Chapter 16:

There were four people standing in front of us: three girls and one boy. They looked like they were all witches. They dressed like Mei, Blau, and Feuera. It is really like a cult gathering in their clothes and creepy smirks.

One girl was wearing a red shirt and black pants with fiery red hair. The next girl was taller and was wearing a purple shirt with a black skirt and black straight hair. The last girl was short and chubby; she wore a white shirt and black shorts with brown hair. The boy must have been the girl with red hair's brother. He wore an orange shirt with black pants. They stood there in all their might staring us down and giving me shivers down my back. Sly tensed up and I slowly inched my way behind Sly.

"Hello there, Belle and Sylvester. Let me introduce ourselves to you. My name is Raven," said the girl with the black hair in a polite, soft, creepy manner. "This is Ursa with brown hair. And these are the twins, Wren and Baer. Metalla wanted to come to talk to you, but maybe we should do it somewhere else, somewhere with less… dogs around." The way she said dogs made my wolf growl a little and Sly was right there with me.

"Yes, how about tonight at ten in the old park in the woods? Please, do not tell anyone about this, especially those ridiculous Lichts," Baer expressed as he looked over to the shadows where three figures were standing.

But then from the other side of the zoo, Kenny came running around the sidewalk like a crazy person. "Hey! Get out of here! Stay away from her!"

He started to chase after them before I grabbed him in mid sprint. "Stop it. It is not worth it! They didn't do anything wrong!"

He let out a low growl as I stared back at him in disapproval. "Did they do anything to you? What did they want? I should go get them!" he expressed as he turned away to go get them.

"Enough! It is all fine," I said, irritated.

Turning around, he looked over every inch of me before he gave me a hug. I was a little taken back by this gesture that I let lose my air for a second. "I… can't… breathe…" I struggled to say.

Realizing what he was doing, he stepped back from me and cleared his throat. Then he walked away in silence. I turned to Sly who was holding back a laugh. "Like we said, Kenny likes you."

"Be quiet," I snapped at him as we went back to looking at the animals.

As we walked around, seeing all the animals, I could not get what the Dunkels had said to us. "What should we do about tonight?"

Sly let out a low sigh and said, "I say let us not, but I am still in denial about this situation we are in. You are more willing to see the change in things. So, it is up to you. Whatever you decide, I will be there with you." He looked over to me in sincerity in his eyes, like he was willing to change for the greater good.

"Okay… Then we will go… after I get some sleep," I said with a yawn. Sly chuckled at the comment and gave me a slight nudge.

As we continued to walk around the zoo, seeing the animals, we laughed and talked for what seemed to be hours. We were enjoying each other's company and it felt like we had known each other for our whole lives. We were interrupted by Marcus ordering, "Time to get home. We are done here." He sounded angrier than usual as he said that.

Sly slightly bowed his head and headed home, I rolled my eyes and started our way home. To make things a little interesting, I started to run in a full sprint out of the zoo and I could feel a sense of excitement coming from Sly as he started to sprint behind me. We were in a full-on race as we went home. Arriving at the house, I barely beat Sly. We were there before anyone else. Mei and Feuera were standing outside the front door with their arms crossed. I was a little confused, but they quickly stated their points. "Why did you talk to the Dunkels?" Mei snapped.

"It is not like we engaged in the conversation first," Sly snapped back.

"Be quiet, dog," Feuera said, eyeing Sly.

"Calm down," I said, holding out my hands as a sign of peace. "They came up to us to talk. We did not talk much. But we decided that we were going to hear them out. And be civilized."

"You don't know them like we do. They are dangerous," Mei said as if she was trying to control me.

I turned to her and said, "We are going to do what we have to do to fix this world. And if that means defying you, then I am sure Sly is all willing to do that. And I am doing it for peace in this new world of mine. So, stop trying to control us."

"I will not stand for this," she turned to Marcus and Brian, who had just returned home. "Tell this girl and boy that they are not allowed to see the Dunkels tonight!"

"What is she talking about?" Marcus said to Sly.

"We ran into them at the zoo, and they wanted to talk," Sly said with his head down.

"Then this pains me to say, but you are not allowed to go," Marcus demanded.

