STAYING AT THE LANGSTON

WEDNESDAY, 10 FEBRUARY, DINNERTIME

As we turned away from the queue, I couldn't help but notice how the streets were now deserted. Everyone had hunkered down for the storm.

Harvey was on the mindlink and looked pretty serious. We could barely see where we were driving and it was dinnertime.

I was hungry but I didn't say anything. What could my good beta do? He was already trying to navigate us through this last minute storm.

I squinted out at the streets wondering where everyone went. I had never been stranded away from home before. Based on the stories I've heard, this would be a good time to call someone like Teacher SO and ask if we could crash at his apartment in the city for the night. Or actually, any of the hotels or hostels in the city would be good. The cheaper ones were often quickly filled on storm nights.

And if all else failed, then any of the 24/7 shops or fast food places. We passed a 24/7 McDonalds, but Harvey kept driving. My tummy rumbled.

"Apologies, princess. We're nearly there." Harvey informed me.

So my good beta had a plan? Of course he would. I had nothing to worry about. I wondered if the plan would have anything to do with calling Teacher SO.

A moment later, Harvey pulled into The Langston. As in the five star hotel, The Langston. As in the sparkly golden glass building in the heart of Gate City, The Langston.

I had never ever been inside the Langston, but the building was supposed to be one of the more iconic ones. Yes, even here at the edge of civilization, we had a few architectural gems. Actually, we had quite a few since this city was built very quickly, particularly in the last 10 years.

Besides the Langston, we had the Gate City Station which was a shiny metallic thing that looked like a giant millipedes' armor. And then there were a number of business buildings like concrete and glass stakes stabbed across the city.

We also had older buildings mixed in, like our old Town Hall which was made of stone. The first building in Gate City.

And our hospital was like a mix of stone and glass and metal and concrete and everything else that was trending as it expanded over the years. Recently, it had added "green air wells" because all the buildings had to have a least a wall of "vertical garden" included. So I liked our hospital building. We conducted history tours in it, and I heard it was a standard school excursion venue here in the green packlands.

And of course there was the Gate City Business College, the Library, the Lorent Hall - which was a business conference and exhibition hall with hotels and boutiques, fancy restaurants and a museum lauding the Lorent history and culture. Their crowning exhibition was one showcasing jewelry and magical artifacts.

Like all the other wolves in our packland, I was able to list all the wonders of our shiny city. But I spent most of my time here in one of the malls, or along the shopping streets, or eating at the cafes and fast food chains, in less iconic buildings. I liked this "normal" part of Gate City too.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that just twenty years ago, Dad and the wolves that followed him came to just an empty wasteland. That kind of story was like the legends of the Colored Mountains, like a long ago memory that did not exist anymore.

Today, Gate City was like one of the fastest growing trade and business hub in the continent, putting the Green Packlands suddenly in the spotlight. It's not like we were ever number one. Commercially, we always ranked after Gold and Black Packlands. But what the Economic and Business magazines wrote lengthy essays to dissect was how we got to #3 in a decade.

"The world is changing everyday. We have to change too." This would be what my Dad said more often than I could count.

Changes that led to The Langston's grand opening in our city two years ago.

You know how on TV, the fancy car would stop in front of the covered entrance, and the people would step out of it, pass the keys to the valet and walk in?

This didn't happen. Instead, Harvey drove around the building, giving the entrance to the underground carpark a miss, and then past a "No Entry" sign.

Naturally we were stopped at the first guard house round the back. Harvey rolled down the window and produced something from his wallet

The moment the human guard saw it, he nodded a bow and stepped back, "Thank you and have a good evening, sir."

We waited for another moment before the barrier lifted and Harvey drove into the building and parked the Porsche next to a long limo. He got out and opened he car door for me. I got out and followed him.

By now I was quite sure that this wasn't the normal way to get into the hotel. An indescript door by the side of the hidden carpark was opened for us by a man in a dark grey suit, "Welcome, sir. My name is Mason and I am the Head Manager on duty tonight."

