I glance at Zaine again.

I feel a smile forming on my lips and quickly try to force it down. I look down, focusing on my bowl of cereal as my body shakes with suppressed laughter.

It has nothing to do with Zaine's appearance or what he's doing. No, it's just that looking at him keeps reminding me of the bizarre dream I had last night.

We're sitting at the table having breakfast and I'm trying to not burst out laughing.

"What is it, Reina?" Clove asks, smiling. "Why do you keep laughing when you look at Changeling?"

Her words use me to glance at Zaine again and I have to suppress another grin, quickly looking away again. I can feel everyone looking at me as I try to calm myself.

"Nothing, just this dream I had," I reply.

"What was it about?" Killian asks. "Clearly it has something to do with my boyfriend."

"Tell us!" Rhea says.

"Yeah, tell us!" Zaine pipes up. "It was about me, I wanna know."

Another round of suppressed laughter hits me and I take a few deep breaths.

"I don't remember everything about it," I begin, "But we were in some sort of basement, full of dust covered furniture, couches, chairs and that. And for some reason, there was this baby pig we had been told to take care of."

"Baby pig?" Clove questions.

I nod. "It gets better. Strange, you were asking me how we were gonna raise it and then Flash, you come up and suggest this spell you found in an old magic book. We didn't even know what the spell was but we cast it and the pig disappeared. And we find that the spell caused Changeling to become pregnant, with the flipping pig."

I can't contain my laughter anymore. It escapes past my lips as I grin, watching the others laugh too.

"That's even it yet," I say. "Once we found out, Flash was acting all proud and excited, something about him wanting to be a dad. So the sentence 'Changeling's pregnant with a baby pig' has been circling my mind all morning, along with the image of him with a big stomach."

Everyone is laughing, Zaine laughing the hardest.

"Oh my Satan, that is gold," he laughs, gasping. "Pregnant with a pig... A flipping pig."

He rests his forehead on the table, looking down, his body shaking with laughter. A while later, he looks up again, grinning. His eyes glow and his nose changes to look like a pigs. It reminds me of that scene of Tonks doing the same in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

Chase and Rhea giggle, watching Zaine. Killian puts one arm around Zaine's shoulders, chuckling. Clove is chortling beside me, grinning.

"What goes on inside your head, Reina?" she asks.

I shrug. "Thinking. Planning rogue attacks. Oh, by the way, the attack on the orphanage last night was a success. The abusive caretakers are gone and all the orphans have chosen groups to join and it seems like they're happy and doing well."

Clove nods. "That's good. I'll never understand why people choose to hurt kids. It's just not right, I mean, they're kids; what could they do to deserve that? Humans seem to fret over an animal hurting someone once but what about the people who're abused or bullied daily?"

"Yeah," Killian agrees. "Which is why we have the Queen, the Royals and the rest of our rogues. To save people from abuse and all the dark emotions that come with it. Because the pain doesn't go away when the abuse or bullying stops. You have to deal with all the emotions caused by it and that could take a lifetime."

I notice Zaine looking down, biting his lower lip, his nose back to normal. Killian notices too. He tilts Zaine's chin up so they're looking at each other and kisses him softly, gently, lovingly. They kiss for a few seconds before Killian pulls away, keeping one arm wrapped around Zaine's waist.

There's a knock on the door. Clove stands up and heads over to the front door, opening it and being greeted with two of the pack caretakers, Sophie and Grace.

"Hi," Clove says, smiling.

"Miss Ranger," Grace replies and a nod, a warm smile on her lips.

"Chase, Rhea, you two be good," Zaine tells the twins. "If you're bad, do you know who comes for a visit?"

"Who?" Rhea asks, tilting her head. "The bogeyman?"

"No," Zaine whispers, grinning. "Much worse."

"Dark Vader?!" Chase cries, his voice excited and nervous at the same time.

Zaine shakes his head. "Nope and it's Darth Vader, not Dark. Though that would be awesome if he came to visit, I want Anakin back. Guess again."

"Who?!" the twins shout in unison.

"The tickle monster!" Zaine cries, pointing at Killian.

Killian grins evilly, raising his hands and wiggling his fingers. The twins squeal in fright and laughter and run over to Clove who's waiting by the door. They grab their coats and boots, putting them on.

"Ready to go?" Sophie asks.

Chase nods and looks back at us. "Bye bye!"

"You'll come get us later, right?" Rhea asks, looking up at the older witch.

"Of course," Clove says, patting her younger sister's head and crouching down to give her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

Rhea smiles widely at that and both her and Chase walk outside and off to the pack house with Sophie and Grace. I can hear Chase telling the two woman some wild story of his, probably his favourite to tell: the time Killian went to kiss Zaine with his eyes closed and Zaine took a step back and put Chase in his place for a laugh. Killian was surprised but soon joined in the rest of the laughter while giving Chase a kiss on the cheek.

"Seven thirty-five," I say, looking at the clock. "We should start cleaning up, knowing how long it'll take us to get ready."

"Yeah," Killian says. He looks at Zaine, "Quick shower together?"

Zaine smirks. "Sure. I'm horny and we haven't made love in a while."

