Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The summer flew by between all the books Wisteria read, sparring with Aaron, and spending time with friends. Aaron didn’t hold back while fighting; he made sure she knew she could not beat him. 

She regretted challenging him, but she still had fun. It forced them to get closer, and she got stronger over the summer. She started working out for one reason and one reason only. To land a hit on his smug face.

She learned how to make the werewolf potions and had Aphmau help her make them, as she wasn’t allowed to use magick. She wasn’t sure when her magick would stabilize, but until then, she had to stay as a werewolf. 

It was the first day of school of Wisteria’s sophomore year. Teony talked her and Aphmau into joining her new mentoring program. Older students wear an armband so other students can easily spot someone who can help them. 

Wisteria spent the first half of the day wearing it, walking around school, and helping the freshmen. It was mostly the same thing, with them asking questions like where to find their classes or how the cafeteria food was. 

She felt like she helped more freshmen avoid Zenix and Sasha than answer any questions they might have had. With Gene gone, no one was scared of them anymore, and they were taking their frustrations out on the freshman. 

“Hey! This is the third freshman I saw you picking on today! You two need to cool it before I make you!” Wisteria stomps up towards them, seeing them picking on another student. 

“Shit, Kitty found us again,” Zenix says. 

“Make a run for it!” Sasha says as they book it down the hall. 

“Grrr. I swear they are doing this in front of me on purpose now!” She says to herself before stepping forward and helping the freshman up. “Are you ok?”

It was a ginger-haired meif’wa girl. She happily took her hand and stood up, brushing off her skirt. “I’m ok, I think. T-thank you.”

“I’m sorry about them. They like to call themselves The Shadow Knights. I recommend avoiding them when you can. They have been acting up a lot today, trying to scare all the freshmen.” 

“Hina, are you ok?” A ginger-haired meif’wa boy comes up. He circles her, checking her for any injuries. 

“I’m ok, Kai. She helped me out.” Hina says, redirecting his attention to Wisteria. 

“Thank you for helping my little sister. It’s her first day of high school. I’m glad she didn’t have to deal with them alone.”

“It’s no problem. It’s my job to help. Your brother has probably told you everything already, but if you have any questions, don’t be afraid to ask me or anyone else you see with these armbands. We are mentors who can answer any of your questions about school.” Wisteria says, pointing at her armband. 

“A-actually, do you think you could help me with something? I can’t find my homeroom.” Hina nervously asks. 

“Of course, do you have your schedule with you?”

“Y-yes! Here you go.” She passes her schedule over to her. 

She perks up. “This was my homeroom last year. You’ll like Mr. Issac; he lets you do whatever you want during homeroom. Follow me.”

Wisteria begins to lead the way, keeping a friendly conversation going with Hina to make her comfortable as she follows her. Kai follows them silently. 

“And here we are. Do you have any other questions for me?” 

“N-no. Thank you!” 

“Don’t forget, I’m one of the mentors at school, so if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask for help.” She waves goodbye, walking to find a new freshman to help out. Golden eyes follow her as she walks away. 

After assisting freshmen for a while, it was time for homeroom to begin, so she went to her class. She looked around to see if she recognized anyone and saw Garroth and Laurence sitting together. 

“Garroth! Laurence! Hey.” She says, walking up and giving them both a hug before sitting in the seat next to them. 

“Wist, it’s good to see you again,” Garroth says.

“I’m glad we have homeroom together. I wonder if we have any other classes together?” Laurence questions. 

“I hope so; it would be nice to have classes with you two again. However, it's a little strange having homeroom together. I wonder why they decided to mix grades for homeroom this year.” 

“No clue. I was hoping everyone wouldn’t avoid us like this again.” Laurence gestures to the seats near them, all empty, but with multiple eyes focused on them. 

“I don’t get what is up with your guys’ fangirls. They want to be near you but also avoid you at the same time. It’s strange.”

Garroth chuckles. “They just need more time to warm up to us. They seem more open this year. I already had three come up and talk to me. Normally, only Ivy did that last year.”

“I mean, Ivy did randomly apologize to you last year. Maybe with her no longer bullying others, they feel like they can talk to you now? Are you two helping with the club fair again?”

“Yeah, I have to run the soccer booth since I’m captain. Same for Garroth for baseball.” Laurence says. 

“You are a mentor this year, right? Are you running the help desk?” Garroth asks. 

“No, Aph will be manning it. Since I’m alpha, I need to help the werewolf club. Although I’ll still be helping students as they walk around in case they can’t find another mentor.”

Laurence chuckles as he swishes her tail. “You really are taking this werewolf thing seriously.”

“Hey! I was alpha before the werewolf thing. And you know I don’t have a choice; I can’t remove the potion or I’ll lose my magick.” She punches him, which he laughs in return. 

“Don’t take him seriously; you know he likes to tease. I still can’t believe Aphmau would have been alpha if you hadn’t taken the position. Didn’t she almost fail werewolf class?” Garroth says. 

She sighs. “Yes, she did. She didn’t even know everyone thought she was alpha’s mate until summer started. She’s lucky I’m her sister and didn’t make her deal with that alone.”

“Wait, they all thought Aaron and Aphmau were dating?” Laurence asks, dumbfounded. 

She laughs. “Oh yeah. Aaron was trying to protect her, as she didn’t understand anything and kept getting herself in trouble with the werewolves by accident. The problem is that it made it look like they were a couple. Granted, he didn’t mind that.”

“Well, he’s gone now. She shouldn’t be confused as anyone’s mate anymore.” Garroth says, annoyed. 

“Alright, class! Pack up your belongings; it is time for the school assembly. Once it is over, you all will be headed outside to the club social. It will be your chance to mingle and join clubs!” The teacher says. 

The students slowly shuffle out of class and towards the auditorium to listen to the principal's assembly. It was better than the principal's assemblies last year, but something about this new principal set off warning bells. 

She seemed fake, like she was hiding her true self. Rumors circulated about why they replaced the last principal, but no solid reason was ever specified. Most believed it had to do with money, but something felt off about that. 

Once it was over, everyone shuffled outside. The booths were set up, and everyone was either standing around mingling or going from booth to booth. 

Wisteria walked up to the werewolf booth. Dottie, Daniel, and Rylan excitedly greet her. “Alpha! You're here!”

“I am. As I told you before, I can’t man the booth, but I will be walking around nearby, so if you need anything, just call me over. I can’t just help the werewolves; I have to mentor all the students this year.”

“That’s ok! We understand. It’s amazing how you can handle not just us, but all the students in school.” Daniel says. 

“Have you decided on who will be alpha with you yet?” Rylan asks. 

“Who will be… wait, why do I have to choose? I thought every year they fight for the title.”

“Well, normally they would. But this is the first year both alphas didn’t graduate. Since we already have one alpha, you have to acknowledge who the alpha male will be.” Daniel explains. 

She groans. “Okay, I see. Would it be alright if I took a few days to look at my options? I want to make sure I pick the right person.”

“Of course, Alpha! We look forward to who you will pick!” Dottie happily bursts. 

Wisteria looks to the side to check on her sister and sees that Sasha and Zenix are bothering her. She grabs one of the frisbees from the booth and chucks it at them. She misses, but it catches their attention as it flies between them. 

“You three, do me a favor. Tell the Shadow Knights to stop calling my sister Mouse and to stop picking on her. Also, bring back the frisbee while you're at it, please and thank you.”

“Got it!” The three of them quickly scurry over and intervene on her behalf. 

She walks around, helping those in need, before she stops and looks at the train of screaming people. Laurence is running from Garroth and Katelyn, who are all chased by fangirls. 

One of the students got pushed during their chase, so she quickly walked over and offered a hand to them. “Are you okay? Huh, Ein? Is that you?”

He stands without taking her hand, looking at her, confused momentarily, before recognizing her. “You’re Gene’s mate. What was it, Wisteria?” 

“Grrr, I am not his mate! I was only pretending to be so I could get something I wanted. And yes, it’s me. I see you transferred schools. Sorry, your first day seems so hectic.”

He leans forward and sniffs her. “You smell and look different. When did you become a werewolf?”

“Oh, it’s a long story, but it’s just a potion; I’m not a real werewolf. And you seem lost. Do you need a mentor?”

“I had one, but then I lost her when they ran by. I think her name was Aphmau.” 

“Ugh!” She facepalms. “I’m sorry about my sister. It’s her first time mentoring. She clearly hasn’t mastered looking behind her as she walks yet. I’ll take you around for now.”

It was also Wisteria’s first time mentoring in this life, but she used to mentor students in her last life. Both in college and high school, so she had more experience than even Teony had mentoring students. 

“She’s your sister? You look nothing alike, but that does explain why she smells like you. You put your scent on her,” He says as he follows her. 

“I’m adopted, hence the looks. But yes, she’s my sister. I tend to be a bit protective of her since she almost became alpha last year by accident. She didn’t realize everyone thought she was the Alpha’s mate.” She giggles. 

“I know she's human, but how clueless does she have to be not to notice something like that?”

“Very. I’m not sure how much you know yet, but as I told you before, I am the female alpha. It’s the first year someone’s been alpha for more than a year, so things are a little messy right now. Hopefully, things will resolve themselves once there’s a male alpha.” 

A girl pops in front of her. “Are you the one every werewolf is talking about? Are you Wisteria?” 

“Huh? Umm, yes, I am. Do you need help with something?”

“Thought so! My name is Maria, and I’m here to challenge you for the title of alpha female of the school!” 

“Huh, I never thought a human would challenge me.” 

She magickally puffs out her tail and ears. “I’m not a human! I thought the alpha of the school would know a werewolf when she saw one! My poise and grace are obvious. Now let's fight!”

“We could, but considering it's the first day of school and I’m busy mentoring, I think I’ll do this instead.” She takes a few steps towards the werewolf club booth, taking one of the balls off it. “Fetch.”

Wisteria throws the ball, Maria looks at it, laughing, and says she won’t fall for the oldest trick in the book. Only to turn around to see Wisteria was nowhere to be seen. 

When Maria had her back turned, Wisteria grabbed Ein’s hand, running and dragging him over to the help booth, where she forced him to duck behind it with her. 

“Phew, I think we lost her.” She says, peeking above the booth before hiding under it again.

“Why did we run and hide? She challenged you; why not fight her?” He asks. 

“It's the first day of school, and I'm a mentor. If I get caught fighting, not only will I get in trouble and possibly get the mentor program scrapped for Teony, but my mother will kill me! I don't have a death wish.” 

“Then why are you still holding my hand?” He asks, lifting their hands. 

She quickly releases it, her face red, her ears pressed to the top of her head, and her tail wrapped around her leg from embarrassment. “Sorry, I didn’t realize I didn’t let go. I only held it so I didn’t leave you behind when I made a run for it.”

“You’re not good at hiding your emotions.” He says, petting her head. 

She closes her eyes, enjoying the pets, before opening her eyes wide and backing away. “Hey! Don’t make fun of me! I might as well be a pup; I’ve only been a werewolf for a few months.”

“I’m not making fun of you; I was comforting you. And I thought you said you weren’t a werewolf.” 

“Huh, ugh, grrrr. Ok, I’m not a real one. I have Joshua's disease; look it up when you have time. But until my magick stabilizes, I can’t remove the potion's effects, or I’ll lose my magick. It just so happened to be a werewolf potion that triggered the flare-up. I’ll be human again once my magick stabilizes. Oh, and um, thanks for the comfort.”

Before Ein can say anything, two people walk up to them. 

“If it isn’t Kitty!” Zenix says. 

“What are you doing hiding?” Sasha asks. 

She sighs. “I thought I told you I’m mad at you and won’t be talking to you until you clean up your act.”

“You did, but we didn’t feel like listening.” 

“Don’t tell me you are cheating on Gene with him.” Zenix points at Ein.

“Grrr. Gene and I aren’t dating! And you know that! I don’t care if he says he is waiting for me; he is waiting for nothing! It’s creepy for someone out of high school to date a high schooler! He agrees but doesn’t want to listen to his own disgust!” 

“Ahh, these must be Gene’s so-called Shadow Knights.” Ein says. 

“Yes, they are. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you they are nothing but trouble. They weren’t so bad last year, but now they are acting up because their boss is gone.”

“I am the new leader of the Shadow Knights! We will show everyone we are still scary even without Gene.” Zenix claims. 

She laughs. “You two, scary? A little white bunny and a tiny firecracker. You’ll be lucky if people don’t switch to bullying you instead.”

“It’s not just us two; Zane’s in the group, too! You’ll see! We will grow and take over this school once again!” He stomps off, Sasha following him. 

She sighs. Zane still joined them even though he seemed to have lost interest in them for a while. With Gene gone, they must have seemed approachable again.

“I’m sorry about them. I wouldn’t recommend getting involved with them unless you want to be ostracized by everyone in school.” She sighs.

Ein looks at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Ostracized. Means outcast. A group of people will avoid and ignore you.”

“I'm already ostracized. I’m the omega.”

“Huh? You are? I was only joking when I called you that when we first met!”

“You didn’t know? I thought you were only helping me because you didn’t have a choice since your sister failed at her job.”

“How was I supposed to know? No one told me! I don’t know why you are the omega, but I’ll clear it up with the others soon. You won’t be the omega while I’m alpha. And yes, it's partly true that I helped you because my sister failed, but I also did it because I wanted to.”

“The same way all werewolves know. Can’t you smell it on me?” 

“Smell it?” She puts her face close to his chest as she sniffs him. “You just smell nice, like some kind of wood. Mahogany and teakwood, maybe? What exactly am I supposed to be smelling for?” 

“It should be an unpleasant smell that the omega produces. Similar to how the alpha produces a certain pleasant scent.”

“There’s a slightly sour smell, but it’s not that bad.” She sniffs him for a bit longer before pulling back. “Well, thanks for telling me. No one’s ever explained stuff like that to me since it was intuitive to them. By the end of the week, I’ll make sure everyone knows you aren’t the omega anymore.”

“Why would you do that?” 

“Cause I don’t like it. You’re new here; if anything, they should be helping you adjust. Honestly, I think the whole omega thing is just cruel. I get why it existed in the first place, but it’s unneeded now. I plan on doing the same thing we did last year, so don’t worry about it.”

“What happened last year?”

“The male alpha took on both titles. It confused everyone at first, but they got used to it quickly. He was well-liked, and it was just his way of saying he won’t pick someone as omega. He didn’t want to subject someone to that cruelty.”

“But there needs to be an omega! The pack won’t be balanced otherwise.” 

“You’d be surprised how balanced a pack can be without one. Just watch and see; it will work better than you think.”

She gets up and puts her hand out for him to grab. This time, he holds it, standing up with her. They both dust themselves off before she goes back to touring him around the school. 

Once the day was over, they walked out of school together. “Hey, Aph!” Wisteria says as she sees Aphmau waiting for their mother to pick them up. 

“Hey, Wisty, huh, and him?” She says, confused, as she turns around and sees them. 

“How could you lose not only your mentee but also your phone in one day?” She says as she holds up her sister’s phone. 

“My phone!” She tries to grab it, but she holds it up so she can’t reach it. 

“Not so fast. First, apologize and thank the one who found it for you. He tried giving it to you earlier, but you left him behind.” She points at Ein. 

“He was? Why didn’t you say so?” 

“I tried, but you didn’t let me talk, so—” Ein gets cut off. 

“Didn’t let you talk? I was mentoring you!”

“I know, and I understand if you are bad at it. Don’t worry.” 

“What?” She screeches while Wisteria laughs. 

“I thought I told you to apologize and thank him,” Wisteria says, trying to hide her laughter. 

“He called me a bad mentor!” 

“Well, he isn’t wrong! You abandoned him and didn't listen to him in case he had any questions. Now, apologize and thank him before I tell Mom what you lost.”

“Fine! I’m sorry for being a bad mentor, and thank you for finding my phone for me,” She pouts, but cheers up when her phone is handed to her. 

Sylvanna pulls up and yells from the car. “Mijas. Vamos! Wait? Is that a boy?” 

“Mom!” 

 “Sorry, but we have to go. Thank you again for finding my sister’s phone, and sorry about her being rude.” Wisteria says before running to the car.

Both girls hop into the car before their mother can say or do anything else to embarrass them. Ein watched them drive off before he made his way home. 

Chapter Text

It is the morning before the second day of school. Wisteria and Aphmau walk down the stairs and into the kitchen. “Good morning, mijas,” Sylvanna shouts. 

“Morning, Mom.” Aphmau yawns. 

“Morning,” Wisteria says as she goes to pull out a box of cereal. 

“Not so fast, mija. I made breakfast tacos!” Sylvanna says. 

“Thanks, Mom!” Aphmau says, instantly waking up as she sits down and eats her tacos. Wisteria puts the box away and sits down, happily munching on her tacos.

“So, tell me. Who was that boy you two were talking to after school yesterday?”

“I knew something was up! You don’t just make breakfast tacos.” She eyes her. 

“What? No. Psh, I just wanted to make you tacos because I love you… and because I wanted to find out who that boy was.”

“Mom, sit down. We need to talk.”

“But—” 

“No buts! Sit.” Wisteria gets up and grabs her mother’s shoulders, gently guiding her to a chair, forcing her to sit. 

“Mom, this year we told you we would be mentors. Which means we will be mentoring both boys and girls. Which means if you see us with a boy after school, it is very likely we are helping him with something.” Aphmau explains. 

“I get that, but you don’t know how boys think!” 

“Like every other high schooler?”

“Exactly! High school is a dangerous place, and as your mother, it is my job to make sure you girls survive it.”

“We survived our first year!”

“Almost! You almost survived it. You have no idea how worried I was, especially when it came to that boy Aaron. Thank Irene; he is no longer around. The idea of either of you getting smoochie with him is ugh. This year, however, I decided to take a preemptive strike!”

“Mother.” Wisteria glares at her mother. “Aaron is our friend; he may be off at college, but we’re both going to stay in contact with him. He is a good guy, whether you see it or not. I won’t have you bashing him because you refuse to get to know him.”

“But mija, he’s a boy!” 

“So is Dad. He’s a bad boy, too! Explain yourself on that one.”

“Eh,” The doorbell rings, and Sylvanna happily takes that as her chance to run away. “Oh, I’ll get it.”

She opens the door to reveal Eric standing on the other side. They welcome each other before he steps in. 

“Let me guess, you didn’t tell them?” He says, seeing how Aphmau and Wisteria are confused by him being there so early in the morning. 

“Hey Aphmau, Wisteria,” Katelyn says as she and her brother Kacey step in. 

“Katelyn! Wait? What’s going on?” Aphmau asks. 

“Well, you see. If you are walking in a group, boys are less likely to approach you, so…” Sylvanna drifts off. 

“So we are walking to school, buddies.” Katelyn happily says as Kacey blushes. 

“Wow, this is so cool!” Aphmau cheers. 

“Isn’t it? And if any boys mess with ya, Kacey will show ‘em what’s what. Right, little man?” Eric says, throwing punches into the air. 

“Uhh, sure?” He says nervously. 

“Heh, don’t listen to my dad. I can take care of any guy, any day. Anyways, come on, we have to go to school.” Katelyn says. 

“Right behind you guys!” Aphmau rushed out the door after them. 

“Wait! But our breakfast tacos? Ugh.” Wisteria took one last big bite before dejectedly following them, leaving the rest of her tacos behind. 

They walk to school together, happily chatting the whole way there. Once at the front door, Katelyn runs off to help the Volleyball team, and Wisteria goes around talking to the werewolves. 

“Dottie, Rylan, Daniel. Morning!” Wisteria says, walking up to them. 

“Alpha! Good morning!” Dottie exclaims. 

“You are talking to us so early today!” Daniel says. 

“Do you need us for something?” Rylan asks, happy to help her with anything. 

“I do. If you three don’t mind helping me spread the word on something.”

“Anything for you, Alpha!” Dottie says. 

“I’m sure you know that Ein is the omega. I’m changing that. We are doing things the same as last year, so let everyone know I am the new omega.”

“What? You can’t do that!” Daniel worries. “What if people are rude to you?”

“Yeah! The alpha male last year was strong enough to beat up anyone who had a problem with him. You’re not strong like him. We don’t want to see you get hurt!” Rylan says. 

She pats each of their heads. “Thanks for worrying about me, but I don’t like the omega system. It's too cruel to ostracize someone. I’ll still be alpha, so people won’t ostracize me. Plus, I sparred with Aaron all summer, so I’m stronger than I look.” 

She flexes her arms, giving them all a big smile to help cheer them up. It wasn’t as if they could see much, as her uniform covered what little muscles she did have. 

“Alright, Alpha! We’ll do this for you.” Dottie says excitedly. 

“You’re right! You can handle anything. You’re amazing!” Daniel says. 

The three of them quickly scurry off, splitting up and spreading the news to all the werewolf students. 

Wisteria lets out a sigh of relief. “That’s one problem down… but who do I pick for alpha?” She whispers to herself as she makes her way to homeroom, not noticing the silver eyes following her. 

She ruffles Garroth and Laurence’s hair before sitting down in her seat. “Hey, you two. How’s your schedule looking today?”

“Pretty good. We have creative writing together first period. What about you?” Laurence asks.  

“Lucky! You’ll be in class with Aph! I have trig first period.” She groans. 

“Ooh, tough luck. At least it will be done and over with early in the day?” Garroth tries to comfort her. 

“That’s true. I have second lunch at least. Not too early and not too late in the day.” 

“Aww, we have third lunch. I’m going to be starving by the time it starts.”

“At least you guys won’t be as hungry for practice then if you ate earlier.”

They continue to chat until the bell rings, signaling it is time to head to first period. They waved goodbye before they went their separate ways to class. 

Wisteria walks into her class and sees no one she recognizes. She knows a few of the werewolf students, but not well enough to want to approach them. She finds a seat in the back and sits down, hoping someone she knows will walk in and join her.

“Kitty,” Kai calls out as he sits down next to her. 

“Huh? Where did you hear that name?” She looked at him, surprised, not expecting someone to sneak past her view and sit next to her. 

“When you helped my sister. That’s what the Shadow Knights called you as they ran away. I’ve never met a werewolf named Kitty before.”

"She sighs. “That’s more of a nickname they decided to give me. My real name's Wisteria. Yours is Kai, right?”

“Wisteria. That’s a nice name. And yes, it is. How did you know?”

“Same way you did. Your sister called it out when you came over to check on her.”

A seat moves to the other side of Wisteria. “You got rid of my title,” Ein says as he sits down. 

“Oh, hey, Ein. Yeah, I did. Weight off your shoulders, huh?” 

“I still don’t understand—” He tries to talk, but gets cut off. 

“Who is this? A friend of yours?” Kai asks. 

“Oh yes, let me introduce you two. This is Ein; he’s just transferred here, but he’s a sophomore like me. Ein, this is Kai. You’re a senior, right?” 

“It’s nice to meet you, Ein. And yes, I am a senior.”

“Hmm, likewise,” Ein says, trying not to make his displeasure noticeable. 

“Alright, class…” The teacher goes on to explain what the year will look like in his class and what materials they will need. 

The bell rings, and the three of them walk out of class together. Kai and Wisteria are talking, while Ein follows a step behind them. 

“I didn’t realize you were only a sophomore; you look older,” Kai says. 

“Oh yeah, long story. I actually made cards, so I don’t have to explain it anymore. Here.” She hands over a notecard explaining Joshua's disease. 

He quickly skims it. “Huh, that’s strange. So you’re not a werewolf? But you have the ears and tail?” 

“Yep. I’m actually human, but until my magick stabilizes, the ears and tail stay.” She chuckles. 

“A human named Kitty.” He chuckles. “Still, a strange nickname you have.”

“Don’t call me Kitty. It’s bad enough that they do. Call me by my name or make up a nickname for me.” She sighs while looking at the time. “Sorry, I have to go now. I’ll see you later; I have to go mentor students now.” 

She waves goodbye and walks away, heading to pick up her armband before helping students. Silver and golden eyes follow her as she walks away. 

Wisteria is talking to a freshman, completely unaware that someone is stalking her. She turns to give directions to the student, pointing at where they need to go. 

“I challenge you—” Maria gets cut off as she gets backhanded, sending her flying into the nearby lockers. 

“Oh my Irene! Are you ok?” Wisteria steps forward to check on the flattened-out Maria, not even realizing she won a challenge. 

“You win this time! But I won’t give up!” She gets up and runs away, her pride wounded. 

“I-I guess she’s fine? I’m sorry about that. Why don’t I just show you the way instead? The library is this way,” She says, guiding the freshman. 

After she helped the freshman to the library, she went to lunch and put her head on the table, groaning. “I hope that’s not going to cause any problems. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Hey, Kitten. I see we have lunch together.” Lucinda says, taking a seat next to her. 

She lifts her head and looks at her. “Hey, Lu. Do you know if anyone else has lunch with us?” 

“Wisteria! Lucinda.” Katelyn says as she and her brother walk up to them. She sits across from them, her brother sitting next to her. 

“Katelyn. I see you are multiplying now.” Lucinda jokes. 

An argument ensues between the two girls as usual. Kacey seemed nervous, unsure of what to do. He was used to them fighting, but he thought he would have Katelyn to talk to. Instead, she was distracted. 

“So Kacey, how’d your first day of school go?” Wisteria asks. 

“I-it went well! I’m having a little trouble finding my classes, and I don’t have friends in my classes, b-but today hasn’t been too bad.” He nervously stutters.

“How ‘bout when lunch is over, I’ll take you to your next class so you don’t have any problems finding it? What do you have next?”

“I have P.E. next.”

She beams. “Me too! I guess you're stuck with me whether you like it or not.” 

“I’m glad. I won’t be alone then.”

“I know, class is boring when you don’t know anyone. But with time, you’ll make friends here, so don’t get too down about it.” 

“Do you really think so? I-I’m not sure many people would want to be friends with someone like me.” 

“I know so. Aph and I also came to school knowing no one but each other. We were both worried about making friends, but look at us now. We have plenty.  Sides, worst comes to worst, you always have me, so you’ll never be alone.” 

“T-thanks.” He finally seems to relax, feeling a little more sure about his future. 

They all continue chatting. Katleyn and Lucinda joined the conversation once they had had enough of arguing with each other. Which later turned back into arguing over Kacey and Wisteria until lunch was over. 

Kacey and Wisteria walked to the gymnasium together and sat on the bleachers. Slowly, more and more students came in and sat as well. 

“Wisty!” Vylad happily calls out as he climbs the bleachers, sitting near her. “I love Zane, but I am so glad I don’t have to be stuck in this class with him alone.” 

“Hey, Vivi. I don’t know if you two have met yet, but this is Kacey. Kacey, this is Vylad. But, umm, what did Zane do to set you off already? You’re normally too level-headed for his tantrums to get to you.” 

“Hi.” Kacey shyly waves to him.

“Nice to meet you, Kacey, but Zane was asked to join the Shadow Knights a week before school started. Since then, it’s as if he’s flipped. He would just ignore me before, but he’s taken to being a jerk now. It’s past his normal moodiness with Garroth.” Vylad explains. 

“Really? It’s only the first real day of school. How’d the power get to his head so quickly?” She asks. 

“I think finally being accepted into the gang is why it went straight to his head. What I'm more worried about is I heard him muttering to himself last night about becoming the leader.”

She sighs. “Gene’s gone. I bet he’s trying to steal what was his or make a name for himself that beats Gene’s. He used to look up to him, but kept getting bashed by him; it takes a toll.”

“I-I’m sorry to interrupt, but who is Zane? I thought there were only two members in the Shadow Knights? I’ve only met a white-haired girl and a guy with red contacts.” Kacey shyly questions. 

“Do you see that emo-looking kid in the corner?” Vylad points over at Zane. “That’s Zane, my brother. He’s the new addition. I don’t know how you met them, but it’s best if you avoid them.”

“Yeah. I don’t want to talk to them again. They bumped into me when Aphmau was mentoring me. They were kind of scary.”

“Trust me, they aren’t scary, but it’s still best if you avoid them. They're more bark than bite. They’ve just been acting up cause the old leader graduated, and they realized they aren’t scary without him,” She says. 

“Zane trying to become Gene’s replacement makes sense. Wasn’t Gene into you? You don’t think Zane is going to try and date you just to rub it in his face?” Vylad questions. 

Her face drops as she looks over at Zane. “Irene, I hope not. That would be like me trying to date Aph, bleh.” She sticks her tongue out. She didn’t truly see him as a brother, but she wasn’t going to let others know that. 

He laughs. He doesn’t know what happened between her and Zane; he only knows they were close. He thought it was a little weird when they didn’t hang out over the summer, but figured that was just his brother’s antisocial nature. He had no way of knowing Wisteria was avoiding spending time alone with him.

To him, she is almost like the sister he never had. She is always supporting him and trying to help him bridge the gap with Zane. She also supports his secret that he hasn't had the heart to tell his brothers or anyone else about.

“Alright, class! Come down and grab your P.E. uniforms! They have your names written on them, so find the one with your name on it. Next, find a locker, put your lock on it, then write your locker number and combination on this piece of paper.

“Stack the papers here. You don’t have to get changed today; I’ll let you enjoy a free day since it’s the first class. But next class, you will change into them. I expect you all to be changed and ready in the gymnasium within the first five minutes of class.” The P.E. teacher yells. 

Everyone slowly files their way over to find their P.E. uniform. The group splits up as Wisteria goes into the girls' locker room, finding a locker to put her stuff into. Vylad keeps Kacey company in the boys' locker room. 

They meet back up in the gymnasium, relaxing and talking for the rest of class until the bell rings. They say their goodbyes as Wisteria walks Kacey to his last class before going to her last class of the day, werewolf class. 

She walks in and instantly gets a large greeting. “Alpha!”

“It’s the female alpha!” 

“I can’t believe I have werewolf class with her!”

Multiple of the werewolves chatter about, and many of them come up and greet her at the door. “Will you sit with me?”

“No, sit with me!”

“Hey, alpha. Long time no see.” Fenrir says, pushing his way through the crowd. “Want to sit with me again this year?”

She lets out a sigh of relief, happy she doesn’t have to struggle with whom to partner with. “Su-” Her sigh came too soon, as another werewolf came in behind her, throwing Fenrir out a window.

“Alpha, why don’t we sit together?” Blaze confidently says as he dusts off his hands after throwing Fenrir out the window.  

“Fenrir!” She nervously looks out the window, seeing him already shake off the fall from the third story. “Grrr, what did I say about breaking windows?”

“Umm, not to?” 

“Exactly! You’re going to sit with me so I can make sure you don’t cause any more trouble!” She pinches his ear as she walks to Aphmau’s old seat, letting his ear go before she sits. “Now, sit. Everyone!”

“Oww, yes, Alpha,” He says as he sits next to her. Happy he won the spot next to her, even if she was still mad at him.

Everyone in the class quickly scurries to their seat, sitting down without making a fuss. They excitedly whisper to each other until Gavin comes in, starting class. He was happy to see her taking his class even though she wasn’t a real werewolf. It was good for her to learn more since she was alpha. 

When class ended, everyone flooded out into the halls, excited for the school day to be over, but Gavin stopped Wisteria on her way out. 

“Since this is the first year that an alpha has kept their title for more than a year, things are going to work a little differently. You are going to have a lot of boys asking you to appoint them the title of alpha. Do you have someone in mind?” He questioned. 

“Not yet. It’s only the second day of school. Although I do have a plan for how to choose! I was going to explain it after school in werewolf club today. Do you think it would be possible to get the principal to agree to let me use the gymnasium or the field for a day after school?” 

“I don’t see why not, but what would you need that for? As much as I would love to see a fighting competition, I doubt she would allow it.”

“Well, I’m not exactly attuned enough to pick up the same signals other werewolves are, so I was going to simplify things. I was going to have anyone interested in being an alpha interview for it. It will be a few boring questions to help me decide on alpha, but then afterwards, I want to hold an event. 

“I was going to use the werewolf club to help me set it up. Maybe a game of capture the flag or an obstacle course, or something else. Just something physical and fun that isn’t fighting. I figured everyone could join, not just the alpha candidates.”

He scratches his chin, thinking for a moment. “Hmm, it's different from how things are normally decided, but it seems you have thought things out. I’ll get permission for you. I look forward to seeing who you’ll pick.”

He walks out of the classroom. Not a moment later, members of the werewolf club start flooding in. 

“Alright, everyone! Welcome to Werewolf club. If you haven’t done so already, please sign this list saying you would like to join the club. You have until the end of the meeting to do it before the list closes.” She shouts as they come in. 

A few of the werewolves walk up to the desk and write their names on the list. The others who signed up during the club fair sit down, waiting for further instructions. 

“As you already know, I'm the female alpha, but this is Clovis; he is the co-leader of the werewolf club. Many of you probably met him at the club social as he was running the club booth. He'll be here to run the club if I’m too busy to come one day. It's thanks to him that this club exists, so treat him with respect!”

She points to a taller, more muscular version of Daniel. He steps up, lifting his hand in an awkward wave. “Hey, everyone.” 

“Woo! That’s my big brother!” Daniel excitedly cheers. Dottie and Rylan cheer with him.

“Since a couple of you have asked me if it was a rumor, no, Ein is no longer the omega. We're doing things the same way as last year. I’ll be your omega and alpha. If you disagree, fight me; I'll still be the omega regardless of who wins."

A few of the werewolves' eyes widened as she challenged anyone to fight her if they disagreed with her decision. No one would be able to fight her if they didn't want her to be the omega, because losing would result in her losing her title and becoming the omega. It was a lose-lose situation. 

“Alright, now onto the main agenda. I need to pick an alpha, but I don't want to pick just anyone. I want to pick someone who will be beneficial to everyone. So I need your help. All of your help.”

“Our help?” Dottie questions.

“Anything for you, Alpha!” Rylan excitedly shouts. Chants range from the other werewolves in the club. All happy to help, but curious what she might need from them. 

“We are eventually going to make flyers and place them around the school to let everyone know that there will be an event. Everyone is invited. The alpha candidates will be interviewed, and I will make a decision. After the alpha male is picked, we will start the werewolf games!

“I need help deciding what you guys would like to play or see the most. Would it be best to do an obstacle course and watch people run it? Or a large group activity, such as capture the flag, where even those who aren’t candidates can join in?”

They discuss how the event will go for the rest of the club time. Wisteria writes down everyone’s idea, and the plan is set. At the next meeting, they will work on flyers and gather the materials for their event.

“Alright, everyone, last chance to sign up!” Clovis calls out before the meeting gets called to a close. 

Aphmau quickly scurries into the room. “C-can I still join?” 

“EEE!” Wisteria runs up and hugs her sister, nuzzling her face into hers. “I knew you would come around and join!”

“Let go of me! I’m only joining because you and Aaron keep telling me I need to learn more about werewolves.” She squirms her way out of her sister’s arms before signing the list. 

“I know my sister isn’t a werewolf, but I’m technically not either. I hope you all will still be welcoming to her!” 

Cheers erupt; everyone is just happy that their alpha is happy. Everyone likes Aphmau; she often helps the werewolves and her sister without realizing it. They don’t mind humans in the club as long as they show interest and have fun with them.

Chapter Text

Wisteria had been spending the last two weeks preparing for alpha auditions and the werewolf games. During that time, she unknowingly and knowingly defeated multiple of Maria’s attempts at becoming alpha. 

Either she got lucky with her getting distracted somehow, or she would straight up walk into her, somehow getting knocked back before she could prepare. She even accidentally dropped a stack of books on her foot one time because of her attempts. 

It took Gavin a while, but the principal finally agreed to let them hold the event after school in the field. Then, finally, the day came. The werewolf games were about to begin.

Wisteria had all her questions written down, knew how to give a grand reveal, and had a surprise planned for everyone. The only one who knew her plan was Aphmau, as she had to help her with it. 

The students who planned on watching were beginning to gather and sit on the bleachers. She was standing on a makeshift stage they made so she could run the event more smoothly. 

The alpha candidates were waiting inside to be revealed as the bleachers were filling with students. Wisteria was nervously standing on stage, her sister there for moral support. 

“Irene, why did I think this was a good idea? There are so many ways this can backfire! And in front of so many witnesses!” She paces back and forth on the stage. 

“It will be alright, Wisty! You planned everything out, and things are going to go exactly how you want them to! Look, even Aaron agrees! Right, Aaron?” Aphmau says, holding her phone up with Aaron on speakerphone. 

“Aph told me about your plan, and it’s surprisingly not bad, considering you came up with it. You got this, you flying rat.” He says, half encouraging, half teasing her. 

“Thanks, guys.” She sighs.

Dottie, Rylan, and Daniel run up excited. “It’s time! Everyone is settled,” Dottie says. 

“We have everything set up to begin!” Daniel says. 

“Yeah! The alpha candidates are right outside the door, so when you give us the cue, they will come out!” Rylan says. 

“Whew, I guess this is it. Phew, okay.” She says before clearing her throat. 

She steps forward in front of the crowd. She stands tall, takes a deep breath, and shows only her confident side. The nerves she had are pushed to the back of her mind as she speaks. 

“Welcome, everyone!” She shouts, and everyone begins to quiet down. “This is the moment you've all been waiting for! Today is the day I choose the alpha male, and you all get to watch!”

She gives the hand signal to the pup trio to open the door for the alpha candidates to walk through. Seven male werewolves walk through; she knew some better than others. 

She was only told how many would be participating and not who would be. She knew some, as they had told her beforehand, but Ein surprised her. He never told her he planned on joining the competition.

He was no longer an outcast, but he didn’t have any friends yet. He was still treated differently, as he came from a different tribe. She didn’t expect him to fight for the title of alpha, considering he was only a sophomore and was still disliked. 

The crowd erupts into hoots and hollers, chants and cheers, and excitement all around. Some of the candidates had more recognition than others. 

“Alright, please stand in front of me on the X’s we put on the floor.” She points to the seven X’s taped to the grass so they can be appropriately spaced. They each find their spot as the crowd cheers begin to die down. 

“Please introduce yourself loud and proud for the crowd! Starting with...” She points at the werewolf on the very left. 

“I’m Raven!” 

“My name is Evan!”

“Ein!”

The others reveal their names, each getting a varying amount of cheers that Wisteria was secretly scoring. It got to the last candidate, who got the most cheers.

“My name shines brighter than the sun! My name is Blaze!” He flexes for the crowd, gaining cheers. 

“Thank you all for your introductions. Now, I have a series of questions and tests I will give each of you. My amazing sister will be recording your scores for me! At the end, we will tally them and reveal the winner.” 

Aphmau waves behind her, holding a clipboard in her hand. They had a system preplanned where Wisteria could stick up her fingers behind her back to let Aphmau know what scores to write. 

“Question number one! Are you all excited to be here?”

The candidates give a variety of answers, all yes. Proving their excitement. Not a question for points, but a good way to keep energy high. She knew the werewolves would get bored quickly during the interview section, so she did her best to keep it lively. 

“Alright. Good, that means I haven’t screwed anything up yet.” She laughs. “Number two. What makes you think you would be a good alpha?” 

“That’s easy. First off, I’m a great hunter.” Blaze tosses her a bouquet of a dead bird. She quickly placed it on the floor next to her, not wanting to hold onto it for a second longer.

“Secondly, I’m charming. I know how to talk my way out of any situation. Finally, I’m one of the strongest werewolves in school!” He chuckles as he rips off his shirt, flinging it into the crowd. 

A couple of the girls go wild, screaming, holding his shirt. Wisteria and Aphmau cover their faces as they blush.

“Ok then! Uhh, can the crowd please throw back his shirt so he can put it back on?” Wisteria shouts. 

“What? You don’t like what you see?” He flexes more, showing off each toned muscle.  

Forced to uncover her face to have a proper conversation, her red face and wagging tail were easy for all to see. Her eyes were fixated on him as he flexed, enjoying the way his muscles moved and how his scars looked. 

“N-no, it’s not that I don’t like what I see, but more so it's distracting and I don’t need—” She gets cut off before she can continue. 

The rest of the candidates shout things like, ‘I’m strong and fit too,’ as they follow Blaze in taking off their shirts and throwing them into the crowd, which goes wild. 

Aphmau screeches as she pulls her sister into a huddle to talk. “Wisty, what do we do? They are all doing it now!”

“I don’t know! Do I somehow make this part of the test?” 

“I don’t know! Why did they all strip? Is it a werewolf thing?”

“I mean, they don’t wear clothes in their werewolf form, so they are more comfortable being naked than humans. But do I need to take into account their physical form and not just their strength? What do I do? This isn’t exactly something they teach in werewolf 101!”

“I don’t know! I barely passed werewolf class! You got an A! Just do something!”

The girls break up their huddle, and Wisteria clears her throat as she steps back into position. She kept a straight face, but her face was bright red. Her tail betrayed her, wagging like crazy behind her. 

“Alright, everyone, please calm down. Yes, I know you're all strong; that is why you are here. But we haven’t gotten to that part of the test yet, so please, for the love of everything holy and evil, find your shirts so I can focus!”

They look back at the crowd; a few of the shirts are thrown forward, but some seem to have somehow gotten ‘lost.’ In the end, it is decided that they all can keep their shirts off in the name of fairness. 

Wisteria’s tail was wagging like crazy on full display for everyone to see. Her eyes were trying to stay on the boys’ faces, but she couldn’t help but glance down at their bodies. Enjoying their toned muscles and scars. 

They didn’t mind her wandering eyes. If anything, they enjoyed having them on them, hating when she would have to switch focus onto another male. Even if they couldn’t be alpha, being her mate would be the next best thing. 

She continues asking her questions. She only had five, as she did not want things to be boring for too long. Ein and Blaze were neck and neck for points. The crowd, liking Blaze, gave him an advantage over Ein, but the werewolves could learn to like Ein if he became alpha. 

“Alright, that is all the questions. Now, for the fun part. I would like you all to pick a piece of paper from this hat, then show the symbol to the crowd.” She holds out a hat filled with small slips of paper. 

They each grab a piece of paper before standing back, opening it, and showing it to the crowd. As they do that, the pup trio and Clovis pull out four desks. 

“Those are your pairings! Those with hearts, desk one; clubs, desk two; spades, desk three; and finally diamonds, desk four. Since there is an odd number, I asked Mr. Gavin to step in to fill the gap.” She points to each desk as she speaks.

They step to their assigned tables. Gavin somehow ended up taking his shirt off in all the chaos instead of helping her keep them dressed. The crowd screams as he walks forward while she laughs. Gavin being shirtless is the same as seeing your dad shirtless—not attractive, but nothing to scream at. 

It was kind of comforting to see him like that. He was chuckling at everyone’s response, yet comfortable in his body, not bothering to cover up. He was a true teddy bear, with a golden heart through and through. Yet she knew he would destroy the world to protect his kids if he had to. 

It unlocked a memory she had long forgotten from her past life. When she was young, still learning how to swim, her dad was laughing at something. It was full-body laughter, his smile ear to ear, yet she couldn’t remember what he was laughing or smiling about.

Knowing him, it was probably because of one of his girls. He always said the thing he was most proud of in life was his three beautiful girls: his wife and two daughters. 

She shakes her head, trying to clear her head of the useless thoughts. She promised herself she wouldn’t look back. That person was dead. There was no going back to the girl whose name she refused to speak. 

“This is an arm wrestling competition to test your strength! You are welcome to use any means of distracting your competitor. Each win will earn you points. Get in position, and when I say go, you’ll all begin!”

They all bend down, excitedly smack-talking each other. The student against Mr. Gavin was dreading it as he was forced to hold his hand as he stared at his shirtless form. 

“Ready, set, go!”

They all began arm wrestling, using all their might to win. Some ended almost immediately, slamming their opponents' arms into the desk. Others took a little longer, as their strength was more evenly matched. 

“Round one winners are Blaze, Mr. Gavin, Ein, and Raven! For round two, please step back up and pick a new symbol.” 

The crowd cheered for the winners as they came up, picking a new symbol out of the hat. Daniel and Rylan ran up and stole two of the desks. 

“Alright, circles go to desk one and squares to desk two! Same deal as last time. When I say go, you begin!” 

They get into position, ready to begin, and set off as soon as she says go. Blaze and Raven struggled against each other until Blaze slowly gained the upper hand, pushing Raven's arm into the desk, winning. 

Ein and Gavin set up, struggling against each other. For his age, he was still in good shape and could go toe-to-toe with any of the teenagers as if he were still in his prime. Ein, refusing to lose, said something about a broken window, causing Gavin to get distracted and lose. 

The crowd cheers for the winners, with a few awws going off for those who have lost. They were glad Mr. Gavin was out of the race, but they also thought it would be funny if he won the arm wrestling competition. 

“Last round! Blaze versus Ein, who will win?” 

Dottie runs up and steals the extra desk as the two walk up to the last desk. The crowd goes wild, excited about who will win, even though it doesn’t mean they will become alpha. 

“Ready, set… Go!” She shouts as they set off. 

They were at a standstill; Ein was slowly beginning to lose. He did his best to win with his strength, but refusing to lose, he licks his opponent's hand, causing Blaze to scream ew and instantly get his hand slammed into the table. 

“Hey! He licked me! That’s cheating!” Blaze shouts, wiping the saliva off his hand. 

“Sorry, Blaze, but I did say you could distract your opponent, and he did. Same as in a fight, a distraction could mean losing. Fighting dirty may be cheap, but it's a strategy that works. Ein is our winner for the arm wrestling competition!” 

The crowd cheered and muttered. Some liked how Ein did anything to win; others were upset at Blaze’s loss, as he was stronger and should have won. 

“I will now count up everyone's score and, in a few minutes, reveal who will be the alpha male! Of course, if anyone has an issue with who I pick, I don’t care. You know how to take someone's spot the traditional way.” She shouts before walking off stage. 

She walks far away with Aphmau to look at everyone’s score. They are careful to whisper and not be followed, not wanting anyone to overhear them. 

“Blaze is the winner. He won by one point.” Aphmau says. 

“One point? Who was second?” Wisteria asks. 

“Ein. Are you sure you want Blaze to be alpha with you? He gave you a dead bird. Plus, Ein seems nice; he’s been asking me a lot of questions about humans lately.”

She goes wide-eyed, remembering what he gave her. She was too distracted earlier by their shirtless bodies and flexing muscles to clarify anything. Did some of them think that this position was also for them to be her mate? 

The dead bird was wrapped nicely like a bouquet would be. Was he taking his shirt off not only to show his strength but to seduce her? Was he just proving his skills, or was he also flirting?

“Well, as impressive as Ein’s responses were, there is something off with them. I can’t put my finger on what, though. Blaze is also popular with the werewolves, whereas Ein is still struggling to get close to the others. They will like Blaze more as a choice.”

“Alright, then let’s go back and do the grand reveal.”

They walk back. Her tail instantly wagged again as soon as her eyes landed on the half-naked boys in front of her. She silenced the crowd as soon as she spoke. 

“It's time for the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The grand reveal!”

The crowd hoots and hollers, excited to finally have a male alpha. She waits a moment for dramatic effect. “The male alpha will be…" The pup trio bangs on the desks for dramatic effect. "Blaze!” 

As the crowd goes wild, he walks forward, bending down slightly to be eye level with her, grabbing her hand with both of his. “I will be a great alpha. Thank you for choosing me.” 

He bends down more, gently kissing the back of her hand. This caused the crowd to go even wilder, while a certain someone was growling, unable to step forward to stop it.

Her face blazed red, her tail wagging increased in speed as he stood back up, pulling her close to him, and lifting her hand with his as everyone cheered. Her heart was racing as she could feel his muscles against her. She nervously gives Aphmau the sign to do the secret they had planned.

“Now it is time for the werewolf games to begin!” She shouts as Aphmau slams a werewolf potion down at her feet, growing a pair of purple ears and a tail. She quickly whispers to Blaze, “Start a howl.”

He doesn’t think for a second before he howls. Everyone soon followed suit. Aphmau and Wisteria joined in once enough people started, too embarrassed to start the howl themselves. 

Once the howl drifted off, she started guiding everyone to where the game was set up and explained the rules. It was capture the flag, but with one twist. Instead of one flag, there were three cute squeaky pig toys on each side.

Only one could be moved at a time, and once stolen, it had to be placed with the other toys on the new side. If the other team is not careful, they could steal it back. Once one side gets all six pigs onto their side, they win. 

Those in jail had to wait to be rescued by another member. Only one person could be rescued at a time, and they were required to link arms as they escaped jail. That way, everyone knew they could not be tagged until they returned safely and recrossed into enemy territory. 

Once everyone had changed into their gym uniforms, she counted off everyone so the teams would be fair. She made sure each team was even both in strength and number before she let their game begin. 

Aphmau was happy to have the werewolf potion this time so she could join in the games. It was the werewolf games; it only made sense if she became a werewolf to join in. They made sure this time it would only last two hours and not multiple days. 

Wisteria dragged Blaze away for a moment, wanting to talk to him before they joined the game. 

“But the game! Do we have to talk right now?” He asks impatiently, wanting to play with the others. 

“I’m sorry. I just need to check something quickly. Umm… ugh…” She nervously bites her lip, trying to form the words. 

“Huh? What’s wrong?” He switches his focus fully onto her, realizing that something is bothering her. 

“It’s just that I’m not a real werewolf, so I still get confused and don’t know all the things werewolves do. And I, um… I never said out loud that the whole alpha thing was only for alpha. 

“I realized after you gave me the dead bird that some people may assume I was… that I was trying to also find a mate, and I, um… how do I…”

“Are you trying to ask me to be your mate?” He smiled from ear to ear. 

Her face couldn’t blaze brighter, as her face was as red as it could get. “N-no! I umm… the opposite. You wrapped the bird so nicely, and I wasn’t sure how to take that. If you were just proving your hunting skills, or if it was a gift meant to mean more.

“I never learned anything about werewolf dating culture; no one taught me. So I’m not sure how, umm, most flirt. I only know about marking the person you're with. Otherwise, I’m clueless, and it’s not something I can just ask anyone about.

“I didn’t want to assume anything, but I also don’t know who else to ask about these things.” She says nervously, embarrassed. She couldn’t believe she had to ask him if he was flirting with her or not.

“It was a gift to show my interest in you. Although it also works as proof of my excellent hunting skills.” He chuckles. “I’ll be direct so you won’t be confused. Will you go out with me?”

Her eyes widened. She knew this was a possibility, but somehow didn't think it would happen. “N-no, I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t lead you on in any way.”

He smiles sadly. “You didn’t. It’s a shame; I was hoping to gain both the title of alpha and your heart. The others would have liked to see us together as well.” 

“I-I know. They like it when their alphas date, but dating’s not an option for me right now. I’m sorry.”

He didn’t enjoy being rejected, but somehow he felt worse seeing her upset, having to reject him. He chuckled at her, trying to lighten the mood. “I can teach you how to flirt and anything else you don’t know about werewolves.” 

“N-no, that’s ok! I just needed to make sure there was no misunderstanding!” She shouts before nervously running back inside, slipping into the game, not wanting to embarrass herself any longer. 

He chuckles, thinking it was cute how she was embarrassed to ask for help. He would teach her later about werewolf dating culture; maybe it would help her change her mind. He followed her inside, joining the other team. 

Unknown to both of them, Ein followed them out and listened to their conversation. She just denied Blaze as her mate. He may not have won the title of alpha, but he didn’t lose her completely. Not yet, at least. 

He could always fight for the title of alpha later. If she found a mate, it would be too late to snatch her up as his own. He wasn't sure why he was still focused on her when all he wanted was the title of alpha. Yet he still felt like she had to be his.

To make her his, he had to find a way to get her to want to have a mate. He had to figure out why she avoided dating.

Chapter Text

Wisteria yawns as she lays her head on her desk, trying to relax as much as she can in homeroom before she has to waste energy in class. 

“You look tired. Couldn’t sleep?” Garroth says as he walks up and sits in his seat. 

“I stayed up late writing.” She yawns. 

“You write? I thought only your sister did. Why aren’t you in creative writing with us?” Laurence asks. 

“I only write for fun. I learned the hard way that writing because you have to versus when you want to is very different. I hate writing when I’m forced to, and I don’t want to ruin my creative juices because of school.”

“Yeah, between soccer tryouts tomorrow and the fangirls, I can never get a moment to myself. I only write when I have to for class.” 

“They've been acting up this year. I heard they’re even working on making t-shirts. You guys should tell them to calm down and back off if they're bothering you.” She says. 

“That’s why I have a plan. I was going to tell them I have a girlfriend. Let them down gently.” Garroth says. 

“You have a girlfriend?” Laurence asks, confused. 

“No, but they don’t need to know that. I plan on faking it.” 

“You are going to lie to them? I’m not sure I could do that. What if I find a girl I actually like, but can’t approach her because she thinks I have a girlfriend?” 

“It’s up to you if you want to keep dealing with them or not. They are getting tiring, so I would rather lie and save my peace of mind.”

The bell rings, signaling the end of homeroom. They get up and start heading out of class together. “I mean, you boys can always tell everyone you two are dating. Then you’ll both be free.” She giggles. 

Their faces dropped. “NO!” He yells. 

“Don’t even joke about that!” Laurence goes to pull her back so she can’t run away after saying something awful. He misses as she giggles and runs to her next class, leaving the boys in her dust as they chase after her.

Little did she know, one of the fangirls heard what she said and didn’t take it as a joke. That rumor was big news and started a trend that wouldn’t end until the boys graduated. 

It was the next day after school. Aphmau and Wisteria came to cheer for Kacey at soccer tryouts. Aphmau had to step in between Katelyn and Wisteria when Wisteria cheered for Vylad as well. 

“Garroth made you do this. Didn’t he!” Katelyn yells as Aphmau holds her back. 

“There’s more than one position open! I can hope for them both to get in! Garroth had nothing to do with this, the same as you had nothing to do with me cheering for Kacey. I do it cause I want to!” Wisteria shouts. 

“Katelyn! Calm down. You both are cheering for Kacey; that’s all that matters!” Aphmau says, struggling to keep her back. 

Ein walks up to them. “Excuse me, can I talk to you, Alpha?” 

“Huh? Oh, hey, Ein, yeah. I need an excuse to leave anyway.” Wisteria says, beginning to walk away from the tryouts with him. 

“Yeah, you better run! You traitor!” Katelyn yells from behind Aphmau.

She was going to be the bigger person, but something snapped. “That’s it! It’s on!” She goes to lunge at Katelyn, but Ein stops her. 

He grabs her by her waist, effortlessly picking her up and carrying her under his arm like you would a toddler having a tantrum. He walks behind the bleachers, only putting her down once they are out of sight and the shouts stop.

“Grrr, why’d you stop me! You should’ve let me at her!” She complains, pacing in circles, still frustrated. 

“You said you didn’t want to get in trouble for fighting. Fighting a human in front of a crowd would get you in trouble.” He says. 

She sighs, taking a deep breath and calming down. “You’re right. Sorry, and thank you. You stopped me from doing something stupid.”

“No problem. But, um, I was wondering if maybe sometime you and I could hang out.” 

“Huh? Just us two?” She looks at him suspiciously. 

“Y-yes? Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s just you don’t talk much. We have trig together, but it's always just me and Kai talking. I was surprised you tried to become alpha simply because I didn’t think you were a people person.”

“Look, I don’t talk often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to make friends. And I would’ve made a great alpha! I just haven’t been here long enough to get to know everyone, and some people are still wary of me from being the omega.”

She sighs. “Well, if anyone gives you trouble, do let me know. They shouldn’t. And yes, I’ll hang out with you. When were you thinking?”

“How does tomorrow work?”

“Tomorrow works great. Give me your phone and I’ll put my number in.” 

Aphmau comes over to warn her that the tryouts are over. She quickly puts her number in his phone before walking away with her sister. 

The next morning, she woke up and got dressed. It’s been a while since she’s been out, so she went a little wilder than normal. She put on her favorite black dress and lacy tights. She put on a belt and added gold chains to hang from her side.

She not only put on red lipstick, blush, and mascara like normal, but she also did eyeshadow and eyeliner. A gold glitter on her eyes with the blush dusting her cheeks and nose made her look enchanting. A contrast to her dark clothing, but it suited her pale skin.  

Satisfied with her look, she sprays her cologne before double-checking to make sure she has everything she needs before heading downstairs. 

She could hear her mother screaming on the phone as she came down the stairs. She could guess it was her father based on her reaction. She wouldn’t respond that way to anyone else.

She turned the corner to speak to her. “That was Dad, wasn’t it?”

“Uh, uh, umm, no! Mija, that was—I was just talking to Mr. Ketchup! Right, Mr. Ketchup?” Sylvanna goes to make a weird voice pretending to be the ketchup bottle, but she cuts her off. 

“It’s ok, Mom. I won’t tell Aph, but you don’t have to hide it from me.”

“Don’t be silly, Mr. Ketchup and I were just talking.” 

“Alright then. Would it be alright if I went to the mall with a friend?”

She quickly changes her tune. “Is it a boy?”

“Yes. He’s one of my werewolf friends. Is that a problem?” 

“Yes, you know you two aren’t allowed to date. Wait, werewolf friends? Is this to do with what Balto’s parents said last year about you being alpha?”

“Yeah, I’m still alpha. My friend is a transfer student and hasn’t been able to make friends. I’m trying to help him out by hanging with him, but I guess since he’s a boy, I’m not allowed to be nice and helpful.” She acts dramatically, putting one hand to her chest and the other to her head, letting it fall back. 

“And I promised to help his transition to his new school go smoothly. I guess I have to tell him I can’t help anymore.” She pulls out her phone to ‘text’ him, but her mother quickly stops her. 

“W-wait! You are just helping him. Right? Not a date?”

“Not a date. Just friends. Sides, I could’ve lied and said I was hanging with a girlfriend because I knew how you'd react. Don’t you trust me?”

She sighs. “You’re right. You did tell me the truth. Alright, fine. You can go to the mall today, but you'd better be back before dinner!”

“Thanks, Mom! I love you, and don’t forget I’m here for you if you ever need me.” She hugs her before running off to leave. 

“I love you, too! And don’t forget to call me if you need a ride home! And punch him if he tries to make a move on you!” She shouts as she watches her daughter rush out the front door. 

Wisteria takes the bus to the mall. Being a bit early, she waits in their meeting spot, chilling on her phone. 

“Alpha! Hey, what are you doing here?” Clovis comes up to her and asks. 

She looks up at him, putting her phone in her purse. “Hey, Clovis. I’m meeting up with a friend. What about you?”

“Oh, I come here all the time.”

“Really? I never come to the mall by myself. I’ve always been too uncomfortable being alone in such a public place.” 

“Interesting, I quite enjoy it. By the way, you are looking quite nice today. Like, you put a lot of thought into your outfit or something.” 

“Oh, thanks. I didn’t think anyone would notice. I just felt like dressing up today. You know, look good, feel good.”

He seems to be nervously looking over her shoulder as he speaks. “Well, it shows. Do you want to spend time with me today? We could spend a lot of time shopping and getting to know each other.”

She turns around and sees Ein waiting for her. “Sorry, but I promised to hang out with a friend. I see them now. Maybe we could hang out another day?”

“That would be great.” 

She walks up towards Ein. “Hey, Ein, sorry about that. A friend from school saw me.”

“That’s alright. I didn’t mind waiting.” 

“Where do you want to go first?” 

“Wherever you want to go.” He says quickly. 

“Oh, hmmm, how bout—” Her stomach growls loudly. “Umm, my mom was being weird in the kitchen, so I may have left the house without eating. Would hitting the food court first be ok?”

“Sounds great! I’m for it!” 

They walk to the food court together, looking at the options before deciding on the asian restaurant. They wait in line. Wisteria is looking at the menu while they wait. 

“I think I’m going to get the sesame chicken. What about you?” She turns to look at him to find him staring at her butt. “Whoa! Um?”

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to stare. It’s just you say you aren’t a real werewolf, so I was trying to see if your tail or ears were fake. Yet they look so real.”

“I mean, they are real, just magickally created. I’m pretty sure you and everyone else noticed how they reveal all my emotions. Ugh.” She gets embarrassed at all the times she called herself out for not being able to control her tail properly. 

“It’s just hard to believe. If you truly are human, how do the others hold you in such high regard? Really, they shouldn’t treat you as they do a human. Is it because you keep the potion on all the time? But they also seem to respect your sister.”

“It’s because race doesn’t matter. I was little when my father left. He was a werewolf, but that didn’t gain him any respect in the family. He’s just a man who couldn’t marry my mother and left her alone with two little kids.”

