Chương 164: LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

I mean project meeting. Ahem, let's get this project meeting started. Beta Peter announced Marcus' arrival, "Beta Marcus is here."

"Hey," Henry said without looking up from his tablet.

"Yo!" I put down my empty parfait cup and got up.

"Might I get you a drink?" Beta Peter asked politely.

"The usual, thanks, Pete," Marcus answered casually. Like Henry and me, Marcus was also in some kind of sweater and jeans, although you could see a collar under it. The guys were wearing proper pressed shirts under their sweaters! (Omo. Just like my dad.) I looked at Killion and noticed belatedly that he was in a nicely tailored navy suit, the long locks of his hair swept back. Peter was also in a suit. Was this a beta thing? I've never seen Harvey in a suit before, though.

"Please pardon the delay, Alpha Sam," Peter said to me.

"Will strawberry milk be fine?" Marcus laughed.

"What the hell, Pete? Just get her a red Coke."

"Ah... but Alpha Sam required a strawberry beverage," Peter explained helplessly. Marcus gave me a weird look.

"Really?" Henry waved his hand at that.

"It's fine. If she wants everything in strawberry flavor, she gets it."

"But strawberries aren't even in season!" Marcus blurted out. He must be feeling for his fellow beta's plight. Did I ever tell you how it's the worst job in the world?

"Alpha Henry is so indulgent with our princess," Killion murmured with a slight bow. Henry smirked at that. I could tell he liked Killion because he hadn't once told Killion to off. (Where "" is any random and rude four-letter word that came to mind.) Peter looked like he wanted to cry.

"A Coke is fine too," I decided.

"I don't get to drink that at home." Mum didn't like sodas in the house.

"There! She wants a Coke. Go quick! But not the diet variety," Marcus told Peter. Peter nodded in relief and made a dash out of the study. Henry looked highly amused. Marcus laughed.

"Hen, I feel sorry for your beta."

"Shouldn't you feel sorry for hers?" Henry nodded toward me.

"Oh yeah, congrats, Sam," Marcus told me.

"I heard you are going to be the next Alpha." I nodded. How did they all hear this? We haven't even decided on the ceremony yet. Peter came in with Coke for everyone. Marcus checked his phone.

"Oops, Maxwell sends his apologies. One of our guests was delayed. They are still waiting at the station." Oh yeah, they were all late! I picked up a can of Coke, but Killion stepped forward and took it from my hand. He cracked it open and returned it to me. I looked at it.

"Would you require a glass, Princess?" Killion asked. Peter froze. Marcus laughed.

"What?" Henry smirked. I shook my head quickly.

"This is fine." Henry chuckled at that.

"Sam, we do have glassware and straws here."

"I know, but you guys are drinking straight from the can too, right?" I was becoming irritated by Henry's condescending tone. Immediately, Peter jumped.

"Forgive me. I will return with the glassware." Marcus sighed the moment Peter left.

"Was that really necessary, Hen?" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Killion removed the can from my hand with a smile.

"Marcus, help me! I'm surrounded by stupid macho wolves who think I can't drink without a straw." I let myself fall dramatically off the couch. Unfortunately, Peter had re-entered just as I fell. He dropped his tray and rushed forward.

"Oh my goddess!" The glassware shattered on the hard marble floor at the entryway. Peter froze and paled when he realized what he had done. I sat up. My hair shimmied at the sound of breaking glass.

"What happened?"

"Please remain where you are, Princess," Killion said smoothly. He walked over and expertly used the serving tray and a cloth that came with it to swipe the broken pieces up.

"My apologies." Peter bowed. He looked worriedly at my awakened hair.

"No worries, Beta." Killion flashed one of his beautiful smiles and handed the tray of broken glass to Peter.

"Be careful not to drop this again," Killion intoned softly into the beta's ear. Peter turned red.

"Ah, yes. I mean, no. Of course, I won't." Marcus lifted a brow at that. Henry was smirking so hard I was sure his face was about to crack. The moment Peter left the room, Henry's laughter boomed.

"What's going on, Hen?" Marcus asked.

"If I told you, you can't feel sorry for Pete," Henry said. I leaned forward to listen. Why was Henry being mean to Peter?

"All right, fine. Just tell me," Marcus promised.

"Pete thinks he's the goddess' gift to all women and alphas," Henry explained.

"I'm just watching his bubble burst."

"Wait, you had all of us come to your place just to burst your beta's bubble?" Marcus asked. Henry smirked.

"Yes. Well, I was hoping to introduce Harv to Pete, but Ki here served the same purpose."

"Alpha Henry speaks too kindly of this assistant." Killion smiled.

"Well, if you get tired of babysitting Sam, you're always welcome here," Henry told him.

"Hey!" I sat up.

"Mine!"

