THIS WASN'T THE FIRST TIME

2 MARCH, TUESDAY, SUPPER TIME

This wasn't the first time.

I believe I had attempted to instantly grow up sometime this year, but that turned out rather disastrous because I also had to introduce the first guardian of Grandma Luna's ring, Sir Sparklelot, the pink fluffy pony, to my betas and... Let us just not recount embarrassing failures.

Because this time, I wasn't going to fail. I had reached a point in my life where wearing clothes that weren't t-shirts with funny slogans or cartoons on it had already become the daily norm. Yes, I was going to feel proud of this, even though my wardrobe evolution wasn't by my own design.

In fact I only realized how totally cool it was when I got home and found a change of outfits in my golden birdcage rack. I had been wondering what I could wear to look more grown up, but there it was. Actually, minus my PJs, most of the usual outfits I wore no longer included my staple funny t-shirt.

This was because I no longer buy or choose my own clothes. They just appear by beta magic.

I pulled on the white stretchy t-shirt that matched my seamless boyshorts undies. And then over that, pulled on a cream satin hoodie with a rose gold chord. There were a pair of satin Capri joggers too, with the same rose gold chord for drawstrings.

All the drawstrings ended with metal beads at the ends.

Ever since Ki was in charge of my wardrobe, my clothes had gotten more lux... Most recently, I've gotten a lot of training gear made with lux material and these metal beads. I checked and yups, these also had the neat pockets at the usual places.

I had no idea what brand this was, since I wasn't a fashionista like Krystal, but I was well versed in training gear, and this brand had all the little fancy finishes I could appreciate. I liked the pockets - there were always deep pockets that I could slip my phone in, and all the insides of the pockets and hood were made with a really smooth or cosy material so that when I put my hand in, it would feel like a million dollars.

The hoods were also wider than usual with the same lux material, usually in satin, but this time, since the outfit was made of satin, the inside lining was in a darker cream brocade which opened up on the sides for my long hair to hang out of, and it didn't slip off easily or add static to my hair - which was a plus.

I also liked how the drawstring and beads were weighted so that it would fall forwards at just the right position. It's just these tiny details that made me think whoever designed them was a genius who actually kicked butt and knew the range of motions that kicking butt required.

I bet they were expensive. I already understood from what the cool girls said about the few jackets I had worn in school that my clothes were no longer the usual sporting or casual brands that Mum and Savy sniffed out at the bargain bins in the great malls of Gate City.

Ah, but I was distracted again. Grown ups weren't supposed to be distracted, and certainly no self respecting grown up alpha would be distracted by the silky warm pockets of her joggers, or how the same silky warmth from the hoodie gave me the feeling of an angel's halo over my head when I wore it.

Ahem, but I was a grown up now, so I picked up the cream colored suede trainers on the bottom shelf of the golden bird cage rack and put them on. Then I plodded out.

"I'm going to the FAO for a bit." I told my Mum when I passed her and Sabre heading up to bed.

"Oh, but Sam!" Mum said, "I've kept dinner warm for you. It's Mac and cheese."

"You cooked?" My stomach growled. I suppose grown ups had to eat too. And it's not like I could say no to my Mum's Mac and cheese, so I ending up taking the glass food box and a fork up to the FAO with me.

I brought a fork and Ki's portion too. He hadn't gotten back yet though. Poor Ki was probably stuck with Madam Silvia.

I got out of the house only to realize I forgot to bring my card key... Which would have also been the adult thing to do. I also left my phone at home. For someone with literally, well lined and deep pockets (ah! So that was where these expressions came from - someone who had ever worn lux clothing), I had very little in my pockets. Actually, I had nothing.

If I were truly grown up, I wouldn't just have pockets. I would have a handbag. One that matched my shoes - full of things that responsible adults would have to carry, like keys, and wallets, and phones, and tissues...

And as I crossed the lawn to the packhouse next door in the bitter cold of a new Spring night, I realized a real grown up would've probably worn a jacket.