“Whoa.” He freezes from her dark confession before making a realization. “So you are a werewolf!” 

“Still no. One, I’m adopted, so who knows what I am? Two, Aph never gained any ears or a tail; she’s human, like our mother. It doesn’t change that race doesn’t matter; the person's qualities do.”

He stands unsure of what to say for a moment until the person behind the cash register calls for the next customer. They turn and see they are next, walking up in line. 

“Hey Laurence, I thought it was you.” She says. 

“Hey, Wiz, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Same. I see you got a job. How’s it been so far?”

“It’s been great! My manager is super nice, so I get free food for lunch.”

“Nice! Good for you. I’m glad you found a good job.”

“Yep. What can I do for you?” 

“Can I get the sesame chicken with extra rice, please? What about you, Ein?”

“Oh, um, I’ll just have whatever you’re having.”

“Make that two sesame chickens, then.”

“I didn’t realize you two were here together,” Laurence says as he inputs their order into the register. 

“Yep, we are hanging out today. Jealous?” She teases, winking at him. 

“Always.” He winks back. “Your total is 15.67.” 

Ein quickly hands him the money. “I’ll pay.”

“Huh? You didn’t need to do that. I didn’t mind paying.” She says. 

“Well, I insist.” 

She sighs, unable to fight him on it since he already paid. 

“Alright, your orders will be ready soon. It was great to see you, Wiz. We should hang out sometimes.”

“Bet. You know my number, so just let me know when you are free. Later.”

“Later.” He says, before they walk away to the side to wait for their food.

“So, you and him? Are you two a thing?” Ein asks cautiously. 

“Oh no. We just like to mess with each other. Asking if he was jealous was a joke.” 

“I see,” He says as the food comes out. He grabs both of their bowls before they head over to a table together. “What about the alpha male? Are you interested in him?” He sits across from her at the table. 

Her face flushes. “Oh, um, I don’t know if things at your old school were different, but the alphas don’t have to date. He’s attractive, but I’m not up for falling in love right now.”

“Why not? It’s not something you can decide.” 

“You’re right, but it doesn’t mean I have to do anything with the feelings. Dating takes time and effort that I don’t want to waste.” She takes her first bite of food, her tail wagging in joy. Happy to have food in her, and even happier that it tasted good. 

He watches her, not looking down at his food as he attempts to eat. “You really can’t hide your emotions.”

Her tail falls flat for a second before wagging again moments later. “No, I can’t. My tail has a mind of its own, I swear.”

“A lot of things make you happy. Are you sure you aren’t interested in having a mate? Your tail seems to disagree when you saw the alpha candidates shirtless.” 

Her face blazes red. “I can appreciate people’s bodies without having to have romantic interest… wait, that came out wrong! I mean… ugh.” She buries her face in her hands. 

He blushes as well, but pushes his luck, asking a question. “Did you appreciate me when you were picking the alpha? Or did someone else have your attention?”

Her eyes wandered down his chest, remembering how he looked shirtless. Then, she drifted to his uncovered arms, enjoying the view. The string bracelet on his wrist and silver rings on his hands made the view all the more attractive. 

Her tail hurt from hitting the chair, but it refused to stop moving as she stared at his toned muscles. 

“I… I did. You clearly put in a lot of work on your physique.” She looks away from him, embarrassed, before quickly standing up. “Phew, I’m full. You done eating? Want to walk around now?”

“S-sure. Let’s walk around.” He gets up, cleaning up his empty bowl and napkins and throwing them away. 

They didn’t get far when Maria came up behind them and spooked her. “Alright! Wisteria, it’s time to—” She begins to speak when she gets sucker-punched.

“Oh my Irene! I’m so sorry! Are you ok? You scared me.” Wisteria says as she goes up to check if she’s ok. Training with Aaron over the summer made her extra jumpy, causing her to swing first and ask questions later.

“My nose! You got me good, but this won’t be enough to stop you from facing the wrath of Maria La Fuerte!” She spoke nasally as she cupped her nose before removing her hand to show blood dripping out of it.

“Oh my, Ein, go back and get some napkins. She’s got a nosebleed.” Ein runs over and quickly grabs some napkins for her.

Wisteria takes them, stepping forward and pushing the napkins up her nose, making sure she keeps her head level. “Hold still; it’s bleeding pretty bad. We don’t want it to drip on your cute outfit.”

“Wait, what are you—You like my outfit?” She says distracted.

“Yeah, I love it. It looks so good on you. Where did you get it?” 

“Oh, I got it when it was on sale at Macy’s!” 

“Oh, got to love a good sale. Speaking of sales, they have one in the food court. You can get two egg rolls for the price of one.” She says, checking and seeing no more blood pouring out. “I think your nose has stopped bleeding, too.”

“Sale? Oh, I’m all over that now!” She says before she scurries to the food court. 

Ein and Wisteria walk away, but don’t get far as Dottie, Rylan, and Daniel walk up to them. “Alpha!” They shout in unison. 

“Huh? Oh, hey guys. Wait, Rylan, you can hide your ears and tail?” Wisteria says.

“Yeah, it runs in the family. Heh.” 

“We’re here to hang out with you!” Dottie says excitedly. 

“Oh, that’s sweet, but sorry. I’m just hanging out with Ein today. We should hang out together another day, though!” Wisteria says, trying to cheer them up so they don’t feel rejected. 

“Ok then.” Daniel pouts. 

“We’ll leave you two be,” Rylan says before they turn and walk away. 

“Y-you don’t think I hurt their feelings, do you? They seemed so dejected when I said I couldn’t hang out today.” She asks Ein. 

“They’re just sad they couldn’t join. I’m sorry.”

Her eyes go wide, and she shakes her head and hands furiously. “No, no! It’s ok, really. I said I would hang out with you today, and I meant that. I just wasn’t expecting to see so many people I knew today.”

She looks to the side and sees the bookstore next to them. “Why don’t we look at books?” She nervously walks into the bookstore, peeking behind her to make sure he follows her in. 

Her nerves quickly disappear as the books distract her. He watched as she became a kid in a candy store, looking at all the books. She almost knocked over a book display from her tail wagging out of control. 

She seemed almost like a different person once she got into the store. The way she moved, the way she reacted—it was off, different. She unconsciously dropped her mask, too distracted by all the books to hold it in place. 

He didn’t mind; he enjoyed seeing this side of her. She seemed comfortable, relaxed, almost. Even with her moving around sporadically between the rows of books. Picking books up seemingly without pattern, yet it all seemed to make sense to her, as she didn’t miss a single section.

It was cute, all the little expressions she would make as she looked at books. The small gasps, smiles, giggles, etc. Having mini-fights within herself on whether she should get them or not. 

She had good self-control as she left with only one book. He takes the bag from her as they walk.

“Hey! I can hold the stuff I bought.” She says, trying to grab the bag back. 

He pulls his arm back so she can’t reach. “No way. You don’t need to carry anything with me around.” 

She sighs, having a feeling she won't win this argument with him. “How do you feel about Hot Topic?” 

“Hot Topic is where I buy my hair dye, so I like it.” 

“Alright, wanna go in then?” She says while stopping in front of the store. 

“Sure. I could use another bottle of hair dye.” 

They walk in together, beginning to look around at the different items. She could feel a second pair of eyes follow her as she walked around. One was Ein’s, as he pretended to look at items. The other was Gene, standing behind the cash register. 

She ignores Gene’s eyes as she walks around, figuring he’ll talk to them once they go up to the counter. 

“Poseidon? That’s a weird shade name when all the colors aren’t based on Greek Gods.” She says as she looks at the color he was getting. 

“Hmm, I guess, but it matches the color of my fur, so I like it. Have you ever thought of dyeing your hair?” 

“All the time, but my mother would kill me. I’ll have to wait until I go off to college so she can’t stop me.” She laughs. 

“What color would you want? I can always help you do it.”

“Thanks for the offer, but even if I had time to sneak out and dye my hair, she’d still kill me. But I always wanted to dye it red. Maybe that’s why my fur is red?” She looks at her tail.

He chuckles. “I don’t think the color you want to dye your hair determines your fur color.” 

“You’re right, but you dye the streak in your hair blue to match your fur, so there is a pattern somewhere.” She picks up the red hair dye, looking at it longingly before putting it back down. “Well, we’ve got your hair dye. Ready to pay, or do you want to look around some more?” 

“My mother always says it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission.” He says, grabbing the red hair dye before heading to the counter to pay. 

“I see you two are hanging out together. When did you become friends? And when have you wanted to dye your hair?” Gene asks as he scans the items. 

“I’ve always wanted to dye it, but my mother would kill me. I really shouldn’t get it.” She tried to take the red hair dye off the counter, but Gene grabbed it and scanned it before she could. 

“Dove, do the bad thing. Live a little. You are always trying so hard to be good; have fun for once.” He says as he puts them in a bag for them. “34.04.”

Her tail was wagging excitedly; as much as she was nervous and knew better, she had two devils on her shoulders telling her to do it. She hands him the money before Ein could pay. Gene purposely grazes her hand as she hands it to him.

“Hey, I was going to pay,” Ein shouts. 

“Too bad. You already bought me food, and if you are going to talk me into doing something stupid, I’m at least going to take responsibility for it.”

Gene puts the receipt in the bag and passes it to her. “You should send me a photo once it’s done. I’m curious how you’ll look, Dove.”

“I’m sure if I don’t, Sasha or Zenix can. They have this weird habit of trying to get photos of me. They must’ve made some sort of bet between each other cause they are always fighting over who gets the better shots.” 

Gene and Ein give each other a knowing look, but both act as if they don’t know anything. “That sounds like them. You should come hang out with us again. It’s been too long.”

“Then tell them to stop being stupid at school, and I’ll stop ignoring them. They’ve been making things difficult for me. They don’t get to be rewarded for bad behavior.”

Ein urges her to leave. “We should go. He’s working; we shouldn’t distract him.” 

“Oh, you're right. Control your knights if they haven’t gone completely rogue on you. Bye.” She says as she and Ein walk out of the store. Gene watches her leave until she gets out of view. 

They walk around for a bit longer, going in and out of stores. They mostly window-shopped, as they didn’t have a lot of money to spend. 

“I think we’ve lapped the entire place now. We’ve been into almost every store now.” She says.

“We have. The arcade is closed, so we can't go there today. Maybe we can do that next time?” He suggests.

“We could. We can either do it just the two of us or maybe get a group and go together. I can help you get closer to the other werewolves if you want.” 

“Maybe. But, um, I had a great time with you here.” He says before hugging her. 

She hugs back, a little confused why he would hug her now of all times. Normally, people hug when saying goodbye, not randomly when hanging out. Maybe the human lessons Aphmau was giving him weren’t going well.

She was glad to see him trying to make a friend. Her sister was a good choice, although she did have to keep an eye on him. She remembered him liking her in the series because she was alpha; maybe he liked her for more than that?

“Hey! I knew you were up to something!” Clovis confronts them. 

Ein quickly pulls back. “No, I—”

“You were trying to mark her! Weren’t you?” 

“No, I’m not. I’m her friend.” 

Dottie runs up, with Rylan and Daniel standing behind her. “Yeah, right! You took her on a date! You’re trying to become her mate!”

Wisteria's face turns bright red. “Hey, calm down. We aren’t dating. He’s been learning human culture; that’s all.” 

“Are you sure, Alpha? You are starting to smell like him.” Rylan sniffs her, looking disgusted. 

“Of course I am; we just hugged. How many times have you misunderstood in the past that I’m not marked? I just have a lot of human friends who like to hug; hence, scent gets rubbed off by accident.

“Remember last year, I had to correct the rumor that I was fighting Aaron for Aphmau because people didn’t know we were sisters? It’s the same thing, a misunderstanding.” 

“So you two aren’t mates?” Daniel asks. 

“No, we are not.”

They seem satisfied with her answer, but still dislike the situation. “You plan on being Blaze’s mate, right?” Dottie states excitedly. 

“No, I don’t. He’s nice, and he's the male alpha, but we won’t be mates.”

She wails. “Why not? You two would be so cute together!”

“She’s right! He was so smooth. He got you a dead bird!” Daniel says. 

"Psh, show off," Ein mutters under his breath.

Wisteria sighs. “It doesn’t matter if we'd be cute together. I’m not finding a mate.”

They whine but stop arguing. The alphas having a mate and being in a good relationship was good for all the werewolves’ mentality; they disliked her wanting to stay single. Yet they couldn't force her to do something she didn't want.

She didn’t like seeing them down, so she patted them all on the head. “As nice as it would be to date, I don’t have time to be dealing with those emotions. Taking care of you and the other werewolves is more important to me. Now, if you don’t mind, we're going to go back to hanging out by ourselves. See you at school.” 

They say their goodbyes as Ein and Wisteria start heading out of the mall together. Heading towards the bus stop so they can head home.

“I’m sorry about them bothering us. I guess I didn’t realize how obsessed they were with my love life.” 

“No, it’s ok, I understand. Why do you seem against having a mate? Is that because you are human?” 

“No, not at all. It’s just that dating in high school is a bad idea for me. I know it is; I don’t need to learn it the hard way again.”

“Again?” 

She nervously laughs, realizing she brought up her past life without meaning to. “I mean, I’m not sure I could handle having my heart broken with all my responsibilities on top of it.”

She looked saddened by something—someone—but he didn’t know who could have hurt her. Who dared to hurt her? Who could have broken her heart? He had to find a way to make her feel secure enough to love, if he wanted to get anywhere with her. 

Chapter Text

Wisteria had a fun time at the mall over the weekend while Garroth and Laurence were busy trying to figure out how to fix things before things got worse. Unknown to her, soccer tryouts ended as a nightmare situation for them.  

Once tryouts ended, everyone went to the locker room to get changed before heading home. Garroth decided to go into the locker room to talk with Laurence and Vylad as they got changed. 

“I knew you could do it, Vylad!” Garroth says, hugging his brother. 

“Thanks! But let me get changed before we celebrate.” He says, pushing his brother off so he can finish getting changed. 

“See, I told you, Laurence. I knew he would be good for the team.” He says, going up to Laurence.

“He still had to try out like everyone else. I couldn’t just let him on the team because you asked me to. It would be unfair.” He says as he takes off his shirt, throwing it in the locker. 

A couple of the players whisper to each other before one of them has the guts to speak up. “Hey, Captain. We just wanted to say congratulations on your relationship. You don’t have to worry about anything. We all support you.”

The group behind them is giving thumbs-ups and smiles, being as supportive as they can be. 

“Huh? What do you mean?” He asked, confused. 

“You and Garroth. It’s all the school has been talking about today.”

Garroth and Laurence's eyes widen in surprise. They weren’t dating, and they weren’t sure how that rumor would have started in the first place. 

“We what?” He shouts. “Who told you that?” 

The players look at each other, trying to figure out where the rumor started, until one speaks up. “My friend has homeroom with you. Yesterday, they heard your pretty friend say it when you were leaving. That you two were dating.”

“Our pretty friend in homeroom… Wist?” Garroth questions. 

“I’m going to kill her.” Laurence fumes. 

“That's why the fangirls were strangely nice and mostly left us alone today.”

“How could she spread something like that about us?” He growls. 

“I don’t think she meant to. Remember, she was joking with us yesterday? Do you think that’s how this started?”

“Doesn’t matter how it started; it needs to end. I don’t need everyone thinking we’re dating!” 

“I don’t want that either, but what could she do?” 

The boys bicker back and forth as everyone lets them have their time alone. On the outside, it looked like they were mad at their friend who accidentally kicked them out of the closet. 

It wasn’t until Vylad, Garroth, and Laurence were walking home together that Vylad said something that made them realize their big mistake.

“I didn’t know you swung that way, Garroth. Congrats, even if you are mad about being outed. Everyone will support you two, so don’t worry too much. I'm sure Mom will be relieved that she no longer has to worry about you getting with any girls.”

“I’m not gay!” Garroth yells. 

“You’re not? Then why didn’t you tell everyone that?” 

“We did!”

“No, you didn’t. You were upset people heard you two were dating; you never said you two weren’t a thing.”

His face drops as he realizes they never specifically said they weren’t a couple. “Oh no, everyone thinks we are a couple. Laurence, what do we do?”

“I don’t know! Why does everyone believe that we are dating in the first place?”

“Maybe because you two are always hanging out, never seem interested in any girls, and didn’t deny the rumor,” Vylad says matter-of-factly. 

“I can’t decide which of you brothers I dislike more.” He half-jokes, half-serious. 

“Don’t get mad at me; I’m not the one who spread it. Zane picked up wind of it and was proudly telling everyone. It was strange seeing him supportive for once, but now it makes sense; he knew the truth.” 

“Zane did what?” Garroth yells. “We’re screwed. My own brother spread word of it. No one is going to believe us if we tell them we aren’t dating. They are going to think we want to stay in the closet!” 

“There has to be a way! We just haven’t thought of it yet.” Laurence says. 

The boys spent the weekend together, planning different ways to get people to either believe the truth or to believe anything but the rumor. From things as simple as the truth to complex lies more complicated than a Rube Goldberg Machine.

They settled on the idea that having a fake girlfriend was their best bet, but who? Garroth’s original plan of pretending to have one wouldn’t work. If no one had met his girlfriend, people were going to assume Laurence was his secret girlfriend. 

They needed a real girl to be their girlfriend, not just stealing his mother’s lipstick to make it seem like they had one. Do they just hope to pick a good girl out of their fangirls? They could ask one of their friends, but who would willingly lie to the school that they were dating either of them? 

Monday rolled around as Aphmau and Wisteria walked out of the house, meeting up with Kacey and Katelyn to walk to school. 

“Morning,” Wisteria says, walking up to them. 

“Morning!” Kacey says, happy to see Aphmau. 

“Morning, how did your date with that werewolf boy go?” Katelyn asks. 

“Date?” Aphmau and Kacey shout, staring at Wisteria for answers. 

“My what now?” Wisteria asks, confused, how she even heard about it. 

“Well, according to the werewolves at school, you had a date this weekend. That was all the talk on Friday. That and Garroth and Laurence dating.” Katelyn says nonchalantly. 

“Whoa! I was only hanging out with a friend, but you need to back up and tell me who is dating whom.”

“Garroth and Laurence. Apparently, someone outed them as a gay couple.”

“How are you saying that so calmly! That’s major news! I didn’t know they were together!” Aphmau gasps. 

“There’s no way that’s true. They would’ve told me!” Wisteria says in disbelief. 

“I’m not saying it’s true; I’m just saying what I heard. You’d have to ask them for details, as I only heard what the others were saying in the halls.” Katelyn says. 

“You guys are on your own. I need to find them. Now! Too many questions and too little time.” She says before sprinting off towards school.

She leaves the others in her dust as she pulls up to the school. She jogged around the halls, trying to see if she could find them before school started. When she couldn’t find them, she waited in front of their lockers, planning to catch them before homeroom. 

It wasn’t long until they showed up, carrying flowers and chocolates in their hands. For a strange rumor going around school, they seemed oddly calm and looked like they were planning on making it worse. 

“You two, talk. Rumor, true?” She asks, not bothering to form a real sentence. 

“Morning, Babe, and happy anniversary,” Laurence says, walking up and kissing her on the cheek. “I got you this, your favorite.” He said as he handed her her favorite chocolate brand, but it was a chocolate substitute version. 

“I see you couldn’t wait to see us in homeroom, so you waited for us at our lockers, Princess.” Garroth kisses her other cheek. “Some flowers for you, m’lady.” He passes her the bouquet filled with baby's breath. 

Her cheeks flushed as her tail wagged. She looked around and saw dozens of eyes on her. She whispered into each of the boys' ears, one at a time. “Ditch homeroom; meet me in the girls’ bathroom on the third floor at the back of the school.”

She hides her face behind the flowers, smelling them, as she speedwalks away to put them in her locker. She didn’t like that they made her heart skip a beat with their actions. 

They knew her favorite chocolate because she ate it frequently in class before becoming a werewolf, but how did they know her favorite flower? She never told anyone that she adores baby's breath. 

Eyes stared at her as she walked down the hall holding the flowers and chocolate; even though most of them had no clue who gave them to her yet, the rumors and questions were only starting to circulate.

She made her way upstairs to the girls' bathroom, waiting for the boys to meet her. At this time of day, no one would be up there; they could safely skip homeroom without getting caught. 

She was getting annoyed waiting. She was wondering if they would flake and not skip with her. It was only homeroom, and this was too serious to hold off the conversation. Not even half an hour ago, she heard they were dating, and somehow now she was their girlfriend. 

As the bell rings, signaling the start of class, she sees the two boys attempt to sneakily go through the door. 

“You can’t just ask us to ditch class and go into the girls’ bathroom! We aren’t girls.” Laurence complains. 

“Oh no, you don’t get to complain. What the fuck was that? You’re lucky I didn’t freak out then and there and make you explain in front of everyone! Talk.” She pushes a finger into both of their chests. 

“Did you hear the rumor about us?” Garroth asks. 

“The one about you two dating? Yeah, this morning, like minutes before the crap you two pulled. It was why I was waiting at your lockers for you.”

“Well, apparently your joke was overheard and taken seriously. The one where we should just date each other on Thursday.” 

“Whoa, ok. That blew out of proportion, but how does this lead to flowers, chocolates, pet names, and kisses? You two kissed my cheek this morning! Called me Babe and Princess. Ugh!” She shivers as she rubs the kisses off her cheeks. 

“You got us into this mess, so you are going to get us out. We spent all weekend trying to figure out how to get people not to believe the rumor, and our only reasonable option was to get fake girlfriends.” Laurence says. 

“Ok, that, I get. But how did that lead to both of you picking me? Like, I get it if one of you asked to fake date me, but both of you? You didn’t even warn me beforehand!” 

“Well, we realized we had no one other than you we could ask to fake date us. We even got Dante to help us brainstorm, and he joked that we could just share you.” Garroth explains. 

“We figured since the rumors were so bad, a crazier rumor like us both dating you would be the perfect way to prove it wrong,” Laurence says. 

Her jaw drops as she looks at the two boys. “But there was no warning! You had enough time if you bought flowers and chocolates! Like I’m stuck in this rumor too! The least you could’ve done is give me a heads-up if you were going to fuck me in the ass like this.” 

“Whoa! Language.” Garroth gasps. 

“We kind of forget while planning everything.” Laurence awkwardly laughs. The bell rings, signaling the end of homeroom. “That’s the bell; we should go. We can finish planning later.” He says as they try to leave. 

She grabs the back of both of their collars. “No way, you two are staying with me until we figure out our plan. If you are making me a part of this lie, we are either going to make it so no one will find out the truth, or I will let you two die in the hole you dug.”

“We’ll get in trouble for missing class!” Garroth reasons. 

“We’ll be in bigger trouble when our moms find out! There’s no way this gets across the whole school and not to our homes. So we are figuring this out now! Missing a class isn’t the end of the world, especially if we don’t get caught.”

“I hate to agree, but she’s right. Plus, one absence doesn’t get marked for anything important; it’s only when they get added up that you get in trouble for it.” Laurence says. 

Garroth sighs but stays. They all stay in the bathroom to finish getting their story together. 

She sighs, pacing back and forth as she talks to herself. “I talked all big, saying I don’t want to date, and what the fuck do I get myself into? This, I get myself stuck in a fake throuple with no benefits.” 

“You want benefits?” Laurence smirks. “And here I thought our charm didn’t work on you.” 

She growls, her tail thumping angrily as she glares at him. “You are testing your luck! You boys are so lucky I’m too nice to out you two. What’s our story? How long have we been together, and how the fuck did we end up as a throuple?” 

“Today, we hit our one-month anniversary, hence the gifts. We realized how much we missed you while away for the summer and got together as soon as I got back from baseball camp.” Garroth says. 

"Because we are friends, we didn't want to hurt each other by asking you out. Instead of giving up on you, we agreed to ask you out at the same time, and you said yes to both of us.” Laurence finishes explaining. 

“And you don't think you'll be asked out by your fangirls, even though you're clearly fine with a poly relationship.” She rolls her eyes. 

“Ha! We actually thought that part out. It’s only because we are best friends that we are ok with sharing. Otherwise, we don’t want to expand the relationship or share you with anyone else. That way, you get the boys off your back, too.” 

“Yeah, you said you didn’t want to date in high school, so we figured fake dating us wouldn’t ruin any opportunities for you. You don’t have fanboys per se, but you do have quite a following.” Garroth says. 

She sighs. “Alright. It doesn’t ruin things for me; it just makes me look like a lying hypocrite, but I will deal with that for you boys. UGH! I can’t believe you guys dragged me into this.” 

“Hey, you are the one who got us into this. You just had to make that horrible joke!” Laurence says. 

“One, it was a joke. Two, what’s so bad about dating your homie? Besides, you like dick, so you can’t say it’s because you’re straight.” 

“But I’m straight!” Garroth says. 

“It was still a joke! You act as if I’m writing gay fanfic of you two or some shit. I’m not the one who started this mess. I’m a victim of this thing, too. You two just straight up walked to me, talking about some anniversary, and kissed my cheeks.” 

“Well, we had to make things look believable or people would think we were faking it. Besides, we did it on the cheek so you wouldn’t be too freaked out.” Laurence says. 

“We are way past the point of freaked out. What else do we have to do to make this look real? Holding hands in the halls should be enough since you made our ‘relationship’ public now.” She says. 

“Hand-holding isn’t enough; we need to hug and kiss, too.”

“Kiss? Are you crazy?” 

“We don’t have to kiss on the lips, but we should at least kiss on the cheek. We need everyone to believe we are actually in a relationship.” 

“Do we really need to do PDA? It’s not as if couples need to be all up on each other. It'd be believable since we weren't snuggly before. We can just meet up after school and walk away holding hands or some shit. That should be enough to keep people quiet.”

“Not with our fangirls. Have you met Ivy? She is back to telling people she’s my girlfriend even after all my warnings.” Garroth groans. 

“What about my pups? You think you boys are going to be fine after they realize I denied not only their alpha male but all of their boys and went for you two numbskulls instead?”

“Don’t switch things up on us and act like you can’t handle a bit of PDA. I saw the hickey you put on Zane’s neck last year. You can handle making things look real.”

Her face burns red. “Ahh! You saw that? I didn’t even get to see them. No, wait, are you asking me to put a hickey on your neck?”

“Wait, what do you mean by ‘them’? Was there more than one?” His eyes widen. 

“Uhh, hehe, um. We were stuck in that locker for a while, and he wouldn’t stop touching my tail, so I may have gone a little crazy from it and started chomping. I couldn’t see in the dark, so I don’t know how bad it was, but I’m pretty sure it was bad.” She nervously plays with her fingers, embarrassed to call herself out like that. 

“You know, we didn’t think about that, but that might not be a bad idea.” Laurence scratches his chin as he thinks. “Not today, though; if we do too much today, they might suspect things.” 

“Whoa, do you even know how a hickey is formed? Do you know what you are asking me to do?” She blushes. 

“Oh, he knows. Gene used to mark him all the time when they were together.” Garroth says. 

Laurence elbows him. “You didn’t need to give her details. Besides, it’s not as if I’ll feel anything from you giving me one. It’s just you doing what you need to do to fake the relationship well.”

A pain goes through her chest. She couldn’t tell if it was just her ego that got bruised or if she actually felt hurt by him saying he wouldn’t feel anything from her giving him a hickey. 

“What does a hickey feel like? You seemed to enjoy them when you got them, but aren’t they just a bruise? I don’t get the appeal.” Garroth asks. 

“Don’t look at me to explain; I’m not giving either of you a hickey. This relationship is not coming with benefits.” She says, crossing her arms and looking away from them. 

“Why are you so against doing things as our girlfriend? It’s not as if it would be a big deal if you were to kiss us. Would dating us really be that bad?” Laurence asks. 

“No, it’s not that; it just, ugh! You two are fine. We’re friends; we don’t have to follow social norms and can set our own boundaries on what we do and don’t do. I’m just not a PDA kind of person and wasn’t expecting to be put into any sort of romantic relationship, real or fake, anytime soon.”

“If that’s all, why don’t you fill Garroth’s curiosity since there’s nothing wrong with faking stuff with us? We can create our own boundaries after all.” 

She narrows her eyes at him. “That tone made it sound like you were challenging me. Do not challenge me to do something I don't want to do.”

“Why? Can’t resist a challenge?” He smirks, knowing he got her. “If you don’t want to do it, that’s fine. Just means you're scared. No wonder the Shadow Knights call you kitty. You’re just a scaredy-cat running away from things you don’t want to deal with.”

Her tail thumps around angrily. She tries to take deep breaths, not getting egged on by his challenge, but he knows her too well. She likes to prove people wrong and to win.

“Damn it! Garroth, above or below the collar?”

“What do you mean? Doesn’t it just go on your neck?” 

“Typically, yes, but it can be done anywhere on the body. Now, do you want it to be visible for everyone to see, including your mother, on your neck? Or do you want me to do it below the collar so no one will see it except in the locker room when you get changed?”

His eyes widen in fear at the sound of his mother finding a hickey on him. “Below the collar.” 

She approaches him as he nervously steps back, leaning against the sinks as she carefully undoes his tie and the first few buttons on his shirt. She mutters to herself, her face heating up in embarrassment. "I can't believe I was talked into this."

She gently pushes the fabric to the side, allowing her to easily kiss his collarbone. She is gentle as she sucks on his skin, attempting to leave a bruise. It was his first hickey, so she had no idea how he would react, so she tried to be as gentle as possible.

One of her hands held the fabric to the side, slightly touching his collarbone. Her cool skin was a contrast to his warmth. Her other hand was pressed against his chest, keeping her stable as she focused on her artwork. She could feel his heart beating through his clothes. 

He sucked in a breath as her lips pressed against his skin. They were warm and soft as she gently sucked on his skin. He could feel her teeth graze his skin as she focused on the one spot, trying to leave a decent-sized hickey. 

He hated that he finally understood freshman Laurence when he used to rave about the feeling of getting a hickey. It was sending shockwaves down his body. It turned him on, watching her focus so intensely on him. 

Laurence enjoyed the view. They were his friends, not his lovers, but something about seeing her undo his tie and place her lips against his skin turned him on. Even better was Garroth’s expression as she did it; the mix of pleasure and confusion at the new experience was appetizing. 

It wasn’t long before she pulled away, looking at her work before taking a step back. “I’ll let you fix your clothes yourself.” She licks her lips, collecting the bit of saliva that was left on them. 

Garroth turns and looks in the mirror at the quarter-sized bruise beginning to form on his collarbone. It made him feel strangely warm looking at it. He got embarrassed after realizing how long he stared at it before buttoning his shirt back up and fixing his tie. 

“I-I can see why you like them now.” He says, trying to act nonchalant about the situation. They were all friends; it wasn’t a typical friend thing to do, but neither was pretending to be in a throuple. 

“Well, you won. You did it.” Laurence says. 

She sighs. “I did, but it only reminded me of something else I need to do. I have to mark you both.” She walks up to Laurence and pulls him into a hug as she nuzzles against him. 

He pushes off of her, nervous that she would notice his erection if she hugged him. “What are you doing?” 

“You said we have to make it real. You two have werewolves and meif’wa in your fan group, right?”

“Yeah?”

“They will smell we aren’t together. If they get a single whiff of you two, they would know instantly it was a lie to cover up the rumor. Humans mark their partners with hickeys, but werewolves and meif’wa use scent. So I need to rub my smell on you two, and in the process, your smell will get on me; hence, I need to mark you two, so hold still.”

Laurence stands still and lets her nuzzle against him. After spending a solid, awkward minute doing so, she does the same to Garroth. He chuckles a bit as she rubs against him, apparently finding it ticklish. 

After she was done putting her scent on them, she texted Aphmau, giving her a mini heads-up about what was going to happen today so she could help lie for her. 

“You'd better hope no one questions why you didn’t smell like me sooner, or your plan is ruined. For now, this should be good enough. I’ll find a better way to mark you two later, but for now, you'd better figure out how to break up with me because I’m already tired of lying.” 

The bell signaling the end of class rings, and she leaves the bathroom, leaving them behind, not caring what they do anymore. 

After a long day of answering everyone's questions about her relationship with Garroth and Laurence, she wanted nothing more than to sleep. She crashed as soon as she got home and flopped on her bed, not even changing out of her uniform.

Once awake, she decided to see what Aphmau was doing. She got out of bed, got changed, and walked over to her sister's room, peeking to see what she was doing. “A cat drawing?” 

“Eep! What are you doing?” Aphmau asks as she nervously covers her drawing. 

“Stalking… you never hide what you're drawing from me. What makes you feel so dirty you have to hide it?” She says as she tries to get a closer look at it between her fingers. 

“N-Nothing! It’s just an orange cat with a tuna fish sandwich! See? It’s super cute, just not done yet!” She says, moving her hands and shoving off the drawing. 

“I see. This has nothing to do with the cute boy you've been talking to during lunch.”

Her widens her eyes, realizing her sister knows the truth. “How do you know about Kai?” 

She giggles. “I have class with him; he told me about your lunches together. He’s a nice guy, but you really need to stop crushing on older guys. You’re going to hurt yourself again when he graduates this year.”

She sighs. “I know, but he’s just so… ah! You know?” 

“I do. He's handsome and sweet. I just don’t want to see you hurt, but I'll support you if you decide to pursue him.”

Her face flushes. “I-I’m not going to ask him out!”

“Alright, but if you change your mind, just know I'm on your side.” She gently pets her head before returning to her room, not wanting to disturb her homework time any longer. 

Chapter Text

Wisteria hated lying, and she had to do a lot of it because of Garroth and Laurence. She played the annoyed but in-love girlfriend for them. She was annoyed that they revealed their relationship publicly without talking to her, but she still loved them, so there was no drama.

She only played the annoyed bit because she couldn’t hide her anger at getting dragged into the fake relationship with no warning. She would have saved them from this craziness if they had asked for help brainstorming over the weekend. 

The werewolves were the worst. They came up to her, some crying about the fact that she got into a relationship without telling them. They were all secretly hoping she would get with Blaze, or at least another werewolf. She felt so bad lying to her pups, but she had no other choice. 

It wasn’t just people coming up to her in person; dozens texted her asking questions. She had a text message written out for everyone who texted her. She copied and pasted it to every chat that asked her things. 

It has been a week since the fangirls first learned about Garroth and Laurence’s girlfriend. They have finally passed their crying stage and have been surprisingly quiet. 

Other than asking her if it was true, they didn’t bother Wisteria. She was expecting some backlash, especially from Ivy, but she didn’t receive any. She wouldn’t complain about it, but it put her a little on edge that Ivy hadn’t said or done anything. 

She was mentoring when a student said they needed help opening their locker. She didn’t think much of it, asking them to lead her to their locker so she could help them. Little did she know the trap that awaited her. 

The locker was in a secluded part of the school; no one walked down there unless they had lockers. Chances are, no one would be coming to this area until the end of the school day. 

“You filthy skank!” Ivy yelled as she stomped up to an unsuspecting Wisteria, who had just opened the freshman’s locker. 

“Huh?” She turns around to see Ivy, Alex, and Lily standing behind her, the freshman running away down the hall, yelling, 'Sorry.' They forced someone innocent to trick her into a situation where she would be alone with them. 

"You thought you could be with two guys at once and even take Garroth Ro'Meave from me, but you were mistaken. He is mine!” Ivy pushes her into the lockers. 

Her back slams into the lockers beside the one she opened; their rattling noise only makes the pain worse. The noise echoed in her head, almost worse than the stinging pain she felt in her back. 

“You psycho, when will you understand that Garroth doesn't like you and never will?” Wisteria stands tall, trying to make it seem as if her back didn’t hurt. 

“You’re the psycho for trying to steal Ivy’s man!” Lily says. 

“Yeah, everyone knows Ivy has liked him for the longest time. Do you not know girl code?” Alex says. 

“One, girl code doesn’t exist when it comes to celebrities and psychos. Two, I’ve known Garroth since we were in diapers, so I’ve known him longer. I think I beat her when it comes to girl code.” Wisteria scoffs. 

She could have easily pushed back or hurt them, but she couldn’t risk getting in trouble. Right now, she looked like a werewolf, and if she got caught fighting them, she could get suspended or expelled for fighting humans. Not only that, she was an alpha; she had to be a role model for the werewolves. 

“Get her, girls,” Ivy says as Lily and Alex attempt to grab Wisteria. 

She does her best to avoid them without hurting them, but she was trapped in a corner, surrounded by three girls. They finally grabbed both her arms when someone came around the corner, catching them. 

“Stop! What do you three think you're doing?” Kai shouts, stepping up to help. 

“Leave, catboy; this is none of your business!” Ivy screeches. 

“It looks like you are bullying my friend, so it is my business.” He steps in front of Ivy, looking down at her. “Now, release her before I get a teacher and you all get in trouble.”

“Ha! The teachers like me. By the time they get here, they won’t see anything and will believe me over this skank.” She says. 

Kai approaches Wisteria, attempting to help her escape the girls' grasp, knowing that they will not release her on their own and that if he leaves to seek help, it would be too late.

Ivy takes her chance to push Kai into the locker, Alex and Lily following suit, pushing Wisteria into the locker with him, shutting them in. 

“Ha! That should teach you not to mess with what’s not yours!” Ivy laughs as she and her friends leave. 

“Are you ok?” Kai asked.

“Me? Are you ok? You got pushed in here pretty hard; I had a soft landing.” Wisteria said as her body was pressed against his. 

“I’m fine, but let’s get out of here. I think they are gone now.” He says as he tries to open the locker. “Huh? It won’t open.”

“Yeah, about that. None of the locker’s safety features work anymore.” 

“What do you mean they don’t? That’s a safety hazard, and I haven’t heard the school say anything about that.”

“Let’s just say the new principal isn’t as good as we hoped. When they had to change the combinations on the lockers for this year's use, they ended up accidentally breaking all the safety mechanisms somehow. You can’t open the lockers from the inside anymore.

“I’ve already had to save three people from lockers this year because of it. It isn’t common knowledge, so either the girls found out or they broke it themselves to trap me.” 

“That’s dangerous. Have you brought it up to the principal?” He asks. 

“Of course I have. She pushed it off, saying they didn’t have the budget to fix them. She said students shouldn’t be put into lockers anyway, so it should be fine. She doesn’t realize how common a prank it is to shove your friend into a locker, let alone when bullies do it.”

He sighs, not liking the sound of that, but he wasn’t in any position to change it at the moment. “Why were those three bullying you?”

“Ivy likes Garroth and is delusional. She has said for a while now that she is Garroth’s girlfriend, whether he knows it or not. Let’s just say she must’ve heard the news.”

He nervously laughs, realizing how close he was to her. “I hope your boyfriends won’t get mad. I didn’t think we would be shoved into a locker together.”

“You should be fine; they shouldn’t get mad when this wasn’t our choice. It’s not like I’m cheating on them.” She scoffs, whispering under her breath. “Not like they are real in the first place.” 

“Huh? What do you mean they aren’t real?”

“Huh? Oh, shit, I didn't mean to say that out loud. Sorry. Please keep it a secret, but the truth is, we are in a fake relationship, so their fangirls will leave them alone.” 

“Really? You had me fooled.” He chuckled. “You made it look very real.” 

She sighs. “Tell me about it. They said we had to do PDA to make it believable. I’m not a PDA type of person.”

“What kind of person are you then?” 

“The type to get locked in lockers with cute boys.” She laughs at her joke. 

He chuckles. “You think I’m cute?” 

“Very, catboy.” She teases him. 

She can hear his tail thud in the locker as he starts to purr. “Haha, thank you. Y-You’re cute too.”

“Are you… Are you purring?” She asks, amused, as she presses her ear against his shoulder, trying to listen to him better. 

His body stiffens as she gets that little bit closer to him. “I-I can’t help it.” 

“I didn’t know meif’wa purr. That’s so cool. You sound so nice.” She says, relaxing a bit as she listens to him purr. 

“T-Thanks.” He says. The sound of nothing but his purrs felt deafening to him, so he tried to keep a conversation going. “Y-you said ‘cute boys,’ as in plural. As if you've been shoved in a locker with someone else before.”

“Oh, ha. Yeah, I have. My sister, our friend, and I had a mini prank war last year. They shoved me in a locker with someone as revenge for one of my pranks.” 

“What happened?” 

Her face turned bright red as her tail began to thud in the locker. “I, um, y-you don’t want to know. I-I won’t do the same thing, so, um, you don’t have to worry.”

He blushes, too, her tone making it sound somewhat suggestive. “Do what? Now I’m curious.” 

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back.”

She opens her mouth, closes it, and opens it again before closing it again. Repeating the cycle for a bit before finally speaking. “He wouldn’t stop touching my tail, so I got a little… excited. I may or may not have left a dozen hickeys on his neck in an attempt to calm myself down.”

“You started to bite him to calm down?” He laughs.

“H-hey! Don’t laugh at me. It’s not as if I could escape, and he was driving me mad. I needed to do something to shut myself up, and he didn’t have a tail to get revenge with. How would you feel if I started playing with your tail right now? You’d do something stupid, too!” 

He continues to laugh. “I don’t think I would bite you.” 

Her tail thudded aggressively in the locker, embarrassed and tempted to see what he would do. She tried to take deep breaths to calm down, not wanting to do something she would regret. 

She was stuck in a locker with the guy her sister had a major crush on. She would never forgive herself if she did something to hurt her. 

“Fine, you’re right. You’d probably just purr.” She teased. 

They continued to talk and joke until they were finally released at the end of the school day, when students finally stopped at their lockers nearby and heard them call for help. 

It was a bit awkward being pressed against each other all day, but they got to know each other better. They got a lot closer after having so many hours to talk. He even helped her report Ivy, Alex, and Lily to the principal so they would get punished. 

The principal almost said, with no proof, that they couldn’t do anything until she showed the massive bruise on her back from being slammed in the lockers. The person whom they blackmailed into helping them also stepped up and gave their side of the story. 

He couldn’t believe she hid such a massive bruise from him the whole time. It was black and purple and spanned over half of her back. It must have been painful, yet she stood and laughed with him the entire time. 

That wasn’t the end of the fan girls that week, as the next day, Wisteria had to deal with fan girls again. Although they were much better behaved than Ivy and her friends. 

The group of girls walked up to Wisteria. “Excuse me. You’re Garroth and Laurence’s girlfriend. Right?”

She turns from her locker, carefully closing it behind her, looking at the three girls behind her. “Um, yes, I am.”

“Perfect! We wanted to thank you!” One of the fangirls says, gripping her hand in excitement.

“To thank me? For what?”

“For opening our eyes! You brought together two rival fan clubs into one!”

“Uhhh, you’re welcome?” She says, confused. She slips her hand out of the girl's embrace.

“We know you like Garroth and Laurence since you are dating them, but we wanted to see if you wanted to join our club!” 

“Your club? What club?” 

The three girls rip off their shirts to reveal custom-made T-shirts underneath. The T-shirts say ‘Garrence Fan Club’ and have a drawing of both of their faces in a heart. 

Her face drops in surprise before she bursts out laughing. “Oh. My. Irene! You made shirts! The rumor of them dating only started a little over a week ago. How’d you get them made so fast?” 

“My Mom owns a shirt-printing company, so I had her help me.” Said one of the fangirls. 

Another fangirl says, “We were hoping you’d take on a leadership role. We need an archivist.”

“An archivist? For what? Aren’t roles usually like president, vice president, or secretary?”

“Yes, and those roles are filled. But we realized during our club activities that we need a better system than we currently have.” One fangirl says. 

“Yeah, we need someone to help us organize things. Our system now is totally wack.” Another fangirl says. 

“System for what?” 

“Fanfics! See?” One of the fangirls pulls out her phone and shows the website they made for Garrence fanfic. 

“At first, we were heartbroken when we heard Garroth and Laurence weren’t single anymore, but then we realized. Their being together is better than dating them! It united the Garroth and Laurence fans under a single group!” One fangirl says. 

“So many of us started writing as soon as we heard the rumor they were gay, that we needed to make a website for it so we could read each other's work more easily.” Another fangirl says. 

She takes the phone from the fangirl, quickly scrolling through what they have. “I think I see what you mean. Why are the fics organized by alphabet and not by date or tag? The bigger issue is that there is no way to tell which ones are smut and which ones are just romance.

“Also, everyone hates Arial font. That's such an easy fix; why is it still there? And the color? Orange for a fanfic website, really? If it's all for Garrence, it should be blue and green.”

Wisteria rambles about other things wrong with their website as they happily suck in the information like a sponge.

“This is exactly why we need you! You have the right eye for this! You are closest to them, and you are the reason we all realized their true beauty. Please say you’ll be our archivist!” The fangirl begs as she takes her phone back. 

“Sorry, but I think they would feel betrayed if I joined your club. I’m supposed to love them, not ship them together without me.” Handing the phone back, she whispers. “Please do send me the link.”

The fangirls are half disappointed that the biggest Garrence shipper won’t join their club, but half happy because she still wants to read their fics. They send her the link before scurrying off to collect more fangirls. 

She pinches the bridge of her nose, sighing. “Oh, they are so not going to be happy when they find out about this. Will I be a good friend for telling them or a bad one?”

Wisteria walks around the halls with her mentor's armband on. It was her mentoring period, and she roamed the school looking for anyone needing help. Unsurprisingly, she finds a group of werewolves arguing. 

She quickly solved their problem by reminding them that they were all required to write their names on the bottom of their frisbees. It solved the argument in seconds. 

“Thank you, Alpha!” One of the werewolves says. 

“You always know what to do. You don’t even need to use your fists!” The other werewolf says before they both run off. 

“No, wait, come back!” Maria shouted as she hopped out from behind some lockers. “I want to challenge her! I need witnesses!” They don’t seem to hear her yelling as they keep running away. 

“Uh, sorry, Maria. Maybe next time?” Wisteria nervously laughs, happy she didn’t have to fight again. 

“I’ll be back, you’ll see! Maria La Fuerte will take your title one day!” She confidently says before running away herself.  

Yet again, Wisteria sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. She got lucky again, not having to challenge her. At least the frisbee arguments are easy to deal with now, but they still happen just as often. They always forget to check the names under the frisbees. 

“Hey, Babe. Long day?” Laurence says, walking up with Garroth. 

“Hey, Baby. Yes, it has been.” She hugs Laurence, nuzzling her face into his shoulder. 

“Where’s my hug, Princess?” Garroth asks. 

“I was getting to you, my Prince.” She says, releasing her hug and shifting to hug Garroth, doing the same thing to him. 

Wisteria hated every second of this, yet she had to keep up her act when she saw them. The boys didn’t mind as much; they always enjoyed teasing her, so this felt similar to them. 

“Laurence!” Someone yells behind them. 

“Uh oh.” He turns to see Cadenza stomping down the hall towards them. He quickly pushes Wisteria behind him, pulling Garroth closer to help him hide her. “Cadenza, how are you?”

“Don’t you dare start! First, you don’t tell me you have a girlfriend, then you don’t tell me you are sharing her with your best friend, and now you are actively hiding her from me!” She shouts, pointing her finger at him angrily. 

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m not hiding her; you just haven’t had the chance to meet her yet.” He nervously laughs. 

“H-he’s right! Our class schedules don’t align well for you to meet her.” Garroth says. 

“Don’t lie! I just saw her hug you two, and I can see her feet behind you!” She says, pointing at the ground where her feet are visible. 

Wisteria sighs, stepping in front of the two boys. “I’m sorry about these two dunces. I’m Wisteria, and you are?” 

“Cadenza, Laurence’s older sister.” She says, looking her up and down. 

“I see. Laurence, you didn’t tell your sister?” She turns around, glaring at him. He knew what the look meant; it wasn’t a ‘you haven’t introduced us yet’ look, it was a ‘you didn’t tell her the truth about us, fake dating’ look. 

“She has a big mouth! I didn’t trust her not to spill the beans.” Laurence defends. 

“Me? Spill the beans? The whole school knows you two are dating her! I was going to meet her one way or another!” She fumes before switching her tone. “You should’ve told me how gorgeous she was.”

His face drops at his sister’s unexpected reaction. She was always overprotective of him, yet she was being nice to the girl he was ‘dating.’ “What now…?”

“She’s absolutely stunning! Knowing my brother, he probably hasn’t told you much about me, but I want to be a designer. I design and sew all my clothes. I would love it if you would model for me sometime.”

She pulled out her phone and opened her Instagram page, which had all her outfits posted. “My brother wears the masculine outfits I make, but I’ve been looking for someone to model my feminine outfits. You’d be perfect for it.”

Wisteria scrolls through her Instagram page. “Wow, these are all really impressive. I’m flattered that you want me to wear your work. I’m not sure I would do your outfits justice.” 

“I’ll take that as a yes! Laur, find a date for her to come over and model for me. I think I have some outfits that will fit her with a bit of tweaking. No! She needs to get measured so I can style outfits just for her beauty! You two could even model for me together! Oh yes, that would be adorable.” She rambles.

“Y-you’re ok with me dating her?” Laurence asks cautiously. 

“Of course I am! You should’ve introduced me sooner! You know I’ve been looking for someone like her to model for me. You two are also dating, so I can make you do couple poses! My followers will love that!” She says, taking her phone back. 

“What about me? She’s my girlfriend, too,” Garroth says.  

“Hmm, I guess you can help me take the pictures. My followers like you, so maybe I’ll let you model something again.” She says, clearly unhappy to have him step into her brother’s love life. 

Garroth pouts, causing Laurence to pat his back supportively. “I told you that Garroth and I are in this together. Neither of us will stay in the relationship if it doesn’t work out for the other person.” Laurence defends Garroth. 

“And this is why the whole school thought you two were gay. They probably still think you two are doing things to each other, just with a girl in the mix.” 

Wisteria nervously laughs. “Actually, about that. I came upon some information earlier that I was going to tell you when I saw you next.” 

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Laurence's face drops. 

She pulls up the link the girls sent her and passes her phone to the boys. “Your fangirls have united. They are now the Garrence fan club and have made a website. They are writing fanfic about you two.” 

“They what?” He shoves his face closer to the phone, as if that would change what it shows. 

“Yeah… I took a moment to quickly scan it, and it seems like there are already about fifty works on it. All about you two. Some romantic, some smut.”

“Us two? Like just me and Laurence? Not with you?” Garroth asks, confused, as he thought the rumors of them being gay had ended.  

“Yeah. I mean, out of the fifty, I saw two that seemed to have a girl added. I didn’t read them to find out if it was me or just a self-insert.” 

“The news of us dating was supposed to get rid of the gay rumors! How did they get worse than before?” Laurence asks. 

“Don’t ask me! I had nothing to do with this. They only asked me to join and help them organize their club activities earlier today. Besides, I don’t think they actually think you two are gay. They just like to imagine you two as gay for each other.”

Cadenza laughs. “This is what you get for hiding your relationship for so long. Their imagination has run wild; they will see what they want to see, no matter what you say or do.” 

“Did you join?” Garroth asks, panicked. 

“Of course not. I told them you two wouldn’t like it if I shipped you together without me. They accepted that answer and didn’t try to force me to join.” Wisteria says. 

“This is so creepy! We are real people, not fictional characters! They can’t just decide what they want about us!” Laurence shivers as he hands Wisteria back her phone, not wanting to see any more fanfic. 

Cadenza, not wanting to be involved in the drama her brother created, decides to talk to Wisteria. “While you boys figure that out. Wisteria, I don’t trust Laur to plan this for us. Why don’t you give me your number?”

“Sure, I don’t mind—” She gets cut off. 

Laurence wraps his arms around her, pulling her back towards him. “Cadenza, I don’t know what you have planned, but I don’t like it.” 

“Come on, Laur, I just want her to model for me. Why are you being overprotective of her? Is there a reason I shouldn’t like her? Like, maybe being a Shadow Knight?” She glares at him. 

He flinches. “N-no, why would there be something wrong with her? I wouldn’t be with her then.”

“Then you should have no problem with me getting closer to her.” She smiles, an evil smile hiding her true intentions. 

“No! I mean… why do you have to get close to her?” 

“Why shouldn’t I? She could become family one day; I should get to know my future sister-in-law.”

His grip tightens around her. He seemed afraid for some reason; she couldn’t put her finger on it. Something must have happened when he was dating Gene.

She lifts her arm behind her, cupping his cheek with her hand, rubbing her thumb against his skin, trying to comfort him. “It’s ok, Laurence. You know I can handle myself just fine without my knights needing to don their shining armor.” 

He rests his head in her hand, enjoying the comfort it gives. “I know, but—” 

“No buts. I know you boys have been more protective of me since I helped you stay best friends last year, but I’m ok. It'll be nice to get to know your sister. You already know mine, and I already know Garroth’s brothers.”

“Listen to your girlfriend. She’s fine getting to know me.” Cadenza says. 

Garroth pats Laurene’s back. “Worst comes to worst, we steal our princess back.”

“Fine, she can model for you, but you better behave.” Laurence gives in. 

“I was planning on it. She seems better than your ex, so as long as she doesn’t give me a reason to step in, I won’t.” She says as she gets Wisteria’s number. 

Laurence still held Wisteria tight until Cadenza finally walked away from them. Even then, it took Garroth a few minutes to pull his arms off of her. He refused to relax. 

“It will be ok, Laurence; the same thing won’t happen,” Garroth says. 

Laurence stares into the distance, unsure what to believe—people’s words or his emotions. 

“I don’t know what happened for you to be worried, but it’s me we're talking about here.” She cups his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. “If I can handle the werewolves and the Shadow Knights all on my own, I can handle your sister.”

He smiles softly at her. “You’re right. I just… I don’t want her to be disappointed in me again.”

"I'll just have to make such a good impression on her that you'll have trouble getting rid of me because she'll like me so much. You'd better be ready for that.” She pinches his cheeks. 

He chuckles, pulling her hands away from his face. “As if I would ever want to get rid of you.”

Garroth gives them both a big hug. “Don’t forget about me!” 

They all laugh. “Of course not, you can’t get rid of us either. The three of us are together forever. One way or another, time and distance won’t change that.” She says as they hug.

Chapter Text

Wisteria was on her way to the cafeteria to eat lunch with Kacey and Katelyn. Lucinda had her schedule changed and was no longer at lunch with them. It was for the better as she wouldn't stop arguing with Katelyn.

She was about to enter the cafeteria when Sasha and Zenix came up to her. Each wrapping an arm around hers and attempting to drag her away.

“Guys, stop it. I’m not going anywhere with you.” Wisteria says as she rips her arms from them. They were still trying to bully the freshman into being scared of them. She said she would ignore them until they stopped.

“Plan B,” Zenix nods at Sasha.

“Plan B,” Sasha nods back.

Sasha quickly steps in front of her, forcing her to stop. That gives Zenix enough time to grab her arms while Sasha quickly squats down and grabs her legs. 

Zenix pulls her back, forcing her to fall. Sasha lifts her legs, and Zenix holds her up by her arms. They laugh as they start to run away with her, holding her by her limbs so she can’t escape.

“This is kidnapping! You guys can’t just kidnap me whenever you want to! Let me go!” She tries to squirm but can’t escape. 

“Not happening; you’re coming with us, Kitty,” Zenix says. 

“Yeah, you have some questions to answer!” Sasha says. 

“This is why no one wants to join the Shadow Knights! You two are the problem!” Wisteria refuses to stop squirming in their grasp, too annoyed to go along with their plans for once. 

She didn’t have to worry about flashing anyone, as she learned her lesson last year to always wear shorts or leggings under her skirt. She had too many incidents to be fine without wearing anything extra under her school uniform. 

People watch as she is kidnapped, not bothering to step in to help her. Except one person follows them until they reach a more secluded area before finally stepping in.

“Hey! Put her down. Now!” Ein growls out, stepping in front of them, looking ready to fight. 

“Yikes, called one of your pups on us?” Zenix mocks. “Why don’t you run along? We have business with her.” 

“Yeah, we need to have a conversation with her. She’s not going anywhere,” Sasha says. 

“Then have the conversation with her. Don’t drag her somewhere she doesn’t want to go.” Ein suggests. 

“In the bathroom, right now. All of you.” Wisteria says, using her head to point to the boys' bathroom they were standing next to.

“But that’s the boys’ bathroom! You two can’t go in there!” Zenix says while Sasha kicks the door open with her foot, dragging them both into the bathroom. 

She finally lets her go, trying to carefully place her feet on the ground. Zenix lets her go as Ein follows them into the bathroom, checking to make sure the stalls are empty. 

“Ok, you got me alone now. What the fuck do you want?” Wisteria crosses her arms, annoyed. 

“You’re dating Garroth and Laurence!” Zenix shouts. 

“What about Gene? And what about not dating? Why them? I get it back when Laurence was cool, but not now! And two of them at once?” Sasha rambles. “Did Lu and I break you?”

She sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. “I’m only telling you two this because I know no one will believe you if you say otherwise. So shut up and listen. And, uh, Ein, please keep this a secret.

“It’s all a lie. We aren’t dating. They freaked out over a stupid rumor that they were gay, and I got dragged into fixing it. Somehow leading to a fake relationship with both of them.

“And somehow I am stuck answering everyone’s questions and covering for their asses in this lie I didn’t even know I was a part of until they came up to me with flowers and chocolate to make it look believable. 

“Chocolate that’s not even real because it would poison me if it were! Substitute may taste the same, but it's not the same! I haven’t had real chocolate in months and ugh!” 

She takes a deep breath after saying everything so quickly, without breathing. “Wow, that felt good to let out.”

“So it was all an act?” Zenix questions. “Hmm, this might work in our favor.”

Sasha lets out a breath of relief. “Whew. We didn't know how we were supposed to tell Gene. If you’re in a fake relationship, you can't date. This is great!” 

“Wow, you were pent up. Why lie then? You don’t seem to enjoy doing it or to be good at it. I’m not exactly sure how people have been believing you so far.” Ein sniffs, noticing her scent is different. “Oh. Hmph, that’s how.”

“'Cause I’m a good friend. I can’t leave them to clean up their mess alone. They would do the same for me.” Wisteria sighs. “And don’t think I’m doing this for Gene. He’s rejected and shall stay rejected.”

“Doesn’t matter to us why you’re doing it. As long as it’s not real.” Sasha shrugs. 

“Yeah, and if you are to get with one of the Ro'Meaves, at least it’s not Zane.” Zenix sticks his tongue out, disgusted by the thought. 

“Yet you still let him into your group. I’m going to eat lunch now. Learn how to behave at school, and I might eat with you for once." Wisteria says as she leaves the bathroom. 

Ein follows her out of the bathroom, watching her head back towards the cafeteria. He was happy to hear that the relationship was fake. It means his plans weren’t ruined yet; they just needed to be tweaked. 

The school day was finally over, and Wisteria couldn’t wait to go home. Sadly, she couldn’t rush out of the school building; she had to meet up with Laurence and Garroth to go home, as they both didn't have practice after school.

She met up with them in front of the school, all eyes on them as they walked off together. She tried to get away with not holding their hands by holding her school bag with both hands, but they didn’t let her get away with that. 

“Babe, since we aren’t hiding our relationship anymore, we’ll walk you home,” Laurence says, grabbing one of her hands and leaning in to kiss her cheek. 

“Here, let me hold that for you, Princess,” Garroth says as he takes her bag from her. He takes her other hand and kisses her other cheek.

She blushes as she holds both of their hands as they walk towards her house. She hated the feeling of everyone's eyes on her and hated the way the boys were making her heart race. 

It’s not as if she had feelings for them; she couldn’t. She refused to have feelings for anyone. Especially for them, this was a fake relationship. It would only complicate things if they liked each other. 

It was weird enough that they both liked and kissed her sister. But as this was a fake relationship and that wasn’t common knowledge, she didn’t mind faking things for them. The problem is she knew this was somehow going to bite her in the butt.  

She knew this relationship was going to end badly. Something was going to go wrong. She didn’t know how, what, or why, but it was a gut feeling she couldn’t get rid of.

The next day, Wisteria is in homeroom when she gets called to the principal's office. The class goes ‘ooo, someone’s in trouble’ before she leaves. She wasn’t stressed; she figured it was about the werewolves, a class schedule change, or the mentoring program. 

The werewolves would be the hardest topic, as it meant they were causing a lot of damage, but it was something she could manage. They were better than last year; they were three windows below the amount they broke by this time last year. 

