I GET KNOCKED DOWN, BUT I GET UP AGAIN

20 FEBRUARY, SATURDAY, A WHILE LATER

I mulled in my tub, it was deep so it stayed warm for a surprisingly long time, but in the end, like my emo, it ran out of steam. I got out and pulled on the thick hotel bathrobe.

The outfit Ki prepared for me reminded me that we still had Henry's banquet and inauguration to attend. I mean, I would be blind to not notice it was different from even my dressy clothes. This dress looked like something out of a princess' closet - not that I've ever seen inside of a princess' closet. Tbh, the only princesses I knew were Disney ones, and this dress was quite different from anything I've ever seen snow white wear.

It was pink, but a grown up kind of pale pink, like just a blush of pink. The whole dress was one color. It was long like a proper gown, and flared with many layers of organza and I had a great deal of difficulty hopping into the dress and pulling it up. But it zipped up from the side, so I managed with some alpha-level agility to get the whole thing on all by myself.

There was also a narrow white rhinestone belt which I managed to clip on. It clinched the dress neatly around my waist. I looked around for a tiara... I think I was in fancy dress mode again. Alas, Ki only laid out a headband - BUT it was also covered with matching rhinestones. Another good thing about headbands - I've worn a headband before, so I knew how to put it on.

After that, I stepped backed to check out the full effect in the mirror. Hm... I looked weird. It was like looking at some moon goddess painting, except the artist got the dress color wrong. The dress was also too long, I couldn't walk without stepping on its hem... Maybe the moon goddess should just float around, wait no, that what ghosts did, not gods... Oh right! I suddenly remembered the visit to 16th Street. Mum said the dress I tried on there was too long then too, but the designer, May... May-something had said I needed to wear heels.

I looked and there it was, a pair of pointed stilettos in a matching pink hue. I tried them on. They pinched my toes. They were the pointiest things I had ever worn. I bet they were called killer heels because you could probably kill someone by stepping on them!

So naturally I had to try throwing a roundhouse kick. The trick was to keep your balance on the other extremely pointed shoe, which admittedly was harder than I had expected. I landed on my bum with a crash.

Someone knocked on the door, "Sam? Are you alright?"

It was Mum, "May I come in for a moment?"

I quickly got up and dusted off my dress to straighten it, "Yeah."

Of course she could come in. Even if I said no, wouldn't she come in anyway? Actually, I think she would come in all the more - just to see what I was up to.

Mum came in and she was like whoa...in a gasping kind of way, "Oh, Sam! You look beautiful!"

But I was also like whoa... "Whoa, Mum, has Dad seen you?"

Because I was sure he would be like whoa...

Mum nervously fingered the gold embellishments on her bodice, "You don't think it's too much?"

Too much? I eyed her black dress, it was a deep satin black with gold embellishments sewn onto her bodice... which was cut a little too deep down the front for any respectable mum, "More like too little."

Mum laughed nervously, her hand touched her curls. She had little golden leaf hair pieces intricately woven into her hair, "Maybe I should have worn the other dress after all."

I shook my head, "I mean, wow, Mum. No. You have to wear this. You're like the Queen of New Leaf. Dad would flip."

Because by now, I was sure Dad hadn't seen Mum yet. If he had, she wouldn't be here in my room. I'm not sure they would even make it for dinner. Lol. I frowned at the thought then. On one hand, I wanted to see Dad's face when he sees Mum. On the other, I didn't want to be present to witness any parental PDA that was bound to follow. I frowned at the thought. I know there was this mating bond thing, but seriously, the mating bond should chill once wolves became parents. I mean propagation goal successful, new generation secured, wolf population stable. You can turn off the mating bond now.

Mum sighed again, "Oh, Sam."

She came over and rubbed my back, "Your dad loves you very much."

Eh, what? Oh that. I was upset with my dad. Right. But I got distracted with the fancy dress party and forgot.

"I know." I said, but I could feel a wet pressure just behind my eyeballs after I heard Mum's words.

I flopped down on my bed, the pale pink fluffy dress pooling all around me. I looked down on my lap and played with my fingers, "I know... I'm not mad at Dad. He's right."

It was hard to admit it aloud, I felt a bit of wet seep out over my eyeball (but it wasn't considered crying if it stayed on the eyeball.)

"It's just that I... I thought I had gotten stronger and smarter... so it was kind of... kind of blah that I'm nothing but a pup to everyone. I'm really a useless alpha!" And stupid and immature and dumb and...

Mum sat down next to me, her dress and mine smushed together because I don't think big dresses were meant to sit close to other big dresses, "Sam, don't let anyone look down on you because you are young. Prove to them with your hard work and good example who you really are. You're the alpha." And then Mum gently tucked a blue lock of hair behind my ear and said more tenderly, "And you're also quite the most beautiful young lady I've ever met."

I huffed and tried to laugh it off, "You're my mum, of course you'd say that."

Mum smiled ruefully, "But it's true."

And then Mum got up and sighed theatrically, "Wow, I can't believe I gave birth to such a beautiful daughter! Since half her genes are mine, I suppose I could claim at least half the credit."

I laughed at at.

Mum walked to the door and turned the knob, but she turned back to me at the last moment and said, "And nobody thinks you're useless. I admit we can be a bit over protective of you, but its because you're important. Sam, you are precious, and not just to your Dad and to me. I see it as clear as day when you're with the other wolves, they love you to bits."

