect." Drew added, but he was smiling.

"I was just kidding." Tim defended himself. He rubbed the back of his head, but he was also smiling.

Hahaha.

After that, Savy and Lizzy promised to help the other girls with their hair too. It turned out that the bun thing was a very in thing now because LuvMuunMuun wore their hair in all variations of buns in their new music video.

We got our food and got back to the Alpha's table. I noticed a table that was reserved near us. It was a long table, ebough for 10 people.

Just as I wondered why, Ki reappeared with my school friends. Oh yeah. I forgot about them. Opps.

But it seemed like they were fitting in. In fact the guys had gone straight to the buffet and then instead of sitting at their reserved table, went to hang out with the other guys from my pack.

Ben got back from his shower and hung out with the other guys too. Jonah naturally joined him and every now and then their table would burst out in laughter. I guess last night's party wasn't over yet.

"Sam, why don't you go sit with your friends today?" Mum prompted as she surveyed the very quiet girls' table.

Oh right. I probably should. I took my plate and mug of milk tea and scooted over to the table with the girls. I should try to make up for all my bad hospitality.

Their table was much quieter. Ki was pouring their tea. He pulled out a chair for me.

Jasmine and Pearl looked unsure whether they should stand up to greet me or not. The human girls simply said, "Oh, hi Sam."

"Hey, what's up?" I asked with my usual grin as Ki topped up my tea. Jasmine and Pearl decided to just drop the formalities too and relaxed.

The girls had also gotten their food, but their table was rather subdued in comparison with with guys.

"Nothing much." Jasmine answered. She wasn't smiling though... I looked carefully at my friend.

"Yeah, nothing's up." Zara said, "It's mostly all down."

Eh? What did that mean?

"Jasmine and Liam broke up." Leia said.

Oh. Eh? But did they start going out yet?

"It's not that." Jasmine said, she looked at Ki who excused himself to attend to something else.

Jasmine checked to make sure Ki had departed from our table, and then she leaned over, "Harvey turned me down."

Wait what?

"I feel so confused." Jasmine elaborated, "I've liked Liam since the first day at middle school, but I was just a plain girl and he never even noticed me. So I made sure to apply for the same high school and learned to be cute. We got into the same class. And he asked me out on Vday..."

The other girls nodded solemnly.

Then Jasmine sighed, "But then Harvey showed up and I just... When Ben said I would be in Harvey's team, I was really happy. Liam was unhappy about it, and I told him we can cancel Vday if he didn't like it. And so he did. I felt a little bad, but I was too excited about being in Harvey's team. He was really cool last night, as our team leader and then he played the guitar really well. So when he walked us up to our rooms after the party, I waited for everyone to go into the room and once we were alone, I asked him if he had a girlfriend."

"We made sure to give them space because Jasmine was making eyes at Harvey all night." Leia explained.

"I still think you were very brave." Abigail said.

"Too brave." Zara added.

"You shouldn't be so straightforward with guys." Krystal said.

"Anyway, he said no." Jasmine sighed.

Eh? So she asked Harvey if he had a girlfriend and he said no. So why was she sad?

"Tell what happened properly or Sam won't be able to follow." Leia scolded.

"What happened was that Harvey rejected her. He said he didn't have a girlfriend because the only thing he loved was his job." Krystal explained on Jasmine's behalf.

"That's just a nice way to say he wasn't interested in Jasmine." Abigail interpreted.

No, actually I think being a good beta was just the only thing Harvey really cared for. The future of his pack at Morning Light was riding on his shoulders after all.

Jasmine looked miserable, "I never knew my heart could hurt so much."

"That's true love." Krystal said knowingly.

"But I've liked Liam for so long." Jasmine mused, "It's so strange that I barely felt anything when Liam called off our date. But I don't think I'll ever be able to get over Harvey."

"Liam was just a crush. Harvey's the real deal." Krystal told her.

"Maybe Harvey is my soulmate." Jasmine wondered. She looked at me, her eyes glassy with unshed tears, and hope.

Oh no.

I mean, that would be nice, but this was real life, and based on what I've heard, real life love stories were usually messy and confusing.

I'm glad I didn't have to do things like fall in love. I will never ever fall in love. NEVER. I had too much riding on my shoulders for things like love.

Maybe my good beta had the right idea. My first love had to be my pack. I will protect everyone's happiness. There was too much riding on me. Love and all its trappings would only be a distraction.

"That would make a good werewolf romance." Pearl said with a wide smile, "If Harvey did turn out to be your soul mate, you could write about it and publish a webnovel."

"Yeah, I want to fall in love and marry a werewolf too." Zara decided, "Then I can live in a pack and have parties and eat buffets every weekend..."

"I doubt it happens every week." Pearl said.

"Oh, did you arrange all this just for us, Sam?" Abigail asked brightly.

At this moment Ben got up on one of the tables to announce, "Alright, listen up! Next weekend's party at the Alpha's pool is on. This is seperate from the Alpha's dinner party, so you need to RSVP for both events if you're going. Dean's family is also hosting a grand opening of their boarding home on Sunday morning. Drop by to check it out and show your support. Lastly, the bus to the bowling centre for FREE BOWLING sponsored by Delta Felicity is departing from our porch at 1PM sharp TODAY."

"Let's all fall in love and marry werewolves from this pack." Zara decided.

"Werewolves don't fall in love and get married." I told them, "We have soulmates."

"Then let's all be soulmates to wolves in this pack." Zara amended, undeterred.

"It doesn't work that way." Jasmine said, "Soul mates are fated. It's not something we can decide on our own."

"I was fated to meet Sam and come to this pack to fall in love and get married." Zara was agreeable like that.

"I believe in creating my own fate." Abigail informed us.

Maybe that was why humans were always the wild cards, their fates seemed a lot more flexible like that.

Pearl shook her head, her mouth turned down, "You can't just decide that on your own. There are a lot of things you can't control, like rogue attacks and accidents or even whether your mate will accept you."

That's true too.

"Or look at Princess Sam, I don't envy her at all. They give her everything money can buy, but you can't buy love. She can't fall in love or ever be with her real soul mate because of her arranged marriage with the pack next door. " Pearl smiled now, but bitterly.

"But he is my soulmate." I tried to explain.

Pearl brushed it off, "Please, you're like what, 15? You won't know who your soul mate is till you're 18."

But...but... I had a dream...and...how should I explain it?

Abigail sighed and looked at me pitifully, "I guess Sam's really a poor rich kid."

"I'd rather be a poor rich kid than a poor poor kid." Krystal said glumy, "Looks like I'll be waiting tables during vday. The only text asking if I'm free on Vday was my work friend who wants to swap shifts with me."

Yeah, the girls' table was feeling pretty down this Sunday morning. The guys laughed again from the other table across the hall.

Okay, no more moping. I knew exactly how to make the girls feel better, "Come on, let's go."

I got up from the table, grabbing my empty plate to put away. Immediately, Ki reappeared next to me to receive the plate.

Ben brought Henry, Marcus, and Liam over too.

"We're going to Gate City Station soon, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, in about an hour." Ben said.

"Can we go earlier?" I asked.

"Can't wait to get rid of us already?" Henry asked.

I checked my watch and grinned, "That's not it. I just thought that the girls would like to go shopping."

"Shopping?" The girls gasped a bit. They sounded happier already. Nothing like a little shopping to cheer a group of girls up. Now what did Savy and Lizzy call it? Right, retail therapy.

"It's Sunday morning..." Marcus reminded me.

"It's fine. The shops open at 10." I said.

"On a Sunday morning?" Marcus sounded incredulous.

"Welcome to Gate City!" I beamed.