That was a huge improvement as far as it came to the werewolves. The school’s average was lower than other local schools for window breaking caused by werewolf students. 

She walked to the principal’s office, greeted by the principal and the P.E. teacher. “Hello, I was called to the principal’s office. Do you need me for something?” Wisteria says. 

“You’re damn right we do. You have a lot to explain, Missy.” Arnold, the P.E. teacher, says. 

“Arnold, please, let me handle this.” Principal Layla clears her throat. “Wisteria, I want to discuss your involvement with the Shadow Knights. Please follow me.”

“What?” She sighs as she follows her into her office. 

“You heard her! We know about your nickname with them, Kitty. Now march!” Arnold says, following behind her, rubbing salt in the wound. 

They sit at the principal's desk, Arnold standing beside Wisteria, not bothering to sit down. He was watching her like a hawk, acting as if she would flee at a moment's notice.

“We have sufficient evidence that you were involved with the Shadow Knight gang,” Layla says. 

“Multiple students confirmed that you were close to their former leader. You even had a nickname with him, which was… Kitty.” Arnold says. 

“We are unable to locate the members of the Shadow Knight gang. Since you have prior involvement with them, you will be holding responsibility until further notice.” 

“For what happened in the cafeteria? This is unfair, and you know it. I was never in their group. Their calling me a name does not make it a nickname. I’ve also been protecting the students from the Shadow Knights since last year. Also, you can’t punish me for something I didn’t do.” Wisteria states. 

“I’m afraid there is no evidence that you didn’t do anything. Please understand that—” She says before getting cut off. 

“No, you understand this. There's no evidence that I did something. You can not punish students until they are proven guilty. If you plan on punishing me, I'll be forced to make this a bigger deal than it already is.” 

Before she can respond, glass shatters behind Wisteria as Ein jumps through the window. 

“What the?” Arnold shouts as Layla just sighs. 

“I heard Wisteria was in trouble!” Ein shouts. 

“Ein? What did I say about breaking windows!” Wisteria groans. 

“I figured this would happen,” Layla says. 

“What do you mean? He just busted through the window! Did you not see that? How are you not shaken up?” Arnold asks. 

“Have you met the werewolf students? Breaking windows is like a thing for them. We already had about thirty incidents of window breaking this year.” 

“Then why is he here?” 

“I'm sorry, but I went to meet you in your class, and one of the students told me you got called into the principal's office. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay.” Ein explains. 

“So you broke a window?” Arnold shouts. 

“Arnold, calm down. I figured this would happen the moment we called her in. I really should have had the werewolf teacher stand guard at the door. You see, Arnold, Wisteria here is the female alpha of the werewolves. When they hear she’s in trouble, they will swarm my office, wondering what’s happening.” Layla explains. 

“Oh, I see. So what do we do?” 

“Well, we can suspend her until further notice.” 

Wisteria pulls out her phone and starts dialing her mother’s number. 

“What are you doing?” Arnold asks.

“I’m calling my mother. I’m being wrongly accused of something I didn't do, and you're knowingly endangering the students by knowing what punishing me will do. You will not get out unscathed because I will tell the werewolves the truth.”

“Arnold, the phone!” Layla shouts, and Arnold quickly snatches the phone from her before she can hit the call button.

“That is illegal on so many levels! You aren’t informing my mother of a decision you are making, and you stole my personal property!”

“I’m afraid this situation is more complicated than you think. The werewolf alpha’s getting into trouble has always been a problem here. Suspending you is for the safety of the school.” 

“I’ve never been in trouble, and you know that! If you think I won’t go to the news station and—” Ein cuts her off. 

“Wait! I’m the only werewolf that knows she is in trouble. I came here because I wanted to help!” 

“How do you know that she’s in trouble?” Layla asks. 

“Because I was in trouble for nothing at the beginning of the school year, remember? When my piercings were taken.”

“Are you certain you are the only one who knows?”

“I’m very positive.”

“Fine, you're right. She’s in trouble for the incident in the cafeteria.”

“You did that?” He looks at Wisteria in disbelief. 

“Hell no! I’m being accused of something I didn’t do, and she refuses to listen to logic! The Shadow Knights couldn’t have done this; they don’t have the backbone for this stunt.” She defends herself. 

“We have no proof that she did or did not, but her prior involvement with the Shadow Knights is the reason to hold her. We can’t find the Shadow Knights and—” Layla gets cut off.

“Give us a day!” Ein shouts. “We can find them and whoever did this!”

“No offense, dude, but there’s no way you can prove your little girlfriend here is innocent,” Arnold says, causing Ein to blush. Wisteria’s face was already red from anger.

“And you can’t prove I’m guilty!” Wisteria shouts, her tail angrily thudding against the chair.

“Look, I’m a werewolf. I have a keen sense of smell; I can help her find who is responsible by the end of the school day.” Ein says.

“I hope you know there is no way—” Arnold gets cut off. 

“Deal. There’s no harm in this. Plus, if she finds the vandals who did this, we don’t have to fork out the funds for the cleanup. You have until the end of the school day,” Layla says. 

“Thank you! Let’s go!” Ein says before hopping back out of the broken window. 

Wisteria glares at them, snatching her phone back from Arnold, before following Ein out of the window. 

“Ein, wait! Thanks.” 

“Don’t mention it! I just don’t want to see you in trouble. No alpha has ever been as nice to me as you have. Now, come on, we have to prove you are innocent!” He says before rushing off again. 

They run around the school for a while, trying to find the Shadow Knights or a clue about who really did the tagging in the cafeteria. 

“Let’s try the cafeteria. If we're lucky, they left something behind.” Wisteria says.  

“Got it!” Ein shouts, changing direction to head to the cafeteria. 

They both start looking around the cafeteria. Ein starts sniffing around until he goes to a garbage bin and pulls out an empty spray paint can.

“Here! A spray paint can.” He says. 

“Yeah, I know what they used, but that doesn’t help us.”

He sniffs the spray paint can. “Ugh, this smells disgusting, but they left their scent on it. That means we can follow it!”

“Ah! That’s great! I love you and your beautiful nose!” Wisteria hugs him. 

He blushes. “C-come on, this way!” He starts running off. 

“Wait!” She shouts, but it seems like he didn’t hear her as he keeps running. 

She decides to text the Shadow Knights, just in case. 

Kitty🐱

If you two did this and I end up getting the punishment for it I swear to Irene I’m cutting all of you off for life!

(video attachment of the tagged cafeteria)

Hot Head🤬

We didn't do it!

Bunny🐇

Why would you get in trouble for it?

Kitty🐱

The principal called me to her office and said I’m getting suspended if I don’t find you two by the end of the day because she can’t find you

I don’t believe you did it but she’s hell-bent on punishing whoever she can for it

Stay safe and don't worry about me

I'm bringing hell with me if she tries to punish me

I won't go down without a fight

Punk😈

You two

Call

Now

While she’s typing, Kai walks up behind her. 

“Wisteria? Where are you off to?” He asks. 

“Huh?” She jumps as she turns around, not noticing him sneak up on her. “I-I’m not really sure.” She nervously laughs. 

“Good! I wanted to see if you wanted to hang out until class starts. I—” He gets cut off by Ein returning, yelling in the halls for her. 

“Alpha, where are you? Oh, there you are. We really should get going.” He says, walking up to them. 

“Oh, so you are busy. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with me this weekend, Alpha.” Kai jokes. 

“Huh, oh sure. Sorry, I have to go now!” Wisteria says as she walks off with Ein. 

The school bell rings, signaling it is time to go to class. “Are you ok with missing class?”

“Of course. It’s just one class, and you will miss way more if we don’t catch the person who did this.” Ein says. 

“Thanks. But if we fail, I don’t plan on going down without a fight.” 

They rush to the locker where the spray can came from. Wisteria tries to open it, but unsurprisingly, it is locked. “Locked, no surprise.” She gets down on her knees, putting her ear to the door as she turns the lock. 

“What are you doing?” 

“I’m listening to the clicks to break into the locker. A human designed them, so they didn’t plan for werewolf hearing to make breaking into them so easy.” She said as the locker popped open. “Tada!” 

“That’s impressive; I didn’t know we could do that.” 

“I’ve been learning a lot and testing a lot of different things since becoming a werewolf. Now, let's see whose locker this is.” She starts to look through the papers. 

“Any proof yet?”

“No, the assignments don’t have their name written on them. It's kinda sad.”

“Quick, this way!” Someone shouts down the hall. 

“Shit, someone’s coming!” She says. 

“Quick, hide!” He says. Wisteria quickly steps into the locker, pulling Ein in with her. “We both won’t fit, AH—.”

Wisteria is pressed against his chest, his arms wrapped around her as they are squeezed together in the locker. It was a tighter fit than it was with Zane, as Ein is a head taller than he was back then, and they both have tails taking up space. 

It wasn’t much tighter than when she was stuck with Kai, as he was closer in height and build to Ein. Although Ein was taller and more muscular than Kai. His tail also had more fur than Kai's did.

She was grateful when she noticed the voices outside the locker were Zenix and Sasha. In her panic to hide, she forgot they wouldn’t be able to get the locker door open and would’ve been stuck together for who knows how long. 

“We need to get out of here now, Zenix. Now isn’t the time to worry about your locker.” Sasha says.

“I just want to make sure there aren’t any spray cans inside that can be used as evidence against us!” Zenix says as he tries to open his locker. 

“Just hurry!” She says as he finally opens his locker. 

Wisteria jumps out, grabbing both of them. “Guess who had their spray paint used in the cafeteria?” 

“AH!” They both scream. “Kitty? What were you doing in my locker?”

“Trying to catch who did the tagging, and the evidence is leading to you. So you either lied to me, or someone is framing you big time, so you better start talking.”

“We didn’t do it! We are being framed.” Sasha says. 

“We need to run! The teachers are looking for us, and if they find us in the school, they’ll blame us for sure!” Zenix shouts. 

“If you didn’t yell for once, you might be able to get away!” Wisteria pinches his ear. 

“Ow! It’s not our fault! We are being framed!” 

“Who did you piss off recently that would have the guts to do this!” 

“We don’t know! We’ve been trying to figure that out!” Sasha says. 

“This is why I told you two to behave! Without Gene, you guys are too reckless! You have to know who you pissed off. Come on, think!” 

“We told you, we don’t know! No one would have the guts to do this. We don’t pick on anyone stronger than us.” 

“Yeah, without Gene, we can’t pick on anyone older. They just don’t listen anymore.” Zenix says. 

“That means it’s a freshman or sophomore. Who’d you pick on in the last few days in those grades?” Wisteria asks.  

“I don’t know! I don’t remember who we bullied!”

She sighs. “You two are hopeless. How’d you expect things not to come bite you in the ass?” 

“There you are! Consorting with each other! I knew it!” Arnold says, coming around the corner, catching them. 

“Are not! You are seeing what you want to see!” 

“Shit,” Sasha says. 

“Run, Sasha!” Zenix yells as they both try to make a run for it, but Wisteria quickly grabs them by the back of the collar. 

“Oh no, you two don’t. We are going to prove your innocence one way or another. No running away.”

All five of them head to the principal’s office, where the four students sit down in front of Layla and Arnold. 

“Well, you found them, Wisteria, but I’m afraid it is in coordination with them,” Layla says. 

Wisteria scoffs. “You are making things up. I did as you told me to do. Yet you are twisting the reality of what happened.”

“I’m sorry, but there is more evidence against you than with you. I’m afraid you all are suspended.”

“That’s a lie! You fabricated all the evidence against me! You don’t care who the real culprit is; you just want to punish those you dislike!” Wisteria stands up and shouts at her while Ein tries to pull her to sit back down. 

Zane walks into the room, defending them. “I wouldn’t bother Principal Layla. I don’t appreciate you crediting these losers who didn’t even lift a finger to commit the crime.”

“Uh, what?” Arnold questions. 

He evilly laughs. “You thought it was the Shadow Knights, but you were wrong. It was me, Zane!”

“That’s insane. Why would I believe you?” Layla asks. 

“Because I have video evidence. A feat this fantastic and evil, I couldn’t have the credit go to these lowlife losers.” 

“Prove it.” 

“Here, take my phone.” He says, passing his phone with the video of him spray painting the cafeteria. 

“H-he did do it. There’s like video right here on his phone!” Arnold says. 

“Well, it seems like I made a mistake. Everyone here, you have my sincerest apologies. You’re free to leave.” Layla says. 

“Yes!” Sasha and Zenix say in unison, bolting out of the room. 

“Principal Layla, don’t think I will forget your transgressions.” Wisteria glares at her as she gets up to leave, Ein following her. 

She stops in front of Zane, a pain going through her heart. “I’m… disappointed in you, Zane.” 

“Oh? Well, good, because I don’t care.” He looks away from her. 

“You should’ve come to me if you were having problems.” She said as she left the room, not bothering to face him as she spoke. She didn’t know what reaction he would give, and she didn’t want to know. 

Wisteria and Ein walk to the back of the school, sitting on the bleachers. “Thanks, Ein. I’m sorry you got dragged into all of this.” 

“It’s fine. I wanted to help you. But are you okay? You sound tired.” 

She looks down, her eyes watering. “Yeah. All that running around must’ve worn me out. Ha.”

He notices her voice quiver as she talks, so he gently lifts her head to see the tears forming. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” 

She can’t hold the tears back anymore as they fall. She tries to wipe them away, but they only fall harder as she begins to weep. 

“H-he used to depend on me. H-he used to ask me for h-help and wanted me to be there for him. I feel like I f-failed him. How… How much pain was he in to do something like that? To be proud of that?” 

Ein’s eyes widen, not expecting her to break so easily. She was the alpha; she was supposed to be strong, unshakeable, and unbreakable, yet she was crying her heart out right in front of him. He pulls her close, petting her head as she cries into his chest. 

Her fists tightened against the fabric of his uniform as she wept. Not her normal silent cry, this was full-bodied. She put her heart and soul into every tear as she whimpered, letting it all out. 

“Shh, it’s ok. It’s not your fault. He did what he wanted to do.” 

“I failed him. I failed him. I failed him. I shouldn’t have pushed him away; I shouldn’t have pretended not to notice his feelings, but I was scared. So scared. So… Scared.” 

“Shh, just let it all out. Tell me what happened.” 

She doesn’t speak anymore as she weeps more, struggling to breathe properly until her eyes roll to the back of her head as she passes out. She slumps into his lap, and he checks to ensure she is okay, only to see that she has fallen asleep. 

“Rest. You need your energy. I’ll make sure you're okay.” He shifts her to lie comfortably on his lap as he pets her head, watching the tears stream down her face as she sleeps. 

He runs his finger over the tears, collecting them and licking them off his finger, savouring the saltiness. He didn’t like seeing her cry, but he did like her depending on him.

A few minutes pass before her phone rings. He carefully steals it from her pocket, unaware of who Casanova is, and quietly answers it so she does not wake up. 

“Hello?” 

“Huh? Who’s this? Where’s Wisteria?” Laurence asks. 

He ignores his questions, responding with his own. “Are you one of her boyfriends?” 

“I am, and who are you?” His tone begins to get aggressive.

“I’m the one who’s been running around protecting her today. Some boyfriend you are; you didn’t even know she almost got wrongfully suspended.” 

“S-she what?” He stutters. Garroth could be heard in the background asking what’s happening.

“You should ask her about it later; right now, she’s sleeping. She’s had a rough day, but I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“N-no! Tell me where she is. Garroth and I will come to comfort her; we’re her boyfriends. Some other guy shouldn’t be doing that.”

“Fake boyfriends. You are only adding more to her plate by keeping this act up. How long do you expect her to handle all the pressure you two put on her? She’s already the werewolves' female alpha, a school mentor, and a defender of the misunderstood. 

“She didn’t want to date because of the burden it would put on her, but you two didn’t listen. You forced her into the charade when she hates to lie, forcing her to lie to her friends, her pups, and everyone she cares about. If you care about her, leave her alone.” He says as he hangs up on him. 

“Mhpm.” She softly moans as she shifts in his lap, getting comfortable as she naps.  

“That’s right, get comfortable. I’ll protect you; you don’t need some idiot humans making things worse for you.” He whispers as he continues to pet her head, watching her sleep. 

As Ein hangs up the call, Laurence looks at Garroth. “W-what have we done?”

“What do you mean? Where’s Wist? We’re supposed to walk home with her today since we both don’t have practice.” Garroth asks. 

“She was in trouble today, and we weren’t there to help her. Some other guy is with her right now.” 

“What do you mean? We’re supposed to be her boyfriends? Who would push us away from helping her?”

“I don’t know, but she’s hurt and she didn’t tell us. She’s been helping us all this time, but all we’ve been doing is adding trouble to her list.”

“Let's give her a chance to explain. Maybe this is like what happened with us and Aphmau, and it’s all a misunderstanding.”

“It doesn’t matter if her not telling us is a misunderstanding. In the end, we are still making things harder for her. She didn’t want to date, and we forced her. Even if it is fake, we make her do things she doesn’t want to do.”

The boys sigh, walking home together, as they have no clue that Wisteria is still at school. They had more to think about. They thought things were going well and were going to keep up the fake dating for the rest of the year, but now they weren’t so sure. 

If only they knew how bad the situation would get before it would be too late to fix things. Forever unrepairable.

Chapter Text

It’s the next day, and Wisteria walks into homeroom like normal. She sees Garroth and Laurence already sitting in their seats, chatting.

“Morning, my loves.” She hugs both of them before sitting down. 

“Morning, Babe. Is there something you would like to tell us?” Laurence asks. 

“Huh?” She looks confused, trying to figure out what she did wrong. “I mean, I was going to update you with what happened yesterday, but I’m not sure if that’s what you mean.” 

“Yes, do tell us, Princess. What happened yesterday?” Garroth asks. 

She tells them about what happened with the principal and what Zane said. She told them how Ein helped her, but not how she cried and fell asleep on his lap after school. 

“Yeah, so if you have any evidence about the principal doing something wrong, please send it my way. I plan on escalating things if she tries something like this again.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We could’ve helped you find the culprit.” 

“I was a little distracted by everything going on. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.” She seemed genuinely apologetic, and they had no reason not to believe her. 

“That’s ok, Babe, but this Ein guy, I don’t think we’ve met him before. Are you two close?” Laurence asks. 

“Yeah. He's a transfer student I mentored on the first day of school. I have first period with him.” She doesn’t notice the true intentions behind his question. He wasn’t her real boyfriend, so why would she think he would have an issue with another boy?

The bell signalling the end of homeroom rings. “Is that so? Why don’t we walk you to class then? It would be nice to meet the person who helped you out yesterday.”

“Huh? Sure, I don’t mind.” She gets up, grabs her things, and walks with her fake boyfriends to class.

They chit-chat while they walk to her class. Once there, she peeks in and sees that Ein isn’t there yet, so they decide to wait for him outside the classroom. 

“Wisteria, what are you doing out here?” Kai asks as he walks up to them. 

“Hey Kai, just chatting an extra minute before class.” She smiles at him. 

“We are still on for this weekend, right?” He says, causing Garroth and Laurence to tense. 

“Of course. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” 

Kai, Garroth, and Laurence don’t get a chance to say anything as Ein walks up. “What’s with the crowd, Alpha?” He asks. 

“Hey, Ein—” She gets cut off as soon as she mentions his name. 

“So, you’re Ein,” Laurence says as he and Garroth step in front of Wisteria. They are forced to look up at him as his large frame makes them less intimidating than they had hoped. 

Ein smiles. “You two must be her boyfriends. It’s nice to finally meet you. She doesn’t talk much about you two, so it’s interesting to see what you are like in person.”

“We could say the same thing about you.” 

Wisteria, wide-eyed, looks back and forth between them, noticing the tension. She had no clue where it came from, but she wanted it to end. She puts her hands on Garroth and Laurence’s shoulders. “Haha, you two should head to class now; you don’t want to be late.” 

“You’re right, Babe. We’ll miss you.” Laurence says as he turns, pulling her in by her waist as he kisses her on the lips. 

“We’ll come pick you up after class, so wait for us, Princess,” Garroth says, copying Laurence. 

The boys walked away, leaving a red-faced Wisteria behind. They kissed her lips, not her cheek—her lips. Her hand was placed over her lips as she embarrassedly turned and quickly walked into class. 

She sat with her arms and head on her desk, tail wagging behind her. She was confused; they were acting like jealous boyfriends. Why did they kiss her on the lips? They agreed on no lips, only on the cheek. 

“That was… interesting,” Kai says, sitting beside her. 

She groans loudly, turning her head so she could see him as she spoke. “I’m sorry about them. They’ve never done something like that before. I don’t know what came over them today.”

“Are you sure they are only your fake boyfriends? They seemed pretty jealous to me.” Ein asks as he sits down on the other side of her. 

She sits up quickly. “Ein! No one is supposed to know about that.” She sighs. “You’re lucky Kai already knows, or I would be mad.”

“I thought you said you guys had boundaries? Why did they kiss you?” Kai asks. 

She groans again, slamming her head back into her desk. “We do. They aren’t supposed to kiss me on the lips. I don’t understand. Where did everything go wrong?”

She doesn’t notice Ein hiding his smirk; he knows what went wrong. He was upset seeing them kiss her, but he knew he riled them up. It was only a matter of time before he could force them to break up. 

Ein mostly stays silent, listening to Kai and Wisteria talk. Kai was trying to help her figure out what to do. He was a good listener and had good advice; she could see why Aphmau fell for him. 

When class was over, she bolted out of the room, waiting for the boys to meet her in front of her classroom. As soon as she saw them, she walked up to them, grabbing both of their hands, before speed-walking away with them. Golden and silver eyes followed her until she disappeared from view.

“You two have so much explaining to do.” She angrily says, a smile on her face, so others would not notice something is off. 

They don’t get a chance to talk as a werewolf student runs up to her. “Alpha, sorry to interrupt your time with your mates, but we need help. There’s a fight about to break out!”

She sighs, letting go of the boy's hands. “It’s fine, show me the way.”

The werewolf shows her the way to the two boys about to fight, screaming in the hallways. Laurence and Garroth follow her, curious how she could break up a fight between two werewolves.

“Hey!” She shouts, causing the boys about to fight to look at her. “What do you two think you're doing?” 

“Alpha, he called me stupid!” One of the werewolf boys says.

“He said I was stupid first!” The other says. 

“Well, problem solved. If you are going to fight over who’s stupider, then you’re both stupid.” 

“Alpha.” Both boys tear up, and their ears and tails begin to droop. 

She softens, seeing how she upset them. She walks up to them, petting both of their heads. “Listen, you two are friends; you should hug and make up with each other. You both are amazing; don’t let a stupid argument affect you. You’ll only prove each other right by doing something stupid like fighting each other.”

“You’re right, Alpha.” One of the boys says, pulling his friend into a hug. 

“Get in this, Alpha.” The other says, pulling her into the hug. 

Blaze rushes around the corner, another werewolf guiding him. “Ha, looks like you got this all figured out, Wisteria. Group hug!”

Blaze and a couple of werewolf bystanders join the hug. It wasn’t long until Wisteria was beginning to be lifted and thrown up into the air. 

“Ahh! Not again!” She screeches. “BLAZE!” 

Blaze quickly snaps to attention, grabbing her as she lands, pulling away from the group so they can’t throw her up again. He was holding her bridal style, with her tightly clinging to him. 

She was like a scared kitten, her claws digging into him so she couldn’t be dropped. Not enough to draw blood, but tight enough that he notices what she is doing. He was thick-skinned, so he didn’t mind. 

He chuckles. “Alright, that’s enough. You know she hates when we throw her.” 

“But the male alpha from last year said to do it since it was fun seeing her screech like a bat.” One of the werewolves said. 

“That’s cause Aaron was a jerk! He just wanted to make fun of me and call me a flying rat!” She growls, shaking in Blaze’s arms. 

He laughs. “You should run away before she makes you run laps again.” 

Their eyes widen as they quickly scurry away. Wisteria made exercise a punishment. She found it a good way to get the extra energy out of the werewolves. So laps, push-ups, planks, sit-ups, etc., became commonplace. 

He finally puts her down, her legs shaky on the ground, as her nerves were still firing from being thrown. 

“Grrr, you should’ve punished them. They'll keep doing it if we don’t make them learn now!” She growls. 

“But where’s the fun in that? It’s cute when you cling to me and ask me to rescue you. You’re like a pup taking its first steps when you touch the ground again.” He chuckles. 

Laurence clears his throat, causing Blaze to notice him and Garroth standing there, arms crossed. 

“Oh, sorry, didn’t see your mates there. I’ll go.” Blaze awkwardly says before walking away. 

Still shaking, she walks up to them. “I hate when they do that.” 

Her knees buckle as Laurence and Garroth quickly catch her. “They really do listen to you. I don’t think anyone else could have stopped their fight so easily,” Laurence says.

She giggles. “Of course they do. I’m their alpha.” 

“Who was that Blaze guy?” Garroth asks.

“Oh, he’s the male alpha. He’s the one who replaced Aaron’s spot this year.” 

“Aaron picked him as his replacement?” 

“Oh, no, earlier this year I picked him. Honestly, it was a whole mess.” Wisteria explains why she had to pick someone and what happened at the werewolf games. The boys did their best to hide their fury but couldn't stop the jealousy from building. 

"You're telling us that multiple guys took off their shirts to impress you and get picked by you. Many of them were not only vying for the alpha title but also to be your boyfriend.” Laurence clarifies.  

She laughs. “I know, it’s so weird to think that anyone wanted me to be their mate. Sometimes I think they forget I’m human and don’t see things the same way they do.”

“Yeah, weird.” He grinds his teeth. 

They didn’t have time to explain their actions earlier, as someone interrupted every time they tried to talk. She had so many guy friends. Dante and Travis flirted with her, the werewolves were obsessed with her, and even some of the meif’wa seemed interested in her. 

Garroth and Laurence walked her to every class, trying to learn what they could about her. They weren’t there when she was almost suspended; that was Ein. They also weren’t there to save her when Ivy went after her, as Kai protected her then. 

They only found out what happened when they hugged her and she hissed, warning them about the bruise. It was massive, and she wasn’t even mad at Garroth for not telling Ivy off better. She was furious when Ivy even thought of touching Aphmau, but she didn’t mention anything when she did worse to her. 

They felt as if they didn’t understand her struggles until they saw them in person. The way she dealt with stupid arguments for the werewolves, helped freshmen with issues, and even dealt with the Shadow Knights, causing trouble. 

They thought they were busy, but she was busy on another level. They knew people liked her, but didn’t realize how popular she actually was. She was more popular than both of them combined, as people looked up to her everywhere she went. 

The fact that she so willingly pretended to be their girlfriend on top of everything else was insane. She underplayed how much she did. She went out of her way to make their lives easier, even though it took what little free time she had left. 

She had no clue how much people treasured her. She had no understanding of how deep some people’s feelings for her went. She was brightening everyone's day, purely because she could, without expecting anything in return. She didn’t even think anyone would notice all the things she did. 

In a way, she was right. They didn’t notice until Ein forced them to open their eyes. They were so focused on her sister that they didn’t notice the truly amazing person in front of them. 

So, the day ended with more questions than when it started. They took some time to think and plan what to do next. It was too soon to break up with her, as it would cause more problems than it would solve. 

They needed something that would make her feel like she didn’t have to lie and to make her feel like she had a safe, comforting place to go to for any of her issues. They wanted her to feel safe opening up to them and to stop shouldering her burdens by herself. 

They were not going to let other guys dishearten them. If they were causing her problems, they just had to solve them for her. The problem is, they aren’t the best problem solvers. They are better problem makers than solvers. 

The next school day, they let Wisteria have some time away from them as they rushed through the halls, trying to find someone. 

“Lucinda!” Garroth yells as he and Laurence rush up to her in the halls. 

“Yes?” She turns to look at them, unhappy that her alone time with Ivan was interrupted. 

“We need your help.” He pants as he and Laurence make it up to her.

“With?” 

“We need you to make us a love potion,” Laurence says. 

She laughs. “A love potion? For you two? Don’t you have enough girls fawning after you and a girlfriend?” 

He leans in close so no one can overhear. “We are in a fake relationship to get the girls off our backs.” He backs up, continuing the conversation like normal. “Wisteria is having problems, and a love potion would solve all of them.” 

“You’re what?! With my kitten? She’s struggling, and you think a… ugh! Would she be the one taking it, or would she be giving it to someone?”

“She would take it and fall in love with us.” 

“How would her taking a love potion fix her issues?” 

“One, she wouldn’t be lying about her feelings anymore. Two, it helps us get the guys off her back, as it seems they are still getting too close to her, even after knowing she’s in a relationship. Three, she doesn’t talk about her problems. She would feel comfortable enough to share her worries if she were in love.”

She hums to herself, thinking about it. “Babe, you can’t seriously be thinking about making them a love potion,” Ivan says. 

“Do you two love her?” She asks. 

“Like, like her? No. We just can’t stand to see her like this anymore. She is letting too much slide, and if we have to step up to protect her, we will.” Laurence says. 

“Yeah, we’ll be her knights in shining armor,” Garroth says.

“I’ll do it. It will be ready for you on Monday. You’ll have to wait until then.” Lucinda says. 

“You can’t be serious, Babe. They just said they don’t love her! She’ll be heartbroken. She won’t be able to make their fake relationship real.” Ivan argues. 

“Would you become her real boyfriends if I do this?” 

“Yes, if that’s what it takes to have her get closer to us,” Laurence says with no hesitation. 

“You said it yourself, Babe, she’s emotionally intelligent. She’ll see right through their lie.” Ivan argues. Lucinda often talked about Wisteria, so he knew how much she cared about her. 

“She’ll be more heartbroken if I do nothing. I don’t know what boy has already broken her heart, but she’s scared. Maybe this is the push she needs to open up. At least with them protecting her heart, no one else can wound her. ”

Garroth feels a pain in his chest, knowing who hurt her. “Thank you, Lucinda.” 

“Hey, don’t get me wrong, I'm not doing this for you. I’m doing this for my kitten. I know she bottles up her problems and emotions, and if you somehow make things worse for her. You’ll pay.”

Laurence and Garroth shiver. “Got it. Thank you, Lucinda. We just want to help her.” Laurence says. 

“Now shoo, you’re interrupting my time with my baby.” She says, kissing Ivan’s cheek. 

“Aww, you.” He gushes, pulling her into a kiss. 

Garroth and Laurence shiver again, quickly taking their leave. They had what they needed from her; now they just needed to wait for her to make the potion. The problem is that they still had to deal with her hanging out with a boy this weekend. 

It was Friday, one day before her hangout with Kai. Laurence, Garroth, and Wisteria were sitting in homeroom as the boys were trying to get information from her. 

“Come on, Babe. Why don’t you tell us where you are going this weekend?” Laurence begs.

“No. You two have been acting strange this week.” She says, eyeing them.

“Princess, please?” Garroth pleads. 

“No!” She leans in close to them and whispers. “You two are still refusing to tell me why you kissed me or why you've been pushing me away from my friends. You aren’t going to ruin my hangout with Kai.” She says before leaning back. 

“Then we won’t allow it,” Laurence says. 

“What?” She says in disbelief. “You won’t allow it? Is that what you really said?”

He flinches, noticing he hit a chord. “Yes. You’re our girlfriend. It’s only natural we don’t want you hanging out with another guy alone on the weekend.” 

“HA! One, who said I would be alone with him? Two, you have some audacity to think you have any control over what I do.” 

The bell rings, signaling the end of homeroom. She doesn’t waste a second as she quickly stands up and leaves the classroom without them. She doesn’t wait or turn back as she walks to her next class. 

“Laurence, are you sure we are going about this the right way? She said they are just friends; neither of them has feelings for each other.” Garroth asks. 

“I don’t like this either, but she’s going through things and won’t ask us for help. Plus, you saw the way he blushed when he looked at her. She may not know he has feelings for her. We have to protect her before she gets hurt again.”

“M-maybe she was never hurt to begin with?” 

“That’s wishful thinking, and you know it, Garroth. You know what Zane did. Plus, we asked around to figure out what is going on with her. She won’t even tell Aphmau everything. Even Aphmau thinks she’s hiding things. She wouldn't be so secretive if she wasn't hurt.”

They didn’t have to be worried. That weekend, Kai, Wisteria, and Aphmau enjoyed a picnic in the park. She brought painting supplies. She figured they could paint whatever they wanted or possibly paint each other. 

Wisteria thought it would be the perfect chance to try and get Kai and Aphmau together. She was too blinded by her sister’s affections to notice Kai’s eyes focused more on the wrong sister. 

The Shadow Knights, of course, were hanging out at the park and bothered them, but Wisteria got them to sit and behave. Luckily, she brought extra canvases and brushes so that they could join in. 

As soon as Gene found out everyone there knew her boyfriends were fake, he started flirting with her, earning him a few punches. Otherwise, they had a fun picnic, ending with a cute painting to take home. 

Cadenza even found time to sneak over to her house without Laurence finding out to take her measurements. She needed them to make her outfits. After getting measurements, they looked through Cadenza’s design journal and discussed what they liked most. 

Wisteria wasn’t sure why Laurence was worried, as she was sweet the whole time. They got along great, but she stayed cautious in case she was missing something. Nothing came up as Cadenza left happy, inspired to create more. 

She had no clue what awaited her on Monday. If she had known that day would change her forever, she would have stayed at home sick. 

Chapter Text

Monday rolled around. After muting the boys all weekend, Wisteria was finally ready to act as their fake girlfriend again. She was quick to forgive them, even when she probably should not have. 

She knew they were only trying to protect her, even if they were going overboard. She couldn’t stay mad when she knew they were only trying to care for her. 

Before school starts, the boys meet up with Lucinda to get the love potion from her. She practically beat her warnings into them. Love potions could go wrong very quickly, and she can’t undo it until Wisteria’s magick stabilizes; otherwise, she risks harming her. 

“Remember, I’m only giving you this because you are to help her. You have to make sure you don’t screw this up.” Lucinda says, holding the brownies she made for them. 

Since they were doing this without her knowing, she decided it was best to bake the potion into a brownie. 

“We know; you’ve told us a hundred times now. The first person she looks at will be who she falls in love with. The reason there are two brownies is because we both need to feed her a potion since it only affects the first person she looks at, and we want her to fall for both of us.” Laurence says. 

“And?”

“And if we want it to stay permanent, we have until the sun sets to kiss her. Otherwise, it will wear off, and she will go back to normal. But don’t kiss her right away, as we shouldn’t make it permanent if it seems like it will make things worse for her.” Garroth says. 

“Good. You know, so don’t mess this up.” She says, finally handing them the brownies. 

The boys were impatiently waiting for their chance to feed her. They didn’t want to do it in homeroom, as there were too many distractions and not enough time to make sure it affected her correctly.

They waited until it was their free period, and the three of them would have the chance to chat alone. Purposely pulling her to a secluded part of the school to talk.

“We got you something to apologize for us being overprotective lately,” Laurence says as he pulls out a brownie. “And don’t worry, it’s a chocolate substitute.”

“You think sweetening me up with sweets will work?” She teases, her tail wagging at the sight of the homemade brownie.

“Maybe not with one, but two,” Garroth says, pulling out another brownie.

She laughs. “You two are lucky I’m so easy to forgive.” 

“Say ah,” Laurence says as he holds the brownie up.

“I can eat on my own, you know. There’s no one around; we don’t have to act right now.” 

“I know, but I want to feed you the first bite. Think of it as my way of saying sorry.” 

She rolls her eyes but goes along with it. “Ahh.” 

He pushes the brownie into her mouth, letting her take a bite before pulling the rest away. 

Her eyes are closed as she savors it. “Mmm, this is so good. When did you two learn to bake?” Before he can respond, she feels a hand on her shoulder. She quickly turns around to see who it was. 

“NO!” Laurence and Garroth yell as she turns around and sees Zane standing behind her. 

Zane laughs. “No? Are you that sad to see me, brother?” 

She looks back at both of them to see that they have a horrified look on their faces. “Huh? What’s up with you two? Did he do something I don’t know about?” She looks at her shoulder to see if he put something on her. 

“N-nothing. H-how are you feeling?” Garroth asks nervously. 

She was confused, as it seemed like he was asking her and not Zane. She looks back at Zane and immediately regrets it as her heart skips a beat. 

Her heart was racing, her face heating up, as her tail began to wag rapidly. She didn’t notice how tall he has gotten lately; he’s even taller than Garroth now. Was he wearing cologne? He smelled heavenly. 

“Strange question to ask. Most people wouldn’t be alright with their brother dating the person they love.” Zane says. 

His smooth and deep voice sent butterflies to her stomach. Her legs grew weak as she heard him say he loved her. Her heart fluttered as she looked up at him, almost expectantly.

“What?” Garroth says as Zane pulls out his phone, showing the photo Gene took of him kissing Wisteria last year. 

“She was mine first. I wonder how the school would react if they saw this photo. If they found out you stole your little brother’s first love.”

“First… love?” She breathed out. 

“My, I haven’t seen that look in your eye for quite some time now.” He says, brushing his hand against her cheek, watching as she gently pushes her head into his hand, not wanting his touch to disappear.

“Zane!” Garroth growls, slapping his hand away from her. 

“Garroth, not now. We have a bigger issue to deal with!” Laurence argues as he pulls Wisteria into his chest. He covered her eyes with one of his hands, using his other arm to keep her standing as her knees were buckling under her. 

Her brain was running a hundred miles per hour. Zane said he loved her, that she was his first love. Her Zane said it, right in front of her. He wanted her. Maybe she was being dramatic; maybe he was worth the risk? 

She was too irrational at the moment to think properly. She normally was smart enough to know that Garroth and Laurence did something stupid, but she couldn’t figure out that they dosed her with a love potion. 

Not only that, they did the one thing they weren’t supposed to do. They let her see someone other than them first. They only had two brownies; they didn’t have enough potion to fix their mistake. She would only be able to fall for one of them now.

Zane smirks, sensing their panic. His goal was to make them panic, but they aren’t panicking because he threatened to ruin their fake relationship in front of the whole school; it was something else. 

He laughs maniacally. “You two did something to her. Oh, this is great. I thought I would cause trouble for Garroth with this photo, but it seems I don’t even have to lift a finger; she’ll come to me on her own.”

“L-Laurence, let me go.” She tries to squirm out of his grasp, but is too weak to escape. She wanted to see Zane's face, even if she had to keep pretending to be their girlfriend.

“Shit, Zane, you ruined everything!” Laurence shouts. He could feel Wisteria shiver against him just hearing Zane’s name being uttered. 

“I didn’t ruin a thing. Things are naturally returning to how they should be.” Zane laughs as he walks away. 

He needed to confirm what he thought happened and how to turn this even more in his favor. He thought he would have to rewin her heart after making her mad, but this? This was a saving grace.

She finally managed to squirm out of Laurence’s grip, falling to the floor, and she looked up at them. 

“W-what did you two do? What did you do to me?” She asks, her hand clutching her chest. It hurt from how fast her heart was beating, just from hearing his voice. 

“Wiz, it’s not what you think,” Laurence says. 

“Then what is it? What is wrong with me? Y-you can’t tell me I just… You can’t tell me he is making me feel like this again. Please… not again.” Tears began to stream down her face. 

He was feeling guilty; this wasn’t supposed to happen. They were supposed to protect her from these feelings, not make her relive the pain all over again. 

“Eat this; you’ll feel better,” Garroth says, crouching in front of her, his brownie in hand. 

“Garroth, no!” Laurence shouted, but it was too late to stop him. 

She wasn’t thinking straight; her guard was down as she leaned forward, taking a bite of the brownie. The tears blocked her vision as she chewed, feeling a bit better from the sugar and the fact that Zane was nowhere to be seen. 

“Alpha? What happened? Did they make you cry?” Ein shouts as he rushes forward, pushing Garroth to the side as he wipes her tears away. 

“NO!” Garroth and Laurence shout in unison. 

“I don’t care what you two have to say. I only care what she says," He says, not realizing that their shouting “no” was not in response to his question.

“E-Ein?” She stuttered out, looking up at him with her tear-streaked face. 

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Wisteria.”

“What?”

“My name. It’s Wisteria. Don’t call me alpha.”

His eyes widen as his face flushes. He didn’t know if she knew what that meant, but he didn’t care. Only the other alpha and the alpha’s mate were allowed to use her name. Otherwise, they had to call her alpha. 

“Alright, Wisteria.” 

Her heart was doing backflips as she looked into his silver eyes. “Has anyone ever said your eyes are beautiful? They look like the moon.” 

Garroth and Laurence quickly pull her to her feet, one clamping a hand over her eyes and the other clamping a hand over her mouth. They hold her tightly, ensuring she can’t say or do anything stupid with Ein. 

“W-Well, it’s great seeing you again, Ein, but we have to go.” Garroth stutters out nervously. 

She mumbles under Garroth’s hand.

“Hey, what do you two think you're doing? You aren’t even her real boyfriends; even if you were, this is going too far!” Ein growls.  

“Whether we are or not doesn’t mean you can make a move on her! We will help her, not you.” Laurence yells. 

“At least I actually have feelings for her and am not faking it like you two!” He shouts. 

Garroth rips his hand away from her mouth. “Ouch! She bit me!”

“Y-you do?” She nervously asks. 

“I-I do.” He says, realizing what he admitted. He was glad she couldn’t see the embarrassed, nervous look on his face. 

Her heart couldn’t take it anymore. The love potions made her feel too much, and two love confessions from the boys she ‘loved’ were too much for her to handle. She passes out, Garroth and Laurence catching her before she falls to the ground. 

“Shit, everything is ruined now.” Laurence curses as he shifts her so he can carry her bridal style. 

“I can’t believe we both failed. Now what?” Garroth says. 

“We take her to the nurse's office. She can’t go to class if she’s passed out.”

Ein quickly steps in front of the two. “What are you two talking about? What did you do to her?”

“We were trying to help her, but you and Zane got in the way. Now move unless you want to make things worse for her.” They push past him, taking her to the nurses' office to rest. 

“Me and Zane?” Ein says to himself as he watches them walk away. He knew where to look for answers. He started his search for Zane, prepared to find out what was going on.

He eventually sniffs him out, finding him in the library, a book in front of him. He sits down across from him, scanning the books he is reading. Potion effects. What would he need that for? 

“What do you want?” Zane huffs, not bothering to look up from his book. 

“Wisteria is in the nurses’ office,” Ein says, wanting to see his reaction before he reveals his cards. 

He shoots his head up to look at him. “She’s what? What happened?”

“She passed out. Laurence and Garroth said something about it being all mine and your fault, and I want to know why.” 

He eyes him before twirling the book he was reading around to face him. It was opened to the page about love potions and their effects. 

“I think they were feeding her a love potion, and I got in the way, taking the effect from them. It seems they had a backup if they are also mad at you.”

“A love potion? Why would they give her one of those when they don’t even have feelings for her?” He growls, fists clenched. 

“I don’t know, but it works in my favor. It’s best if you stay away from her for the time being. She’s not herself.” He takes the book back from him before he reads too much. 

“What do you mean it works in your favor?” He growls. 

“I was going to ruin my brother’s relationship with an old photo I had, but this works out so much better. She’ll ruin it for me. I won’t have to worry about her being mad at me anymore.” He shuts the book, placing it back on the shelf before leaving. 

Ein liked the sound of her breaking up with them but knew there was more to his plan than what he was saying. He watches him leave before getting up and grabbing the book back off the shelf, opening up to the page they were just on. 

The nurse was nowhere to be seen as Zane stepped into the nurses’ office. He looked at the only bed filled to see Wisteria peacefully sleeping. He stepped up to her bedside, sitting in the chair next to it. 

She was beautiful, even with her eyes puffy from crying earlier. He gently pushed a lock of hair out of her face as he watched her. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her then, but that was creepy. She was no sleeping beauty, and he could be patient to wait for her to awaken.

He wanted to see that look in her eye again, the one that made his heart flutter. The one that told him she loved him just as much as he loved her. He wanted her to want him, to kiss him, to seal her fate. 

“Mphm.” She made a soft noise as she turned from her back to face him, still sleeping. 

“Soon. You’ll see I’m better than Gene in every way.” He says more to himself than to her. 

Hearing someone speak, she flutters her eyes open. “Zane?” 

“How are you feeling? I heard you passed out and came to check on you.” He spoke softly; it was unlike him, but he couldn’t risk ruining things moments before he could seal the deal. 

“Tired, but my chest doesn’t hurt anymore. How long have I been asleep for?” She groggily sits up, stretching. 

“Not long. It’s still fourth period, so you haven’t been asleep for more than an hour.” 

She yawns. “I should get to class then.” 

“Why don’t you stay here a bit longer? There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“Oh?” Her heart flutters as she tries to tell herself it’s not what she was thinking and to calm down. 

He pulls down his mask before he speaks so she can see his lips move as he talks. “I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time, and I regret hurting you because I was scared of what Gene might do, but he’s gone now. 

“I have left the Shadow Knights and made my own group that is better and stronger than his. I’ve proven that I’m more than strong enough to take care of you, so will you be mine?”

Her eyes were focused on his lips, just as he had hoped. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, attempting to speak before she finally gave up. She wraps both of her arms around his neck, pulling him in for a kiss. 

Her eyes were closed, but she could tell something was off immediately. Her lips were not on lips; they were against something hard. She quickly opened her eyes to see Ein’s hand pushed between their lips. 

“You can’t kiss him! You’re under the effect of a love potion!” Ein shouts. 

“W-what?” Her eyes widen as she releases Zane, quickly backing up in fear. “A… love potion?” 

“Ein,” Zane growls while pulling his mask back up. “You had to ruin things when they were getting good.”

“She deserves to fall for someone because she loves them, not because of some potion!” Ein argues. 

“You may not believe me, but she loved me before she took the potion,” He smirks, enjoying the miserable look on his face. 

“Y-you gave me a love potion?” She tears up, feeling betrayed. 

“No, that was my idiotic brother’s doing. Why do you think they got so scared when I came when I did? I didn’t even know he was going to do it until I figured out what happened based on their reactions.” He laughs. 

“G-Garroth and Laur-Laurence? T-the brownies. T-they did this to me? But… why?” The tears begin to silently stream down her face. “A-and you? Why did you lie to me?”

“I don’t know about Garroth, but I didn’t lie. I meant every word. I simply capitalized on my brother’s mistake so you wouldn’t avoid me any longer. As you said before, we aren’t as close as we used to be, and it saddens me.” He softly grazed his hand against her cheek.

Her chest hurt. In one way, he said he loved her and wanted to be with her, but another, deeper part of her understood what was happening. The love potion was hazing her thoughts, making it hard for her to concentrate on the truth right in front of her. 

“H-how’d you know about this, Ein?”

“I figured it out from what they said. It seemed I accidentally ruined their second attempt. Then I bumped into Zane reading a book about love potions, and read it after him. I was almost too late to stop him from making the effects permanent.”

“P-permanent?”

“A kiss makes it permanent. You’d love him until either you die or someone breaks the spell on you.”

Her tears fell silently as she began to pound on her chest, above her heart. She couldn’t handle the pain it was causing. “Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop.” 

He quickly grabs her wrist. “Stop! You’re hurting yourself!” 

She starts to hyperventilate before ripping her wrist out of his grasp. She quickly launches off the bed, running and jumping through the window. They were on the second story, so she stumbled as she landed, quickly running away as soon as she caught her footing. 

She ran, and ran, and ran until her legs gave out on her. She didn’t even notice where she was until she crumbled to the ground. She was at the park, where she was when the Shadow Knights found her the last time she went there to cry. 

Finally, far enough away with no strength to carry her any farther, she lets it all out. She wept, curling herself into a ball as her nails dug into her skin, and she hugged herself tightly. She wanted to feel nothing, but all she could think of was Zane’s soft lips or Ein’s mesmerizing eyes. 

They both smelled heavenly. Was that the effect of the potion, or did they always smell so good? What about their looks? Were they always so handsome, or was the potion playing tricks on her? 

She didn’t know what was real or fake anymore. Her thin sense of reality, from being reborn in a new world to her dreams of another time, always made her question things. But this, this tipped her over the edge. 

“Whoa! Kitty? What’s going on?” Sasha quickly drops to her knees in front of her, trying to figure out what was happening. 

“Make it stop! Make it stop! Please, just make it stop!” She cries as blood drips down her thighs where her nails were. She kept repeating it as if she were a broken record on repeat. 

“Make what stop? You’re bleeding! Wisteria! Listen to me! You are hurting yourself; you have to stop!” She tries to pull her fingers off her thighs, but she isn’t strong enough. “Zenix! Help me stop her!” 

“It’s still school hours? She doesn’t skip school.” Zenix says, confused as he tries to pry her fingers away from herself. They both struggle. Even when they could get her to stop, she just slides her hand and starts somewhere else. 

“Call Gene!” She shouts as she gives up on pulling her fingers away. Instead, she hugs her, trying to comfort her as Zenix nervously backs up, pulling out his phone. 

She couldn’t tell how much time passed as the thoughts swirled in her head. She couldn’t stop it; they wouldn’t stop. Her heart wouldn’t stop beating when all she wanted it to do was stop. 

“Dove. Dove! DOVE!” Gene shakes her, trying to get her to look up, to look at him, to do something, anything. “Wisteria! Look at me!”

Her thoughts froze as she looked up at him. Tears still streamed down her face as her fingers finally loosened. Her eyes looked empty as she stared up at him.

He quickly pulls her into his chest, holding her tight. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m here. You’re not alone; you don’t have to do this alone!”

Her head was against his chest as she stared blankly in front of her. Her ear pressed against his chest made it so she could hear his heart beating. It was racing.

His warmth, his strong arms wrapped around her, his smell, his voice—it was all real. It was the same as she remembered. Her body relaxed a bit in his hold as she snuggled against him, wanting to take it all in. 

“Shh, that’s it. Everything’s ok.” He finally starts to calm down, noticing her relaxing. 

Sasha and Zenix collapse on the ground, thankful that whatever was happening was over. She was always strong, bantering with them, telling them off. Even the last time she cried was not like this. It was almost terrifying to see her so broken. 

“Cigarette,” Is all she says. 

“What? You want a cigarette?” He asks, confused. He knew she didn’t smoke, and she was always on his case, telling him to quit. 

“Smell. Comforting.” She couldn’t form real sentences, still having a distant look in her eyes.

He, still confused, tries to do what she wants. He carefully pulls his cigarettes out of his pocket, pulling out one and lighting it. She just looks at it, not attempting to grab it. 

Not knowing what else to do, he slowly sucks on it, watching as she seems to relax at every breath he exhales. It was strange, but he wasn’t in a position to question why it was working. 

Once he finished it, he looked down at her. “Do you want one?” 

She shook her head no. “Lay down?” 

“Sure. We can lie down.” He says as he carefully shifts her so he can lie down, pulling her down with him. 

He lay down on his back as she quickly moved to get more comfortable. Her head continued to lie on his chest, listening to his heart beating. Her arms wrapped around his sides as her legs were placed between his. He wraps his arms around her, securing her against him.

“It’s still school hours, Dove. What made you decide to be bad and skip?” He says lightheartedly, trying to get her to open up without pressuring her. 

“Mmm. Panic.” 

“You panicked? About what?”

“It no stop.” 

“What wouldn’t stop? You were muttering something similar when Zenix called me.” 

“My heart.” 

His breath catches in his throat. He wasn’t expecting such a deadly thought from her. “You want your heart to stop?”

“Mhm. It hurts. Needs to stop.”

“Why does it hurt?” 

She goes silent, unsure how to word things. “Betrayed. Confused. Reality distorted.”

“Who?” He asks darkly. 

“Who not?” She says, lifting her head to look up at him. 

“We don’t. We are always here for you.” He says, staring deeply into her eyes, almost as if he were looking into her soul. 

She hums as she places her head back down against his chest. “Yes. You safe. You… never change. Always the same.”

“You like that? I thought you hated my flirting.” He chuckles. 

She hums, enjoying the sound of his chuckles against her ear. “Normally. Now… It’s all I trust as real.”

“What happened for you to run off, to make you question reality?” 

“Someone gave me a potion. It didn’t end well.” 

“What kind of potion? Was it a dream potion?”

“No. Love.” 

Zenix shoots up to yell, “Who the hell gave you a love potion? Isn’t the point of your fake boyfriends to scare guys off?” 

“Zenix, shush,” Sasha says, pulling him to lie back down to not disturb them when she was finally opening up. 

“They the problem. Well, the start of one.” Wisteria says softly. 

“Garroth and Laurence fed you a love potion?” Gene asks, shocked. “I thought they were into your sister?”

“Confused too. But then Zane and Ein showed up wrong time. Or right? Not sure. Too much feels; it hurts.”

Gene was starting to piece together what had happened. He wasn’t sure why it happened, but he could guess that if Zane realized she was under a love potion and fell for him, what could happen. 

Ein was also getting somewhat defiant with him. He was getting a little too close to her. He only needed to get pictures of her so he could get free hair dye. He didn’t need to get so close. 

His orders were to stay close to Aphmau in case he ever needed to use Wisteria. Wisteria would do anything to protect her sister, even becoming a pawn if needed. He had no reason to go directly to her for anything. 

“Forget them for now. You’re safe with me now. I won’t let them get close to you until the effects wear off.” 

“Thank you.” She says, slowly drifting off. 

After he made sure she had fallen into a deep sleep, he carefully pulled out his phone to give Zenix and Sasha new orders, not wanting to risk speaking and waking her. 

Bossman🖕

You two are to figure out what happened

Report EVERYTHING to me

Even if it seems little or unimportant<>

Chapter Text

Gene took care of Wisteria until school ended, and she had to go home. He didn’t want to let her leave so soon, but he couldn’t stop her. She seemed as if she had made up her mind, and nothing was going to stop her. 

As soon as she got home, she changed into more comfortable clothes and sat at her laptop, getting to work. She knew her anger wouldn't last long, so she used it to her advantage before it could disappear. She had the link from the fangirls, and Kawaii~Chan was more than happy to give her editor access when she said she would help the fan club.

She spent hours fixing the website, making it a work of art. Even when she finished with that, she spent the rest of the night writing. She wrote as if time was running out, and it was. It was a race of whether she could finish her revenge before her anger ran out, or if her rage would disappear and her revenge plan with it.

She wrote the dirtiest, sluttiest, smuttiest book of all time. Garroth and Laurence cheat on their girlfriends with each other. They date each other behind their girlfriends' backs, using their girlfriends as cover for all their hickeys or messy hair. 

It was so detailed that it would be harder to imagine it to be a work of fiction than reality. She wrote a ten-thousand-word fanfic about them in one night, posting it anonymously by the time the sun rose.

That was only the beginning. She never had to play sick before, but she was about to pull off the best performance of her life. She worked up a sweat, exercising until her alarm for school went off. 

It was rare to see Aphmau downstairs before her sister. Most mornings, Wisteria would beat her sister downstairs and be forced to kick her out of bed to go to school. 

As soon as Wisteria heard her mother’s footsteps come up the stairs, she quickly crawled into bed, putting on the best sick act she could. 

“Mija, it’s time to get up for school,” Sylvanna says, opening the door to wake her daughter. 

“Mmm, is it time already?” She slowly opens her eyes, breathing heavily, trying to sound miserable. 

“Mija, are you ok? You don’t look well.” She turns on the light, stepping up to her and putting her hand on her forehead. “You’re burning up and sweating.” 

“I’m a little cold,” She says, sluggishly sitting up. “But I have school today.” 

Sylvanna pushes her back down into bed. “No, you don’t. I’ll call in, letting them know you are sick and will be absent. Go back to bed.”

“Okay.” She says, pretending to drift off to sleep. She waits for her mother to step out of her room and shut the door before she puts her next plan into action.

She knew the boys would know she was faking, and that is exactly what she wanted. She wanted them to be uneasy the whole day, wondering what went wrong. She blocked both of their numbers so they wouldn’t be able to reach her. She had Ein as her inside man, being her eyes and ears while she was stuck at home. 

She didn’t fully trust him, but considering he didn’t take advantage of her while she was under the potion and tried to protect her, he was better than the others. 

His job was to focus on any rumor of what was going on with Garroth, Laurence, her, or Zane. As well as to update her on any drama with the werewolves, simply because she worried about them. 

Kawaii~Chan was also unknowingly helping her. She just thought her friend was showing interest in her ships. Little did she know, she was using the Garrence fan club as a weapon. 

The brand-new look of the website brought droves of people to the webpage. Even during school, dozens of people were reading fanfic any chance they got. She purposely put her fanfic on top to catch everyone's eye. 

The boys wanted to stop the gay rumors. Fine, she stopped them, but they can’t take advantage of her help and not expect consequences. She was their girlfriend; her job was to make their lives a living hell when they messed up. 

She wasn’t going to break up with them, oh no. That would be too easy, too nice. She was going to make them rue the day they asked to fake date her, no, the day they first met her. 

For Zane, his punishment was as simple as a few text messages. Ones that would control his thoughts, driving him insane. Make him question everything. 

Poser💖

You didn’t have the balls to take my heart without tricking me under the effects of a love potion

I loved you without the potion

Big mistake

I won't make it again

As soon as she saw the message get read, she blocked him. She made sure he saw it and made sure he would have no way to message her. 

Ein let her know that Garroth and Laurence spent most of the day as cats. It seemed Lucinda had found out their plan had failed, as she had been bothering her all day. 

Wisteria simply reassured Lucinda that everything was fine. She didn’t want to give details; she refused to. She played it off as a funny accident, and since things didn’t become permanent, there was no reason to worry. 

The same for Aphmau when she came home asking what happened, as Garroth and Laurence were begging her to let them see her to explain and apologize. 

“They did something stupid, but don’t worry, Aph. I forgive them; I just wanted to make them sweat it for a day as punishment. I’ll let them know tomorrow that everything is okay.” She said, pushing off all of Aphmau’s worries. 

Little did she know, the world was working in her favor. That night, when she went to bed, she dreamed for the first time since the Joshua disease took hold of her life. 

It was different than normal. It was a white room with a little girl standing before her. She looked like Aphmau when she was little, but slightly different. As if she could be Aphmau’s blood sister, or another type of close relative.

“Auntie, I need your help, but it’s not time yet. You aren’t strong enough to save me and Daddy yet.”

Wisteria, confused yet somehow knowing what to do, kneels before her, getting to her height. “Hi, sweetpea. I’ll get stronger for you, don’t worry.” 

“You’ll help me sleep with daddy, right?” She looks expectantly at her. 

She smiles softly at her, knowing she was asking for death. “Of course, sweetpea. Auntie will help you rest. You both rest together.” She sticks out her pinkie finger for her. “I promise.”

Wisteria wanted to ask her some questions, but somehow knew she wouldn't get any answers.

She takes her pinky with her tiny pinky, shaking it. “Next time I see you, Auntie, you’ll help me. You promised.” 

The world begins to swirl and disappear as she opens her eyes and finds herself back in her room, looking at the ceiling above her bed. She knew the instant she opened her eyes that something was different. 

She was different. 

She got out of bed, opening the drawer to her desk and pulling out her favorite earrings that broke a few months ago. She was holding on to them for when her magick returned, so she could fix them. 

Within a split second, they were fixed. She blinked, and they returned to normal. She couldn’t watch the pieces fly together or notice if it glowed. It was so quick, she didn’t know what happened. 

Somehow, she knew she was back to normal and stronger than before, but she needed to test things further to confirm. She went to the bathroom, looking in the mirror at herself. 

She still had the werewolf ears and tail, as the potion hadn’t worn off yet. Somehow, she knew she could change that. She wasn’t sure how, as she had restoration magick. She shouldn't be able to change it, but she snapped her fingers, watching as the ears and tail magickally disappeared. 

Her eyes widened in surprise. She couldn’t do that before. She snapped again, and they poofed back. This wasn’t the same as werewolves, who could hide their ears and tail. This was her removing and replacing the potion effect. 

She snapped, removing them again as she excitedly ran to Aphmau’s room, jumping on her bed to wake her up. “Aph, wake up! Look!”

“Ugh! Why are you jumping on me?” Aphmau groans as she finally looks at her sister. “Huh? Where are your ears?” 

“My magick stabilized. I’m back to normal. No more werewolf potions!” 

She shoots up, feeling her sister's head to make sure she was telling the truth and not hiding her ears. “Really? That’s amazing!”

