Chương 190: FANCY DRESS PARTY

Savy got home roughly about the time I finished my homework.

"I'm home!" I heard her call from the front door.

"Hi Mum. Oh, hi Dad, you're home early." Dad growled something in welcome.

"Welcome home, sweetheart. How was your day?" Mum asked. She sounded happy again.

"Fine." Savy said.

"I've got some stuff to do."

"Better go do it while Ki prepares dinner," Mum said. This was the usual welcome home for Savy, except in the past, Mum would say, "Better go do it while I prepare dinner." That was in the time "Before Ki." We were living in the time "After Ki" now. Savy came into the room.

"Oh, you're home. Everyone is early today."

"You're the one who's late," I said without looking up from my homework.

"I had to stay back to help Lizzy research stuff," Savy said. She looked at the pile of cloth-wrapped boxes on top of my dresser.

"Aren't you going to open these?" I put away my homework.

"I wanted to finish my homework first." Savy dropped her bag next to her dresser and started taking down the boxes. She shook each box a little bit before deciding to just open them.

"We probably should put the cloth aside in case Mum wants it." I went over to help. It was like Christmas, but in a foreign land where all the gifts were unfamiliar. I supposed Alpha James and Luna Edith gave me stuff Lorents normally gave Lorent teenage girls. Which were very high-heeled shoes, white short ceremonial dresses with high slits, and jewelry... We found a card attached to a long cream unmarked box. I read the card first: "A belated congratulations on your first shift.

A customized gift wishing you every happiness in your future." I opened the box. It was a long row of bangles in different designs; they were all gold on the base. Some were gold with blue stones in the center, and a few of them were lined fully with blue stones. Every stone was different from the others.

"Lapis lazuli," Savy said.

"What?" I said.

"The stones are the color of your eyes," Savy explained.

"It has a lot of good meanings, like strength and courage, and royalty, and wisdom and truth. It suits you." Where Savy read these things, I never knew.

"I wonder what these gifts mean. I should research the Lorent culture a bit," Savy thought aloud.

"Since our Luna is Lorent."

"The card says it's a first-shift gift," I said.

"You like to take everything at face value," Savy informed me. I tried to think deeper about it.

"Alpha James said that if I stayed down and let him take the fight, he would give me a nice present?" Well, this was a nice present. It wasn't the only one. There was also a second box. This one was also a stack of gold bangles, but with hollowed-out designs of leaves in filigree. I could tell Savy liked them.

"Let's try them all on," I said. We tried on the dresses, which ended up barely decent mid-thigh on Savy, and even shorter on me.

"It's too short!" I said, trying to tug the hem down a bit more. I didn't remember the earlier dresses they gifted being this short. Unfortunately, they were lost in the fire, so I didn't have anything to compare the length with.

"Maybe we're supposed to wear stockings under it?" Savy suggested. I picked up another dress; it looked longer.

"Maybe this one?" I changed. It was longer, but barely, and only because of the laced hem. Still, when a dress was this short, every inch made a difference. Savy was putting on the bangles. So I did too. It was fun—an impromptu fancy dress party. We did our hair. Well, mostly Savy did her hair, clipping up her loose curls on one side. And then she braided mine, just the top part, wrapping the braid across the back of my head as she went along.

"This should keep your hair from sticking up all the way." Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. I should learn to braid my own hair. It might be the only way to stop looking like an extreme static science experiment. After that, we did our makeup—just a bit... a dab of BB cream to smooth and even out our skin, and eyeliner, which I applied with a heavy hand and added black mascara. Savy did hers lighter; she ended up looking like a Lorent fairy.

My eyeliner started smudging, so Savy helped me. Then she went a step further and crimped my lashes. When she was done, the lines were much cleaner and my eyes popped.

"Where did you learn to do this?" I asked.

"Lizzy likes to do her eyes like this," Savy said.

"I just tried doing it the same way." Oh. So I'm wearing Lizzy's eyes? Lizzy had the brightest eyes I knew. Cool.

"It looks different on you, though." Savy turned me to look carefully, as if trying to figure it out. I squirmed under her scrutiny.

"Maybe I did it wrong," Savy mused.

"On Lizzy, it looks like Angelina Jolie. On you, it's like Avril Lavigne..." Who and who now?

"Ah well, we can't all be Elizabeth Taylors." Savy cackled.

"Let's go show Mum and Dad." There was a knock on the door.

"Princesses, dinner is served." Savy cackled at Killion's announcement and flung open the door of our room just as he stepped away from it.

"Princesses are here for dinner!" Savy announced. Killion blinked in mock surprise.

