HAMSTER PARADISE & THE BLACK TRUCK

I wanted so bad to go check on the archery notice board after school, but Zara had skipped, yes, skipped to me straight after the bell to go home together.

I preferred Zara skipping than strutting or whatever Krystal and the cool girls did in place of walking.

"Are you still coming over to my place?" Zara asked.

"Yeah, why not?" I answered.

"My place is kind of small." She told me.

"Do you not want me to come?" I asked.

"No! I mean yes! I mean I want you to come." Zara cried out immediately.

"Let's go then." I said.

"Come back after school, I'll send you home." Henry said.

Henry was going to try out for the debate club today.

"It's ok. Someone will pick me up from Zara's place." I told him.

Henry nodded. Suddenly reassured. I remembered my mum saying that being driven about was normal daily security for future Alphas.

I left with Zara, we walked out the back entrance and down the steps.

"My house is just there." Zara pointed at the old buildings I've often cut across to go home.

We walked together through it until we reached the train station, then we made a left to an old apartment block along a deserted street.

"This is my block." Zara said.

It was the middle of the afternoon. The building looked worn and tired. The paint was peeling and patchy. A shroud of fog seemed stuck to it.

"I never been around here before." I told Zara.

"Yeah? Well, it's nice." She told me.

I followed her to a narrow passage way, narrowly avoiding a passing roach. Zara hadn't seemed to notice it. While we waited for the lifts Zara told me, "I live on the fifth floor."

"My hamsters would be happy to meet a new friend." Zara looked happy. I smiled. We entered a green colored lift. It smelled of a thousand unidentifiable things.

My wolf was on alert, but silent.

{Beta is near}

Well mostly silent.

We got out at the fifth floor, passing a couple of doors. I started feeling creeped out at how quiet and empty and dark each apartment was. But Wolfie seemed unperturbed, so I kept going.

But I had to admit, I did feel that everyone who had ever advised me against this was right.

Finally we reached her door. There was a metal gate in front of it, with a padlock, which she unlocked. And then a wooden door, it's paint peeling. We went into a dark apartment. I sensed no other human around, but also more unfamiliar smells. It was quite exciting.

"Come in." Zara showed me in and turned on the lights. The apartment continued to look shadowy and grey though.

"Come see my babies." Zara beamed. I smiled at that.

At this point, as she opened the door to her room, I was expecting to see a bedroom and like, maybe a hamster cage on her desk or something.

But the moment the door opened, I felt my mouth fall open with it. Lined wall to wall under her windows were cages and cages stacked on top of each other, full of little critters.

"They just keep having babies." Zara told me.

I nodded wordlessly.

The other side of the room was a single bed with mismatched sheets, and a small wooden wardrobe.

Zara picked out a pink cage, "Let's go outside and play with Brownie."

I nodded, "Okay."

{Beta is near}

Oh! I hadn't texted home!

"Sorry, I need to text my mum." I told Zara.

Zara looked disappointed, "Do you want to go?"

I shook my head, "No, I can stay for an hour or so. I just need to let my mum know."

Zara lit up, "You're going to stay?"

"Yeah, I've never held a hamster before." I told her.

"Yeah, okay. I'll let you hold a nice one." She promised me.

I took out my phone and texted my mum, "I'm at Zara's now. She has a lot of hamsters!" I put a heart after the text. Zara read the text over my shoulder and smiled, "You love hamsters too huh?"

"Not as much as you do." I shrugged, "But I think they are cute."

Zara then introduced me to Brownie, the mother of many hamsters.

"Brownie is nice," Zara told me, "She doesn't bite."

Zara showed me how to hold up my hands cupped together, I did and she put the squirming small ball of fur in my palms.

"It's so ticklish!" I nearly squealed but I didn't. Because that would be un-alpha-like.

Zara laughed.

And then Brownie bit me.

Ouch.

I quickly passed it back to Zara.

"Funny," Zara frowned to herself, "Brownie loves humans."

Hahaha, Zara, you must know I'm not human. But she didn't seem to notice.

"I'll show you the others." She told me, "But you better not hold them, most of them bite."

She showed me Blackie, the one who bit Krystal. Good job Blackie. Hahahaha

And then Brownie's different batches of children.

Ironically Blackie would attack the babies even the ones sired by him. He had to live on his own. The only one he's good to was Brownie, but Brownie, depending on her mood would not always entertain his affections. Poor alpha hamster.

{Beta is near}

My phone buzzed, a text from an unknown number.

"Waiting at carpark, Princess. Take your time."

Great, the Princess plague had spread. Even Beta Lucas!

Princess was a nickname for girls like Maria... You know, a little spoilt, a little selfish, a little sheltered.

Not for girls like me.

When I was a kid, if we played knights and dragons, Lizzy would be the princess. Savy always chose dragon. And I was always the knight.

