PARTY WITH THE PRINCESS: YOU'RE A TROUBLEMAKER

Henry raised a brow at me, "When have I ever wasted money?"

"Next time you throw a party, try just inviting the people you actually like." I told my friend, because, despite everything, Henry was my friend, "Like me. Invite me. And you can invite my betas too. I know you like them. And Marcus..."

I tried to think of more people I'd felt Henry liked.

"Sam..." Henry shook his head at me, "We're not pups anymore."

The glass elevator opened to the Platinum floor. My betas quickly stepped out and held the lift for us. The warriors had to take the stairs. They were pretty fast too. Torque and Ink were already waiting for us on the lift landing. Neil and Jax made it as I stepped out.

Henry wasn't done though, "Maybe you don't realize, but I am the Young Alpha of Silver Mountain now. It's not just about me anymore."

Believe me, with Wolfgang around, how could I have not realized?

Henry's fist clenched, "I don't have time to play games with you, Sam. In a few years, I will be the Alpha of Silver Mountain."

As he spoke, we walked past the waterfall walls and the red ants lined along the passageway bowed as their young alpha passed them until the last two pushed the doors open for us to enter the Platinum Lounge.

It's not that I couldn't relate, but looking around, it was obvious that inheriting the alpha title wasn't something that came out of the blue. Henry was the only child, and a boy too. Everyone knew he would one day be the Alpha.

These red ants were bowing at his passing since he was born!

Still, I guess that might just have meant he had longer to stew under pressure.

I regarded Henry carefully. Henry very seldom opened up like this.

"Even so, you need to take the time to be you." I told him. Because the Henry I knew wouldn't have his hand on Janice's butt right now. Okay, so that was debatable. But what I was sure of was that the Henry I knew was bossy and stubborn but also smart and tenacious. Sure he could be impatient and prone to angry outbursts, but he was also level-headed, reliable, considerate, generous to those who ran with him, and fun to hang out with - at least when he was being himself.

It's not that I didn't understand what Henry was dealing with. In fact, it was because I recognized this feeling all too well. But I had Beta Lucas to tell me to take my time growing up. My Mum who wanted me to enjoy all the teenage things. And my Dad who said I could be his puppy forever!

"Never mind." I gave up trying to explain something I didn't quite get myself, "You can just come over and play whenever you want."

When Henry shook his head, I said, "Fine! Then I'll come over to you and make sure you have some real fun now and then."

"Sam, you're not a puppy either. You need to grow up. This is the real world." Henry said.

"No! I don't want this to be the world!" I yelled.

Henry yelled back, "You aren't even making sense!"

"The real world is stoopid!" Because it was.

Now our alpha dominance was making static in our half of the Platinum lounge. I was so mad because Henry was so stoopid.

"Ah, what the hell." Henry said, "I'm wasting my breath. Fine. You just stay in your ivory tower. You've got James and your betas to shield you and carry the pack. But I - I'm not like you. IT'S ALL ON ME."

"You're so stooopid!" Was my brilliant argument

I did get it. This had nothing to do with my ivory tower! And I did not need to be shielded or carried! But it's not all on me. I had my family, my betas, my wolves, my friends, my pack ... I had everyone. It shouldn't be all on Henry too.

And just so Henry knew I was serious about it, I turned to my betas, "Harvey, please schedule it! I'm checking on Henry at least once a year."

Henry shook his head some more, "What the hell, Sam."

I gave Henry a friendly punch in his shoulder, "Don't worry. We can do proper Alpha work too. I'll come over and check to make sure everything's going well for my lifelong ally. The point of having an ally is not having to do everything on your own right?"

"I'll watch your back, you can watch mine." I coaxed, "Come on, Hen. Admit it. If I don't do this, you'd probably lose yourself becoming alpha."

"You're a troublemaker." Henry told me.

I laughed right in his face, "I've been called worse."

Henry ran a frustrated hand across his face, "Why do you have to be so... so..."

"Right?"

"No."

"Convincing?"

"No."

"Persuasive?"

"No!

Since my earnest attempts to help Henry speak his mind only riled him up more, I gave up and promptly switched to riling him up further.

"Beautiful? Enchanting? Alluring? Mindblowingly AMAZING?" I grinned. I blamed Boo's bad influence but messing with Henry had always been so fun.

"NO!" Henry hit the roof, "I mean...yes, but..."

Eh, what?

Henry ran another hand over his face as if calming himself, "What the hell, Sam. Can you be serious for a moment?"

"I AM being serious, Henry." I told him, "You're gonna be a great alpha because that's who you were meant to be. So don't forget who you really are."

"Who I really am?" Henry raised a brow, "I don't even know..."

And then Henry groaned, "What the hell, Sam. Why do I always let you suck me into these things? No. Don't answer. I don't want to hear it."

Hahaha. Yeah, that's the Henry I knew.

And then Henry sighed, "What the f***ing hell."

Which I took as agreement, "Then that's settled. You're gonna be a great alpha. And you're gonna be happy at it too."

Because I was the alpha. I was going to protect everyone's happiness. Including Henry's, because that's what friends do.

Almost immediately after, Beta Pete and his warriors returned.

"Quick!" I told my betas, "Schedule it with Beta Peter."

Because I knew by now that nothing was confirmed until the beta schedules it.

While Harvey and Beta Pete compared calendars, Henry checked his watch, "Where are the others?"

Beta Pete looked pointedly towards the door, "They are outside with your date, Alpha."

Eh? I looked around belatedly. When did Janice leave?

"Why the hell are they outside?" Henry demanded.

Beta Pete cleared his throat, "They are comforting your date, Alpha."

Eh? Henry and I looked at each other. I shrugged back at Henry. Janice was HIS date - how would I know why she needed comforting?

But I went outside with him to see what was wrong anyway.

Janice was crying while the cool girls surrounded her. Their dates were huddled to the side because they were guys who knew better by now than to get entangled with emotional females - particularly the cool girls. That had never ended well for them.

But the moment the door was opened and Henry and I stepped out, Ivan took action, "Henry, you two-timing b******."

Which wasn't very nice, but I had to admit, was true. So I nodded, "Yeah. Henry is a terrible playboy."

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

"But it's true." I told him.

Janice sniffed and tried to gather herself together, "It's... it's not.... I mean... I... I knew..."

She released a shaky sigh, "It's not Sam's fault. I've always known."

Wait, what had this got to do with me? What did Janice know?

Luckily Ki was here. He stepped forward with the gentlest smile, "I'm afraid there has been a misunderstanding. Perhaps we might move this conversation to the privacy of the lounge?"

Yeah, instead of announcing everything across the hallway to every red ant lined up along the wall. Good call Ki.