25 FEBRUARY, THURSDAY, CONTINUED
I'm so sorry, Lucky, your father is the kind of evil man who would not think twice about replacing you at a pet store... Or send poor warriors out to the dumpster to freeze to death. Already, the poor special team looked partially frozen. Cobra's fringe had grown an icicle.
Thank goddess we were all saved. Our knight in shining armour was none other than a good beta in a pickup truck.
Harvey's truck stopped in front of the Alpha House where we were still gathered by the trash cans along the roadside.
"Yes, Luna!" The poor frozen wolves shouted in response to their "lovely and gentle" Luna. Unlike my mum, I don't think Bell was fooling anyone.
"Good evening, Alpha, Luna." Harvey bowed politely.
His forehead was sporting the usual creases, and his mouth was pressed firmly in a thin line, so we all knew someone was going to be on trouble, not that things could get any worse for my poor special team.
The biggest baddest wolf was already here, and in comparison, Harvey wasn't quite as scary.
"Is there a problem, Alpha? May I be of any help?" Harvey asked calmly.
"I can't find Lucky." I told him, "I left him on the kitchen counter when I got home. I think she's at the incinerator plant by now."
"Oh." Said Harvey, but he was frowning. And then he said, "Apologies for the oversight, Alpha."
Was my good beta going to take the blame for something that wasn't his fault again?
"Lucky should still be in its cup on top of its hamster enclosure, Alpha." Harvey said.
"WHAT?" More than one person yelled.
Harvey winced, "Yes, apologies. I was in a hurry and forgot to inform Ki and Ben."
So what happened was that while Barry was supposed to be helping Ki in the kitchen, Fluffy was now in charge of laundry and wardrobe.
So the outfits hanging from the golden birdcage was styled and hung by Fluffy, but since Fluffy was not allowed in my room, Ki had pushed out the rack to the sitting area outside, dumped a mountain of clothes on the sofa, and left Fluffy to it.
Meanwhile, Harvey had gone over to the FAO at the packhouse to settle some work before Thursday Night Session when his dad mindlinked him to go over to collect some Morning Light documents and have dinner at home. So Harvey had to rush over to Morning Light.
Just as he was about to leave the office, Ki mindlinked for help to put the goddess' clothes into her room before I got home.
So Harvey ran back across the lawn to the Alpha house.
Just as he entered the pool room to go upstairs, he met Barry who reported that he had finished preparing dinner but was unsure about the seating arrangements at the Alpha's table.
So he went to the kitchen and found it in a mess. He made Barry clean up and helped set the table.
When Barry was done cleaning up the kitchen, Harvey let him go, but because it was Barry's first time, my beta who hated to leave any loose ends, double checked the kitchen. Sure enough, Barry had forgotten to take out the trash.
This was when Harvey saw his Alpha's yellow coffee cup in the bin. He fished it out and sure enough, found the baby hamster inside.
Worried that the hamster might be accidentally thrown away again, Harvey brought it up to my room. Pushed in the overloaded rack of clothes, dumped the rest of the clothes into my closet for Ki to sort out, and placed the hamster cup on top of its new enclosure.
"It looked hungry, so I fed it some of the hamster food." Harvey reported.
Oh.
After that, Harvey mindlinked Ki to deal with the trashbin and the pile of clothes in my wardrobe and rushed back home to be in time for dinner with his family. And now he had just rushed back here in time to complete a few more minor tasks and attend Thursday Training Session.
"My apologies again, Alpha." Harvey bowed.
Oh.
I hesitated, "So you're saying that Lucky is safe in my room?"
I barely dared to hope.
"Yes, Alpha." Harvey nodded.
Savy grabbed my hand and squeezed it, "Let's go check."
I nodded, "Okay..." Could it be, that Lucky was really okay? "OKAY!"
We ran back towards the house.
"Thanks Harvey!" I called back, "You really saved the day!"
"Big brother beta is the best!" Fluffy smiled. Or it could just be that his smile had frozen on while they stood there.
"Does that mean we don't have to freeze to death in a mountain of garbage anymore?" EJ asked, hope shining like stars in his voice.
"Sam!" Ben called out to remind me, "Thursday's training will start in half an hour. Flynn's already at the training hall."
Oh right.
"Tell River to meet us there in ten minutes!" I called back from the porch. I waited impatiently for Savy to take out her keycard to open the front door.
The door to the pool room was still opened. Maybe we should've just entered from there?
"We should just go from there." I tugged at Savy's arm.
"Oh." Savy grinned at me, "I was so excited, I forgot to think."
Yay! I couldn't wait to check on Lucky and show my beautiful new baby to Savy.
We abandoned the front door and rushed down the wrap-around porch to the pool room.
By now, Bell and the others had also reached the porch, but they had to stop and let Savy and I enter first. Bell put a hand on my back the moment we stepped into the house.
"Hang on." Savy said, "Let me get Sabre first."
Oh, yes. Sabre. I felt excited all over again, "And Mum too."
Hahaha.
Savy grinned and ran off through that plant room to the main house.
The special team jumped right into the warm water to defrost.
"Haaaaa.... I'll never go out into the snow in my swim trunks ever again!" EJ vowed loudly.
The other guys loudly agreed with moaning and groaning sounds as if they had suffered great tribulation. I laughed a little. They can be so funny, my wolves.
Bell's eyes narrowed at the guys being monkeys in the pool, {This time, you were lucky. Appear lewdly in front of my princess again and I will skin your wolf and use your pelt as a doormat.}
My wolves suddenly became quiet.
