I started with the chat on top.
It was from Zara and only had one message. Baby steps, let's see:
ZARA
~ okie. get well soon! (Flower emoji)
~ Alright, that went well. Next chat:
MARCUS WINDERHILL had created a new group: [School Squad]
He invited Henry, Jasmine, Liam, Pearl, me, and Harvey. Why was Harvey in my School Squad? For someone not even in my school, Harvey was pretty popular.
MARCUS WINDERHILL
~ This group is for school stuff and project discussion.
~ @Harv @Sam We got project work today. I'll post the details here.
[B.HARVEY was made admin]
B.HARVEY
~Thx bro.
[KEYS was added to the group]
PEARL
~ Who's Killion?
MARCUS WINDERHILL
~ Sam's new PA/bodyguard/chauffeur.
A.HENRY
~ Add mine too.
[MAXWELL was added to the group]
A.HENRY
~ Max, my school project group.
MAXWELL
~ Good morning. I am Maxwell, Future Alpha Henry's assistant. Pleased to meet you.
JASMINE
~ Hi! I'm Jasmine. Nice to meet you too.
A.HENRY
~ You don't need to greet the PAs. Just pretend they're not there.
~@MAXWELL Shut up, Max.
MAXWELL
~ Pardon.
PEARL
~ I guess all alpha kids get their own PA? So lucky!
JASMINE
~ @SAM How are you feeling? We heard you were "sick." What happened?
A.HENRY
~ "sick"
MARCUS WINDERHILL
~ Here are the project details. Note the deadline, guys. And our first meeting is Saturday 2 p.m. at Hen's, TBC on Sam's schedule @KILLION
[MARCUS shared document]
Then the group went silent.
Hmmm… If he @Killion, did that mean I shouldn't answer? I guess I should save the document. After that, I edited my contacts too. I changed MARCUS WINDERHILL to B.MARCUS and KEYS to KILLION.
Next group was the GEN 1+2 LEAD Group, the one where the current and future leaders of Night Leaf + Harvey were at.
How did Harvey get into all my groups? And for a guy who had barely touched his phone, he sure was texting a lot… I realized he was probably answering from his laptop.
Basically, this group was mostly just discussion on the Alpha Heir Investiture. It's the ceremony to introduce me formally to all the other packs as the future alpha for Night Leaf.
B.LUCAS
~ Can I just check with everyone's schedule for a planning meeting this Sunday evening? (incl. mates)
G.HARRY
~ Do you want to go for supper after that?
~ We can take the ladies bowling and drinks.
LAURA
~ Are you asking me out, Handsome?
G.JONAH
~ I am not here.
LAURA
~ Oops, wrong group. Sorry, son.
G.HARRY
~ One day, when you have a mate, you will understand.
G.JONAH
~ I understand. But please keep it on your private channel.
LAURA
~ Next time maybe you can go on dates with Ben too.
G.JONAH
~ Again, I understand, Mum. BUT THAT SOUNDS SO WRONG.
B.LUCAS
~ Please confirm availability for Sunday evening's meeting.
DAD
~ Luna and I will be there.
B.LUCAS
~ Thank you, Alpha.
G.HARRY
~ Yes. Confirm for Laura and me.
WILLOW
~ I'm okay for Sunday evening.
LAURA
~ For bowling too, Willow?
WILLOW
~ If Lucas is free, I'd love to.
B.LUCAS
~ Yes. We can, but can we plan the date offline? This is work.
B.HARVEY
~ @B.LUCAS Pls add Ki 2 f/u.
[B.LUCAS added KILLION]
B.HARVEY
~ Thks.
~ Princess avail Sun eve 4 mtg. Ki acc.
~ @KILLION pls f/u
B.LUCAS
~ B&J?
~ Ben ans ur txts.
G.JONAH
~ What's f/u?
B.BEN
~ @G.JONAH f/u = follow up
~ @B.LUCAS Yes 4 mtg. Sch now.
G.JONAH
~ @B.BEN Sounds like a bad word. Lol.
~ @B.LUCAS Am ok for meeting. Can I stay over with Ben? I don't want to go on my parent's date.
B.LUCAS
~ @G.JONAH Yes.
LAURA
~ Jonah, why are you on your phone in school?
G.JONAH
~ I am not here.
B.BEN
~ Hahahaha
WILLOW
~ Ben, go back to your lessons.
B.BEN
~ Yes, Mum.
~ @B.HARVEY @KILLION I can acc + f/u 4 Sam
B.HARVEY
~ Noted. Thx.
Then that was it too.
TEAM ALPHA Group was also busy.
[B.HARVEY added KILLION]
[B.HARVEY shared a document.]
B.HARVEY
~ Above is the roster for Sunday Alpha Duties. Pls input in your calendars. Do not swap without informing me. Thx.
G.LOLA
~ Okie dokie!
~ Do u know what the task will be?
B.HARVEY
~ No.
~ The elders will set and announce it each week.
G.NIX
~ Yeah, but do u know what the tasks will be?
~ @B.BEN what about u? Know anything?
~ @B.BEN answer your text, Dork.
B.HARVEY
~ Don't come crying if Ben makes your life miserable.
D.FLYNN
~ Noted. Thanks.
G.NIX
~ Will he growl at me? I'm scared.
B.HARVEY
~ He's one of your betas, Nix. You will do well to remember that.
G.NIX
~ He's just a pup, hasn't even shifted.
