SATURDAY, 13 FEBRUARY, DINNER TIME
Boo walked me home. I had thought she was following my lucky sense of direction, but now I think she could have also been following her nose. The smell of hot food mingled with a woody scent and crisp winter air.
Our long driveway had been shovelled and salted, and the after snow dirt was covered with a generous layer of wood chips. I breathed in the woody scent. Lovely.
Our lawn was party ready, with an assortment of mismatched outdoor furniture borrowed from our packhouse store room. The chairs and tables arranged in little clusters around outdoor heaters.
I took my time to admire the lanterns strung across the patio, and the brightly colored pillows, table cloths, and glass jars with floating candles.
Our front door opened and Jonah, Shannon, Tim, and Jay shuffled out. They each picked up a shovel that they had left by the door.
"Thank you for the hot chocolate, Luna." Shannon said.
"You're most welcome, boys. Thank you for your hard work today." Mum beamed, "See you later."
I could see Sabre peeking out from behind Mum's denim clad legs and remembered she didn't like male strangers.
Mum waved to me, "Sam! You're back. Just in time."
I left the nice flooring of wooden chips to cross the driveway and step up onto the patio, "Hi mum, hi guys."
"Whoa... Sam." Jonah said before decided to make a quick exit. "Uh bye. We gotta go home and get changed for the party."
"K. Bye." I realised belatedly that Boo was unconcealed. Opps. Boo was pleasantly calm though, it was a nice feeling.
The guys seemed unsure if they liked the new and improved Sam though. They said their goodbyes and left quickly with Jonah. I heard them warn each other through the mindlink, "Her wolf's out." And "Tim, don't do anything stupid now."
Boo grinned at them, baring just a little bit of fang to hurry them off.
{So fun.}
"It was so nice of Ben to bring those boys over to help." Mum told me as she let me into the house, "The lawn was so muddy this morning, I feared that the party would be ruined."
Oh. So that was Ben's punishment for the guys who had fought in the ring. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
I took off my jacket and looked around. There was no Beta to receive my jacket and put it away for me.
Mum pushed on the coat closet and it popped open with a neat little spring attachment. I spied an unused hanger and hung up my own coat, marvelling at how long it's been since I last did this simple task.
Sabre looked at me with wide eyes, "Are you really Sam?"
Eh? Could she sense Boo too? Mum was acting like she hadn't noticed, and Sabre was just a little human... I patted her on her head like I always did, "Who else would I be, little human?"
Opps, I just gave myself away.
"You're prettier like this." Sabre informed me earnestly, "But not in a good way. In a scary way."
Hahaha. Oh right, little human had a gift to sense magic. Boo smiled and shimmered her powers a little to show off. Sabre hid behind Mum again.
I thought she was hiding from the guys, but now I was beginning to suspect she was being wary of me.
Great, now Mum was going to scold me... I waited for the nagging to start, but Mum only said, "Go get ready for the party, dear. I'll have Savy come help you with your hair in a bit."
I blinked, why was Mum calling me dear?
But Ki had just came in through the kitchen door and Mum immediately hurried over with Sabre glued to her legs, "Ki, thank goddess you're back!"
"Apologies, Luna. I was held back in a meeting. I'll have the appetizers ready in a moment."
I turned and made my way up to my room. I was suddenly feeling drained. I wanted a bath and then my lemony scented bed, which was what I was planning to do. I mean, the party's at my house, so... even if I spent it in bed, I was technically at the party? Hahaha... okay, weak, I know. But I hadn't slept much last night. I wasn't complaining though, motorbiking in the dark of night with my Betas and Henry was so fun.
I felt my lips turn up, as I replayed last night in the shower - until I got to the point where we met Ruby, and then I remembered that Ruby was dead. Harvey was witness. Henry's pack didn't shoot rogues on sight, but they didn't shy away from capital punishment, and Ruby did murder two warriors, and threw a knife at the young alpha.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't really want to think about it, but I could remember Ruby the first time I saw her - beautiful, poised, and strong, even in her hostility and bitterness. And then at Henry's, desperate and on her last length of rope. Now it was all over. I wondered how it could have been different. If I had handled it differently, would she still be alive today?
By now, I was finishing up my shower on auto-mode. Reaching for my fluffy lemon scented towel, I let my hair do its thing to shake off the water, and then stepped out of the shower.
"Sam?" Savy's voice pulled me out of my thoughts, "Are you done yet? Hurry up! The guests are here!"
