Chương 105: THIS WASN'T ABOUT THE MUFFIN EITHER

I slammed the poor chocolate chip muffin onto the dinner table in front of my usual seat.

"Arughhh! I'm so mad! I'm going to take a shower!" Mum came out of the kitchen.

"You're home. What happened?"

"Harvey took my muffin—the double chocolate chip one!" I yelled and slammed the table. It rattled. Dad came into the dining room. Mum started taking out the dishes.

"Savy, be a dear and set the table. Sam, please pour the water." Grrrrr... grrr... grrr... Shower. I needed a shower.

"Mum, is Sam going to shift?" Savy asked. Dad looked at me and patted my head.

"Maybe." He poured the water.

"That's my job!" I yelled at Dad. Dad paused and put down the water jug.

"Probably," he amended.

"Sam, don't yell at your father," Mum said.

"I want to take a shower!" I insisted.

"You can take it after you finish shifting," Mum said.

"I'm not going to shift! In what way do I look like I'm shifting?" I yelled. Savy whimpered. Grrr... I slumped down angrily in the chair. Mum scooped out the food for me.

"I don't like beans," I chewed angrily. Dad chuckled. Mum gave him a look, so he stopped. Savy glanced at me worriedly.

"How was your day?" Mum asked.

"Harvey took my muffin! And everyone was talking about stuff I don't understand. First they started calling me princess behind my back, now they are talking about stuff I don't know!" I smacked the fork into the plate and it cracked. One of the pieces shot out in Savy's direction, but of course I caught it in my hand. I mean, I pretty much got it lodged into my hand. Mum got up from the table, presumably to do something about my hand, and Dad sighed.

"Delta Simon is on his way."

"I don't need Delta Simon. I'm fine. I just need a shower!" I pulled out the piece of plate and checked that it didn't leave any shards inside. Then I wrapped the wound with a napkin.

"I'm going to shower." Mum sighed.

"Please don't shift in the shower!"

"I'm not going to shift!" I yelled back and stormed up the stairs.

"Were you this bad when you shifted?" I heard Mum ask Dad.

"I can't remember," Dad said. {Delta approaches.} I don't care. I stripped and turned on the shower. My wound was sealing. I could feel it. By the time I reached for the shampoo, it had closed to a scab. I'm so mad! {Why are you angry?} Yes! I'm angry! {Why are you angry?} I don't care! {I'm ready.} Shut up. {Let's go!} Go away. I finished my shower, got dressed in a random t-shirt and a pair of leggings, and went downstairs.

"Sam, dear, how are you?" Aunty Lily said. Grrr... I pulled out my snow jacket.

"Sam, where are you going?" Mum asked. She was starting to sound worried. I stepped into my boots.

"I'll be back for dinner."

"Dinner is over, Sam," Savy said.

"My muffin!" I growled.

"Still on the table," Mum assured me. Dad watched silently from the sideboard of the living room, but he didn't stop me. Why wasn't he stopping me? Did he want to stand back and watch me almost kill someone again? I charged out of the house and stomped around in the snow for a bit. Then I ran into the forest. I just ran and ran... Someone was following me. Well, quite a lot of someones. Stupid. Did they really think I was going to shift? If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen.

Report the violation. I changed directions; I was going to lose them. The running felt good. And then suddenly something cracked. F*. I mean, "Ouch, my leg just broke backwards." I fell forward into the snow. Something else cracked. I drew in a sharp breath. I'm going to die and never go back and eat my muffin. On the bright side, I won't have to stay up and do my homework either. Oh, f*, that hurt.

"Sam!" It was Mum riding on Dad, in his wolf form. Oh, they were hunting me down. Savy was in wolf form too. Delta Simon ran panting in his human form, stumbling over. I would have sat up except something else was cracking. Oh, f***, I'm shifting. I felt fur prick through my skin. I thought I was about to scream, but it came out as a snarl, and then I stood up, on all fours. The ground where I shifted was a mess of snow and blood. That was surprisingly fast. And man, I felt awesome.

In the moonlight as the snow fell gently, I shook my dark fur out. Snow! I rolled about. Dad! I pounced. I was almost as large as my Dad. His wolf fell back, which made me feel cocky as hell. I rolled around and found Savy, her small puff of white camouflaged in the snow. She was so cute. I think I could fit her whole head in my mouth.

"Sam! You spit your sister out right now!" Mum shouted. Savy withdrew her head from my mouth and looked at Mum. Her white wolf fur was damp with slobber. Hahaha. I ambled about and growled at Delta Simon. He was freaking out a bit, trying not to let me get too close. Why? Wouldn't he want to give me a check-up? Huh? Huh? I was having fun worrying him.

"Sam, leave the poor Delta alone," Mum scolded. I didn't care. I was having fun. And then I smelled something interesting. I headed toward it—a nice pond. It was frozen. Oh, we were at the park. It was empty. I woke the duck family and chased them. Dad's wolf showed up. Where's Savy? I wanted to play. {Come, run with me.} Dad mind-linked. Oh, I get mind link! {Hey Beta, are you there?} {Princess?} Oh yeah! I ran, following Dad. We ran far and fast. It was fun. I felt the wind in my fur. I'm a motorbike! Vrooom!

We must have run the entire pack land! {My pack land.} And then we were home, cooling off from the run by rolling in the snow. Dad just sat there on his hunches, watching me, amusement in his eyes. I was still panting, walking around, when I saw Harvey's truck, Beta Lucas' car, Gamma Harry's car, Delta Simon's car... all parked like a Lorent parade, but completely mismatched. I wagged my tail when I saw the car owners appear from my front porch. I could smell Mum and Savy around. I whined happily. So fun, so fun!