Sylvanna walks in. “Why are you two yelling so early… Mija! You’re not a werewolf anymore!” 

“Mom! It’s done. I’m healthy again.” She shouts, tearing up.

She joins the hug, hugging both her girls. “Oh, I’m so happy for you, mija! This weekend, let's celebrate!” 

They all laugh and smile before the girls finally have to get ready and go to school. Katelyn and Kacey congratulated her on the way to school. All eyes were on her as she walked down the halls, noticing the difference. 

She walked with her head held high as she walked into homeroom, seeing Garroth and Laurence nervously sitting there. She walked straight up to them, watching them stand and trip over themselves to speak.

She grasped their chin and kissed them, one after the other, before sitting down in her seat. “Good morning, my loves. You miss me?” She smirked. 

They stare at her, dazed and confused. They were expecting her to be pissed at them, not to reverse things on them and kiss them for once. They both cautiously sit down next to her. 

“Morning, Babe. Are you not mad at us?” Laurence asks cautiously. 

“Should I be?” She smiles sweetly at him, causing him to shiver. 

“Princess, what happened to your ears and tail?” Garroth asks, looking at her butt and head to double-check they were gone. 

“My werewolf potion days are over. My magick stabilized. I’m back to normal.” She poses cutely for them. "How do I look?”

Both boys blush as they compliment and congratulate her. She had a new air to her that they couldn’t comprehend. More than that, they couldn’t comprehend how she was hiding her anger; she was never a good liar, and they knew she had to be upset with them. Yet somehow, there wasn't a single hint that she was angry.

They couldn’t help but remember the times she was there for them. The times she let them be alone with her sister, even though she didn’t approve of all the moves they made on her. 

The way she would flirt and tease back with them, not caring how others saw her. She was their friend, and they came before people's twisted views. She would surprise them sometimes, watching their games and cheering for them, screaming louder than anyone else. 

They weren’t sure how she did it, but they knew it was her when Ivy apologized last year, begging Garroth not to hate her. She somehow kept the fangirls from hating her, and when they did hate her, she handled it like a professional. 

The most important thing was when she saved their friendship by making them talk things out instead of letting their feelings for Aphmau ruin their friendship. She could have ruined their friendship for what they did to her sister, but she’s the very reason they are still best friends. 

They knew she would always be there for them, and they wanted to be there for her. She made their hearts flutter when she looked at them. Wait, Wisteria did? No, they liked Aphmau. Didn't they?

Between classes, the werewolves swarmed her, asking her questions. They were a little sad to see her back to human, but were happy for her because she regained her magick. 

Ein was speechless when he found her. He only stared at her, unmoving, not speaking. A part of him twisted, seeing her human, yet another part of him still couldn’t help but find her beautiful. 

He couldn’t deny the fact that it was still her, whether she was human or a werewolf. Although he would have to find a way to turn her into a werewolf. The way she was now reminded him of the day they first met.

"Ein! Come here and say hello,” His mother yelled for him. 

Begrudgingly, he stood up and walked over to her. Once he got close enough, he began to sniff Wisteria, and Gene pushed him back. “Hey, back off!” He stood defensively in front of her.

She was a small, weak human girl, yet she was standing up against Gene to protect him. She stepped in front of him, forcing space between the two as she corrected his behavior. 

“Whoa, it’s ok, Gene. He’s a werewolf; it’s a normal thing for them. He wasn’t trying to be rude or start anything.”

His mother apologized. “Sorry about my boy; he goes to an all-werewolf school and hasn’t had much of a chance to socialize with humans.” 

She was so understanding for a human. She tried to help without judging. 

“It’s ok, ma’am. I’m Wisteria. So you know, for next time, humans don’t like to be sniffed. It might be a good idea not to sniff any other humans you meet. I don’t mind it, but other humans aren’t so open to the concept.”

“I’m Ein, and if I can’t sniff them, how am I supposed to learn about them?” 

"There are other cues you can follow to learn about a human. Humans don’t have a good enough sense of smell to learn anything from sniffing, so it would be fully one-sided if you sniff them. We can't learn anything by sniffing others. "

He looked up and down her body for cues but found none. “But I can sniff you, right?” 

“Yeah, go ahead. If it’s helpful to you, I don’t mind.” She said.

She let him sniff her, even though it made her ‘mate’ angry. She forced him to stay back and relax so he could properly get to know her. She even defended him when Gene didn’t understand why she would let him do it. 

Gene growled, but let it happen. He held her hand tightly as he sniffed her. “He did the same thing when we first met. It’s weird.”

“It’s only weird because we can’t do it back.” She said.

Ein pulled away, confusion on his face. “Strange. You don’t smell like your mate. But my bigger question is, why do you smell like an alpha? You’re human.”

“An alpha?” Lana questioned as she stuck her face close to her and sniffed. “Oh, you're right, she does smell like an alpha. I didn't know humans could produce that scent.” 

Gene defensively pulled Wisteria to his chest, holding her tight. “Stop sniffing her.”

Wisteria nervously smiled. “Oh, um, I can see why you're confused. I’m the female alpha at our high school.” 

Even when he mocked her and belittled her and her pack, she didn’t back down. She was a weak, little human girl who didn’t even reach his shoulder in height. Yet she stood up against him, challenging him.  

“A human? As alpha? HA! How low is your school to have that happen?” Ein laughs. 

“At least I’m not the omega.” She hissed.

She dared to piss him off, but now that he knew her better, he could see why. She may have been tiny and weak, but she had the heart for it. She was alpha for a reason; all the werewolves loved her even though she was an inferior human being.

Even Zane, passing her in the halls, was left breathless. He hurt her, yet she seemed to be doing better than ever. She was breathtaking, reminding him of the first day of high school. 

She sat right in front of him, with no hesitation. “Zane, was it? You don't have to listen to any of the crap the teacher said about living up to anyone's name. It's good to be unique.”

He had no clue why this girl thought talking to him was a wise idea. He tried to push her away, yet she had a response to everything he said. “And what's it to you whether I’m like my brother or not?”

"Nothing. You seemed displeased to be compared to someone. Figured a cutie like you didn't need the extra pressure on his first day of school." She said with a kind smile. 

His heart fluttered for the first time as he fully took her into view. She was smiling at him. She called him cute. She could have sat next to anyone else and talked to them, but she chose him. 

“C-c-cute? I am not cute, you girl-woman thing!” He said, the tips of his ears turning red as he buried his head into his notebook. 

He tried to get her to shut up, but she wouldn’t. She enjoyed his reactions, no matter how cruel they were. She would still smile at him, compliment him, and care for him. 

“Aww, don't be shy. I like your face mask. Did you make it? It matches the school uniform; did you find the same fabric to make it?” She asked.

He perked up at the sound of his face mask being complimented. "You like my face mask?"

"Yeah, it's cool. I just met you, but I think it suits you. If you made it, you should show me how to make one sometime. I wish I had your confidence. I don't think I have the confidence to wear it all the time like you."

He remembered the feeling of his face burning as she spoke. She thought he was confident. Him, not his brother, but him. Even then, he wasn’t sure why he couldn’t show her any warmth.

"Yes, I made it. It is quite easy, but I'm not sure you could do it right. But I guess I could show you sometime."

"Great! Would you like to go around with me when it's time for the club social?" She excitedly asks.

She wanted to spend time with him. She wanted to know him. Yet he just had to keep up that cool act. He couldn’t remember her, but she remembered him. Even then, she didn’t force him to remember their childhood together as she got to know him all over again.

"Sure. I guess I could go with you." He said, acting nonchalant. 

"Sounds good," She said as she stole his notebook from him. She quickly wrote her number on the corner of the page he was drawing on. "Cute drawings. There is my number, so feel free to text me whenever you want." 

He was left flabbergasted, unable to say anything when the teacher cut in, saying it was time for the club social. 

Things were simple back then, and he still screwed them up. He panicked and said kissing her was like kissing his brother. Even then, she stayed close to him, not taking her pain out on him. 

He thought that she lied and didn’t like him, that she somehow never got hurt by him saying such things. How wrong he was. Ein gave him a shiny black eye for his stunt while she was under the influence of the love potion, explaining how she cried over him. 

She was scared to love him. He hurt her so much that she wanted to swear off love because she was too scared to get hurt again. He did that to her; he hurt her all over again without meaning to. 

Wisteria was walking down the hall when she tripped over her feet. She would have landed on her face if Kai hadn’t caught her. 

“Careful now, you almost fell.” He says as he helps her back onto her feet.

“Thanks. I’ve been so clumsy since removing the werewolf potion. Who knew my sense of balance would become such a mess?” She giggles.

“Interesting, I didn’t realize it would either. But you really are human.”

She laughs. “Of course I am. Did you think I was lying?” 

“No, I just wasn’t expecting to see you without the ears and tail so soon.”

“What, miss them already?” She jokes.

“That’s not it. You just look different, in a good way.” He blushes.

“Thanks, although I don’t think my pups agree with you.” She laughs. 

All the boys felt similar emotions, although they all had very different experiences. All of them circled Wisteria, the girl they didn’t notice until possibly too late. 

Chapter Text

It was twenty minutes before school in a secluded part of the building. Laurence arrived at school early to meet with Wisteria, as she requested. He had no idea what she wanted, but he couldn't say no to her; he needed to make amends for his mistake.

He walked up to see Wisteria sitting on a ledge, kicking her feet, waiting for him. “Hey, what did you need me for so early in the morning?” He asks.

She hopped down from her perch. “Above or below the collar?” 

“W-what? What do you mean?” He nervously takes a step back. 

“You know what I mean; you were there when I asked Garroth the same question.” She steps forward, backing him towards the wall.

“Why… Why do you ask?” He takes another step back.

“You said it would be a good idea if I gave you a hickey at some point. You said we needed to make things look real, and that you wouldn’t feel anything if I did it. So, above or below the collar?” She walks forward, finally backing him against the wall. 

“You don’t have to. Y-you have been doing more than enough to make the relationship look real without it." He says nervously, looking down at her, unable to back away farther. 

“Are you scared? My, I wasn’t expecting you to be nervous 'bout a little hickey. But, I guess it can’t be helped; you did leave the Shadow Knights because you weren’t hardcore enough.” She eggs him on. 

He knew what she was doing. She was doing the same thing he did to her; she was challenging him. Making it so he would look like a coward if he backed out. He didn’t like it. “Above. Let everyone see it.” He said with all the confidence he could muster. 

She smirked as she leaned forward, pressing her body against his as she bit his neck. She wasn’t holding back like she did when she gave Garroth one. No, she was going to prove him wrong. She was going to rile him up and leave him in the dust.

She did not waste time figuring out what he liked by testing it herself. She had Gene teach her exactly how Laurence used to like his hickeys. She tried to get Gene to describe it, but he wouldn’t let her slip away that easily. So she let him put one under her shirt collar so she could feel how he did it, so she could replicate it. 

Gene was skilled, to say the least, and sneakily added four more to her before she got him to stop. She didn't need him to do it below the collar, yet she didn't want him to do it on her neck. She wanted to keep the marks, and she could only do that if they were in a place her mother wouldn't see them.

Gene didn't mind her returning the favor, having her place them directly on his neck. When he got home, Dante had a lot of questions, but Gene refused to say who made them.

Laurence gasped as her lips moved against his neck, her teeth digging into his skin as she nipped at him. He wasn’t expecting her to do it differently from how she did for Garroth.

Her body pressed against his, one arm wrapped around his waist, the other around the back of his head, holding it in place as she worked on his neck, her fingers gently pulling at his hair. 

He groaned as she worked, his hands tightening on her hips. He wasn’t expecting it to feel so good. She knew exactly what he liked, and it was driving him insane. It reminded him of when he was with Gene, but in a good way, and he hated it.

After she was done, she let him go, stepping back and admiring her work. She left a decent-sized bruise on his neck, easy for everyone to see. His hair was a mess from her fingers going through it, and he seemed shaken by the unexpected pleasure. 

“Alright, see you in class.” She waved goodbye as she walked away, satisfied with her work. 

He stared at her, dumbfounded, as she walked away. How could she do that and act like she did not just make him a mess? He was turned on and wanted nothing more than to have her continue or to return the favor. He couldn't let things end like that.

He rushed forward, grabbing her and pressing her against the wall. He didn't waste a moment planting his lips on hers. Wrapping his arms tightly around her waist, pressing his body against hers, his erection pushing against her lower abdomen.

She moaned softly against his lips, wrapping her arms around his neck, entangling her fingers in his hair. She felt him nip at her bottom lip, so she parted her lips to let his tongue into her mouth. His tongue was darting across every part of her mouth, exploring everything.

They could taste the mint from their toothpaste as their tongues danced together. She smelled sweet, floral, tantalizing. He couldn't stand other guys flirting with her; he wanted to mark her as his, so everyone knew to back off.

He pulled his lips away from hers, trailing kisses down her jaw and throat before sinking his teeth into the side of her neck. She gasped as he bit her, tightening her fingers around his hair, causing him to groan. She loved the noise he made when she pulled his hair.

She ran her fingers through his hair, gently pulling it every time he bit her. Every time her fingers tightened on his hair, he would groan against her neck, leaving him moonstruck every time she did it.

He didn't stop at one mark; he left multiple before he heard footsteps down the hallway and stopped. Students were finally beginning to walk through the halls, preparing for the school day. Not wanting to get caught, he forced himself to pull away from her.

They both attempted to fix their outfits and hair before anyone saw them. Both their faces flushed as they made their way to homeroom. Garroth soon made it to homeroom and gasped as he looked at Wisteria's neck. "What happened to you?"

Laurence embarrassedly looked away. "I might have got a little carried away this morning."

"Without me?" He looked shocked that he put not one, but four hickies on her. Not only that, he did it without telling him beforehand or asking him to join. It stung.

Wisteria leaned in to Garroth and whispered in his ear. "He lied when he said me giving him a hickey wouldn't affect him. It very much affected him when I just wanted to make the relationship look real."

His eyes widened as he looked back and forth between the two. "I can't believe this. You're mom is going to see your neck and kill us!"

"Don't worry about that. I can do this." She says as she heals them, all of them disappearing within a flash.

Laurence looks at her neck. "You got rid of them. Now I have to put them back."

"Oh, um…" She tries to think of something to say as her face flushed. She wasn't expecting him to be upset with their disappearance.

Garroth pulls Laurence back. "Laurence, we need to talk."

The bell signaling the end of homeroom rang, so Wisteria took it as her chance to slip away and let the boys talk. She could guess what the conversation would be about, and she didn't want to be stuck in the middle of it.

You would think the love potion worked from the way she was treating Garroth and Laurence. They used to be the ones to give most of the affection, but now she was actively doing it. Hugging them, holding their hands, kissing them, not just on the cheek but unexpectedly on the lips at times. 

It was driving them mad. They couldn’t understand the sudden change. They thought she would despise them after what they did. They thought she would force them to stop the fake relationship. Yet that was the farthest thing from the truth. 

She made time to come to not just their games but also some of their practices to watch them. They couldn’t tell what it was, but somehow her gaze on them felt different. She didn’t just cheer them on as she used to between pages of her book. She stared at them, watching their every move. 

They felt embarrassed wiping their face of sweat with the bottom of their shirt, when they never would have before. They both stumbled in games because they would look back at her, and she would wink at them. 

They asked Lucinda if this was somehow a side effect of the love potion or because of Joshua's disease, but she denied it. It was impossible for these kinds of reactions, especially when the love potion wasn’t directed at them. 

They had no clue this was her way of punishing them for what they did. She was compliant with what they wanted. They wanted her love and affection? Fine, they would have it. She wouldn't hold back anymore. She would use them for affection, the same way they used her.

Not only that, she made sure the fangirls would stay obsessed with them. Her fanfic has been all the talk in the fandom for a while. The hickey on Laurence’s neck will only add to it as she denies making it to anyone who asks. They will assume Garroth made it.

It was satisfying watching them stumble around her, doing their best not to anger her. They were still cautious at times, waiting for her to snap at them, but that moment wouldn’t come. Watching them react to every little action she made was satisfying. 

Not all revenge had to be served cold. Sometimes it was best straight out of the oven. Steamy, melting on your tongue, sweetening your mood. 

Wisteria made it home before Aphmau, as she stayed late. She was on her phone reading fanfic when she heard Aphmau stomp up the stairs and slam her bedroom door shut. Instantly knowing it as a bad sign, she quickly shot up from bed, walking to her sister’s room. 

She knocked before slowly opening her door. “Aph, what’s wrong?”

She was face down, flopped on her bed, sobbing. “Wahhhhh!”

She walked up to her sister, sitting on her bed, pulling her into her arms. She watched her sob as she petted her head, doing her best to comfort her. “Shh, it’s ok, Aph. I’m here; just let it all out.” 

“Wahhh. I thought he liked me!” Aphmau sobs. 

“Oh, Aph. Did he reject you?”

“I-I didn’t even get the chance to tell him! He likes someone else!” 

She begins to tear up, as it hurts to watch her sister cry. “I’m sorry, Aph. I wish I could do more to comfort you.” She holds her tighter. 

“W-what do I do?” She looks up at her sister, hoping she’ll have an answer for her like always.

“You allow yourself to feel and to cry it all out. You don’t hold back crying now, so when you have to see him tomorrow, you can smile, leaving him clueless 'bout how much he hurt you without meaning to.”

“H-how? How am I supposed to pretend like my heart isn’t being torn to shreds?”

“You pretend because you realize them knowing the truth hurts so much more. Knowing that they may never look at you the same because of your feelings hurts more than the heartbreak.”

“P-people do that?” 

“Have you questioned why Teony has been dressing nicer lately? Spending time doing makeup and doing her hair when she is just hanging with her friends?”

“Y-yeah.”

“She likes Katelyn. She’s been doing it in hopes that she would notice her. Yet she doesn’t tell her because she is scared it will ruin their friendship if she does. She’d rather have her in her life than risk losing her because she wanted something more.”

“S-she does? She told you that?” 

“Of course, she didn’t tell me. It’s obvious when you see the way she looks at her. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. That’s what people do because they don’t want to lose the one they love.”

“Have you ever done it?”

She smiles sadly at her sister. “Yes.”

“You never told me who you liked. You always hid it from me.”

“Zane hurt me badly. I didn’t have the heart to tell you when you tried so hard to push us together.”

Her eyes widen. “You knew? Wait, he hurt you? B-but he has feelings for you.”

“Of course, I knew. You don’t just shove your sister in a locker with a boy and not expect there to be a bigger reason.” She laughed before sighing. “Yes, he does. It makes it so much harder to get over him, knowing I could have him if I wanted to.”

“If you like each other, why don’t you date him then? Is it because of your fake relationship?” 

“No, it’s not. It’s because being with him would hurt more than being without him. He can’t handle a relationship; he’s proven time and time again he can’t hold my heart without crushing it.”

“But you like each other?”

“You and Aaron liked each other, yet you chose to stay apart. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do because it's for the better.”

She sniffs. “Why didn’t you tell me? I never would have tried to push you together if I knew he hurt you.”

“A part of me wanted to try; a part of me wanted to be wrong. I really wanted to be wrong. I wanted you to prove me wrong so badly that I opened myself up for another chance of heartbreak.”

She hugs her sister tightly as she sobs. “I’m sorry!”

Tears stream down her face silently. “Shh, don’t be. I meddled in your love life, too. I tried to push you closer to Kai, and it seems I only ended up hurting you more.” 

“B-but I had fun! It didn’t hurt when you did it.” 

“I had fun too. I’ll treasure the memories, no matter how painful they are. Heartbreak is not the end of the world; it's just the start of something new.”

Aphmau and Wisteria talk, cry, and laugh together. Comforting each other through their pain. Wisteria didn't know Aphmau's true pain. Aphmau didn’t know the true pain Wisteria was going through, but she didn’t need to. 

She didn’t want her to hate Zane for hurting her. She made it seem as if he just broke her heart because he was bad with feelings, which was true, but not to the extent that he did it. 

Wisteria didn’t need love; she could satisfy her wants and needs without it. She had other ways to entertain herself, such as Garroth and Laurence. 

That weekend, Laurence and Garroth invited her to hang out with them. They told her to meet them at Laurence's place, so she did. She wore her normal gothic attire, but the red lingerie that Lucinda and Sasha bought her was underneath. Her cologne was sprayed on her wrists and ankles.

She was secretly hoping she would get lucky and they would go a bit further than normal. Now that Lucinda was with Ivan and Sasha was too busy causing trouble at school, she hadn't been laid for a while. She missed it; she craved the feeling of someone's body against hers.

She knew she should not have hoped for something more with them; they were her friends, but she could not help it. Her body craved more, and they were the perfect people to want more from.

She knocked on the front door of Laurence's house. It didn't take long for him to open the door, with Garroth standing beside him. "Princess, you're here right on time," Laurence says.

He moves to the side so she can enter, closing the door behind her. She has no time to question why Laurence was now also calling her Princess when Garroth quickly wraps a blindfold around her eyes.

"Whoa, okay, what's going on? Why am I being blindfolded?" She questions as she puts her arms out to ensure she does not bump anything. Each boy holds onto one of them as they drag her forward.

"You'll see once you get there."

"You two are making me nervous. I feel like I'm being ambushed here." She nervously chuckles.

"You ready for the reveal?" He asks after stopping her in front of what she assumes is what they want to show her. Little did she know the surprise had everything to do with the conversation the boys had after homeroom.

"Laurence, we need to talk," Garroth says as the bell signaling the end of homeroom rings. Wisteria quickly got up and left as soon as it rang.

Laurence knew this wasn't the type of conversation they could have out in the open. It needed to be private. "We have class, Garroth. Let's talk after school." Laurence says as he got up and began to walk to his next class. Garroth silently followed him.

For the rest of the day, they were off. The topic didn't get brought up, but it was obvious that something was wrong. Garroth couldn't stop staring at the mark on Laurence's neck. He couldn't stop thinking about what he missed. It was driving him mad.

Once school was over and both boys finished with their practice, they met up to walk home together. They walked in silence until they made it to the park and found a bench to sit on.

Laurence didn't like seeing Garroth like this. It almost felt the same as when he found out they both kissed Aphmau. "Garroth, we have all night to settle whatever is on your mind, so don't hold anything back."

He sighed, before he groaned and cupped his head in his hands. "Why did you meet with her alone? I thought we were in this together?"

"She texted me, asking to meet me before school. I didn't know why, but when I got there, she asked me if I wanted it below or above the collar. She used my words against me, saying she should put a hickey on me to make our relationship look real. Saying I wouldn't react since it was just her doing it.

"Which I thought was true before her lips pressed against my neck. I lost my mind. I don't know why, but I couldn't hold myself back. I… I made out with her before leaving my marks on her neck. I only stopped because school was about to start." He explained.

"Do you… Do you love her?" He asked cautiously as he looked up at him.

"I…" He took a deep breath as he thought for a moment. "I do. I thought Aphmau made my heart flutter, but she doesn't even compare to how her sister makes me feel. What about you? Do you love her, too?"

"I-I don't know. We liked her sister, we tried to date her sister, and we kissed her sister! H-how could I fall for her? Yet when I saw those marks on your necks, something inside of me twisted. I hated that I wasn't there to do the same."

"Garroth, do you still like Aphmau?"

"No. I haven't thought about her in that way for a while now. It's strange, I don't even remember why I liked her in the first place. I don't know when I stopped seeing her in that way, but this is wrong. I, no, we can't fall for Wist. She's Aphmau's sister."

"It's not as if we dated Aphmau. We have every right to fall for who we want. Besides, we can't control who we fall for. But is it Aphmau that's making you feel guilty, or is it Zane? Do you feel as if you are taking his first love?"

He tears up, drooping his head so Laurence can't see. "He's my baby brother. T-this was just meant to be a way to get the fangirls off our backs. T-this wasn't supposed to go so far. We weren't supposed to fall for her. We weren't supposed to kiss her!"

"But we did. We got jealous and tried to keep her from her guy friends, and even worse, tried to feed her a love potion because we had our emotions twisted. We said it was to protect and help her, but we were in denial. We just wanted her eyes on us, the same way we have ours on her."

"But he's my baby brother! I-I can't do this to him. M-maybe we should end this fake relationship before we go too far. Before we mistake it for a real relationship. Before anyone gets hurt."

He lifts his chin to look at him. "Garroth, can you put your feelings aside for her because your brother also has feelings for her? Can you put them aside and watch her date another guy? One that broke her heart already?"

"I have to. What else can I do? It was hard enough when Aphmau got hurt by us. I can't stand to lose Wist for even a moment. We got lucky after the love potion fiasco that she didn't cut us out of her life. I don't think I can risk losing her again."

"What if we don't have to lose her, but could have more than just her friendship?"

His eyes widen. "What do you mean? How?"

"Let's make the relationship real."

"Laurence, you can't be serious. She has feelings for my brother; she would never date us for real."

"Does she or did she? She hasn't been spending time with him. I haven't seen them talk, have you?"

"No… I haven't…but—"

"No buts, Zane had his chance and ruined it. There's no way she can still have feelings for him after what he said to her. He made out with her, then told her it was like kissing you. That's soul-crushing."

"Laurence, that doesn't mean we have a chance. Remember, she doesn't want to date. She only agreed to fake date us because she had no choice unless she wanted us to get caught in a lie. She did it to protect us, to help us."

"That was before we showed her what she was missing. She's been enjoying this fake relationship just as much as we have. She kisses us back, she cheers for us at our games, she did this!" He points at the hickey on his neck.

He sits silently for a moment as he thinks. He couldn't disagree; something with her has shifted. "Then, what do you suggest we do?"

"This weekend, my sister will be out of town visiting a college with my father. The house will be empty. Let's invite her over and show her what we can be for her. Show her that we want her for real. No acting, just us three alone, saying only the truth."

"We will share her for real? Will we be okay watching each other kiss her, hold her, touch her? We were so jealous when other guys got near her. We couldn't even stand the sight of them just talking, let alone doing more to her."

"Garroth, this is a little embarrassing to admit, but that day she put that hickey on your neck, the day we started this fake relationship, was one of the hottest things I've ever seen. I want more moments like that with you two." He turns his head away as his face heats up.

His face heats up as he thinks about how Laurence and Wisteria must have looked making out and marking each other. "Alright, let's ask her out for real. She can be our Princess."

They planned what to do that weekend to make her theirs for real. Not their fake girlfriend, but their real girlfriend. Which led them to the point where they were now taking off her blindfold as she entered Laurence's room.

Garroth took her blindfold off. Her eyes got used to the light as she saw a candle lit, a bouquet of her favorite flowers, her favorite chocolate, and a spaghetti and meatball dinner. It was set up on a folding table with a cheap tablecloth covering it in the middle of his room.

"What is all of this?" She questioned.

"We realized we never took you on a date yet. So, we made you dinner and brought you presents."

They were in a fae relationship. They didn't need to take her on any dates, as the relationship was supposed to be only for show at school. She had no clue Garroth and Laurence wanted to ask her out for real. To have her become their real girlfriend. After dinner, they would ask her out.

"That's cute; you two didn't have to do this. Thank you." She giggled. "Shall we eat?"

Garroth steps forward and pulls out her seat. "M'lady."

She rolls her eyes but sits in the seat. "Such a gentleman, thank you." He pushes her in before sitting on the chair to her left. Laurence sits in the chair to her right. They all sat on the same side of the table, as there was no room to sit elsewhere in the cramped space.

She thought it was strange that they set up a table in his room when they could have eaten in the kitchen or anywhere else in the house, but she didn't ask. She figured there was some logic that she wouldn't understand if they tried to tell her.

After they were done eating, they continued to chat at the table. Both boys slowly slid a hand up her thigh. Her face flushed slightly as she slapped both of their hands and watched them pull back quickly.

"You boys trying to get lucky tonight?" She joked. She didn't know why she slapped their hands away when earlier that day she was hoping to get lucky. She couldn't help but be nervous in the moment.

"And if we are?" Laurence questioned.

"Then you might just be in luck. I wore my nice pair of underwear today." She winked, teasing them. The only problem is, they didn't take it as a joke, and it technically wasn't one.

"Nice underwear? As in lingerie?" Garroth asks, his face heating up as his eyes drift down her body, imagining what she looks like in nothing but lingerie.

"I wonder what color it is. Is it black like everything else you wear?" Laurence questions as he lifts the bottom of her dress, taking a peek at her underwear.

She squealed as she smacked him before pushing her dress back against her thighs. "O-Okay, this joke went a little too far."

He cups his cheek but couldn't help but smirk. "It's not a joke when you are wearing lacy red panties."

Her eyes widened as she realized she had been caught. "I, um, s-so?"

"The type of panties that come with a matching bra. The kind I heard girls only wear when they want to look nice for someone naked."

Her face was bright red. "W-we also wear it for ourselves. L-like a secret no one else knows but makes us feel sexier and more confident throughout the day."

"That's probably true, but I hope that's not the reason you're wearing it today." He licked his lips, looking at her like he was ready to eat dessert.

The three of them had sex together. It was Garroth's first time, Wisteria's first time with males, and Laurence's first time with a female.

After sex, the three of them shower together, washing each other's bodies, stealing kisses, but don't go for another round in the shower. They focused on aftercare and cleaning themselves of sweat and juices.

They smelled of Laurence's bodywash and shampoo. They all dried off and got dressed before they had Wisteria sit down and dry her hair for her. Laurence took his old hair dryer he used to use when he had long orange hair, blow-drying her hair after Garroth did his best to towel dry it.

She then took her turn to blow-dry their hair. They tried to deny it, saying they could let their hair air dry, but she wanted to return the favor. They deserved as much aftercare as she did.

They both enjoyed it when she ran her fingers through their hair again, giving them each a bit of individual attention as she would randomly lean down and kiss their face as she blow-dried their hair.

Whoever wasn't currently being blow-dried would lovingly stand behind her, holding her, nuzzling against her head and neck as she focused on the other. They enjoyed each other's presence in bliss.

Once they were done drying their hair, Laurence put the hair dryer away, and they stood around, chatting again. They didn't have much time left before she would have to head home.

"I know you boys know what chocolate I like because I eat it all the time, but this is the second time you've bought me my favorite flowers. I never told you what my favorite flowers were."

Garroth picks up the bouquet, picking out a sprig as he puts it behind her ear. "You've loved baby breath since we were kids. You liked the look of the small white flowers, but also said it was beautiful how they represented everlasting love. Even death wouldn't be able to stop it."

Her face heated up in embarrassment. "I can't believe you remember my favorite flower and its meaning, but couldn't remember me." She teases.

"H-hey! I never forgot you, I just didn't realise you were the little girl from back then!" His face matches hers as it turns red.

"Good news, since you're no longer a werewolf, we can finally give you real chocolate. I got a whole pack since I know how much you love it." Laurence says as he picks up the chocolate, showing off the pack of 6 bars.

"Thank you, both of you. You really didn't need to do any of this." Wisteria looks at the time and sees she has to head home. "It's a shame I already have to head home. I had a good time. You two are the best fake boyfriends a girl could ask for." She giggled as she took her gifts from them, giving them each a peck on the cheek, before she began to walk out.

They follow her out of Laurence's room and towards the front door. "Wait!" Garroth shouts, causing her to stop and turn back to look at them.

"Yes?" She cocked her head slightly.

"T-the back of your skirt is messed up." He quickly pretends to fix the back of her skirt. "N-now you're good to go."

"Thanks, Garroth. See you boys at school." She waved goodbye before walking out of the house, closing the door behind her. Not noticing the lie he just told.

Garroth sighed as Laurence asked him. "Why did you try to stop her?"

"We never asked her to be our girlfriend for real. We were supposed to ask her out after dinner, but got too excited and fucked her instead! I wanted to ask her before she left, but we just took her virginity! I-I couldn't bring myself to ask right after that."

He groans as he realizes they got caught up in her beauty, forgetting the whole point of the romantic date at home was to ask her out, officially. "We're idiots."

"But her having sex with us is a good sign that she likes us, right?"

"No, Garroth. She said she had sex with girls before. She's never had a girlfriend; we would have known if she did. That means we aren't special, just hot enough to fuck."

The boys continued to chat and argue for the rest of the night as they questioned what to do. Their plan didn't completely fail, but it didn't end as they wanted it to. While Wisteria happily went home, satisfied after her fun time in bed, sniffing the flowers as she walked back.

Chapter Text

Wisteria spent the rest of the weekend regretting sleeping with Garroth and Laurence. She felt like she had crossed a line she shouldn't have. She told herself she knew better and shouldn't have let her emotions and urges control her.

Garroth and Laurence liked her sister, not her. She knew they didn't have a chance with her, but it still felt wrong. She felt like she used their feelings against them, as she was the closest they could get to being with her sister.

She began to feel dirty at the thought of having to pretend to be their girlfriend again when Monday rolled around. She knew she had to break up with them, but wasn't sure how.

She just slept with them, took Garroth's first time. She couldn't just leave after that without a valid reason. They would think they were the problem when in reality, she was. She spent the rest of the night thinking about it. Cursing the sun as it rose and she had to go to school again.

She did her best to keep a happy face in front of Garroth and Laurence in homeroom. "Morning, my loves." She says as she sits in her normal seat in homeroom next to them.

"Morning, Princess." Laurence kisses her cheek. Garroth repeats him and kisses her other cheek.

"Garroth calling me Princess was bad enough; now you're calling me Princess, too?"

"We are your knights; it only makes sense I call you something worthy of your beauty." He winks. "Plus, I liked the way it rolled off my tongue the other night."

Her face heated up as she got flashbacks to when she slept with them. She smacks his shoulder. "S-shut up. Maybe I should call you my knights rather than my Prince and Baby."

"I know being called a knight instead of your Prince should be a downgrade, but I like hearing you say it. Call me your knight again, Princess." Garroth flirts.

She punches his shoulder. "You two are being bad this morning! You never flirt this much!"

"Can't handle us, Princess?" Laurence teases. "And here I thought you were the one girl who could handle our teasing."

"That was before you came up with this ridiculous nickname for me! You know I hate it!"

"We aren't changing it. It suits you too well, Princess." He winks, enjoying her glaring at him. "Speaking of changing things, there is something we want to change. Are you free after school today?"

"I am, why?"

"Can you wait for me to finish practice, so we can talk? There is something we need to tell you, but can't say now."

"Oh, um, yeah, okay. I can do that. Is everything ok?" She asked worriedly. She just slept with the two boys. What if they regretted things and cut her out of their lives? What if they were pregnant?

"Everything's fine. It's just not the kind of thing we can talk about in school."

The bell rings, signaling the end of homeroom. "Alright, well, I'll see you boys after school then." She says before walking out of her homeroom and towards her next class.

She was angrily stomping through the halls as she was told that her schedule had been changed. "I can’t believe they changed my schedule. We are already a third of the way through the school year.” She growls as she tries to find her new classroom. It wasn’t just one class that switched; it was multiple.

She likes witchcraft and doesn’t mind taking the class, but she just finished a week-long presentation that was now useless. She had to spend time doing homework out of school for once, and it was for nothing. 

She knocks and enters the class. Hyria looks at her as she enters, stopping her lesson. “Oh, Wisteria, good to see you. I saw your schedule changed today, so please find an open seat and sit down.”

She nods, finding an open seat next to Travis and Dante. After class finished, she talked with them in the hall for a bit. “Hey guys, I didn’t realize you two would be in witchcraft with me.” She says.

“Yeah, I wanted to be in drama class, but they put me in witchcraft. The schedules have been a mess this year.” Travis says. 

“I won’t complain. I feel like it’s been so long since we’ve last been able to hang out. Your ‘boyfriends’ have been hogging all your time lately.” Dante says, knowing they are fake, but does not want to clue Travis into the secret. 

He found it funny that Garroth and Laurence tired to hide the fact that they were in a fake relationship from him when he was the one that gave them the idea to both share Wisteria in the first place when they first planned who to fake date.

“Heh, sorry about that. I blame them for it.” She says. 

“That’s ok. I’m just glad we have some eye candy as we work now. You transferred just in time for a big project. Do you want to stay after school today to finish it?” Travis asks. 

“I’m down. I have to stay after school to wait for Garroth and Laurence anyway. I might as well work on the project while I wait.” 

“Garroth is staying after school? That's strange, we don't have practice today.” Dante says.

“Yeah, he and Laurence have something important to tell me. I guess it was easier for him to wait after school as well. Well, that doesn't matter now. Let’s meet up in the classroom after school. I have to go now, so see you boys later.” She waves before walking away. 

“Later, gorgeous,” Dante says. 

“Hate to see you go, but love to watch you leave,” Travis stares at her butt. She holds up a middle finger in front of her butt as she continues to walk away.

Wisteria double-checks her schedule to make sure the rest of the day is normal. They only switched her mentoring period for witchcraft. Tomorrow would be a mess, as all her classes were different. 

After complaining about her schedule change during lunch. She and Kacey walk to P.E. together, meeting back up in the gymnasium with Vylad once dressed. Vylad was acting strange; he was doing more breathing exercises than normal and looked like he was going to snap any moment. 

“Wisty, you’re friends with the Shadow Knights, right?” He asks. 

“Huh? I am. Why?” She asks suspiciously. 

“They are looking for members, right? I want to join.” 

“You what? You want to join the Shadow Knights? You! Vivi?” She grabs his head, checking it for injuries. “Did you hit your head? Did you switch bodies with Zane? Who are you and what did you do to my Vivi?” 

He pushes her off of him. “I’ve always taken the high road when it comes to dealing with Zane. He always acts like I don’t exist, but recently, he has been treating me and Garroth worse. Acting like he is better than us, and I’ve had enough. 

“I’ve heard the Shadow Knights have kicked him out, and he has started his own gang. I’m going to ruin his new gang, but I need help.” He says, taking deep breaths so as not to rage. 

Kacey asks, confused. “Zane has been rude to you? I’ve been getting to know him lately, and he’s been nice. He even asked me to join his club, although I had to decline as I don’t think I fit into it well.” 

“Don’t trust him. He is only trying to use you for something. My brother is not nice for no reason.” He growls. 

“I kind of hate to agree, but Vivi's right. If you met him last year, I would say befriend him, but this year, he's been getting up to nothing but trouble. He’s in an edgelord era, and you shouldn’t get involved.” She says. 

“So, can I have their number or not?” He asks. “I think going through you would be better than hunting them down myself.” 

She sighs. “Yeah, you can have it after P.E.. Meet me after class, and I’ll give you Gene’s number. He’ll be the one you want to contact if you want to get revenge on your brother. Zenix and Sasha don’t have the brains or ability to do it on their own.”

“Oh, this is not revenge. This is just a little… brotherly love.” He chuckles, causing Kacey and Wisteria to shiver. They did not like seeing this side of Vylad; it was unnatural. 

“Alright, everyone! Get down here and line up. We will be playing dodgeball due to many of your requests lately!” Arnold says as he walks into the room. 

The students start to line up as he counts off each student to pick their teams. “One, two, one, two, one, two…” So on he went until every student was numbered and on the correct side of the court. 

“You all know the rules, but I’ll go over them again. You stay on your side of the court, throwing balls, attempting to hit the other team. If you get hit, you go to jail. To get out of jail, your team must throw a ball and have you catch it, walking back to your side before rejoining the game.

“Face shots are illegal. If you hit someone’s face, you will go to jail, and the person hit can stay in the game. Any questions? No, ok, let's get started.” He blows his whistle as he starts throwing balls onto the court. 

Mayhem begins as people run up, grab the balls, and throw them. People go out left and right. Just as quickly, they are rescued from jail. The jail system forces students to be a part of the game the whole time and makes the game almost impossible to end. 

Vylad's fury was obvious as he kept aiming at his brother. Zane was taunting him as he would use another ball to block his throws. Wisteria almost got hit by one of Vylad’s balls as Zane dodged it. 

“Vivi! Not so hard! You’re worse than the werewolves!” She shouts as she ducks, a fastball slamming into the wall behind her. She glares at the werewolf who threw it watching them shrink back in fear. “Ok, maybe not worse, but bad!”

“He couldn’t hit me if he tried! Oh, wait, he is trying.” Zane cackles. 

“That’s it! Kacey, load me up!” Vylad shouts as Kacey runs up from the back, picking up the balls that sit near the back wall. 

“Here you go, Vylad!” Kacey says as he passes him two balls to throw before going back to find more balls to pass to the other good throwers. 

“Time to eat your words, Zane.” Vylad throws one ball up, going way over Zane’s head. 

“HA! That wasn’t even close—AHH!” Zane yells as the second ball Vylad throws nails him in the face, as the first one was a distraction. 

 “Face shot! You’re out, Vylad.” The teacher says, pointing for him to go to jail. 

“Worth it.” Vylad chuckles as he walks over to the jail. 

Zane keels over, holding his good eye. Wisteria nervously goes up to him, crouching in front of him. “Let me look.”

“W-what? No, go away, I’m fine. It just stings.” Zane huffs. 

She sighs, grabbing his wrist as she forcibly drags him off the court and to the side of the room so she can safely look at his wound and heal it. She forcibly pulls his arm away from his face, seeing a black eye forming. 

“Hold still, I’ll heal it for you.” She says, trying to put her hand on his face. 

He backs away. “Why? Shouldn’t you enjoy seeing me in pain?” 

She sighs. “I’ve never enjoyed seeing you hurt. Now stop being a baby and hold still.” She puts her hand over his eye; her other hand grabs the back of his head so he can’t run away. 

Strangely, both his eyes begin to glow as she tries to heal him. Confused, as she had never been able to heal his other eye before, she only focused on healing the one eye. 

Her magick was different somehow, or at least stronger than it was before. His eye was too damaged and too old an injury for her to heal before. Now she felt like she might be able to return it to normal. 

It only took a second for her to heal him before she removed her hand. “Done. Let’s get back in the game before the teacher yells at us.” She says, walking back into the dodgeball game. 

When P.E. was over, Wisteria got changed back into her school uniform. She walked out of the locker room only to get her hand grabbed as Zane started pulling her somewhere. 

“Huh? What are you doing?” She asks as she attempts to pull her hand from his. 

He holds onto her tightly, weaving his fingers into hers. “We need to talk.” He continues to lead her outside of the school and behind the bleachers so they can be alone. 

“That was the bell; I’m going to get in trouble for being late. This is the one class I can’t be late for!” She crosses her arms but stands to hear what he has to say. 

“Why did you help me? I thought you hated me.” 

She sighs. “You were hurt, so I helped you. That’s it.”

“That’s all?” He asked angrily. “Have I not hurt you time and time again? Out of anyone, you should be the one to despise me the most! I wouldn’t be able to blame you if you did.” 

“Do you wish you could see out of both eyes?” 

His eye widened in surprise. “What? Why the strange question out of nowhere?”

“It’s a yes or no answer.” 

“Yeah, of course I do. If it weren’t for Garroth, I would be able to see just fine. Tch. But that’s not the point, I—” 

She cut him off as she cups his face, sliding her hand under his bangs to cover his eye. “That’s all I needed to know.” 

“What are you—?” He asks, confused, as he begins to see something glow and feel something is off. He decided against moving and waited to see what she would do. 

It took a few minutes, but she eventually succeeded. Once done, she sat on the floor as the world started to spin from using too much mana. Since the injury was almost a decade old it took more mana then she expected.

He squats in front of her. “Why is the world partly dark? What did you do to me?”

She chuckles as she pushes his hair out of his eyes. Two icy blue eyes looked back at her. “Because your hair is in front of your eye, stupid.” 

“W-what?” His hands shoot up to his face as he covers his eyes, testing his vision, finally noticing the difference. “What did you do to me?” 

“When I healed your black eye earlier, I realized I had the strength to heal your other eye. I wanted to ask you before I healed it, in case you didn’t want it to be healed. How does it feel to see normally again?”

 “You… You fixed my eye?” His eyes go wide as he looks at her. Her face was the first thing he saw with both eyes. 

With his hair pushed out of his face, he looked more like the alternate universe Zane with both eyes and hair pushed to the side. The only difference is that he was not as muscular, and he had a scar going up his eyelid into his eyebrow, leaving a slit in his eyebrow. She only healed his eye, not the surrounding tissue.

“How did you do this? Why did you do this?” He asks. 

“Well, I think you know how, and I did it because you were injured. Honestly didn’t know I could heal it until I did.” 

“You don’t just heal an old injury because someone is injured! I’ve lived most of my life with one eye, and you’re telling me you suddenly can just make me see again for no other reason than because you could?” He shouts. 

“Y-yeah? Did you not want to see normally?” She asks, confused. He seemed angry, but she couldn’t understand why. She thought he hated the fact that he was partly blind; she even asked him to make sure he would want it healed. 

“I did, but not like this!” 

“What do you mean, not like this? Is it because the scar is still there? I could get rid of that, too, if you want, but I think it looks nice. Most people like scars, and you would have a cool story to tell when people ask how you got it.” 

“Looks nice?” He scoffs as his face heats up. “Shouldn’t you despise me and wish the worst for me? If anything, you should have been happy when Vylad tried to poke my other eye out, yet instead, you healed me.” 

“I can’t hate you, no matter how much I want to, Zane. I care about you, forever and always. Seeing you hurt or unhappy brings me no joy, and never will.” 

“Then why did you say loving me was a mistake? If you care about me, as you say, why not be with me? You didn’t like me taking my chance when you were under the love potion, but you don’t give me any other chances to make you mine.” 

She looks away from him and sighs. "I can't be with you." She turns her head, looking him directly in the eye. “One, you had plenty of chances. Two, you fucked every chance up. And three, why should I even give you a chance? You don’t know the first thing about taking care of anyone but yourself.

“You thought being supposedly stronger and better than Gene was what I wanted or needed. But it’s not, and until you learn what is needed in a relationship, no one will look at you that way again.” 

She turns around, walking away from him, but stops and says one more thing before finally leaving. “If you don’t like me healing you for no reason, think of it as the favor I owed you for lying to our mothers about the fake bet last year.”

He tried to go after her but tripped, not used to his new depth perception. She didn’t hear him fall as she kept walking forward, thinking he was letting her end the conversation. 

Instead of getting yelled at for being late to werewolf class, she decided to hide in the music room to ditch the rest of the class. It was empty last period, so she could go in without anyone noticing.

She walked to the practice room three, the one Aaron used to sit in to practice guitar. Even though she knew it was him, he was still too embarrassed to play in front of her, so he hid in the practice room to play.

Her hiding in the practice room reminded her of the times she ran from Gene’s flirtation last year, Aaron’s music being her solace. She pulled out her phone, playing the song Rises The Moon by Liana Flores, but it was the music box version. No lyrics, just the song as a music box. 

She sang the lyrics, not expecting anyone to be outside the door listening to her. She sang her heart out, thinking no one could hear her. She wasn’t a bad singer, but she wasn’t anything special.  It wasn’t until she was done singing that someone outside the door clapped. “That was great.” 

“Huh? You were listening to me?” She asked, embarrassed, her face flushing. 

“I was. I came in here thinking no one would be here and heard your singing. It was very relaxing. I wasn’t expecting to be comforted like this when I came into the room. I was just trying to find a quiet place to think.” He said.

“A quiet place in a music room?" She giggles.

"T-the library was to loud. It felt like it was social hour in there and I saw this room was empty. A-at least I thought it was until I heard you singing."

"Well, I’m glad it was comforting. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s wrong?” 

She could hear the person walk closer to the door, sitting against it now. “It’s a long story; you probably don’t want to hear it. Besides, I don’t even know who you are.”

“I’d love to hear your story, and maybe it’s better you don’t know me. I can’t judge someone I don’t know.”

“Can I trust you?” 

“Of course. I had a friend who used to sit in this practice room and play his guitar. He was always there for me when I needed someone to talk to. I think it’s my turn to pass on his legacy.” 

“Alright. Well, there is this girl I like, but I don’t know how to approach her. She knows I exist, but I think she only sees me as her friend’s little brother. I don’t know how to tell her about my feelings without looking like a fool.” 

“Everyone’s a fool when they are in love. You never know what will happen unless you act. Maybe you will end up hurt, but in my opinion, it’s better than being left wondering about the what-ifs.”

“But what do I do if she not only rejects my feelings but pushes me away, out of her life? I’m not sure I can handle that.”

“Then it will hurt, but maybe you lucked out in the long run. If someone can’t handle something as minor as a crush, then they never could have handled your heart. Don't be the fool who fell for a lie.” The bell rings, signaling the end of the school day. “That’s the bell; you should go home and think about it. Reject isn’t the end; it’s just the beginning of a new tale.”

“Thank you. B-By the way, y-your singing was beautiful. W-Would it be alright if I stopped by again to listen?”

“I would say yes, but you caught me on the only day I would be here at this time.”

He sighs. “A shame, I was really hoping I could come listen to you again.” 

She could hear him stand up and walk out of the room. She waited a bit longer to make sure he was truly gone before she stepped out of the practice room, heading to her locker to grab her belongings before heading to the witchcraft room to meet with Dante and Travis. 

“Hey, handsomes,” Wisteria says, walking into the room and seeing Travis and Dante setting the supplies up. 

“Hey, gorgeous. You ready to get started on our potion?” Dante asks. 

“Of course, we have to make a transformation potion, right?”

“Yeah, she said we could pick the type of transformation. I’m thinking we go simple and do a cat potion.” 

“That sounds good to me. It looks like you guys grabbed all the ingredients already. Let’s get started!”

She puts her phone in her bag and sets it aside to help make the cat potion. It was simple, and she had made more complicated potions before, so it should have been a piece of cake. 

The problem is, they grabbed the wrong ingredient. They weren’t witches, so they never would have noticed that they accidentally grabbed catmint instead of catnip. They may sound and look similar, but they are not the same. 

Catnip is supposed to be the final ingredient for a cat transformation potion. Catmint can be used as a replacement for catnip, but only when you want the potion to be used immediately. 

Catmint causes the potion to follow the same chemical reaction as a soda exploding when you add Mentos to it. Instead of being able to bottle and use the potion for later, it will explode out of the cauldron, typically coating the maker. 

It is often used to prank other witches or to teach a valuable safety lesson to always double-check your ingredients before brewing. It is a harmless and often fun experiment that turns everyone into a cat for a short period. 

“Alright, last ingredient. Before we turn the rest in for the assignment, who wants to test it out to make sure we did it right? ” Wisteria asks as she holds the last ingredent over the cauldron.

“Not it!” Dante and Travis yell as she drops the catmint into the potion. She laughed as she was planning to test it out herself; she just wanted to make them nervous.  

“Oh, no. That’s not supposed to happen,” Travis says as he watches the potion bubble moments before exploding out of the top of the cauldron, splashing them. 

The pink potion blew across the room, splattering Dante and Travis, turning them into cats. Somehow, as they meowed, complaining to Wisteria, she was gone. She wasn’t a cat or something else. It was as if she somehow vanished, leaving only a brass-colored mist behind. Mist that disappeared seconds after she did. 

Chapter Text

The cat potion explodes out of the cauldron. Instead of being splashed by the potion, a poof of brass smoke surrounds Wisteria. It's the last thing she sees as she passes out.

What feels like only a moment later, but was not, she opens her eyes to see the bright blue sky, the sun shining bright on an almost cloudless sky. A sky that should have been impossible to see from inside the witchcraft classroom.

Confused, she sits up and looks around, her hand on her head from the pounding headache. She was in a forest, one she didn’t recognize yet somehow felt familiar. The plant life proved she was in a geographical area similar to where she grew up. Yet she’s never been in this patch of woods.

She stood up, putting her arms out to the side to keep her balance as her head caused the world to spin. Odd, usually her magick would have kicked in by now and fixed it. She touches her head, using her magic, but then notices that her clothes are in tatters. The front of her shirt and bra fell off her as the back was torn away.

She quickly covers her breasts before picking up a piece of fabric and repairing her clothes so she can put them back on. She had to repair her shirt, skirt, underwear, and shoes, as they were all torn. 

She didn’t remember healing herself, but she must have unconsciously done it based on the damage to her clothes. She would have been dead if she were a normal person. 

She looks at the ground where she was lying, noticing that it looks like a small meteor has hit. Did she fall from the sky? She looks up and sees some trees missing their branches, their fallen branches on the ground. 

She does her best to dust herself off before walking the way she flew in. Her clothes were strangely clean after being repaired, but her skin and hair were still dirty. She only walked for a few minutes before she heard voices. 

“Are you sure we should not check it out? It could be dangerous.” One guard says. 

“We can’t leave the Miss and her children. It's been an hour, and nothing has happened. If it is dangerous, staying here and protecting them is better than leaving them alone.” The other guard says. 

Wisteria takes a few steps closer, cautiously poking her head out from behind a tree. “Umm, what’s dangerous?” 

They quickly turn their attention to her, pointing their swords toward her. “Halt! Who goes there!” 

She flinches. “Just a curious passerby.” She cautiously steps from behind the tree with her hands up so they can see she is just a harmless kid. 

The guards quickly put their swords down, seeing that it was someone harmless. A familiar woman stepped out from behind them. It was Zianna, but not the one she grew up with. 

Somehow, she knew this was Minecraft Diaries, Zianna. Somehow, she got sent to the past. Her eyes widened in shock; seeing her, she was just as beautiful as the woman she knew. 

“Oh my, dear, are you okay? You are a mess,” Zianna says, stepping from behind the two guards and circling her to see if she is okay. Her clothes may have been fixed, but her skin was covered in dirt, and her hair had leaves and sticks in it.

“Umm, yes ma’am. Just a little lost is all.”  Wisteria says.

“Lost? In these woods? Come over here, dear. Why don’t you tell me where you are from? We will see if we can help you get home,” She says, gently dragging her back towards the blanket on the floor and having them both sit on it. 

Zane was a preteen, and Vylad was a child, no more than six years old. They were sitting on the blanket, staring at her as they sat down. “Umm, did something fall out of the sky?” She asked.

“Oh yes, the guards were still arguing about whether they should check it out when you came by. It flew above us and made an awful landing noise near here. You can see it broke the tops of the trees as it passed by,” She says, pointing at the broken treetops. 

“Well, I think that might’ve been me.” She awkwardly laughs, scratching the back of her head. 

“How did you end up in the sky?” She asks, shocked. 

“I’m… not sure. One moment I was working on a potion, I blinked, and the next thing I saw was the sky.”

“Oh dear, you might be quite far from home then.”She gasps. 

“Tch, no way it could have been her. No one could survive a fall like that. It looked like a shooting star crashed into the ground.” Zane grumbles. 

“Does that make you a fallen angel?” Vylad asks excitedly, scooting closer to her. His eyes twinkled at her in amazement.

Angels may not have existed in religion like they did in her past world, but the concept of them did exist. They were like vampires or mermaids, simply common folklore that not many people believe exists. Not real like magick and werewolves are.

She smiles down at him, patting his head. “I guess it does.”

Zane scoffs. “Yeah, right. Someone like her could never be an angel. More like a succubus. Look how skimpy her clothes are.”

She looks down at herself. She was in her school uniform. Having so much leg showing was much more scandalous in their time. She always hated how short the skirt was; she would have liked a longer option. She knew she could pull off a floor-length option.

She giggles. “I guess it is kinda skimpy, but there's nothing I can do about it. At least it’s covering the most important parts.”

“Why are you laughing?” He squints his eye at her in disgust. 

“You act as if you dislike me, yet you can’t keep your eyes off me. It’s cute how hard you try to make it seem like you don’t like me.” She giggles more. 

This was not the Zane she grew up with, yet he was similar to him. The world had yet to be cruel to him. She could tell she piqued his curiosity. She couldn’t help but tease him, especially now that she was a few years older than him. 

“W-what! How preposterous of you to assume I like you!” He shouts. 

Zianna laughs as she teases her son. Happy to see him expressing himself for once. “Oh, Zuzu, there’s no need to be shy. If you think she’s pretty, you can tell her.” 

“I’m not so cruel as to lie to her. Hmph.” 

“Aww, don’t be like that, big brother. Tell Miss Angel how pretty she is. She’s pretty like mama!” Vylad says, cutely. 

“Thank you, and I think you’re quite handsome.” She happily watched him gush about how an angel called him handsome, his mother giggling at his reaction as Zane huffed in annoyance, looking away from them. “I think you’re quite handsome too, Zuzu.” 

He quickly turned to look at her, his eye locking with hers. His face flushed, causing the back of his neck and the tip of his ears to burn. “W-what? You think I’m handsome? Lies. And don’t call me Zuzu! Tch.” 

“Zuzu, she’s just being honest. You are one of my handsome little men.” Zianna gushes. 

“What about me, Mama?” Vylad asks. 

“You’re also one of my handsome little men, Vivi.” She pinches one of his cheeks, causing him to giggle.

Wisteria keeps her eyes on Zane. “She’s right, you both are handsome. I especially like your mask; it suits you.” 

He scans her up and down, looking for any sign of her lying or messing with him, but finds none. “You do?”

“I do. I have one similar back at home. They are surprisingly comfy. I don't think people realize they are more comfortable than they look."

“You wear a mask to?” He perks up, meeting someone who is like him for once.

“I do, but only sometimes. I don’t wear it full-time, as you can tell.” She gestures to her face, clearly showing it with no mask. 

“Prove it!” 

“Huh? How? I don’t have a mask on me to wear.” 

He hums for a second as he thinks before he takes his mask off and gives it to her. “Here, put it on.” She takes it from him, purposely struggling to put it on to see if he would help her put it on. 

He watches her struggle before his hands shoot forward to help her place it correctly. "Stay still; you are doing it wrong," he grumbles as he gently moves it into place. 

"Thanks. How do I look?" She winks at him, his face centimeters from hers.

He quickly sits back after noticing how close he got to her, his face burning red. With no mask to cover it, he uses his hand to cover the lower half of his face. "I suppose you look fine." 

“Only fine? I wish I had a mirror to look in because I bet I look adorable.”

His heart raced as he looked at her. She was cute, beautiful, mesmerizing, wearing his mask. He’s never felt this way before. What was this emotion he was feeling? “That’s enough. Give me my mask back!” He reaches forward to take it back from her. 

She quickly leans back, not letting him grab it. “I don’t know. I quite like wearing it, and seeing your face is nice. You’re handsome even with your mask off. I never would have known you had beautiful freckles dusting your cheeks if you kept it on.”

His face couldn’t get any brighter, as it was the brightest shade of red, burned down his neck, and up his ears. He kept his hand over his mouth, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Why you, girl-woman-thing! Return my mask to me!”

She giggles as she takes it off. “Fine. Have it back.” She sits forward, placing it back on him without an issue, clearly showing she knew how to take it on and off and only pretended to struggle with it so he would help her. 

His mom giggles as his jaw drops and he looks at her. Even behind the mask, she can tell, as she has gotten used to reading his expressions over the years. Seeing someone come by on a horse, she happily makes a suggestion.

“Dear, you should come home with us. I haven’t seen my Zuzu’s face without a mask in years. I think you would be good to keep around him.” Zianna speaks up. 

“Mother! Stop calling me Zuzu! It’s embarrassing.”

“I don’t know. I really should find a way back home.” She says, looking back at the spot she fell from.

“You don’t know how you got here; how will you figure out how to get home? Besides, it will be getting late soon. We can help you get home in the morning.” Zianna reasons. 

“Hmm, alright then.” 

“Yay! The pretty angel is going to spend the night with us. Can she sleep in my room?” Vylad happily cheers. 

“That depends on where she wants to sleep. We also have a guest bedroom you could have to yourself, dear.” Zianna says. 

He looks up at her expectantly. “I like the sound of sleeping with Vivi. We can have a slumber party together.” She pats his head as he cheers. 

She looks over to see that the guy who just passed them on a horse is struggling to do something with the carriage parked in the middle of the path. “What’s he doing?” She asks, pointing at him. 

“Oh, our carriage wheel broke on our way home. Our coachman took one of the horses back to town to bring the supplies to fix it while we waited. It's too far to walk, but there aren’t enough horses for us all to ride on.” Zianna responds. 

“Well, now that the horse is back, we can go then. I’ll help him fix it.” She stands up, fixing her skirt before walking over to the coachman struggling with the guards to replace the wheel. “Can you move to the side, please?” 

“Huh? What do you think you’re going to do, girl? This is too heavy for you to be of help.”

“I have magick, and if you don’t want to get hurt, you should back up.” 

The coachman's eyes widened. When people say they had magick, you don’t question anything and get out of their way. He quickly dropped what he was doing and took a few steps back, the guards backing up with him. 

