Chương 106: INTRODUCING THE NEW SAM

I sat up in my bed. It was quiet for a few moments, and then my alarm clock rang. Oh, it was all a dream… or was it? I rubbed my eyes and noticed my oversized Lorent sweatsuit. I pulled myself out from under the quilt to check. I was all in one piece. And my hair was annoyingly long. I kept sitting on it, and it kept getting caught on everything. It was annoying as hell. It even tripped me when I got out of bed.

In the light of my room, I realized that my hair was so black it looked blue, or maybe such a dark blue it looked black. I stumbled to the full-length mirror by my wardrobe. My hair fell to the back of my thighs. Almost to my knees in dark, wavy ribbons. And my lashes looked permanently mascaraed. But the most shocking change was my eyes. They were blue, like a bright ultramarine blue. I blinked at the stranger in the mirror. Where were the brown hair and brown eyes I had grown up with?

My skin got paler too, but not exactly lighter. I had always been fair-skinned, but now it was also brighter? I remembered a face product ad for glowing skin. I think that was it. Wolf power gives you glowing skin. I plodded into the bathroom to wash up and take a shower. What day was it again? Oh no, it was Monday. Double oh no, I hadn't done my homework. My homework! OMG, my homework! No time. I packed everything I needed in my bag. I'll work on the train, then finish up in class. Got to get to school early!

Putting on my uniform, I braided my damp hair because it was just too long to wrap a hair tie around a ponytail. It was so long that I could even turn the braid around itself into a fat bun on top of my head. I wasn't very good at it. It was messy, but it held up okay, and it stayed out of my way. I can't believe it's Monday. I realized I was starving and propelled myself downstairs. Harvey was in the kitchen with my family. Did he stay over? The scene looked so natural.

He would have looked every part the perfect son-in-law. Oh wait, but that would mean he would have to mate…

"Good morning, Princess," he said to me.

"Sam, you're awake." Mum looked at me in my uniform.

"Are you going to school?"

"Yeah, no time. I'm in a hurry." I stuffed two pieces of bread in my mouth at the same time. I actually had quite a normal-looking mouth, but inside, it was larger than usual, and I could fit quite a lot into it. Luckily, the shift hadn't changed my mouth's capacity. Harvey looked mildly shocked. But Savy, used to my eating habits, was more curious about my face.

"Are you wearing makeup?" I shook my head but couldn't talk with my mouth so full.

"I don't know if I can get used to your new eye color." Savy was studying me. She was one to talk! When she shifted, her brown hair lightened to a pale blond, and her brown eyes took Dad's steel-gray color. And I politely never said anything about it.

"Your hair is nice like that," she concluded. I gulped down whatever Mum put in my cup.

"Hot!" My tongue was immediately scalded.

"I got to go." And I grabbed my backpack and coat and bolted.

"Do you need a ride?" Harvey called out.

"No, send Savy. Thanks! Bye!" It only made sense since they went to the same school. I ran out and found the bus parked outside the pack house. I climbed in.

"Let's go, please!" The old bus driver chuckled.

"So much energy, you youngsters." But he started the engine, and we left. I was the only passenger at this time anyway. The train station was quiet, a little eerie. I ran to the platform and luckily had a train pull up just as I got there. I boarded the empty train. Wow, what a difference 15 minutes earlier made on a winter morning! Once seated on the empty train, I started working on the homework. To my relief, it wasn't that much or that hard, and I was done soon enough. It's Monday. What was I forgetting?

What I needed was a calendar to keep track of the stuff I needed to remember. Oh yeah, my new phone had a calendar. Hm? Where did I put that? Oh yeah, in the pocket of my kindergarten sweatshirt. Oops. I hope Mum didn't put that in the wash yet. Hm... what else was I forgetting? On the way to class, I saw the archery notice board and suddenly remembered! The tryout results! I ran up the stairs to the board on the second floor just outside the hall. It felt like another lifetime ago!

There was an announcement: First lesson starts tomorrow, Tuesday after school. Bring $10 for a beginner's kit. Wear gym attire and covered footwear. No slippers. That was redundant. Who wore slippers to school? I found the beginner class list below that. My name was listed first: Beginner Class, Rank: 1, Name: Samantha Kingsley, Score: 10/5/8. Rank 2 was a person whose name I didn't recognize and a score of 5/6/3. I was that lucky, huh?