"Yours?" Henry asked.

"As in your mate 'yours' or your assistant 'yours'?" Marcus guffawed.

"As in 'mine' mine, stupid," I answered. At this point, Peter had re-entered with Maxwell and the others.

"Peter! Tell your stupid Alpha not to poach my guys," I ordered.

"Ki, tell your princess that my beta has no power over me," Henry answered.

"Peter! Tell your stupid Alpha that an Alpha who pays no heed to his beta's warning is an idiot." I misquoted on purpose.

"Ki, tell your princess if she has to quote, to do it right... Ah, what the hell, Sam!" Henry slapped his hand over his face. I laughed.

"Why? Tell me, why do I always get sucked into your stupid games?" Henry leaned back on his sofa.

"Haha, what's going on?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, hi!" I smiled at my school gang. They were just standing there with Max.

"Henry's just being a grouch as usual."

"Maybe you guys can take a seat, and we can start work on the project," Marcus suggested. Liam and the girls edged forward. Liam sat next to Marcus. Jasmine and Pearl sat on my side of the coffee table. I dropped to the carpet to get more food. What? Am I the only one interested in the food?

"It's good!" I said.

"You all should dig in!"

"Looks really fancy," Pearl said uneasily. Jasmine hadn't even spoken yet. Hahaha.

"It's fine." I handed Jasmine a parfait with a reassuring smile.

"This is good."

"Anyway, if you don't eat it, it'll get thrown out," I told them.

"Really?" Jasmine looked at the spread of pastries and then the parfait in her hand. Actually, now that I think about it, that's just what happened at our pack. Mum said leaving food out for too many hours being "talked over" wasn't good for giving away. Sometimes the kitchen staff kept it to bring home. Or else kids like me would wait at the back, and they'd give us the good treats while they cleared the plates.

"Like cute little beggars," one of the ladies once said.

"Or little raccoons," another said. They were hushed by an older woman.

"Those are Alpha and Beta's kids."

"Why are they back here?"

"Mischief, no doubt." The older woman chuckled.

"The ones who come out back are always the smart ones, though." She gave us a brown bag of tarts and brownies and a wink.

"They know where the good stuff's at." We took the treasure and ran off to divide the spoils. Oh, happy memories. Not even the Alpha himself could have eaten as much as we did from each refreshment table. I mean, there was certain etiquette that required one not to stuff his face in front of the host or guest. In fact, in most meetings, one had to look interested in the discussion and at most sip tea or coffee. Nobody actually ate. Once I told my dad we could just put plastic food out.

I could tell Dad thought it was worth considering, but Mum was mortified. So happily, plastic food did not happen, and us pups could pop by the kitchen door the moment the guests' cars drove away to eat like kings. When I was young, I wanted to work in the kitchen. I announced it one Sunday at the breakfast table.

"What job will you have in the kitchen?" Gamma Harry asked.

"The one where you ate all the leftovers," I told him.

"I want that job too," agreed the Gamma.

"You can't," I told him seriously.

"I picked it first." The adults laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world.

"I'll be your assistant," Savy promised me. More laughter, and we were rewarded with half a pretzel each, which looked huge in our small, happy hands.

"Would they really just get thrown away?" Pearl looked wide-eyed at the tiers of sandwiches.

"Actually, I have no idea," I admitted. This wasn't my pack.

"Yes," Henry confirmed.

"In some packs, the food is ornamental, though. So don't go eating it everywhere."

"Don't go eating it at all!" Marcus exclaimed.

"Sam! The food on the table is just a show of the pack's wealth and standard of hospitality."

"I'm sure she knows that, Marc." Henry shook his head, but he didn't hide his amusement.

"Hey, Liam, aren't you hungry? You eat too!" I passed him a sandwich. I looked at Killion; he hadn't eaten his doggy-bagged lunch yet.

"Are you hungry, Killion?" Killion smiled and lied.

"No, but thank you very much, Princess."

"But is it really okay to eat it?" Jasmine asked. Her plate had a couple of sandwiches and a tart, but now she looked guilty.

"It's fine," Henry assured her. Maxwell connected a laptop to a projector, and Marcus made us all start work, which pretty much consisted of the hard work of eating and watching Maxwell type everyone's notes out in the right sections of the paper we were supposed to write. I wished all meetings could be like this. Since mine was already typed out in my phone, Marcus had emailed the doc to Maxwell so it could be copied and pasted into the right sections.

After that, Henry edited, which consisted of criticizing the different points and their arrangements while Maxwell retyped and rearranged them. And then Henry told Maxwell to go finish it up on his own.

"Wow, I had no idea our project meeting was going to be so intense," Jasmine said. We barely did anything, though.

"Can we tour your house?" Pearl asked. Henry smiled.

"Sure."