Harvey nodded and nudged me gently in.

To the man, he said rather coldly, "This is my Alpha, the Alpha Princess."

He was very scant and somewhat cold with the introductions. He didn't give my name or bother to introduce himself. I wondered briefly if it were because the man was a human.

Actually, the guard was human too. So while the security process had been textbook perfect, it did make me wonder how a human guard was supposed to take on a rogue attack.

"Alpha Princess." Mason made a really proper Lycan bow, "Welcome to the Langston."

He pressed for the lift door to open for us and held the door for Harvey and I to enter before joining us.

"Due to the storm, most of our rooms are full..." Mason started but Harvey cut him off, "Open the A Suite for my Alpha. I'll be staying in my family suite tonight."

The man paused for a moment, "Yes, of course, sir."

At this, Harvey added tersely, "My Alpha and I are also weathering out the storm tonight."

"Yes, sir." The man nodded quickly, "Warlock's weather tonight, we're having."

We got off on the third floor and followed the man in the suit across really plush carpets into a glass encased VIP lounge. As we walked I became aware of quite a number of men and women all in varying cuts of the grey colored suits, and all human... Very curious humans who snuck covet glances at our direction whenever they passed.

Particularly, they were looking at me. I looked down to see what was on me when I realised that I was in my school uniform. I supposed it was weird to be wearing it here. (At least I was wearing it coolly.)

"Please have a seat." Mason said in all politeness, "I will be back shortly."

I watched him go behind the counter to give instructions to the lady at the computer. I sat down, quite expecting my beta to join me and start tapity tapping on his phone while we waited, but he didn't.

Instead he remained standing, arms crossed, calm but alert. He was on guard. I felt quite sure that was unnecessary, but I didn't feel like doing anything that would draw more attention on us than we already had among the staff at the hotel.

There were a few flat screens scattered around the lobby. The one nearest to us ran the local news silently so you had to read the ticker running at the bottom of then screen to figure out what they were saying.

The news reel showed of the line of cars on the road home. The snowstorm had gotten so bad the cars were stuck, so the drivers and passengers had no choice but to leave their cars there and seek shelter. Most of them naturally opted to shift into their wolves and run back to Packlands.

But the news was warning that the storm was expected to get worse and advised wolves to follow the warriors to shelter at an emergency bunker for the night. Running through the snowstorm even in wolf form would be very risky. All families were to contact their pack office immediately should they be unable to contact their loved ones.

Oh right, I probably should let my parents know I'm alright. I mindlinked Mum, "Mum?"

"What is it, Sam? Is everything alright?"

Urm...had you not notice that there was a big snow storm and your daughter isn't home for dinner?

"There was a big snow storm. I can't come home, but I'm okay." I informed her in one breath, then I steeled myself for the part where Mum would panic and ask where I was, who I was with, what I was going to do etc.

"Oh, yes. We know. Harvey had already informed your father."

Oh. Yeah, I should have known.

"Are you scared? Don't worry, Harvey will take care of everything." Mum told me.

"I'm not scared." I shot back.

"Alright, you seem fine." Mum seemed satisfied with that, "Be good. Don't cause Harvey trouble."

Grrr.... Mum made it sound like I was a pup who was bound for trouble.

I cut off the mindlink to sulk.

Mason returned to us shortly with a folded card, "I apologize for the wait, thank you for your patience."

The folded card he held up to us was like miniature file to hold the keycards, and included "complimentary tokens for breakfast and parking."

"Complimentary" was a fancy way to say FREE.

Harvey received them with an indifferent nod.

BUT WE WERE GETTING FREE PARKING!

"Thank you." I said on our behalf.

Mason forced a smile, "It was my pleasure, Alpha Princess. May I show you to your suite?"

"Okay, Mason. Let's go." I agreed.