I got out of the bathroom. Savy was sitting cross legged on my bed tapping on her phone a la beta mode. She grinned at me, "Oh good, you blew dry your hair."
Urm... yeah. Sure.
She got up and patted the dressing table, "I'm going to try to give you a mermaid braid tonight. It's like what I have on, but just half cos your hair is so long, it'll probably take all night to do."
Surely she exaggerated.
"Yeah, sure. Do whatever." I shrugged.
"What's wrong?" Savy narrowed her eyes at me.
Ruby is dead. I sighed, "I don't feel like going to the party."
Savy sighed too, "Yeah, me too."
Eh? I blinked owishly at Savy's admission, "I thought you and Lizzy wanted the pool party?"
"That was BEFORE Dad went and said those things in front of everyone." Savy was upset enough to put down the hair brush.
Okay, yeah. That was embarressing. Not that I remembered exactly what Dad said... I only remembered the temporal rush of mortification and embaressment, but he was unlikely to repeat it now, so we were in the safe.
"Don't worry." I tried to comfort Savy, "It's over now. Just forget about it."
"Must be nice being simple-minded like that." Savy shook her head at me.
Hey!
Savy made a face at me, "You're always like that."
"Like what? A bad listener? Easily distracted? Blowing hot and cold?" I flared.
Oh wow, Dean's words suddenly popped out like out of nowhere.
"What?" Savy took pause, and then she shook her, "No, I mean, yes... But that's not the problem...like seriously, Sam, where did that come out from?"
Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. WTH was that about?
Savy sighed and resumed her lament, "I mean you take everything at face value. You shut off your mindlinks, so you'd never know what the others are not saying aloud."
I shrugged, wasn't that a good thing? Those undercurrent things only dragged you down. Dad always said there wasn't any point in worrying about what other people were thinking, "For all you know, you're completely wrong, and they weren't thinking that at all."
I was the Alpha, no matter what anyone thought, anyway.
But I guess Savy wasn't the Alpha, and she was always smarter than I was, so I guess her world was naturally more complicated.
I tried to sympathize, "Just ignore them."
I guess that wasn't the most sympathetic thing to have said.
Savy groaned, "I'm not you, Sam. I can't just brush off whatever I don't like. I have to live with it ... for the rest of my life!"
"Okay, just chill." I patted Savy on her back, "Don't worry. I've got this."
Savy wasn't convinced, "Exactly what did you 'get' Sam?"
Urmm... Yeah, a plan: "We will go down to the party and pretend whatever Dad said didn't happen." (Which was what I was going to do anyway.)
Savy rolled her eyes, "How's that going to help?"
"It's better than hiding in our rooms forever." I told her, "Anyway, just stick with me tonight."
"If anyone brings it up, I'm going to just die of embaressment." Savy worried.
Was what Dad said that bad? I honestly couldn't remember. Or was it what the pack mindlink grapevine was saying? In that case, I really had no idea.
"It's alright. I'll be your shield." I promised. Whatever, I was the alpha, I could take it.
Savy shook her head, and then she laughed, "Oh, Sam. I hope you always stay this way! Okay. Mum's been asking us to go downstairs for a while now."
"Let's go then." I decided.
Savy and I headed downstairs. The first person we needed to show our faces to was Mum and Dad. The first floor was crowded, the pool was steaming, the doors were all opened up and people spilled out to mingle around the outdoor heaters.
We found Mum and Dad outside at one of the heaters chatting with the other adults. There were some pups mucking around on the side, digging up the wood chips, and making a mess.
I heard Sabre's voice, "Dig harder. We'll never reach the centre of the world like this!"
Considering that you pups haven't even reached the bottom of the wood chips yet... the centre of the world was still a long way off.
"Alpha Sam is here." Ki intoned from out of nowhere.
"Oh, good. Sam, Savy, you're here." Mum beamed at us, "Your friends are looking for you."
"Okay, thanks Mum." I waved, and Savy and I left to walk through the rest of the party.
This was what our pack parties usually looked like, parents chatting over drinks and food, pups playing in the odd pockets of spaces, and teens hiding out along the fringes - so the first place we looked for our gang was around the house.
Actually, I was hungry too...
"Lizzy says they're round the side of the house, near the pool." Savy informed me.
"Let's get something to eat first." I decided.
Savy nodded and followed me to the buffet tables in the kitchen, living, and dining rooms. We wandered from room to room collecting delicious morsels to display on our plate.
