Page 99 of Taming the Kraken

“You want a formal invitation?” Mikah chuckled at how dense Jasper was. He was used to women throwing themselves at him. A woman playing hard to get was uncharted territory. A woman who happened to be his mate.

“Oh … OH! You think—” Jasper glanced over at Terra and his lips curled upward. He then made his way over to Terra. He thought she was shooting him down. Here she was giving him a chance to talk alone but on her terms. Okay, he could roll with this. Not that he had another choice.

Alexa smiled and turned her gaze away from them. She hoped that everything would work out for the two of them. She didn’t know Terra well, but from what she could tell, she was a nice young woman. She didn’t think highly of herself. Of course, then you had Jasper, who thought too highly of himself. They were probably the perfect pair to balance each other out.

“Alexa! You’re back.” Raine cheered as she ran over with Ryker in tow.

“What were YOU two doing?” Justice asked with a smirk.

“Sleeping.” Ryker shrugged innocently.

“Sleeping? Uh-huh. Sure.” Justice scoffed and Ryker grinned widely.

“We were sleeping … only because we didn’t sleep at all last night.” Ryker’s smile quickly vanished as he heard the snort from Brody not far away from him. “It’s hard to sleep in an unfamiliar place.” He cleared his throat and listened to Justice’s snicker.

“Now that Raine is here, it’s catch-up time!” Destiny grinned. “The four of us have mates now. Lucie and I are about to pop. I want to hear about everything.”

“Hey, what about the snowball fight?” Aedan asked with a grin. “You wouldn’t be afraid, would you?”

Alexa laughed. “Afraid? Alright, you asked for it.” She looked over at a flat, grassy area below the patio they were standing on. With a wave of her hand, the area turned white with thick, fluffy snow. “You know … this isn’t a battle you can win.”

“I have no shame in ganging up on her to bring her down.” Justice rolled his shoulders, cracking them.

“Well, to be fair about this …” Reiya spoke up, clearly enjoying herself. “Alexa, you can’t summon more snow. No one can use their magic. And I’m joining in on the fun too.”

“Of course you are.” Brody snorted, folding his arms over his chest.

“What’s the matter, Brody? You afraid of getting embarrassed?” Hunter smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

“If Hunter is joining in, then I am too!” Chasen chuckled as he felt his excitement rise. No matter how old they were, they were still big kids at heart.

“I think I need to make the playing field bigger.” Alexa laughed as the white spread more. One of the things she loved about her family was their fun nature. They were tough and fierce when they needed to be, but they also knew when to have fun.

“I’ll be by your side, my fairy. I’ll protect you.” Levi rubbed Reiya’s shoulders and looked up to see Ken’s green eyes drilling into him. He leaned down and lightly pecked Reiya’s lips. “Whether you want me to or not,” he mumbled against her mouth.

Ken chuckled. “Well, of course, if you’re joining in on this, I will be as well.”

Blue pinned against green in a fierce stare-down. They might all be family, but right now, it was war. Mother against daughter, father against son, cousins against cousins—all competitive and not willing to show mercy to the other.

“Abe, are you coming? Just remember, don’t eat the yellow snow.” Justice flashed his pearly white grin as the young half-demon rolled his eyes.

“No thanks. I’m staying with Lucie.”

Justice shrugged his shoulders. “Suit yourself. I understand. I mean, you’re so young and little. It would be a massacre.”

“Reverse psychology won’t work on me. Idiot.” Abe sat down next to Lucie, quite content to sit this one out. He wasn’t a big fan of snow.

Ken walked next to Alexa and scooped her into his side. “You know we have to win this, right? I can’t lose to the blue—your father.” He cleared his throat and winked down at her.

“I don’t plan on losing. Snow is my element after all.” Alexa felt him tug her to a stop as he spun her in his arms and gently kissed her forehead.

“Alright, my love. Let’s defend your honor.”

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Balls of snow flew through the air as they were launched at their targets. Everyone broke into groups of two and had snowy fortresses in front of them. Justice and Aedan fought against Mikah and Grayson. Brody and Chasen threw their snowy assaults at Hunter and Freja. And Levi and Reiya were standing against Ken and Alexa.

“This is ridiculous!” Brody yelled as he threw a snowball at Hunter.