Mum did her theater sigh again, "It seems I have to share my daughter with more and more people."

She was about to leave my room with those words, but I stood up quickly, "Mum, wait."

Mum stopped, "What is it dear?"

I... I didn't know what to say so I just shook my head, "Okay, mum."

"Okay, then. Come out when you're ready, Dad and Beta Lucas will be meeting us at the lobby." Mum shut the door behind her.

I stood there an extra moment staring at the closed door and then I took a deep breath. Okay. I got this.

Dad was right, but Mum was also right. And I wasn't wrong either. I was the alpha. I smoothed out my skirt. Yeah, I was the alpha! I caught sight of myself in the mirror. In fact, I was the most beautiful alpha in the continent (simply because I was the one who could rock a pink princess dress - especially since my competition were all men. Hahaha)

Just in case though, I decided to apply make up. I went with the doll look with a bit of pink on my eyelids and cheeks, and I outlined my eyes and used mascara properly. And then I put on the diamond bracelet and choker, and grabbed the furry white coat hanging on the side. It was the one Abigail tried on in my room. I smiled at the memory of having my school friends over - even the human ones. That was fun, but looking around the hotel room now, that world felt quite far away, which was ironic because I was in the Gold Packlands - so geographically, I was closer to Winderhill than when I was home.

Which was weird when I thought about it. Winderhill was like 20 minutes from here, but it was a crumbly landscape of old apartment blocks, small ground floor shops, and cracked pavements lined along the roads. Gold City and Silver Mountain were like... I looked around me, like the Langston 2.0. I looked out of the window of my hotel room. I wondered where the real people lived because real people didn't live in hotels right? I wondered where they went after work?

Mum knocked on my door and popped her head in, "Sam? We really need to go."

"Yeah, okay." I followed Mum out the door. Ki was waiting at the front door of our suite... He was looking sharper than usual, and his suit was such a dark blue, it was almost black. Under his suit, he a white shirt and black bowtie instead of the usual skinny ties my betas usually sported. Oh! It's that penguin look the wear at fancy balls! What was it called?

A tuxedo! Yes. I was very proud of my knowledgeable vocabulary in the menswear department. I knew sweat suit, suit, and tux. I think that was all the suits.

Ki got the door for us.

"Thank you, Ki." Mum said as she hurried me out.

"It's my pleasure, Luna."

The moment the lift door opened to the lobby of the Langston, Harvey stepped up to receive us in the same penguin suit, "Good evening, Alpha, Luna."

He gestured and led us past the busy lobby. There were red ants on duty and passing hotel staff who would quickly bob bows. Our warriors were on duty too, but they weren't so much guarding the building than us.

It was kind of messy. Harvey kept a hand on my back, while Ki had his hand on Mum. Our warriors were quick to step up to escort us through.

There were a lot of people, hotel guests, other alpha contingents, and Dad and Beta Lucas and Beta Gerald. They looked very glad to see us.

"Alpha Princess and her Luna Mother are here." Ki announced. The elder betas bowed. Dad's mouth just dropped opened. I don't think he noticed me. Or anyone else in the room either. From the moment he saw Mum, he went blind to the rest of the world.

Ki passed Mum to Dad's arm, and Dad growled appreciatively at his Luna.

Okay, I knew this was going to happen. Mum was too beautiful tonight, which was cool, I guess Mum's a woman too, so it's nice for her to dress up in a big dress and be swept away in the arms of her mate or whatever women liked.

BUT this really wasn't the most convenient time.

"Dad, let's go." I tried to prompt him.

"Hn." He answered non-committedly.

Oh great. Not only did I have to suffer parental PDA, now I also had to suffer it in front of paparazzi AND be stuck in the car with these two all the way to the Golden Dome - which I could actually see from the living room side of our hotel suite, it couldn't be more than a 10 minute walk from here, BUT the road outside is iced and/or broken.

Beta Gerald looked expectantly at Dad for his order. Beta Lucas looked at Dad too, but he was far more experienced with Dad and immediately realized, "Hoo man, better tell our cars to make another round the block. We won't be leaving anytime soon."

I accidentally caught his mindlink, {Ben, have the cars go around again. Alpha is offline.}

{No! No, no, no, Dad. You get your alpha back online right now! Our cars are just coming up, all the lanes are closed, and the queue will be another hours wait,} I could see Ben out on the porch in the cold, and the queue of cars out on the porch from here. I could feel his frustration. Ben was never good at waiting.

Neither was I. I could even see our cars and bike escort at the end of the line coming in! If we waited for Dad to snap out of it... Who knows how long we'd have to wait? Did I mention I was hungry?

Not just hungry, I was starving!

Ben's mindlink came in to me, {Sam, do something about your Dad.}

I looked at Dad who was smiling with his arm around Mum, "Maybe we can skip dinner."

No, no, no, no, no! I was a growing child! I needed my dinner! I panicked. I was not going to let our cars pass this chance to pick us up and rejoin the hour long queue of cars to come in.

"Dad! Dad! I'm hungry!" I said, deploying all my puppy power, then I realized this would be more effective on Mum, "Mum! I'm hungry! The cars are here. Let's go!"

"Okay, okay, Sam." Mum smiled at Dad and slipped her hand into his arm, "We're coming."

{False alarm. Alpha is online.} Beta Lucas mindlinked.

{Ben, get the cars in position. We'll be out in 2 minutes.} Harvey instructed. And we were back on target.

Yes! Never look down on puppy power.