Okay, but these were just superficial things! I would be grown up in deep things! Mostly because I didn't want to return home and paw at the door for Mum to let me in. At any rate, I didn't have time to pack a handbag or look for a matching jacket - I was probably late as it was.

But just as I was about to step up onto the front porch of our packhouse (because I decided a grown up wouldn't have taken the short cut through the kitchen's back door and disturb the ladies there), Ki's merce pulled up the driveway.

I stopped in the shadow just off the side steps up because the front door had flown open as the headlights of the car flashed past and turned off.

Ki got out and the warrior on duty stomped noisily across the wooden porch to greet him, "Welcome back, beta."

Oh. Valet service.

"Thanks." Ki said as he handed the car keys to the warrior, "Clean out her wheels and have her parked back in the Alpha's garage."

"Yes, Beta." The warrior sounded unenthusiastic.

"I don't want to see a a drop of mud on the Alpha's garage floor tomorrow, capiche?" Ki was still smiling under the light of the porch, but the steel had returned to his speech.

"Capeesh, beta. Capeesh." The warrior quickly said.

"Good man." Ki said patting the other man on his shoulder, suddenly like a flower to the sun again and then he turned, his expression never changing, "Good evening goddess."

For some reason, maybe it was the theatre training, but I took the two step up to meet Ki on the porch like Bulliet would take to the stage on cue, "You're back!"

Ki reached for the door, "It's good to be back, please come inside goddess, it's a cold night."

Because being Ki, he would notice immediately how I wasn't wearing a jacket.

"I'm not cold. I just got here." I told him.

I'm not sure why, but I didn't want him to know I saw his capeesh moment.

The moment we stepped in, another warrior rushed over, "Oh Ki, I mean beta! Good evening! Ah, Alpha Princess! Uh, yo!"

He bowed, but it was a pretty messy bow. I knew the feeling though. I mean, I was no stranger to bumbling and embarrassing myself. It also suddenly occurred to me, these two... They weren't the usual guards stationed here.

"First day?" I hazarded a guess.

They wolf gave me a sheepish grin, "Was it that bad?"

I laughed, "Just chill. We're at home anyway."

Ki took off his jacket and handed it wordlessly to the guard to hang up. The guard promptly grabbed it and turned to the coat closet.

Ki watched as the guard dropped the hanger, but caught it before it hit the floor, and then drop the jacket, but not catching it in time, before finally getting it together and slotting it into the closet. Ki's smile was still firmly in place, but it looked a little forced even to me. The new guy noticed and to panic a little.

"Uh, opps." He said rather belatedly.

"Cool, we've got plastic dividers now." I tried to keep the atmosphere light.

In the past, our coat closet only had mismatched plastic hangers that were sometimes broken. And even though our coat closet at the Packhouse was huge - like it could hold 80 coats at a time (Beta Lucas had guaranteed it), nobody ever used the back rack and our coats would usually be pressed together and come out with everybody's smell.

As I watch the new guy stick Ki's jacket into its slot, I could see how the thin transparent plastic dividers would keep coats from rubbing off on each other.

The dividers were labelled now too. Alpha family, Betas & family, VIPs, Gammas, Deltas, Staff...I noticed they were all in the second rack though. The front rack, which I had always thought was the preferred rack, was for everyone else.

"Urm..." The new guy looked nervous. He touched his pocket, just briefly, but the action didn't escape Ki's attention.

"What's in your pocket, Warrior?" Ki asked mildly. He held out his hand and the warrior gulped and took out his mobile phone.

It was brightly lit and there was a game still running.

"Oh, I know that game!" It was the same one I had downloaded in my phone. I hadn't been playing for a while now, "Woah... You're at level 40? How long have you been playing?"

"Ah... Not that long..." The warrior said.

Ki turned off the screen and returned the phone into the warriors hand.

"Keep working hard." Ki smiled his gentle smile.

The warrior looked at his phone and then to the ground.

Ki's hand found the small of my back and I was quickly steered away, "A hundred apologies, goddess. I will deal with him later."

