Why was I convinced that we were going to come home to our house blown up or, at the very least, ransacked? When the doors open, the kids run straight to their room. I set my things down and move to the fridge to prepare dinner later. I knew María couldn’t stay away, even if this is official Royal Rogue territory. I know what that is now, house.
“It feels great to be back here.” Knight leans against me as I wash some veggies for a salad.
“Yeah,” I agree. “Even Midnight is happy, right now.”
“Why don’t you go check on the twins, and I’ll make something for later in the slow cooker?” he suggests.
“Yes, please,” I agree without hesitation.
He kisses my cheek and takes over. I watch him for a moment before getting my things to head upstairs. I take them to my room and then get to the twins‘ door. It’s slightly ajar and I hear them giggling inside. I push the door open to find them in front of a massive square box.
“Is all girls are princess,” Aryie says excitedly. “Help, please.”
“It’s what?” I ask, going over to them.
“Art,” Aizen says, glaring at his sister. “You have to put it in the middle. Share. You wouldn’t even know who Michelle Dawson was if I hadn’t told you.”
“Is mine. Ask Daddy.” Ayrie growls at him. “J’aurais fini par m’en sortir.”
“Too late.” he shoots back.
“Okay,” I push the massive box towards the wall since it’s leaning against Ayrie’s bed. I pull over her gaming chair and pat the bed.
“Mom.” They both protest. I love it when they do that.
“Now,” I growl at the two of them. They both sigh and climb up on the bed. Aizen helps Ayrie up when her foot slips. “I would like to talk about what happened,” I tell them. “Is that okay with you guys?”
“Yes,” the two of them nod.
“I’m so sorry about that guys.”
“Where were you?” Aizen asks. I take a deep breath and shake my head.
“Pop–pop and Mommy were going to a work thing, and someone hurt our driver to take us somewhere we didn’t know. When Daddy found out, he went to get us, but it was a trap. A trap to take you guys away from us.”
“Why people want us?” Ayrie asks.
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“Well, you know how daddy is a werewolf? And now me?”
“Yes,” they both nod.
“We’re a very special kind of werewolf. And that makes you two very special as well because you’re kind of like the two of us combined.”
“Woah.” Aizen scoots closer. I laugh, ruffling his hair.
“Yeah. So, people don’t like it. There are going to be times when things will be scary like that in the future. So we will always have to be very careful.”
“J’avais très peur.” Ayrie stands and steps onto my lap. I curl her into me.
“I was very scared, too.” I hug her tighter. Aizen puts his legs on my knees, so I scoot the chair closer. “It’s happened a lot. It’s why we’ve been moving around.”
“Dad said he stayed away because it was too dangerous. Is he going again?” he asks worriedly.
“Daddy is not going anywhere. Things got a little scary because none of us knew what kind of wolf I was going to get. Now that people know, things should slow down a little bit. We can get back on track, but we’re still going to be moving around a bit. You guys have school coming up, and Daddy wants to set up his work buildings like me. So, very busy for a while.”
“I’m excited for school.” Ayrie pushes Aizen’s legs away and gets back on the bed.
“Can I ask you some questions about your wolf?” I ask her.
“Aymee,” she nods.
“Her name is Aymee?”
“Mhm. She’s very clever.” She takes the weird monster doll and sits it on her lap.
“I believe you. Does she talk to you?”
“Since I woke up in the bad car,” she nods.
“What about you?” I ask Aizen.
“I named him Ever because he said he never ever wants to come out to hurt sissy,” he says quietly. “He said never had a name before.”
“Did he want to hurt sissy when he came out?”
“He tried to protect her, but it was so scary. They were very big.”
“Yeah, bigger than Pop–pop.” Ayrie nods.
“You did a very good job, Aizen. Both of you, I know that I’ve always told you to be nice to everyone because you never know if they’re just having a bad day. Right?”
“Yes,” Aizen crawls over to her and takes another one of her monsters.
“I still believe that, but from now on. You have to defend yourselves. Your wolves are going to have some pretty crazy ideas, but you have to remember that other people
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aren’t like us. We always have to be very careful about how we do things. Do you understand?”
“Like Porter and his mean mom?” Aizen asks.
“Exactly. We let them keep barking, and so as long as they don’t put their hands on you, that’s all they’re good for. Yes?”
“Yes,” they both nod.
“I’m very proud of the two of you. Ever and Aymee as well. I couldn’t have asked for better pups.” I feel Midnight push against me to show them she is, too. They grin and come closer. Ayrie pinches my cheek and makes the orange monster with teeth kiss my forehead. “Do you guys have any questions for me or Daddy?”
“Ever said we need to get stronger, but I don’t know how.” Aizen raises his hand.
“The school you’re going to is a special school for wolves. Want to see the packages they sent over?”
“Yes,” they both jump up.
“What’s going on?” Knight comes in.
“We’re talking about our wolves and the new school,” I tell him.
He smiles and comes over to the bed. Aizen stands to make room for him, and when he lies down, they both cuddle up to him as I bring up the videos and syllabus the school sent over.
“You know. Auntie crazy went there.” Knight informs them.
“Perry? She is crazy smart!” Ayrie proclaims.
“That’s why she’s Auntie Crazy,” Aizen rolls his eyes. Knight stops laughing when he sees that I’m not.
“We don’t call her that.” I scold the three of them as I climb onto the bed with them. I lay back against Knight. “Okay, remember the tests you had to take?”
“Yes,” the three of them answer.
“They placed both of you with the fifth graders. You’re going to be taking a few classes that are going to be kind of hard, and you’re going to be around older kids. You were offered a couple of options for your creative art. We have music for Aizen as well as advanced calligraphy and soccer. I was told you could pick an elective and do soccer
after school.”
“Okay. I’ll think,” he nods.
“What about Princess Ayrie?” Ayrie raises her hand. Knight pulls her to him, tickling her sides. She giggles delightedly.
“You have a few options. They’re offering painting, coding, digital design, and ballet.”
“Yes,” she jumps up excitedly. “I want to do ballet and digital design. I can paint on my
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tablet. Is so fun. Was cody?”
“Coding is when you open up the page’s information and change the colors and stuff. Like how you turned everything on my laptop pink and made the letters cursive without using an app, and I have no idea how to change it back.”
“I could show you,” she laughs. “Mm, I can learn that by myself. I like to listen to Daddy when I play on my computer.”
“Okay. What about painting?”
“I know painting. You know more painting. I don’t want painting homework, is boring.”
“Okay,” I laugh.
“So, digital design and ballet. Got it.”
“Yes,” she bounces up and down excitedly. “I’m gonna be a pretty fairy princess.”
“If you guys have any questions about the wolf training stuff. D.A.D. might have some
answers.”
“Dad.” Aizen sits up. Knight’s eyes light up when he turns around to place his hands on his face. “I want to be the super strongest like you. You can teach me, right? Pop–pop says you are the strongest in the world. He said he taught you to be that. I’m your son. You can teach me, too.”
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