His Miracle Mate: Rise of the Moon Children

Chapter 22

Zach and Sam were running laps around the pack, each dragging behind three eight-feet long logs with a rope.

Orton, Ezra and I stopped and stared. A few werewolves stopped and whistled as Zach and Sam ambled through the pack village, their naked top half glistening with sweat. How long had they been running for them to be sweating this much?

I felt sorry for a split of a second, but the memory of the salty tea leached the feelings of sympathy right out of me.

Sam saw us and veered our way, the rope tied to his waist digging into his skin. Stopping, he wagged his finger at us. "You-" he gasped for breath, his hands on his hips. "You two are evil."

I grinned and cocked my head aside. "What are you talking about?"

Zach joined us. Putting his hands on his knees, he looked up at us, his hair wet from sweat dripping to the ground. "Dude, at least leave me out of it."

Orton looked between the four of us. "What happened?"

"They put posters of them half naked all over our bedroom," I started.

"And they took those posters and stuck them in uncle Zyron's office, Dad's office and Vlad's cabin," Zach finished, straightening up.

Orton snorted and laughed, a dimple popping up in one of his cheeks. I smiled. Seeing him happy and carefree loosened the knot of anxiety in my stomach.

"So this is your punishment?" Orton asked. "Wait, how did Zyron and Zane not know it was Ezra and Orla? Shouldn't he have smelled them or something?"

"Exactly." Sam's eyes narrowed into pale blue slits sparkling under the sun. "I'm wondering if it has something to do with some of my clothes going missing. Haley has been snooping around my cabin yesterday. Now I know the reason why."

I widened my eyes and blinked innocently. "I have no idea what you're talking about Sam."

Ezra threw an arm around my shoulders. "Hypothetically speaking, if we were the ones who did that, that's because you deserved it. Next time, think twice before pulling off a prank like that."

"Hypothetically speaking of course," I said.

"Ezra's a bad influence on you," Zach grumbled.

Ezra and I grinned at each other. It felt very cathartic to pull something like this off.

"You're going to campus?" Sam asked Orton, who nodded. "I should go along to show you our cabin."

I scowled. "Why does he have to stay with you anyway? I don't like it. You're going to corrupt my brother."

Sam and the others laughed. Orton grinned and ruffled my hair. "Don't worry about me, little sis."

Yeah. No. I was going to worry. I just knew Sam would get him in trouble.

"You're not going anywhere, Sam," Zach said. "We still have fifty laps to run. I'm not running them on my own."

Sam groaned. "Come on, man. Cover for me. I really want to see everyone shitting their pants seeing these three."

"You're the one who dragged me into this shit," Zach growled, throwing his arm around Sam's neck. "You're not bailing on me. Let's go."

"How many laps are you supposed to run?" Orton asked.

"Five hundred," Zach said. "Two hundred from uncle Zyron, two hundred from Vlad and one hundred from Dad."

Ezra chuckled. "Uncle Zane does appreciate a good prank."

True. Zane was playful.

Sam and Zach resumed their punishment, and we made our way to the car. We ended up waiting for Haley and Blake to take them with us. The loud car ride took my mind off things. No one could be stressed around Haley.