"BACK THE FUDGE OFF! SHE'S MINE!" Zaine shrieks, protectively cradling the young Australian Shepard pup to his chest.

Killian, along Reese, Dexter and Jordan (the men of the Healer group) all pout, wanting to hold the little ten-week old pup. The one that Zaine has claimed as his. He won't even let Killian hold her. Pet the pup, sure, but no one is allowed to take the pup from Zaine's hold.

The pup is one of four puppies we rescued from the animal abuse case. There were five fighting dogs, two of which had to be put down due to their injuries, which were so severe Serena couldn't heal them completely and that would leave them in pain. There were also three rabbits that had been caught and that we released into the forest.

The puppies were going to be trained to be more fighting dogs. Probably bought from dog breeders, we found them locked in cages, looking starved and sad. All of the dogs are being cared for by the Healers but we visit every day to help take care of them and everyday that little pup is coddled by Zaine and both of them love it.

I roll my eyes as Dexter tries to distract Zaine so Reese can get the puppy by sneaking up behind him. Zaine, knowing what they're doing, bites at Reese's hand when he reaches around over his shoulder, making Reese quickly pull back.

"Please Changeling," Killian whines, "We wanna see her too."

"Look all you want," Zaine huffs, leaning back on the couch. "But Stitchie is staying right here with me." He glances at Reese, Dexter and Jordan, "Besides, you three see her all day."

"Stitchie?" Jordan repeats, tilting his head.

"I'm calling her Stitch." Zaine shrugs, pointing to the three stitches in the puppy's back. "She has stitches, so her name is Stitch."

The little white pup wriggles in Zane's arms, trying to lick his face. Zaine chuckles, cuddling the puppy and cooing. The pup is mostly white and covered in big black spots with blurry edges, like the fur doesn't give a clear, defined line where the spots' edge is, if that makes sense. There's a black spot over one of his pale blue eyes. We can't be sure but it looks like the pup lacks full peripheral vision since she sometimes runs into things when she turns to fast.

No one minds though, 'cause the pup is fucking adorable.

I crouch down and gently rest my hand on Prix's back as he lies on his new dog bed. Prix, a black Great Dane, was the best fighting dog, the strongest one. He's also been one of the hardest to rehabilitate but we're getting there. It helped when one of the rogue warlocks that follows me talked to him using his ability to talk to animals. Prix seemed to relax and lower his guard a lot after that.

I hear Rhea laugh and see two of the puppies playing tug of war with a sock.

I check my watch. "We should be heading out soon."

Zaine whines, "But I don't wanna go!"

"We're coming back tomorrow," Clove says, scratching Trophy, another one of the dogs, behind her ears.

"Can we keep it?" Chase asks, sitting next to and leaning against Zaine and patting Stitch's head.

"Who, Zaine? Of course you can keep him," Reese replies, grinning.

Zaine sticks his tongue out at him, then looks at me. "Can we keep her, Reina?"

Stitch licks at Zane's chin, making him laugh.

"I don't know, Changeling," I say, sighing. "Would we have the time to take care of a puppy?"

"We're leaving the day after tomorrow," Zaine pouts. "Of course we'll have the time. And if not, the pack can watch her."

I sigh again.

"Pleeeeeease," Zaine whines.

Chase, Rhea and Killian all join in begging.

"Oh goddess," I mumble. "Strange, what do you think?"

"They'd be taking care of her," Clove says. "I'm not doing anything."

"Alright," Zaine agrees instantly. "I'll do everything to take care of her. Feed her, train her, clean up after her, brush her, everything. Please, Reina."

I sigh again. "I'm gonna regret this. But leave her here for now, on the way back to Moonblood, we can drop by and take her with us."

"YES!" Zaine cheers, hugging Stitch tightly as the puppy squirms, tail wagging wildly.

"Aww," Rhea whispers, watching as the little white puppy looks around, tongue hanging out.

