After that, a lot of people came over to congratulate me.
Many of them were still in their pajamas, making white puffs of morning breath, so the scene was rather surreal.
Apparently, it was my fault. When I bombed alpha dominance during the fight, these wolves, who had meant to stay in bed, somehow ended up being called over to my side.
Even my gang was there. They shoved and punched Ben and Jonah, who were standing around me. My beta and gamma grinned back.
Shannon gave me a quick sideways hug. I punched him lightly on the shoulder.
Tim told Jonah that he had to learn better lines to call into a fight, and the both of them broke out into a playful scuffle.
Maybe watching the fight made these young wolves restless. Before long, all the other guys were into it, and the scuffle broke out to the side.
Jessica took that opening to come over and gave me a hug—like a proper, long hug. Which surprised me, because I'd never been on hugging terms with any of my friends. She didn't say anything, so I had no idea what that was for.
And then the other ladies came—Mrs. Beta, Laura, Aunty Lily… I got hugged properly by everyone.
Even Esther… I looked up to see Hank, Flynn, and Macy.
"You guys are okay!" I couldn't stop the relief spreading a smile across my face.
Hank looked a little embarrassed.
Flynn gave me one of his usual grins and scolded, "I did not teach you to punch like that!"
I laughed.
Hank hesitated and then patted my head gently, the way he used to whenever I passed him as a small pup. "You did good."
Beta Lucas had yelled at the guys to break it up, so they ambled back, looking for other kinds of trouble to get into. They didn't have to look far.
"So who's the new boyfriend?" Tim asked.
I looked, and Killion and Harvey were just standing on the side, watching. Oh—they were guarding me? Did I look like I needed guarding? Both had their arms crossed: Harvey with his usual wry smile, Killion looking coolly at the crowd in general. Poser. He was definitely posing.
"Oh yes," I flashed a big smile. "Guys, this is Killion, my ah… not boyfriend." I still didn't want to call Killion my dog. He wasn't officially my Beta yet. But I knew what he was not.
"Killion is in training now to be Alpha Sam's bodyguard and personal assistant," Harvey introduced.
"Why would she need a bodyguard?" asked Tim.
"Yeah, we're the ones who need a bodyguard from her!" Jonah said.
Exactly what I thought.
The guys laughed.
"Let's help train him," Tim suggested. He was smiling, his eyes full of mischief. Wow, someone was in a good mood.
Harvey calmly stepped in front of Killion. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
To my surprise, the guys backed off without a whimper of protest. Harvey magic, right there.
"We were just joking!" Tim laughed.
"Yeah. Just playing." Jonah confirmed.
Ben had been unusually silent, hanging just a step back. I knew at once he had something on his mind.
I wanted to ask him what it was, but someone came up and blocked my path.
"Hi, Sam."
"Oh, hi, Dean."
Shannon suddenly swung an arm around Dean.
"Did you just come? Dean, you totally missed it!"
Dean laughed weakly. "Yeah, I overslept."
Drew groaned. "Brother, we totally missed it."
"I said I was sorry!" Dean flared up, throwing Shannon's arm off. "What more do you want?"
Drew bit back a growl and averted his gaze. Darlyn patted his arm and gave me a nervous smile.
"Er, Sam, your hand is bleeding," Darlyn pointed out suddenly.
Everyone spun to look at my hand. It was as if no one had noticed until now.
Maybe they had just forgotten, like I did.
"It's fine. These things heal fast," I assured them.
Actually, I had no idea if it was really fine. I had never busted my veins from overexerting wolf power.
"Better get it checked, Alpha," Flynn's eyes narrowed as he frowned at my hand. "If it hadn't stopped bleeding by now, it could be bad—even for you."
"It's fine," I said again, but I held up my hand and saw he was right—it was still bleeding. I looked at Killion and Harvey.
"Princess, you have to leave for school in less than an hour," Harvey reminded me.
Right. School.
I smiled widely.
"Yeah, I better go get ready."
To be honest, I didn't feel like going to school.
All around me, an impromptu party had broken out.
Tables had been brought out—into the snow, no less—and a breakfast buffet was being set up for everyone. A makeshift coffee and tea station in large cooler dispensers and paper cups, picnic tables and benches—it was almost like one of our summer barbecues, but in winter and at 5 a.m.
So surreal.
I walked as Harvey and Killion escorted me across the lawn. Both of them were walking on either side of me, just half a step back.
I was walking blindly, not quite registering my surroundings—not the predawn party that had spilled out on the pack house lawn, not the clusters of pajama-clad pack members warming up over coffee and conversation, not the friendly faces coming up to say things like "Congratulations!" and "Alpha Sam!"
I smiled back at the happy faces and sounds, feeling quite sure that I must be dreaming again.
Every now and then, as he did when he picked me up from the train station, Killion would reach out to the small of my back to steer me. I heard Harvey's calm voice speaking whenever a human obstacle appeared in front of us. "Please excuse us. Alpha Sam has something to attend to."
I did? What did I have to attend to? But I just smiled and meandered along until we reached home.
Savy and Lizzy were eating the leftover Nutella-filled moon-shaped pancakes in the living room. They looked up as we entered.
"Oh, you're back."
"Congrats, Sam," Lizzy said with her mouth full. "We're celebrating here where it's warm, and the pancakes are heaven."
I nodded. Yeah, it was kind of cold outside.
I took off my wet shoes and picked them up. "I'm going to take a shower."
That's what I needed—a hot shower.
As I plodded up the stairs, I heard Lizzy ask Savy, "Is she okay?"
I didn't stop walking.
I was cold, my hand hurt—heck, my whole arm hurt.
I was at the doorway of my room when I realized that Harvey and Killion were still following me. "Why are you guys here?"
"I need to treat your wound," Killion told me.
"I need to confirm your schedule," Harvey said.
"Leave me alone," I growled. Why was I growling?
It was cold. I wanted a hot shower… alone.
Killion and Harvey stepped back, and I shut the door on their faces.
Then I started shivering.
Maybe there was wisdom in wearing a winter coat when going out in the snow. My hand was still bleeding. It had been… how long had it been? Why was it still bleeding?
I entered my bathroom. There was blood down my gray sweatpants where my hand had hung limp. I stripped off everything and turned on the shower. It was a quick one because I was shaking too hard.
But at least my hand had stopped bleeding. I needed a bandage, but I was suddenly really tired.
I got out of the shower and automatically put on my school uniform. I had never found getting dressed so exhausting. My hair was still wet. I wrapped it in a towel and crawled into my bed. I hadn't stopped shivering since I got into the shower.
Hm… I think there's something wrong with my body. I was so tired.
Maybe I woke up too early today. I curled up in my nice, comfortable bed. Just a quick nap… I still had an extra 15 minutes, and I always felt better after sleep.