~ I dunno why the Princess lets him tag along. He's an extra. All he did was get born in the beta family.
G.LOLA
~ You haven't shifted yet!
~ I'm sure all of you will shift to be big, strong wolves in time.
D.HANK
~ Ok to schedule dates. Thanks.
B.HARVEY
~ @B.BEN feel free to deal with Nix when you have time.
G.JONAH
~ @B.BEN If you don't, I will.
G.NIX
~ Another NL dork.
G.LOLA
~ Don't fight, guys. You guys are all doing great!
G.JONAH
~ Let's have a bet. For the Alpha Tasks, just you try to beat Ben and me.
G.NIX
~ Are u kidding? You're both pups. N I'm with Harv.
G.JONAH
~ And I'm with Ben. So we are going to win.
G.NIX
~ In your dreams!
G.JONAH
~ If we win, you must do whatever forfeit we give you.
G.NIX
~ And if I win?
G.JONAH
~ We will do whatever forfeit you give us.
G.NIX
~ Deal.
B.HARVEY
~ No deal. You're on your own.
G.NIX
~ I'll cover Harv's forfeit.
~ Just don't mess it up for me, Beta, and it'll be fine.
G.JONAH
~ U going down, Nix.
I wasn't going to open the roster, but now I was curious.
My first task this Sunday would be with Harvey and Nix.
Next Sunday would be Ben and Jonah.
Now that would be something to look forward to. So fun! I wonder who would win?
Meanwhile, Harvey was answering another call. "I see… can I get my colleague to call you back later?"
Mum came into the room a while later with some drinks and cookies.
"Esther sent these." That was all Mum needed to say.
Harvey got up immediately. I thought he was aiming for the cookies, but he only excused himself from the room.
Mum put the cookies down next to my bed. Then she passed me a few large cards. "Here are the concept boards from Chloe. I thought you might like to see them now."
I looked through the coordinated muted shades.
Mum continued talking, "I quite like most of her ideas. It's colorful but not too colourful. Except for your mermaid room… It's very nice and all, but I'm not sure what you'd think."
"Which one is it?" I tried to skip to my own room. Mum helped me. As she turned the cards, she identified them for me:
Kitchen was a forest green and dark wood thing.
Savy's room was a pale oyster pink with olive green fabric, gold and cream highlights, and light oak furniture.
And then my room…
There was a photo of a white, opened clam shell bed. I kid you not. Accompanied by pale silk pink and white and gold fabrics, pale sand-colored carpeting, and pale sea blue walls.
Overall, it was very pale and calming and almost boring, except for the clam shell bed.
"Hm…" I toyed with the idea of saying I liked it, just to see what would happen, but I wasn't sure I wanted to live with the consequences.
"Can I have a matching bathtub?" I asked. Mum's mouth dropped open, and then she narrowed her eyes at me when she realized I was joking.
"Sam, be serious. It's going to be your room." Mum scolded lightly.
I grinned. "I just want a blue room."
Mum tried to steer me in the right direction. "What kind of blue room does the future alpha want?"
I had no idea.
A normal room?
Or maybe a fancy, stately thing, like a hotel room? Would that be alpha enough?
But a normal blue room sounded good to me.
Suddenly my phone started chiming like the world was ending.
SCHOOL SQUAD
KILLION
~ Yo. Nice to meet the princess' pretty friends.
~ Princess is recovering from anemia.
~ @B.MARCUS mtg sched clash. Will r/s n update.
PEARL
~ Hi Killion. I like your avatar photo.
A.HENRY
~ @KILLION Girls underaged. F.off.
HARVEY
~ Ki, no flirting. Apologies, girls.
KILLION
~ My bad.
PEARL
~ Oh, was he flirting?
KILLION
~ Not anymore.
A.HENRY
~ "anemia"
~ Sam got into another fight, didn't she?
B.MARCUS
~ Arghhhh, Sam. You didn't!
JASMINE
~ OMG are u ok Sam?
A.HENRY
~ @HARVEY @KILLION What the hell were u guys doing?
No one said anything after that. So I guess I should.
YOU
~ Don't diss my guys, Henry.
~ Me unstoppable. U should know.
~ @JASMINE I'm fine. Thanks! (Smiley face)
A.HENRY
~ I pity the poor wolf who is ur mate.
KILLION
~ U should be pitying us.
A.HENRY
~ lol.
That was surprising. I didn't expect Henry to laugh.
The other groups all had Killion's response… I guess he just woke up.
My calendar and email notifications were going off too. Killion was working.
I fidgeted with the phone settings till I found the slider to turn off the notification sounds.
Harvey and Killion came into the room together, nodding politely to Mum from the doorway before Harvey resumed work at the desk and Killion came over.
"May I help with anything, Luna? Shall I prepare lunch?" Killion asked.
"Help me talk to the interior designer!" I interrupted. I pushed my room's concept board to him. "I want a blue, normal room."
Killion looked at it briefly… and then he looked at my Mum.
Mum sighed. "Chloe seems particularly passionate about this mermaid-themed room. But you need to decide what you want so I can talk to her, Sam."
"I just want a blue room!" I said.
"Understood. I'll have lunch started, and talk to Chloe for alternative designs in blue," Killion decided.
Mum nodded at that. "That's a good idea, Ki. Thank you."
Killion nodded and excused himself.
Mum patted me with a smile. "You did a good thing for Ki."
Eh? What's that about?
But Mum had gotten up and left.