Sly bowed his head. I let out a low growl and said, "Who said you get to decide?"

"I am your alpha, little girl," he said, puffing out his chest.

"And I am the chosen one," I said, standing up taller next to him. "I think I will win in this department."

Marcus growled and showed his teeth. I growled in return. Everyone else had just entered the conflict at hand by quickly pulling Marcus and I away from each other. "I will not allow this!" Marcus yelled.

"And I will not allow you to not allow me to do this!" I snapped back.

Marcus growled and snarled. "Calm down!" Brian snapped, standing in between us his hands out to stop both of us. "You both have a point. Sly, what time will you be meeting with them?"

"Ten at the old park," he said, holding onto me as I glared at Marcus who growled.

"Okay," Brian said, staring at both Marcus and I for growling at each other. "How about this… you have until after supper to train with us, then you can go to the park to talk with the Dunkels. Then that will be it for the day. Deal?"

"Fine," Marcus snapped.

"I don't want to… I am tired," I said with a yawn.

Marcus growled at me. "Maybe that is best. Boys, take Eve up to her room to sleep, while we go out for a run to clear Marcus' mind," Brian said with a nod to the kids.

As they each dragged us away from each other, there was so much tension between Marcus and I that the hair on my back rose. The boys rushed me inside and led me up to my room. They threw me on my bed and quickly left, leaving me to sleep. I growled as I settled myself into bed. I was still on edge about Marcus, but the bed was comforting to me as I curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

At 9:45, Sly woke me up, "It is time to go."

"Should we still go?" I asked, still sleepy.

"We need to find out what they want...so we might as well go. Right?" he said, pushing me to go to the bathroom.

"You are right," I said, going to the bathroom.

We raced into the woods, and then I followed Sly to the location of the old park. There waiting for us was the Dunkels.

"Well, look at who decided to show up. Did you tell anyone about our little talk? Please do not tell me that you told your boyfriend, Belle?" asked Baer.

"First of all, Kenny is not my boyfriend. And second do not call me Belle, you don't know me?" I said, defensively.

"Wow. Mom was not wrong about you. You are feisty. You put Feuera to shame," said Ursa.

I let out a low growl. I was still on edge over the day. "We are not here to get friendly with you. You asked us here, so what do you want?" Sly asked, putting an arm up to stop me.

"Wow, both of you are very feisty. But you have a point… let us get down to business," Baer explained. "We wanted you here to explain to you that The Sisters of the Woods are not what they seem to be all the time. And that we are not that bad."

"What do you mean about The Sisters of the Woods are not what they seem?" Sly said, with his guard up and an arm around me.

"They make it seem like we are all bad, but we are just like the kids at school that are bad but are really just misunderstood. And they do not use magic to the full extent; they refuse to teach it to their young," explained Raven.

"How are you misunderstood?" I asked, moving Sly's arm.

"We use magic for what it was meant for, not to benefit ourselves. And we always tell the truth," Raven continued to explain before getting cut off by a distant howl from our house.

"Oh no… we need to get home...now! That was Marcus' howl. He must not be completely cooled off about the situation at hand," Sly said.

"Before you go...think about what we told you and believe in yourself. Everything has something good about it and a bad side. Nothing is truly good or bad. And just keep this a secret. The Lichts and Goeds don't want you to know the truth," explained Baer.

"Fine; come on, Eve. We need to leave," Sly said, dragging me away.

When we got home, all the adults were standing at the back door waiting for us. "What did they want?" Mei asked.

"They just want us to think about both sides," I said, eyeing Marcus and Mei.

Marcus rolled his neck and said, "Fine, but right now… Get back inside… It is not safe out here!"

I wanted to let out a growl, but he was right. So, we all headed to our houses and went to bed for the night. When I got to my room, Kenny, John, and Evan were waiting for me. "How did things go?" they asked in unison.

"Fine," I said with an eye roll. "I will talk about it later. Go to bed and leave me alone. I am highly wired today."

"Okay," they said as they backed away. Leaving me to myself and curling up into a ball with my stuffed dog for the night, I slept with the thoughts of the day and what to do next.