A COOL WARM UP

FRIDAY, 12 FEBRUARY, TRAINING SESSION

After dinner, I got changed for the training session and run. For some reason, part of me kept thinking that Mate might appear anytime now to join us, but he didn't. Was I missing him?

Nah, can't be. I was probably just annoyed that he was out there fighting rogues while I was stuck here for another regular training session. Right...

So I guess there was nothing else for it but to practice my coolness. Maybe since Boo was now a constant presence at the back of my mind, my cool factor would go up.

{Nah, can't be.}

Let's ignore the sacarstic wolf.

My gear looked promising, dark grey Capri joggers over a white sports bra set... It seemed like Savy's observation was right, my undies were all trending white nowadays. This was topped with an army green t-shirt with the word "ALPHA" printed on it, which I put on without a moment's hesitation.

I looked in the mirror. I really liked it BUT this had to be the most unfancy thing Ki ever set out for me. It looked so normal that I could've picked it myself.

And then I noticed the camouflage patterned sneakers, and the dark grey military cap. I put them on. The cap had velcro on its back strap so I could use it to hold my hair in a ponytail easily.

Last thing left was a black sweat band and a few soft hair ties in khaki shades. I wore them all on my wrist.

And that was how to style up an otherwise very normal t-shirt and joggers outfit. Coolness was in the details.

So it was Ki who set up the outfit, but I was the one who figured it out! I was getting pretty good at figuring out Ki's outfit puzzles.

I met Savy and Ki at the front door. Today, we all matchy, kind of anyway. Ki's joggers were camo print, he had on a tight fitting ribbed grey t-shirt. Savy was grey tshirt and the same capri joggers as mine. She even had my dark grey military cap. But she wore it over her blond ringlets of hair. And she had a red midriff hoodie over everything and red trainers - despite the similar items, it was overall, a very unmilitary style.

"Alpha Princess is here." Ki announced the moment we stepped into the training hall.

"Yo, Princess!" The other wolves called.

"Yo." I lifted my hand to my wolves.

I was going for cool but no one seemed to notice. They just went back to warming up or whatever they had stopped doing at my entrance.

So my greeting, even in my cool threads (see how I said "clothes" in a cool way?) didn't impress anyone. But at least it didn't raise any brows either. I shrugged and pretended I wasn't trying to be cool.

As I walked among them, Boo made quick mindlinks to their wolves, very touch-and-go, like a mindlinked high five or something. Her power flickered with each touch. My wolves. Most of them would nod a bow physically at this.

Ben and Harvey got into step behind me. They were also in khakis and greys. Now I was starting to be suspicious.

I mean, camo on me was like me acting cool. Camo on Ki was like Ki experimenting with a new style. Camo on Harvey looked like something's going down at Morning Light and he had to ge this hands dirty. Camo on Ben... That just meant trouble.

Very suspicious.

Flynn was the instructor today. He grinned as he walked over to meet me somewhere in the middle of the hall, "Yo, Princess. I saw your five minutes of fame!"

I guess you could put it that way and make it seem like we had totally over-reacted to the news last night. I laughed, "Me too, sir."

Flynn grinned.

"Our princess got recognized by the public while out shopping today." Ki responded by my side more seriously, "We might have to roll out the specialized security detailing early."

"Oh." Flynn looked honestly surprised, he looked at me as if trying to figure out how that might happen, "Well, I supposed her hair is hard to miss."

"I would think it's more than the hair, Sir." Ki answered unamused. Ki seemed to think this entire thing was a serious problem.

When Mum couldn't stop frowning even after dinner, Ki had reassured her that he knew how convulated the media could be for a youth. He would do his utmost to protect me.

He had been less smiling than usual since then.

Lots of youths had social media accounts. I really couldn't imagine what the terrible things Ki had conjured in his Lorent mind. I imagined it's like someone being paranoid after watching too many episodes of gruesome crime documentaries. It was really the worst case scenario, it could happen, but that would be really unlikely.

I decided to abandon the guys who began mulling over possibilities and joined Savy who was with Marissa and Jessica in the first row beeches. They had always been more fun to talk to anyway.

"Hi Sam!" Jessica smiled.

"We were just talking about you." Savy informed me.

"Yeah, cool outfit." Marissa said my outfit was cool! "I saw you on the news too."

"You just suddenly popped up on TV." Jessica chimed in, "I was like, is that Sam? OMG it is Sam!"

The girls laughed.

"Ki and Harvey were in the shot too." I tried to push my betas in front of me. My poor betas! Used as human shields.

But this time it sort of backfired on me.

"So you're saying you left the Langston with Ki AND Harvey?" Marrisa raised her brows at me with a mock frown, "Now, I know you're showing off!"

And then she was laughing and so were the other girls. I couldn't help but laugh even while shaking my head at it.