"Don't take too long!" I shout as they run upstairs, towards the bathroom. "And don't be too loud for my poor not-so-virgin ears!"

"You call me Flash for a reason!" Killian shouts back. "We won't be too loud but there's no guarantee Changeling won't be limping!"

"Was there ever any guarantee on that?!" Clove yells.

There's a small pause before both Killian and Zaine shout back, "No!"

Clove and I look at each other, smiling and shaking our heads.

Clove chuckles. "That's our OTP."

I nod, "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

➵

Around 45 minutes later, we're leaving the house and heading to school.

Killian is complaining about not wanting to go while helping Zaine, who has a barely noticeable limp. Clove is levitating a frosty red leaf above her open palm, making it spin in fast circles. I watch as she stops using her power, letting the leaf twirl down to the ground.

There's a push in my mind, a spirit wanting to talk. I can feel it's Lyria, so of course I let her in, opening my mind-links to let Clove, Killian and Zaine listen too.

Run, she says. Run and listen closely. Riley.

Then she's gone. I look at my friends for a second, then start running. I do my best to keep my footfalls silent, listening carefully to the sounds around me. Clove, Killian and Zaine are behind me, running with me, Killian pretty much carrying Zaine much to the shapeshifter's indignant cries of, "I can manage on my own!"

Suddenly I stop and strain my ears. Did I hear a sob or was I just imagining it? I wait a few seconds and hear it again. A soft, pain-filled sob. It's one full of betrayal and heartbreak but it doesn't sound bad enough to be the romantic kind... I know the others heard it too.

I take a few steps towards the place the sound came from, looking around.

"Hello?" Clove calls gently, "Who's there?"

"We just want to talk," Zaine adds, taking a step forward.

No answer.

I heard a quiet gasp, Killian says, his eyes glowing as he looks at us. He points ahead of us and a little to the right, That way.

Lead the way, I say softly.

Killian nods and starts walking silently in the direction he pointed with Clove, Zaine and I trailing behind him. I hear a quiet sniffle and I'm starting to catch the scent of vanilla and this sort of woodsy smell that reminds me of the pack house. It's mixed with blood and tears, making my eyes widen.

"Hello," Killian says softly. I blink and see someone peeking around the trunk of one of the trees. "I'm Killian, this is my family. What's your name?"

I see hesitation in the blue eyes gazing at us shyly.

"...Riley," I hear the person whisper.

"Riley?" I repeat in surprise. "Riley Norris?"

He peeks around the tree at me. "Rei? You're really back?"

Riley slowly steps out from behind the tree. His blonde hair is messy, his blue eyes red and puffy from crying. His face is wet with tears and red from the cold. He doesn't have a coat, just a thin looking light blue sweater that doesn't look very warm. Even though he keeps his head up, his eyes never meet ours.

My brows furrow at that. I know Riley since we used to spend time together helping to clean up after lunch in the pack house on the weekends. He's an omega but he never let that stop him from happily interacting with other pack members. Now, he seems much more skittish and nervous.

"What happened?" I ask softly. I glance back at Clove and Zaine quickly. "These are my friends, Clove and Zaine."

Riley nods. "They were talking about you, all of you. Kia and her followers."

"Of course they were," Zaine says. "How couldn't they, we're fabulous."

A small smile appears on Riley's lips but it fades quickly. "Uh... I'm guessing you... want to know why I'm out here dressed like this... and crying."

Clove nods. "We want to help."

"Are you experts on abuse?" Riley asks ruefully.

"Actually, yes," Zaine says. "We've helped hundreds of people who've been abused... Or bullied, or rejected, or disowned, or anything."

I see a little bit of hope shine in Riley's eyes. A spark of anger flares within me at that. The pack couldn't have really stooped so low as to abuse one of the happiest people I know, could they?

"Who's abusing you?" Killian asks, his voice expertly hiding the anger I know he's feeling.

"The pack," Riley whispers, looking down. "Not the Alpha, or his friends. It's... some of the adults, the ones that were close to Alpha Leon, or Beta female Brianna. Kia and her followers too."

I grit my teeth, hearing my mother's name. "Does Asher know?"

Riley shakes his head. "No... They only abuse us on weekdays, when there's no one around... No one who will report to the Alpha, at least. I think it's because we're omegas and they think we're easy targets."

"'Us?'" Clove repeats, anger lacing her tone.

"Yeah. Me and the other orphaned or disowned omegas. I know what they're doing to us isn't right but I just don't have the guts to go up to the Alpha and tell him about it. He's always with his friends and I don't see him a lot either."

"Would you like to come with us and talk to Asher?" Zaine asks, slowly reaching out and putting a gentle hand on Riley's shoulder.

Riley hesitates again, then nods slowly.

"You know what else we can do?" I say. They all look at me curiously. "We can see if Asher will let the Unity group come here. The choir could have some new members."

"Choir?" Riley repeats, his voice laced with curiosity and interest.

"There's a choir I've formed," I explain, "Meant for people who need a sense of family."

"Really?" Riley whispers. "I like singing, I'd join. I know some of the other omegas would too."

