His furrowed brow turns into a contemplative expression before Marcus lets out a groan. “Fine,” he concedes. “What would you like me to shift into?”Woot! We so got him!
“How about a bear?” I throw out, nonchalant. Marcus narrows his gaze on me, distrust marring his frown. I roll my eyes, guessing what he’s thinking right now. “Not a cute cuddly bear. Well... unless you're cool with it. You can always save it just for me when we get home. But I was thinking of a ferocious one. I can picture you now, all strong and muscly, standing protectively in front of me.” His expression changes the longer I describe how menacing he would look. I bite my lip to detonate his resolve. If their winks make my panties wet and my knees weak, then biting my lip hardens their cocks and crumbles their determination. “Please,” I add, fluttering my eyelashes.
I’m so going to be punished with spanks later, but this will be worth it! Marcus takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Fine,” he caves with reluctance and a hint of mistrust. He moves to the other side of the fire so he has room to shift into an animal the size of a bear. The shift comes over him quickly, and standing before us is a huge black bear.
Before he can switch back, I cast a freezing spell to keep him in place. A strong breeze gusts past us, making the fire sputter and the fur on Marcus to ripple. The wind contains a hint of William’s magic, cluing me in that Derrick brought him in on the prank. A moment later, Derrick casts the spell I use to remove my unwanted hair.
Standing before us is the most hideous creature I’ve ever seen. Of course I expected this result, having seen a meme talking about naked bears. A girly screech about bursts my eardrum as Klaus catches an eyeful of Marcus. He jumps up and grabs the object closest to him, holding it up as he steps in front of me. Too bad for him, that object was a bottle of ketchup.
Alex covers his mouth as he begins to laugh, and Marcus gazes at us like we’re crazy. He hasn’t caught on to what we did yet, but he knows we’re having fun at his expense.
“Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear,” Derrick starts off.
“Fuzzy wuzzy had no hair,” I continue the chant.
“Fuzzy wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he,” William, Derrick, and I chant together.
My eyes water, trying to hold in my laughter, and Derrick wraps an arm around his stomach. A roar rips through the air as Marcus reaches the end of his patience.
With the sound, Klaus squeezes the bottle he’s holding out of frightened reflex. The red substance shoots out, and Alex completely loses his shit. He falls over laughing hysterically. This is the cue Derrick and I were waiting for. We both shift into snakes and slither up on either side of Alex. The moment he catches my movements from the corner of his eye, he shrieks louder than Klaus did a moment ago. He moves to flee in the opposite direction of me, just to come face-to-face with Derrick’s snake form.
“Fuck, I hate snakes! Help! Klaus! Get rid of them!” he shouts, jumping from one tiptoe to the other, while shaking his hands.
I can’t hold in my laughter any longer and release my hold on the snake form. My giggles ring throughout our area, Derrick and Will sharing in my joy with me. Tears stream down my face with how hard I’m laughing and when I wipe them from my gaze, I catch sight of Marcus, Klaus, and Alex. The former, still wearing ketchup after shifting back to his human form. Their arms are crossed, but the serious expressions they’re trying to sell are spoiled by twitching mouths.
There’s no way they can’t find some portion of our prank to be funny. Before I can suspect him, Marcus dashes for me. He scoops me into his arms and wipes his face against me, smearing the ketchup all over. I kick and scream for him to let me go while continuing to laugh. My lungs are screaming just as much as I am, with how little I’m able to breathe.
Marcus finally gives me mercy and we both glance up at Klaus as he sets me back on my feet. A gleam of mischief lights my face, and Klaus holds up his hands. “No! You’ve had your fun! No spreading that mess even further!” Marcus and I exchange a glance and slowly prowl after Klaus. He backs up, matching every step we take. As we dash after him, he leads us on a chase around the fire.
Alex snatches up the forgotten ketchup bottle from the ground and aims it at Klaus, stopping him in his tracks. The threat in front of him, makes him forget our approach from behind. I don’t pause when I reach him, throwing my arms around him in a huge hug. Since I’m clearly getting him dirty already, Alex squeezes the bottle, squirting us with the offensive substance.
Our fun carries on until we’re all panting on the ground in exhaustion, covered head to toe in ketchup, leaves, and dirt. “You’re going to pay for this, Princess,” Marcus says, reverting to the nickname they used when they thought I was in a coma.
My grin becomes impossibly bigger with his threat. “I didn’t do it alone!” I exclaim. Although, if I’m the only one punished, it was still so worth it. We all needed this tonight.
“Don’t worry, your accomplices will be included. Oh, and don’t think I’ll forget your treachery, twin,” he threatens Will.
Chapter 19
Silas
I’m lucky, I suppose... to have a twin brother, a built-in friend, a partner for shenanigans. We’re forgotten, left to our own antics most of the time. Our father is more concerned with focusing all of his attention on our older brother, the Heir to the North Alpha Pack. Since we’re second and third sons, and no one cared enough to remember which of us was born first, there isn’t much of a reason to care what we do. Sure, someday they will find a use for us to run some castle or something along those lines, but that day isn’t anywhere close to now.
For now, our days are filled with sword fights, chasing, exploring the woods, and anything else we can come up with. David runs before me as we make our escape through the kitchen. He grabs a chunk of cheese off the work table, while I grab a fresh loaf of bread cooling to one side. We’re out the side door before any of the servants notice the missing items.
We make our way to our favorite spot by the lake to eat our stolen goods, so we can avoid having to go back to the castle for the midday meal. Splitting the food in half, we eat quickly, not wanting to waste any time.
I’m finished first, so I start searching for rocks we can use for skipping across the pond. I fill my pockets with smooth flat pieces of rock until David comes up to help me, and I give him half of what I’ve collected already. When we’ve gathered enough, we take turns skipping them across the water.
One, two, three! Mine skipped three times before sinking below the surface compared to the two David just got. We’re so entranced by our competition, we don’t notice the girl who comes to stand near us until she speaks, “Can you teach me how to do that?” Her voice is soft, almost hesitant in her question.
David scoffs immediately, not one to invite outsiders to our games. I almost join him in his denial, but then I glance over at her. She’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen. Her flashing green eyes have me changing my mind, and right away, I wave her closer to me. "Sure! I’ll teach you!" I answer with contagious excitement. The smile she gives me lights her eyes to an even brighter green, and I know I won’t regret my choice.
She steps closer and I teach her how to hold the stone just right in her hand, letting go at the last second to let it fly across the surface of the water. "My name is Silas. What’s yours?" I ask her.
The giggle she lets out is music to my ears as she says, "I’m Delilah. My mother just became the lady-in-waiting for the North Alpha’s wife." My mother’s friend who just moved here is her mom? At least I know my new friend is here to stay, and we won’t get in trouble for letting her play with us.
"What kind of name is Delilah?" David asks her in a snotty tone. He doesn’t like to share my attention. "It’s an ugly name if you ask me. Fitting it belongs to you though, with all those freckles covering your face!" His rude comment causes all the joy in her eyes to drain. This is the first time I’ve ever had reason to hate my twin. He’s my other half in everything, but he just stole my light in one sentence.