"Princesses, how you've grown!" Now in the ridiculous heels, Savy was the same height as I was. Mum and Dad came over to see. Dad's arm was slung around Mum's shoulder, and from the looks of it, he had definitely cleared up the earlier misunderstanding. Mum gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

"Girls, you look so beautiful, like real princesses." Dad raised a brow.

"Weren't they always this way?" I laughed at that and nodded.

"Yup. I was always like this." Mum crossed her arms.

"I wish!"

"Let's eat," Dad said.

"Wait!" Mum was fumbling with her phone.

"Picture! Picture!" She was beginning to sound like Laura.

"Please allow me." Killion slipped his phone out of his pocket. It was like before the school dance all over again. Savy and I took pictures in the living room. I even had to put on a pair of those impossible heels and pretend I could walk in them.

"Okay, now go change out before you ruin the dresses," Mum ordered, even as she was flipping through the photos she got. Even Dad took a photo of us together on the sofa.

"My little puppies," he had said.

"We're not little puppies anymore!" I protested. And then I remembered how Dad always said, "My little puppies," when he saw our pictures, and I always answered, "We're not puppies anymore." But now, we really weren't. I felt quite sure. We're already shifted.

"Go change, Sam," Mum said. I kicked off the heels, but Killion bent down and picked them up for me before I did.

"I can pick up my own shoes!" I told him.

"Not in that dress, goddess." Killion grinned. I touched the hem of my skirt, which wasn't hard to reach since it was so high as it was. Oh right. So I just snatched the shoes from him and went back to our room. Savy was changing in the bathroom. I noticed that since we moved to the penthouse, Savy had always changed in the bathroom now. The door opened and Savy came out in a "Little Miss Wise" pajama set.

"You have one too." She pointed to my dresser. I opened it and found a blue "Little Miss Bossy."

"Lizzy helped choose it. Cute, huh?" Savy cackled. I couldn't help but smile at it.

"Yeah." I started unbuttoning the top of the dress.

"Why do you change inside the bathroom?" Savy looked surprised I even had to ask.

"Because I never know when your Luna will pop up in here." What? Oh right. And then, as if to prove it, my heart leapt, and I knew. I turned around.

"See." Savy, the Little Miss Wise, pointed smugly at the person who just appeared under my quilt like a magic act. I tiptoed over. He was sleeping. Another knock on the door. This time it was Dad.

"Hurry, girls." I guess he was hungry.

"Coming!" Savy all but skipped to the door. As she left, I heard her call out, "Add another place, Ki. Bell is here." I straightened from the bed, meaning to grab my Little Miss Bossy pajamas and change in the bathroom too. In fact, I should probably also change in the bathroom from now on. A growl stopped me mid-step. I turned around. Mate was sitting up; there was a low, rumbly sound coming from him. He had shut his eyes, and his jaw was clenched.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" I asked, moving over to his side. Mate got up, and suddenly I was boxed in against the wall by the bunk bed. He was growling... Alright, so he was always grouchy and growly when he woke up, but this time was different. It made my hair stand on end. I tried to back away, pressing myself further against the wall. A soft whimper slipped out. I covered my mouth with my hand. Where did that come from? My Wolfie was reacting to Mate. But what was she reacting to?

His eyes were glowing, his wolf on the surface. I tried to figure out why he woke up so tense. Oh wait, he was dream traveling, so he must have fallen asleep. Did he fall asleep so worked up? What could he be doing in real life? I mean, did he fall asleep in the middle of a fight? Did he get hit and pass out? Was that why he woke up so... I don't know, so... stoked? I know that's a weird choice of word, but it was the closest word I could think of to describe Mate's condition right now.

"Are you fighting? In real life, are you fighting now? You need to wake up before the other guy steps on you or something," I tried to tell him. Another growl... This time from the door, deep and low and threatening. It was Dad. Mate turned to face the door, putting me behind him. I stepped out from behind Mate to see what was going on and saw Dad and Killion at the door.

"Oh. Pop. Goddess." Killion said the moment he saw me and ducked out of the room. What?

"Sam, are you hurt?" Dad asked almost urgently. I shook my head.

"Go get dressed," Dad said, indicating toward the bathroom. But I was dressed! Except for the top few buttons on my right shoulder, I was still just as dressed as I was before. Rebel growled. Dad lifted both hands, his tone restrained.

"We were just about to have dinner, son. After that, Lucas and I were going to check on the rogues one last time. Would you like to join us?" Rebel's growling took a different tone; his breathing evened out. I shivered a little. I didn't know why. But I felt really relieved when Rebel nodded and walked out with my dad.

"Sam, get dressed," Dad said again. He gave Rebel a firm clap on the shoulder. What? I was dressed! Dad shut the door behind him. I grabbed Little Miss Bossy and went into the bathroom. What the hell was that about? What the hell.