THURSDAY, 11 FEBRUARY, 10.15PM
To conclude the meeting, Harvey summarised with the new communications "directive", which I understood to be very vague directions. I'm not sure the point of giving directives. It's something like a GPS that said, "In general we're going to avoid the rocks and stick to the woods and end up somewhere in a better place when we reach the horizon."
I wished life had easier landmarks to navigate... with actual roads. You know like, turn right at the library, go straight till you see the hospital, then make a left turn. You should be passing a couple of malls on the left.
In real life, all the landmarks weren't there till you reached it. The way our three pack merger in the Green Packlands was recently hailed as a monumental landmark in our continent's history - maybe as large as Black Forest's unification of the Black Packlands some 30 years ago - except their unification was done with bloodshed, and ours would be done through a series of administrative phases.
Yeah, our version, no matter how monumental a landmark, wasn't exactly breaking news. More like boring news, and I pitied whoever had to explain it on TV to everyone else.
We finally reached the end of the meeting, at 10.05pm.
"I'm afraid we are running late, Alpha." Beta Lucas prompted.
"Yes. We will conclude the meeting here." Dad decided, "Well done and keep up the good work."
And my betas all stood and bowed in unison, "Thank you, Alpha."
Which startled me. Everyone else dipped their heads politely and took their leave then. Come to think of it, I guess that would be the appropriate way to leave a meeting with the Alpha.
But my dad and Beta Lucas was never all that into formalities, and these customs that our first gen wolves grew up with in their home packs slowly eroded away with time and everyday living out here in the babaric wastelands.
Sometimes they felt nice though, to acknowledge our alpha like this. Maybe not all traditions were such terrible nuisances. Some of them had pretty practical usages too.
Such as now, as we left, I saw Titanium and Hank readied with their files at the door. My betas' announced thanks had prompted them to get ready for their turn. As we left, I could hear them enter and say, "Good evening, Alpha" and I knew that their meeting had begun.
Sometimes tradition was the oil that kept and old machine going smoothly.
Mum, Mrs Beta, and Laura were going to go up to their rooms. Mum had meant to keep Sabre in her room tonight (despite Dad's earlier protest which I wasn't supposed to have known about), but the little human was quite insistant about coming with us.
"Alright, you can go with Sam and Savy. I'll come check on you in an hour." Mum decided.
Sabre, who at the moment, was clutching to Savy's hand in a death grip nodded solemnly, "I'm big girl now."
Generally, people who said "I'm big girl now." said this because they were NOT.
I said generally, because there were specific exceptions, like with this little human girl.
Mum obvi didn't think Sabre was going to last more than an hour with us. I didn't think she'd last more than twenty minutes, but I wasn't worried. Mum would be just upstairs and both Savy and Lizzy were here.
Plus I was armed with three betas tonight, not that I was going to count Ben as any help with a crying little girl, but Harvey had proven himself competent at diapering last weekend, and if you can change a diaper, you can babysit (I think).
Whatever it was, Sabre was in good hands.
We set up the sleeping bags.
"You girls can take the carpets and sofas." Ben nodded towards the TV area, "Us guys would take that side and the coffee tables."
The guys proceeded to move the coffee tables to the other side of the room and set up their laptops and chargers. Tada! Instant Beta Corner. Hahaha.
"Where do you wanna sleep, Sam?" Lizzy asked me. They were giving me first dips as usual. I looked at the set up of two long sofas and the thick rectangular carpet in the middle, and promptly dropped my sleeping bag on the ground of one side of the carpet, "You girls can take the sofas. Sabre can sleep on the middle on the floor. I'll take this side."
"Are you sure, Sam?" Lizzy eyed my side of the room dubiously, "You can have the sofa, you know."
I shrugged it off. I was the alpha, "I prefer having my own space anyway."
My betas got to work immediately, even Jonah was roped in, but they used him as some kind of multi-function assitant. He was sent to the kitchen for supplies (chips, coffee, and bottled water), and then they sent him to collect documents, fetch stationery, install the printer...and at one point to go down to the basement with Ben to help Mrs Beta and Mum distribute light snacks and water to the families sheltering there.
On the other side of the room, Lizzy and Savy were just discussing about how the Vday dance might be cancelled.
Lizzy also ripped her nail while packing the care boxes earlier, so there was also a serious discussion on how to deal with it until it grew back.
