PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS (Henry's money works too)

3 MARCH, WEDNESDAY, CONTINUED

"If you don't want it, you can transfer it to me." I volunteered.

"Stay out of this, Sam!" Henry snapped.

He could be so ungrateful sometimes.

"I mean, it's free money." I tried to reason with Alpha Moneybags in a way that might make sense to him, "You shouldn't let your Dad keep it even if he makes you mad - in fact, if you're really mad, shouldn't you take more money from him?"

I saw Mum face-palmed from the corner of my eye.

Henry smirked now, "I better warn James to keep his credit cards safe."

What had that got to do with anything?

"I bet your the type who'd take revenge on a guy's wallet." Henry said.

I wanted to protest, but opps... wasn't that exactly what I did the other time? Hahahaha. Sorry, not sorry.

So I put on my wide smile, "It's his money or his life."

"Sam!" My mum gasped. She was properly horrified.

"I'm joking, Mum!" I quickly quipped, and then because I didn't know when to shut up, I admitted, "I mean, I did try, but he didn't even notice."

I looked to Ki, "He didn't notice right?"

Ki smiled like a flower to the sun, "Quite the contrary, goddess. When you stopped charging things to his card, he asked me if you were upset with him."

Wait, what?

"Wait what?" Henry was properly grinning now.

"Mind your own business!" I shot back.

"You were the one who brought it up!" Henry shot back.

"I was just trying to help." I said.

"Well, just stay out of it, Sam. This is something between my Dad and me." Henry said.

"Yes, and I believe the score is 358 to 247 in my favour." Alpha George said smugly.

Who kept score against his own son?

"That made me right 111 times more than you." Alpha George boasted.

"So you mean you were 247 times wrong?" I asked.

Alpha George looked at me like it was the first time this occured to him, and then he brushed it off, "Only on trivial unimportant matters."

His Luna laughed on his arm.

Alpha George grunted, "The point is, I'm usually right."

"But also, sometimes wrong too." I pointed out.

"I'm right about the important things!" Alpha George growled.

Normally, this should cause most wolves to stand down, but I had grown up negotiating with my Alpha Dad, so I knew the ropes, "But stuff like theater and music isn't important right?"

Now Alpha George glanced at his Luna, "Well, I didn't say they aren't important. After all, my luna and I have been great patrons of the arts for years."

"But you said it was a waste of time." I argued.

"I said it was a waste of time for MY SON." Alpha George clarified, "My son is the future alpha of Silver Mountain. He has no time... Or talent either."

Henry growled, but I held up a hand to stop him.

"Wanna bet?" I gave Alpha George my widest smile.

"Oh no." Henry seemed to know where this was going only too well.

But I was never one to look before I leaped so I was still winging it.

"What's the wager?" Alpha George asked.

"Urm... Henry's allowance." I said.

"What the hell, Sam!" Henry glared at me.

Yeah, I'm real good at negotiation that way.

"But if Henry proves you wrong, you need to double his allowance!" I decided.

"Do you even know how much my allowance is?" Henry asked.

Let's see... I got $20 on a regular week (although it's been topping itself up on its own through beta magic and was now $40 due to after exam activities... )

But for someone like the Young Alpha Moneybags who could afford to buy roses for all the girls in the class and sponsor the entire theater production... I had no idea.

"Fine then." Alpha George agreed, "But I'll set the terms. Henry has to prove he has talent for music - and I mean real talent, like performance quality talent."

"Like if he won the talent time contest in school this Friday?" I asked.

"Yes. That'll do." And then Alpha George made a rude chuffing noise, "But it has to be won by his music talent."

"Sam!" Henry truly looked panicked now.

I know... Henry's musical talent wasn't prize winning.

Alpha George smirked at his son's distress, "If Henry can win something like that ... I'll double his allowance."

"BUT... If he fails to do that, then he can kiss his allowance account close." Alpha George finished with relish, "I'm taking back all the allowance I've ever given you with interest!"