"Then we'll ask," I say. "We should probably get to school, it's been ten minutes since class started."

➵

"What?" Asher growls, his eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

"Asher, don't scare him," I say, seeing Riley tense.

It's lunch and we decided to eat in the hall by Raiden's locker. I found Riley and asked him to join us, deciding to let Asher and his friends know what's been going on in the pack.

"Sorry, Riley," Asher says, his voice calmer. "But really? They've been doing this to you and to the other omegas, behind my back? For how long?"

"About one year," Riley answers. "They started last year in September, a little after Alpha Leon was killed."

I notice Asher's eyes saddened slightly at the mention of his father. I see Raiden's do too, as well as Scott's and Dean's. I growl mentally at that: if they knew that he was having an affair, they wouldn't miss him so much. They mustn't have found out about the affair when I left. So either Raiden didn't question Brianna, or she lied. She probably lied, the cheating bitch.

"I'm calling the pack for a meeting before dinner," Asher growls. He looks at Riley, "Can you have all the omegas on or beside the stage in the pack house backyard at say... 4:30 this evening?"

Riley nods. "I can do that, Alpha."

"Please, call me Asher."

Riley nods again, blushing slightly.

"Oh and Asher?" I say.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering... I have some friends, they're all in a choir and I was wondering if they could come visit. They've all been through some dark things and they found a sense of family in the choir, so I thought maybe the omegas would like it."

"It sounds nice," Asher says, nodding. "How many would come?"

"Seventeen," I reply. "Nine orphans and eight adults to watch over them and protect them. The rogue world is a dangerous place after all."

Asher nods. "I can't say I fully understand that as I've hardly left pack lands for more than a meeting or vacation but it makes sense."

"Would they be alright in the pack house?" Scott asks. "And maybe sleeping with one or two others?"

"I think so," I reply. "They're not too picky with sleeping arrangements."

"Just food," Zaine pipes up. "It's best to give them a buffet to choose from at meal times."

Clove scoffs, hitting Zaine lightly on the shoulder. "They're not that bad."

"Keyword, that," Zaine replies. "Not that bad. You can admit they can be a little picky, Strange."

Clove huffs but begrudgingly nods.

"Hey, do your nicknames have anything to do with your abilities?" Dean asks suddenly, looking like he's figured something out and really, he has.

Killian glances at me before looking at Dean. "Yeah, except Reina's. Clove's, Zaine's and mine are based on what we can do. Then there's just our darling queen."

Killian gives me a mocking bow, Zaine doing the same. I roll my eyes at both of them, looking at the four Moonblood wolves in a 'see what I have to deal with?' look. Raiden snorts at that while Asher chuckles and Scott and Dean both grin.

"Lunch is almost over," Raiden says, looking at the time on his phone. "We should get our stuff for next period."

Zaine groans dramatically at that, flopping down on the floor. The rest of us all stand up, grabbing our garbage to throw out.

"Riley, 4:30, got it?" Asher asks.

Riley nods and heads off down the hall. Scott and Dean walk off together to get their binders and stuff. Raiden and Asher stay here as Raiden's locker is the one after Killian's. Clove and Killian have their lockers open while Zaine is still lying on the floor at our feet.

"Babe, get my shit," the shapeshifter groans.

"You got it, doll," Killian replies, setting his own things down on Zaine's back before moving to get Zaine's.

"Oh, uh, Rei?" Asher says timidly, smiling sheepishly.

"Yeah?" I say. "What's up Asher?"

"Gas prices," he replies, his smile becoming less nervous. "Uh, will you go on a date with me? Tomorrow evening?"

Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes, Raven begs.

Slowly, I nod. "Sure. What time?"

Asher grins, his nervousness disappearing. "How's 5 o'clock? I'll pick you up for dinner?"

"Sounds good," I reply.

The bell rings, telling us there's only five more minutes before class starts.

"I'll see you later," Asher says. "And Rei?"

"Hmm?"

Asher's cheeks pinken slightly as he glances away with a shy mumble of, "Thank you for this chance. It means everything to me."

He turns quickly and walks away to go to his locker, his hurried gait amusing me; I guess he's a little embarrassed and shy, not emotions I expected to see in Asher. Killian and Zaine both say bye and head off to their math class, leaving just me, Clove and Raiden. Both of them are smiling at me, Clove leaning against my twin.

"What?" I ask.

"I'm surprised you agreed to go on a date with him," Clove says, "After what happened before with him."

I nod, "Honestly, I am too."

"It'll be good for you," Raiden says. "You see some sort of love life, Rei."

"Aren't you the one who threatened to drop him off a cliff into a pit of cobras?" I shoot back.

Raiden grins. "Yes but this time I know Asher won't do anything to hurt you, not after how desperate he's been for a second chance." He looks at Clove, "And I won't hurt you."

"You better not," I warn. "I'm not above smacking you if you do."

Raiden chuckles softly. "I'll ask you to if I do."

"Hey why can't I smack him?" Clove says, hands on her hips.

Raiden and I look at each other before we both start laughing. As we walk towards our English class, I think of what just happened.

And I just agreed to go on a date with Asher Myers.