THE WAY IT IS NOW

"It's love, Sam." Mum insisted, "You don't have to deny it. The mating bond is never wrong."

I think the confusion was clear on my face.

Mum smiled and sighed, "Oh, Sam."

But instead of explaining anything to me, Mum turned away to make sure Savy understood the underlying terms and conditions of her overnight movie marathon. Something to do with no boys, no movies rated above our age limit - and it wasn't a combined age or even an average age, and we were not allowed to round our age up either - we had some technical disputes over this in the past so Mum liked to cover all grounds.

She added something new too, "And no sneaking out of the house."

Why would we do that if we could just laze around watching TV all night? Then I remembered the dance party. Right. I guess we had been busted after all.

"You must stay within the house - that is you aren't allowed to cross the glass and wall boundary of this home. You are not even allowed to step out on the porch." Mum was trying to be airtight here. But seriously, it would take more than that to keep us inside. I wasn't going to sneak out, but suddenly it had become a challenge that was too fun to pass.

"Sneaking out also includes any form of dream traveling out of the house." Mum looked firmly at me.

What? As if I'd be stupid enough to bring Savy and Lizzy with me on a dream travel. Didn't Mum know how dangerous my dream travels could get?

It was a good thing Mum wasn't writing my contracts though. She was definitely leaving way too many loopholes - like I could think of two off the top of my head. If we went out to my rooftop balcony, that could arguably not be crossing any glass or wall boundary. I was quite sure we could jump down the wooden awnings over the porch and land on the lawn without stepping a foot on the porch. Or we could use one of the secret tunnels - if we took the one from the pool room, it would lead us to Ben's basement - we would be indoors all the way too. And Ben (a boy) wouldn't be stepping foot in our rooms. Face it, the only boys who'd we'll allow into our rooms to join us for our movie marathon were Ben and Jonah anyway.

OR... we could make it look like we snuck out, and send Mum and Dad on a wild goose chase around the neighborhood looking for us. Oh man... that would be like the BEST PRANK EVER.

Savy simply shrugged, "Mum, don't you think you're being just a touch paranoid here?"

No, not at all. I'd say Mum should be worried. Very worried. Hahaha. I can't wait!

To my surprise, Mum actually stopped, "Well... I..."

Mum frowned, "Am I?"

She looked at Dad who wasn't paying attention because both Beta Lucas and Beta Gerald were talking to him at the same time.

"What do you think, dear?"

Dad looked up immediately, "Ah, yes. Of course, darling."

"Oh." Mum said.

"So I can get a flip knife?" I couldn't resist.

"What?" Mum asked.

"WHAT?" Dad and his betas asked.

I kept my expression as cool and neutral as possible, "To start my collection of weapons that I'm going to store in a hidden armory in my bedroom..."

Savy pressed her lips together and did her best to look like this was exactly what our conversation had been all along.

But Mum caught on, "Oh, Sam."

Dad frowned.

I laughed, "Just kidding. You should've seen your faces."

"You should start with a handgun." Dad said then.

"Yeah, man." Beta Lucas concurred immediately, "If the enemy comes close enough for you to use your knife, it'll be too close."

Wait, what?

"I agree. Furthermore, Delta Emerson had said Alpha Sam has already shown signs of finding her True Aim." Beta Gerald nodded, "Since she is gifted in archery, perhaps she will find projectile weapons a natural fit."

"Why not?" Beta Lucas waved his hand, "Might as well include a bow and arrows. And those one-handed swords that Ben and her had been playfighting with. Just a couple..."

Savy covered her mouth. Mine just hung open.

And then Dad chuckled, "Just kidding."

WHAT?

"You were messing with ME?" I flared. WTH!

Beta Lucas raised his hand in mock surrender. Beta Gerald looked surprised and then he smiled and nodded apologetically.

"DAD! HOW COULD YOU?" I put my fists on my hips, "Don't you always say an Alpha's word is power! That was an abuse of power!"

I was absolutely shocked at my Dad's behavior, "You can't... You can't just say one thing and then laugh it off the next minute! That's not how alphas should act!"