"F***, wait! What the hell!" Henry immediately objected, "I never agreed to anything like this!"

"So you admit I'm right?" Alpha George taunted.

"No! Of course not!" And Henry took the bait - hook, line, and sinker, "I'll prove it. I'll bring home the top prize of the Talentime contest with my band and make you eat your words."

That's the spirit! Now if only we could translate the spirit into actual musical talent.

"We'll see." Alpha George looked way too smug. I was sure he was thinking how clever he was and how he was going to save a lot of money.

Henry on the other hand, looked way too stressed out.

"Don't worry, Hen." I smiled, but only because Boo was way too in control by now, "I'm very lucky."

"I'm afraid none of this has anything to do with luck, little lady." Alpha George smirked, a la Henry. Wolf genetics was kind of creepy that way.

"Please don't worry about it Alpha George." Boo said in all sweetness., "I'm told to be a success you've got to have talent, personality, and luck. Henry just needs some luck."

A lot more luck.

"Luckily for him, I'm very lucky." I boasted.

Henry groaned, "Sam, put your wolf away. You're not even making sense."

"I thought all business savvy wolves would know," I quipped, "Luck is hard work and opportunity."

Henry raised a brow.

"Come on, it'll be fun." I coaxed the stubborn blockhead.

"Is everything a game to you?" Henry bemoaned.

"No." I answered. Was it?

"Why do I always let you drag me into these ridiculous shenanigans?" Henry grumbled.

Haha, Henry used an old man word. Shenanigan... only Beta Lucas ever used that word. But more importantly: Yes! I win!

"Great! Then its on!" I was triumphant, "Alpha George be ready to be amazed by our amazing performance on Friday."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Alpha George was not convinced. Neither was Henry, if his expression was anything to go by.

"Yes, yes. If you don't mind, Madam Principal, I'll have my beta come film the event - discretely of course." Alpha George said.

"Oh, I should love to see it!" Henry's Mum quickly stepped in now. She looked to Mum, "How about you, Luna? Sam will be part of the band too, right? Would you like a copy of the video?"

Mum's eyes lit up, "Oh, will that be alright?"

"Of course!" Henry's Mum was confident, "I'll forward the video to you when I receive it."

"Then its settled." Alpha George decided. All on his own.

Principal Laura managed to force a smiled, "As long as it doesn't disturb the other students, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

And then the adults parted with all the usual niceties and it was like the triple chi-ka-boom hadn't happen. Just a passing wind.

As Ki walked Henry and I back to the Black Box, Henry stalked down the school hallway with such a face of consternation, I began to have second thoughts.

"Are you mad?" I asked. Actually, I specifically wanted to know if he was mad at me, but I didn't dare to ask it directly in case he said yes.

"No, I'm a picture of happiness." Henry snapped.

"Why are you so mad?" I asked. Please don't say it was me!

"It's nothing." Henry brushed me off, but the next second, he sighed, "It's just that my Dad hackles my wolf really badly sometimes."

Oh. I seriously didn't expect Henry to suddenly confess an honest feeling like that. Especially not to me. I was the powerful idiot who thought everything was a game and dragged him into ridiculous shenanigans right?

"Does your Dad ever make your wolf feel like killing him?" Henry asked.

No.

But I didn't want Henry to feel I didn't understand... even though I probably didn't. I've already come to realize that my parents' parenting style was kind of different from Henry's. We were both Alpha heirs, but Henry was like crowned prince of a wealthy pack kind of Alpha heir. I was more like... I don't know. NORMAL. I was a normal girl who lived a normal life - at least for most part of it.

I glanced over at Ki... I don't think normal girls had betas running their lives, or any of the other crazy things that happened this year.

"Forget it." Henry ran a hand over his short brown hair, "You wouldn't understand."

"It's not that I don't understand, Hen." I told him properly, "I just don't really know what to say..."