Being a wolf was the best. {Hurry, shift!} I all but commanded everyone through the mind link. {Let's go!} I bounded off again, my lucky sense of direction riding the winds across the snow-powdered grounds. The men caught up pretty soon, their large wolf paws pounding on the snow-paved paths. I howled in excitement—the chase was on! And we were off, sprinting toward where... I'm not sure, except I was sure this was the way to go. {Sam, that's warlock lands.} Dad mind-linked. I slowed to sniff the air... Magic...

There is magic all around the border. And rogue. I slunk into the shadows of the trees, careful the wind blew our scent away. Grrr... We hunt. Finally, it happened, as if by some kind of magic. Rogues appeared on cue, but not from the warlock lands—from our own side. An old beat-up van, the windows opened at the driver's side so they could smoke foul-smelling cigarettes. {Wait, Sam!} My Dad started. {Let's go!} I dashed out from the side and charged directly at the van. Harvey was close at my heels.

I crashed myself headfirst against the metal. It creaked and dented. I felt Harvey follow suit. And then my Dad lent his strength. The van toppled to the side. The rogues crawled out, bleeding. They shifted, but of course they were chased down and killed by Beta Lucas and Gamma Harry before they made it to the warlock lands. There was crying inside the back of the van. We had no clothes, so we couldn't shift back. Well, technically we could, but I wasn't about to.

And I didn't think I wanted any of the wolves around me to either. {Now what, Princess?} Harvey asked. More cars—Lorent white cars. And soon Lorent warriors approached us. And also an old man who smelled almost rogue but was not. My wolf growled lowly at him. {That's Beta Lorent, Alpha Lorent's brother,} my Dad informed me. But Beta Lorent must have not recognized our wolves. He ordered his warriors to attack. The older wolves stepped back to avoid spilling blood between the packs. But I'm newly shifted.

Heh heh heh... And I didn't like the way Beta Lorent smelled. So I attacked. {Sam!} Dad mind-linked. Harvey came up to back me. {I hope you know what you're doing, Princess.} {Heh heh heh,} I mind-linked back. A white wolf appeared. Mate wolf? No. Even as I bounded over, I knew it was not. But he was familiar—Alpha James! I stopped in front of him. Harvey's wolf did a good job fighting off any of the other wolves who tried to stop me. Suddenly the fight was over. The Lorent wolves pulled back.

I rolled over in front of Alpha James. His wolf smiled the way an older wolf might indulge a pup's antics. Then he disappeared behind the tree line. I didn't follow. Seemed like the game was over anyway. I ambled over to watch the men try to right the van. My wolf helped, using my large head to push the van up. I can't believe I've shifted. I didn't think I would ever shift. I thought I would have to wait at least until my birthday.

The other wolves were all disappearing and reappearing, redressed in uniformed sweatsuits. Alpha James was talking to my Dad. I guess they had extra clothes for everyone. Everyone was in Lorent sweatsuits. I wagged my tail and ran off to explore more forest. Harvey followed. Good Beta. I'm sure the grown-ups were all talking about boring things. {Sam, come back.} It was Dad. So I ambled back happily. Gamma Harry put two sets of sweatsuits on the ground. Harvey took a set and disappeared behind the tree line.

I wasn't interested in changing, so I happily went to sniff at the new people. Some women and children. Within moments I managed to get the kids out to play. We rolled about in the snow. They were climbing on me, shouting.

"Princess," Harvey approached. He was now in his human form, also in Lorent sweatsuit. He had a sweatsuit in hand for me too.

"She's a princess?" a little girl asked. Harvey nodded.

"Yes, she is." I didn't want to ever change back. I wanted to be a wolf forever. But Harvey was still standing there. I walked off toward the tree line behind where my Dad was still talking to Alpha James. Harvey carried my sweatsuit, looked around, found a good tree, and left the sweatsuit on the ground. Then he stepped away. I waited till his footsteps stopped. He was still nearby. Was he standing guard? Maybe I won't be able to change back? Urm... What should I do?

But suddenly—crack, crack, snap—and I was freezing butt naked. I pulled on the oversized sweatsuit. Everything seemed bigger suddenly. OMG. Did I shrink? I returned to Harvey's side. He was suddenly so much taller than me.

"I think I shrank," I told him. Harvey laughed and laughed. He was still chuckling when he returned me to my Dad. Everyone took a double take at me. I knew it! I shrank.

"Well, let's go back," Alpha James said.

"Thank you for the lift home," Dad said.

"Don't mention it. It's the least I could do after you saved my pack members," Alpha James said. He turned to me.

"Well, Sam, I heard tonight is your first run. Congratulations on your first shift." The little girl ran over.

"Is she really a princess?" Harvey reached out and drew out the long mane from the back of my sweatshirt. It cascaded all the way down like in my dreams.

"Woah," the little girl said.

"A real princess."

"Woah," Harvey looked surprised too.

"I wasn't expecting that."

"The most beautiful princess," Alpha James agreed.

"Brave and pure." The little girl nodded a bow to me. Then she reached out her hands and stroked my hair. It was long and dark, and the snowflakes that had fallen on it stayed caught there, like the sky of stars we were currently under. The girl's mother came up, bowing and apologizing repeatedly. She carried the girl away to one of the cars. I noticed then that there were cars waiting for us. Dad picked me up and carried me to the car. Did he know I would rather have run home? I sat in the warm car.

There were towels on the car floor to warm and dry our bare feet. I leaned my head on Dad's strong arm and probably fell asleep in the car, because the next thing I remembered, I woke up in my own bed.