And then, just because Wolfgang's effect hadn't quite worn off yet, I added, "You're the alpha! You're not supposed to even say yes and no in the same sentence!"

I thought it was a dumb rule when I first heard it. Even now that I heard it come out of my mouth, it still sounded like a dumb rule.

Dad patted my head, "So long as you understand."

And then my dear Dad turned and kissed my mum, "I'll be back by midnight, or just a little later."

"Have a good meeting, dear." Mum kissed him back. Beta Gerald bowed politely in parting. Beta Lucas left with a wave. I could hear him laughing all the way to the front door, "Hoo, man! We really got a hair-raising reaction from her!"

I felt my hair ruffled. Humph. What kind of Alpha and Betas ganged up to tease a cute puppy?

When the men had left, (Mum didn't consider Harvey and Ben men), Mum turned to us and laughed, "Well, they really got me there."

She could laugh, they were playing with MY feelings! I crossed my arms feeling miffed.

Savy patted my head kindly as she passed the back of my chair, "Lizzy'll be here soon, I'm going to go check on the tiramisu."

What? Savy made tiramisu?

"Come home soon, and maybe you'll get some too." Savy promised.

Did she think I'd leave what was touted as the biggest swankiest party in the hundred years history of Winderhill High for leftover tiramisu?

"Okay!" I stood up, "Let's go! The sooner we get there, the sooner we get back!"

"I don't think parties work that way, Sam." Ben informed me.

I grinned, "Whatever, Ben. I'm going to have so much fun tonight... It's going to make all the other fun in my life pale in comparison!"

"No, you're going to go to the party. Maybe have a good time, at least until you get hangry. Hopefully not blow up or melt down or get in a fight. Come home and crash in bed." Ben predicted.

"No, I'm not!" I flared.

"Trust me." Ben smirked, "You're very predictable, Sam."

"I better check on you later." Mum tapped her phone to set an alarm, "Just to make sure you remember to wear your diadem."

Why? Was forgetting to wear my diadem and accidentally dream traveling and getting into trouble also part of my predictable behavior? No, don't answer. I don't want to hear it.

If this continued, someone was sure to suggest making me wear the diadem right now, just to save Mum the trouble.

Grrr... A tactical retreat was in order.

"So long as you understand." I parroted Dad in my desperate haste. Hopefully, I sounded like I was teaching them a lesson too, I tried to sound as alpha as possible, "I'm going to get ready. Make sure you keep tiramisu for me!"

And then I quickly made my escape. Ben accompanied me all the way to the pool room before I realized he was following me. "You don't have to Ben. I know my way to my own room."

Ben shrugged, "Is there anything else you need, Sam?"

Wait, what? Was Ben actually doing his beta thing seriously? Hahaha. What do you know? Should I chalk this to the Wolfgang effect too?

I couldn't help the smile, "Not unless it's a way to convince Dad to let me keep a personal armory in my room."

"Yeah, okay." Ben nodded. Or was that a very quick bow? I wasn't sure.

"See you later, Sam."

"See you." I said to his back.

Okay... That was just a little weird. I climbed up the stairs to my room. It was quiet, but lit. Ki had been here. The pillows on the sofas were fluffed and placed just so. The lemon-scented candle on the sideboard was lit. The blinds were drawn for the night.

Inside my room, it was the same. Everything had been tidied and straightened. Curtains drawn, the golden birdcage rack had two LBDs and a selection of silver colored accessories. Two different handbags, and two pairs of heels. Ki also included black swimwear and a pair of very pointy toed black suede boots.

It was like he couldn't decide if I would be swimming on a cold spring night.

Normally, I would laugh, but this was Ki... And I felt if Ki had put boots, then it was okay to wear boots to a pool party. And if Ki had placed swimwear where my undies usually were, then I had better wear that.

Even if I didn't understand the rationale behind it, I felt quite sure Ki couldn't possibly be wrong when it came to the perfect outfit for any occasion.

Even the LBDs were in every sense perfectly little, perfectly black, and perfectly grown-up looking dresses. (Internal squeal because I just knew I was going to look SO grown up tonight!)

The dresses themselves looked very simple on their hangers. One was a halter, the other had a sweetheart neckline. I picked the halter because it was longer. I know "little" was the L in LBD, but I didn't want to spend all night worrying about my skirt riding up.