Now that the area was clear, she didn’t bother to use the new wheel he brought. She touched one of the broken fragments of the wheel, watching it glow as the other pieces glowed and floated up with it. They move, clicking together like puzzle pieces as they recombine. 

After they recombine, she steps forward, putting her hand on the side of the carriage as it begins to glow and lift, the wheel floating into place. After it is rebuilt, it stops glowing and slightly rocks as it levels back on the ground.

She turns around to see the coachman looking at her, jaw dropped. She looks up to see Zianna and Vylad clapping, and Zane is in disbelief at what he sees. “I would double-check to make sure it's functional, but it should be like brand new,” She says to the coachman before walking back to Zianna and the others. 

“Wow, that was impressive! You have magick!” Zianna says. 

“Yes, I do. Restoration magick. I can fix anything or anyone.”

“Does that mean you can fix my big brother’s eye?” Vylad asks. 

“If he wants me to, I could.” She looks at Zane.

“You could fix my Zuzu’s eye?” Zianna says, tearing up in joy. “Zuzu, isn’t this great?” 

He eyes her suspiciously. “Can you really fix my eye? I haven’t been able to see out of it for almost a decade.”

“Yeah, I should be able to fix it.”

“Ma’am, the carriage is all ready to go!” The coachman says, cutting off their conversation. 

They stopped their conversation for a moment so everyone could hop into the carriage. The coachman rode off, with one guard beside him and one sitting on the back of the carriage. 

Inside the carriage, Zianna and Vylad sat on one side, and Zane and Wisteria sat on the other. Wisteria and Zane sit facing each other as he nervously prepares for her to heal his eye. 

“You ready?” She asks him. 

“You can really fix it?” 

“Won’t know if I don’t try.” She smirks at him, teasing him. He grumbles before nodding, signaling her to do it. 

She raises her hand, gently cupping his cheek before slowly raising it under his curtain of bangs, pushing them to the side. She looks at his damaged eye for the first time. 

“Do you want the scar gone as well?” She asked. 

“Yes, it’s unsightly. It doesn’t suit someone of my status.” He says, causing her to roll her eyes. 

His eye was gray instead of icy blue, and a slight scar extended above his eyelid, into his eyebrow. She took in the view before cupping his eye with her hand. A bright light glows under her hand as he flinches, seeming uncomfortable from her touch. It took her a full minute to focus on healing the old injury.

She was faster healing his eye than her time Zane, but having to heal the surrounding tissue around the eye to remove the scar took extra time and mana. She regretted helping fix the carriage as she realised she would give herself mana exhaustion healing him. It was too late to stop or push it off for later, for she had already promised to help him.

Once it stopped glowing, she slowly pulled her hand back, staring at him. He had both his eyes closed. Unlike the Zane of her time, where she left the scar, she fully healed his wound, making it look as if nothing ever happened in the first place. 

“You can open your eyes now.” She yawned.

He slowly opened it, flinching back as he realized how close her face was to his.  He blinked a bunch, then closed his good eye to see if he could truly see what he was seeing. 

“It worked… You did it.” He continues to test his new vision, playing with his new depth perception.

Zianna gets up, pulling Wisteria into a large hug. “I don’t know how I could ever repay you!” She kisses her cheek before releasing her. “You really are an angel. Thank Irene, she sent you to us!”

“Miss Angel did it? Can you see with both eyes now, big brother?” Vylad asks. 

“Yeah… I can.” He seems kind of freaked out, but also excited about the change. 

“Be warned, it will probably take a little time to adjust to your new depth perception. It should’ve improved by having both eyes, but it'll take a little adjusting as you won’t be used to it.” Wisteria yawns. 

“Thank you.” He looks her directly in the eyes as he says it, not a hint of hesitation or alternative motive. 

"No problem—" She couldn't force herself to stay awake any longer as she drifted off, passing out from mana exhaustion. Her head fell forward and landed against his shoulder.

“Oh dear, she passed out from using too much mana,” Zianna gasps. Zane shifts her off his shoulder, pushing her so her head would lie on the side of the carriage. "Zuzu, be a gentleman and put her back! The path is bumpy, and she will hurt her head lying against the side of the carriage.” She chastises him.

He huffs but puts her head back on his shoulder, letting her lean against him as she sleeps for the rest of the carriage ride. His face grew bright red when she shifted, and her arm fell onto his thigh.

Zane had his own way of taking care of her. He may not use nice or pretty words, but the care was there. This Zane felt like when she met her Zane on the first day of high school, before he hurt her. No, it felt like seeing a piece of Zane she never got the chance to see because her family moved.

She wasn't sure she could look her Zane in the face again, considering she slept with his brother. She loved him, yet she slept with his brother. Maybe that's why she healed his eye?

Yet, that was only for the Zane in her time. This Zane was younger and didn't make her feel the same as the Zane from her time. It felt more like babysitting a mini-Zane—a look-alike. It reminded her of her past life when she was called her cousin's mini-me because they looked so similar.

After roughly two hours of traveling, they pull up to the gates of O’Khasis. Exhausted from using her mana, she didn't wake up until Zane woke her. “We’re here. Get up.” 

“Hm?” She slowly sits up, groggily rubbing her eyes as she looks out the window. “Here?” 

“Yes, dear. This is the village of O’Khasis. We will be at our home in a minute, so it is time to wake up.” Zianna says, smiling as she sees her awaken. 

“I’m up.” She says, stretching and yawning. She was still exhausted, but she would have to push through it.  

It’s not long before they pull in front of a large house. They all slowly step out of the carriage and into the house. She looks around, seeing how different this place is compared to the modern age she grew up in. 

“Dear, why don’t you come upstairs with me and get cleaned up before supper?” Zianna suggests. 

Wisteria looks down at herself, covered in dirt. “That would be nice.” 

“Zuzu, do you mind running a hot bath while I find her something to wear?” 

He huffs but goes to the bathroom to fill a hot bath for her. Zianna guides her upstairs to her room, looking through her closet for something Wisteria could wear. After deciding on a dress for her, she leads her to the bathroom.

Wisteria was embarrassed as Zianna forced her to strip and step into the tub so she could help wash her. They came to a middle ground where Wisteria could wash her body, but Zianna would wash her hair for her. 

“I never did ask for your name, dear. What is it?” Zianna asks while washing her hair

“Call me Angel. The name has grown on me.” She smiles at her, enjoying the feeling of her scalp being scratched. 

“A beautiful name for a beautiful lady. I love my boys, but I’ve always wanted a daughter. I’ve always wanted to be able to dress her up, play with her hair, and talk with her. You especially have such long and beautiful hair.” She says as she washes the multiple feet worth of hair.

“Well, I may not be your daughter, but you can still do that with me today.” 

She gushes, enjoying having girl talk with someone she could treat as a daughter. She was ecstatic to be able to dry and braid her hair before dressing her in a pretty dress. 

Wisteria felt like Rapunzel as her long hair was taken out of her usual bun and braided instead. Reaching her lower back as Zianna tied the bottom with a blue ribbon, which matched the dress she wore.

Once Wisteria was cleaned and dressed, Zianna and she walked to the dining room. They opened the doors to see Garte sitting at the head of the table. There was an empty seat, then Zane and Vylad. The other side was all empty seats. 

Zianna happily walked up, kissing each of her boys on the forehead. “You’re late.” Garte grunts.

“I know, and I’m sorry, my love. The wheel of our carriage broke and we had to wait for it to be repaired. But it was a good thing it did, as we met Angel.” She kisses his cheek before pulling Wisteria from behind her to show her off. “She not only repaired the carriage wheel for us, but she also fixed our Zuzu’s eye. He can see out of both eyes again!”

Garte looks her up and down, scanning her. determining whether he likes her or not. “Is that so? Then I’m glad to have her as a guest in our home. She should sit and enjoy dinner.”

Zianna walks to the empty seat across from the boys, next to Garte, and sits down. Wisteria sits down in the seat next to her, across from Zane. Garte soon begins to eat, and the rest follow suit. 

Zianna points to everyone as she speaks. “How about I introduce you properly to everyone. This is my husband, Garte. He is the lord of O’Khasis. Sadly, my oldest son, Garroth, isn’t here, as he is currently training to be a guard. Then you have met my other two boys. Zane and Vylad.” 

“It is lovely to be properly introduced to you all.” She slightly bowed her head before lifting it so she could continue eating. Garte couldn't suppress his small smirk as he saw her manners, gears turning in his head.

“Zuzu, doesn’t she look beautiful all dressed up?” She gushes.

He looks at her, locking eyes with her for a moment before quickly looking away again. “She is dressed appropriately for the occasion.” 

“Big brother! Don’t be mean! Tell Miss Angel she’s pretty! She’s wearing one of Mama’s favorite dresses.” Vylad says. 

Garte laughs. “I did not believe I would see the day when Zane would become shy when it came to complimenting a girl.”

“Nonsense! I can compliment her just fine! The dress suits her well, showcasing her beauty perfectly.” Zane shouts before widening his eyes and turning his head down to focus on his food. 

Zane's face flushed as everyone else chuckled and laughed at his embarrassment. Everyone but Wisteria, as she also shared some of his embarrassment. “Oh, Zuzu, aren’t you just a little charmer? Angel, how would you feel about marrying my Zuzu one day?” Zianna asks. 

Wisteria nearly chokes on her drink, not expecting to be offered a hand in marriage. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. I have to get back home.” 

“We will help you find a way to get home tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean in a few years you can’t come back here and marry my Zuzu. I know my son is still quite young, but he will grow to be a lovely man for you to marry.”

“Mother!” Zane shouts, embarrassed.

“Zane, do not use that tone with your mother!” Garte booms out, his cutlery clinking on his plate as he harshly lets it go. “I think it would be a good idea. She seems like a powerful magick user for her age and has good manners. She would be good to keep around. Tomorrow morning, help her get home and talk to her parents about your marriage in the future.”

“Yes, Father.” His head droops as he obeys his father’s wishes. 

After that point, the dinner became awkward. There was some light conversation about local events or the new book Vylad has been reading, but nothing serious was brought up again. 

After everyone had eaten and was released from the table, she followed Zane to his room. Zianna suggested they spend some time alone before getting ready for bed.

They awkwardly sit on the edge of his bed for a moment, unsure of what to say or do in this situation. She sensed something was going to happen, but she wasn’t quite sure what. She lifts her leg, attempting to untie the string bracelet on her ankle.

“What are you doing?” Zane asks, looking away, embarrassed as she was sitting improperly. 

“I feel like I should give you something to remember me by, and I have nothing else to give.” She says as she finally unties the bracelet. 

“A bracelet of string? You want to give me the string bracelet you've been wearing for who knows how long?” He scoffs. 

“Yes.” She says, grabbing his wrist and pulling it towards her as she ties the bracelet around his wrist. 

He didn’t pull away; he watched her as she tied it on his wrist. Her soft yet cold fingers brushed against his skin. She was careful not to tie it too tightly. “You make it sound as if you will not see me again. If you think your parents will not agree to let you marry me, my father will convince them.” 

“I know in normal circumstances he would find a way to convince them, whether peacefully or through violent measures, but I am not someone you can marry.” 

“Why not? Do you not like me?” He seemed hurt that she did not want to marry him. He was not sure why he felt that way when he just met her. He should have been disgusted by the thought.  

"Your mother isn't the first woman to offer their son's hand in marriage to me," She giggled. Technically, she was the only woman to offer her son's hand in marriage to her. Just in two different lifetimes.

"Y-you are betrothed already?" He said wide-eyed, not expecting it. She was amazing; he should have expected her to be taken already. His heart shattered as he heard that.

"Well, not exactly, but—"

"Then why can't you marry me? Am I not good enough for you? I know I am still young, but I will become someone you will be proud to call your husband. I promise." He softly grabs her hand as he promises her.

She smiles at him softly, cupping his hand with both of hers. “Zuzu, that's not it. I love you in ways I cannot explain, but I don't belong here. Once I'm gone, please remember you're not in your brother’s shadow. You're amazing and your own person. Don't get held up by other people’s words. 

“Garroth wishes to be a knight, so let him be a knight and take your position as lord of this village after your father passes. It doesn’t matter that you aren’t the eldest son; prove yourself as the best person for the position. Garroth will be happy for you if you do. He may even swear his loyalty to you, standing by your side to protect you.”

His eyes widen at hearing the words he’s always wished to hear. He wasn’t sure how she knew so much since they had just met, but it did not matter to him. In that moment, he knew he had to marry her. Not because of his father or anyone else said he should, but because he wanted to—he needed to.

He began to panic as her skin began to glow. “W-What is happening to you?”

“This is what I was afraid of. It seems like my time is up here. It’s time for me to go home.”

“No! Angel, you can not leave me!” He tightens his grip on her hand. “I have just met you, but it feels as if I have known you my whole life!”

She smiles softly at him. “This is not goodbye, only see you later. If not in this life, in the next.” She bends down, softly kissing the top of his hand as she begins to fade away. 

He tries to grab her as her form fades into small brass orbs, flickering out of existence. His hands slip through her. Right on time, Vylad knocks and enters the room. “Big brother, where is Miss Angel?” 

His eyes tear up as he looks down at him. “She flew away, saying she had to go home.” He moves his hair back in front of the eye she healed, refusing to show it off to anyone. It didn’t matter if he could see out of it if he could not see her. 

Her face was the first thing he saw with his new vision; he would never forget it—forget her. He would find her, one day, somehow. He had to. She made him feel things he never thought imaginable. He refused to lose that feeling, to lose her.

Chapter Text

When Wisteria opened her eyes, she was falling, landing on the sidewalk in the city. She was sitting on the bed, so when she moved places, it was as if someone pulled the chair out from under her. She fell roughly fifteen feet, but she was able to heal her injuries. 

It was late; the sun was setting, and she had no clue where she was. She knew she was back home, back in her time, but she wasn’t back in school. The problem was that she had none of her belongings. Her bag was at school, and her school uniform was in the past.

She was in Zianna’s dress. It was a beautiful, blue, floor-length dress that stood out in the modern world. Unsure of what to do, she went to the closest business that seemed to be open. She walked in, up to the counter, and asked to borrow their phone. 

“I’m sorry, it’s just for business.” The cashier says. 

“Please, there has to be some phone I can borrow. My friend got angry and just dropped me off on the side of the road after a party, and I have no clue where I am. My phone is in their car, and I have no way to contact anyone or find out where I am.” She says, tearing up, using them to her advantage. 

“Oh dear, ok, come stand over here. I’ll let you borrow my phone so someone can come pick you up.” The cashier says, pitying her. “Do you have anyone’s number memorized?” 

“I-I do, and thank you so much!” She says as she happily takes the phone from them, typing in a number. The phone rings and rings; she was worried he wouldn’t answer an unknown number and would be forced to call her mother. 

“Hello?” 

“Gene! It’s me, Wisteria.".

“Dove? Dove! Where have you been? Are you ok?” 

“I-I’m…” She takes a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears so she can talk. “Can you come pick me up? I’m at… Um, where is this place?” The cashier speaks up, giving her the address so she could repeat it to Gene. 

“I’ll be there in twenty minutes, no, fifteen. Wait for me.” She could hear him rushing on the other side of the line. Dante was shouting at him in the background, but she wasn't quite sure what he was saying. 

“I’ll see you soon. I’ll wait for you outside.” She says before hanging up, handing the phone back to the kind cashier. “Thank you for letting me borrow your phone. You’re a lifesaver.” 

“It’s no problem. I’m glad someone is on their way. You can stay inside and wait if you want; it is chilly at night.” 

“Thanks, but I think I could use some fresh night air right now.” She says, before walking out of the building, she sits along the edge of a planter box as she waits.

It wasn’t long until Gene pulled up, as promised. He parked crookedly as he hopped out of the car, running up to her, pulling her tightly into his arms. “Never disappear again.” 

She hugged him back, finally, the tears falling as she held him. “C-can we get in the car?”

“Of course.” He swoops her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style and placing her in the passenger side of the car before sitting back into the driver's seat. “Now, what happened?”

He held her hand, doing little circles on the back of it with his thumb as she spoke. She told him what happened, how she went back in time, and who she met. She didn’t leave out any details as she told him what happened. 

She explained it wasn’t a memory she had seen before, as Zane was still a pre-teen and not an adult. The dreams she had were all from the series Minecraft Diaries; he was an adult when the series started. 

He sat and listened, soaking in all the information as she went through a range of emotions while explaining. They sat in the car, unmoving until she finished explaining. 

“Now I’m not sure what to do because it’s not like I can tell people what I saw or what really happened. But look at me! I’m not wearing my uniform, and I think I ended up the same distance away from where I disappeared as where I traveled in time. What do I do? What do I say?” 

“Don’t worry, I have a plan.” He says as he pulls out his phone, calling Sasha. “Sasha, I’ll be at your house in ten; come out with a school uniform and ready to go.” He says before hanging up. 

“You do?” She looked up at him hopefully, a sense of relief that she might be able to keep her secret. 

“I do. But how did you call me? Did you memorize my number?” He smirks as he starts to drive to Sasha’s house, speeding the whole way. 

She blushes, looking down as she plays with her fingers. “Y-yes. I also have my mother's and sister’s numbers memorized for emergencies. B-but they are only good for normal emergencies. 

“I needed someone who would be good for an ‘I somehow got arrested and need someone to bail me out’ type of emergency. Or the ‘I need someone to help me bury the body’ kind of emergency. So I, um, memorized your number in case of those.”

“You would depend on me in an emergency that you wouldn’t trust your family with?” He smiles; it wasn’t his usual smirk—this was pure joy. “Dove, I knew you liked me.”

“H-hey! Y-you’re just very reliable. T-that’s all.” She was embarrassed. She didn’t think she would ever need to use his number; it was only a backup plan in case of an emergency.

“Anything you say, Dove.” He chuckles, enjoying the bliss of knowing she depends on him. 

It wasn’t long until they pulled up to Sasha’s house. Gene honked, and Sasha came out with her uniform in hand, Zenix coming out behind her. They both hop into the back seat of the car as Gene drives off again. “Kitty! You’re ok!” Sasha hugs her around the back of the seat. “What are you wearing?” 

“She’s fine, but this needs to stay top secret. No one gets to know the truth of what happened to her. Hence why we are helping her break into the school.” Gene says. 

“Break into the school! Are you nuts? We are always trying to avoid going to school, and now you want us to break in?” Zenix shouts. 

Sasha punches Zenix to force him to shut up. “Won’t we get caught on the cameras?” 

“No, the principal removed the budget for the cameras; they are just for show now. It’s the whole reason we almost got in trouble for what Zane did.” Wisteria says. 

“Exactly, now we just need to break in. Sasha and Dove will go in while we wait for Sasha to come back out. Dove is going to change into the school uniform. After she does, she will give her dress to Sasha, who will sneak back out of the school with it.

“We will leave; Dove will handle the rest. She’ll be able to go up to the room, grab her belongings, and call her mother, saying she somehow turned invisible and was unable to touch things. She saw everything that was going on, but couldn’t do anything as she was trapped in that state.” Gene explains the plan. 

“Ohh, a ghost story. I like it.” Sasha says excitedly. 

“Hmm, it might just work. What happened to me was strange enough, so this lie is more realistic than the truth. But, umm, what are you going to do with my dress?” Wisteria asks nervously. 

“Get rid of it. It’s evidence of the truth.” Gene says as he pulls into the school's parking lot. It was dark, and no one was at the school. 

“C-can you keep it? I-I know you are already doing so much for me… but—” 

“I’ll hide it in my room until you can come back to get it.” 

“Thank you.” She hugs him, kissing his cheek before pulling back. “Sasha, you ready?”

“Always,” Sasha says, hopping out of the car. 

The two girls walk up to the school. With Wisteria’s magical abilities, they didn’t have to be discreet about how they broke in. They broke a window, carefully climbing through. 

Wisteria changed into Sasha’s uniform before handing her the dress she was wearing. Once Sasha was safely headed back to the car, she repaired the window. She walked up to the witchcraft room, seeing the door taped off with police tape. 

She opened the door, breaking the police tape, and went inside. Luckily, it seemed as if they treated the place as a crime scene and didn't move anything. Her bag was right where she left it. 

She took a deep, shaky breath as she pulled out her phone, calling her mother. It only rang once when she could hear her mother’s raspy voice on the other line. It sounded as if she had been crying nonstop. 

“Wisteria! Is that you?” Sylvanna asked. 

“Y-yes, Mom. C-Can you pick me up from school? I-I want to go home now.” She says, tearing up as she spoke. 

“Of course! Stay on the phone; I’ll be there in five minutes. Eric! Start the car!” 

She could hear them shuffle, rushing into the car as he drove her to school. Wisteria met her mother out in front of the school. As soon as Eric pulled over, Sylvanna rushed out and hugged her daughter, crying. 

“Mija! You disappeared! What happened?” 

She hugs her mother tightly as she explains her lie. She pretended as if she were in some invisible form, unable to be heard or to touch things, unable to do anything. She was lucky it suddenly became undone, so she was able to call home. 

“I-I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t know that would happen. I didn’t know what else to do!”

“That’s ok, mija. I’m just glad you’re okay, and I can take you home now.” 

They drive home. As soon as she enters the house, Aphmau jumps onto her, crying and hugging her. Katelyn and Kacey were standing behind her, happy for her. Katelyn was trying to hide her tears as she decided to turn it into a group hug.

Aphmau sniffed as she lifted Wisteria's braid. "W-Wisty, who did your hair? You normally keep it in a bun."

She stiffened for a second as she forgot to take her hair out of the braid Zianna put it in. She was just glad her family was human so they wouldn't notice that she smelled different than normal. "One of the girls at school asked to play with my hair. She said she had been looking at it for a while and really wanted to braid it, so I let her."

"You should let her do it again, mija. It's nice seeing you do something with your long, beautiful hair for once." Sylvanna says.

She nervously changed the topic, asking them to tell her the story from their end. It took an hour for Dante and Travis to detransform before they could even call for help, saying she was missing. They called everyone they knew to try and look for her; everyone was freaking out as they had no clue how she had disappeared. 

Hyria couldn’t figure out what went wrong other than the fact that they used catmint instead of catnip, but that only made the potion explode. She had never heard of a ghostly side effect from such a simple potion. 

Of course, there was no way to figure out what happened to her, as she didn’t tell the truth. Granted, even if she did tell her the truth, they still wouldn’t have been able to figure out what happened to her. Even Wisteria hadn’t noticed what her magick was truly capable of. 

Wisteria was checked out and was proven to be healthy with no lasting magical side effects. They couldn’t find out how it happened, but they had no reason to think she was lying, as they had no better idea of what could have happened. 

She was already a fluke of nature when she had Josuha disease and grew eight inches in a week. A rare magickal disease with only ten known cases may have affected her more than they thought. 

Dante was peeved at Gene for running after Wisteria without him. He wanted to be there to help her, as he felt guilty, as he was the one who pulled out the catmint by accident. Gene told him a half-truth to explain why he rushed out to Wisteria.

He told him he went to comfort her as she called, crying, unsure of what had happened. So he helped her process things before she called her mother to explain everything that happened. He told Dante not to tell anyone so they wouldn’t get in trouble for prolonging her appearance. 

Dante kept quiet, just happy she was back and okay. He knew her mother didn’t like boys, so not letting the news of what Gene did sounded like a good idea. At least she was getting closer to his brother. 

The next day at school, everyone was hugging her and asking her questions. She had to explain her story a hundred times as she became the talk of the school again. 

She couldn’t tell who was worse. Her mother, Gene, the werewolves, or her fake boyfriends. Garroth and Laurence practically tackled her when they saw her in the hallway. Blaze had to wrestle her out of their grip so she could breathe. Which he quickly replaced with his own squeeze of death. 

Gene didn’t tell Sasha or Zenix the full truth. He gave them more of a glimmer than Dante, but it was just about where he found her, not what happened to her. They would have to remain curious.

She saw Zane in the hall; he still had his hair in front of his face. When she asked Garroth why he had his hair in front of his eye, he freaked out. He asked her if she had hit her head as he always hid his eye. It seemed Zane didn’t tell anyone about his eye being healed, and she wasn’t going to reveal it for him. 

As draining as it was to deal with everyone, it felt nice to be so cared for. She already had a plan to repay Gene for coming to her aid after the potion fiasco. She had to find another way to repay Gene. Thanks to him, she was able to get home safely, and things went smoothly.

Her original plan was to give Gene another dream potion so he could pick a dream he wanted to see. He had been begging her to tell him more or to let him see more, but she kept refusing.

Since she owed him for his help on multiple occasions, she decided it was best to stop holding back. He already knew the truth, and he wasn’t the type to spill any secrets. She decided that she would show him not just one thing, but everything. All of her visions. 

The dream potion took her a few days to make, as it took her a while to find fresh wisteria flowers to make the syrup with. She was going to make dessert out of the potion again, so turning the flower ingredient into syrup made it delicious and effective. She didn’t have to spend so much time and effort on making it, but she did.

She made a huge batch of the potion, only missing one ingredient. She baked the incomplete potion into an angel food cake. She drizzled the wisteria syrup over two slices, watching as it soaked into the cake, filling it with flavor and activating the potion. 

This way, the rest of the cake was safe for her family to eat, and only the ones with the syrup added would work as a potion. She would simply have to lie to her mother, saying she got into baking so she could make something every weekend, sneaking a slice away for Gene. 

Too embarrassed to ask Dante to give it to his brother, she decided to go to the mall to give it to Gene directly. She hated going to public places alone, but it’s not as if she had to stay there long. 

She walked into Hot Topic, the slice of cake in a small gift bag. She put ribbon on it, using scissors to twirl it, making it much cuter than it needed to be. Nervous, she walked around a bit first, looking at the items, avoiding going up to Gene at the register. 

Eventually, she couldn’t waste any more time and walked up to him. She placed a bottle of nail polish on the counter in front of her. She didn’t want to go up to him without buying anything, so she got something small. 

“Wasn’t expecting to see you today, Dove. Is this all you’re getting?” Gene asks as he scans the item. 

“Yes.” She hands him the money and grabs the nail polish back from him. She awkwardly stands around a moment, her face bright red, before placing the gift bag in front of him. “This is for you. No sharing. I’ll see you tonight.”

She turns and quickly leaves, her face red as she hears him chuckle behind her. He grabbed the bag and placed it in the back room with his stuff. She put a cute note on the inside saying :

That night, she savored the cake she had made, impressed with her cooking skills. She made a berry sauce to go over the cake, and it was perfect with the sweetness of the cake.

The dream potion cake wasn't the only surprise she had for Gene. While she was still waiting for her wisteria flowers to arrive, she found Dante standing in the hall, flirting with a girl. She gladly ruined his chance to hit on her and pulled him away to talk. 

“Hey! I was just about to get her number!” He shouts. 

“You were not, she gave me a thankful look as I dragged you away. You were going to get another black eye if anything.” 

He sighs. “Fine, maybe it wasn’t going as well as I hoped, but that doesn’t mean you had to ruin my chance!”

“How about this: you do me a favor, and I’ll make it up to you big time. I’ll set you up on a blind date.” 

“A blind date! Really? Is she hot?” 

“She’s a very cute meif’wa. She’s a little shy as she's a freshman, but she thought you were cute and asked me for advice on how to talk to you. So, I’ll set you two up on a date if you can do one thing for me and keep it a secret.” 

“Anything, what is it?” He says, clearly pumped up to go on a blind date with a cute girl. She gets a little red as she looks around to make sure no one is paying attention to them, and she steps closer and whispers. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.” He says. 

She pulls him down so she can say it directly in his ear. “Can you steal one of Gene’s flannels for me?” 

He smiles ear to ear as he stands back up and chuckles. “That’s what you want? I can do that. Without him knowing, right? Is this a surprise for him by any chance?” 

“Y-yes. It’s a surprise. Make sure you do it without him finding out. If you can do that, I’ll set up your date with Hina right away. She’s my friend’s little sister, so make sure you don’t hurt her.”

“I’ll be the perfect gentleman! You’ll have what you want by tomorrow. Meet me by my locker before homeroom, and I’ll give it to you.” He says as he turns to leave, but she grabs his arm and stops him. “Is there something else?” 

“Oh, um, well. Mmm.” She plays with her fingers nervously, her face bright red as she is embarrassed to ask. 

He leans down, putting his ear near her again. “Go ahead, you can tell me, gorgeous.” 

“Never mind! It’s not important!” She says, before quickly scurrying away, too embarrassed to say anything else. 

He shouts down the hall at her. “I’ll do it, don’t worry. I don’t know what you have planned, but I’m sure he’ll like it!” She didn’t look back as she was too embarrassed. Why did she want a flannel that smelled like him? It was completely unnecessary, yet for some reason, she wanted it. 

It didn’t matter, as Dante kept his word. Wisteria met him by his locker in the morning, and he handed her a bag with one of Gene’s flannels in it. She quickly took it and ran as Dante tried to tease her some more. 

She got ready for bed before she entered the dream world. Instead of wearing her normal pajamas, she put on Gene’s flannel, buttoning it enough to cover her but not all the way up. She had underwear underneath, but nothing else. She thought he would like the view of her in nothing but his shirt. 

She wasn’t going to do this every night, but figured she could still go with her original plan and wear it for the first dream. She lifted the fabric to her nose as she noticed it didn’t smell like laundry. It smelled like him; Dante must have stolen one he had already worn and not washed yet. 

How’d he know she wanted one that smelled like him? It smelled like his cologne. Cinnamon was the strongest scent, but it also had a sweet vanilla smell and a warm, smoky smell. It didn’t smell like cigarettes. 

She couldn’t help but wonder if he stopped smoking or if he wore it on a day he couldn’t smoke. He probably wore it to work and couldn’t smoke. Although maybe he was listening to her advice and was quitting. 

The more she thought about it, the last few times she saw him, he didn’t have the cigarette smell on him. He was carrying his cigarettes on one of the days he helped her, but some old smokers do that out of habit. 

She kept circling thoughts about him while looking at herself in the mirror and sniffing his shirt. Enjoying the warmth around her. It was too short for her to wear it out as a dress; it barely covered her butt.

It was perfectly baggy on her. She could cutely wear the sleeves around her fingertips. Maybe she should put some knee-high socks on. Guys liked that combo, she thought as she switched her socks. 

After she realized how long she had been staring at herself in the mirror, thinking of him, and sniffing the fabric, her face flushed, and she stopped herself. 

She was alone in her room, yet she felt so embarrassed. Maybe she shouldn’t have stolen one of his flannels. It’s not like he would get to see her in it for more than a few minutes before they entered her dream.  

She embarrassedly crawled into bed, pulling the covers over her head and squirming for a bit before trying to fall asleep. 

Chapter Text

When Wisteria opened her eyes, she was in the cloud-like dream dimension. She didn’t have to search or wait for Gene, as she saw him swirling his hand through the clouds, waiting for her. She walked closer to him before speaking. “Hey.” 

He turned around, multiple expressions flashing across his face. First was happiness as she arrived, then shock as he saw what she was wearing, and then all that was left was okeasure. She stared at her, savoring his gift. 

A smirk graced his lips, his dimples staring back at her. “Dove. Now this was a sweet treat I was not expecting.” He said as he stood, circling her, getting a good look at her from every angle. 

“W-well, I wanted to thank you for all of your help recently. I-I was originally just going to show you one thing, but s-since you saved me recently w-when I accidentally time-traveled, I decided that I would let you see everything.” She stuttered, embarrassed; his eyes were so focused on her. 

“See everything I have.” He says as he stops circling her, but doesn’t stop staring at her. “That may explain the dream, but it doesn’t explain why you are wearing my shirt. When did you steal this?”

“I, um, had Dante help me…” She played with the cuff of the sleeves, looking down, embarrassed. “I-I thought you would like the view as an extra thank you.” 

“Oh, I do. It’s a shame none of this is real. I’m not sure I would have been able to hold back seeing you like this otherwise.” He licks his lips, devouring the view. 

“W-well, as I said, I would stop avoiding showing you my dreams. From now on, once a week, we will meet like this and watch them in order.”

“Will you be wearing my clothes every time because I think that’s something I could get used to?” He says, still devouring the view of her while thinking about what clothes he would like to see her in next. 

“No. I’ll give you back your flannel later, so don’t expect to see me in it, or any of your other clothes again! Today, we will start from what I like to call episode one.”

“That’s a shame. I quite like your new outfit.” He sighs. “Wait. Episode one? One out of how many?” 

“Three hundred. It’s how the dreams are split and played each night. Not my choice how they are sectioned.” 

His eyes widen in surprise. “Wait, three hundred? Once a week, wouldn’t that take us five, no, almost six years to finish then?”

“Yep, so we'd better get started.” She giggles as she opens a portal to her dream world directly below their feet, causing them to fall into it. 

In one way, he would be happy to have an excuse to see her every week for the next six years. In another way, that was a long time to get through a story. He didn’t realize how much she saw in her dreams. 

It was only a moment later that they opened their eyes to the sight of Vylad stabbing a staff into the ground, and Aphmau soon appeared. Wisteria was wearing the goddess-like dress, and Gene was in the armor of his old village, where he would have been the head guard. 

They followed Aphmau through the village. It didn’t matter how closely they followed, as they couldn’t interact with anyone or be seen. They were forced to watch Aphmau as they couldn’t get past a certain radius of what her dreams wanted to show her.

At most, they could see more of the lifestyles of the people in the village as they lived their daily lives. Otherwise, it was as if they were in a game, forced to watch an unskippable cutscene instead of exploring the open-world map.

For the most part, the story followed Minecraft Diaries. Small changes were made, as Aphmau didn’t start off treating the world as a Let’s Play but started it as a roleplay series from the beginning. 

Wisteria could see Vylad at the very beginning summoning Aphmau, rather than just a memory later in the series. As well as the fact that the series had ended and was not left incomplete, as it was in her past life. 

After Vylad summoned Aphmau, she woke up, not even slightly confused about why she was in the forest, as she was just happy to exist. Soon, she followed a 'strange masked figure' to a local village. 

From there, the episode plays exactly as she could remember from the original series. She got started in the world. It was quite a boring beginning, but it was some of her favorite episodes, as she knew they were all filled with bliss and wonder, no heartbreak to be had. 

Even when Brenden would be shot, she knew he wouldn’t die. It was sad to see, but it wasn’t as stressful as many of the events that would come later in the series. Such as the ones she showed Gene about Dante’s backstory. 

As the main part of the episode came to an end, Wisteria and Gene talked for a bit as Aphmau was only collecting supplies before the next episode she would see. Wisteria liked to call these ‘off-camera’ moments.  It is the moments between episodes she could watch in her dreams, and not in the series.

It was normally the time when the view of the world widened a bit, and she could walk around the vicinity and see what the villagers were doing. It never showed anything important. She had tried in many dreams to find hidden easter eggs, but was so far unsuccessful. 

Well, not completely unsuccessful, just nothing important story-wise. It was still enjoyable to see how Donna and Logan fell for each other, or the spots Vylad likes to sit in to view the village from without getting caught. She could never see the Shadow Knight’s camp, no matter which dream she was in.

“So, this is what your dreams are like? It’s strange seeing Zenix so serious.” Gene says as he watches Zenix with a serious look on his face as he patrols the village. He wasn’t the normal, dorky hothead he knew.  

“Only the very beginning. These peaceful days are very few, especially once the main part of the story begins. And Zenix won’t look so serious for long, but I won’t spoil the surprise for you.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean? Aren’t I allowed any spoilers?”

“Absolutely not. I already ruined the surprise about Dante. You get to enjoy learning about my dream world; I won’t ruin the story for you.” She twirls away from him, teasingly making him wait each week for more of the story. 

He chuckles. “Well, I guess I can’t complain much when it means I get to see my goddess each week.” 

“Goddess?” She twirled to look at him, her eyes wide as she looked at him in shock.

"Dove for short." He winked. His face had a soft smile as the dream world began to fade. 

She woke up to see her ceiling. Her body may have rested, but her mind was tired, as the dream potion forces the conscious to stay awake. It was why she could only do it once a week, so they wouldn’t harm themselves from lack of proper rest.

“That bastard said that on purpose. He was trying to tease me!” She growled as she kicked her feet under her covers before shooting up to get changed into something else. She couldn’t risk getting caught wearing a boy’s shirt, so she changed into normal pajamas. She took one last deep inhale of his shirt before folding it and hiding it.

“Damn, sexy bastard, looking good in armor. I swear he somehow switched it on purpose, knowing he would look good in it and not put me on edge like the shadow knight armor did.” She grumbled before stomping downstairs for breakfast. 

Her mother was stretching in her workout clothes when she saw her daughter come down the stairs. “Mija, you’re up early for a weekend. Couldn’t sleep?”

“I slept fine, just woke up early and couldn’t go back to sleep. Figured I might as well get up and eat something.” She says as she pulls out a bowl to pour herself some cereal. 

“Alright, mija. I’m going to go on my morning jog with Zianna; I’ll be back in about an hour.” She says as she begins to head out the door. 

“K, Mom. Have fun. Tell Zianna I said hey.” 

“Will do, love ya, mija.” She says as she finally shuts the door behind her. 

Wisteria sat down and ate, scrolling on her phone as she passed the time. She didn’t have to go over to Cadenza’s house for another four hours. It was finally the day when she would go over and model for her. 

Cadenza was on a designer high lately. Wisteria was just the inspiration she needed to get started on a new line of clothes. It sounded like she would have a lot of clothes to try on, but she didn’t mind. Cadenza isn’t the first person to want to spend hours dressing her up like a doll, and wouldn’t be the last. 

Wisteria didn’t bother to dress nicely for once, as she knew she would be in and out of clothes all day. She wore a simple t-shirt and sweatpants, so it would be quick and easy to change out of. She made sure she wore a nice bra and panties underneath, as she didn’t want to be seen in granny panties. 

She brought the two pairs of nice shoes she owned and all of her jewelry. Cadenza asked her to bring her shoes since she couldn’t make those. The same for her jewelry, so they would have more options for accessories. 

Cadenza lived nearby, so it was a short walk for Wisteria. She knocked on the front door, and Laurence opened the door for her. His hair was pushed back with a headband, and his face was half-covered in makeup. 

“Princess? What are you doing here?” Laurence asked. 

“Laurence! Get back here right now! I was in the middle of applying your—Oh, Wisteria! You’re here right on time! I was just getting Laur ready for the photo shoot. Please come in!” Cadenza shouted with makeup brushes in her hands. 

“Wait, you invited Wiz? You didn't!” He gasps. “Behind my back? Is this why you've been making so many dresses lately? I thought you said you didn’t even have her measurements yet!”

“Teehee, I lied. It’s what you get for hiding her from me. Now, don’t leave her standing outside. Let her in!” Cadenza says, pushing her brother to the side and letting Wisteria walk into the house. 

Cadenza guides her to her room, which is an organized mess. Dresses and fabric were everywhere. There was some sort of organization going on, but it was difficult to tell what kind. There was so little room left to walk around the room. 

“Please feel free to find a spot to sit on the bed. You can move some of the outfits to make room while I finish Laur’s makeup.” She says as she forces Laurence back into his chair at the makeup table. 

“I didn’t realize you would be doing makeup on Laurence as well,” Wisteria says as she carefully moves one of the dresses so she can sit on the bed. 

“I have to. It isn’t much, but the light can drown out the face, and I want you two to look perfect in my outfits! I do plan on becoming a famous fashion designer with my own brand after all; I can’t be half-assing things from the beginning.”

She laughs. “No, I suppose you are right. You made quite a lot of outfits. Are these all the ones we will be trying on today?” 

“Yes! You have twelve outfits to try on. Not all of the outfits I made for you will be posed together, as Laur only has three outfits to wear today. Today, you will be my main model!” 

“Twelve outfits? I didn’t realize you could make so many so quickly. That’s impressive, but you’ve never even seen me model before. How will you know you won’t regret all this time making them for me?” 

“I can just tell you will be perfect for this! You have the body, the face, and the energy! You are exactly what I need to kick-start my career. I’m already a senior, and I have to finish putting together my portfolio so I can get into a good fashion design school!”

“Well, I hope I can meet your expectations.” 

“I know you will. Done! How does he look?” She says as she turns Laurence to look at her. 

He didn’t look much different, as the makeup was meant to be a natural look, but she did a good job defining his best features. “Very handsome. You did a wonderful job defining his features. Did you also accentuate his freckle?” 

“I did! I’m so glad you noticed! Laur always says it’s ridiculous how I cover his face in crap and cover his freckle just to add a fake one. But I have to make sure his face is even and not glossy or the camera will make him look shiny!”

“You do cover my face in crap! I look fine in the photos without any makeup.” He says. 

“Yeah, but you look much better with it. You said you would help my dream come true, so no complaining!” He grumbles as he stands up and switches spots with Wisteria so she can get her makeup done. 

“Honestly, I kinda like seeing him with his hair pushed back like that. It’s surprisingly cute. He looks like one of those pretty boys studying in an anime.” Wisteria says as she sits in front of Cadenza. 

“H-huh? I look cute like this?” He says, messing with the headband in his hair. His face flushed from her unexpected compliment. 

“You two, stop flirting. I have to focus on her makeup.” Cadenza says as she shifts Wisteria’s face so she can begin working on her makeup. 

Wisteria softly chuckles but stays quiet. She wasn’t trying to flirt; she just said what came to her mind. She couldn’t see what Cadenza was doing, but she could tell she was doing more makeup on her face than on her brother's. 

Laurence watched as Cadenza worked. He’s seen Wisteria with makeup before, but it was always light. She never put foundation or a lot of eyeshadow on. It was strange seeing her with a full face of makeup, but she looked beautiful. 

Since she had so much to try on in one day and Cadenza was slow at makeup, she stuck to a look that would work with all the outfits rather than a bold color. She stuck to a more natural palette with some golden shimmer in it. 

It took a while, but she was finally finished. Cadenza finished styling her hair and doing her makeup, and it was time to start with the first outfit. She figured they could start with the couple outfits since they both were ready. Afterwards, she could move on to solo modeling. 

They went into the backyard to take photos. Cadenza had a tripod and a camera to shoot all the photos on. It wasn’t the ideal setup, but it worked well for a broke high schooler. 

“Okay, now you two pose next to the tree together,” Cadenza says as she sets up her camera to make sure it is angled and set up properly. 

Wisteria and Laurence weren’t awkward as they stepped close together, one of his arms wrapped around her shoulder as she wrapped one around his waist. Posing as you would for a normal photo with friends. 

“No, no, no! Not like that. Like a couple! Give me more than that!” She shouts. 

“Cadenza, you have to tell us what you want. You told us to pose, so we posed.” Laurence says. 

“We need to showcase the outfits, give them a story! Give them life! That’s lifeless. You two are in a relationship; give me love!” She says passionately. 

Laurence looks confused as he continues to argue with his sister. Wisteria thinks for a moment before she acts, forcing Laurence to shut up. She grabs his hands, placing them on her hips before moving her arms around his neck. She puts her face close to his, staring at him, unmoving. 

“Perfect! Don’t move!” Cadenza shouts as she happily snaps photos. 

Laurence’s face was heating up. For once, he was glad to have his face covered in makeup so she couldn’t see how red he was getting. He never held her for so long, just gazing into her eyes. Did they always glisten like that?

He thought her eyes were kind of dull, as they lacked much color, but now that he was forced to look at her up close for so long, he could see the color. It looked like labradorite, with flecks of blue sprinkled throughout her eyes. 

Even when they pulled away, he was forced to hold her over and over again as they switched poses. Only to switch outfits, repeating many of the poses. Not all of the poses were romantic. Some were more relaxed, but others were quite close as she would cup his cheek, pulling his face to look at her as she pretended to kiss him for the photo. 

He didn't like that she was pretending to kiss him and purposely pulled her in for a real kiss. It looked good in the photos, but it caused Cadenza to yell at him for ruining their makeup. Causing her to fix their lips as Wisteria's lipstick smeared onto his.

They eventually brought out a chair so one of them could sit while the other stood beside them. For one of the outfits, Laurence sat in the chair while Wisteria sat sideways in his lap. She kept quiet when she felt him become erect as he pressed against her thigh.

It didn’t matter if their faces were obscured, so Wisteria took advantage of it when she could, purposely posing in ways that would have Laurence block her face. She didn’t mind modeling, but she was feeling a little embarrassed from all of Cadenza’s compliments. 

She knew they were directed towards both of them, but she couldn’t help feeling like they were more directed towards her as she kept picking on her brother for his mistakes. 

When it was finally time for Wisteria to model the rest of her outfits alone, she was nervous. She didn’t have Laurence to use as a prop anymore. With a shaky breath, she came out in the next outfit. 

“Laur, you are drooling.” Cadenza laughed as her brother wiped his mouth and looked away.

He wasn’t drooling, but his jaw did drop when Wisteria walked out of the house in the new outfit. It was breathtaking the way the fabric hugged her body just right. Showcasing skin, but not too much skin. He could see all the hickies he and Garroth put on her were gone; he couldn't help but want to replace them.

Wisteria was nervous at first as she wasn’t sure how to pose correctly, but as time went on, she became more and more relaxed. She found what worked for her, but not just that, she found what worked best with each outfit. 

For the more feminine, cute outfits, she posed more princess-like and softer. For the more masculine outfits, she posed more confidently, more badass. She could switch from sitting gracefully in the grass to sexily leaning back in the chair. She even used the tree as her prop, leaning against it and posing in different ways. 

Cadenza was right; she had found the model that displayed her outfits perfectly. She was a natural and would only get better with time. She had no experience or proper training, but she came up with poses even Cadenza didn’t think of after all her research into modeling poses. 

By the end of the photo shoot, Cadenza had over a thousand photos to go through. She would have to pick her favorites, do some basic corrections, and then post them on her Instagram. 

She had about a thousand followers since she started making outfits in middle school. Most of the following came within the last year as she began to take her art to the next level, posting her outfits more consistently and improving the quality of the posts.   

The next week, when she finally began to post the first few outfits, she shot up to five thousand followers. She was becoming a local celebrity at school. Almost everyone was following her at school once one of the werewolves spread news of their alpha modeling. Cadenza was finally getting some of the recognition her work deserved, and it only inspired her to create more. 

To Wisteria’s regret, coming in that Monday after Cadenza had the first of the posts up for only two days, she was surrounded. Everyone was asking her questions and complimenting her. 

She thought that at most her sister and a few friends might see it, as she knew they followed Cadenza. She wasn’t expecting the whole school to see it. She never knew she would get this much attention. 

Garroth jokingly pouted, saying how they could do couple poses without him. Wisteria and Laurence teased him, knowing he was messing with them. He knew Cadenza purposely didn't invite him and stole their phones so they couldn't ask him to join. She really didn't like her brother having to share his girlfriend; she just wanted him to be happy.

It was a lot of attention, but at least it died down quickly. She could hear people talk in the halls every time Cadenza added a new post to her page, but people stopped coming up to her after the initial hype died down. 

Chapter Text

Wisteria was at her locker when Vylad came up behind her. “Wisty,” He called for her in a sing-song voice. 

She slowly turned around, seeing him with an innocent smile on his face. He may be looking innocent, but she could tell his intentions were much darker. “Hey, Vivi. How’s it going?”

“Oh, you know, same as usual. My dear big brother, Zane, decided to be nice and to buy me all new underwear, throwing away all my old pairs. He has an interesting taste for what he thinks I could pull off.” He says, pulling up the band of the underwear to reveal a pretty pink pair of panties, not his normal underwear style. 

“Oh… Ha, yeah, that is definitely… something.” She awkwardly laughs as he pushes his underwear back down so it can’t be seen. "Wait… does he know your secret?"

"No, this was just him being a jerk. You said you would give me Gene’s number. I don’t fault you for my lovely brother dragging you away before you could give it to me, and then things got a little hectic, but I think now would be a good time to get it.” 

“Ah, yeah. I’ll give that to you now.” She says as she takes his phone from him and inputs Gene’s number. “I’ll text him and let him know I sent you to him.” 

“Thank you,” He says, an innocent smile on his face, although she knew the truth about what lay beyond that soft exterior. He walked off without another word. As soon as he was out of view, she texted Gene.

Dove🕊️

Sorry in advance

Punk😈

What do you mean SORRY???

Dove🕊️

You know Zane has two brothers

An older and younger one

I gave his younger brother Vylad your number

He's on a warpath and needs help brainstorming ways to get back at Zane

Plus he wants to join the Shadow Knights

Punk😈

Dove

Dove🕊️

😁

Punk😈

DOVE

Dove🕊️

😁😁😁

Punk😈

Why me?

Can't Zenix and Sasha handle him if he wants to join

Dove🕊️

Cause they're dumb

You know they’ll end up getting in trouble if they plan something without you

He wants revenege

To get what he wants he needs your help

I brought you a new member willing to go after Zane and his Jury for you

You're welcome

Punk😈

Fine

But you owe me coffee cake

Dove🕊️

Deal

Wisteria sighed, glad that Gene would help him. It was terrifying one way, but in another, she knew it was for the better. If Vylad had to do this alone, things would be worse. 

Gene was an evil genius, meaning Vylad did not have to wait very long to start getting revenge on Zane—not just dragging him down but attempting to drag the Jury down with him. 

Sometimes, Wisteria heard from Garroth about what would happen at home; other times, she would get chances to witness it in person at school. Vylad and Zane had officially swung into a full-on prank war. 

It was chaotic. Vylad didn’t hold back, and somehow that only spread more rumors about how ruthless The Jury was, to Vylad’s annoyance. No one believed Vylad was doing any of it, as he was too nice and calm. 

He may have looked calm on the outside, but he was calculating. Planning each thing meticulously, down to the tiniest detail. He didn’t let anyone catch him in the act of his revenge. 

Well, that was until he miscalculated something. Wisteria’s change in schedule meant she had another class with Zane. Not only that, she was forced to work on a paired assignment with him. 

Zane and Wisteria used their free period to work on their assignment together. Unlike the Shadow Knights, who often ditch classes and only do enough work to pass, Zane and his Jury excelled. He made sure to be there for every class and to ace all his assignments to keep up his image. 

He ruled the Jury in a fundamentally different way than the Shadow Knights. On the outside, his gang seemed better than Gene’s, but they would be considered worse than the Shadow Knights for the amount of bullying of students they would do. 

“Alright, we’re done,” Wisteria says, stretching in her chair before packing up her belongings. 

“Why so quick to leave? Why not relax until the period is over?” Zane asks. His chin in his hand, elbow propped up on the desk to hold his head up. 

“I don’t hate you, but I also don’t need to be spending any extra time with you. I’m busy, and the little bit of free time I have is better spent elsewhere.” She says, getting up and walking out of the library.

As soon as she opened the door, a pail of ice-cold water came splashing down on her, drenching her. She screeched as she shook, freezing in her spot. She looked forward to seeing the Shadow Knights watching from down the hall.

“Zenix! I thought you said Zane was the only one in the library!” Sasha shouts, smacking him on the back of his head. 

“He was! I only saw him when I went in and checked!” Zenix responded as he rubbed his head where she had smacked him.

Vylad sighs. “I should have known better than to trust you and checked myself.” 

“VYLAD!” Wisteria shouts as she glares at him and tries to stomp over to him, but gets stopped by the weight on her shoulders. 

Zane was now standing behind her, his school blazer off as it was placed around her shoulders. “Now, little brother, that wasn’t very nice of you. You seem to have missed your target and made her uniform see-through.” 

She looks down to notice her black bra was noticeable through the semi-translucent shirt that was hiding it before. She tugs his blazer around her tighter, trying to hide her embarrassment as well as gain what warmth it could bring her. 

“If you knew it was meant for you already, why don’t we reload the bucket and splash the correct person?” He says with a smile on his face.  

“As fun as that may be, you have to clean up your mess while I help Wisteria find some warmth, as you so rudely froze her to the core.” He says, wrapping his arms around her shoulder and pulling her shivering frame with him as he walks away. 

“ZANE!” He growls but can’t disagree as he and the Shadow Knights flee the scene before they get in trouble for the flooded hallway. 

Wisteria shifted her shoulders, forcing Zane’s arms off of her. “Thanks for the blazer, but I’m going to get changed into my P.E. uniform, then you can have it back.” 

“Why so cold? I’m not the one who poured water on you.” 

“Yes, but you are the reason Vylad joined the Shadow Knights in the first place, hence why I got water poured on me. I don’t understand why you can’t just accept him. He loves you.” 

He laughs. “Oh, I have accepted him. If anything, I like him so much more now. He’s almost fun to be around without him preaching all that stuff about staying calm and inner peace; he’s almost bearable. Now, if only Garroth would open up a bit more as well.” 

“Open up? More like freak out. You really have a knack for bringing the worst out of people.” 

He laughs harder. “Why, thank you. I didn’t realize you recognized my talents.” 

She rolls her eyes and speed-walks away from him. She wanted to get out of her wet clothes, but she also couldn’t stand another moment next to him. He wasn’t even sweet to her anymore; where did she go wrong?

She got to her gym locker and was able to change without a problem. She was happy to get out of her wet uniform, although she was still cold and her hair was still wet. 

She was glad she kept a grocery plastic bag in her gym locker for when she would take her P.E. clothes home to wash each week. She put her wet uniform into the plastic bag after wringing out the extra water into the bathroom sink. At least her bag wouldn’t get wet from her clothes. 

She also put her head under the hand dryers in the bathroom to try and dry her hair out a bit. It wasn’t ideal, but at least it stopped her hair from dripping, as she didn’t have a towel to dry it.

She never said she would give his blazer back immediately, and she still had time before her next class. She decided to sit on the bench, wearing his blazer for a bit of extra warmth until she had to go to her next class. 

She hated to admit it, but he smelled good. What high school boy wore cologne to school? Zianna’s boys did. They may not use expensive high-end stuff, but they weren’t using the normal Axe body spray most teen boys use. 

His cologne was some sort of wood; she couldn’t put her finger on what kind. It was also sweeter than what most guys wear. It had a sweeter, fruity, or vanilla scent to it. No, it almost reminded her of s'mores. A sweet, yet warm, woody smell.

She was spending too much time with the werewolves if she was this obsessed with how guys smelled. Her sense of smell may be back to a human level now that she wasn’t a werewolf anymore, but it was enough to smell cologne with ease. 

Realizing she is yet again spending way too much time sniffing a boy's clothes to absorb his scent, she stopped herself. After one last good sniff. 

She takes his blazer off and walks out of the locker room. Luckily, she knew how to break into lockers, so she made her way to Zane’s locker. She only had about five minutes until class ended, but she only needed one.

She checked around her to make sure no one was around. She snapped her fingers, her werewolf ears and tail popping out so she could place her ear against the door of the locker to listen to the clicks as she turned the combination lock. 

Not long after, it opened. She placed his blazer inside it before closing it again. Snapping her fingers again, the ears and tail poofed away. She double-checks her surroundings to make sure no one is nearby before walking towards her next class. She never noticed the silver eyes that watched her.

Zane would have fun trying to figure out how she put his blazer in his locker without his combination. No one saw how she did it, and there was no damage to his locker to suggest how she would break in. 

This gave Zane another reason to bother her, as he had been acting up again. He avoided her after what happened with the love potion, not wanting to hurt her anymore. Yet when she healed his eye, he knew she cared for him no matter what she said. He got cocky, staying by her side even when he knew he was annoying her. 

In a way, he kind of liked the new her. It was a little tsundere of her to say loving him was a mistake when she went out of her way to help him. He couldn’t help but want to get closer to her again. He had no clue that part of the reason she wanted to avoid him was because she slept with his brother and felt weird looking at him afterwards.

He started bothering her more often in class. Purposely sitting next to her in class or picking fights with her in P.E.. He didn’t mind how he got her attention, as long as it was on him. 

She would avoid him except for when she had class with him. She wouldn’t risk her grade to ignore him. Forcing her to be stuck on assignments with him or purposely setting off her competitive side in P.E..

He was acting like a kindergartner picking on a girl because he liked her. He was no better than Aaron when he was teasing Aphmau last year because he liked her and didn’t know how to tell her. 

Eventually, the prank war calmed down as Vylad calmed his fury after Wisteria told him what Zane said about him liking him. They still pulled some pranks on each other, but Vylad quit the Shadow Knights, no longer needing them for his brotherly vengeance. 

His revenge was over; now it was truly just brotherly love between them. Even if Zane wouldn’t admit it.

The new problem was that Zane felt cooped up after not having the prank war going. He needed something else to destroy his boredom, and he had already scared all the students away from joining the Shadow Knights. 

He needed something to keep himself entertained while boosting The Jury’s reputation. It also wouldn’t hurt if he could get Wisteria’s attention outside of the classroom. 

The answer? Werewolves. 

The Jury started to target the werewolves. It started small, with simple things like moving their Frisbees or stealing their lunch money. Eventually, it grew much larger as he realized they couldn’t fight back since they were human. 

Blaze and two other werewolves were standing off against Zane and two of his lackeys. “You’ve been causing trouble for the werewolves lately. Stop it.” Blaze growls.

“Have I? Because to me, it seems as if you all have been getting in my way,” Zane says. 

“How are we getting in your way? You have gone out of your way to bully the werewolf students. You stole our frisbees, you’ve spread rumors to start fights between the werewolf students, and now you are purposely bumping into them!” 

“My, I don’t know what you are talking about. They bumped into me. My friends and I were simply trying to give them a lesson on manners, as they never apologize.” 

“Manners? If you had any, you would know not to mess with us.” He growls, balling his fists as he tries to hold back on punching him. 

“You look as if you want to hit me, but that can’t be right. You would get in trouble for beating a human student, mutt.”

“That’s it!” He shouts as he steps forward and swings at him. 

Wisteria runs up at the perfect time. She wraps herself around Blaze’s arm, pulling it back with all her might, stopping him right before landing. “STOP!” 

“Wisteria.” He says softly, relaxing slightly, although his anger is still apparent. 

“Tell me what's going on.” 

“One of your mutts simply bumped into me, and all I asked for was an apology. Instead, they called their alpha and started ganging up on us. As you can see, he even tried to punch me.” Zane says. 

“That’s not true, Alpha! He bumped into me and then threatened me when I didn’t apologize. Blaze saw and tried to defend me!” One of the werewolf students says. 

“I see. Zane, you should apologize. You’re the one in the wrong.” 

He laughs. “You are trusting them over me?” His face gets serious. “You should learn to control your mutts before you expect someone to forgive them for causing trouble.” 

“Mutts? You—” Blaze shouts, but Wisteria puts her arm in front of his chest, stopping him once again. 

She had a soft smile on her face as she stared at Zane. “You know what, you’re right.” 

Zane's eyes widen for a second in surprise before he laughs. “I knew you would agree with me eventually.” The werewolves look at her with hurt in their eyes, but their expression quickly changes after what she does next. 

“You’re right. I should have better control over my bitch. It’s been quite a while since I taught my bitch any manners, so let’s go on a walk.” She says, stepping forward and grabbing Zane’s tie before walking away, pulling him by it.

“W-what? Hey, wait! What do you think you're doing? I’m not one of your mutts!” He shouts as the werewolves laugh behind him. 

She stops for a moment, turning to look at him, stepping up to be only inches from him. She slides her hand up, grabbing him by the base of his tie, pulling him down so his face is level with hers. Her breath fanned across his face.

“Misbehave and you’ll be punished. If you behave yourself, you might just get a treat.” She winks at him. “Let's go, bitch.” She says before tugging him again to follow her. 

The werewolves' laughter gets louder as Zane nearly falls trying to keep up with her now that she has him by the base of his tie, not leaving him much leeway to escape or pull away. 

His lackeys attempt to scurry after him to help him, but Blaze handles them. He grabs them both by their shoulders, telling them, “Not so fast. Your boss is going on a walk with his master like the good bitch he is.” 

Once Wisteria finds a secluded spot, she finally lets go of Zane, slightly shoving him back as she does. He takes a moment to stabilize himself and catch his breath after being paraded around school for the last few minutes. “How dare you treat me like that! Like, like one of your dogs!” 

“First, never call them mutts or dogs again. They are my pups, and you will give them the respect they deserve. Second, I treat my pups much better than I treated you just now. And third, I simply did as you asked. I disciplined the troublemaker.” She says, looking up at him without a single hint of fear. 

He steps forward, towering over her. “You think I will let you get away with humiliating me like that?”  

“Yes. Because if you don’t, it will happen again. People are a lot more scared of me than they are of you.”