So while the guys worked on figuring out how to link up the social media accounts and what type of documentation and argued about the control measures that would be enforced, the girls decided to cut all Lizzy's nails evenly short and treat them to a temporary manicure.
"It's not like I need to keep them long anymore since the dance is probably going to be cancelled." Lizzy shrugged.
"How nice it would be if school was canceled, but the snow clears up in time for the dance!" Savy said wistfully.
"That's impossible. Even if it stops snowing tonight, it would still take at least three days for all the roads to be cleared after this. We would never be able to buy our dresses, and the dance committee won't be able to go down to school in time to decorate it." Lizzy said sensibly.
But Savy was in no mood to be sensible, "Sam, please make the snow stop and the sun come out to melt all the snow by tomorrow."
"What are you talking about?" I was tired after the long day and missing my bathtub and clamshell bed and lemony scents. My only consolation was Sir Sparkalot who was in the backpack next to me, but I couldn't take him out. The guys might make fun of me, or worse, Sabre might want it.
MINE.
So I'm keeping him hidden in my backpack next to my sleeping bag till the very last minute.
"Your friends from school said you were like the school's warlock right? Can't you fix the weather?" Savy asked petulantly.
Of course not. I was the alpha, not a warlock!
I growled in mild annoyance. Sabre laughed. She had learned a lot from Savy, who would have cackled except that there were others around, particularly Beta Harvey who as far as I knew, girls always wanted to make a good impression in front of.
I had no idea why.
But I'm the one with a pink unicorn hidden in my bag, so I'm just the pot calling the kettle black, I guess.
"A warlock?" Lizzy asked, "Aren't warlocks all males?"
"The humans don't know that." I explained.
"I knew that." Sabre lied.
And then she asked, "What are warlocks?"
So Lizzy and Savy told her about the magical tale of the Warlock next door, but a homemade Disney version where they omitted the unpleasant parts and made the scary parts fun and cute. Oh, and of course he had to fall in love with a human girl whom he could give his crystal heart to.
"I want to mate a warlock when I grow up too." Savy decided.
"Please tell him to make the weather better for us." Savy told her.
But Sabre was supposed to be Eddy's mate! Arugh! I was not going to care. Sabre can use her human rights and marry whoever she likes.
I'm so progressive like that.
And I can go to bed whenever I like - which was about now. I'm done with today.
So by the time Mum came in to check on us, Sabre was still going strong, whilst I was the grouch trying to fall asleep in my sleeping bag on the far side of the lounge (with Sir Sparkalot snucked in with me).
Lizzy, Savy, and Sabre were having a proper rousing round of giggles while they told secrets and painted each other's nails.
The guys were still working. Ben was in a bad mood because he had meant to be playing LAN games tonight, but Beta work, particularly those which involved setting up the new communications department did not allow it.
Beta Work was the kind of mate that didn't like for you to just chill out and pull LAN party all nighters. Because even if you didn't have to work at night, you needed to sleep so you could fulfill your duties to her in the morning.
It's a terrible, terrible, way to live.
At least the alpha gets to sleep early, unless you're the real alpha. Dad was still on his third meeting, the last one before he could get down to discussing the administration for Moon Bell with Beta Lucas. Oh the joy.
But, after that, Dad goes to bed. And Beta Lucas would be left to organise the notes and whatever they had discussed to be executed in a timely fashion.
Therefore, the worst position in the pack isn't the Omega. It's the Beta.
And the best position in the pack isn't the alpha, or the Luna. It's the future alpha. Yup, that me.
Unless you are the kind who didn't like walking in front, always going first, public speaking, confrontations, bombing your alpha dominance, or living with the decisions you've made on behalf of your whole pack and the future generation.
So maybe being the alpha wasn't meant for everybody.
But it was meant for me. Or maybe it was the other way round, and I was meant for it. Whichever way it was, I was the alpha and I wouldn't have it any other way.
"Baby, would you like to come upstairs to sleep with mummy now?" Mum offered Sabre.
Yes. But Mum wasn't asking me.
Sabre shook her head quite confidently, "No thanks, Mama, I still have one more layer to go before my nails are done. And I want to hear more about Skye and Thomas."
"Who's Skye and Thomas?" Mum asked.
"Some guys in our school." Savy smiled angelically, "Haylee said they wanted to ask Lizzy and me to the Vday dance, but they got sick earlier this week."