I thought about how I saved Dean's life, or even how I happened to run out last night and meet that rogue van. What if I stopped being lucky one day? What would I have left? A damn awesome wolf, that's what! I walked to class feeling pretty smug. My wolf was awesome! Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Dropping my stuff on my desk, I sank down in my seat and sighed. I was really early.

Now that my homework was done and I was in school, the adrenaline had all dissipated, and I was just feeling the sleepiness of running around all night. I rested my head on my desk and let my eyes drift shut. So tired. Wolfie, my awesome wolf, you stand guard. {Princess, are you there?} A mindlink came through. {Beta is calling.} Wolfie prompted. {What? Harvey?} I recognized his voice. {Please check your phone, Princess.} {What?} {Never mind. Hang on, Princess. I'm on the way.} {What? Where?} I opened my eyes and blinked at the brightness. A dream? What kind of dream was that?

"Sam? Oh my goddess, Sam, is that you?" Jasmine looked slightly panicked. I blinked at her. The cool girls were standing around, their mouths dropped open.

"Are those contacts?" Krystal demanded.

"Wow, Zammi, are you Zammi?" Zara asked.

"Sam," I told her.

"Just Sam."

"She talks like Zammi, but she looks..." Zara observed.

"Did you have a makeover?"

"So you're showing off your true colors now, eh, Zammi?" Krystal gave me a knowing smile.

"I knew that good-girl image was just for show." What is she talking about?

"Sam, you..." Jasmine was still trying to find the words. Liam was perfectly still, just watching, but he managed a meek smile. I turned to Maria. {It suits you, Alpha, your new look. I like the power boost.} What? What was going on? Oh. Yeah. I shifted. I looked a little different now. I turned to the guys behind me.

"Whoa," Marcus said.

"What the f***," Henry said. Oh right, I'm in class. I fell asleep. Wolfie was supposed to be standing guard, but I'm surrounded by wolves, humans, and a vampire, and I pretty much slept through it all. {They ours. We safe.}"Homework!" our humans demanded. I took it out.

"My hair clip!" I could really do with it now. It would be easier to just clip up all my hair like I usually did.

"I, ah, sorry. I can't find it," Krystal told me. She didn't meet my eyes.

"I'll look for it at home again later." I shrugged. My favorite hair clip... I had a bad feeling about it. Oh yeah, I turned around again.

"Marcus, my dad remembered your dad. Hard worker and that you played the drums."

"Your dad knows I'm a drummer?" Marcus asked.

"I never thought my dad would talk about it." {Wolf approaches} Pearl came in quickly. She was late. She walked over and frowned the moment she saw me.

"Oh!" she said.

"It's Sam's new image," Jasmine told her.

"Oh, wow," Pearl said.

"It's cool, Zammi, but it's too much," Krystal told me.

"The school rules don't allow unnaturally colored hair or contacts. They'll make you dye it back."

"Oh no!" Jasmine worried.

"I bet it was expensive though," Krystal said gleefully.

"What a waste!"

"But these are her true colors," Henry spoke. The girls immediately paid attention. And then Zara paled and asked, "Are you a vampire? I let a vampire into my home?" What? Henry laughed.

"Not quite."

"A warlock!" Leia gasped. Seriously? Whoever heard of a female warlock?

"Is that why the weather has been so weird?" Zara asked.

"I'm not a warlock. And I'm definitely not a vampire." I gave a side glance at Maria, who just kept her usual creepy smile on. She found this amusing. Henry and Marcus were laughing. They found this amusing too. The girls laughed too.

"I guess not. We're just joking," Krystal said.

"The truth is, Sam is a princess who was put under a curse by a warlock that hid her true nature. But as you can see, the curse is broken, and now she is free." Henry nodded, smirking at his stupid tall tale. As if anyone is going to buy it.

"Oh," Zara gasped, "because your Prince Charming kissed you."

"Yes. Maybe?" Henry raised a brow at me.

"No," I said.

"What Prince Charming?" asked Pearl.

"On Friday, a guy picked her up from my place," Zara said.

"That was my brother!" I said.

"I thought you only had a sister," Jasmine said.

"So suspicious." Pearl smiled.

"Was he handsome?" asked Jasmine.

