Chương 96: PRINCESS MERMAID UNICORN

I had thought I'd written enough today, with the new phase of parenting my dad had begun and the exciting new duties that the elder Betas would be planning for me. But I had to write this down because it amused me so much. Shopping with Flynn and Hank was like being ushered into a black-and-white movie. One where gangsters looked cool and were the good guys. Flynn and Hank had picked us up after lunch from the pack house porch.

They had been wearing just black T-shirts and dark jeans all day indoors, but now, out in the cold weather, they had on black winter trench coats—and sunglasses. I'm not sure if they had been watching too many Matrix movie reruns or if the Lorent visits had influenced them. But the moment our silver town car pulled up at the pack house, both of them stepped out of the car looking like the cat's pajamas.

Meanwhile, Mum had brought a short white trench coat for me, and my attempt to brave town without a jacket was swiftly dismissed. Savy's coat was red, so I was surprised mine wasn't blue. Mum wore a camel-colored overcoat and her Burberry scarf. Flynn held the passenger door open for Mum, Savy, and me to get in. The other kids who happened to be heading home stopped to stare. I ducked into the car quickly. This was pretty embarrassing.

It reminded me quite suddenly of my early days at West Mountain, and I was tempted to duck out the door on the other side of the car. But Hank was still there, and unlike at West Mountain, I could not blend in among the other students or disappear behind any surrounding objects. Anyway, Mum and Savy were soon in the car, and Flynn and Hank made sure we were quickly and smoothly off to Gate City for the appointment with the interior designer. I've never met an interior designer before.

If I weren't the Alpha and could choose my own job, I would have liked to be an interior designer, or any job where I got to meet people, make important decisions, and wear jeans. Come to think of it, my job as the Alpha was a natural fit with all my dream job criteria. But sometimes it was fun—fun to imagine if I were not the Alpha and could choose my own life. What would I choose? There was a time in my life when I had thought to be a teacher.

After enduring a majority of terrible teachers all through West Mountain, I had decided to join the teaching force to make a difference. Another time, I wanted to be a lawyer, or a doctor, a bank teller, a checkout cashier, a vet, a talk show host, an architect, a website designer, a writer... That was one of the things normal wolves had that wolves of notable lineages did not. I wouldn't say they had more choices. It was more that they had a blank slate to begin with.

From the day they were born, they could become anything. From the day I was born, my life was pre-drafted for me. I did have a choice—I'm sure I could choose at any time not to be Alpha, and then I would be presented with a second draft: the life of a Luna. Or perhaps the Luna life was the first draft, and I had taken the second. But should I refuse that life as well, I suppose, hypothetically, I could sacrifice the hopes and expectations of everyone I hold dear to pursue a different path. I could, but you see...

I never had a blank sheet to begin with. My life would always have to be drawn over what it should have been. Then again, perhaps no wolf was born with a blank slate. We were all born destined to our mates. Whoa, which meant we didn't even have our own sheet of paper. We were born with only half a piece of paper, which would eventually be joined to another, after which we would have to share that piece of paper. Which seemed terribly unfair. What if your drawing partner only drew s***?

Perhaps that's why humans were the true wild cards. They had a whole sheet of blank paper to do whatever they wanted with, whether to join it to another or not—this was their choice. I looked at the half sheet of double-drafted-over paper of my life. I'm plotting the lines, but I still don't know what I'm drawing with the decisions I make each day. I'm just making a mess. Ping-ponging from one event to another. Right now, for example, I'm in the pack's town car with Savy and Mum.

We were going to meet the interior designer and choose wallpaper for our rooms and the loft bed. I would call this a Luna moment. My mum would be choosing everything else. She had been reading tons of home décor magazines; I've seen her making notes in them. So I knew this was serious business. In contrast, I had nothing.

"What color is your room going to be?" Savy asked me. Put on the spot, I answered my default, "Blue." Savy nodded.

"Typical."

"What about you?" I asked. Somehow, I doubted she was simply going to say red.

"I was thinking of a tropical forest–themed room," Savy told me. Oh. Yeah. A theme. What was my theme? Why does it seem like everyone else always had a plan? The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

"Do you have a theme for your room, Sam?" Mum asked me.

"Blue," I repeated. I heard Flynn hide a chuckle in a cough. Grrr... How dare the Delta laugh at me? I'd show him! My room was going to be Alpha-awesome. I tried to think of something, but of course nothing came to mind. Wolfie, what do you think? I don't know why I bothered to ask. I don't think wolves were into interior design. Maybe I could simply choose whatever I liked. Then everything in my room would be what I liked. The theme would be the "whatever I like" theme.

By the time our silver car pulled up outside the interior design studio, I still had no theme in mind. Maybe the theme would be "no theme." For a while, I briefly considered a completely white room, but that suddenly reminded me of Rebel's white cell, and I promptly changed my mind. Hank had stopped the car, and Flynn was out to open the door for us while Hank paid for curbside parking. Then both men escorted us into the shop, opening the door and holding it open for us until we were all inside.

A very pale-skinned lady with red hair came to greet us. She kept checking out Hank and Flynn. I watched her stare at them, and when one of them seemed to notice, she would flutter her lashes and look bashfully away. I watched her repeatedly do this, a lot like a fisherman casting his bait and reeling it in empty, over and over again. Flynn and Hank did not seem troubled by the lady, who introduced herself as Alice, Chloe's assistant.