"Now let's go, we should probably start packing," I say, getting my coat and boots on.

Giving the pup one last scratch behind the ears, Zaine sets Stitch down and wanders over to Killian, where he's swept to his boyfriend's arms.

"I'm being replaced by a puppy, aren't I," Killian states as he kisses Zaine's forehead.

Zaine smiles, wrapping his arms around Killian's neck. "Nah. The pup's our child now. Reina, you got it wrong. It's a puppy, not a pig."

I suppress a smile, remembering the weird dream I had a few weeks ago.

"Bye guys," I say loudly, giving the Healers a quick wave before heading outside.

A cold breeze blows my hair around everywhere, mostly in my face. The rest of the Royals are right behind me. We get into our silver SUV, me driving, Clove in the passenger seat, the twins behind us and Killian and Zaine in the back where they can kiss and cuddle the whole way back.

"Alright boys, it's time to ride or die!" Killian says loudly as I connect my phone to the car and scroll through my songs. "You gotta hold on or risk being thrown out the window!"

"My driving isn't that bad," I call back, selecting a song and turning up the volume to help block out his sassy reply.

We all wave to the Healers who watch from the window as I pull out of the driveway. We all sing along with the music, not trying to sound perfect and just having fun.

"Ladies and gents, this is the moment you've waited for (Woah)

Been searchin' in the dark, your sweat soakin' through the floor (Woah)

And buried in your bones there's an ache that you can't ignore

Takin' your breath, stealin' your mind

And all that was real is left behind

Don't fight it, it's comin' for you, runnin' at ya

It's only this moment, don't care what comes after

Your fever dream, can't you see it gettin' closer?

Just surrender 'cause you feel the feelin' takin' over

It's fire, it's freedom, it's floodin' open

It's a preacher in the pulpit and your blind devotion

There's somethin' breakin' at the brick of every wall

It's holdin' all that you know, so tell me do you wanna go?

Where it's covered in all the colored lights

Where the runaways are runnin' the night

Impossible comes true, it's takin' over you

Oh, this is the greatest show

We light it up, we won't come down

And the sun can't stop us now

Watchin' it come true, it's takin' over you

Oh, this is the greatest show."

When I pull into our driveway, I spot a figure walking through the living room through the window. My eyes narrow and I know Clove sees it too.

Chase, Rhea, stay in the car for a minute, I say, climbing out of the car. Flash, what do you smell.

When he gets out, his eyes are glowing. Ceniza, along with Thunder, Wardog and Winchester.

How'd they find us? Zaine asks.

Don't know, Clove says. Chase, Rhea, you can get out now.

The twins climb out of the car, running up the front steps. I unlock the door and the twins run it, quickly taking off their boots and coats.

"Took you long enough to get back," Asher says and the rest of us step inside, taking our stuff off.

"How'd you find us?" I ask, raising an eyebrow as I walk into the living room where the four Moonblood wolves are. "And how did you get here?"

"We ran here and Dean picked the lock on the back door," Raiden replies, giving Clove a quick greeting kiss. "And Luke and Cam told us your address."

"Ah," I say. "How are they?"

"Good," Asher replies. "Jamie says hi."

I smile. "Of course he does."

"Wait, you picked the lock?" Zaine says, looking at Dean.

He nods. "You're the one who taught me."

"Exactly. You learnt from the best," Zaine says, grinning.

"Really, Changeling?" Clove says, already swept into my twin's arms.

Zaine shrugs, "What? You never know when knowing how to pick locks will be useful."

I roll my eyes and sit next to Asher. "So, about yesterday..."

"It's fine, Rei," he says, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "I can't say I'm happy about it but I get why you did it. Just remind me to not start a war with you because you all can be scary as heck."

"Also," Scott pipes up, "Why do you have spaghetti filled condoms in the fridge?"

My body tenses and my head whips around to glare at Killian and Zaine. "We told you two to throw those out."