"But what's with the gag order on you?" Jessica dropped her voice down to a whisper.

"Ladies! You need to warm up the other parts of your body, not just your mouth!" Flynn shouted over to us.

Most of the guys laughed at that. I gritted my teeth not to growl at them. They seriously looked down on us girls!

"It's alright, Sam." Marissa told me, "Let's just get warmed up, it's almost time for the session start."

"Lola's not coming today?" I asked.

"She's got some fancy party to attend." Marissa shrugged.

The girls went on to pour tea about the big party tonight at Morning Light - while doing our stretching exercises, of course.

According to them, it was the Valentine's Day weekend so the Green Packlands was like the new party central.

Okay, they were exaggerating. It was just a little more happening than the usual on a winter weekend. Maybe we were just tired of winter, or maybe we felt we had to avenge the day the blizzard holed us in.

Tonight's party was a super fancy evening event. Priscilla and Sean had gone ahead with their party for their son Spencer. Actually just Priscilla. Sean was still on a business trip at the White Packlands.

Marissa reported first:

The party was almost cancelled by the snow storm, but today they had ice sculptures delivered to their mansion, monster-sized swans that had to be transported by open bed trucks.

The Sawyer family hadn't hosted any parties for more than a year, so it was the talk of Morning Light.

Marissa was not invited because only the girls from "good" families like Lola got invites.

Lola didn't want to go, but Priscilla had visited her mum, Edna, and insisted very strongly that Lola must come.

It would be like a real ball and the girls had to wear long gowns and everything. Marissa was at Lola's earlier to help her get ready.

"But I was just there to give her moral support. Lola really didn't want to go." Marissa told us.

On her way back to Night Leaf, Marissa had passed the Sawyer's Residence. The entire place was lit up and there was such a long line of expensive cars waiting to go in, she had to take a detour.

"I bet most of them were Lorent cars." Jessica said.

"Yeah, most of them were white." Marissa nodded as she recalled it in her mind's eye, "It was crazy. I wonder if it's going to be like those super posh parties on TV. If I ever get myself into one of those things, I'd eat my weight in escargots, sashimi, and lobsters."

We laughed at that.

"I'm not joking, ladies." Marissa informed us, "I'll really go and stuff my face."

We laughed again.

I want to go to my next Lorent party with Marissa. Hahaha.

"My cousin at Lorent told me that her mate's younger sister was attending the ball at Morning Light tonight too." Jessica told us. She lowered her voice, "Apparently only shifted she-wolves below the age 18 were invited to this party with their cheaperones. They would be introduced to a young rich Morning Light heir there."

So now it was Jessica's turn to report:

Jessica heard a lot from her cousin - even more than Marissa could tell us, "They say the family owns Curtis & Sawyer, the legal firm in Gate City, and that he is the only son. The mother is a great beauty, who is intelligent and generous, and a purebred princess of quite an illustrious bloodline."

"What about the father?" Marissa asked.

Jessica shrugged, "They didn't say."

"Let's hope that prince charming takes after his Mum then." Marissa laughed.

"It does sound like a Cinderella set up." Savy said.

"I wonder if he would really find his Cinderella at the party" Jessica's eyes soften at the romantic thought.

"Only rich people have to throw an entire ball to find their mate." Marissa huffed, "Normal wolves meet at the pack's BBQ."

We laughed again. For some reason Marissa just made us laugh. She was so cool that way.

"Sam, what's the dress code for tomorrow night?" Jessica asked, before realising she was asking the wrong person, "Nevermind. Savy, what's the dress code for tomorrow night?"

"Hey!" I took affront. But the girls laughed again.

"My mum says we have to dress properly because we're visiting the Alpha's house. But we are having a pool party too right?" Jessica made a wide-eyed appeal for empathy from us.

"I'm wearing my bikini, and if the boys are hot, I'll take off my fur coat." Marrisa advised.

Hahahaha.

But Jessica didn't laugh along, "Marissa, I'm serious."

"I don't think my parents mind, I heard Mum say the dress code is casual, but Lizzy and I were thinking of wearing like simple pull-over or wrap dresses with our swimsuit underneath." Savy answered sensibly.

Jessica nodded, "I'll go home and look."

"Its going to be a crush tomorrow." Marissa said.

"Hopefully it'll be warm enough to open the doors and let the party spill out into the lawn." Savy nodded.

Yeah, it's been warm lately. I walked over to the packhouse in just my gym gear, which was what I usually did, but tonight, even Savy didn't bring a coat. (Ki brought three coats though. #BetaLife.)

The whistle blew.

"If the ladies can join us, we can start." Flynn grinned from the center of the semi circle. Opps. The four of us quickly broke up from our "warm up" circle and joined the others.

Tonight was probably the coolest warm up I had ever done - not that we were cool, but that I wasn't warmed up at all.