HOW THE ANGER THING WORKED OUT

20 FEBRUARY, SATURDAY, MORNING

Now that I was looking rawr, I picked up a navy blue leather satchel and started dropping in my stuff from the tray on the dresser:

Phone. Check.

Wallet with $20 inside. Check.

Well that was it, except there was also a box next to the tray. It had a post it note with Ben's handwriting scribbled on it, "Sam. Upgraded your Kindle. You're welcome."

Oh right. All my work notes were in the Kindle. I turned the box over in my hands. It felt heavier than a kindle. The words on the box called its content a "Surface Pro."

Okay... That did not sound like a Kindle. It sounded more like a glass cleaning spray, but I was an open-minded kind of alpha, so I opened the box to take a look.

On first sight, the tablet-like shape and case looked a lot like my Kindle. Plus this one was dark blue. It was almost double the size of my kindle too, so I won't be holding it in one hand, I guess.

Opening it up, the cover surprised me by turning into a keyboard thing? What sorcery was this?

I powered it on and instead of my "library" with its never-ending line of reports, what greeted me was a home screen with icons which looked suspiciously like a computer.

A quick cursory glance at the icons told me I could possibly check my email, texts, calendar, document library... I could also... Hey, wait a minute, it was a computer - just disguised as a tablet, with all the bells and whistles of a computer that I didn't need to deal with. I just wanted my notes!

So I did what any rawr and angry alpha would do:

I blasted into my Betas' mindlink channel, "Where is my kindle?"

"Ki, can you--" Ben asked.

"I believe it was your idea, beta." Ki refused.

"Dog." Ben said.

"Guys, don't make me drive over there." Harvey warned.

"I'll be over in 5, Sam." Ben said.

"Make it NOW!" I snapped.

"Sure, but I'm still in my boxers." Ben smirked.

"I DON'T CARE." I wasn't going to back down.

I was half expecting Ben to run over to the Alpha house in his boxers, but he didn't. I guess he didn't want to run into my parents half naked. I even went out to my roof and tried to make a snowball to throw into his face. At this point of winter, it turned out more like a chunk of ice that I pulled out from the corner, so Ben was lucky that he had gotten safely under our porch before I could throw it.

Two sharp knocks and Ben let himself into my room, "What's up Sam?"

He was in a sweatsuit, bedhead, and had his sneakers on sockless. He was also empty handed.

"Where is my kindle?" I demanded.

Ben raised a brow at the fake Kindle in my hand.

"Why did you do this to me?" I threw the fake Kindle in his direction.

He caught it, "What?"

I don't think he was expecting me to be so upset. Even over the mindlink just now, my betas were all chill. Bet they thought their cute alpha was throwing a cute tantrum! Let's see how cute they think I am now! Grrr...

"Hey, hey, Sam. Chill." Ben said, "It's just that I noticed you never use your laptop..."

"Don't you think there must be a reason why I don't use it?" (Besides the fact that I don't remember owning such a device?) I flared - yes, with all my hair, I flared at him.

Ben took a step back, "I figured it was too bulky for you to carry around so it isn't convenient for you to use..."

"No!" (Even though those were good reasons), "It's because I WANT MY KINDLE!"

Funny how until recently, I hadn't even known what a kindle was. But now I knew how the documents lined up, I could sort them, and I've learned how to highlight and write notes with it. Why did he have to take that away from me?

"But this is way better than your Kindle." Ben tried again.

I glared at him and crossed my arms, "I.want.my.Kindle."

"Just try it." Ben coaxed.

"I don't know how." I refused to give it a chance.

Ben sighed, "You know how to use a computer, right?"

I refused to admit it. Ben sighed again, "Just pretend it's a very big phone."

"It's hiding a keyboard - I won't be tricked so easily!" I said.

Ben narrowed his eyes at me, "Look, It's got all your documents here."

He showed me the folder shortcut, "You can even check your email, or answer your texts."

"I don't care." I said.

"Sam, you're being difficult on purpose, aren't you?" Ben said.

"That's because I want my Kindle." I said, but yes, Ben was right.

Now Ben had lost his patience, "Sam, what's wrong with you today?"

"I'm sad." I said, "I mean, I'm mad! I'm really mad! I want my Kindle!"

"I threw it away." Ben lied.

I full out krakened at him anyway, "Get out! And don't come back without my Kindle!"

But Ben wasn't the kind of Beta who knew how to back down, "No, Sam. The Kindle's not coming back! The folders here are on a shared cloud. The documents can be updated real time to the rest of us. You will be travelling, this weekend to Silver Mountain, next weekend to Night Forest. You NEED the upgrade."

