BACK TO BUSINESS

14 FEBRUARY, SUNDAY, 11AM

My first instinct was the dust the dirt off my bed. Out damn spot! Or something, but that only got the black dirt pieces onto my thick pale pink carpet. Omo.

So I jumped out of bed to check the damage. And maybe figure out how to get it off the carpet. But after three steps around the area, I realized that I've left dirt encrusted footprints wherever I stepped. Omo.

All I needed was a quick dash to the bathroom to wash my feet. That should solve the problem, except the bathroom was all the way across the bedroom.

The only solution that came to mind was to walk on my hands. Which I wasn't all that good at, but I managed to handstand without tipping over, before realising that my hair was too long for hand-walking. Trying to avoid "stepping" on my own hair, I landed prone on the carpet. I got up to my hands and knees and stood up. Now the dirt off the tops of my feet and toes had left skid marks of dirt when I had gotten up from crawling position. Omo.

For all my clever tracking tricks in the wilderness, I've just made an epic fail of hiding my tracks to the bathroom.

I looked in dismay at the dirt that trailed from the bed to the bathroom door. Where was the undo button for this one?

Using my hand, I tried to swipe the dirt off the carpet, but it only smeared in a mild brown stain. But my carpet was a very mild pale pink... So it was pretty obvious. I tried using a towel, but it didn't help, and now the towel was dirty too. Wet towel? The result was disaster. The wet turned the damp dirt into mud. Now the carpet had a wet light brown patch about the size of my palm.

I looked at the dirt trail that ended up as a mud skid on the plush new pale pink carpet. Did I mention it was new? You know... Cos the entire house was new-ish. I mean, I could still smell the paints in some parts of the house!

Now I was truly panicked. Mum was going to flip! Oh wait... Why would Mum even see this? She hardly came up to my room anymore. Ki! Ki was going to flip. Wait, would he? I mean, COULD he?

I stepped gingerly into the bathroom, now that I was standing next to it. And then I shut the door. If I didn't see it, it didn't exist right?

I just needed to wash off the evidence, get rid of the dirt, out damn spot, out! I turned on the water and my feet got clean quickly. It was already much cleaner after the bedsheets and carpet had wiped it.

Once the last of the tiny bits went down the drain, I filled the tub. It wasn't the bath of the bubble making, auto keep warm function type of the Langston, but it was a really comfortable soak.

Sigh~ I think I'll stay here forever... Or till the water cooled. I idly played with the bubbles and dunked my head in the water till all the smells that shouldn't be there washed away.

The trouble with hair was the way it liked to catch onto smells.... And brambles. Yeah. But it also unfurled in the wind when riding on the back of a motorbike, and it knew how to shake itself dry.

So yes, sometimes it did raise attention to me at the wrong times, and sometimes it turned into sharp blades which I had no idea how to control. But it hadn't killed anyone yet, and the legends of the Blade Alpha said he was scarred from head to toe by the blades of his hair, while mine hadn't even left a single papercut.

I'm not sure how or when, but I've come to really like my hair. What can I say? It's really grown on me! Get it? Hahaha.

I was just relaxing and enjoying myself like this when two quiet knocks on my door alerted me of the presence of one of my Betas.

"Goddess, your parents would like to know if you'd be attending the housewarming at the the Yarrow's. They will be leaving for it in ten minutes."

Oh right! How could I forget? Dean's family was having a housewarming today. My stomach rumbled, just like clockwork. It was lunchtime. Happy! It felt like I had dream travelled and plopped back right in time for my life to carry on as usual.

I popped out of the tub, "Yes! Tell them I'm coming. Wait for me!"

Sloshing out of the tub in a hurry, I shook dry and grabbed a towel.

"As you wish, goddess. Your clothes and accessories are ready. Is there anything I may do for you?"

"No, thank you. It's all good!" More than good.

"Then, please excuse me, goddess."

I pulled open the bathroom door the moment I heard Ki leave. I needed to be quick! True to his word, my outfit was already laid out in the golden birdcage rack.

It was after I had gotten dressed that I noticed that the carpet was clean! I dropped down to check. I could smell it, the dirt had been here, but the fact was that it was no longer here. It disappeared!

I jumped back up to my feet and checked my bed. My bed looked like it always did, perfectly made up, and without a spot of dirt.

What manner of soccery was this? I pulled open the duvet to confirm it. Beta Magic. It had to be Ki.

I thought really hard about it. Then I checked the area where I had used the wet towel on. For one thing, the towel had completely disappeared. For another, I could barely see where the wet patch was, but when I found it, it still felt damp.

Ah ha! I found proof! The dirt had been here. But where did it go? And how did it go? I ran down the stairs three at a time, then four.

"Ki!" My lucky sense of direction brought me in front of a door on the second floor. I threw it open.

Ki turned around and quickly rebuttoned his shirt.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm getting dressed, goddess." Ki answered, although why he had to get dress when he was perfectly dressed less than five minutes ago didn't add up in my mind.

Ki put on his jacket, "How may I help you?"

"Oh!" all the synapses in my brain suddenly connected.

Ki was busy all of yesterday preparing and cooking for the Alpha's housewarming dinner followed by our pool party. And then our friends didn't go home, except for Dean who he had to send home.

Ki slept naked.

This was Ki's bedroom. It had a bed and everything.

"You were going to take a nap!" I deduced triumphantly.

"Apologies, goddess." Ki smiled weakly. Was I accusing him?

"Don't apologize!" I flared. And the smiling mask that Ki always wore finally cracked. He was still smiling, but the corners of his eyes crinkled just a bit and he looked tired, almost haggard really.

"Are you off duty now?" I asked more gently.