"He was very cool and romantic. He got out of a black pickup truck and said he was here to pick up a princess," Zara said. I covered my face with my hand. Stop. Make it stop.

"Your Prince Charming drives a pickup?" Henry asked.

"He's not my... He's my be... Look, he's as much my Prince Charming as Marcus is yours," I finally managed.

"Oh," Henry said. Marcus groaned.

"That was a long way of saying it." Mrs. Henderson entered the classroom then, and everyone did a mad scramble back to their seats.

"Good morning, cla—" She stopped short and then walked a few steps toward me. She checked her cheat sheet for my name.

"Samantha?" I nodded. Here we go.

"I understand that at your age you want to experiment, but I'm afraid this school has rules on dress code. I want to see your hair and eyes back to their original colors by the end of the week," Mrs. Henderson told me.

"It's her real colors!" sweet Zara raised her hand on my behalf.

"A warlock cast a spell on her, but her Prince kissed her, and now the spell is broken." Mrs. Henderson's face crumpled in a way that showed she had no idea what to say to this.

"It's true," Henry vouched.

"Samantha is a princess from a unique lineage in the green-zoned land right next to the warlock lands up north. You can check her address." Somehow, coming from Henry's mouth, the story suddenly sounded plausible. Mrs. Henderson looked at me.

"That eye color can't be natural." I blinked.

"I'm not wearing contacts." {Deltas are near} {Beta approaches} A knock on the door, and the principal herself came in.

"Samantha? Samantha Kingsley?" Mrs. Henderson looked completely bewildered, but she managed to wordlessly indicate my general direction to her. Principal Laura caught sight of me quickly on her own though. Of course she would. It's not like my new pile of blue hair or starkly blue eyes was hard to miss.

"Oh my! My dear, how are you feeling?" I nodded dumbly. Since when did our principal call any of the students dear?

"Your father called. We think it's best for you to stay home today, dear," Principal Laura said from the front of the classroom.

"Madam, perhaps you can confirm for Mrs. Henderson that Samantha's hair and eyes are her natural colors," Henry suggested.

"Why, yes, Henry, of course, yes!" Principal Laura was quick to oblige.

"And such unique and striking colors too." And then another person stepped into the classroom.

"It's him!" Zara immediately pointed out.

"The Prince Charming with the pickup truck?" Henry asked. Harvey walked over with his usual leather jacket, impeccable calm, and wry smile. He didn't miss a beat.

"Today it's just the limo, though." I let my forehead hit the table with a bang. Somebody kill me now. But I straightened up before anyone made a big deal out of it.

"Why aren't you in school?" I asked Harvey. He was frowning lightly at Maria. Oh yeah, I forgot, I sat next to a vampire.

"I've been tasked to fetch you home," Harvey said. He turned his attention back to me.

"Go back. I'm staying," I said. I didn't rush homework over the train ride to go home before the first lesson block.

"I'm afraid I can't, Princess. I am under direct orders from your father." Harvey, if you talk like this, everyone is going to buy into Henry's stupid tall tale. {Delta approaches}"She really is a princess," Zara whispered loudly to no one and everyone in particular.

"Harvey, is there a problem?" It was Flynn at the doorway. The black trench coat eye-candy version of Flynn, to be exact.

"No," I said quickly as I stood up.

"I'm coming." I realized the more I resisted, the worse things would get for me. That and I definitely didn't want Flynn to come in and see a vampire.

"Are all the men in your pack male models?" Pearl asked with a wink. I pretended I didn't hear her. I dumped my homework on Marcus's desk for him to hand in for me.

"Oh, I have a phone now. Text me my homework." Marcus took out his phone to take my number. That's right... I didn't know my number. Harvey gave it to him. How convenient. Then Harvey took my books for me. He offered to take my bag, but I refused. Flynn waited by the door, dropping a quick bow as I passed. I supposed my new eye color was bound to attract attention, but I hadn't counted on having these guys around to make it ten times worse. I didn't even dare to look at any of my classmates or say goodbye.

I was that appalled. Principal Laura walked us to the school porch, where our pack's town car was waiting. Black trench coat eye-candy Hank stood at the driver's door. He dropped a quick bow at our approach.

"Oh my," Principal Laura said breathlessly, appreciating the eye candy. I quickly slipped into the car. When I got home, I was going to explode something bad.