Ben flicked on the Fake Kindle and showed me, "See the documents are all here, I made the interface similar to Kindle's library. And remember how you used to write notes into the documents when they were on physical paper? Here see--" Ben pulled out a stylus pen the way a magician might pull out a rabbit from a hat, "Look, you can highlight, and add footnotes - and annotate! There is a writing recognition software installed, or you can type, or even sketch."

If I ever fire Ben from his beta position, he should become an IT salesman.

"Over here you can see your email, your texts, your social media channels... Look baby hamsters." But Ben flicked it off before I could see properly, "You can also take photographs - and video call."

At this point, Ben dialed "L. BELL".

AND BELL PICKED UP IMMEDIATELY. Like I could suddenly see his face! Right in the screen!

"What is it, Princess?" He asked stonily. He was at the underground. I could see his desk and the concrete wall in his background.

"I don't want to see you!" I blurted out.

"Then why did you call me?" Bell smirked now.

"I didn't call you! I don't want to see your face!" Wow, I was angry, "I'm so angry with you! I'm angry and its all your fault!"

Mate was unmoved by my declaration, "Where's Ki? Are you alone?"

"No Luna." Ben popped into his screen.

"Tell Ki to give her something good to eat..." Mate said. He was cut off by a knock on his door, Stephan's voice said, "Luna, the army is ready."

"Even if I eat till I grow fat, I would still be angry!" Did he think food would be able to solve this?

"I've got to go." Bell said, "Stay out of trouble."

"I hate you!" I told him.

"Ben, make sure she stays out of trouble." Bell all but ignored me. How dare he ignore me!

Grrrrr... he was so infuriating, "I never want to see you again!"

"I'll see you later, princess." And then he hung up.

Eh? Later?

Ben flicked the screen to show me where the internet browser was, "It's like the browser in your phone."

He switched to another app, "You can watch videos here..."

"Ben, am I going to see Bell later?" I asked.

Ben stopped, he looked up from his demonstration, "Yes. We are scheduled to meet him at Alpha Henry's Inauguration. Why?"

"Yes, but that was BEFORE last night..." I felt the tears burn behind my eyes, and blinked them away.

Ben put down the screen, "What happened last night, Sam?"

I couldn't answer him without crying. I couldn't even look at him.

Luckily Ki knocked on the door, the customary two raps that all my betas favored.

Ben opened the door for him, "What else happened last night, Ki?"

Ben was never one to waste time on polite pleasantries.

"I brought some scones and an assortment of jams, goddess." Ki completely ignored Ben, "I was wondering if you could help me taste test them."

"Why did Bell say he would see me later?" I asked. I took a deep shaky breath. At least the tears were holding out alright.

"I believe he is due to attend Alpha Henry's Inauguration, goddess." Ki smiled.

Okay... now I'm lost. I thought Mate was leaving forever. Okay, not forever, but for a very long time. Didn't he say he wasn't coming back until he rid the world of the Rogue King? And didn't the elders say that it would be impossible to catch the Rogue King, much less kill him? I frowned.

"Why?" I asked very carefully, I didn't want to get my hopes up, "Why is Bell attending Alpha Henry's Inauguration?"

"I believe he would have to, if he wanted to fulfill your request to raise funds for the Princess Town." Ki smiled, his beautiful smile, before adding, "And he had realized that disappearing suddenly was too impulsive, and we had since modified it."

Eh?

Now Ben was growling, "You didn't tell her?"

"I thought it would be better to leave it to Luna Bell to explain it." Ki smiled, "Since it was his fault to begin with."

"Tell me!" I was sure I couldn't wait till later. Besides, Bell was terrible at explaining himself.

"No wonder she was bonkers all morning!" Ben grumbled.

"I was only bonkers..." I checked my watch, "for like 20 minutes!"

"I was only awake for 20 minutes!" Ben retorted.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. I shouldn't have taken it out on Ben... I was sad, (and I was I still sad). I let myself be mad instead... but that didn't pan out the way I thought it would. I wasn't cool at all. It turned out that when I was mad, I didn't turn into a terrifying alpha - I felt more like a really bratty pup having a melt down. I'm actually surprised Ben put up with it for a full 20 minutes.

Anyway, Ki served scones and an assortment of jams in pretty crystal glass jars and fancy butter knives with flowers and leaves engraved in their handles. We had it just outside my room, in the sitting area. Of course, where there were scones, there was tea - both the kind with milk and sugar in pink flowery teacups, as well as the kind that only Ki could spin...