He laughs. “Scared. Of you? As if. You may have a lot of the students' respect, but they aren’t scared of you. They would listen to me over you.” 

A sly smile crosses her face as she backs him up against the lockers. She puts one hand on the locker beside his head, the other gently cups his chin, forcing him to look at her. 

“You don’t even listen to yourself over me. What makes you think anyone else would?” 

His face burned as the blood rushed to it. He tried to move his face to the side, but her hand held it in place. “Y-you devil! You fiend, d-demon, monster! Y-you’re Lucifer himself! No… you’re worse than Lucifer! You’re Abaddon!”

She smirks. “My, I didn’t realize you saw me so highly. Not some lowly demon, but you compare me to Lucifer, the fallen angel who defied a god, and Abaddon, the angel of the nether. You flatter me.” 

He stutters, looking at her, stunned that she took his insults as compliments. Before he can form a sentence, she speaks again.

“You know, I did say if you behaved, you would get a treat. You barely put up a fight when I paraded you around school, and now you are calling me an angel. Hmm, now how should I reward you?” 

His eyes widen as she takes her hand off his chin, thinking for a moment. She didn’t plan this far ahead, but if he was going to act like a dog, she would treat him like one. 

She wanted to avoid him after she had sex with his brother, but he made it impossible. If she couldn't avoid him, she would just have to deal with him instead. It's not as if she had to tell him who she had sex with, as it was none of his business. It's not as if they ever dated or would become anything more.

 She remembered when he tried to blackmail Garroth into leaving her, but got distracted by the love potion. “Aha, I know exactly what to do. I’ve been meaning to do it for a while anyway. Now behave yourself unless you wish to be embarrassed further.” She says before walking away.

He yells after her. “Wait, what are you planning to do?”

She stops, turning back to look at him with a sweet smile on her face. “To break up with your brother.” She says before turning back and walking away.

He was left stunned, his face burning at the thought of her leaving his brother for him. He knew it wasn’t that simple, but he couldn’t help but imagine that he was a step closer to winning her over—to gaining her true forgiveness. To gaining her heart.

Chapter Text

The end-of-day bell rings as everyone rushes into the halls, heading to their lockers to grab their things before heading home. Instead of heading to her locker, Wisteria waited by Garroth and Laurence’s lockers. 

It isn’t long before the boys walk up to her. “Princess, I thought we were going to meet out front of the school to walk home today,” Laurence says as he opens his locker. 

“That was the plan, but I’m afraid I can’t wait any longer. I was going to wait until the school year was over, but I don’t think I can continue this any longer.” 

“Huh? What do you mean, Princess?” Garroth asks as he closes his locker, looking at her, confused. 

“This charade has gone on long enough. I'm not the one you hold in your hearts. I think it's time we stop pretending this relationship is better than it is. We should break up.” 

“W-wait, what? What do you mean you want to break up? I thought we were doing good together.” Laurence asks as he grabs her shoulders. He couldn't believe she was saying this; it was out of nowhere.

She raises one of her hands and gently caresses one of his hands. “I don’t regret our time together; I quite enjoyed the experience. I’ve never dated before, and you boys treated me well and made me quite happy, but I think this has to end. 

“I think it’s time you two stop pretending I’m the one you want to look at like that. Like I’m the one you want to kiss or hold in your arms. I’ve taken advantage of your affections long enough because I wanted to enjoy it; I wanted to experience love like others, but it’s time to stop.

“I would still like to keep you boys in my life, but I understand it may be difficult for us to be friends again. I will give you the time and space you need, so if you ever decide you wish to be friends with me again, you know where to find me. Otherwise, this is goodbye.” 

She lets go of his hand as she turns to try and walk away from the boys. Both of them grab one of her arms, stopping her in her tracks. “Wait, Princess, we can talk about this. We don’t have to end things here.” 

She smiles softly as she steps towards them. She gently pulls her arms out of their grasp. She first grabs Laurence’s cheeks as she goes on her tiptoes and kisses his forehead. Before letting him go and repeating the same thing to Garroth. 

“There is nothing to talk about. You know it’s the truth. We aren’t meant to be together; we simply didn’t want to end things. We didn’t want to lose what we had, but I don’t think we ever truly had it in the first place.” 

Garroth attempts to stutter out a response as Laurence’s mouth hangs open, as he didn't know what to say. She smiles at them one last time before she turns away, walking away from them. 

Their faces were full of surprise; they weren’t expecting this from her. The original plan was to only stay together for a month and then break up, but they keep pushing it off. They have been together for roughly five months.

Their fake relationship may have originally been to keep the fangirls off their backs, but at some point, it turned into something more. When did they stop searching for Aphmau and start looking for Wisteria?

Was it when they first kissed her? No, maybe when they realized how much she had done for them, or when they realized how much they wanted to protect her? No, it had to be even sooner. They just never realized it because they were too focused on her sister. They were too focused on their personal problems to notice her. 

It was true that their relationship was fake, but they didn’t want it to end. They were planning to make the relationship real by asking her out that day after school when the potion exploded and she disappeared.

They were too nervous to ask her after she came back, so they continued pushing off asking her out. What if they lost her again? Would they be able to handle it? She was something indescribable that they didn’t want to lose.

“We screwed up,” Garroth says, his head in his hands. 

“We fell for her,” Laurence says, still staring down the hallway that Wisteria walked down. Her visage is long gone. “We fucking fell for her and she doesn't even know.”

He looked up at him with wide eyes. He wanted to deny it, but the pain he felt in his chest couldn’t be denied. “And we were cowards who couldn't make her notice. She left us because she thought everything we did was an act.” He sighs. 

The way she broke up with them was impressive. She didn’t have to come up with a lie for why she left them. She told the truth, yet didn’t reveal the fact that the relationship was fake. 

At least that's what she thought was the truth. She was clueless that their affections were no longer an act. She assumed they were still holding on to their affections for Aphmau, as that was what they did during all of Mystreet. 

It may have been over two decades since she’s seen a single episode of Mystreet, but she would never forget that Laurence and Garroth loved her. How they moved just to be closer to her, to follow her.

Wisteria was oddly insecure. She knew Aphmau would have the fairy tale love that people can only dream of. She was fated to be with Aaron in every lifetime and guaranteed to have dozens of hearts fall for her.

She wouldn’t pick up on Garroth and Laurence's feelings when she assumed it was all an act. She didn’t think it was possible to be loved when she came from another dimension. She had no fated love, no soulmate, no twin flame. 

She flopped on her bed when she got home. She didn’t even bother to change into pajamas as she curled up under the covers and took a nap. She was exhausted; it felt as if a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. 

She thought about breaking up with them before, but she could never bring herself to do it. Every time she was going to do it, they would do something sweet. They would hug her, kiss her, give her chocolate, etc. 

She wanted to enjoy the affection and the intimacy for even just one more day. She knew she shouldn’t have, that it wasn’t meant to be hers, but she couldn’t help but be greedy. 

She couldn’t help but cry as she drifted off to sleep. She truly did enjoy their time together. She would miss their warmth, the kisses, the love, the affection, and the things you only get when you are in a romantic relationship. Not because it was from them, but because she craved intimacy. 

She knew she did the right thing. They were going to leave her eventually; it was better to end it before anyone got hurt. Before they fell for someone else and broke up with her so they could chase them. She couldn’t help but grieve what she lost. 

Even her dreams mocked her. Showing the scene in season one where Laurence and Garroth walk in and see the illusion Malachi makes of Dante kissing Aphmau. Forced to watch as they reacted, forced to see how they loved her sister. 

She didn’t love them, but it was still salt in the wound. 

A few hours later, she woke up to Aphmau hopping onto her bed and laying her head on her lap.“Wisty, you’re free tomorrow. Right?” Aphmau asks.

“I am. What cha need?” She rubs her eyes before petting her sister’s head. 

“Will you come to the arcade and watch a movie with me and a couple of others?”

“Sounds like fun, but why do you seem nervous to ask?” 

She speaks meekly. “Because I’m trying to set Kai up with his crush.”

She stops petting her sister’s head for a second before continuing. “I see. You really are trying to make him happy.” 

“Yeah, I am.” 

“Then I’ll help you get them together. Who’s the lucky girl, and are we double-dating this?” 

“No, it’s not a double date. There will be five of us there. Me, you, Ein, Kai, and,” She stops for a moment. “Katelyn.” 

“I see. Should I invite someone else to even the numbers, or do you think five is good?” 

“Do you think an even number would be better? This isn’t a date, just a way to introduce them. Kai has been too nervous to talk to her all year, so this will force him to talk to her.” 

“Hmm, well, an even number isn’t needed. We can easily keep Ein away from them. I just wasn’t sure if the extra person would be a nice distraction for you.” 

“I’ll be ok; I want to help him be happy.” She starts to tear up. “A-although maybe one more person would be nice. W-we can be balanced then.” 

She smiles softly at her sister, wiping her tears for her. “I’ll invite someone then, and if things get too hard, I’ll take care of them for you. You can just focus on having fun and distract yourself.” 

She hugs her. “Thanks, you’re the best.” 

“I know I am.” She jokes, making her laugh. 

The next morning rolls around, Wisteria sleeps in as she normally does on weekends. She wakes up to Aphmau screaming in the bathroom. She thuds out of her bed, her legs wrapped in her sheets, and she crawls to the bathroom as quickly as she can. 

“Thanks, Ein!” Aphmau says to her phone as Wisteria bursts through the bathroom door, flopping on the floor still tangled in her blankets. 

“What’s wrong! Oh… Hahaha.” She bursts out laughing, seeing Aphmau’s green streak of hair. 

“Don’t laugh! I know it’s bad!” She whines. 

Trying to calm down her laughter, she takes a deep breath, holding in her laughter. “Ok, I… whew, ok. I can fix this. I don’t know how you did this, but we can fix it.” 

“How! You’ve never dyed hair before!” 

“Uhh, just trust me. What are big sisters for?” She couldn’t come up with a good lie about how she knows how to dye hair. She can’t say she used to dye her and her mother’s hair in her past life. 

“No, it’s ok. I’ll wait for Ein to get here. I asked for his help.”

She finally tries to untangle her legs from her blanket. “Ein’s help? That was smart, but you probably should have called him or asked me for help before you messed up your hair.”

“Ugh! I know that now!” 

“Good. You can get the door when he gets here.” 

“Why do I have to get it?” She whines. 

“Cause you wanted to dye your hair all by yourself and not ask for my help. I’m going to enjoy tormenting you for the little time you have green hair.” She snaps a photo of Aphmau before running away. 

“Delete that right now!” She chases after her. 

They laugh and mess around a bit as they wait for Ein to show up. Once he does, she forces Aphmau to get the door as she sits on the stairs to watch. 

“Uh? Ok? Hey, Wisteria. Um, Aphmau? What are you doing behind the door?” Ein asks as he steps into the house. 

“How’d you know I was here?” Aphmau asks nervously. 

“I can smell the horrible dye smell coming from your hair. Kind of hard to miss.” 

“Come on, Aph, he’s going to see it eventually if you want him to help you,” Wisteria says from the stairs. 

Aphmau groans but steps out from behind the door. Ein chuckles, finding it funny how she messed up so badly. “This was your first time doing it on your own, wasn’t it?” 

“Don’t laugh! I-I didn’t want to wake Wisteria, so I did it on my own.” Aphmau complains. 

“It’s ok, it’s cute. I can help you dye your hair before we go out with Katelyn and Kai tonight. What color were you going for?”

“Light blue.” She says, embarrassed. 

“Wow, really? That would look great on you.” He pretends to like the idea, not caring what she did with her hair.

“I know; it would be much cuter than the green.” Wisteria chimes in, teasing her sister. 

“Hey! It wasn’t supposed to be green!” Aphmau growls. 

“How about we get started? Show me where you have your dye set up.” Ein says. 

Aphmau and Wisteria lead him upstairs to the bathroom. Ein instantly starts helping Aphmau fix her hair as she complains. Wisteria laughs as she sits on the edge of the tub watching. 

“Now, all you have to do is rinse it in twenty minutes, and it should be done.” He says, stepping back. 

“Really? It will actually be blue this time, right?” Aphmau asks nervously. 

“Of course it will, Aph, just look at it. It’s already turning blue, but you need to let it sit so your hair soaks in all the dye.” Wisteria says. 

“Thank you so much! I can’t wait to see it once it’s all washed out and dried!” She squeals. 

“Now that Aph's done, I think it's my turn.” She says, pulling out the bottle of red hair dye she bought at the mall with Ein. 

“You’re dyeing your hair too?” 

“Why not? I bought the hair dye already. I've been pushing it off for a while, but if you're going to risk getting in trouble for it, I might as well join you. You don’t mind doing mine too, do you, Ein?”

He blushes slightly. “I’ll gladly help you dye your hair. Are you also doing a streak?” 

She smirks. “No, my whole head. We are making it all red, but before we dye it, we need to cut it.” She says, holding up scissors, snipping the air.

“Mom’s going to kill you!” Aphmau gasps. "Cutting your hair is even worse than dying it! You know how much she loves your long hair!"

“One, it will still be long, just not Rapenzal long. Two, you act as if she wasn’t going to kill you. At least we’ll dye together.” She laughs at her bad pun as Aphmau groans at it. Aphmau normally loved puns, but for some reason, when Wisteria made them, it ruined them. It was like bad dad jokes; you can’t appreciate them when your dad makes them. 

Their mother didn't want them to dye or cut their hair short. She thought long, natural hair was beautiful and should be how they kept their hair. Wisteria's hair was down to her butt, and she cut roughly two feet of hair off so it would be at her shoulders. With her hair shorter, they now had enough hair dye to dye her full head.

Ein begins to dye her hair. They didn’t have to use bleach, as her hair was light enough to put dye directly on it. Unlike Aphmau, who was whining the whole time that he was being too rough and that it stung, Wisteria sat nicely, enjoying his fingers scratching her scalp. 

She didn’t have her tail and ears anymore, but he could tell she was enjoying it. He still wasn’t used to seeing her as human; it was strange, wrong. There had to be a way to turn her into a werewolf and make it permanent, unlike a potion. 

After Aphmau and Wisteria finished dyeing their hair, they helped each other blow-dry it so they could see the final results sooner. 

“Ein… it’s… perfect! Thank you!” Aphmau says, looking in the mirror at her blue streak. 

“Yeah, thanks, Ein. You did a great job. Maybe you should become a professional.” Wisteria says as she runs her fingers through her hair, enjoying the color and new length.

“How did you do this? I did everything right before!” 

“Well, you used yellow hair dye instead of bleach, so that’s where your problem was,” Ein says. 

“I thought yellow hair dye was bleach?”

Wisteria and Ein laugh. “Aph, did you not think about color theory? Yellow plus blue equals green. Honestly, I don’t even know how you managed to get your hair so green without bleach. You’re impressively bad at hair dye.”

“Grrr, let me see this bleach! I—” She trips over an empty hair dye box on the floor. 

“Watch out!” Ein says as he attempts to catch her. Aphmau falls on her back, Ein falling on top of her but holding his weight up so as not to crush her. 

“Aphmau, Wisteria. I’m back. Sorry it took so long; I got a call from your father and I—” Sylvanna says as she walks upstairs. 

Wisteria quickly shoots out of the bathroom, standing in front of the bathroom door, shutting the door behind her. “Mom, I love you!” 

“What did you do to your hair? Where is my chancla!?” She screams.

Aphmau pokes her head out of the door, watching her mother scream her lungs out. “Mom, I love you too.” 

Sylvanna sees Ein behind Aphmau. “Is that a boy?!” 

All three of them are forced to sit in the living room as their mother finally calms down enough to talk, standing in front of them. “Alright, alright, alright. I knew this day would come, but this is hard. First of all, young man, what are you doing here?” She shouts. 

“Oh, um, Aphmau called me over here to fix her hair. It was green before, and I changed it to blue.” Ein says. 

“That’s another thing! Aphmau, Wisteria! You dyed your hair when I said not to!” 

“You said not to dye my whole head! I just did a strand.” Aphmau says. 

“Also, you never told me not to dye my hair.” Wisteria smiles and quickly flinches as her mother glares at her for being a smartass. 

"But I did tell you not to cut it! You had beautiful long hair! Most woman would kill to grow their hair as long as yours! You two are grounded. As for you, young man, I—” Sylvanna says, but gets cut off by Ein. 

“Please excuse me, ma’am. You have my apologies. I didn’t know how you felt about boys or their hair. Had I known about your wishes, I never would have disobeyed them.”

She hums, hiding a sly smile on her face as she perks up at his apology and manners. 

“I completely understand and respect your house, and I am so sorry events played out as they did. Please, don’t blame them completely. You can call my Mom and let her know what I did. I deserve it.” He says. 

“Wow, you’re a really nice boy.”

“I’m just trying to make amends for what I did. I’m so sorry.” 

“Aphmau, Wisteria. A word,” She says before walking off to the kitchen. Wisteria sighs as she and Aphmau nervously get up and follow her. “This boy, he’s very nice. Hehe, why didn’t you introduce me to him sooner?”

“Huh?” Aphmau and Wisteria say in unison.

“And he’s a werewolf too! Did you know I had a crush on a werewolf boy back in high school?” 

“We know, Mom, you never shut up about him.” Aphmau sighs. 

“Yeah, you picked the wrong boy,” Wisteria says. 

Sylvanna sighs. “I wonder how things would have been if I had ended up with him,” She sighs harder. “Instead of an insensitive jerk like your father.”

“Wait, you actually like Ein?” Aphmau asks. 

“Yes! He’s so polite and understanding. He’s quick to apologize and respectful. Unlike some of the other boys you have brought back.”  

“But you only just met him?” 

“Is he one of the people you are going to the movies with tonight?” 

“Yes, he’s also the one I went to the mall with earlier this year,” Wisteria says. 

“Hmm, alright. I made my decision. I was going to tell you you couldn’t go because of all of this, but I’ll still allow you two to go as long as he brings you back before nine p.m., you dye your hair back tonight, and you’re grounded from the internet for a month. Deal?” 

“A month? But Mom, I—” Aphmau complains but gets cut off. 

“Fine, no movies then.”

She groans. “Fine, deal.” 

“Umm, I can’t dye my hair back though.” Wisteria nervously says. 

“What do you mean you can’t dye it back?” Sylvanna shouts. 

“It’s red and my hair isn’t black like yours. My natural hair color won’t cover it.” 

She growls. “You’re grounded until the color washes out, then!” 

“That’s fine.” She shrugs. It was not going to come out; her mom will find out the hard way. She would find a way to make her mother crack and let her keep it red.

“Perfect,” She says between tightened lips before they all walk back into the living room. She updates Ein on the situation. Ein flatters her, and she goes to make them tacos before they leave. Giggling like a schoolgirl over Ein being such a nice boy. 

After eating, Ein, Wisteria, and Aphmau leave and head to the arcade. They take the bus, and once there, they look around to see if anyone else has made it before them. 

Ein points out Kai. “There’s Kai.” 

Kai turns around, seeing them. “Hey!”

Aphmau giggles and says under her breath. “Kai.”

“Wow, Aphmau, Wisteria. Your hair looks great. I like the red; it suits you. And the blue streak? It’s adorable.” 

Aphmau squeals. “Thank you!” 

“It reminds me of Katelyn.” He says dreamily. “Well, how do I look?” 

“Perfect. Absolutely perfect.” 

“She means, purrfect.” Wisteria jokes. Kai laughs, and Aphmau and Ein groan. 

“Thanks, I’m so nervous. I don’t know if I can do this.” Kai says. 

“Well, you’re going to do it now!” Aphmau says as Katelyn walks up.

“Hey guys, so sorry I’m late,” Katelyn says as she walks up. 

“You weren’t late at all!” Kai nervously chuckles. 

“You’re pretty excited, Catboy.”

"Actually his name is—" Aphmau tries to say his name, but Kai cuts her off.

“You can call me whatever you want!”

Katelyn chuckles. “Okay, is this everyone?”

“Actually, we are waiting on one more person. He says he's just outside.” Wisteria says, looking at her phone. 

“Wisteria! Hey! You dyed and cut your hair! It’s the color of your fur, I think. I like it!” Blaze says. Ein growls, glaring at him. He didn't know he was coming and wasn't happy that he would take Wisteria's attention from him.

“Thanks! I just dyed it earlier today.”

“Thanks for inviting me; I love meeting new people. Who are all your friends?”

“Well, you know Ein and my sister Aphmau. Then you have Katelyn and Catboy.” She says, pointing to each of them, chuckling at Kai’s nickname. “Then, everyone, this is Blaze.”

“Nice to meet you. Let's go crush some games!” Katelyn says excitedly. 

“Yeah!” Kai says excitedly, following Katelyn. 

Katelyn rushes over to the racing games. “How bout a racing game? Wanna go, Aph?” 

“Actually, I have to use the bathroom. Maybe you should go?” Aph says, looking at Kai. 

“Me?” Kai asks nervously. 

“Oh, I’m down for racing games!” Blaze says excitedly. 

“Really? And here I was hoping I could beat you at air hockey,” Wisteria says to distract him. 

“Oh, a challenge? I like the sound of that! You’re on!” He says, rushing over to an air hockey table. Wisteria winks at Aphmau to let her handle the rest. 

It’s not long before Aphmau and Ein join them at the air hockey table next to them. They play a few rounds, trading partners. When Wisteria had her turn with Ein, she took the chance to ask him for a favor. 

“Ein, can you do something for me today?” Wisteria asks as she hits the puck into his goal. 

“Aww! Yeah, anything for you.” Ein says, grabbing the puck from his side to put back on the table.

She looks over to see Aphmau hyper-focused on her game with Blaze. “Can you watch over Aph for me today? I’m not sure I can help cheer her up if she cries. I don’t know how I’m supposed to hold myself back if she does.” 

“Is this about her sighing over Kai?” 

“Yes. She’s setting her crush up with his crush. And this is going to crush her. I’m not sure how I’m not supposed to crush him for crushing her if she breaks while we are out. So if I can’t help her, can you?” 

“Sure, I can do that. She’s my friend after all.” He smiles as he slams the puck into the goal. He only got close to Aphmau so he could get closer to Wisteria; he didn’t mind helping when she asked. It made him look good.

“Grrr, I’m not going to let you win that easily!” After they finish their games, they wait near the exit of the arcade for Katelyn and Kai so they can go to the movie. They lose track of time and only come a few minutes before the movie starts.

Katelyn was having a great time hanging out with Kai. Everyone gets popcorn and drinks, and sits down together. Their seating order is Kai, Katelyn, Ein, Aphmau, Wisteria, and then Blaze. 

Wisteria holds Aphmau’s hand during part of the movie as she notices her having a hard time. She was proud of her for being so strong and wished she could take the burden away from her, but love was one thing everyone had to learn the hard way. 

Her face heated up, but she didn't stop him or say anything when Blaze grabbed her hand. His fingers were playing with hers as they watched the movie. She didn't notice Ein break his cup as he saw Blaze's hand grasping hers.

Katelyn, Ein, Blaze, and Wisteria were talking about the movie as they walked out of the movie theater together and into the lobby. Aphmau and Kai took the other staircase so they could talk for a moment. 

Once Kai walks up and asks Katelyn to talk with him a bit outside, Ein, Blaze, and Wisteria meet back up with Aphmau to see her crying. “I-I need to go home.” 

It was obvious the pain on Wisteria’s face as she saw her sister run away crying, yet her feet were frozen to the ground. She knew she had to cheer her up, but a part of her felt like she had no right, as she let her sister go through this in the first place. 

“Aphmau, wait!” Ein says, rushing after her. 

“What was that about?” Blaze asks, confused. 

Wisteria sighs. “It’s complicated. I just… whew.” She bends over, putting her hands on her knees as she breathes deeply. 

“Whoa, are you ok?” He crouched down in front of her, checking if she was ok. He cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at him.  

“It’s hard seeing her hurt. She’s my little sister, and all I want to do is protect her from the world. But I can’t protect her from heartbreak, and if I try to, it will only cause her more heartbreak.”

“I don’t quite get what’s going on, but I understand the feeling. I’m protective of my little siblings, too. I’d beat up anyone who would hurt them, so if you need me to fight someone for you, I will! I’m quite strong.” He says, taking his shirt off again and flexing. 

She blushes. “H-hey, we're in public. Put your shirt back on.” 

“Why, I thought you liked the view?” He chuckles as he flexes more. “Your ex-boyfriends were handsome, but they don’t compare to me in strength or muscles.” 

She didn't realize that the word of her breaking up with Garroth and Laurence spread so quickly. She did not think people would get the news until it spread in person on Monday. She underestimated everyone's ability to gossip over text.

“Or scars.” Her eyes focused on one of his many scars before she turned around, forcing herself to look away as she fanned her face. “Well, you calmed me down and I feel better, so thanks. I should go find Aph now. Thanks for joining us.” 

She quickly scurries away, listening to him chuckle at her cute reaction as she does. She was single now, maybe he had a chance with her. But he knew this moment was not the right one. She had to focus on her sister.

She goes out, looking around as she finally sees Aphmau and Ein. Ein was hugging her tightly as she slowly walked up to them. “Thank you,” Aphmau says.

“Come on, let’s get you two home,” Ein says before the three of them start walking towards their house. Golden eyes followed them as they walked away.

Wisteria does her best to cheer up Aphmau on the way home. Ein helps. They get back thirty minutes before their curfew. “Bye, Ein, thanks for walking us home!” Aphmau says. 

“Thanks for inviting me; I had fun,” Ein says. 

“Aph, go in; I’ll join you in a minute. I just want to have a word with Ein first.” Wisteria says as Aphmau nods before walking in. 

“What did you want to talk to me about?” He asks nervously, a slight blush appearing on his face. 

“Thank you for everything. For my sister, for the hair dye, for the way you handled my mom. Honestly, I’m not sure what I would've done without you today.  Especially with what you said to my mother. It was impressive and, honestly, extremely attractive the way you handled the situation. I owe you big time, so when you think of something as payment, let me know.” 

His blush deepens, not expecting such a large compliment from her. “I didn’t do it to be thanked or to gain a favor from you.” 

“All the more reason to reward you. Text me when you get home so I know you got back safe, and thank you.” She says before walking into the house, leaving a stunned and happy Ein outside. 

He silently cheered for himself, jogging home as his tail wagged. She thought what he did was attractive, and she owed him. What could he have her do? Would asking her to be his be too much? What about letting him turn her into a real werewolf? But he didn't even know how to do that yet.

Wisteria helped Aphmau dye her hair black that night. She tried to sleep with Aphmau that night, but Aphmau reassured her sister that she was fine and kicked her out of the room. 

Wisteria sighed before crawling into her bed alone. She was worried her sister was lying, so she could cry herself to sleep, but it also meant she had to deal with her dreams alone. 

Since her magic stabilized, she has been having dreams of the past again. It has left her more restless than before. She forgot how good it was to sleep without having nightmares almost every night. 

Chapter Text

After the arcade and movie, Wisteria slept most of the weekend. Since she had to take the dream potion every weekend with Gene, it left her tired during the day. So she often would nap on the days she took the dream potion with him.

It caused the weekend to go by in a flash as Monday morning rolled around. She wasn’t surprised when she walked into school and heard people whispering around her and eyes focused on her. 

The news of her breaking up with Garroth and Laurence had spread. She didn’t make a large scene when she broke up with them, but she did it in public so the news would spread, and they couldn’t talk her out of it. 

No one said anything to her until she moved seats in homeroom to give the boys space. As soon as they saw her sit elsewhere, half of the homeroom swarmed her, asking questions. 

It was annoying, as it was none of their business if they were together or not, but she'd rather have them swarm her than them. They were taking things surprisingly harder than she thought they would. 

They texted her over the weekend, trying to talk her out of leaving them. She told them it was too late and that she was sorry, but it needed to be done. She said she would help them find another way to keep the fan girls off their backs.

In her mind, she didn’t consult them before breaking up with them, so they were mad at the surprise. She did break up with them suddenly, so it made sense. For the most part, she assumed they were acting and were keeping a distance to make things realistic.

Wisteria sat in her normal seat in first period. She didn’t notice that Ein’s glare kept people away from her during class. To his annoyance, it didn’t scare off the main person he wanted to remove from her life. 

“I heard you broke up with your boyfriends. How are you doing?” Kai asks as he sits in his seat next to her.

“I’m fine. I mean, you know the truth, so it’s not as if there are any real hard feelings in the situation.” She says. 

“I forgot it was fake. You made it look so real. I didn’t think you guys were going to break up this year. Why did you?” 

“It was just time, you know? Honestly, it was only supposed to last a month, but then we kept pushing it off.” 

“Wait, it was only supposed to last a month? Why did you keep up the act for so long?” Ein asks. He was fuming. He put off his plans because of them, only to find out he could have done stuff much sooner, as they were supposed to be out of the way ages ago. 

“Well, part of it was bad timing, part not wanting to deal with the aftermath, and part just enjoying the relationship. It may have been fake, but it could still scratch the itch of intimacy we wanted. Just without the extra pressure a real relationship has.” 

“Are you going to find someone else to scratch your itch?” Kai asks, curious.

She chuckles. “No, I think I’ll stay single for real this time. I was never planning on getting into a relationship in the first place. As nice as it was having someone, it's a lot of work.” 

“It should be manageable for you, as you would only date one person. You wouldn’t have to fill two people’s needs.” Ein says, hoping to convince her to stay open to the idea of dating. It would make his plan run smoother if she did.

“That’s true, but I also would have to fill them 24/7 rather than only during school. It would be more work than what I was doing.” 

“That’s true, but I always thought that the effort would be worth it," Kai says with a look in his eye that Wisteria couldn't name. Almost looked like disappointment.

“For most people, you would be right." She chuckles. "So, what did Katelyn say?”

“Aphmau told you?” He blushes slightly, embarrassed. 

“I may have figured part of it out myself.” She chuckles at his embarrassment. 

“She rejected me.” 

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I thought things went well between you two.”

“It did, but Katelyn told me something. She said she couldn’t date me because she was friends with Aphmau, who has a huge crush on me.” He says, watching her closely to see how she would react. 

She flinches, her body tensing a bit. “I see, you found out then.”

“I had no clue she had feelings for me. I can’t believe I asked her for dating advice and she helped me despite her feelings.” 

“Well, she wanted you to be happy. I hope you won’t make things awkward between you two because of this. She kept it hidden so you wouldn’t.”

“I won’t make things awkward. It just made me think about how I never noticed. It’s kind of obvious now that I look back at it. Is that why when we were stuck in the locker, you said you wouldn't do anything to me?”

"Wait, what does he mean by you two being stuck in a locker together? What happened?" Ein asks.

"Oh, some bullies decided to pick on me, and Kai happened to catch them in the act. So instead of just me being locked in the locker, we both got shoved in there. We were stuck for roughly five hours."

"The lock mechanism was broken, and no one came to help until school was over. But while we were stuck, she told me an interesting story where—" Kai tries to tell him, but she puts a hand over his mouth.

Her face turned bright red. "Shut up! He doesn't need to know that part!"

He chuckles and removes her hand. "Why not? I thought it was cute."

"You tell him that, and I'll tell him what you did, Catboy."

His face heats up slightly. "That's fine. It is common knowledge that meif'wa purr when they are happy."

"That's so not common knowledge! I've never once heard one purr before you! If it were, I would have purposely made you purr more often. It was so nice to listen to!"

Ein growls. "They only purr in extreme cases of happiness, typically with their mate. I heard it's not easy to make them purr. What did you do to make him purr?"

"I called him cute."

"That's it?" He questions, not believing something so small would be enough to make him purr. Meif'wa are known to be notoriously hard to make purr, unlike their feline counterparts. They typically will only purr with their mate, and even that was a rare occasion.

"Pretty much, yeah. He found out I didn't like doing PDA because I'm not a big PDA person, so he asked what kind of person I was and told him I'm the type to get stuck in lockers with cute boys. Then he started purring," She explained.

"Yeah, but you aren't explaining the whole story. Next, I made you explain why you said boys and not boy. That's when you told me the story of when your sister locked you in a locker with a boy, and you bit him, leaving a bunch of hickies on his neck because he wouldn't stop petting your tail." Kai laughs.

Her face blazed red. "Don’t laugh at me! It’s not as if I could escape, and he was driving me mad! I needed to do something to shut myself up, and he didn’t have a tail to get revenge with! What else was I supposed to do?"

"Maybe ask him to stop?" He laughs.

"You think I didn't try that first?" She growled. "Hey, you better be glad my sister likes you. If she didn't, I would've seen what you would've done in the situation."

His face burns bright red as he begins to purr at the thought. "Y-you would have done what?"

"Exactly, not so funny now, Catboy."

"Why would you do something like that!" He was embarrassed but liked the idea of her petting his tail while pressed against his body.

"I told you. To see how you would've reacted to the situation. You made fun of my reaction, but you didn't even know how you would've reacted. I wanted to find out."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Yeah, but satisfaction brought it back."

"Using my words against me." He laughs, and she laughs with him.

"What about someone else?" Ein asks quickly, trying to get her attention off of Kai.

"What do you mean?" She questions.

"What if you were in a locker with someone else. Would you have done the same thing?"

"Out of curiosity and fury, probably. I wouldn't have had a reason to stop myself like I did with Kai."

“Speaking of your reason for stopping. I was thinking about maybe asking your sister on a date.” Kai says.

Her eye twitches. “What?” 

“Well, she is kind and cute. I never thought of her in that way before, but I’m trying to see her in that way. Maybe taking her on a date would be a good way to get a better look at her.” 

She takes a deep breath, trying to calm her rage. “I won’t stop you if you do, but do know that if you hurt her, I'll kill you. Make sure you know what you're doing before you get her hopes up.” 

Kai flinches but reassures her he wouldn’t want to hurt Aphmau; he cares about her too much to do that. 

During the week, Wisteria watches Aphmau avoid Kai. She does her best not to get involved. In one way, she wants to help her get with the person she likes to make her happy. In another way, she hopes Kai will be a coward and never ask her out. 

Since her magick stabilized, she returned to window repair work. Blaze assisted her in reducing the number of window breaks that occurred last year with Aaron. Although the number was still not even close to zero.

She was called out of class to repair another broken window. "Why does it have to be Mr. Castor's class?” she sighs. She has been able to avoid his class so far, and she is not looking forward to his antics again. She knocks on the door to his classroom before stepping in. 

“Ahh, the Chicken Goddess is here! Yes, yes, come in, come in!” Castor says, stopping his lesson to guide her into the classroom. 

“I’m the what now?” She asks, confused. “I only came to repair the window.” 

“The goddess of chickens! You have to be! Yes! I remember it like it was yesterday. Last year, when you repaired the window, all the feathers floating around you were magical! You have been chosen!” 

Her eyes go wide as she looks back and forth between the class and Castor, looking for help from anyone. Most of the students were too busy dying of laughter to help her.

“Well, I’m going to fix the window and go back to class.” She says, quickly walking to the window to repair it. 

Since her magick stabilized, it has been much easier and quicker to repair windows. She could do up to three windows in a day before she would be drained of mana. Same as when you become more skilled in math, you can skip steps. Instead of writing out two plus two to get the answer four, she could instantly do it in her head. 

She picked up a piece of glass, watching as the other pieces glowed and floated up. Hundreds of little pieces flying together and melding as they reformed into a single pane of glass and landed in the window frame.

“That was magnificent! Even more so than last time. You have gotten stronger, as is to be expected of the Chicken Goddess! Although there were no feathers this time, do not fear, as Beverly made this for you!” Castor says as he pulls out a crown and cape made of feathers. 

“Oh, wow. As nice as that is, um, it would clash with my uniform, so, um, I’ll be off now!” She bolts out of class before Castor can force the crown and cape on her. 

He called out to her as she ran, but she refused to stop. She would have to punish whatever werewolf forced her to repair things in Castor's room more severely from now on. 

Every werewolf who made a joke about her being called the Chicken Goddess was forced to run laps. She may not have been able to stop the gossip between humans and meif’wa, but she refused to hear about it from her pups. 

It is early Saturday morning when Vylad calls Wisteria, waking her from her slumber.

"Mmm, yes?" She sleepily mutters.

"Wisty, are you free today?" He asks.

"Um, it's Saturday, hmm, I have nothing planned." She says as she tries to remember what day it was and if she had anything to do.

"Perfect! Can you come over and help me with something?"

"Sure, when?"

"Now?" He nervously asks.

She groggily sits up as she tries to run her fingers through her hair, only for them to get caught in a knot. "I'll see you in an hour. I need to get ready and eat first."

"Don't eat! I'll feed you when you get here! Oh, and can you also bring some of your makeup and nail polish again? Oh, and we are going out for a bit, so go ahead and dress nice. I know you like to get dolled up whenever you have an excuse."

"Alright, I will. I'll see you soon." She says before hanging up.

She looked at her phone to see that it was only nine in the morning when she normally didn't wake up until noon on the weekends. She groans before she forces herself out of bed.

She does her best to quickly wake herself up as she brushes her teeth, gets dressed, and puts on her makeup and cologne. She walks downstairs and starts to make herself a cup of coffee.

"Mija, you're up early. Where are you planning on going?" Sylvanna asks as she eats her breakfast after coming back from her morning jog with Zianna.

"Vivi wants me to come over. You're fine with that, right?" She says as she pours sugar and cream into a travel mug.

"One of Zianna's boys? Of course. Will you be gone all day?"

"I'm not sure yet. He didn't tell me what he had planned, just asked me to come right away." She says as she pours her coffee into the travel mug, stirring the contents inside.

"Well, call me if you are going to get back late, so I don't worry." She quickly gets up after suddenly remembering something. "Oh! And give this to Zianna for me. I was supposed to give it to her this morning, but totally forgot."

She hands her a gift bag filled with paper to hide what is inside. "Sure, what is it?"

"Umm, don't worry about that, and don't look inside!" She shouts as she pushes her towards the door. "Now have fun, mija." She opens the door, shoves her out, and shuts it behind her.

"Okay then." She says as she begins to walk towards Ro'Meave's house, sipping her coffee on the way.

Her curiosity can't be stopped as halfway through her trip, she peeks in the gift bag and sees her mom has gifted Zianna a lingerie set. Zianna wants to spice up her married life, and Sylvanna decided to help her out with a gift.

She shakes her head from the nasty thought as she finishes making her way to the house. She knocks once at the front door, and she hears footsteps shoot towards her.

Vylad opens the door. "Wisty! You're here. Come in!" He steps aside for her to enter, closing the door behind her. "I made breakfast! Let's eat together, then we can head out."

They walk into the kitchen together, and three heads look up at her. "Princess?" Garroth questions. His heart was pounding in his chest as he wasn't expecting to see her at his house.

"Oh, great. What is she doing here?" Zane grumbles.

"Wisteria! It's so good to see you! How are you doing?" Zianna asks, getting up from her seat to greet her.

"I'm doing well. This is a gift from my mother." She says, handing her the gift bag.

"Oh! I can't wait to use this." She giggles as she peeks inside, quickly covering it back with the paper before the boys can see it. "Vivi was so excited for you to come over this morning, he made everyone pancakes. Do sit and have some dear."

"Gladly. They smell good." She sits down as Vylad quickly makes her a plate and passes her the syrup and butter.

"I didn't know you would be coming over today, Princess," Garroth says.

"Vivi invited me this morning. It was last-minute." She says, avoiding eye contact with him. She takes a bite out of her pancake, doing a small happy dance as the flavor hits her tongue.

"Oh, GarGar, that is so precious! It reminds me of when you were younger and used to play dress up. You were always a knight, and she was a princess." Zianna gushes.

"I always hated playing princess, but Aph said since there were two knights, they each needed a princess." She groans.

"You never were good at playing a princess. More like an evil witch." Zane cackles.

"Zuzu, be nice. She was a dark princess for her dark knight." Zianna says, causing Zane's face to heat up at being called hers.

As kids, Garroth would always play as a knight, Zane a dark knight, and Vylad a rogue. Aphmau and Wisteria would be princesses. Sometimes, Wisteria was called the dark princess, as she always ended up being paired up with Zane, while Aphmau was paired with Garroth.

They continue to chat for a bit until they all finish breakfast. After they finished, Zianna drove Vylad and Wisteria to the thrift store, giving Vylad a hundred dollars to buy new clothes.

He was going through a growth spurt and his clothes were beginning to get tight, so he needed new clothes. Zianna offered to take him to a different store, but he wanted to go to the thrift store instead. He liked thrifted clothes more than certain brands of clothes.

She dropped them at the front of the store, saying she would come back in an hour after she had finished running some of her errands. Wisteria and Vylad walk inside and start going through the rows of clothes, looking for items for Vylad to wear.

"How bout this one?" Wisteria says while holding up a crop top.

"I-I can't pull that off!" Vylad stutters out.

"What are you talking about? You would look so good in this!" She says, holding it against his body to show it would fit him perfectly. "If it's too much skin, I can find something else that would suit you, but I think you could pull it off."

"Do you really think it would look good on me?" He asks as he takes it and holds it against him, looking in the mirror.

"One hundred percent. I have no doubt you would look good wearing it. It would also go well with a lot of the clothes you already own. You can layer it so it doesn't show as much skin if that is the part that bothers you. You can wear pants, or oh, maybe this skirt?" She says, holding up a cute skirt for him.

"Now that is a cute skirt!" He says as he walks forward, lifting the fabric in his hands. "It's soft too!"

"And," She slides her hand into the pocket of the skirt. "It has pockets."

"Okay, you've convinced me. Put them both in the cart."

Their shopping spree continues for the next while as they go row by row, item by item, finding feminine items that would suit Vylad. Now that he has grown out of most of his other clothes, it was the perfect chance to slowly change his closet to items he truly likes.

Wisteria was the only one who knew his secret, as she caught on to his secret reason for asking strange questions. Earlier that year, during P.E., they were paired up to play badminton against each other.

"Wisty. Can I ask you a question? Or maybe a few?" Vylad nervously asks, trying to act as if nothing was weighing heavily on his mind.

She hits the birdie back towards him. "Sure. Ask away."

He swings and hits it back towards her. "What do you think about guys who wear makeup?"

"Hot. If anything, it makes me a little jealous because they are almost always better at makeup than me. Make-up is a hard skill to have. It's part of the reason I only ever wear light makeup."

"Really? You think guys who wear makeup are attractive? Isn't makeup for girls?"

"Not at all. I get that guys sometimes need to have more confidence to wear it, as some people see it that way, but there is nothing wrong with a guy wearing makeup. If anything, they are just jealous that they look so good."

"What about guys wearing skirts or dresses?"

"Why not. They can be comfortable to wear, and if it makes them happy and confident in their own skin, they should do it."

"But doesn't that make them girly or gay?"

"I guess so? I wouldn't call it girly, but feminine. I mean, it's not uncommon for gay guys to dress feminine, but you don't have to be gay to dress feminine. There's nothing wrong with a guy wanting to dress feminine.

"It's the same as a girl wanting to dress masculine. For a long time, people thought girls should only wear dresses and skirts and not pants. Just look up women suffragists and their pockets, and it explains a lot. But times have changed. I don't see why men shouldn't be able to dress the same as women."

"But don't people think a guy wanting to wear a skirt means he wants to be a girl?"

"Not at all. He could just like wearing dresses. Why? Do you want to be a girl?"

He almost trips as his swing horribly misses the birdie, and he quickly picks it up before hitting it back towards her. "W-why would you ask me something like that?"

"Vivi, you used to steal your mother's dresses, heels, and lipstick to play dress up with. When I got tired of playing princess, you would switch clothes with me so I could play the rogue. You prefer being called Vivi, which is a feminine-sounding name. You—" He cuts her off.

"Okay, okay, I get it." His face turns bright red. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Only to people who pay attention. I doubt anyone else noticed. So, do you want to be a girl or do you just want to wear pretty dresses?"

"I… I don't know. Sometimes I get jealous of the girls who get to wear skirts all day at school. But I like how my body looks, I mean, there are some changes I want to happen, but still. I like that my chest is flat, not full like a girl's. I-I just want to be pretty."

"There's not much you can do at school because of the uniforms, but outside of school, you can start to dress more feminine. You don't have to be a girl to like feminine things."

"C-can I really be a boy who wears makeup or skirts?"

"Why not? Who can wear what is all a social construct. Break it to fit your own needs. If anyone tries to say you can't, I'll fight them." She says as she spikes the birdie, slamming it in the ground in front of his feet, causing him to flinch as she shows she meant what she said. She would fight anyone who dared to hurt or bully him for being who he wants to be.

Wisteria has been supportive of his secret since he told her. She did what she could to help him sneak more feminine things into his daily life. She hates the smell of perfume on her, so she gave him the perfume she owned. She would come over and paint his nails. She also let him use her makeup to practice with.

She had been slowly encouraging him to open up about it. She didn't push him too far, letting him do things on his schedule, but she didn't want him to feel like he had to hide. This was finally his time to slowly open up about what he likes.

He wouldn't have to "borrow" his mother's clothes to try and feel pretty. He would have his own clothes to feel pretty in. She was going to help him open up to his mother and brothers later that night about his secret. The start of his new life, one where he can feel more comfortable being himself.

They finished shopping, and a short while later Zianna picked them up and took them back home. Wisteria and Vylad quickly went to his room with his bags. She closes her eyes as he changes, letting him try on every piece of clothing, showing it off to her.

Once they decided what looked best on him, he wore that. Next, she painted his nails, helped him do his makeup, sprayed perfume, and put on jewelry. She helped him look on the outside how he felt on the inside. Not as a girl, just someone who enjoyed dressing feminine rather than masculine.

Wisteria knocked on Garroth's door. "I'm sorry to bother you, Garroth, but do you mind going to the living room for a bit? Vivi wants to show off one of his new outfits." She left before he could respond.

Next, she knocked on Zane's door. "Yo, Zane. Come downstairs for a bit. Vivi wants to show off his outfit."

"No, I'm busy." He yells back from inside.

She opens his door, and a mini fight breaks out as she forces him away from his game and drags him down the stairs with her. Garroth came behind her, helping her drag Zane downstairs, keeping him in the living room for her.

Next, she got Zianna to join the others in the living room as she made her big announcement. "Thank you all for gathering!"

Zane huffs. "Wasn't my choice."

She softly kicks his shin. "Well, as you all know, Vivi and I went clothes shopping today. Now is his time to show off some of what he bought."

"Oh, I can't wait! You two were being so secretive on the car ride home, refusing to show me any of the items he bought!" Zianna says.

"I like you all to keep an open mind, as Vivi picked this out himself. He likes it, and I hope you will too. Now, Vivi! Come down!" She shoots up the stairs.

He takes a deep breath as he slowly walks down the stairs and turns into the living room, standing with all the confidence he could muster in front of his family. "H-how do I look?" He asks nervously.

"Baby brother." Garroth's jaw drops. "Y-you look… pretty?" He says, confused, not sure what to call a guy wearing a skirt and a crop top. He looked good, but he wasn't expecting it.

"Oh, Vivi! You look stunning. Absolutely gorgeous!" Zianna gushes.

Zane laughs. "What did you do, steal mom's makeup again?" He earned himself a smack on the back of the head from Wisteria.

"Zuzu, be nice. He's not the only one who has stolen my makeup before. Don't think I didn't notice you rummaging through my nail polish and stealing my eyeliner."

He stiffens as he gets called out. Wisteria chuckles. "Zaney, I'll let you borrow my black nail polish if you want to be emo that badly. I'll even teach you how to use eyeliner so you can start wearing it out if that's what you want."

"T-that's for girl-woman-things! I-I don't need to wear things like that!" He angrily stutters out, as his face, ears, and neck burn red. Embarrassed to be caught, as he was not yet confident enough to wear either of those things in public.

"So, you are okay with me dressing like this?" Vylad asks nervously as he stands shyly.

"Of course, baby brother. If it makes you happy, then I am happy for you. But I do have one question. Does this make you my sister now?" Garroth asks.

Wisteria chuckles as Vylad explains. "N-No. I'm still your brother. I still want to use he/him pronouns. I just want to look pretty. I don't want to be one of Mom's handsome little men anymore. I-I want to be her gorgeous little man."

"Of course you're my gorgeous little man. That being said, you are a little young to be wearing that much makeup, even if it looks nice. And I will be glad to have you stop stealing my clothes and makeup since you will have your own to wear now." Zianna giggles, teasing him.

Wisteria gently shoves Zane, causing him to huff. "You don't look bad."

"Thank you." Vylad tears up as he is happy to be accepted. "Especially you, Wisty." He hugs her, glad she helped him open up. It would be a while until he felt comfortable enough to share his secret with everyone, but this was a good start.

Chapter Text

The weekend was almost over as Wisteria got ready for bed, as she would have to wake up early for school tomorrow. That's when she got a call from Aaron. It was the night before Aaron’s first day of spring break.

“Wisteria, I need help.” He pleads. 

“Wow. You used my name. Are you dying?” She jokes. 

“W-what? No. I’m coming home for spring break tomorrow, and I want to pick Aph up from school. The problem is, I don’t know what to wear! I-I look like a bum. Does she even want to see me?”

She laughs. “Oh, this is priceless. You, Aaron, are asking me, Wisteria, for clothing advice?” 

“Hey! I’m going to hang up if you aren’t going to help.” 

“Okay, okay, wait! I’ll help. Send me what you are thinking of wearing. I’ll let you know if you look good or not.” 

After a minute of shuffling on the other end of the call, she finally gets sent a photo. He was blushing as he took a picture of himself in a white and pink sleeveless hoodie and grey jeans. 

“H-how does it look? I-It’s a new look. I-I want to impress her.” He stutters. 

“Ok, Loverboy. I wasn’t expecting this from you. It’s nice, very clean. It softens you up nicely, and Aph will like it because your arms are out.” 

“Why would she like my arms being out?” 

“For weeks, she wouldn’t stop drooling over you when she accidentally saw you shirtless. A little skin works in your favor; she likes muscles.”

“That's good to know… But should I even try? She’s not going to look at me like that again. She’s past me.” 

“Then make her fall for you again. You did it once; you can do it again! Make her remember why she kissed you in the first place.” 

“Wait! S-she told you about that?” 

“Aaron, she tells me everything. Be glad I’m rooting for you and that you never hurt her. Cause the moment you go from protecting her to hurting her is the moment they'll never find your body.” 

“You wouldn't be able to beat me with my hands tied behind my back; what makes you think you can kill me and hide the body?” He laughs, happy she lightened the mood. 

“Oh, trust me, I can, and will if I have to, and I'm not telling you how I would. I’m not dumb enough to give all my secrets away.”

They laughed and hung up shortly later so he could finish packing and drive over. Wisteria couldn’t wait to see him; she missed him. She also didn’t like Kai's changing feelings now that he knows Aphmau likes him. 

She couldn’t quite remember why Aaron and Aphmau didn’t work out in her sophomore year, but she was going to make them work, even if they didn’t officially get together any time soon.

The next day, she went to school like normal. She opened her locker and put her things away. When she closed it, she saw Garroth and Laurence standing there. Garroth softly spoke. "Can you sit next to us in homeroom again?"

"We know you won't take us back, but can we try being friends again?" Laurence asks.

She smiled as she quickly ruffled their hair. "Of course. I'd love to be friends again."

"Thank you, Princess," Garroth says, hugging her. Laurence joins in as well.

She hugs them back but pinches their sides. "But stop calling me Princess. You know I hate that nickname and begged you to change it."

"That is the one thing we can't do. We shall forever be your knights in shining armor." Laurence winks. "We would be bad knights if we called you by anything but your title." He teases.

"You two are going to lose that title if you're not careful." She teased back as she pulled away from the hug that was lasting a little too long. "Let's head to class." She says before walking away towards homeroom.

People began to whisper about them again, soon spreading the word that they were on talking terms again. Rumors spread that Laurence and Garroth were trying to win her back as they were still flirting with her.

She found it hilarious when she heard that one. Laurence and Garroth after her heart? As if. They fall for Aphmau in every universe. She doesn't have any room in their heart, at least not in any romantic aspect.

Of course, she was wrong. She had no clue that they were still after her heart. They figured that since they missed their chance to ask her out for real while they were fake-dating her, it would be better to start from scratch. Becoming friends again, then make her realise their feelings before asking her out.

They can start as friends again, slowly ramp up the flirting until they can make her swoon for them, then ask her out. That way, she would know it wasn't an act, that they pursued her because they truly love her.

Wisteria was impatiently waiting for Aaron to come. So was furious when he said he couldn't come right away, and she would have to wait an extra day. So Tuesday, at the end of the day, Wisteria tells Aphmau to meet her near the front of the school. She couldn’t hide the smile on her face as her sister walked up to her. 

“What is with you? Why are you so happy?” Aphmau asks. 

“Oh, nothing much. Just a good day is all.” She tried to hide her smile, but it only grew as she saw Aaron peeking around the corner. 

“Oh? Then what did you need me for? Why did you ask me to meet you here?”

“Me call you here? No, it was him.” She says, turning her sister to look at Aaron, awkwardly standing behind her, his arm hiding a bouquet behind his back. 

“H-Hi, Aph,” Aaron says nervously. 

Aphmau screeches as she launches forward and hugs Aaron. “Aaron! You’re here!” 

“Whoa! It’s the old Alpha!” A werewolf says as he and a few werewolves try to come up to say hi. 

Wisteria steps in front of them, giving them a back-off look. “Sorry, but you will have to wait your turn.” 

They quietly back off and watch the awkward exchange as Aaron hands Aphmau the bouquet, both blushing and stuttering. Eventually, the werewolves surrounded them, and Aaron happily chatted with them before he, Aphmau, and Wisteria could walk out of the school together. 

“I can’t believe you hid him coming from me!” Aphmau says. 

“I couldn’t ruin the surprise. He came all this way to see you; he didn’t even bother to say hi to me.” Wisteria punches his shoulder. 

“Oh, yeah. Hi, flying rat.” He teases. 

“Teddy bear.” She sticks her tongue out at him. 

“What should we do! I didn’t plan anything. I didn’t know I would get to see you so soon!” Aphmau says. 

Aaron sighs. “Sadly, I have to go back to campus. I’m not able to stay as long as I had hoped.”

“Really?” She sighs. “At least I got to see you.” She sniffs the flowers, trying to hide her disappointment. 

“Y-yeah. I missed you a lot, Shu.” 

“I missed you, too, FC.”

Wisteria pretends to gag. “Well, I’m out of here.” She rushes forward to get away from the two as Aaron walks Aphmau home. 

She wanted to spend time with Aaron, too, but if he could only see Aphmau for a few more minutes, she wouldn’t ruin their time together. Her sister’s wants came before her own. 

If her sister married Aaron, she would have many more chances to get close to and talk with him again. Pushing them together was her priority. Although she hated Aarmau as a ship in her past life, she could respect that they were good together and couldn’t help but want them to be happy.

It is another day at school, where Wisteria is chatting with Kawaii~Chan in the hallways. "Kawaii~Chan, for the hundredth time. I'm not going to join the magick club."

"But Wisteria~Senpai, we need you! Everyone else in magick class is in the club. Wisteria~Senpai is the only one who hasn't joined!"

"That's because I don't want to. I do enough magick around school, I don't need to do it after school too."

"If Wisteria~Senpai won't join the magick club, can Wisteria~Senpai at least make Kawaii~Chan's ship come true?" She asks.

"Which one? You have to be more specific when you have so many."

"Wisteria~Senpai and—" She gets cut off by an angry carrot that comes stomping towards them, interrupting their conversation.

"Wisteria! We need to talk!" Cadenza angrily says with her arms crossed.

"Oh, um, sure. About what?"

"Not here, in private."

She looks back at Kawaii~Chan. "Sorry, Kawaii~Chan, we can talk later." Causing Kawaii~Chan to whine, but she lets her go. Wisteria leads Cadenza to an empty classroom to talk. "What did you want to talk about?"

"You broke up with my brother! I want to know why you dared to hurt him!" She steps forward, trying to intimidate her. She forced her to back up until she bumped into a table. She leans down, putting her hands on either side of Wisteria's body, trapping her.

"Whoa! Okay, first off, I think I need to explain something."' She says with her hands up defensively. "I didn't date your brother. It was a fake relationship to get the fan girls off his and Garroth's backs."

"You what?" She shouts, causing her to flinch. "It was a fake relationship? Then why didn't he tell me that? And why has he been upset since you left him?"

"Garroth and I told our siblings the truth, so I don't know why he didn't. And I don't know why you think he's upset; he seems normal to me."

"He's not normal at home! The day you left him, he cried himself to sleep! He hasn't been the same since you left him. I want to know why!" She glares.

"He did?" She looked shocked as she tried to think if he had been off at all since they started talking again. It has only been roughly two weeks since the breakup, and a week since they were friends again.

The only difference is that Garroth and he started to flirt more with her. She figured that was just them teasing her, or because they had gotten more comfortable with her.

"He did! Now explain!" She stomps her foot, wanting answers.

"I don't know! He hasn't told me anything about being upset! The day I left them, they asked me to change my mind and to stay as their girlfriend, but I can't do that! I-I can't stay with them!"

"Why not? Even if it was a fake relationship, why did you end it? You could have continued it so the girls would continue to leave him alone."

"You don't have to worry about the fangirls, 'cause they are leaving him and Garroth alone. At least for the most part, they have given up on trying to date them. To be fair, they didn't even start fake dating me to deal with the fangirls; it was to end the gay rumor.

"The only reason I agreed to help them is because they put me on the spot in front of dozens of people in the school! They didn't even ask me to help them, just forced me into their plan! The fake relationship was only supposed to last a month, but the breakup kept getting pushed off! I can't keep fake-dating them, it's gone on long enough! "

"Laur, what did you get yourself into this time?" She groans as she stands up straight, no longer forcing her against the table. "What about making the relationship real?"

"W-what? Like date Garroth and Laurence for real?" Her face heats up at the idea. "No way, they like my sister. Plus, I didn't want to date anyone in the first place."

"What?" She screeches as if she said the craziest thing in the world. "No, Laur likes you, not your sister. You don't have to date Garroth, but why not date Laur?"

She laughs. "No, you must be mistaken. The relationship was fake. Our actions were for show to make it look real. He doesn't like me. He and Garroth both have a thing for my sister. I know, I saw them both kiss my sister. They both admitted to liking her. They even asked me to help them get closer to her. There is no doubt that they have feelings for her."

"I don't know about Garroth, but I know Laur has real feelings for you. Faking things may have been true in the past, but not now. The way he looks at you is not how you look at a friend. He looks at you the way he used to look at that bastard." She spits out the word bastard, not even willing to say his ex's name.

"There's no way that can be true. I—" She cuts her off.

"It is true! Laur loves you! Why else would he kiss you during the photo shoot? He couldn't stop crying, wondering why you left him. I think he loves you more than he did that bastard, and that says a lot! Consider being with him. If you care for him like you say, don't ignore his feelings."

"I-I'll consider it. I can't promise anything will come from it. I don't have feelings for him like that."

"It is alright if you don't have the same feelings, but if you do, don't pretend like you don't. You give off similar vibes to that bastard, refusing to feel, only doing what you want because it's fun. I hope I'm wrong about that." She says before she turns and leaves a stunned Wisteria alone in the room. She flicked the light off as she left.

Wisteria stands in the dark room thinking. Was she that similar to Gene? Did Laurence really like her? There was no way he could have feelings for her. He liked her sister, and if he liked her, that means Garroth also would have feelings for her. They always did everything together when it came to flirting with her.

Two of the hottest guys at school have an interest in her? Impossible. She came from another dimension; there was no soulmate waiting to scoop up her heart. She wasn't going to break her heart pretending as if there was love for her in this world.

Even if it was true they liked her, she couldn't accept their feelings. Their feelings would only be fleeting, most likely falling for her sister again. She was just a rebound, nothing more.

But what if she was wrong? What if she were in denial, and what Cadenza said was true? Then she was an awful person. She used their feelings to her advantage to get only what she wanted from them and nothing more.

She continued to think about whether they might have had real feelings for her. Their words and actions swirled through her head as she questioned what was real and what was an act. Her reality became blurred yet again.

As if the fog cleared, she remembered what was supposed to happen back when they were still dating. The day she disappeared and went to the past, she was supposed to meet with them after Laurence was done with practice. They had something to say, but they never got the chance to say it. She completely forgot to ask them about it after everything that happened.