The design studio had a retro thing going on, which seemed to capture Savy's interest. We finally met Chloe. Chloe was not what I was expecting. She was large, blond, and loud, and dressed completely in white over her dark skin. Her arms gleamed with bright silver-colored bangles. I hope they weren't real silver.

"Madam Luna!!! So good to finally meet you in person!" Chloe's greeting was husky and warm.

"And these two must be your beautiful sisters!" Mum laughed a little, somewhat embarrassed.

"My daughters, Samantha and Savannah."

"Oh yes! So you've mentioned! Lovelies!" Chloe said, looking at us. I was still trying to decide if I liked her. She was human, but what a human! I imagined she must have drawn something crazy on her blank piece of paper with her life. I saw Savannah give her a small, tentative smile. But that was just Savannah's polite smile.

"And you've brought eye candy!" Chloe smacked Hank's butt. Omo. The expression on his face! Flynn's face! They worked hard at keeping them stoic, though. Hahahahaha.

"Well, I've got some ideas! But I want to hear yours," Chloe said.

"Tell me, doll, what are you thinking for your room?" She took out some large books.

"Here is our portfolio. You might get some ideas from it. Here are the wallpaper samples. We've got way more in the back room, but these are lovely. My Luna, please take a look." Savannah told Chloe the way a small child might speak to Santa Claus, "I was hoping for a tropical jungle theme."

"Oh my, a jungle! Like safari or like botany?" Chloe asked.

"Botany." Savy's tone was quiet and decisive.

"Oh! By any chance, are you the one named Savannah? Yes?" Chloe smiled broadly.

"How about we make it a savannah-themed room? Yes?" I saw Savy's face change, and then she froze a little.

"I'm seeing the tall golden grass and the pink tinge of sunrise on the savannah," Chloe informed us. Savy looked at me in a silent plea.

"I think Savy wanted a tropical rainforest thing," I reminded Chloe.

"How about we stick to that?"

"Yes, well, that is trending nowadays. I just did one." Chloe flicked on her tablet and showed us a living room. It had large dark green leaves in the background wallpaper, a dark wood table that looked like it was hewn from a large fallen tree, and a glass vase holding tall stalks of orange and red flowers.

"Such dark colors! It just doesn't suit this little princess," Chloe protested.

"Well, that's true." My mum had to agree.

"It's her room," I pointed out.

"Yes, and I will design it perfectly for her," Chloe insisted. You didn't even know her. But I didn't say this. I looked at Savy, who shrugged at me. Was she going to give up?

"You, princess, need to think of your own room. What would it be?" Chloe asked me. I shrugged.

"I'm open." Chloe frowned. I would have thought she would be pleased to have a blank canvas to work on. She was probably going to end up doing her own thing with it anyway.

"Surely you gave thought to this, Princess! It's your royal room!" Chloe insisted. All this while, I've not yet decided if I liked her or not, but she was teetering over to the dislike side of the spectrum. If she called me princess again, I would probably... I don't know what yet.

"Something blue. Not too frilly. And I want a loft bed," I told her.

"Yes! That is perfect!" Chloe exclaimed.

"I like your style. Mermaid princess it is! Aqua walls—we'll gradient it upwards—and I know this perfect oyster shell bed frame. You will love it!" I saw Savy's lips twitch up. I bet she was thinking that compared to sleeping in an oyster, her savannah room was livable.

"How about a mermaid-unicorn theme?" I asked, because I temporarily lost patience with her. Chloe frowned briefly.

"The princess likes unicorns?"

"No, I was joking," I answered quickly.

"Don't worry, darling, leave it to Chloe." She gave me a smile and a wink.

"I will make your wishes come true!" I'm doomed. I saw Flynn cough subtly from the doorway. Neither piece of eye candy had dared to venture further into the shop.

"Well then, now that we've settled the princess's, it's time for me to work my magic for the queen!" Chloe looked pleased with herself. She waved us off, and Alice brought out tea and biscuits, leaving them on a low glass table for us. Savy and I cautiously went over and sat among the furry pillows. There were four mugs of tea, so I looked over to Flynn and Hank and waved them over. They came and sat opposite us. Mum and Chloe were looking over samples. I let my head drop to the table.

"I feel like I must have aged a whole year after that encounter." The guys chuckled. Savy smiled softly.

"So, our future Alpha is going to sleep in an oyster?" Flynn teased.

"Don't remind me," I growled. How was she going to find an oyster-shaped loft bed?

"Do you want me to sort it out for you, Sam?" Flynn asked. He sounded reluctant. I think the offer was made out of self-sacrifice.

"No need. You just work at being the eye candy," I told him.

"I can deal with it."

"Actually, I still want a tropical forest room," Savy told me.

"With that big leaf wallpaper, but with everything else whiter. And white orchids, not those flowers." I nodded.

"Yes, princess, of course you do! Let me just brush that aside and decide to give you a fairy-themed room." We all laughed, but quietly. I still hadn't decided if I liked Chloe or not, but one thing was undeniable. Chloe scared us all a little bit.