It was Friday, and Faye and the gang were in the school cafeteria having their lunch.
The gang happened to be Haley, Sasha, Malo, and Henry, all eating. They sat around a long table near the center of the hall, their forks digging into their plates with a fast, hungry rhythm that matched the ticking of the clock.
"So tonight we meet the buyer?" Faye said. Whenever she wanted to talk, it was always about the fishes and finding them. Her eyes were sharp and focused, her voice cutting through the laughter of the nearby tables, her breathing turning short and serious.
She was always thinking about how to find the next Beast Morph. They currently had one, and if they somehow got the other four from their former buyer, then it would be five, and they would dispatch them to the Lycan Prince.
Just a text to his lawyer, and he would send someone to come get them. The arrangement was simple, but the pressure of the timeline was a constant weight pressing down against her ribs.
"Yes, I texted him, and tonight we are meeting up at the same usual spot," Malo said. He was busy scrolling through his phone as he ate.
"I thought he was the one you saw making a deal with the Lycan Prince at the Alpha Club the other day?" Haley said. She remembered Malo explaining how he secured the job, and he said he saw someone trading the fish. She rested her elbows on the table, her eyes tracking Malo’s fast-moving fingers.
"That is a different buyer, who had bought from the buyer we sold to... or maybe someone else. We are not the only ones looking for the Beasts," Malo said. He locked his phone and tossed it onto the table...
"So if we are not the only ones looking for the Beasts, how on earth do we find all 118 Beasts when we have competitions?" Sasha said. She happened to be sitting between Haley and Malo. She leaned her head back, her jaw tight as she looked at the boy beside her, her lungs pulling in a worried breath.
Before Malo could speak, he adjusted himself a bit. Just incase she needed to throw things.
"We are the only ones who have actually found the Beasts. Others are either scammers or third parties, but Prince Arthur made us official. He is not going to answer any of them. We are legit."
"Whatever, let’s just find all these fucking fishes so things can get back to the way they are," Faye said. Her tone was sharp and completely flat, her fingers tightening around her juice carton until the plastic crinkled loudly under her grip.
"I wonder why a royal Lycan would be hunting those Beasts. If they are the most powerful, why would they need more power?" Haley said. She tilted her chin, as she thought about the strange rules of the Lycan world.
"Maybe he wants to keep them in his house as a collection. I have heard wealthy people have strange collections in their houses," Sasha said.
"I’m guessing he wants to eat them as barbecue," Henry said.
The group slowly turned to him, realizing that he was actually with them at the table. They even wondered if he had been playing invisible the whole time. The boy was sitting quietly at the very end of the bench, his spoon halfway to his mouth as he blinked back at them with wide, innocent eyes.
Malo stood up from his seat and went to sit beside Henry. He faced him.
"Do you remember anything from your childhood apart from your brothers burning you? Like maybe their faces or your daddy’s face?" Malo said. He wanted to know if Henry remembered his past as a Lycan. "Have you ever been called a prince or anything related to royalty or the word Lycan?"
"Mommy never said I was a Lycan. She only said I was her strength and hope. And the only family face I remember is my mommy... no one else," Henry said in his usual childish tone.
"Okay. If you do happen to remember your past, just hit me up," Malo said. He patted the boy’s shoulder with a friendly nudge, his breathing settling down into a regular pace as he slid back a bit.
"Also, Malo, did you inform Princess that the pups will be staying with her for the weekend?" Faye said as it crossed her mind. She turned her head toward him, her eyes narrowing slightly as her heart gave a small, nervous thud.
"Yes, I told her yesterday evening. She asked why, and I said it was because we would probably be busy throughout the weekend." Malo replied, his tone turning cautious as he watched his friend’s reaction.
"Okay, thank you for that." Faye said. She let out a slow, quiet breath through her nose, her shoulders relaxing just a fraction at the news.
"I know I don’t want to say this, but have you guys broken up for real? As in over, over, final?" Sasha said. She had been meaning to ask, and today was the time because it crossed her mind.
"We are not over. It’s just a break from each other." Faye stated. Her voice was incredibly cold, a hard wall that gave zero room for discussion, her jaw clenching tight.
"A break means a breakup because there is the word break in it," Sasha said.
Then she realized that Faye wasn’t having it, so she shut her mouth and swallowed her words. She shrank back in her seat, her face turning slightly pale as she stared down at her tray.
Her Sire going out of control on a Sunday morning had almost made Sasha kill her eldest sister while they were in the kitchen. Dishes and appliances were flying all over the place. The memory of the metal pans and glass plates whizzing through the air made her heart hammer a wild, terrified rhythm against her ribs.
She couldn’t control her movements or her telekinesis power. Her hands had been shaking so violently, her mind completely trapped in a dark panic while her sister screamed.
It was by God’s grace that everything fell to the ground before a knife could strike her sister.
While they were talking, someone joined them at their table.
The person sat close to Faye. Someone unexpected...