Not only that, they recently asked her on a 'date'. What if it was meant to mean more? What if it wasn't just them being nice? What if they were serious? Her eyes widened as she realized Garroth lied to her on the way out of Laurence's house.

He said her skirt was messed up, but he stuttered. He stutters when he lies. What if? No, it couldn't be possible. Them, and her? She tried to shake the thought out of her head, but all their actions and words stayed at the forefront of her mind.

They gave her a love potion. They tried to make her fall for them, but Lucinda told her the truth about why they did it. They told her they did not love her; it was just their dumb way of trying to protect her. So what was true? Did they lie to Lucinda? What was a lie, an act, a fake, and what was real?

The bell rang, signaling the end of the period, so she left the classroom and found her way to her next class. She couldn't focus during her classes as what Cadenza said stayed at the front of her mind.

When school was finally over, she made her way out of the school, walking alone as Aphmau had to stay behind and work on a group project. She didn't get far when Laurence and Garroth caught up to her.

"Princess! Wait for us." Laurence says as they quickly walk to join her.

She stiffened, not expecting to see the people who had been on her mind so soon. "Oh, hey, guys. No practice?"

Garroth chuckles. "It's Thursday. We both don't have practice after school on Thursdays, remember?"

"O-oh, you're right. Sorry, I forgot what day it was." She nervously laughed.

"Are you ok? You seem off." Laurence questions, looking at her to try and see if something was wrong with her.

Off to the side, she sees Cadenza glaring at her. "There's nothing wrong. Just a little distracted from class."

He looked to see his sister glaring at her as they walked. "My sister said something to you, didn't she?"

Her body stiffened as she nervously laughed out. "Nooo, what would give you that idea?"

"Wiz, you're bad at lying when you're put on the spot. What did she say to you? She didn't hurt you, did she?" He stops her in her tracks, pulling her to the side so other students can pass them on the sidewalk.

"Don't worry, she didn't hurt me. She was just worried about you. Do you know why?" She probed, trying to see if he would give her any clue to what the truth of the situation might be.

"Probably because we broke up so suddenly. She must have been worried something bad had happened."

"Well, something bad might've happened." She chuckles nervously.

"What do you mean?" His face drops.

"Well, I kind of had to tell her the truth about the fake dating thing." She says while looking away.

"Y-you didn't."

"I did. I'm sorry, but I didn't have a choice. She had the wrong idea and kept saying strange things."

Both boys tense at the thought of what Cadenza might have told her. "Strange things? Like what?"

She looked him straight in the eye, quickly flicking between him and Garroth to see if they would reveal anything. "That I broke your heart. Which couldn't be true, because the relationship was fake. Everything you two did was an act. Right?"

He stayed silent, unsure of what to say. Did he lie to her, trying to woo her first before asking her out, or did they do what they originally planned and try and make her theirs at the risk of losing her? He didn't have a chance to respond before Garroth beat him to it. "R-right. I-it was all an act." He stuttered out. Laurence looked at him wide-eyed, too late to stop him. Laurence knew they were caught. Wisteria always knew when Garroth lied.

She turned and started walking again, making sure to stay a step in front of the boys so they couldn't see her face. "I see. Of course it was, you both have feelings for my sister." She turned around and smiled at them, eyes closed as she walked backward.

Garroth was lying. There was no doubt in her mind that it was a lie. They liked her, for real. How, since when, why? Why did they have to lie? Why couldn't they tell her the truth? Her heart was shattering at the fact that she had used them. She didn't know, but that didn't make it any less cruel.

"What if we didn't like your sister anymore?" Laurence quickly asked, his lips moving before his brain could stop them.

She opened her eyes, looking at the panic on his face. "Then who do you like?" She asked, giving them a second chance to tell her the truth. Yet again, she was met with silence as they were too scared to speak.

She turned back around, refusing to see the pained look on their faces any longer. "A boy is planning to ask Aph out soon. Hopefully, it won't end the same way our 'date' ended."

She began to speed up, leaving them behind as they froze at her words. What did she mean by it not ending the way their date ended? Did she regret spending the night with them, or was she just nervous about her sister having her first time with someone?

The boys were left with more questions than answers. Why did she pretend not to notice Garroth lying? Why didn't she question their silence? If she knew the truth, why didn't she say anything?

Was lying to her the right thing to do when they were so set on asking her out before? They survived Aphmau rejecting them, but could they handle her rejecting them? Could they handle the risk of her leaving their lives if she rejects them? Or worse, could they handle being her friend when she finally dates someone else?

They thought they lost her that day she disappeared without warning. The day the potion exploded, and instead of her meeting them after Laurence's practice, someone else met them instead.

Laurence and Garroth were waiting in their usual spot, where they would walk home together with Wisteria after school when she would stay after with them. It was strange, she was late, but she's never late.

She did warn them that she had to stay after and work on a project with Dante and Travis, so they decided to wait a little longer, thinking it just ran late. She is not the type to disappear without warning that something came up first.

It wasn't until Dante ran up to them panting, tears streaming down his face, that they began to worry. "Laurence! Garroth! H-have you seen Wisteria?"

"We haven't. We were waiting here for her. What's wrong? What happened?" Laurence asked worriedly.

"We were making a p-potion for class when it exploded. We turned into cats and tried to ask Wisteria what went wrong b-but she wasn't there! T-the door was closed and we d-didn't have thumbs to open it! S-she couldn't have left, when we couldn't leave and—"

He grips his shoulders. "Dante, you're rambling. What happened? Where is she?"

He hiccuped. "I-I don't know! S-she disappeared! Vanished! Poof! T-Travis and I just turned back after an hour of being stuck in that room and are now searching the school! W-we were trapped in the room. She should have been trapped with us, but she wasn't! She was right in front of the cauldron when it exploded, w-what if—"

"A cat potion exploding isn't dangerous. She is fine, we just need to find her."

"We'll help you search. She has to be here somewhere. Where have you looked?" Garroth asks.

They continued to search the school, slowly becoming more and more nervous as they found no sign of her in either cat or human form. Dante called Gene, Laurence called Lucinda, Garroth called his mother, who called Sylvanna, and word quickly spread as everyone asked others to join the search party to find Wisteria.

Of course, they couldn't find any sign of her as she accidentally went through time. The police and Hyria were confused about what could have happened. Even when she came back and told her fake story, it made no sense how it would be possible, but they left it to a fluke as she was back safe and sound.

When they finally saw her the next day at school, they couldn't help but tackle her as soon as they saw her. They just made up their minds to ask her out when she disappeared without a trace. They didn't want to let her go, but Blaze forced them off so she could breathe.

They were terrified. What if it happened again? What if asking her out made her leave them? What if she never wanted to talk to them again? What if she regretted their time together because she thought everything was just for fun, was fake? What if she truly only stayed with them because of their bodies?

They couldn't bring themselves to ask, constantly pushing off what they planned, too scared to risk losing her. They would rather have her stay for their bodies than find out the truth and lose her.

They held off asking her out because they didn't want to lose her, but then they lost her, partly. She broke the fake relationship off, and she said they still liked her sister.

How wrong she was, but why couldn't they tell her that? Why couldn't they admit that she was the one in their hearts? That they didn't want Aphmau, they wanted her. Forever and always.

That day when Cadenza found out about their 'relationship' and met Wisteria for the first time, it left Laurence terrified. What if his sister hated her? What if she were forced out of his life? But then Wisteria promised them that the three of them would be together forever.

“The three of us are together forever. One way or another, time and distance won’t change that.” She spoke as she hugged them. And they believed her; they had no reason to doubt her words, but what if it was a lie? What if their feelings changing made her change her mind about staying in their lives?

Would they still have forever with her? Or would time and distance be all they had left?

Chapter Text

Another week has flown by, and Wisteria, Garroth, and Laurence never brought up the conversation, pretending as if it never happened. Wisteria was at school, walking around looking for students to mentor, when Garroth and Laurence walked up to her.

“Hey, Princess,” Garroth says. “Um, we were wondering if you wanted to go with us to the ice rink this weekend”. 

“This weekend? Hmm, sure, yeah. I’m free.” She says, thinking over her schedule. She was a little nervous. Would that be the day that forced her to acknowledge the fact that they liked her?  Was she ready to face their hearts?

“Perfect. I’m excited to go skating with you.” Laurence says. “We’ll show you a better time than Gene.” 

She laughs, hiding her nerves. “We'll see about that, but it should be fun.”

“We have class. We will meet you at the ice rink at noon, then. Saturday.” Garroth says as he and Laurence begin to leave. 

“Noon on Saturday. I’ll be there.”

It wasn’t surprising when the news of them hanging out after school spread. She was an alpha, so the werewolves gossiped about every little thing in her life. Always harmless, they just like to talk about her. 

She had no clue that someone would want to ruin their time together. Someone was worried that they were going to get back together. They never tried to ruin her relationship with Garroth and Laurence when they were together. The only time the werewolves got involved with her love life was when they thought Ein was trying to take Blaze’s spot as her mate.

It was later that night, when Wisteria was reading fanfic in bed, that Aphmau came in, hopping on her bed all giddy. “Guess what!” 

“What?” 

“Kai asked me on a date this weekend!” 

“Oh, he did?” She tries to put her best smile on for Aphmau, hiding her discontent. 

“He did! We are going to the ice rink this Saturday at noon!”

“Wait, the ice rink at noon?” 

“Yeah! Why? Is that a bad time?” 

“No, it’s just a funny coincidence. Laurence and Garroth asked me to hang out this weekend at the ice rink.” 

“Really? Huh. Garroth didn’t say anything this morning when I told him about my date.” 

Wisteria became more confused. She thought they liked her now, that Cadenza was right. She thought they were simply hiding their feelings, but maybe they weren’t over her sister if they wanted to keep an eye on her during her date. She wanted to as well, but they should have been honest with her if that was the case.

They asked her to hang out to stalk her sister. She was glad she didn’t love them, or her heart would have never handled the pain she felt. She couldn’t help but feel a little betrayed; did she get her hopes up even though she knew the truth all along? 

“He probably just thought it sounded like fun. I mean, Laurence seemed adamant about making me have a better time with him than I had with Gene." She chuckled. "It’s a popular spot.”

“I mean, you did say you enjoyed it last year when you went with the Shadow Knights. We can go together and split up once we get there." 

“Of course, and then if anything goes wrong, you can come to me for support.” She smiles. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but if the date with Kai was bad, at least her sister wouldn’t be alone. 

“You’re right! That makes me a little less nervous.” She lets out a breath of relief. “I’m glad you’ll be there.” 

“Me too. This time, I don’t have to hide while I sneakily watch your date.” She teases. 

“I forgot about that! Wait, were you going to do that if you weren’t already going to be there?” 

She giggles suspiciously. “Nooo, why would I do that? Kai’s a good guy.”

“You were! You’re just as bad as Mom! Not trusting any guys.” 

She laughs more. “What can I say? You’re too precious to me. I would protect you from all harm if I could, but I don’t get overprotective like Mom. She would stop you if she knew it was a date. I let you go, even if I’m cautious.” 

She laughs. “You’re right. Let’s tell her it’s just us two and not with any boys.”

“Deal.”

The school week went by slowly as she impatiently waited for the weekend. The school day on Friday was finally over as she was walking out of the building. Ein called out to her and caught up to her. 

“Hey, Ein. What’s up?” She asked. 

“Nothing much. I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out with me this weekend. Maybe this Saturday?” 

“Oh, sorry, I’m busy tomorrow. Maybe we could on Sunday or next weekend?” 

“I’m busy on Sunday, so maybe next weekend. What are you doing this weekend?”

“I’m going to the ice rink with Garroth and Laurence.” 

“What a coincidence. I am going too!” 

“Huh, really? I thought you were just asking me to hang out.”

“I wanted you to join me and my friends. A few friends of mine have been planning on going there for, like, a month now. You know, like how I joined you and your sister at the arcade and met more of your friends. I thought it would be fun to return the favor.”

“Oh, a shame. That would have been fun! I didn’t realize you made many friends this year. I’m glad!” She pet his head, proud of him for socializing.

“Yeah, well, if I see you on your date, I can still say hi, right?”He looked at her with puppy dog eyes as he leaned into her hand, enjoying the pets.

“Of course. But it's not a date. We are just hanging out as friends.” She sighs. “I’m pretty sure they just want to keep an eye on my sister while she’s on her date, but it works out for me. I need to keep an eye out for her anyway.”

“Huh, why would they want to keep an eye on your sister?” He asked, confused, unaware of the fact that they used to have feelings for her sister.

“Oh, it’s not really my place to talk about it. Let’s just say they had feelings for her last year, and I don’t think they are over her as much as they say.”

His eyes widen. “They like your sister? But they decided to fake date you? Is that not weird?” He was furious at how they could do that to her. They could have faked dating her sister if that was the case. Why couldn't they leave Wisteria alone?

“Honestly, it kind of is, but since it was just fake dating, it’s fine. It’s not like they tried to get me to drink a love potion to fall for them while they were still into my sister or anything.” She says sarcastically. 

“Well, if you want to escape, you can always join me. I'll happily keep you company.”

“Thanks, but I'll be fine. It would be rude to leave early, especially when I need to stay the whole time for Aph.”

“If you change your mind, you know where to find me. See you tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, possibly tomorrow.” She smiles and waves goodbye. Heading home as well. 

Tomorrow morning, Wisteria was getting ready for the ice rink when her sister knocked. She didn't wait for a response when she opened the door and went into her room. “Wisty, I need advice!” 

“Huh? Sure thing, what for?” She says, patting the bed next to her as she pulls her leggings on. 

“What do I do once I’m there? He asked me on a date, but I’m nervous. Do I try and h-hold his hand while skating?” She stutters. 

“Hmm, I say, see how the date goes. He made the first move with Katelyn, so I think you are safe to wait for him to make the first move on you. Unless you’d rather he not, then you can just be honest with him about what you want and don’t want.” 

“You make it sound so simple! What if I make things weird? I w-want to hold his hand, but what if he doesn’t want to hold mine? W-what if he tries to kiss me?”

“You’re overthinking. This is a first date; nothing big has to happen. It’s more of a test to see if you would work as more than friends. Since you two are friends, at the very least, you should have fun together. Worst comes to worst, you can hang out as normal instead of making it a typical date.” 

“You’re right! We were friends first and never had a problem hanging out or getting to know each other. Why would this be different? If we don’t like it, we can just stop! You’re the best, sis!” She hugs her sister before rushing out of the room to finish getting ready. 

She sighs and whispers to herself. “She’s so lucky I love her. If that cat hurts her, he'd better expect to lose at least one of his nine lives.”

Wisteria wore a sweater and thick leggings, knowing it would be cold. She tried to warn Aphmau to wear something warmer, but she said she didn’t have anything cute to wear that was warmer. 

She sighs, letting her learn the hard way as they head out together. They were running around the area, looking for the place. “How did we get lost! The bus was supposed to drop us off only a block away!” Wisteria complains. 

“I don’t know, but we’re late!” Aphmau says as they rush together, finally finding the place. “There it is!” 

“I see Kai; he’s over there! Go to him! I’m going to find Garroth and Laurence.” 

“Got it!” She says as she rushes forward to Kai. Wisteria slows down, not feeling so urgent now that she sees her sister with Kai. 

She walks around until she finds Garroth and Laurence standing by the other entrance. “Hey, guys.”

“Princess, isn’t it a little warm for such a thick sweater?” Garroth asks. 

“We are at an ice rink. It’s going to be freezing in there to keep the ice frozen.” 

“Yeah, but we’ll be moving, so we won’t feel cold,” Laurence says.

“Maybe for you boys, but I get cold easily. Honestly, I’m worried I’ll be cold like this, but I didn’t want to wear more layers and melt on the way here.” She starts walking into the building with them.

"We can always keep you warm." He winks at her.

She jokingly punches him in return. "Nice try, Casanova."

"Ouch, Princess. At least call me your knight if you are going to wound me like this." He teases as he has his hand over his heart.

"I'll think about it if you stop calling me Princess."

"No can do, but we can get our tickets and skates.” He says as they get in line. 

They continue to chat as they get their tickets and put on their skates. Ein comes up as she is struggling to tie her laces. Jax and Ryder were a few steps behind him. “Hey, Wisteria. We bumped into each other after all.” 

“Hey, Ein. Yeah, we did. Oh, hey, Jax and Ryder. Are they the friends you are hanging out with?” She asks, eyeing him for hanging out with troublemakers. 

“Yeah, they are. I know they can be trouble, but they are good people.”

“I get that. I can’t blame you for staying friends with troublemakers when I do the same thing.” She laughs, thinking about Sasha and Zenix. 

Laurence speaks up, not liking her talking to him. “Yeah, but you're here with us today. We’ll show you that we can be much more fun than the Shadow Knights or any other troublemaker.” 

“We’ll see about that.” She chuckles as she stands up shakily, her arms out to the side to help with her balance. “We’ll talk more later, Ein. We’re going to skate now.”

“Of course, you three have fun.” He smiles as he watches her shakily walk onto the ice rink, clutching onto the wall for dear life. Laurence and Garroth followed her, not struggling as she did.

Ein looks back at Jax and Ryder. “You two know what you have to do.”

They smirk. “Ruin their dates.” 

“Yes. One way or another, she is going to have her time ruined. Whether her sister comes crying to her or if she abandons them first.” He laughs as he, Jax, and Ryder begin their plan. 

Wisteria tried to stay on the opposite side of the ice rink to let Aphmau and Kai have their space. They didn’t have to hide from her, but they still wanted to give her some space and privacy. 

Ryder and Jax were annoying the whole time, constantly skating around and causing people to fall. They were not only skating to get between Laurence, Garroth, and Wisteria, but also Aphmau and Kai. 

It was annoying, but Wisteria couldn’t focus on them as Garroth and Laurence did their best to keep her distracted and happy. They reminded her that she was there to watch Aphmau, not to cause a scene or ruin their date. 

Even then, she couldn’t help but notice Aphmau shivering from falling on the ice constantly. She sighed as she excused herself for a moment to skate over to her. “Hey, Aph, put this on,” Wisteria says as she pulls off her sweater, revealing a tank top underneath. “You’re shivering.” 

“B-but then you’ll be cold.” She says as she takes the sweater and quickly slides it on, her actions contradicting her words. 

“I’ll be fine." She looks up at Kai, seeing him stare down at her cleavage, his face heating up slightly. "Sorry for interrupting; I’ll stop disturbing you two.” She says before skating back to Garroth and Laurence. Golden eyes followed her as she skated away.

“You were just complaining about how it is freezing in here; why did you give her your sweater?” Laurence asks. 

“She’s my little sister, and she is freezing, too. I'd rather see her warm, especially since her date doesn’t seem to be going well.” She sighs as she rubs her hands on her bare arms to warm herself.

Garroth takes off his leather man’s jacket, placing it around her shoulders. “Here, put this on.” 

“But aren’t you going to be cold?” She says as she clutches it around her. 

“Laurence and I are fine wearing a t-shirt since we are moving around. We aren’t the ones shivering.”

“Thanks then.” She says as she slips her arms into it, buttoning it up to keep herself warmer. She liked how it was still warm from him wearing it; it warmed her up quickly.

“I should have made you wear it earlier. It looks good on you.” He gazed at her body, enjoying the view.

“Huh? Does it?” She twirls, showing it off. She smelled cologne, so she tugged the fabric closer to her face to smell it. “It smells like you. Smells nice.” Garroth blushes at the unexpected comment. Stuttering, unable to respond. 

“Damn, now I wish I had brought a jacket. You would have looked much cuter in my clothes.” Laurence says, causing Garroth to softly punch his shoulder and them both to laugh.

She laughs. “Maybe next time. Although I’m not the one you wish to see wearing it. I’m too tall for it to be super cute and baggy on me.”

She lifts her arm, showing how the length fits her almost perfectly. It was baggy, but it wasn’t super-sized on her like most guys like to see on their girlfriends when they see them wear their clothes. It’s not supersized like it would have been on Aphmau, who was a head shorter than her. 

He takes her hand. “Princess, we may not be fake dating anymore, but it was nice when we were. I like how comfortable we can be when we are together.”

“Princess, don't compare yourself to anyone; you're beautiful in ways no one else is. I like how you can wear our clothes; someone shorter wouldn't look nearly as good as you do in them. Besides, your sister doesn’t see us in that way, and I'm glad she doesn't." Garroth says as he takes her other hand.

"What do you mean you're—" She tries to ask, but Jax rushes between Garroth and Wisteria, breaking their hands apart and causing Garroth to fall, Wisteria barely still standing as Laurence keeps her up. Ryder slides past Laurence, breaking their grasp and knocking them over.

“Those two are going to be in for hell at school! First time I catch them doing anything, oh ho ho, they're done for!” She growls. 

“Going to make them run laps? It’s punishment enough when I make my team run laps during soccer practice, but at least that’s just around the field. You make them run laps around the whole building.” Laurence laughs as he stands up, giving her a hand to help her up. 

“Oh, no. They deserve worse than just laps. I think I’m going to have to get a bit more creative when it comes to them.” She laughs evilly. 

“Poor guys, wouldn’t want to be them.” Garroth shivers, laughing at their misery. Wisteria was not the type of person you want to wrong. She’s not the type to get angry easily or punish people, so if she did, you were in major trouble. 

Once they were done skating, they hopped off the ice rink, sitting down to take their skates off. “I’m starving, are you guys up to eating upstairs, or do you have to go home?” She asks. 

“I’m down for food. Ice skating is a workout.” Laurence says. 

“I don’t know if it is the fact that it is a workout or the fact that we are covered in bruises from falling, but I’m more sore than the first week of baseball camp.” Garroth groaned as he rubbed his shoulders.

She grabs his hand, watching as random parts of his body glow slightly before returning to normal. “Better now?” 

“Very, thank you, Princess.” He bent down and kissed her hand before she ripped it from his grasp and punched him. He chuckled as it didn't hurt, knowing she just didn't like him teasing her.

She repeated the same thing for Laurence, removing the bruises from their bodies so they wouldn’t be in pain. They returned their skates before going upstairs to eat. 

Seeing Aphmau and Kai sitting right before them, they asked the hostess if they could have a seat farther away from them, which they obliged. They sat down and looked at the menu, deciding what to eat. 

“Oh, I completely forgot I was wearing this. Do you want it back now?” She says, motioning to the jacket he let her borrow. 

“No, you can wear it until we leave. I’m comfortable without it, and it looks good on you.” Garroth says, eyeing her. It was his favorite jacket, so he didn't want to lose it, but he almost wanted to tell her to keep it, as it looked better on her than on him.

“Alright, then I’ll gladly keep it on.” She says, holding the fabric tight to her, as her tank top underneath was not very warm. 

Laurence pouts, looking down at himself for something to give her. He looks at his hands and pulls off one of his rings. He grabs her hand and slides it onto her thumb, as it is too big to fit on any of her other fingers. 

She chuckles. “What’s this for?”

“You should wear something of mine too,” He says, with a slight blush from being embarrassed by his actions. 

“Oh? Is that jealousy I hear?” She teases.

“No! I just don’t like being left out!” 

“It is jealousy. Aww, Laurence, did you want to wear my jacket?” Garroth teases. 

“That’s not it, and you know it!” He growls back. 

She looked down at her thumb, twirling the ring as Laurence and Garroth continued to tease each other and argue. Their actions felt too real and warm at times for boys who liked her sister and not her. Instead of hurting her brain deciding if they had feelings for her or not, she decided to let their actions slide because if they liked her, they would tell her.

She decided to enjoy the attention, not wanting to think much about anything painful. She was done with love, so getting any benefits without risk of heartbreak was nice. Though she couldn't risk sleeping with them again, that benefit didn't outweigh the risk of hurting them.

She looked up and noticed Aphmau enter the bathroom, so she excused herself and followed her. Impatiently wanting to check up on her before the date could end. “Hey, Aph, how’s things going?” Wisteria says as she walks up and starts washing her hands, acting like she didn’t follow her. 

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m doing everything wrong. Kai’s acting differently from how he treats me at school. Do you think that’s because we are on a date?”She asks nervously as she splashes her face, trying to calm herself down. 

“It could be. I know it wasn’t a date when we went to the arcade, but is he acting differently than he did with Katelyn then?”

She sighs. “He is. Maybe I am too immature for him. I feel so embarrassed.” 

She cups her sister’s cheeks, forcing her to look at her. “Aph, you are perfect the way you are, and if he can’t see it, then it’s his loss.”

“I don’t even want to face him, but if I don’t, he probably won’t give me another chance.” She says, pulling her face from her sister’s hands, looking down.

“Just see how this date goes, and if you still feel like it was bad by the end of it, you don’t have to go on another one. Just because you have feelings for him doesn’t mean you have to date him or force things to work when they don’t.”

“You’re right. I can do this, I can do this… but maybe you could walk me back to my table? You know, just to grab your sweater I left on my chair.” 

She chuckles. “Of course. Garroth was nice enough to give me his jacket, but I’ll be able to return it once I have my sweater back.” 

Wisteria and Aphmau walk out of the bathroom together, walking to the table where Kai is sitting. They see Ein talking to Kai. Wisteria gets a bad feeling, but it is too late to stop Aphmau as she gets close enough to overhear their conversation. 

“My point is you're acting up; what’s the deal?” Ein asks. 

“I mean, Aphmau is a sweet friend, but I guess she’s kind of immature. I tried to think of her romantically, but I couldn’t really feel it with her. I can’t help but compare her to her sister. They are the same age, yet she is so much more mature,” Kai says. 

“Then why are you doing this?”

“I’m sure I can learn to like her as more than a friend. I mean, I really want a girlfriend. Her sister is more my type, but she says she doesn't want to date. Aphmau may not be as mature as her sister, but she has feelings for me, and I’m willing to try to learn to love her.” 

Kai picked the best and worst time to turn around to see Aphmau crying and Wisteria glaring at him. Aphmau runs off, and Kai chases after her. Ein holds Wisteria back as she tries to attack him. 

“I’m going to kill him!” She growls, trying to pull herself out of Ein’s grip, but he holds her too tightly. 

“Wisteria, calm down. He’s a meif’wa; it was to be expected. You shouldn’t get your hands dirty with the likes of him. I can handle him for you. You should focus on taking care of your sister instead.” 

She glares at him, not liking the way he spoke, even if he was on the same side as her. She finally yanked herself out of his grasp. “You touch him and I’ll kill you too!”  

She walked over to Aphmau’s seat, grabbing her sweater before stomping over to Garroth and Laurence. She took his jacket off and threw it on his lap, doing the same for Laurence’s ring. “Shit hit the fan. I have to leave early.”

She doesn’t hear them as she stomps downstairs to look for her sister. She couldn't care less that she accidentally took some of her anger out on them, as in that moment she saw her sister crying alone. Kai left her alone.

“Aph, come here.” She says, pulling her head into her chest tightly. 

She weeps loudly as she wraps her arms around her sister’s waist. “H-he didn’t even stop to consider me!” 

“I know, I know, I’m sorry.” She hugs her sister tighter as she sees Ein come down the stairs. She glared at him, letting him know to keep his distance. 

He passed them, walking outside without saying a word. He seemed taken aback by her reaction to him, but he tried not to take it to heart. Her date got ruined, and that was all that mattered to him. He just wished he could rub that horrible human boy scent off of her. 

“He just wanted to use me!” Aphmau weeps. 

“I know. It was unfair of him to treat you that way, especially when he knew of your feelings.” 

“I never thought I was perfect, I never wanted to be perfect, but right now I wish I were! Why did he have to prefer you?” She looked up at her sister's face, her own covered in tears. 

She teared up. “I… I don’t know. I’m not any better than you. I’m not perfect either; neither should anyone be.” 

“E-even Garroth and Laurence picked you after using me. I-I know you guys were just fake dating, but you're my sister! They have dozens of girls after them; they could have gone for anyone else. Why did it have to be you? Why you?”

“I-I don’t know. I wish I had an answer to your questions, but I don’t. People are complicated, and a lot of the time, we don’t even understand our own feelings until it's too late."

“I-I just want to go home.” 

“Let’s go home.” She guides her sister out as she tries to wipe away the endless stream of tears on her cheeks.

Garroth and Laurence are standing outside, waiting for them. “We’ll take you two home,” Laurence says. 

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’m sorry to ditch you two like this, but I can make it up to you later if needed,” She says before walking away with Aphmau. 

Now was not the time to be dealing with any boys or extra emotions. She had to focus on Aphmau; it was her fault she got hurt in the first place. She should have stopped it even if her sister would hate her and not understand. 

How could she not remember what happened until after it happened? It had been sixteen years, but she should have remembered how Kai hurt her. She should have found a way to write information down when she first came to this world, even if she was a baby with no motor control. 

Once home, Aphmau flopped onto her bed, crying, begging her sister to leave her alone. Wisteria couldn’t comfort her sister when she was part of the reason she was so hurt. 

She went to her room, sliding down the wall, grasping her head as she cried. She should have done anything to protect her, yet protecting her would have hurt her worst in the long run. Was she doing the right thing?

She sobbed as she pulled out her phone and texted Aaron. He was the only one she could count on to help Aphmau. 

Flying Rat🦇

Please call Aph

I can’t comfort her and you are her rock

FC can do more than I ever can

Please

Teddy Bear🧸

Calling

She sighs, dropping her phone as she finally crawls into her bed, drifting off to sleep after running out of tears. 

Chapter Text

It was Sunday morning when Wisteria groggily got up and went downstairs as she smelled her mom cooking. “Are those breakfast tacos I smell?” She says, grabbing a mug from the cabinet and pouring herself some coffee. 

“It is, oh mija, did you not sleep well? You have eye bags, and you're drinking coffee. You never drink coffee in the morning unless you slept badly.” Sylvanna says, turning to look at her daughter. 

“Yeah. Just a bad dream.” 

“What was it about?”

“Dinosaurs were attacking the village where we and all our friends lived. I got eaten by a T. rex and woke up. I think I slept wrong, as my back hurts right where the T. rex bit me.” She lies about her dream, rubbing her back where it is sore. 

Her mother laughs. “Oh, yes, that is a bad dream. Lucky for you, I know what will fix it.” 

“Breakfast tacos?” 

“Breakfast tacos.” 

Aphmau yells from upstairs. “Mom? Can you put potatoes in the breakfast tacos?” 

“Mmm, potatoes.” Wisteria drools as she goes to grab a can of diced potatoes from the cabinet before her mother can say no.

“What? Hey, I never said yes!” Sylvanna says as she sighs, pulling out a frying pan to cook the potatoes in. 

“You don’t have to. I’ll fry them up myself if you won’t.” She says, putting the can down as she searches for a can opener. 

After they were done cooking, Wisteria, Aphmau, and Sylvanna enjoyed their breakfast tacos at the table. “You seem to be in a good mood, mija; did something good happen?” Sylvanna asks. 

“Oh, nothing major. I’m just happy to have potatoes on my breakfast tacos.” Aphmau says before taking a large bite out of her taco. Wisteria takes a picture of Aphmau, giggling to herself. “Hey! What was that for? I’m eating!” She screeches. 

“Nothing, I just know someone who would be amused to see such cannibalism. The potato eating potatoes.”

“Delete that! I’m not a potato!” She reaches over to try and steal her phone.

She giggles as she leans out of reach and she hits send. “Too late, already sent.” 

“Mom! She’s bullying me again!” She whines. 

“Mom! She deserves it; she’s eating her people again!” She jokingly complains. 

Sylvanna sighs as she jokes back, pinching both of their cheeks. “What am I to do with you two girls? Always so much trouble.” 

After eating, Wisteria goes back up to her room, enjoying the last of her weekend to relax and to read. That was until someone called and interrupted her. “What do you need, you big teddy bear?” She asks. 

“How do you know I need something?” Aaron asks.

“You only call me when you need something; now spill.” 

“Fine. I was just curious about something… Who exactly broke Aph's heart?” 

“My, jealous, are you? And here I thought you were going to ask who made her all cheery this morning.”  

He stutters. “H-hey! I-I’m not jealous. I-I’m just worried because she was hurt. Wait, what do you mean she was cheery this morning?” 

“Mhm, sure. It was some senior meif’wa guy. I don’t believe you met him before, but I don’t think you have to worry about him anymore. She was happy, asking for potatoes in her breakfast tacos. It seems like someone called her last night and made her feel better than ever.”

She didn’t need to see his face to know he was a blushing mess. He was ecstatic to hear that he put her in a good mood. “That stupid potato. She really was cannibalizing her people. I-It was a good photo of her.”

“It’s almost as if the guy she truly liked all along could affect her more than anyone else. Oh, but that would be crazy and can’t possibly be true. Aaron and Aph, together? Unthinkable.” She says sarcastically. 

“Hey! You’re the one trying to push us together! When are you going to get a boy of your own? Do I have to push you into another locker?” He chuckles. 

“I have plenty of boys interested in me; I don't need you stepping in to help. ”

“Yeah, then why don’t you date one? Are you still swearing off dating until you graduate?” 

“Hmm, something like that.” 

He laughs. “I don't know anyone who avoids love like you do. You still never told me why you refuse to date."

"That is on a need-to-know basis, and you don't need to know." She says matter-of-factly.

"It sounds to me like you don't have a valid reason. You're sister is worried about you. Just date someone."

"Like who?"

"Anyone but Gene. Anyone would be better than him." He growls. "What about one of your fake boyfriends?"

"Ex fake boyfriends. And you know I can't. They like my sister, even if they said yes, it would be weird to be with my sister's sloppy seconds."

He laughs. "They aren't her sloppy seconds. If not them, Zane wouldn’t be bad. Aph liked the thought of you being with him, and you like him, too, right? Unless being with him is too weird after your fake relationship with his brother."

"Zane fucked up his shot. You know that."

"You never explained how or why he broke your heart." He huffs after not getting a response from her. "There has to be another guy you like. What about the other alpha?”

“Hmm, the alpha is hot, but he’s too nice to use. I don't want to hurt him because I dated him just to date someone. I would be no better than Kai. Plus, he will be graduating in two months. I would be stuck in the same situation as you and Aph."

He sighs. "So you stay single."

"Yep. I can't risk hurting Aph by being with anyone."

"Why would it hurt Aph if you dated someone? She was the one trying to push you into a relationship."

"You know Aph's date went horribly. She felt hurt by the fact that guys who either used to like her or she liked them now like me. I can't risk hurting her more than I already did when I fake-dated Garroth and Laurence."

He thinks for a moment. “I can see why. Things didn’t end the best between them, right?”

“Well, it didn’t end badly, but I don’t think Aph ever got proper closure from them. They both stole a kiss from her without asking and never apologized for their actions.” 

“Then why don’t you tell them to apologize to her? If they apologize, then Aph shouldn’t feel bothered by them anymore.”

“Hmm, that’s true. Plus, it helps Aph feel better, too. Thanks.” 

“You? Thank me? Is the world ending?” He laughs. 

“Har, har, har. I’m hanging up now, loser.” She says as she hangs up on him. She puts her phone down, looking up at her ceiling as she smiles. “I always did want a big brother.”

The next day, she walked into homeroom as normal and sat down with Laurence and Garroth. “Morning. Can I ask you two to do something for me?”

“Of course, Princess. What is it?” Laurence asks.

“Well, only do it if you want to. Don't do it only because I asked you to. If you guys are sorry about it all, can you take the time to apologize to Aph? It bothers her what you two did in the past, especially considering how we fake-dated for a while.” 

Garroth sighs. “About the… yeah, we should apologize. We were stupid and—”

“You don’t have to explain or apologize to me, just to her. I think she would appreciate it. It might even help you get closer to her again. I know you haven't talked as much since what happened last year."

"Would you be happy if we got closer to her again?" Laurence asks.

"Of course. You two are my friends, and she is my sister. I only want the best for you all." She smiles. "I also wanted to apologize for taking some of my anger out on you over the weekend. You two didn't deserve that. I'm sorry."

"It's alright, Princess. We knew you didn't mean it." Garroth says.

"Thanks, guys. Also, don't tell her I asked. It's better if she thinks you weren't given the idea and decided to do this on your own."

"Of course, Princess. But what do we get in return?" Laurence winks.

"A hug." She says as she pulls both of them in for a hug. The bell rings, signaling the end of homeroom, so they get up and head to their next class.

She was dreading her first class, as she would have to sit next to Kai and not kill him. Lucky for him, Aphmau was doing much better and made her promise not to touch him, as she wanted to make up with him eventually. 

She did her best not to glare at him as he sat down next to her. “Wisteria, I can—” Kai tries to say something, but gets cut off. 

“No, Kai. Respectfully, we aren’t friends until you figure out your situation with Aph. She is my sister, and if she hadn’t made me promise not to snap your neck, you would be missing one of your nine lives. If you get her to be ok with you, I will be too, but until then, you mean nothing to me.” 

She turns and looks away from him. She could hear him start to say a few things, but he eventually sighed and faced forward, not talking to her like normal. She knew she hurt him, which in one way she hated, but in another, he hurt Aphmau, and until it was forgiven, he was unforgivable. 

Ein looked almost too happy to see Wisteria. She thought he would be a little upset with how she reacted the other day, but his tail was slightly wagging as if something good had happened, and he couldn’t completely hide it. 

“What’s up with you? You seem unexpectedly in a good mood.” She asks, not realizing that Ein heard what she said to Kai before sitting down.

“Oh, nothing major. Just something annoying is out of the way.” He responds, smiling. 

"That's good. Sorry about the other day, I didn't mean to take my anger out on you."

"That's okay, I understand. Anyone would react badly to their sibling being hurt. But can you do something for me as an apology?"

She looks surprised, not expecting him to ask for something. "Huh, sure. What is it?"

"Skip class next period and follow me somewhere."

"That's a big ask. What do you need me to do that for?" She questions, suspicious.

"You'll see when you follow me. If I need to, I will use the favor you owe me, but I would rather save that for a special occasion."

"No, I'll go. But you are making me curious. What is this about?" She scoots her chair towards him. "Come on, you can whisper it to me if you are worried others will hear."

He smirks and leans forward, his lips brushing against her ear. "Follow me and find out." He leaned back and laughed when she pouted and threw a mini tantrum.

He didn't give her a single hint, no matter how much she begged. He could have told her, but he loved the attention she was giving him. He would have to use her curiosity to his advantage again one day. Although he would also have to be cautious that her curiosity doesn't ruin any of his plans.

After class ended, Wistiera followed Ein to a secluded part of the school, skipping witchcraft class to see what he wanted from her. He sat down on a bench, patting the spot next to him for her to sit.

She stood in front of him, arms crossed. "Okay, now tell me why you are making me skip class with you."

"Sit down first." He pats the spot next to him again. She rolls her eyes but sits down next to him. "Good job." He pets her head, causing her to glare at him. "I wanted to ask you this question for a while, but I wasn't sure how to ask. Why do you pretend to be human?"

She widens her eyes, pulling his hand off her head as she looks at him oddly. "Ein, I am human. I'm not pretending to be. No matter how hard it is to believe, I did become alpha even though I am not a werewolf."

"That's a lie! I saw your ears and tail. You used them to break into a boy's locker to put their blazer in it. Then you closed it and removed them again."

"Y-You saw that? I thought no one was around." Her face blazed up at getting caught.

"I followed you because you had a guy's blazer in your hand. You were acting suspiciously, so I watched you and saw you take your ears and tail out. So why do you pretend to be human? Is it because you are adopted and want to be like your adoptive family?"

"No, that's not it. I'm about to tell you something I haven't told anyone. So keep this a secret. Understood?"

He nods. "I will be happy to learn more about you, especially the parts no one else knows."

She sighs. "I told everyone I have restoration magick. Which I thought was true until I got Joshua's disease and my magick stabilized. Once it stabilized, my magick got much stronger, unbelievably stronger. It felt different then before.

"I was able to do things I never could before, and it made me question if I truly had restoration magick. For example, I can heal wounds by turning the body back to a state where it was unwounded. But in reality, I found I can also bring the wounds back." She lifts her arm, bringing back an old cut on her hand, showing him what she meant before healing it again.

"Which I have been testing out, and it seems more like I can affect the time of things, not just restore them. I had the werewolf potion on for a while, and found I could turn it on and off by reversing the time of my body to a point where it had it on." She says as she puffs her ears and tail out.

"So, I'm not a werewolf. I just went back to a state where I had the potion effect to break into the locker. As a werewolf, I can hear the clicks and break into it versus as a human I would've needed a crowbar."

"So you are human." He mutters, disappointed.

"I am. The ears and tail are an effect of a werewolf potion. I'm not a real werewolf by any means."

"Why haven't you told anyone your magick is not what you thought it was?"

"Well, I'm not fully sure what my magick is. I think it's chronomacy, but if that's true, then…" She takes a deep breath and lets it out. "It's kinda scary."

He gently pulls her head down, forcing her to lie down on his lap as he pets her head, comforting her. "Why would it scare you? It is your magick, you are in control of it."

She shifts to lie more comfortably in his lap. She tears up as she speaks. "I'm not sure that's true. I-I don't think I am in control of it. At least not fully. If I get injured, I automatically heal it. I don't decide to do it, my magick does."

"That isn't scary. You are probably unconsciously using it when it heals you." He gently pinches the tip of her ears, sending shivers down her spine as he lovingly caresses them. "At worst, your magick is only protecting you."

"You're probably right, but it's not the only thing it does without my permission." Her tail thuds nervously. "It acts up when I am alone, like it's trying to show me something. Like it wants me to do something."

"What do you mean? What does it do?"

She turns to her side, facing away from him, no longer wanting to look up at his face as she talks. "I-I can't say."

Cupping her chin, he gently turns her face to look at him. "I can't help you if you don't tell me."

"That's the problem. No one can help me. I have to learn to control it on my own. Not everyone has magick, and those who do each have a type unique to them. They spend their whole life honing it. I'm not strong enough yet."

"I'm strong. I'll protect you until you are too. Even if you stay weak forever, I'll always stay by your side to keep you safe." He gently caresses her face.

All she could do was smile. She didn't want to argue with him as she couldn't tell him more. "Thanks, Ein." She lifts her hand, grabbing his and moving it back to the top of her head for him to continue petting her.

He chuckles, finding her action cute. He pets her head for the rest of the period, happy to see her with ears and tail, even if it was only temporarily. Once their time was up, he gave her a tight hug, purposefully rubbing his scent onto her before he let her leave. His face dropped as she removed the potion effect.

That weekend was one she had been looking forward to for months. It was the day she was finally going to reveal all of Principal Layla's wrongdoings to the board. She changed into a professional dress and gathered her files, ready for the board meeting.

She had been collecting evidence all year of her wrongdoings and ignorance. It was finally time for the school's monthly board meeting, where students and parents are allowed to come and present or listen to others speak. It was finally time for her to take Principal Layla down a peg. 

She patiently waited until it was her time to speak. Sitting in the rows of chairs, they had for any listeners who may show up. Almost no one else was there besides a handful of people and Gavin, who always came to every board meeting to try and improve conditions for the werewolf students. 

When it was finally her time to speak, she stood tall as she walked. Her high heels clacked on the floor as she walked forward. A large stack of papers was in her hand as she stood up at the podium to speak. 

“Thank you for allowing me the time to speak tonight. I am here to talk about the injustices and the problems the students have been facing since Principal Layla has been given her position.” 

One of the board members speaks. “Principal Layla was assigned to your school as your last principal was a troublemaker who had no respect for the school's budget. She has been reaching results no one else was capable of. It is impossible that she is causing harm to the students when she has been improving the school.”

“She may have done things that look impressive number-wise, but it was at the sacrifice of ruining the school properly. I will now pass out the evidence and go through my points. I ask for you to listen, and then you may ask any questions and make your decisions after I am done talking.” 

Wisteria steps down from the podium to hand each board member a packet of the evidence she collected and the points she would be talking about. Each was stapled together and neatly compiled with bullet points and important points highlighted. One for each member so they wouldn’t have to share. 

She steps back up to the podium before speaking. She spoke confidently as she went through her speech she spent hours preparing. She mentioned the students she punished wrongly, her harmful shift in budget, her dismissing teachers’ concerns, the removal of safety measures in school, and her superiority complex. 

She brought up her case with the Shadow Knights, as well as Ein’s piercing problem and other reported problems that other students had. She mentioned how she removed the needed budget for teachers’ supplies, so they have been short on the school supplies needed for their lessons. 

Her ignorant comments and actions to ignore meif’wa and werewolf culture and unique problems, which lead to more unnecessary problems. The continuous switching of classes was harming student education. The turning off of security cameras without warning any students or staff, and the broken safety mechanisms in the lockers. 

While sprinkling word by word, the things she had said. She saw herself as superior and thought she did not need to listen to anyone else. Wisteria was going to prove her wrong. 

“That is the end of my presentation. Does anyone have any questions?” All the board members raised their hands. She slowly goes through their questions as they dig deeper into all the problems Layla has been causing behind the scenes. 

At the start, they barely listened to her as she spoke, but by the end, they became fully invested in every word she said. Gavin stepped in to agree with many of her points and to hit home certain problems Layla has caused. 

The board members couldn’t say anything at that meeting about what would happen to Layla, so they thanked her for her time and ended the meeting. Even without them saying anything, she knew Layla would be fired after the school year was over. 

The evidence was overwhelming. It was impressive how she managed to gather so much without most of the concerns reaching their ears before she met with them. Layla’s reign over the school was over. 

As soon as Wisteria got home, she fell asleep. She was knocked out for eighteen hours. A huge weight was successfully lifted off her shoulder, so she felt like she could finally rest.

She slept most of the weekend, making it go by in a flash. Not only did the weekend go by in a flash, but so did the school year. There were fewer than two months left of school.

It wasn't long until Aphmau forgave Kai and became his friend again. Since Aphmau has forgiven him, Wisteria also became friends with him again. She walked into her first period class, Kai talking to her as soon as she sat.

"Wisteria, how are you doing?"

"I'm good. Why?" She asks suspiciously. It was a harmless question, but it came out of nowhere.

"Well, the prom flyers will be posted next week. I know you are a sophomore, but your fake boyfriends were juniors and could have taken you. Are you sad you can't go anymore?"

She slams her head into the table. “Ugh! Don't remind me! I’m already dreading prom season. I'm going to go insane from all the prom-posals if I don’t pick a partner right away. The werewolves drove me crazy last year, asking me to be their date.”

He laughs. “I see. I didn’t consider the fact that the werewolves would do the same thing to their alphas as mefi’wa do to their sabers. Will you be going with the other alpha?” 

“Possibly. If he doesn’t have a date, he would probably be my best option. The problem is, I think one of my friends likes him, so I might have to try and push them together, but picking someone else can cause problems if I’m not careful.”

“Problems? What do you mean?” 

“Oh, well, I’m basing it on what happened last year. The other alpha took my sister as his date, so I had to go with someone else. Since they couldn’t beat him in a fight and take his title, being my date was the next best thing for them to gain recognition.

“I’ll probably have to pick a senior to limit any problems arising. Since Blaze will be graduating this year, I might have to pick another male next year, and I don’t want to risk people thinking my date this year will be the alpha next year. If they are a senior, they will be gone, and I won’t have to worry about it.”

“That sounds ruff." He laughs softly at his joke. "Well, if you don’t have a date and will end up going either way, would you like to be my date to prom?” 

Her eyes widen in surprise. “Your date? Prom hasn’t even been announced yet, and you are already asking someone to be your date?” 

He chuckles. “I know it is a little soon, but since we are talking about it, I figured I could ask now. I don’t have a date to prom, and I will only be taking one of my friends from the meif’wa club to prom if I have no one else to go with.” 

“Hmm, I’ll think about it. I’m not sure how Aph will feel if I take you to prom, but thank you for the offer.” 

“Of course, Alpha.” He teases her, causing her to laugh. 

Ein was fuming. He wanted nothing more than to rip Kai apart. How could this filthy meif’wa even think of taking their alpha to prom? He caused enough problems in her life, yet she was still humoring him. 

He was a sophomore, so he couldn’t take her to prom even though he wanted to. He would have to wait another year before he could ask her. He had pushed off his plans for so long because it wasn’t the right time. Next year, he was going to make her his, no matter what.

Chapter Text

Wisteria is kicking her feet in bed as she finishes her book. Satisfied with another good story. She checks the time, deciding it is a good time to bother Aaron. She calls him, waiting for him to answer. “What do you need? I’m busy, you flying rat.” He says as he answers the phone.

“Yo, teddy bear. When are you getting home for the summer?”  

“Classes finish next week. So probably on the 20th I’ll be back. Finals are going to be brutal.” 

“Perfect. I’ve been working out all year to fight you again this summer!” 

“Oh, um, I don’t think we can spar anymore.” He says sadly. 

“Huh, why not? Did you get injured or something?” 

“No, my father doesn’t like me being around you and your sister anymore. I don’t know why, since he seemed fine with it last summer.”

She sighs. “I have a guess as to why. I bet he found out we were human or who our dad is.”

“Who your dad is? Why would that matter? Or the fact that you are human. We are human too, you know.” 

“Really? I thought you were a wolf with how feral you are.” She laughs, causing him to growl. “Well, let’s just say our dad had a falling out with your father. I don’t know the details, but I found out they knew each other years ago. Aph doesn’t know, so please don’t bring it up to her.”

“I won’t, but that would explain a lot. I guess he never would have thought you were his daughter since you had the werewolf potion on you.” 

“Uh, not exactly. One, our dad is a werewolf, and two, I’m adopted. I would be surprised if he noticed who my dad is by looking at me. He probably searched up who our parents were to make sure we were good for you to hang around, and changed his mind once he found out.”

“Wait, hold up. You’re adopted? Wait, then that means Aph could have been a werewolf? Why was she so bad in werewolf class?” 

“Yeah, but she doesn't know he's a werewolf, and did I really never mention that I was adopted?” 

“She doesn't know, how would she not—never mind that! You're adopted! Aph told me you were her older twin sister! You two look nothing alike, so I assume you look like your dad since your sister looks like your mother.” 

She laughs. “No, I was left on their doorstep the day our Mom came home from the hospital with Aph. Since they didn’t know my birthday, they made us twins since we both came home on the same day. I’m technically a few months older than Aph.”

“I thought you were a flying rat, but I guess you are just a street rat.” 

“AARON! That was so bad!” She laughs at his cruel joke. She knew he didn’t mean any harm from it and just wanted to pick on her. 

He chuckles before switching back to being more serious. “Yeah, I’m sorry that we probably won’t be able to see each other this summer.” 

“Don’t be sorry. Have you tried talking to your father about this? That you still want to be friends with us and that we are good for you.” 

He sighs. “He’s not the type to listen.”

“Then make him listen. Pick a day and time. Tell him you two are going to sit down and talk, then say what you need to say. I know you don’t like talking about it, but he’s been restricting who you can be friends with, trying to only let you stay close to those who are werewolves.” 

“I’ve tried in the past; he doesn’t care what I have to say or how I feel.” 

“So you're just going to give up? Give up on having the life you want? Locking yourself in your dorm room because your father found a way to make it so you won't be put into any group projects to keep you away from people.”

He sighs. “No, I don’t want to live like this, but I don’t know how to—”

“June eighth at noon. Tell him that is when you're going to sit down and talk with him. Plan out what you want to say, and let him know he has to meet with you, as it's important.” 

“You think that will work?” 

“Your father's a businessman, right? Scheduling a serious talk with him might be the best way to make him listen. He’ll know you’re serious and at the very least, maybe he will explain better why he's doing what he’s doing, even if he won’t change.”

“You’re right. It’s at least worth a try. I have never tried that before. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome." She sighs. "Well, I just wanted to know when you would be back. I’ll let you go so you can study for finals. Bye.” She says before hanging up on him after he returns the goodbye. 

She was glad it was a phone call, as she couldn’t hide her smirk. Her plan was going swimmingly. She knew his talk with his father would most likely fail, but he just needed his dad to be free so she could speak with him. 

She was going to take over Aaron’s meeting and get what Aaron wants from him, and more. But that wouldn’t be for a little over a month. For now, she would have to survive prom season, her exes, and finals. 

She walked into school on Monday, not expecting to see a surprise from Garroth and Laurence. They were waiting at her locker, flowers in hand. “Princess, will you go to prom with us?” Garroth and Laurence say in unison.

“Prom? We broke up not that long ago, and you still want me to go to prom with you?” She asks, looking at them, stunned. The student council was still putting up flyers for prom. They prepared this before any of the announcements showed up. 

“We were planning to take you as our girlfriend, but we know we can't now. We know we can’t convince you to take us back, but will you still do us the honor of being our date to the prom?” Laurence asks. 

Garroth says. “We don’t want to go to prom if we don’t have you as our date. Princess, won’t you grant your knights a night to dance with you?” 

Her face heats up as she clasps the lower half of her face. She could smell cologne and tell they spent extra time fixing their hair that morning. They said each word carefully, knowing exactly what to say to embarrass her the most. They put their charm on the max setting and directed it fully at her. 

“You two are unbelievable.” She whispers as she drops her hand from her face.

“Is that a yes, Princess?” Laurence asks. 

“You two really are enjoying this whole knights and princess thing way too much.” 

“We did say we would be your knights in shining armor. Breaking up with us doesn't change that.”

"No, but me hating being called Princess should."

“But you always make the cutest expressions when I call you Princess. You used to call me your Prince,” Garroth says as he gently caresses her cheek before slipping a rose behind her ear. “I may not be your Prince anymore, but you will always be my Princess.”

“If you don’t like the title of princess, I wouldn’t mind calling you my Queen,” Laurence says, grasping her hand, bringing it to his lips, and kissing it. Afterwards, he places the bouquet in her hands. 

“Y-you… You… You blockheads! Meatheads, idiots, simpletons, imbeciles, nimrods, featherbrains, know-nothings, half-wits, incompetent dum-dums!” She shouts, causing everyone who wasn’t looking at her before to look at her now. 

She was furious with them. How could they ask her to the prom? If they like her, why can't they just ask her out or confess like normal people, so she can get this over with? Why did they have to flirt with her and confuse her heart?

Her face was redder than the roses in the bouquet she held. Her favorite flower, baby's breath, was mixed among the roses. “Say yes, my Queen.” He says.

“We’ll make you the happiest girl at the ball,” Garroth says. 

She couldn't handle the confusion of feelings as she screeched, turned, and ran away. She slips, barely catching herself before she falls, her shoe falling off in the process. She leaves it behind, not wanting to get caught by them while trying to grab her shoe. 

She was too panicked to respond to them. They were overwhelming her so suddenly. They didn’t give her a single reason to suspect they were planning something like this. Her heart was racing; she felt so embarrassed. 

They liked teasing her before, but this was far beyond what they normally would do. They just had to make a big scene. How was she supposed to deal with this? Was this their revenge for not telling her beforehand that she was going to break up with them?

With nowhere else to hide, she went to the music room. She slipped into practice room three. She sat down, pulling her knees up and laying her head on them. 

Maybe she was spending too much time with Gene if she could skip class this easily. Granted, she is a good kid who is ahead on all her work and can handle missing a week of class without a problem. 

Eventually, she got a call. It was from Blaze, so she nervously decided to answer it. "Yes?"

"Wisteria, where are you? Everyone has been looking for you."

"They should stop. I'm fine and don't need to be found."

"I heard what your exes did this morning. I won't tell the others where you are. Just let me see you for a moment."

She hums for a second, thinking it over. "You promise you won't tell anyone about my hiding spot?"

"I promise. I, Blaze, who shines brighter than the sun, shall not betray your trust!"

"The music room. Practice room three." She hangs up, not waiting for him to respond.

Her nerves were through the roof. This had to be a mistake. Why did she reveal her hiding spot? If he is followed, her hiding spot would be ruined. She would have to leave and deal with her problems.

She didn't know if she should accept Garroth and Laurence's prom-posal. She kept going back and forth on whether they liked her or not. If they did and she accepted their proposal, would they ask her out next? And if they did, what would she say? Could she handle breaking their hearts?

It wasn't long until she heard the music room door open, causing her body to tense. She heard more than one pair of footsteps approach her, then a knock on the door. "Wisteria, are you in there?" Blaze asked.

She nervously leaned forward and opened the door. "I thought I said to tell no one." The door opened, revealing not only Blaze but the pup trio standing behind him nervously.

"I didn't! They were standing next to me and heard what you said over the phone. Werewolves have good hearing." He said proudly that he found a loophole.

"Don't worry, Alpha, we won't tell anyone where you are!" Rylan says.

"Yeah, don't worry! No one will find you. Our lips are sealed!" Dottie exclaims.

She pinched her temples. "Well, you found me. Now what?"

The pup trio opens and holds a poster that says, "Will you go to Prom with me?" It was messy and full of glitter that trailed the floor as they walked. "Will you go to prom with me?" Blaze asks.

She looked up at Dottie to see her excitedly waiting for her answer, the same as Daniel and Rylan. She showed no sign of being upset by Blaze asking her to the prom instead of her. She always did hope the alphas would date.

She puts the bouquet down and nervously stands and walks forward, stepping out of the practice room and standing a foot in front of him. "Yes, I'll go to prom with you."

He excitedly picked her up by her waist and spun her around. The pup trio cheered as he did, happy that she said yes. "Thank you. I will make sure you have an amazing night with me. I won't disappoint you!"

"O-Okay! But put me down!" She says, embarrassed, her face burning bright red as she held his shoulders as she was spun around.

He chuckles as he places her down, still holding her hips to make sure her feet are planted safely on the floor and her knees won't give out on her. "I have one more question for you."

"What is it?" She nervously asks, looking up at him.

The pup trio flips the poster over, accidentally holding it upside down before they quickly argue and spin it around to be the correct way. It said, "Will you be my mate?"

Blaze repeats the question, nervously waiting for her response. "Blaze, you are graduating soon. Do you really want to be in a relationship with a high schooler when you won't be one anymore?" She asks.

His eyes widen in surprise. He expected she would flat out reject him or say only for one night, the night of prom, the same thing she did with Balto last year. He didn't expect her to ask him that. "I would be proud to call you my mate, even if you are still a high schooler when I graduate."

"Can you handle me being close to the new alpha next year? Someone who will see me every day, likely more often than you will see me. Someone, the werewolves will be hoping I will date because they want their alphas to date."

"I would fight them if I have to! I wouldn't lose you so easily to someone else. I love you, and I want to make us work, even if it won't be easy. I've gotten to know you over this past year, and the only thing I regret is not trying to get to know you sooner."

Her eyes widened; she wasn't expecting such a response from him. She knew he liked her, but she thought it was a simple crush like all the werewolf boys had on her because she was the female alpha.

She looked over to see Dottie excitedly crossing her fingers, hoping she would say yes. Daniel and Rylan weren't much different as they did their best to keep Dottie quiet so as not to ruin Blaze's moment.

She looked back up into Blaze's eyes. They were gorgeous, honest. He was desperate to hear her response. His palms were sweaty against her hips as he nervously waited for her response.

"A-are you sure you want to be with someone like me?" She asked nervously. Aaron's words circling in her head about how she should try dating someone with clear feelings for her.

"Not someone like you. You. It has to be you. There is no one like you."

She embarrassingly buried her head into his chest. "O-okay then. W-we can try dating."

He picks her up again and swirls her again. "Yes! I will make you so happy." His tail was wagging like crazy as the pup trio cheered for him.

"W-what did I say about picking me up?"

He chuckles as he puts her back down and pulls her in close for a hug. One hand on the back of her head, the other against her lower back as he pulled her close, nuzzling into her.

He was so warm, his strong arms wrapped around her felt nice. She slowly wrapped her own arms around him as she nuzzled her face into his chest. He smelled earthy, a little musty, and animalic. It was different then the scents she was used to, as he was a werewolf and not human, but it smelled nice.

The bell rang as they pulled apart. Her face was bright red as she spoke. "O-Okay, that was the bell for the end of class. You four should go to your next class."

"What about you, Alpha?" Rylan asks.

"I plan on hiding a bit longer. I'd rather you spread the word I have a prom date first so I don't have to reject anyone." She says as she sits back in practice room three.

Blaze laughs. "We will spread the word of much more than you just being my date to prom."

"I-I figured. N-Now shoo, and tell no one where I am." She makes shooing motions with her hands.

The pup trio runs off, but Blaze steps forward, kissing her forehead before he leaves. Once gone, she closed the door and put her hand on her forehead, feeling where he had kissed her.