{Luna and her daughters are coming.} Ki's instruction came next, {Please exit the pool and head upstairs - try to look natural about it.}
"Ah!" Barry burst out immediately, "That was refreshing! I think I'll go up to my room now."
"Ah yes!" Torque quickly chimed in, "I am suddenly very sleepy!"
These two... were not the greatest actors.
"Come, princess." Bell produced his beautiful smile for me, "I will walk you to your room."
"But I wanna wait for Savy..." I protested.
"Oh, but there is something important I need to discuss with you." Bell said.
Eh? "Right now?" I asked. Why now?
"Come upstairs first. And then we will talk." Bell promised. Another beautiful smile.
{Mate ~❤️ }
The most sickening bit was how I knew his smile was only to manipulate me, but that smile...❤️
I swallowed the sigh that almost escaped my lips and nodded. I was such a sap when it came to Mate.
{Mate ~ ❤️ }
It was truly unfair.
{No point fighting a losing battle. ~❤️ } Boo agreed sagely.
Stoopid Boo, it's only a losing battle when you decide to stop fighting.
When Bell and I turned up to the last flight of stairs, I heard my wolves hastily leave the pool.
"Hurry up, before the little girl comes!" Barry sounded panicked.
"Has anyone seen my towel?" Ink asked.
"Forget the towel!" Torque yelled.
"Shhhhh...." Cobra hissed.
And everything got quiet again.
Who knew that the 6 strong warriors of the Alpha's personal Special Team could be so terrified of accidentally meeting a five year old human girl?
We reached the top of the stairs. I turned around at my bedroom door to face Bell, "Okay, so what did you need to talk about?"
Bell used his good hand to adjust the jacket resting across his shoulders. Even though he was in Night Leaf now, he had been wearing his Lorent suits anyway.
Was he being considerate of our guest healer, Delta Oran?
I could hear Sabre's singing getting louder as she approached, "Lucky, Lucky, I love you! I L-O-V-E you!"
"Well?" I prompted. Eh, since when did Bell get so close to me? I took a step back and hit the door.
And then Bell leaned over quickly, I froze.
HE WAS GOING TO KISS ME!
For no reason whatsoever, I squeezed my eyes shut.
And then I felt his lips brush very lightly across my forehead.
Eh?
"SAM!" Mum gasped.
"It wasn't me!" I panicked.
Bell smirked and pushed himself from the door where he had trapped me against.
"What happened?" Sabre asked.
I felt my face turn red, "No...no...nothing!!!"
Savy covered her mouth to stifle her cackling.
Mum's eyes narrowed at Bell. Ha! Let's see how you get out of this one, mister!
Bell only reached out to tuck a lock of languidly relaxed hair (my hair liked to pretend to be demure in front of him.)
"Don't cry anymore, Princess." Bell murmured. And then he turned to leave. "Luna." Bell politely nodded a bow at my mum, and then he left.
"Oh." Said Mum, all starry eyed. She placed a hand over her heart, "Oh."
Once she was sure Bell was out of earshot, Savy cackled, "Your Luna likes to pretend to be the male lead of a romance novel."
Eh?
Mum sighed, and shook her head, but she was smiling ruefully, "In front of their mate, every man is the male lead of a romance novel."
That's not right. I shook my head. Not every man. Take River for example... River wasn't really the typical romance hero. He was more of a... I tried to place him in something that I've read before.
If River was a hero of some kind of story, it would have to be the legendary type from the Colored Mountain where a weak and clumsy foolish guy stumbles through a series of unexpected plot twists and become the most powerful king in the world.
Yeah... Except if that were true, I guess he would be at the turning point where his destiny was about to change. I wonder what role I would play in River's story.
Maybe I would be the supporting character - the mean elder sister who bullies him, because that was what I was about to do. Hahaha. I grinned at the thought of watching River suffer, I mean train with Flynn tonight.
Of course I was doing this for his own good. Hahaha. #imsosneaky. Who told him to drag my little sister into the Rogue King's den... And then make my little sister have to drag him back home because he couldn't control his own power and passed out?
But don't worry, I'm sure our hero would win me over with his sincerity eventually, and then I'll turn out to be one of his most powerful allies. That's how happy endings work in these stories right?
"What strange things are you thinking now?" Savy asked.
"Nothing!" I answered quickly, a little too quickly.
We stepped into my room and I can't describe my relief when I saw the yellow coffee cup, with its plastic lid in place, sitting neatly on top of the new hamster enclosure next to my bed.
"We should set up it's new home for him." Mum said.
But Savy and Sabre and I were too busy oohing and aahing over the little white baby hammie. We let lucky run on my bed.
"Please don't let it run away." Mum said as she filled the bottom of the enclosure with fresh bedding.
"Alright... That should be enough." Mum said as she dusted off her hands, "Let's put Lucky into his new home."
"Her new home." Sabre corrected, "Sam says Lucky is a girl."
"Lucy." Savy decided.
"Lucky!" I argued.
"Larry!" Sabre joined in just because.
"That's enough." Mum said. So we put Lucky/Lucy/Larry into her new home. Lucky/Lucy/Larry ran straight for the clamshell hamster hideout. I think she had enough excitement for one day.
Mum helped us fill and attached the waterbottle and then we filled up three little dishes with small portions of treats and left them at different parts of the enclosure for her to discover.
"Don't forget you two have Thursday Night Training in a while." Mum reminded us, before she took Sabre away for her bedtime.
Oh yeah! I checked my watch, "I gotta run!"
Come, River, let your future powerful ally help you get stronger!