We were nearly at the Black Box. Henry shook his head as if it would shake off the conversation, "Just forget I said anything."

I wanted to tell him I understood so much, I almost wished my Dad was difficult too - well, Jessica often told me how hard it had to be for me because my Dad's so strict. And there were times when I was really frustrated at Dad's decisions - like always sending me to schools outside our packlands, or not allowing me to have a phone till I was 15 - roughly 2.5 years after most of my friends, or wear bikinis or too short skirts, or spaghetti straps, halter necks... at least not without layering something over it (this was in summer!), or...

But I never really felt like killing him over spaghetti straps.

I guess its because I get that Dad and Mum loved me, so even if their combined rules and seemingly endless lecturing could be frustrating sometimes, I get that they just wanted to be good parents. I don't think I was an easy pup to deal with to begin with.

"I guess its different with every family." I said, "But your parents love you, right?"

Henry paused at that. And then he nodded a iota. So small a movement, I thought he was just swallowing, "Yeah."

"Then it's fine." I said, "All we have to do is win the contest and prove your Dad wrong. Then you can rub it in his face till your wolf feels better!"

I was a genius!

"Have you heard us, Sam?" Henry asked, "Do you really think we are winning material?"

No way! It was a joke that The Last Hurrah even got through the auditions.

"So what's the plan?" Henry asked me.

What? Why was he asking me that out of the blue?

"You had a plan, right?" Now Henry was starting to look like he was about to panic all over again, "You suggested the bet because you had something in mind, right?"

"Right." I muttered under my breath, but Henry's wolf must have sensed the lie.

"What the hell, Sam! What the hell!" Henry threw his arms into the air.

"Shhh.... calm down, Hen." I hissed. We had stopped outside the Black Box and I didn't want all our friends inside to hear Henry yelling at me (again). Actually, why did it matter? By now, everyone in our production had heard the Young Alpha Henry lose his temper in varying degrees multiple times. And now, some of the girls had said he was really hot when he got mad too.

Girls were crazy sometimes.

The only thing hot about Henry was his head.

"Why?" Henry groaned, hand over his face, "Why did I let you get me into this?"

"Don't worry, Hen. It'll be fine." I tried to comfort him.

"So you do have a plan?" Henry looked so hopeful, I said the opposite of the truth, "Yes."

And before his alpha wolf alerted him of the lie that slipped out, I quickly added, "We'll do what I always do."

"What do you always do?" Henry looked like he didn't dare to hope.

"We win!" I declared.

"I mean BETWEEN THAT! WHAT DO WE DO BETWEEN NOW AND WINNING?" Henry lost it then.

"Shhh!!!" I was beginning to sound like Mr D.

"Look, the in between's simple." I tried to calm Henry's wolf. Seriously, how was he going to be the Alpha if he was going to lose his very-hot-block-head over every little nitty gritty detail?

"From now on until we win,,," I lowered my voice to a whisper. Henry leaned forward, "Yeah?"

"We wing it." I concluded.

Henry froze, his jaw clenching in such a way, I thought he would chi-ka-boom at this point, but he didn't. Instead his wolf rose up, and in a deadly growl he told me, "You better make this work, Sam. Or I will kill you."

I grinned, {So fun}

No, wait. That was Boo grinning, not me!

Come to think of it, I guess it was pretty crazy. Dad always said I tend to jump in before thinking. I guess Dad was right. But at this moment, even while the realization that I might have bet Henry's allowance on a sinking ship, I felt my lucky sense of direction hum. This was going to be something good (or at least fun).

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." I told Henry while still grinning, "Come on, Hen. Let's just run all out with The Last Hurrah and see what happens."

Henry shrugged, "Might as well use my allowance while I still have it."

And then he caught himself, "What the hell, Sam! Why do I always get sucked into your games?"

My grin only widened, "That's what friends are for."

And because its fun. {So fun}.