"I-I can't believe I said yes. What is wrong with me? I-I have a boyfriend now. A… a real one." She mutters to herself, half dazed. Her heart is fluttering.

She continued to hide in the music room for the rest of the day. Even when music class was in session, she didn’t leave. She simply sat quietly so no one would notice she was in there. She was glad they didn’t use any of the practice rooms during class, so she could hide. 

She only had one more class to wait through when she heard someone walk into the music room. She could hear them step towards her, and just when she thought they would open the door, they slid against it, sitting in front of it instead. 

She could hear them humming Rises the Moon, the same song she sang when someone walked in on her singing it. She listened to them for a moment before she decided to surprise them by singing the song. 

They stopped for a second, in surprise, not realizing someone was in the room behind them, before they continued to hum. Once the song ended, the person outside the door spoke. 

“I thought you said you couldn’t come here at this time?” The boy on the other side of the door says. 

“Something happened, so I decided to hide here. I’m ditching class again, and you were lucky enough to catch me.” 

He nervously laughs. “You shouldn’t ditch class, but I am glad to meet you again. I’ve been coming here almost every day during this time. Although I know you won’t be here, I still talk to the door.”

“Aww, that’s cute. Did you ever confess to the girl you like?” 

“N-no. I found out she liked someone else, and they went on a date. They didn’t get together as it ended badly, but I didn’t feel like it was the right time for me to approach her.”

“Ouch, I’m sorry to hear that. For both you and the girl. But it was sweet of you to hold off so she didn’t have to deal with any extra romantic pressures when she was struggling.”

“Thank you for saying that. You said you were hiding here. What are you hiding from?” 

“Oh, um, you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine.” 

“No, I want to help you. You gave me good advice last time; even if I didn’t use it, it was still helpful. And you made me feel better when I was sad. I would like to help you, if I can.” 

She hums for a second, thinking whether she should talk about her problems. She normally keeps things to herself, but maybe this one time would be alright. Her anonymous buddy could be helpful. 

“Well, my ex asked me to go to prom with him. He made a whole big deal out of it, and I didn’t know how to react… so I panicked and ran away.” She says, making it sound like she only had one ex, so he wouldn’t figure out who she was. There was only one poly couple at school that she knew of, and it was her old relationship. 

“You… you ran away?” He laughs. 

“H-hey, what’s so funny? I thought you wanted to help me, not make fun of me!” 

“N-No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to laugh; it’s just kind of cute how you reacted. You always seem so brave and confident; I didn’t think you would get so flustered and run away from something like that. Why didn’t you just reject him?” 

“I-I couldn’t! He brought me flowers and was being all flirtatious with me! He was even worse than when we were together! H-How am I supposed to react to a guy who wants to go to prom with me even though I broke up with him? He didn’t even beg me to date him again, just to go to prom with him.”

“You didn’t happen to lose a shoe while running away, did you?” 

She goes quiet for a moment, realizing he figured out who she was, yet she still tried to lie. “No?” 

“That didn’t sound very convincing. Wisteria, is that you?” 

“Mhm.” She makes a sad ‘I’ve been caught’ sound as she slowly opens the door, revealing her embarrassed red face, the bouquet still on her lap, and a foot missing a shoe. 

Kacey laughs as the door slowly opens. “I never thought it would be you on the other side of the door.”

“I didn’t think it would be you either. To think, I gave you advice on how to ask my sister out.” 

“W-w-what! Y-you know?” 

She giggles. “Yeah, you blush every time you see her. You can’t help but stare at her on our walks to school, and every time I mention her name, you perk up.”

“W-well, let’s not talk about me. You've been hiding out since this morning because Garroth and Laurence asked you to the prom. They’ve been looking all over the school for you! They even charmed their fan club into helping them!”

“I don’t know what to do with them. Did you hear what they did? How was I supposed to react to that?” 

“With a yes or a no?” He chuckles. “You really are different when it comes to feelings directed at yourself.” 

She groans. “I didn’t know what to say. I don’t have anything against them, but they are my exes. Isn’t it weird? They aren’t even the first to ask me to go to prom with them.” 

“You already have other offers? Wow, that’s amazing. I knew you were popular, but I didn’t realize how popular you were. Do you want to go with them or someone else?” 

“I don’t want to go to prom at all, but if I don’t go, I’ll be hounded by prom-posals from the werewolves. I hate rejecting people and doing it multiple times a day until prom is a nightmare. I can’t do it! So I, um, agreed to go with someone already.”

“Well, you still have to tell Garroth and Laurence. You already have a date, so they can't pressure you to be their date.” 

She groans. “I have to see them once school's over. Don’t I?”

He laughs. “Yes. You need to get your shoe back. You can’t keep avoiding them.” 

“Fine.” She sighs before switching the topic to pick on Kacey. Mainly asking him what he likes about Aphmau and watching his face turn red. 

Once the bell rang, she sighed, getting up and leaving the music room. She waits for Garroth and Laurence outside their lockers. It’s not long before they show up. They were surprised to see her waiting for them when she had been avoiding them all day. 

“Princess, you’re here,” Garroth says with a soft smile on his face. 

“We’ve been looking for you all day, Princess. We have your shoe,” Laurence says as he lifts her shoe. 

“Mmm! Stop with the Princess talk! I-I can’t go to prom with you. I-I’m sorry, but I never thought you two would ask me, but I already have a date to the prom."

Their faces drop at her rejection, but they quickly do their best to replace it with a smile. “That’s alright, we know it was sudden. We knew there was a possibility you would have a date already, considering the werewolves all wanting to ask you to prom as well."

“Yeah, well, uh, can I have my shoe back now?” She says awkwardly. 

Laurence laughs as he kneels and puts her shoe on for her. “There you go, M’lady.”

“Ahh! Not that either! People are going to think you two are simps!” She shivers, her face burning red from embarrassment. “I’m going now, so see you boys tomorrow.” She says as she waves goodbye, heading home.  

Garroth and Laurence sigh. “She rejected us,” Garroth says. 

“We knew she was going to. She wouldn’t have run for so long if it was going to be an easy yes.” Laurence says. 

“I know, but it still hurts. You still think we shouldn’t have asked her out, for real this time?” 

“No, I think it’s too soon. I don’t think she would believe us if we did. I think she still thinks we like Aphmau. You heard what she said when she broke up with us. She said we had someone else in our hearts.” 

“Isn’t she the one who told us not to let misunderstandings ruin things? She’s the one who fixed our friendship because we were too stupid to talk things out. We shouldn’t let her think that.” 

“Can you confidently say you are completely over Aphmau?” 

Garroth stayed silent for a moment. “Aphmau… she will always have a special place in my heart. I don’t think it’s romantic anymore, but she will always be important to me.”

“We kissed and chased after her sister last year. It can’t be easy for her to let that go. She’s even said she never thought of us romantically because we were interested in her sister. She said she would have no hope, so no reason to fall for us. Also, if we go too far again, she might push us away for good.

"We got lucky; she forgave us after the love potion stunt we pulled. I don’t think we have any luck left. I think we need a fresh start. She needs to learn that we aren’t acting or messing around when we flirt with her like we have been. She has to learn that we are serious about her now.” 

Garroth sighs. “You’re right. I know you’re right. It’s just hard. We keep messing up. I’m worried we’ll screw up again.”

“It’s alright. We’re in this together. And this time, we won’t fight over the girl. We’ll have better odds doing this together rather than against each other.” 

“You’re right. We did it once before; we can do it again. Sharing her with you wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” 

“I know, I thought poly couples were crazy for sharing their partner with someone else. I guess having the right person to share with is how they work because I don’t think I can handle seeing anyone else put their hands on her.” 

“Speaking of hands on her… She said she had a date for the prom. Who do you think it is?”

Laurence's face drops. “I don’t know. It can’t be someone good if they asked her before we could. They have to like her. The student council hadn’t even finished putting up the flyers when we asked her.” 

“Y-you don’t think it’s Blaze, do you? I heard the werewolves like it when the alphas get together. Do you think he snatched her up as soon as he heard we broke up?” 

“I don't know, but she would have told us if she were dating someone. It has to be one of the werewolves.”

“Well, if it is, it could just be because she is their alpha. She had a problem with all of them asking her to the prom last year. The problem is, if it’s someone who’s not a werewolf asks her, we will have more competition.”

Chapter Text

Wisteria walks into school the next morning and is quickly surrounded by werewolves congratulating her. They were all happy their alphas finally got together.

"Okay, okay, I know you guys are excited, but classes are starting in two minutes! Scurry!" Wisteria does shooing motions to all the werewolves circling her.

She hears multiple groans, but they all understand and go to class. Blaze walks up to her, pulling her into a hug as he chuckles. "Don't be too harsh on them. They are just happy we finally got together."

She hugs him back, burying her head into his shoulder. "I know, but I can't let them miss class because of it. Speaking of, we need to go to."

"I'll walk you to class." He lets her go but takes her hand in his as he walks her towards her homeroom. It wasn't long before they reached her classroom. He hugged her again and kissed her cheek, chuckling as her face turned bright red.

"I'll see you later in class?" She questions.

"I'll pick you up after class, so wait for me. I want to spend every minute I can with you." He chuckles. "I didn't expect you to get so red from my actions; you weren't like this with your exes." He caresses her cheek.

"D-don't tease me and go to class or you'll be late!" She gently pushes him away as he chuckles and leans his weight onto her so she can't move him. He smiles at her pouting face before he stops teasing her and leaves.

She walks into homeroom, sitting in her normal seat between Garroth and Laurence. From their seats, they couldn't hear what was said right outside the classroom. They quickly lean forward and ask her a bunch of questions.

"Are you okay? He's not doing something you don't want him to do, is he?" Garroth asks nervously.

"What was all of that? Did he just kiss your cheek? Why is your face so red?" Laurence asks while lifting his hand to caress the spot Blaze just touched, trying to remove his touch.

She lifts her hand, blocking Laurence's hand from reaching its intended target. "I'm fine, guys. You don't need to overreact. W-we are dating." She said the last part shyly.

She felt so embarrassed admitting it. It felt like a dirty secret as she always wanted to avoid dating. Now that she had someone, she couldn't help but act like a little schoolgirl in love. To act her age for once.

Their eyes widen. "You, you two are dating? You are dating Blaze?" He says, stunned.

"S-since when?" Garroth asks.

"Since yesterday, when he asked me out to prom as well."

"Why didn't you say that when we asked you to prom? Why did you run and hide?" Laurence asks, hurt.

"Oh, well, um, he actually asked me after you two. So that was just me panicking because I didn't know what to say. You two took your teasing and flirting to a whole new level, and with Cadenza putting ideas into my head, I couldn't handle it and ran. I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry, but the ideas Cadenza put in your head, you don't mean…?"

"That you two, or at least you like me, as more than a friend. But that can't be true, because you would've told me if things changed. You know you don't have to hide anything from me. Especially when you know I wouldn't want to hurt you two by breaking your hearts unknowingly."

"Ha, yeah… we can go to you about anything. You will never judge us." Garroth says sadly.

"Exactly. Our relationship was fake. If things began to feel too real, we could have done something to fix it to make sure no one got hurt. B-but now I'm in a real relationship. M-my first one, so, ha, this is so much harder than it was with you two." She fans her face, trying to cool the feeling of the blood rushing to her face.

"We're happy for you." Laurence smiles, trying to hide his pain.

"Thanks, guys. Oh, and if you are worried about him wanting me to stay away from you two because you are my exes, don't worry. I won't let that happen. I'll tell him the truth soon." She says with a large smile on her face.

The bell rings, and she says goodbye and waits outside the classroom, Blaze soon catching up with her and walking her to her next class. Garroth and Laurence can do nothing but sit and watch, doing nothing as their hearts shatter.

Her telling him the truth was almost worse. It meant one more person would know they were nothing but fakes in her life. One more person to know they were fools who couldn't keep her, to make it real.

The school year was now over, and it was officially summer. Wisteria successfully survived another year of high school. She nearly died when Garroth and Laurence first started upping the amount of flirting. Still refusing to call her anything but Princess, Queen, or M’lady, but they calmed down with the flirting after she got into her relationship with Blaze.

Blaze survived meeting Sylvanna because him being a werewolf and having a bubbly personality saved him. He brought his special Ah-la-Blaze dish. A meat dish he often makes at home when he cooks dinner for the family on occasion. Feeding and praising Sylvanna melted her enough not to kill Wisteria for getting a boyfriend and going to prom again.

Blaze and her had a great time at prom, dancing the night away, not stopping, no matter how bad she was at dancing. He loved it, having her by his side. Her dress matched his hair, his tie, and her fur as she put on a werewolf potion for prom. She wore the same dress as last year and needed a tail to fill the hole in the back of the dress.

Aphmau also went to prom; Garroth and Laurence took her and Katelyn as their dates. To Wisteria, it seemed like they wanted to go to prom even if she said no. In reality, it was their way of keeping an eye on her. They couldn't make her break up with her boyfriend, but they can make sure he does not do anything wrong, and if he does, they would have the perfect reason to step in and stop him.

Gavin congratulated Blaze and Wisteria on getting together. He felt proud that Wisteria finally seemed more immersed in werewolf culture, no longer avoiding that part of it.

She went to Blaze's graduation, gave him flowers, and met his family. His parents were happy to finally meet her as Blaze had been gushing about the 'human alpha' all year. His little siblings loved her, wanting to become her best friend.

It was June eighth. The day Wisteria has been waiting for. “Hey Aph, you ready yet?” Wisteria yells upstairs for her sister. 

“I’m sorry… I just can’t… AHH!” She yells. 

Wisteria, not liking the sound of her scream, rushes up the stairs two steps at a time. “Aph, what’s wrong—makeup?” She bursts into her sister’s room to see Aphmau keeled over, trying to wipe something out of her eye. Black makeup is being rubbed across her face as she does. 

“I wanted to try doing makeup like you, but I got it in my eye.” She says, looking up at her sister in tears. “I’m sorry for taking your makeup without asking, but I really wanted to try wearing some, and I didn’t have any.”

“Oh, Aph. Come here. You know I don’t mind you using it. You could have asked me to help you.” She says as she grabs makeup wipes, helping her clean off the mess on her face as well as wipe away her tears. “How’s your eye? Did you cry all the makeup out?”

“I-I think so. It still stings a bit, but not as bad.”

“Okay, good. Now close your eyes.” 

She does as her sister says, closing her eyes so she can do her makeup for her. She does her mascara as well as reapplies her blush she wiped away. She wiped off the red lipstick she had on and replaced it with lip gloss that suited her better. 

“You can open your eyes now," Wisteria says.

She opens her eyes, looking in the mirror. “Wow, I look much better now. Thanks, Wisty.” 

“It’s no problem, but we are going to be late if we don’t leave now. We’ll talk about your sudden development of wanting to wear makeup later.” She would have to tease her sister later for wanting to pretty herself up for Aaron. 

Aphmau and Wisteria walk out of the house and towards Aaron’s house. Talking along the way. “Wisty, why are you dressed like you’re going to a job interview? We are going to hang with Aaron.” 

“I could ask why you got all dolled up, but I think I know the reason.” She teases. “But you are going to hang with Aaron. You need to get him out of his house while I handle his father. Just think of it as a… business meeting. Yes, to get him to be less overprotective of his son.” 

“What do you mean? You said Aaron was inviting us over to hang out.” She gasps. “You lied to me! Does he even know we are coming?”

“Not exactly. But I need you to get him out of the house. Please. Keep him distracted today. I beg of you, Aphmau.” 

Her eyes widen. Her sister never begs for anything nor uses her full name. “Sure, I can do that. For how long?” 

“I don’t know. Let's say the whole day, just to be safe. I’ll text you when it’s safe for him to go home.” 

“When it's safe to go home? What are you planning to do? If you are just talking to his dad about him being less overprotective, shouldn’t Aaron be a part of the conversation too?” 

“Normally, yes. But trust me on this. For his sake, he needs to be away from the conversation.” 

She didn’t like the look on her sister’s face. It was serious. It was as if she were going to war. Her professional dress is her armor, and her makeup is her war paint. She just wondered what her sword was. 

It wasn’t long until they arrived at Aaron’s front door. Wisteria stepped forward and rang the doorbell, waiting for a moment until a nervous Aaron opened the door. “Wisteria? Aphmau? What are you two doing here?” He asks nervously. 

“Helping you,” Wisteria says as she pushes past him and steps into the house. Aphmau nervously follows her, never having stepped into his house before. 

“W-wait, you guys can’t come in. Y-you two should go.” 

It was too late for him to kick them out, as his father heard the noise and stepped out of his office to see what the commotion was about. “I see we have some uninvited guests,” Derek says as he walks down the stairs. 

“Hello, Sir. I believe you knew something like this was going to happen. You knew you were going to have a talk today; you simply didn’t realize it wouldn’t be with your son.” 

“What business do you have here?” He glares at her. 

She takes a step closer to Derek. She makes sure Aaron and Aphmau can’t see her face as she speaks. “I am here to speak to you about how you treat your son. I believe it's best if you let him go out for the day and spend some time with my sister as we talk.” 

Derek's eyes go wide as he flinches back. Her eyes were glowing green. She was under the effect of a forever potion. Something Derek thought was left in the past, something he tried to erase from his life. 

Aaron had never seen his father so fearful and flustered before. He was always like an impregnable fortress, with no flaws or ways to break it. Yet somehow, she was bringing his walls crumbling down. 

Derek walks to the kitchen, grabbing his car keys and pulling a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet. He steps up to his son, passing them to him. “Go have fun with your friend. You can take the car and buy yourself some food or one of your games if you like.” 

Aaron's eyes widen. “S-Sir? You’re telling me to go out with a friend? Should I not be a part of the conversation since it is about me?” 

“No. Your friend seems more than capable enough to have this conversation on her own. I don’t want to see you home before eight p.m. Go.” 

“Let’s go, Aaron. Wisty can handle things for you.” Aphmau says, gently pulling his arm and dragging him out of the house. She couldn't help but glance nervously back at her sister, having to put blind trust in her plan.

Aphmau and Aaron didn’t see Wisteria’s eyes change color. They had no clue why his father seemed off, but Aphmau wasn’t going to stay around and question it. Her sister pleaded with her to get Aaron out of the house. She wasn’t sure what she had planned, but she knew she needed to listen. For Aaron’s sake. 

Wisteria turns her eyes back to normal as they shut the front door, leaving the house. “I see you made a wise decision. Would you prefer to go somewhere else for this conversation?” 

“Follow me.” He says as he walks upstairs, into his office, and sits at his desk. 

She follows him, sitting in the chair across from his desk. “I think you know that this conversation won’t just be about Aaron.” 

“Zack used the potion on you.” He sighs. “What I don’t understand is how you know about it. How did you know I would know what your eyes meant?” 

“I believe I need to start from the beginning. I know you were friends with my father back before he was kicked out of the house. Back when you and your friends worked on the forever potions together. 

“I know the potion I was given was meant for Aph. He gave it to me because he couldn’t bring himself to give it to his daughter, but he never saw me as his daughter. I was just a child my mother brought into his home, to his annoyance. 

“I don’t know the details of what happened between you, but I do know you are part of the reason my father disappeared. I don’t know how or why he did, but I do know I’m not the only child who was tested on.

“I want to reverse the effects before they become permanent. Not just on me, but on my friends who were tested on as well.” She finishes, crossing her legs as she sits up straight, looking him directly in the eye.

“You know more than I thought.” He grips his temples as he sighs. “I can’t help you reverse the effects. I don’t have the recipe, nor can it be done after the effects become permanent.” 

“Normally, that's true. The thing is, the effects aren’t permanent on all of us yet, and you have me. We don’t need the antidote. I need information.” 

“Information? About what? We buried our research for a reason. I won’t let you start it back up!” He slams his hand into his desk.

“Ultima.” 

His eyes widen. “What?” 

“I can protect your son from the ultima curse if you help me. I can protect him from your mistakes if you help me.”

“How do you know about the curse? Did Aaron tell you?” He slams his desk, standing up and walking around it to tower over her. He leans down, putting his hands on the arms of the chair to cage her in her seat. 

She looks up at him, not an ounce of fear in her eyes. “He didn’t slip up, so you don’t have to worry. He has no clue, I know. I am the only one who knows the truth. I’ve known the truth about your family since before I met him.

“I know the reason why you pushed him away from making friends with humans and tried to make him stay close to werewolves. His powers can’t harm them. He can’t accidentally kill a werewolf like he could a human.

“You are being overprotective of him because you are scared he will make the same mistake you did, but the way you are doing it will guarantee that it will happen. You are making things harder for him, not better.” 

“How do you know this? Even my own son doesn’t understand why I push him to make friends with werewolves. He is always fighting me about it, not understanding why I pushed him away from you and your human sister.” He shouts. 

“I can’t tell you how I know, but I can help you if you help me. My magick can make what you are worried about impossible. I can make it so he can control his abilities, but I need your help.” 

He takes a step back, leaning against his desk, no longer looming over her. “My help with what? And how does this connect to the forever potions?” 

“I recently discovered my magick is not what I thought it was after testing it for the past few months in secret. I thought it was restoration magick, but I think it is closer to time magick, to chronomancy. The ability to make things or people go through time. 

“I don’t have full control of my magick. Once I do, I’ll be able to safely reverse the effects of everyone under the forever potion and make it so Aaron’s abilities are stabilized once my magick gets stronger.”

“You’ll be able to stabilize him? You mean he will have full control of his curse and won’t be able to use it by accident?” 

“Yes. I might even be able to make it so he can’t use it at all if that is preferable. The problem is, I’m not strong enough yet, and I won’t be if you keep me away from him. So I’m asking you, no, demanding you to let me stay near your son.

“If I can continuously use my magick on him, I can find a way to help him. Not just him, but the others who will be hurt because of your past actions. He’s the key to helping me get past the hurdle I haven’t been able to get past.”

He growls.“I won’t allow this. If anything, this gives me more reason to keep you away from him. He can’t know about any of this. I won’t allow you to use him as your guinea pig!” 

“He won’t be harmed, nor would he know anything about the forever potions. He would have to know I know about the ultima thing, but I think that is a reasonable request. In return, I’ll show you the problem I’m facing so you will understand why I need him so badly.” 

She says as her body glows and shrinks down to the age she was before her father gave her the forever potion. She is practically swimming in her dress as it has become oversized on her, her heels falling to the floor as her tiny feet fall out of them. 

“As you can see, when I try and reverse the effect of the potion, I also revert to the age before I drank it. I can’t turn my friends into preschoolers just to protect them.

“I know I can have more control over my magick, as sometimes when I try to change something, it changes the whole object. Other times, it changes just the part I want. For example, if someone is injured, I only heal the injury, but if I switch to a past form, I revert in age. 

“If I can find a way to have finer control over my magick, I can reverse the effect of the potion without reverting in age. I’ve been practicing in other ways, but if I can practice hiding the Ultima ability on your son, I’ll be able to speed my progress rapidly.” She says as she scoots in the chair, trying to sit in a better position, as it was too large for her now.

He looks at her closely. “You really did revert in age. This isn’t some illusion,” He picks her up, carrying her in his arms. A small smile crosses his face. “This reminds me of when Aaron was younger. He used to steal my shirts and wear them to bed. He loved being picked up like this.”

“Sir! Put me down right this minute! I may look like a four-year-old child, but I can assure you I still have the memories and consciousness of a teenager, and it is very strange to be in your arms like this!” She says, squirming in his grasp. 

She shivered at the way his eyes softened and his smile when she turned into a child. It wasn’t creepy, just strange to see him so soft. She didn’t know Derek had a sweet spot for little kids. 

He puts her down in the chair, clearing his throat. “Yes, you are right. I assume you can revert yourself to the appropriate age.” 

“I can. If you don’t mind turning around for a moment. When I revert, my clothes will likely get a little twisted and won’t cover me appropriately. I need a moment to make myself proper again.” 

He nods, turning around so she can turn back. She quickly ages, filling her dress again as it rises on her stomach, not covering her lower half. She quickly fixes her outfit, making sure she looks proper again, before telling him he can turn around again. 

He sits back at his desk. “Well, you’re magick is impressive, and I can see why you need to work on fine-tuning it. Explain how helping Aaron will work.” 

“I will work on progressing his control of his ability with my magick. It will be like skipping years into the future without having to live through them. If that fails, I can make it so his body thinks he is a child, so it will be before he can use his abilities. Either way, it will help me with the finer control of my magick as he won’t change physically in age.” 

“What if his curse activates while you are helping him? We can’t cover his eyes as you work, or we won’t know if you are effectively treating him. You are human. A werewolf potion will not be enough to protect you.”

“Oh, that’s simple. We’ll just turn me first. If I’m a werewolf, he can’t harm me with his eyes.” 

He slams his hands on his desk, standing up. “Turn you? Do you even realize what you are saying? How will you explain to people that you suddenly turned into a werewolf? No, more importantly, do you know what pain you are asking for? It could kill you!”

“Calm down. Yet again, I am a special case.” She puffs out her tail and ears. “As you can see, my magick can revert me from werewolf to human. Granted, this effect is from when I was under the effect of a werewolf potion and not because I am cursed.

“It's the same trick as when I changed into a child, but it's less noticeable, as this werewolf potion was put on me less than a year ago. If I were to age myself to where the forever potion is activated again, I would age roughly five years.”

“So this is how you always showed up with werewolf traits. You didn’t make werewolf potions every time you hung out with my son to try and trick me.” He hums. “Just because it won’t be permanent doesn’t mean I can allow it. It’s too risky.”

“With my magick I probably could survive his eyes, but I'd rather not risk that. If he bites me, it will be a slower process, but I could safely be turned. I would simply go werewolf mode during treatment and human during everyday life.” 

“I don’t know how you know so much about his ability, but I can’t allow it. You are young, and your mother would surely realize something is wrong with you. I can’t risk someone taking you to a hospital and finding out you’ve been cursed. It will lead to investigations.” 

“Well, you can help me solve that problem. We can make up a fake summer camp or something where I will be ‘out of town’ for however long is needed to transform me. In reality, I will be safely under your watch until the transformation is complete.

“This is all assuming I am unable to speed up the transformation with my magick. If I can speed up the transformation, we could be done in a matter of minutes and not have to worry.” 

He hums. Thinking through the endless possibilities of what she is saying. Her plan could work, and if it did, he wouldn’t have to worry about his son repeating his mistake. His son could live a normal life; he wouldn't have to make him hate him for his own safety. He could have the life he always wanted to give him. 

“You will go through immense pain. You may wish you were dead instead of going through the transformation. Once we start, we can’t stop. Are you sure you can handle this?”

“Yes. I’m sure.”

“Alright. Give me a week to come up with a way to get you out of the house. I will prepare the guest bedroom for you to stay here. Even if you can use your magick to speed up the progress, we should be safe and let it progress naturally."

She smiles as she stands up, walks around his desk, and hugs him. “Thank you, Mr. Lycan. Thank you.” She tears up as she tries to blink to keep the tears back. 

He stiffens as he looks at her, confused about why she is so excited about this. Yes, she could help her friends if she had better control of her powers, but this was something else. 

“You truly care about my son. Don’t you?” 

“I do.” She lets him go, turning around to wipe away her tears so he can’t see them. “He has had a hard time thinking you hate him. I hope this may be the push you need to open up to your son.”

“He thinks I hate him?” His eyes widen. 

“Yes. Your actions are much too cruel. I understand you want to protect him, but you are becoming the very reason he is having a harder time controlling his abilities. So, if you can’t soften up now, please do so once I am successful.” 

“I will consider it. But abilities. Why do you keep saying that instead of saying what it is, a curse?” 

“You’re right, it is a curse. A cruel curse created multiple millennia ago because a foolish human was in love and sacrificed a wolf to bring back his dead wife. A curse so cruel it cursed not just a man, but humanity for eternity.

“But it’s the modern era; people don’t see being a werewolf as a curse anymore. I don’t think you should either. You are from the direct line of the man first cursed. Even someone as famous as Shad the Destroyer had to deal with the fate of being a descendant of the first man cursed.

“You have powers that could easily be misunderstood and cause people to be fearful of you, but I’m not scared. You are human, the same as the rest of us. You and your family deserve happiness the same as everyone else.” 

His eyes widen. “Shad? As in one of the divine warriors? You are saying he was a Lycan?” 

“He was misunderstood, and people assumed he was a bad omen. He was not as bad as people assumed. So don’t repeat history; free yourself of these shackles you keep yourself in.” 

“How do you know all of this? There is no way Zack told you about the potions, and Aaron told you nothing about the Ultima curse. You even know of one of our supposed ancestors that I didn’t know about.”

“You’re not the only one who’s been cursed. The only difference is that people would call my magick a blessing of the gods. Curse, blessing—they are the same thing to me. You are blessed as much as I am cursed.” 

“You’re cursed? I would imagine there is more to your magick than what you have told me if you say something as serious as a curse.” He looks at her curiously.

“I believe it's time for me to leave now. Thank you for your time.” She bows her head slightly as she turns to leave. 

He watches her leave his office as he contemplates. Maybe she was better for her son than he thought, or maybe she was simply more similar to him than he thought. 

He couldn’t help but wonder what she had been through to make the expression she made. When he asked about her curse, her face was not that of a child who simply had a hard time with their magick. It was the same one he made when he worried Aaron might accidentally kill someone. 

He knew asking her questions would be useless. She would never give him answers. He would have to find out for himself, digging for information about her. Before, he had only dug deep enough to find out the basics of her life. He needed to go deeper, much deeper, possibly finding out who her birth parents are to get more answers. 

Chapter Text

During the week Derek had to plan things, he tried to persuade Wisteria again not to do this. She could strengthen her magick another way. He spent time thinking about it, and no matter how good it would be for his son, he couldn’t drag a young girl into this mess. Especially when he is part of the reason she grew up without a father. 

She refused to listen, threatening to tell his son the truth, and if Aaron refused to help, she would bite him and start the transformation herself. She didn’t know if ingesting his blood would work, but the threat worked in the end.

Derek kept his word. In exactly a week, he had Garte knock on her door, convincing Sylvanna to let Wisteria join his company's summer program. 

It was true his company was having a youth program, but it was too late for her to sign up. But it made for the perfect lie for her to be ‘out of town’ for the rest of the summer. They likely didn’t need the whole summer, but it was better safe than sorry. 

Garte’s wife was Sylvanna’s best friend; it made sense for Derek to enlist his best friend to convince Wisteria’s mother to let her out of the house. Derek lied to Garte about the reason he needed her at his house for the summer. 

He didn’t know that the reason she needed to be gone for the summer was so she could be safely turned into a werewolf to first help Aaron. He was told it was a way for her to improve her magick without suspicion from anyone, which was true, just not the full truth.

He told him the truth about her wanting to remove the forever potion from Garroth, as she was also a victim of their past business. That was enough to get Garte to do anything. He regretted giving in to Michael's demands and adding Garroth to the trials. 

It was a struggle, but Sylvanna finally agreed to let her daughter go. She couldn’t say no once Zianna started raving about how cute it would be if her daughter took over her husband’s business one day and married one of her sons. 

So she packed her bags for her ‘summer camp trip,’ as Garte was kind enough to drive her to the camp, as he had to go there anyway. He even said he would drive her home from camp so her mother didn’t have to lift a finger. It was the least he could do for his future daughter-in-law. 

He instead took her to Derek’s house as planned. Once there, he grabbed Wisteria’s suitcase for her, bringing it inside for her. “Derek!” Garte shouts as he enters the house. 

“Garte!” Derek shouts back, walking to the front of the house to meet him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you again for your help.” 

“It was no problem. If you truly think she can do as you said, I would do this and more to help!”

Aaron grabs the suitcase from Garte. “Let me take that. Wisteria, I’ll show you to your room.” 

“Of course. My, he’s grown into such a great young man. You must be proud, Derek!” 

Derek and Garte sit and talk while Aaron and Wisteria head upstairs, into the guest bedroom, where she will be staying. She looks around the room as they walk in. After Aaron puts down the suitcase, he shuts the door behind them. 

“I think it is time you talk now.” He growls. “Why are you staying here, and why must this be kept a secret from everyone? Even Aph!”

She turns around with a smile on her face. “Hehe, I’m in trouble, aren’t I?” 

He pulls her into a headlock, giving her a nuggie. “You think so? I don’t know what you've done, but my father has been acting weird since you left! H-he told me to call him dad. Ugh!” 

She laughs as she struggles to try and get out of his grasp, unsuccessful. “I see he hasn’t told you all the details on why I’m here yet. Let me go and I’ll tell you.”

“Grr, fine.” He lets her go, roughly pushing her onto the bed to get one last annoyance in before he sits on the bed next to her. 

She fixes her hair as she speaks. “I don’t know how much your dad has told you, but I know about the whole being the ultima thing.” 

“You what?” His eyes widen as he flinches back. 

“I’ve actually known since before we met. I can’t say how I know, but you don’t have to worry, as I have kept your secret safe this whole time.” 

“Y-you knew and you still wanted to be friends with me? Not just friends, but you wanted to set a monster like me up with your sister?” 

She slapped him. “Don’t you ever say that again! You are not a monster and never will be! Never! If I ever hear you say something like that again, I’ll… I’ll… rawr!” She tackles him, giving him a nuggie, unsure of how to threaten him but wanting to beat some sense into him. 

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry! I won’t, but that still doesn’t explain why you are here!” He says as he pulls her off. 

“Well, I know you have been having difficulties controlling your abilities. I want to help you control it. Hence why I’ll be staying here with you this summer and why Aph can’t know the truth.” 

“You can help me control my curse? How?.” 

“Hmm, well, you can think of me as trying to restore your balance. I’m sure your dad will explain in greater detail once we get started.”

“It will be strange having you here. I’ve never been allowed to have a sleepover before, and now you are living here for the summer.” 

She smirks. “Shame, it’s the wrong sister. You probably wish it were your future wifey sleeping in the room next to you.” 

“No, I would much rather have it be you. Now I have an excuse to beat you up every day. I missed sparring with you last summer.”

Her eyes widened in fear. “You rascal! You’re planning on killing me with all your ‘training.’ Aren’t you!” 

“It won’t kill you if you get stronger.” He chuckles as she glares at him. 

“Aaron, Wisteria. Come down for dinner.” Rachel yells up the stairs. 

They both go downstairs and join the others at the dinner table. Derek and Garte were at the heads of the table. Rachel was sitting next to Derek. Aaron sits across from his mother, and Wisteria is next to him. 

Garte yapped most of dinner, not leaving much room for anyone else to talk. Wisteria’s never seen him so talkative. Derek brings the best out of him. She could finally see where Garroth gets his personality from. 

It was awkward at the table, but she survived, barely. She nearly choked when he started talking like Zianna, saying she would marry one of his boys. Teasing Derek for losing out and having to find someone else for Aaron to marry. 

It wasn’t until he left that things turned more serious. Derek let her unpack and get ready for bed before he dragged Aaron into her room to get things started. “Sir, it’s late. We should let her relax and have a conversation with her tomorrow.” Aaron says as he steps into the room behind his father. 

“I told you to call me dad, like your sister,” Derek commanded. 

“D-dad. She’s still our guest even if she is here to help.” 

He laughs wholeheartedly as he pats his son's back. “I should have had you do this much sooner. It sounds nice hearing you call me that. You’re right, she is our guest and we should treat her right! All the more reason we should get her torture started and over with.” 

“H-her torture? What do you mean?” He flinches, scared of why his dad would suggest doing something to hurt her.

“Aaron, why don’t you sit?” Wisteria says softly, patting the spot next to her on the bed. She was already in her comfiest pajamas, ready for bed, even though she was wide awake. 

He looks back and forth between her and his father before sitting next to her nervously. 

“Son, she is here to help you control your curse. She knows all about you being the ultima. The problem is, it will take her time and multiple tries to get her plan to work.” 

“Is that why she is staying here for the summer? So she can try without interruptions?” Aaron asks. 

“Partly. In her attempts to help you, she risks dying as she can’t cover your eyes. She could miss important clues on whether her treatment is working or not. So, to make it so she can safely treat you, she will be turned into a werewolf first. That is why she is here, so no one will discover her transformation.” 

“What!” He stands up and shouts. “We can’t! Y-you said that it is painful and never should be done! I-I know I could turn her back into a human afterwards, but you told me I could kill someone if I looked at them with my eyes!” 

“Sit down and be quiet! It has already been decided!" He sighs, not liking how he made his son flinch at his yelling. "It was her idea to be turned. I was against it as well, but she convinced me it was the best and safest option. It’s the only option if you want a normal life.” 

His eyes widen as he looks at Wisteria. “You can’t be serious. You don’t know what you are getting yourself into! I-I can’t do that to you. Helping me is not worth it.” 

“Aaron, it is worth it. You are worth it. Yes, it will be painful, but if you bite me, there is no risk of my dying. As a werewolf, I can safely look in your eyes without risk of death or pain. Sides, if I’m a werewolf, I might just have the chance to finally punch that smug look off your face.” She teases him, gently punching his shoulder. 

“You want me to bite you? You want to go through all this pain to help me? Why?” He tears up. 

She smiles softly at him. “If you can’t accept the fact that I am doing this for you, then let me do this for Aph. Your father won’t let you be with a human if you can’t control your abilities. I want you two to be happy together, forever, so if you won’t let me do this for you, let me do this for her.” 

“Okay.” He sighs. “Okay. Only if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Hmph. I never agreed to let him marry your sister. He is still young, and your sister is even younger. Too young to be making such serious decisions.” Derek says, causing her to laugh at him. 

“You say that now, but you want your son to be happy. You were just too scared to let him risk killing the love of his life and regretting it for the rest of his life. You won’t stop him if you have nothing to worry about.” 

“D-dad,” Aaron looks up at his father expectantly. 

Derek humphs and looks away, not wanting to admit it as he hides his slight smile. “We should get started. We shouldn’t avoid this any longer, or we risk her changing her mind.”

“You have so little faith in me. How cruel. But I agree, bite me!” She says as she puts her hair into a bun, making plenty of room to bite her neck. 

“You’re sure about this?” He asks nervously.

“Do it already, you big teddy bear. I know you are full of stuffing, but you are going soft on me.”

“Fine. But you asked for this, you dumb flying rat.” He says as he puts a hand over her eyes so she can’t see him transform. His eyes turn red as his ears and tail puff out. His canines sharpen in this form, making it easier to break skin when he bites her. 

He leans forward to bite her neck. He freezes for a second, centimeters away from her neck, as he thinks for another moment. Could he really do this? He could tell she was nervous, as her breathing was uneven, yet she relaxed beside him. Her body relaxed as she comfortably lay her head against his hand.

She was nervous, but she wasn’t scared of what would happen—she wasn't scared of him. She trusted him enough to relax near him. Knowing that gave him the push he needed. He takes a deep breath before plunging his teeth into her neck. 

She hisses out in pain as it feels as if fire were going through her veins. Her hands shoot forward, her nails digging into his chest as she grips onto him for any amount of sanity she can gain as the mind-numbing pain flows through her body. 

She breathes heavily as she feels her heart start to race, beating painfully in her chest. Her bones felt as if they were shattering and shifting. She was shivering as if she was cold, but she wanted nothing more than to take her clothes off as she was melting. 

He pulls away, licking his lips of the tiny bit of blood that got on them as he looks down at her, worried. “Are you okay?” 

Sweat drips down her face as she pants. “Of course I’m not okay, you dumbass! You fucking bit me! This hurts like hell!" She had a smirk across her face as she teased him, pain spreading across her face with it. "Haha—AH. You weren’t exaggerating about the pain when you tried to scare me away from the plan, Mr. Lycan.” She tries to laugh but hisses in pain. 

Aaron sat there nervously trying to come up with a way to comfort her, but nothing came to mind, as all he could do was sit still and let her rest her head on his chest, digging her nails into him. He couldn't even notice the sharp sting of her nails as he was too worried about her to notice his own pain.

They didn’t notice as Derek left and came back with the first aid kit so they could treat the wound on her neck. They laid her down, doing what little they could to help her feel better. 

Aaron was kneeling at the side of her bed, looking at her like she was dying, as if he was killing her. She shakily raised one of her arms, placing her hand on his head as she slowly petted his head. “It’s okay, I’ll get better soon. This pain will be worth it.” 

“But I—”

“Son, let her rest. You can check on her in the morning.” Derek says, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Yes, sir.” He sighs as he stands. 

“What was that?” 

“I mean, yes… dad.” He says before quickly rushing out of the room, uncomfortable. 

She chuckles before hissing in pain. “Taking what I said to heart, I see.”

“Life is too short to have regrets. I told myself he could hate me if it meant he never had to go through the pain I did. I told myself it was the right thing to do. That I was protecting him, but you proved I was only harming him. I don’t know how you know the things you do, but I’m grateful. If you can do what you say you can, you really will be a blessing from god.” He says before he leaves. 

She scoffs, hissing in pain. “God is gracious. As if.” She spoke to herself. She hadn’t been called a blessing from god since her last life. Her mother named her, picking it for its meaning, God is gracious.

The doctors told her mother that she was a stillborn, yet she still had to give birth to remove the dead fetus. Yet by some miracle, the doctors were wrong. She wasn't stillborn; she was alive. She came out crying like every baby, and her mother couldn't be happier that God had graced her with the child she had tried for years to have.

She always hated her name from her past life. She always hated the concept that some god was to be thanked for her existence. If god were truly gracious, he wouldn’t have made life so difficult. He wouldn't make her mother try for so many years only to cry after every miscarriage. He wouldn’t curse people for falling in love and ignore those who pleaded for his help. 

She barely slept as the pain kept waking her. She didn’t have any dreams, similar to when her magick was destabilized. She could tell she could still use magick, but she held off as Derek told her not to use it. She would fight through the pain, fight through the urge to use her magick.  

When morning finally came, Aaron knocked on her door before entering. He sees her awake, looking miserable. He walks up to her, kneeling beside her bedside. “How are you doing?”

“Just peachy.” She says before hissing in pain. The pain was constant yet still flowed like waves, going up and down and around her body in seemingly random patterns. Around her spine was the worst, as it had the most nerves and would have to grow longer for the tail to form.

He takes a damp towel, wiping the sweat off her face. “I’ll bring breakfast to you so you can have breakfast in bed.” 

“Oh my, look at you giving me special treatment.” 

He pinches her cheek. “Don’t make me change my mind. I’m only being nice because you are going through hell for me.” 

“I always did think it would be fun to swim in a pool of lava. It's like a hot tub, but at the temperature girls want it to be at.”

He chuckles. “I don’t know how you can still crack jokes right now. I’m finally starting to get why my father repeatedly told me how scary the curse could be. If I accidentally looked at someone, if I looked at Aph, I—”

“Shut up. You didn’t, and you won’t. I’ll make sure you learn how to control your abilities one way or another. You will get your happily ever after. I’ll make sure of it.” 

“You'd better. I’m counting on you. I’ll be back with your food.” He knew he wasn’t going to win an argument with her, but this was one he didn’t mind losing. 

Aaron continued to take care of her, especially in the first week of her transformation, as she could barely do things on her own. He often would spend all his free time in her room. 

Even when he had to work on assignments for his summer classes, he would bring his papers and his laptop to her room and keep her company. Even if it meant sitting in silence with her as she slept. 

He started spending all his time with her after the second night. He was leaving her room as she had fallen asleep, but he heard her whimper out, ‘brother.’ He had no clue why, as she didn’t have a brother, but he sat on the edge of her bed and petted her head, trying to comfort her. 

It worked; she relaxed almost immediately. Her tears dried up, and she began to sleep more peacefully than she had before. It never happened again, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the room in case she needed him to comfort her again.  

He was always there to protect her before, but seeing what she was going through, all for him, made him extra protective. He couldn’t help but become overprotective of her. She called him brother, even if she didn’t realize it, even if she didn’t mean to, she still did it.

He finally had a little sister he wanted to protect—he had to protect. He wouldn’t tell her that, but it was the truth. She officially had a place just as special as Aphmau in his heart. It was a different type of love, but it was exactly what she would want from him, as she saw him the same way. 

Chapter Text

Wisteria’s transformation took a month to complete fully. The first week was the worst, with her barely getting out of bed. As time continued, it slowly became more bearable, the pain less intense. 

She noticed she was getting stronger even though she wasn’t visibly gaining muscle mass. Simple things like opening a jar or carrying out daily chores became easier. Even her workout routine became easier as she easily doubled her records without any training.  

She could tell her muscles were getting denser when she felt her body. It was as if being a werewolf compacted the size of muscles, and that is how they could be so strong without looking like bodybuilders. 

Her bones were also denser. When she weighed herself, she had gained thirty pounds from her body changing. Even though she looked the same on the outside, she was changing on the inside.

Those changes to her body didn't surprise her, but what did surprise her and the others were the scars that appeared on her body. When she healed herself, she always did so with no scars as she didn't want her family to worry about her, but all her old wounds that would have scared appeared.

She had a long scar on the side of her arm from when she fell off her bicycle as a kid. Another scar along her back from when she jumped in front of Aphmau when a bookshelf fell over on them. As well as the bite mark on her neck from Aaron.

In the past, when all werewolves could turn someone with a bite, the bite would scar to leave a reminder. Otherwise, in the present, it won't scar unless the bite is bad enough to cause one.

She loved the look of them, and figured since she was a werewolf, her brain automatically would have healed them in a way that scarred because of werewolf culture. They saw scars as beautiful and considered them signs of strength.

When her ears and tail appeared, they were a different color from the ones she had from the werewolf potion. Instead of all her fur being red, it was the same color as her natural hair color, with only the tips of her tail and ears red. 

She also couldn’t hide her ears and tail like a mixed werewolf could. Since she was bitten by the ultima, she was considered a pure-blooded werewolf. In the same way, the first werewolves started as humans bitten by the ultima and were considered pure-blooded. 

Then humans bitten by pure-blooded werewolves would be considered just werewolves, not pure-blooded. Like pure-blooded werewolves, they can not remove the tail and ears from their human form. They are slightly weaker than their pure-blooded kin.

Then you have mixed-blooded werewolves. They are werewolves who can hide their tail and ears in their human form. They have one werewolf parent and one human or meif'wa parent. With less werewolf blood, they are slightly weaker than the other types of werewolf.

In the modern era, only the ultima can bite and turn humans, as all other werewolves lost the ability centuries ago. Historians and scientists are still trying to figure out how and when they lost the ability to curse others. 

They speculate it to be the same thing that happened to meif’wa centuries before the start of the werewolf curse. How meif’wa came to exist has been lost in time. All that is known is that they were ancient worshippers of the sun god, the opposite of werewolves, who worshipped the lunar goddess. 

Wisteria wanted to practice improving her magick before her transformation was up, but Derek forbade her from using her magick. She knew she couldn’t use Aaron to practice, but she had other ways to practice, gaining finer control of her abilities.

Even though she was handling the transformation well and could handle the pain in the second half of the month, Derek didn’t want to risk her overdoing it. Her body was under enough stress already; she didn’t need to add to it. 

Aaron agreed with his father and kept an eye on her, not giving her any time to practice in secret. It was driving her crazy having nothing to do. She couldn’t practice magick, spar with Aaron, or leave the house. 

She even had to limit herself from contacting her friends, family, and boyfriend, as she was supposed to be at a summer camp and too busy to talk much. Gene was handling it the worst out of everyone, as he was mad he couldn’t see her dreams for the whole summer. 

They just finished episode thirteen, which ends with Zenix shooting Garroth. He was left on a major cliffhanger. It was bad enough he couldn’t see what would happen next for a week, but ten weeks? He was raging. Her excuse was that she couldn’t bring the potion with her to the camp, even if she prepared a big batch for both of them to use. 

Which was partly true, as she couldn’t explain why she met up with a friend in the dream world every week. It was bad enough that Gene knew the truth; she couldn’t let anyone else find out. She could lie and say it was her way of meeting up with her boyfriend, but she would rather die than say that. 

Especially since she had a real boyfriend whom she couldn't see all summer. It was killing her that she couldn't see him, but there was not much she could do about it other than to keep in contact with him as much as possible.

She hated that she had to lie to him, making up useless business things to make it seem like she was somewhere she was not. After her transformation was done, she was able to video call him, removing the curse so he doesn't notice anything strange about her.

Once her transformation was finished, she was grateful. Not only was she able to video call her boyfriend, but she was relieved of her pain, and she was also able to resume practicing her magick. She wasted no time barging into Aaron’s room to get things started. 

“Aaron.” She sings out. “It’s finally time.” 

“You’re not in any more pain?” He questions her, trying to make sure she isn’t tricking him. 

“No more pain. Transformation is done. Now, let’s fight.” She smiles evilly. 

“Fight? That’s the first thing you want to do now that you’re a werewolf. Not the thing you came here for?” He laughs. 

“Well, I want to do that too, but realistically, I think I can learn more by fighting first. When either one of us gets injured, I can heal us and try and focus on that feeling. 

“Healing people is the only time I don’t turn back time on the whole body. Only the injury heals, no matter how old it is. In theory, if I find out why that is, I can repeat it for other situations.” 

“So you want to beat me up so you can heal me?” He chuckles. 

“Yep. Though I have a feeling I’ll be the one getting most of the injuries.”

“Well, I don’t mind giving you a good beating, but why does healing people work differently than the other times you use your magick?”

“I think it’s because I learned how to heal people before my magick got stronger. I wasn’t strong enough to change the whole body back then; I could only do a small portion. 

“Same for repairing windows. I can repair just the window without repairing the whole building. I need to learn how to do what I used to do before I was affected by Joshua's disease. Which is easier said than done because I did it without realizing it.”

He hums for a second before he picks her up and carries her under his arm. “Well, talking about it won’t help. Let’s go to the workout room and figure it out.” 

She squirms under his arm. “I can walk there myself, you know!” 

He chuckles. “I know, but where’s the fun in that?” 

He drops her on the floor once they make it to the workout room in the basement. They had a weightlifting section, a treadmill, an elliptical, some yoga equipment, and a punching bag. Aaron pushed what he could to the side so they would have an open area to spar. 

“You’re not allowed to go werewolf on me. You have to give me at least a chance at getting a good hit in on you!” She says as she gets into a proper fighting stance, her tail wagging excitedly behind her. 

He laughs. “I’m strong enough to handle you without any of my other forms. I won’t go easy on you, but it would be no fun if I completely dominated you either.” 

“Grrrr, fuck you, you smug bastard!” She yells as she launches forward to attack him. 

Normally, Aaron would dodge her attacks, purposely taunting her for not being fast enough to hit him, but because the purpose of this fight was not just to improve her fighting capabilities but to improve her magick, he decided to take her attacks head-on.

He didn’t just let her use him as a punching bag; he blocked the attacks and fought her back, getting as many, if not double the amount of hits on her. Her punches definitely packed more of a punch than they did last summer when she would fight him with a werewolf potion on, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. 

Wisteria eventually collapsed on the ground. Panting as she lay out like a starfish on the ground. “I’m done. Tired. No more.” 

“Done already? You should be able to handle more now that you are a werewolf. You can’t give up on me already.” He says, smirking as he looks down at her. He talked big, but even he was sweating and needed a minute to cool down and catch his breath. 

“Gimme a minute. I know you are helping me get stronger and better at fighting, but don’t forget we started this fight so I can practice my magick. So let’s take a break to heal up, and then we can start again if you’re that desperate for a punching bag.”

“I don’t see you as a punching bag. You’re more of a… kitten. Fun to rile up.” He chuckles, watching as she fumes. 

“Don’t you ever call me that again! Grrrrrr. The Shadow Knights are bad enough! I don’t need you joining them! Now shut up and sit in front of me.” 

He continues to chuckle at her as he does as she asks. He sits in front of her; not long after he does, she sits up, putting a hand on his arm. Her eyes are closed as she focuses on healing him, trying to feel what she is doing and how she is doing it. 

Once she was done with him, she healed herself. She made weird expressions as she did, as if she was close to figuring something out but was left with more questions than answers. 

“What’s that face for?” He asks as he pushes her forehead with her finger, pushing between her scrunched brows. 

She swats his hand away as she glares at him. “I never noticed before, but you take a lot of magick to heal. You took twice as much mana to heal, even though I had at least twice as many bruises as you.”

“You’re looking at me like you are trying to burn a hole through me.”

“If only a look could do so.” She smacks his arm as she speaks. “You become ten times as difficult to deal with! You’re like a sponge! I’m not going to be able to do nearly as much as I thought I could do in a day!” 

“Hey, it’s not my fault! I’m not trying to be a sponge!” He says, grabbing her wrist for her to switch to smacking him with her other hand. She wasn’t putting her full power behind it, but it was enough to make his skin sting. 

“You’re so frustrating! You know that?” 

He grabs her other wrist, holding onto it tightly. “How am I frustrating? You’re the frustrating one! You made me bite you! I had to watch you suffer all because you wanted to help me. I never asked for your help!” 

“You didn’t need to ask, you dumbass! I’m your friend! It’s what friends do for each other!"

"Friends shouldn't do things that harm them just to help! Biting you was one thing, but Blaze almost broke up with you because you are here instead of spending the summer with him!"

She tries to break out of his grasp, wanting to hit him even more for digging into a fresh wound. He almost left her a few days ago because the distance was hard on him as a touchy-feely kind of person. "He knew it would be hard, and we are making it work!" Her eyes pricked with tears.

"You finally decided to let yourself be loved, yet you did this knowing you could ruin your chance! Why?" He shouted.

"Because you're more important! You were miserable at college. If I even have a small chance of letting you live a normal life, I would take it every time!"

"Why? I've done nothing to deserve this! You are risking so much for a monster!"

"Grr! You are not a monster, but you wouldn’t know that because you can’t control your stupid abilities! You and your stupid father are making things harder for yourself by avoiding people and your emotions!” She headbutts him after realizing she can’t escape his grasp. 

He lets her go and puts a hand on his head as she does the same, grasping her head with both her hands. “No one wins with a headbutt.” She whispers to herself more than to him. 

“What does avoiding people or my emotions have to do with anything!”

"Everything! Your magick is controlled by your emotions. When you are angry, it will come out, like a defense mechanism. If you are calm and happy, it will never come out unless you make it!"

"What does that have to do with having friends? I have plenty of friends!"

“Lying straight through your damn teeth! You only have me and my sister. I know you haven’t made friends in college. You can’t have any with your stupid father making things difficult for you.” 

“You were trying to get me to be closer to him this whole month, and now you’re calling him stupid? Why don’t you make up your mind, you stupid flying rat!” 

“You’re both stupid, but I guess that runs in the family. Increased strength causes increased anger. If you learned to control your fucking emotions, all your problems would be solved! But your family runs away from them and makes things worse!”

“We’ve had to figure things out on our own, and messing up or failure could mean someone’s death! How are we supposed to know that? Is this another one of your secrets you won’t tell us? You won’t tell me?”

She goes to continue their shouting matches, but she stops. She lies back down and sighs. “You hide your curse because it's the only thing that can keep you safe. My secrets are the same.” 

“You know about my curse, and I’m still safe. You can tell me your secrets, then we might just be even.” He says, lying down beside her. 

“We’ll be even when I can punch the smug look off your face.” She laughs. 

“I’m serious, Wisteria. Don’t try and laugh this off. You’re afraid of what people will find out about you. I was, too, but you still stayed and insisted I wasn’t a monster. Now it’s my turn.” 

She stays silent for a moment as she thinks. She couldn’t tell him; it was bad enough Gene knew about some of her secrets. Adding another person to the list of people who know would be dangerous. 

She’d never be able to rid them from her life. They would walk right through her walls, and if they decided to break things from the inside or to leave, she wouldn’t be able to stop them. Her heart was fragile; it could only handle so much damage before it would shatter. 

“You called me brother.” He says after a while of silence. 

She sits up and looks at him in surprise. “What?” 

“The second night you were here. You were in horrible pain and finally fell asleep. I was leaving your room when you called out, brother. You couldn’t find an ounce of comfort all day, but you finally started to relax when I sat on the edge of the bed and petted your head. You don’t have a brother, so who were you calling out for?” 

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. How could she tell him that she had a 'brother' in her last life? He wasn't her real brother, just a friend she grew up with who felt like one. One who would smile and laugh with her, and always be there to protect her, make her feel safe.

He was the only thing she was sad to leave behind from her past life. 

“That’s a secret I’m not ready to open up about. I can tell you another secret if you want to know more about me so badly.” 

“Fine. I guess I could listen.”  

She lay back down as she spoke. “I saw your death. That’s why I’m doing this. I can’t watch Aph mourn you again.”

He sat up quickly, grabbing her shoulders, forcing her to sit up and look at him. “You saw me die? How? When?” 

“You don’t want to know, trust me. Just figured if I could change the future, why not? It’s not supposed to happen for at least another decade, but I can’t watch you leave her alone again, alone with your child.”

She lied; she didn't see his death in this life. She knew Aphmau would die if the forever potion madness happened, but not him. She based her lie on Aaron from Minecraft Diaries.

“M-my… no… Our child?” 

“She was pregnant when you died. Didn’t find out about the baby until after she heard you passed. You didn’t even wed her before you left her alone. I won’t let you two suffer the same fate.”

He lets her go, grasping the lower part of his face as his face heats up. “Aph and I… with a child.” He lets out a deep breath filled with a mix of emotions. “Ha, and I died? How—” 

“Ignorance is bliss. Just know I won’t let it happen again. Plus, it’s not as if I could prove what I say is true. I could be lying through my teeth for all you know.” She couldn’t remember what happened to him after high school because it had been over two decades since she had seen any episodes of Mystreet. 

Yet she had seen his death hundreds of times in her dreams. His past life dying, and Aphmau raising their daughter without him. She knew if she let fate repeat, they would be doomed to a tragic life, together but forever apart. 

He hugs her, her body stiffening as a result. “You are always doing too much by yourself, but thank you. You’ve been helping me even when I don't realize it, haven’t you?” 

She softens and hugs him back. “Only a little.” 

"You avoided love because you felt you had to stay focused on me and your sister. You wanted to make us happy, over making yourself happy." He lets her go, sniffing as he wipes the few tears that were threatening to spill. “Are you ok?” 

“I’m fine. I'm a little worried I might not be able to make things work with Blaze, but that's how things go sometimes. I just hope that if he does decide to leave me, he doesn't have to do it over the phone. I would love to give him one last kiss if I could.” She sighs. It couldn't be helped that she couldn't see him, so he would have to do things over the phone if he didn't want to waste time waiting.

“Not that, you saw me die. Are you ok?” 

Her eyes widen in surprise. She wanted to joke and say, ‘I cheered; it was the happiest day of my life,’ or something like, ‘Of course I’m fine; it was only you.” But she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She couldn’t bring herself to say her normal, cruel joke to him. 

Her eyes teared up against her wishes as they silently began to stream down her face. She tried to wipe them away, but they were falling faster than she could get rid of them. Her voice cracked when she tried to speak. 

He pulled her head into his chest as he held her tightly. “Shh, it’s okay. I’m here, I’m alive.” 

She began to quietly sob and shake in his arms, burying her face and balling her fists against his chest. She’s never been able to talk much about the things she’s seen. She has Gene, but he has only begun to get a taste of what was to come in her dreams. He hasn’t seen much of what she had to bear all these years; no one has. 

She told herself it was okay; they were just dreams, but she knew they were real. She couldn’t trick herself, no matter how hard she tried. All she could do was bury the emotions, as she couldn’t explain them to anyone. 

This continued for a few minutes until she finally calmed down. She finally pushed away from him and finished wiping away the last of the tears. She grabbed her water bottle, chugging every last drop. 

“After you see it a hundred times, it becomes easier to watch.” She says with a smile on her face, her eyes closed so she wouldn’t have to see his face. 

What was his reaction to finding out she had seen him die, not just once by some fluke of her magick, but repeatedly? Over and over again, helpless to change the result and unable to talk about it. 

She turned around, refusing to face him. She stands and stretches. “Alright, our break time has gone on long enough! Get your lazy bum up and fight me!”

He let out a small chuckle; it was small and sad-sounding. “Alright, you stupid flying rat. We’re done with our warm-up now, so I think it’s time I actually put in a little effort.”

"You are plotting my death!" She gasps, happy that he let her lift the mood as they spar again.

Little did they know, Derek heard their conversation. He went to check Wisteria’s condition only to find her and his son arguing in the basement. He was beginning to regret ever being suspicious of her. She was exactly the kind of person his son needed in his life.