When I was a preschooler, I wasn't the pink dresses and tiaras type of girl. My mum did put me in dresses, but my color was blue. And I would be running about bare headed and bare footed until an adult hunted me down and caught me.

When I was a toddler, I wasn't the pretty thing that sat on my parents laps at dinner parties. My mum told me I was the one who went from table to table drinking orange soda from anyone who'd offer to share their cup.

I wasn't the princess type, so I don't know why I'm getting called that so much suddenly.

"Want to see the smallest ones I have?" Zara pulled out a small cage with three little baby hamsters. So cute.

We were back in her room again. I admired the babies while Zara told me their names. Sweet Pea, Sour Pea, Small Pea. They looked identical to me.

"Do you have to go now?" Zara asked.

I looked at the time, "Yeah, I had better. My ride's waiting downstairs."

"Okay, someone is here to fetch you? I'll walk you downstairs." Zara put the cages away and walked me down.

"Thanks for showing me your hamsters Zara."

"Who do you like best?" Zara wanted to know.

"Blackie." I decided.

"Funny, everyone likes Blackie even though he is such a meanie and bites." Zara told me.

There was my hope, right there, that I'll always have friends who would like me.

We took the lift of a thousand unidentified smells down.

The carpark was completely empty except for a black pick up truck. It was completely black, even the windows and parts of the wheels that was usually silver was black.

"Cool. Is that your ride?" Zara asked.

It looked familiar... But it was also definitely not Beta Lucas' SUV.

We walked towards it and the driver side opened.

Harvey got out, all decked in leather jacket and a wry smile, "I'm here to pick up a princess."

Zara's mouth dropped.

I felt something inside me explode, and not in a good way explode. It was more of a I'm so mad I think it one of my arteries had burst kind of explosion.

When we got near enough, I punched Harvey, as hard as I could.

I landed the first punch, but Harvey caught my fist with the second.

"Och...That didn't hurt." He grinned.

I wanted to kick him where it would really hurt, but I realized Zara was still staring.

"Uh, yeah, this is my ride." I told her, removing my fist from the Beta's grasp to point at him, "Bye!"

"Bye!" Zara said.

Harvey opened the door for me and I climbed in. It was my first time in a pick up truck and it felt weird to climb up into the seat than just sit down into it like a normal car.

Weird in a good way.

"Nice ride Beta." I told him as he turned out of the parking lot. It smelled new inside.

I could see Zara still watching us but I don't wave because Harvey's windows were tinted black and I knew Zara wouldn't be able to see inside.

"Thanks." Harvey said, "I just got it."

"What's with the 'I'm here to pick up a princess'?" I burst out now that the niceties were done.

Harvey laughed softly, "I have a pick up truck, see? And I'm picking up a princess."

Hardy har har, or should I say, Harvey har har?

"Don't call me princess." I said finally, "Just call me Sam, like everyone else."

"Wait, I thought everyone called you princess?" Harvey started to look panicked now.

"No, nobody calls me princess." I informed him, "I'm not even the princess type."

"But Nix and the guys said..." He trailed off, realization dawning in his eyes.

"Beta, do you really believe those three hyenas?" I asked him.

"Oh s***..." Harvey hissed lowly under his breath.

My good Beta was back with a vengeance. With an even calm voice, Harvey said quietly, "I'm going to get them for this."

Go get them Beta!

"I even called you princess in front of your mum!" Harvey bemoaned suddenly.

Now I laughed out loud.

"This is so embarrassing." Harvey told me, his face reddened. But I appreciated how his eyes was still on the road and both hands were steady on the wheel.

All signs of a good, albeit embarrassed Beta.

"It's fine. Just pretend that it was a code name or something." I told him.

He raised a brow at me.

"As long as you act like it was no big deal, and I act like it's no big deal, no one would act like its a big deal." I told him.

"I can't believe I'm taking advice from a 14 year old girl." Beta continued driving. His navigation skills seemed more mainstream than Beta Lucas'.

"You'll be taking much more from me than that Beta." I told him.

Harvey laughed, "Princess, that sounds bad.. Oh s***, I did it again."

I sighed, "How about replacing 'princess' with 'alpha'?"

Harvey thought about it, "I could, but I prefer princess. It suits you."

I didn't answer, at first it was because I was so mad at him for refusing to acknowledge me as his Alpha. Was it because I was a girl? Or did he think I wouldn't be good enough?

But then I realized princess might be a good alias after all. Then no one would ever suspect me of being a threat.

I'll let them keep calling me princess. Then I'll make them understand that I'm really the Alpha. I'll prove to them that I am the Alpha.

In the meanwhile, I think I was going to get away with a lot more as the princess.

My mum was right, sometimes being the Luna (or in my cases future Luna aka princess) was better than the Alpha.

Hahahaha. I'm so sneaky. Fear my hidden Alpha in disguise as a Luna!