I took a quick and very hot shower. I didn't use to take very hot showers, but I've found that I loved how the sakura-scented steam filled the bathroom and fogged up the glass shower stall. Ah! These were the moments when I truly felt my life was perfect.

What would I be doing without Ki? Taking freezing cold showers because I forgot to turn on the heater, or showering in warm water and whatever generic shampoo Mum bought, using mismatched towels that were only laundered if I remembered to put them into the basket, and yelling for Savy to help me find something to wear.

Ah, those were the days! Don't get me wrong, I was perfectly happy just remembering to turn on the heater back then. I was perfectly happy because I had never smelled sakura-scented toiletries, or understood the significance of high thread count towels and sheets.

If Ki had never come to our home, would my sheets and towels (and t-shirts) still have cartoon characters on them?

Maybe it was nostalgia, but when I came out of the shower and saw the golden rack of black and silver understated sophistication, I considered wearing a funny t-shirt and skinny jeans to go to the party.

It was totally irrational, but suddenly I worried that all this classy fancy stuff was going to make me forget how to be me. What if I never wear funny t-shirts and jeans again?

The way Dad didn't wear leather jackets and jeans anymore.

What if being the perfect alpha meant wearing Lorent Ceremonial dresses every day and talking like Wolfgang brainwashed me? I wondered if anyone would miss the old Sam, before she was the alpha. I worried she would disappear and I would lose myself forever.

I wondered what Dad was like before he became the alpha. Roy made it sound like Dad was really cool and popular when they were in high school. I remembered Dad's personality change when he had to lead our wolves out to battle. Did Dad use to laugh and joke and smile and be all dapper when he was young? I couldn't imagine that at all.

Was that the price of being the Alpha?

But I didn't want to stop smiling at my wolves. I didn't want to stop having fun. I didn't want to stop being a puppy!

I stood there looking at the black dress I picked and then at the golden clamshell bed, perfectly made because I didn't make it myself. Drifting around my room, I picked up Lillibutt the pony. She was my favorite one because the smell of Bell lingered in her fur.

Suddenly, I was looking at this room wondering when and how I got used to this lemon-scented space. When did Sam sleep in a golden clamshell? With underwater lighting features casting waves on my ceiling. And a mirror-encased wardrobe, bathroom, and treasure room that opened at a flip of a switch.

There was a new pony box on my dresser tonight. I went over with Lillibutt to look, ah... That's right. I told Ki I wanted the "Alpha Princess Limited Edition" and he said they had sent us one. FOR FREE! I looked carefully at the pony behind the shiny plastic window of its large box.

Wow, I was a pony. A pony with an extra long midnight blue mane and tail, sapphire blue eyes, and a pale silver blue coat that looked very soft. I looked amazing as a pony. Even though I was the kind of pony who'd probably be tripping over my mane and tail half the time. But I'll be tripping with matching midnight blue suede hooves. I bet this was a super expensive pony. It even came with a matching pair of tiaras. It was actually plastic pearls on an elastic band. and the picture at the back of the box showed that the smaller one could be worn as a necklace or a tiara on the pony, and the larger one could be similarly worn as a necklace or headband on a little girl.

My first impulse was to open the box to squeeze the pony. Would its fur be as soft as it looked? I wondered if it would be hard to fit on the little tiara. I wondered if the headband would fit me, but suddenly I had a thought.

If I signed the mint condition box, I might be able to auction it off for a motherload of cash. Hahaha. The first thing I'd do is wave the money in front of Ben's face. See, I can make money too - and I didn't have to sit in front of a computer all night or do anything possibly illegal for it either. Muahahaha!

I put the box back on the dresser. Haha, it's not that I would actually do anything like that. I mean, the only auction I had witnessed was on eBay - and that was when Ben was trying to get his hands on some old obscure DVD concert recording that he couldn't find online. Wait, what was I doing again? Oh right. I was supposed to be getting dressed for the party... and then I got distracted. I could sense wolves outside in the waiting area. Gah! No time to daydream about rubbing money in Ben's face. I was running late!