That's how we found Dean and his family first. They had arrived late (as usual) and were looking for the buffet table to place the boxes of chicken pies they have brought, and help themselves to dinner.
"Hi guys! Hi Darlyn!" I called to them.
"Er, hi Sam. Fancy meeting you here." Dean answered coolly. His siblings gave him a weird look. I laughed outright in his face, "Yeah. Surprise! Who knew I'd be at home?"
Hahaha.
"Oh yeah, the others are around the house. Let's grab food and join them." I grabbed some plates. Savy helped me collect the utensils.
"Oh, okay. Thanks." Drew accepted the empty plate.
"Yeah, thanks." Darlyn accepted a plate too. She cast her brothers a fugitive glance.
Drew shrugged. Dean looked away.
"Why? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Ah, no. It's nothing." Darlyn said quickly, "Just that... erm..."
"I can't join you guys." Dean announced, "I've invited Cindy over."
Who?
"My date. I invited a date." Dean had to explain.
"Cool. Where is she?" I looked around wondering why my wolf didn't sense her.
"She... She's on the way." Dean told me.
Wow. A date who knew to arrive even later than Dean? That had to be a good match. Hahaha.
"Okay, just bring her round to meet the gang later." I said.
"Is...is that really okay with you?" Darlyn asked me.
"Yeah, why not?" I finished filling up my plate, "Oh, you want some too? It smells spicy though."
"Oh, yeah. I like spicy." Darlyn turned her attention back to the table. I helped her pick out two large prawns. And then I picked out two more for Savy.
"Bye Dean, see you and Sandy later." I called back as we left.
"It's Cindy." Dean corrected.
Right.
"Yeah, okay." I laughed. Savy, Drew, and Darlyn were laughing too.
"Try to remember her name, Sam." Savy chided.
"Yeah, don't mention Sandy in front of her later." Drew's warning was made with mirth, "She might think my brother is two-timing her." We laughed at the possible misunderstanding.
"Is she his soulmate?" Savy asked.
"Er, no... just a date... I hope." Darlyn answered nervously.
Drew didn't look too happy suddenly, "My brother says she's sweet and innocent, but Shannon says she's quite different from what she seems."
Oh. I wasn't sure how to process that.
"Maybe it could be a misunderstanding." Savy tried to reason.
"Maybe..." Drew didn't sound convinced.
I wanted it to be wrong too, but Shannon was a guru on things like dating and girls, so... Yeah, I could understand Drew's dilemma.
"Sam, do you think you could talk to my brother?" Darlyn asked.
I shook my head immediately, "No way. I mean, I don't know anything about dating. It's not like I'd know what to say."
"Maybe Shannon could talk to Dean?" Savy suggested.
"Yuh, okay." Drew perked up, "Let's go ask Shannon."
So we made our way over to the other side of the house. There were too many people indoors so we had to wind our way outside and around the clusters of adults.
On the way, we met Jessica who was talking with Marissa, Lola, Link, Kev, and Kevy.
"Hi, we're hanging out round back, if you wanna join us." I offered.
"Cool, we'll come check it out later." Link promised.
"Nice place." Marissa told me.
"Sorry about Nix today." Lola said.
"I heard your Dad went berserk after the news came out." Marissa told me.
"Nix didn't mean anything by that." Lola tried to explain.
I waved it off, "I know. Don't worry. No harm's done."
Then I grabbed Savy and hightailed to the safety of our gang. Drew and Darlyn followed quickly after exchanging their own hi's and bye's with the others.
Like falling into a net, we fell into the company of our usual gang again.
"Yo, Sam. Hey Savy." Said Ben.
"Oh good, you made it. Ben was about to go hunt you down." Lizzy said.
"Hey, Drew. Glad you could make it." Shannon patted Drew on the shoulder.
"Hoohoo, better late than never." Drew's laugh was funny. He sounded like Tigger.
"Oooo I like your dress, Dar." Delilah said.
"I like yours too, Del." Darlyn was suddenly bright and animated.
They were wearing the same dress. Like *sweatdrop. you know? Hahaha. But the two of them had gone shopping for a party dress and fell in love with the same dress.
"Now we're twins!" Delilah decided, "Like Sam and Savy."
"Savy and I aren't twins!" I corrected.
Shannon waved it off, "Technical details, meh."
And then we all laughed.
I hadn't felt like coming to the party, but I'm glad I did. It's been a while since my gang and I could just chill out like this.
NEXT CHAPTER: KING OF THE POOL PARTY