"Only Lorent Betas are ever 'off duty', but it is my 'downtime'." Ki explained.

"Then go to sleep!" I ordered, pointing at his bed.

"Your wish is my command, goddess." Ki had a lot of smiles, each one more beautiful than the other, but he wore my favourite one right now. The usual Ki smile, reserved but relaxed, and tinged with amusement.

"Of course it is! So make sure you do it!" I grinned and turned to leave, "Night-night Ki! Sleep tight!"

And then I stepped out of the door and shut myself out firmly - just like how a real beta would! What could I say? Even though my heart was a slow learner, my body was pretty smart. Whether it be fighting, or welding a new weapon, or shutting a door just so - if it involved an action with a rhythm, and some physical coordination, and application of controlled force, I would ace it.

Which explained why riding pillion was much easier than actually riding. I didn't have to think about the gears or clutch or break or speed... I just went with the flow.

BUT if I did figure out how to work those things without having to look down at the controls for them, or desperately check if my foot had really found the back break just before the light... or remember to check my blind spot and pull back the throttle, find my break, check my gear, and steer the bike into the correct lane - all at the same time.

Harvey had said we just needed practice. It's like using a computer mouse, if we keep practicing, we'd be able to ride like it was second nature.

But tell me, which computer mouse would stall if you missed the biting point, or throw you over for not being quick enough to step on the back break (oh it was on that side?), or drop in a way that might possibly crush your leg, or have parts that were so hot, you might burn your fingers if you were resting them in the wrong position while clicking the mouse? Tell me who in the right mind would buy such a mouse in the first place?

Amirite or amirite? Omo, I was starting to sound like Nix.

My family were already downstairs at the front door. It was almost the usual everyday scene except for the fact that Dad was not standing at the front door waiting, he was standing out on the porch, talking to Neil about... I narrowed my eyes at the two men standing in front of the large motorbike.

Okay, I might be totally wrong here, but if I didn't know my dad better, I would say he was admiring Neil's bike.

Savy rolled her eyes the moment I came over, "Dad got all excited over a motorbike."

Mum smiled rulefully, "I supposed it is nostalgic for him to see it. He used to own a very similar one."

"What happened to it?" Savy asked.

"He sold it." Mum answered.

"Did you ever ride it with him, Mum?" Savy asked.

"Maybe once or twice." Mum answered cauciously "It was very dangerous."

And then Mum decided to tell us about it, just to totally discourage us from trying it ouselves, "It looked cool, but it was really dangerous, and in reality it's not comfortable or easy at all. Even if you're sitting at the back, you can't relax at all. It's loud, and the wind really hits you hard. You need to stay alert to help navigate and balance the bike too. And don't get me started on the bugs that would smash on your face! I didn't ride it again after that."

"That's cos it was your first time. The second time will be easier. If you keep your body up close to the rider, and your face against the back of his shoulder, it'll be easier to move with him..." I stopped talking when I realized both Mum and Savy were staring at me with open shock.

"What are you talking about, Sam?" Mum asked.

"She's talking about riding a bike, Mama." Sabre told her. This kid had good comprehension skills.

I nodded. What did it sound like I was talking about?

Mum looked at me carefully, "Have you ridden on a bike before, Sam?"

Sabre raised her hand, "I rode a bike at Taylor's house! But not like the one outside our house. It's a lot harder to drive. You have to pedal to make it move."

Urm yeah... I was talking about that kind of bike.

"So, Dad sold the bike cos you didn't like it?" Savy helped me change the subject. Thank you, Savy!

Mum shook her head, "He still rode it a lot with Lucas and the other men. They used it to patrol the borders or hunt rogues. I'm not sure why, he just decided it was too dangerous one day and sold it."

And then Mum asked Savy, "Why would you be interested in bikes?"

She wasn't. She was rescuing me.

"I'm not." Savy shrugged, "I was just surprised that Dad used to ride a motorbike."

"Oh yeah, you were still small then." I suddenly remembered sitting on Dad's shoulders, and being loaded on the back of the pick up, "We used to take them out on the back of a truck..."

"We?" Mum made a face. Uh oh.

"I mean, what do I know? I was just a pup." Oh wait, Mum knew exactly how old I was, so she was blaming this on the responsible adult taking care of me, "Urm... I could've mis-remembered."

"Hm." Mum said. But she didn't say anything else.

(Sorry Dad).

Beta Lucas' car pulled up our front porch. We stepped out to join Dad on the porch and waited as Beta Lucas drove past us to the roundabout in front of the garage, before returning to our front porch, this time with his car faced to leave our driveway.

One of our blue Mercs followed Beta Lucas' car from our garage and stopped behind him. When Beta Lucas came out of his car, Jax came out of the blue Merc.

"Sorry, Alpha." Beta Lucas started, "We are running behind schedule. I think the young ones all partied too hard last night."

Dad nodded, "It's fine."

Beta Lucas then turned his attention to Jax, "You're Luna Bell's guard? Ki tells me you're driving the Alpha family over."

"Yes sir." Jax grinned and nodded. He had his hands on his hips, like he was happy with this important job.

To my surprise, Jax dressed in the uniform blue warrior jacket could've passed off as any other warrior you'd find in Night Leaf or Morning Light. They had never looked quite like the usual Lorent warriors even when they were wearing the Lorent uniform. I wondered if Neil would look like one of us if we gave him a jacket too. He was still in his leather jacket from last night. Wait... Did he just get back?

"Good, good." Beta Lucas was eager to get a move on, "We're going to the Yarrow's. It's a bit deep in the residential part of town. Just follow my car, and you'll be fine." Beta Lucas approved.

So we all got into our cars and were soon winding down the twisty lanes of Night Leaf's oldest residential estate.