Rise of the Werechipmunks (ONC 2022)

In Which Sophie Wishes Her Soulmate Was a Little More Useful

"Excuse me," Cora said, reaching over to tap Jaxon's shoulder. "Did you say that we're being eaten for dinner?"

"Well, it's not my preference." Jaxon nodded. "But yeah. What else would we do with you?"

"Not eat us?" Sophie grinned hopefully.

"Yeah, something tells me they're not that reasonable." Cora glared out the window. "Don't worry. I took up Krav Maga last year. Although I didn't expect to be fighting giant chipmunks..."

"Werechipmunks," Jaxon corrected helpfully.

"Does it matter?" Cora asked.

Irienna clambered over the gear shift until she was practically sitting in Cora's lap. "Hi guys!"

Sophie waved.

She heard a shrill trilling noise coming from the crowd—pack?—of werechipmunks. Sophie winced, clamping her hands over her ears. Another jolt of pain ricocheted up her arm. She should really get that fixed.

WORRY ABOUT THE WERECHIPMUNKS FIRST!

"Hey. Silver," Sophie said.

"Huh?" Cora glanced over at her. She shoved Irienna from her lap.

"I've got a wolf in my head now. I'm talking to her. Hey, Silver, could we wolf out?" Sophie grinned.

I'M NOT GETTING TORN APART BY A BUNCH OF WERECHIPMUNKS.

"I'm pretty sure you could handle them better than I could." The trilling noise increased in intensity. Sophie winced. "What do you say? It'll be fun!"

Silver was quiet.

"Hello?"

Nothing.

"C'mon. I said it'd be fun. Don't you want to eat a bunch of werechipmunk brains?"

Silence.

"Everything okay?" Cora asked. "You sound a little worried."

"Um... Yeah. My wolf doesn't seem to be feeling very hungry." Sophie pushed herself up from the cot. Maybe she could punch a werechipmunk. That might hurt her hand more than the chipmunk. Or maybe Jaxon was the solution. Was there any way she could convince him he was her soulmate?

"Your wolf is stupid," Jaxon said.

"That's nice," Cora said.

"This is nice!" Irienna said. "I love having friends."

Jaxon opened the doors at the back of the van. He jumped out, not bothering to hold the door for anyone else, and ran to the giant chipmunk.

With a crack like a balloon popping, the chipmunk folded in on itself. Where its giant paws had been was a small man with very saggy cheeks. He wore a plaid shirt and a pair of shorts that ended halfway down his thigh. He held out his arms and cried, "Alpha!"

Jaxon leapt into the man's arms. "Beta!"

Cora leaned closer to Sophie. "Is it just me or..."

"They're definitely seeing each other." Sophie nodded. "Or, I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe it's an unrequited love story, but they secretly love each other and will realize it only when one of them gets engaged to someone else!"

"Maybe. You think we could use it against them?"

Irienna was still lying on the van floor. She rested her chin on her elbow, her eyes sparkling like wet mud in the sunlight. "Wouldn't that be mean?"

Cora shrugged. "They're planning on eating us. That's mean."

"Maybe we could just talk to Jaxon. I mean—I think he might have hidden depths," Sophie said.