"It's not like we would have said yes anyway." Lizzy shrugged, "But it's official now. No one is ever going to ask us out."
"Oh." Jonah said from the other side of the room.
"Mind your own business, Jonah." Lizzy shot back.
"Yeah, okay." Jonah ducked back behind his computer screen.
"I thought you girls were going with Ben and Jonah?" Mum asked.
"Yeah, we are." Savy smiled-shrugged it off like it wasn't a big deal.
"Or we would have anyway, if this snow storm hadn't happen." Lizzy bemoaned.
Mum smiled and gave both girls a quick hug, "Oh, I'm sorry girls. It must to terribly disappointing to have your Valentine's Day plans get cancelled."
"It's okay, Mum." Savy said, "There will be other dances."
"Let's hope there will be dances where we actually get asked to." Lizzy groaned.
Mum laughed then, "I'm sure there would be plenty of those in time to come."
And then Mum suddenly noticed my cosy cocoon on one side of the room, "Do you girls know why Sam is sleeping by herself all the way over there?"
I wasn't sleeping. I was only half asleep, but the half of me that was sleeping didn't want to have to wake up to tell them, so I just laid there and tried to continue falling asleep.
"We were probably too noisy." Savy admitted.
"And stinky." Ben added, "Your nail paints are dissolving our lungs back here!"
Jonah laughed while my other two betas only gave bemused smiles because they were too cool and mature to demean a lady's beauty regime.
"We did let her pick her sleeping spot first." Lizzy said.
"She probably just decided to let us have the sofas." Savy said.
"But she's the alpha, shouldn't she get the sofa?" Lizzy reasoned, "It's not like either of us are going to sleep much tonight."
"We can let Sam and Sabre have the sofas." Savy nodded.
"And also try to get more sleep." Mum said.
"Mum..." Savy whined.
"Alright, I know, you're old enough to decide on your own bedtime. Just remember it'll be another busy day tomorrow. I expect you to be helpful."
"Yes, Mum." Savy sighed.
"Don't worry, Luna. We'll make sure to sleep enough." Lizzy assured Mum.
Savy changed to subject, "The question is, how are we going to move Sam over here?"
"Should we wake her?" Lizzy wondered.
"No need." It was Ben. I felt myself suddenly picked up, sleeping bag and all. Ben took the few steps needed with me bagged up in his arms then put me onto the sofa. He was surprisingly gentle. I thought he would drop me like a sack of potatoes. My plan had been to play dead till he dropped me on the sofa and then sudden flare up at him with a roar. You know, see if I can elicit a sharp scream or something laugh-worthy like that.
But Ben had carefully held me in the sleeping bag princess style and placed me down on the sofa properly. He even straightened my sleeping bag for me. So un-Ben of him.
And then before I could attempt my scary flare at him anyway, Ben said softly, "When she's sleeping like that, she looks just like Sam pre-shift."
"Yeah, maybe if you kiss her, it'll break her curse from her scary wolf." Jonah quipped.
"Or you'd wake up her scary wolf and she'd bite off your head." Lizzy said.
"I'll have to go with Lizzy on this one." Savy decided.
Ben stepped away from my side, but he was laughing a bit now, "No thanks. I'll leave that kind of stuff to her Luna Bell."
"Right answer, beta." Ki beamed at him.
"What?" Ben sounded affronted, "Hey, there is no way I would ever kiss Sam okay? That's like... unnatural."
Then I think he caught sight of my mum's expression, "I mean, Sam is like... a raccoon. She eats stuff from my trash, take my apples, and I'm sure her bite is rabied..."
"He means that in all the most positive ways, Luna." Lizzy tried to explain on Ben's behalf, "I guess we just grew up together so Sam and Savy are like our sisters."
"Savy yes, but Sam is a raccoon." Ben insisted.
"Racoons are cute." Jonah said in his best friend's defence.
But mum was not offended, she only laughed, "Thank you Ben, for looking out for my girls all these years."
Well this racoon is your alpha who didn't need looking out for! But the sofa + sleeping bag + Sir Sparkalot combination was dark, warm, and comfortable. So right now, your alpha wasn't so much a racoon but a little fat caterpillar sleeping in my puffy warm cocoon.
And this fat caterpillar was really sleepy, so I let it go and let the rest of me slip silently into a dreamless sleep.