𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓡𝓸𝓪𝓭 𝓣𝓸 𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓔𝓷𝓭

ℙ𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕔𝕖𝕤𝕤

I step out of the shower, wrapping my hair up in a towel to keep it from dropping water all over the place, and pull on my sleeping clothes. I put my foot on the counter, running a finger over the new design, it must have formed today at some point.

"Rei!" Apollo says quietly, knocking on the door. I pull it open and see him looking slightly panicked.

"Put this on people are here." He shoves my necklace into my hands and runs back down the stairs. I pull the chain over my head and toss the towel that was around my hair back into the bathroom.

I walk down the stairs, peaking around the corner, hearing familiar voices.

"There she is," Calix says, smiling at me. I gasp, jumping on him. He laughs, hugging me tightly.

"You guys are back?" I ask, looking at the other four.

"For a little while. We have some stuff we need to talk to you about."

"Uh oh," I mutter, hugging Imala. Ajax chuckles.

"It's nothing bad, it just has to do with shifters."

"Oh. Okay, well, come sit down, let's talk." Well all shuffle over to the couch, they sit on it while I sit in the chair, King sitting between my legs. They all stare at him.

"You have a wolf just chilling between your legs right now, you know that, right?" Cyrene asks.

"Yeah, this is King."

"Shouldn't surprise you, she's always bringing animals home. She brought a dragon once, remember?" Ambrose asks.

The front door smashes open and we all jump.

"I swear to the gods" I grumble, standing up.

"You smash this door in one more time and I swear, Devon," I growl, glaring at him.

"Oh don't be like that. Plus, it wasn't me this time." Another guy steps out from behind him. I roll my eyes.

"Intimidation isn't going to work."

"Why don't you just tell us then?"

"I told you, I'm not saying shit to you." He glares at me.

"Listen you damned freak, the only person you're hurting by not telling us is you." I laugh.

"No, actually, I'm hurting you, because you have no leads besides me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have people here." I growl, going to shut the door.

He grabs my arm and yanks me closer to him.

King starts growling from behind me and everyone else in the house jumps up and starts coming over. I hold my hand up, stopping them all.

"Let go, before you get hurt," I growl lowly. He stares at me for a few seconds, before dropping my arm, holding his hands up like he's surrendering.

"My bad." He steps away and Calix, only know because of his height, pulls me against his chest.

"I think it's time you leave Devon."

"His highness is back!" He says, feigning happiness. "You always were a royal pain in the ass," King growls again, and I smile sarcastically at him, slamming the door in his face. I roll my eyes and turn around, smiling at Calix.

"You really didn't need to step in. King and I had it, didn't we boy?" I ask, petting his head. He pokes my leg with his nose, and I laugh. "Is that a yes?" He does it again and I chuckle, petting him. I go and sit back down, King jumping up in the chair with me this time, laying over my legs.

"I think Calix might get jealous of King." Imala teases. I roll my eyes.

"Whatever."

"I am not," Calix grumbles, pushing her into Ajax. I chuckle.

"You guys said you needed to talk to me about shifters?" I ask as Apollo goes to sit on the table before Calix jumps up and gives him his seat. Calix sits in front of me, and I put my knees over his shoulders.

"We heard something from the guards in the palace, that two members of shifter royalty live in a town with humans, and years ago, there was a deal, for the daughter, and I, to get married to unite the two people,"
"Holy shit you have an arranged marriage?" I ask, laughing.
"I would if anyone knew where she was. All we have is a picture of her when she was little."
"What do you want me to do about it?" I ask, confused.
"Look at the picture and tell me who you think it is?" He asks, pulling a small piece of paper out of his pocket.
He hands it to me and I look at it for a second.
The girl has long black hair, and two dark black eyes, with a wide smile, her two canines longer than would be normal.
"She looks like me, without all my scars and stuff."
"That's the conclusion we all came to as well," Cyrene says.
"I don't get it, what's this little girl got to do with Calix, or me?"
"The king, my dad, he's pretty pissed that no one can find her. He was in contact with her dad, but that all stopped about 10 years ago." Calix tells me.
"10 years ago?" I ask, my voice dropping. "There's no way this little girl is me. I'm just a shifter, not royalty of them." I hand the picture back to him, folding my arms over my chest.
"Reika-" Ajax says, sighing.
"Shit you're serious," I mumble, tangling my fingers in King's fur. Calix looks up at me and pouts.
"Now I'm jealous of King, you don't play with my hair." I roll my eyes.
"You're such a baby." He sighs loudly. "And you got even more spoiled."
"You got meaner." I roll my eyes, leaning down like I'm going to kiss his forehead, before licking him. He groans, wiping his face.
"So, what do we do now?" I ask, looking around at my friends. They all glance at Calix and then at me. 
"Now, we figure out if this girl is you or not." Ajax mumbles and King looks over at Ajax, then at Calix, before poking my cheek with his nose. 
"How do you expect us to do that?" Apollo asks, Calix, getting a determined look on his face. 

"We're going to Wysteria."