They both shrug carelessly, smirking.

"I win," Zaine says, shooting a grin at Killian.

"Dammit Wardog," Killian grumbles with a scowl.

"What?" Scott asks, smiling in amusement.

"He bet it would be Reina who found them," Zaine explains. "And since you found them, I win."

"Oh goddess," I mumble. "Anyway, why'd you guys come here?"

"To convince you to come back," Asher replies. "Cam told me you said you know I'm right, so why don't you come back?"

"We were actually planning on returning," I say, making his eyes light up in happiness. "We were gonna come back the day after tomorrow, giving time for King's attention to be drawn elsewhere."

"And Flash's birthday is tomorrow," Zaine adds. "We're gonna stay for that. There's a great laser tagging place in town we wanna go to."

"Can we join in?" Asher asks hopefully, "It sounds fun."

"Sure," Killian says with a grin. "More the merrier. We can do two on two."

"Sweet," Dean says, grinning.

"Oh," Asher says suddenly, "Yesterday, after the attack, we were talking. River mentioned that the Kingdom would have been running when Mallor took his pack."

"That was around a year and a half ago," I say with a nod as I think. "I don't remember ever meeting him, we probably would have been focusing on healing Changeling."

Zaine's eyebrows furrow. "Huh. Doesn't feel like it was that recent. Feels like I've known you forever."

"But I get what your point is," I continue. "It's not impossible that King was behind it. But what he's after remains a mystery."

"Power?" Raiden suggests.

I nod, "Possibly."

"What if he just wants you, Reina?" Dean says.

My eyes narrow. "The chances he has of being with me are smaller than the chances of Flash and Changeling breaking up for good."

Killian looks at Zaine, then back to me, "So basically, his chances are less than nonexistent."

I nod once.

Asher kisses my cheek, his arm still wrapped around my shoulders. "Good. And we've already established that I'm a possessive, petty bitch, so we're all good."

"Swearing!" Chase says.

"We're gonna have another Jamie, aren't we," Raiden says, smiling and ruffling Chase's hair, making him whine.

"Now I wanna see these two meet Jamie and Zero," Asher says.

"Oh, that reminds me," Killian says. He grabs the four chain necklaces of the kitchen counter where we had them, "We wanted to give these to you. They're like ours, they'll let you mind-link, won't break when you shift and can't be removed by anyone other than yourself or Rei."

Taking them, Asher, Raiden, Scott and Dean put on the necklaces. As they do, I can feel their minds join in the web of mind-links the necklaces give access to.

"Why can Rei remove them?" Scott asks.

"I created them," I reply. "And put the burning spell on them. If anyone other than you or me tries to take it off you, the chains burn the hands of the person trying to remove it. Handy if one of my rogues ever gets caught and whoever has them prisoner tries to remove the necklace. And yours also have the spell to keep your clothes from ripping when you shift."

"Cool," Raiden says. "Thanks."

"You're welcome," I reply.

"Are you leaving soon?" Rhea asks disappointedly, looking at Raiden and playing with his fingers.

"You could stay the night," Clove suggests hopefully.

"Yeah, we can have a sleepover!" Killian says, grinning.

"Where would we sleep?" Asher asks, tilting his head.

"With your mates," Zaine replies. "Wardog and Winchester, if you don't mind, we turned the attic into a guest bedroom a while ago, so you guys can sleep there. Or the basement has another guest bedroom."

"We're good with either," Dean says, after he and Scott mind-link to decide quickly.

"Yes! Sleepover!" Chase says excitedly.

"We can run back home and grab some clothes for tomorrow and drive back here," Asher says. "It's not far, we'd be fast."

"If you're fine with doing that," I say, shrugging.

After Raiden, Scott and Dean agree, they're all off, running back to Moonblood.

"I'll get the movie set up," Killian says, grinning.

This is gonna be an interesting night, Raven mumbles.

I nod, it sure will be.