Mason looked surprised to be called by name, but he smiled again, and this time it was less forced, "Yes, of course Alpha Princess."

I decided I would ignore my good Beta's cold and indifferent attitude and enjoy myself tonight. We were at the Langston! The Langston, people!

This was like my once in a lifetime chance to experience what it was like to stay in a fancy hotel.

I wish I was wearing something fancier though, and I've got no idea who was going to pay the bill tomorrow, but YOLO right? Okay, I admit, I felt quite sure Dad would foot it.

And since Mum sounded so chill, it had to be okay.

I grinned, "Come on, Harvey! Let's go check out our rooms!"

And Harvey actually smiled, his usual wry smile, "Yes, Alpha."

Okay, so he was talking funny, calling me Alpha really properly... I'm not sure why Harvey felt the need to be acting all formal, but I refused to let it bother me.

I'm going to have fun tonight, and since he was stuck with me, he was going to have fun too.

The A Suite was huge. There were three bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms, a full kitchen and a living room with a glass-enclosed fireplace. And the master bathroom had a jacuzzi. A real jacuzzi.

"Can we put bubbles in this?" I wanted to know.

Harvey looked at Mason.

"I'll have bubble bath sent up immediately." Mason promised.

Harvey nodded.

"Yay! Thanks, Mason!" I was determined to ignore Harvey's frostiness.

Then I went to check out the kitchen. I was disappointed to find it's designer fridge completely empty.

Mason opened his mouth, but before any word left it, the door bell rang, and a voice behind it called out, "Room Service."

Mason went to get the door. Another uniformed man smiled as he pushed in a trolley laden with snacks and fruit, and ice bucket, champagne, and other drinks.

"With compliments from the management at the Langston." Mason informed us.

So that means all this stuff was free? My eyes widened at the spread. The uniformed man continued smiling as he stocked the kitchen with goodies.

Harvey refused the champagne. Mason sent the man down to fetch bubblebath.

After that, Harvey picked up a menu and asked me what I would like for dinner.

"You mean I can order anything here?" I asked. How could it get any better than this?

"You can order anything at all Alpha Princess." Mason promised, "Even things not on the menu, we have a very good chef."

"Anything?" I asked.

Mason looked a little less confident but he continued to insist, "Yes, Alpha Princess."

"Even burger and fries?" I asked.

Mason looked incredibly relieved, "Yes, definitely, Alpha Princess."

Harvey nodded, "I'll have the same."

He put down the menu.

"Yes, sir." Mason nodded, "Should both meals be served to the Alpha's suite?"

Harvey nodded, "Yes. Thank you. But once the meal is served, there must be no one up to this suite until the rest of my Alpha's staff arrive tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Mason bowed.

The smiling guy who came with the trolley of snacks returned with bubble bath which he left on the counter for us.

"Please make sure of it." Harvey said sternly. He took out his wallet and tipped them both with ten dollar bills.

"Yes sir." Mason swallowed, "Thank you sir." He gave the smiling guy a sharp look which sent him out at once.

Then Mason bowed himself out.

This left just Harvey and me.

"Wow! This is the life!" I flung my hands up in the air and twirled around before letting myself flop into the nearest couch, "It's so fun!"

Harvey smiled and finally managed to relax more.

"Which room do you want?" I asked him.

Harvey paused, "I will be sleeping in my family suite tonight, princess."

"Your family has a..." I looked around the suite, "An apartment in the Langston?"

Harvey nodded, "Something like that, princess."

Wow.

"Won't you have to tip a lot everyday?" I asked.

Harvey laughed then, "Only when I am here."

I guess Morning Light wolves weren't as adverse to tipping as much as Night Leaf wolves were.

There was a knock on the door, "Room Service."

Harvey got the door for Mason, who brought in two large heavy trays and set the table for us. I'm not sure why he thought we would need the silverware, but the napkin and water was very thoughtful.

Harvey tipped him. AGAIN.