Omo. Exactly what did Ki mean by "deal with him"? I started to worry for the new guy. I didn't think I've spoken to him before, but I've seen him hang out with Link and Kev... What was his name? Urm... I knew this!

"Dave and his team are training with Endo and the new warriors from the Underground." Ki continued, "They'll be back next week."

Oh. Well, I guess Dave's good because my betas all called him by name, and if Dave's team were the usual guys who take the front porch duties regularly, then the wolves from the underground were going to meet the public face of our blue warriors - you know, the big brotherly nice dudes with good attitudes and great smiles.

Not the guy who missed the moment to open the front door because he was playing games on his phone while on duty - wait, that wasn't allowed, right?

And suddenly I remembered his name - Jim! I also remembered he was the guy who liked to skip training with every excuse possible. He barely passed warrior selections too. Sometimes he came with his parents for Breakfast with the Alpha though - but only if he woke up in time, which was like a few times a year.

I guess every pack had their own Jim. Our Jim was a funny guy though. At least that was my impression of him, because in my memory, he was always the opened-mouth laughing face in the crowd.

Ki paused in front of the FAO and I realized he was taking his dressing from me. When I met his eyes, he smiled and knocked two sharp raps before opening the door. Harvey was leaning against the mantle frowning at the smiling Fluffy, but the knock on the door gave him time to straighten up at my entrance.

"Goddess is here." Ki announced gently.

Harvey bowed politely, "Good evening, Alpha."

Did I ever tell you how Harvey was my good beta? In the light of Jim, I remembered the question Priscilla had asked Beta Gerald, "How did you raise your son to become such an outstanding young beta, while my son whom I invested a fortune on bringing up turns out to be an omega who wants to go rogue?" Okay, she didn't ask it in those words, I very loosely paraphrased. How did some boys grow up to become Harveys, and others grow up to become Jims?

Fluffy quickly took his cue to bow too. By now, his alpha wolf had returned to his usual reticent self under his smiling mask. I took a steadying breath, my eyes darting to the other beautiful smiling wolf in the room. I used to think it was a fight dog thing, back when I first got Ki home.

Ki was like that too, always in a smiling mask, always p***ing the other male wolves off. Actually, Ki was even worse than Fluffy. He would openly flirt with every female wolf who came near - even the mated ones. I was sure someone would kill him. I remembered feeling very worried about leaving him behind when I went to school the next day. But now look at Ki, an upstanding beloved beta of the highest caliber. I guess at the back of my mind, I had always assumed Fluffy would just become an upstanding alpha and return home to take his rightful place as a Colored Mountain Prince.

But as far as I could tell, it wasn't happening. How did some fightdogs emerge as Kis and other emerge as... well, Fluffy wasn't bad. Don't tell Neil and Jax, but Fluffy and EJ were my personal favorite security detail. To be honest, if I could keep Fluffy here forever like this, I would, but that would be selfish of me, right?

Let's just hope we are able to integrate our fightdogs so they could run as fine strong warriors - like Titanium, or Hank, or Flynn... or even Dave and his team. I'd even take it as a success if we got a few Jims in the mix. Its okay if they just wanted to live like normal wolves too. There's room in our pack for everyone who runs to run as far as he can and become everything he was willing to run for. That had to be the key, right?

{Motivation.} Boo agreed.

I couldn't help but remember Boo's method of "motivating" the theater production though. I think I'll keep Boo in reserve. You know, not to be used unless all else had failed.

"Fluffy. Explain why I shouldn't have you expelled from my goddess' special team." Ki asked, his smile never flickering.

Wait, what?

Fluffy matched Ki's smile, his wolf suddenly stepping forward. Okay, what Ki said had provoked him to his wolf. In fact, Ki pretty much just stomped on Fluffy's tail. I held my breath at the way the atmosphere suddenly became electric.

Harvey remained standing arms crossed. He looked firm but calm at their face off. So I kinda knew at once, this wasn't the first time, was it?