Alex
“April and June are in jail?!” Exclaimed my Luna, her eyes as round as saucers.
She did not look pleased. I had meant to discuss this with her closer to their release date because I really didn’t need my Luna stressed out, especially not when she was carrying my heirs.
We were sitting around the dining room table whilst the maids served dinner, person by person, making a circle around the table until they met back where they had started.
“Criminals belong in jail,” muttered Mom under her breath as she picked up her champagne glass and twirled it slowly between her fingers.
We were all dressed for dinner as per Mom’s request. Mom had been very keen on formal dining at home since Chase had returned. I was pretty sure she was trying to impress her younger stepbrother with opulence. Calix had also informed Felix and me that Mom was trying to downplay how poorly Chasity had been treated as a child and she expected us to corroborate that story.
I glanced at Mom. She was in a strapless satin dress, her hair was slicked back in a high ponytail, her eye makeup had a feline quality to it and her dangling diamond earrings were glistening in the candlelight. She was certainly dressed to impress. She was painting a rather convincing but purely fictitious picture of what our family life had been like. She spoke as though we always dressed for dinner, Chasity included. Usually, Mom, Dad and I would wear casual clothes to dinner. Felix was typically shirtless in his boxers. Calix normally donned his signature dinosaur pajamas. Chasity used to be the one cooking and serving the dinner. I squirmed with guilt just at the recollection. My Luna had always deserved so much better.
I was deeply annoyed with Mom about these lies and half-truths, but I would leave that argument for another time. I wanted to have a peaceful family dinner as much as Mom did. My pregnant Luna deserved a serene ambience at the dinner table, in addition to a sense of tranquility throughout the house. I gazed at my Luna. Chasity was radiant in a pearly white dress with a beaded bodice. Not even the pout on her lovely little face could detract from how beautiful she looked. She was glowing, and the silvery beads on her dress complemented her golden skin and hair so perfectly. I forgot to respond to her for a second.
“They’re accessories to your kidnapping, Chasity,” muttered Felix, agreeing with my decision to place April and June in jail.
“To make things clear, Luna, they’re in the prison infirmary sharing a room that only houses the two of them,” I explained.
“They saved my daughter’s life,” said Chalice pointedly.
Chalice was wearing a very similar dress to Chasity but she had opted to pile her curls on top of her head instead of leaving them down like her daughter.
“I’m aware and they will be adequately pardoned, I assure you, Mrs Case,” I promised politely.
“Ah, what the heck, call me Mom,” said Chalice nonchalantly, with a dismissive wave of her hand.
My own Mom looked livid. Chasity smiled slightly. Chalice took a swig of her champagne.
“That goes for you too, Felix, and you, pumpkin,” said Chalice, gesturing towards Calix, whom she had taken to calling ‘pumpkin’, to Mom’s chagrin.
Pumpkin aka Calix smiled widely, looking quite pleased with himself. He loved being every Mom’s favourite, apparently not just ours. Felix, Calix, Dad and I were all in black blazers and various dress shirts. Chance was wearing a grey blazer and matching bowtie while Chase wore a regular tie and a white shirt without a blazer over it.
“As soon as they are well enough for discharge, the plan is to free them after sentencing them to time served,” I explained further.
Chasity frowned.
“May I visit them?” She asked.
It was my turn to frown. Felix groaned exasperatedly. Calix looked at Chasity with wide eyes.
“That’s not the best place for a pregnant Luna to be. I’d really rather you wait until they’re out. Then, we’ll take you straight to them,” I promised.
Chasity huffed to herself.
“How about a video call?” Asked Calix, trying to compromise with our miffed mate.
Chasity bit her lip, clearly lost in thought about the situation.
“It’ll do,” she said.
She was sitting between Calix and Felix, so I couldn’t reach out or touch her. I mind-linked her instead.
I promise you, Luna, they’re safe. They need to serve some kind of sentence just so they know they’re not above the law just because they’ve befriended you, Luna. You want all your wolves to have respect for the law, don’t you? I said, trying a different angle, hoping it would placate Chasity.
Yeah, she mumbled. I suppose you’re right.
I had included both my younger brothers in the mental conversation as backup. Felix promptly and unapologetically stated the facts.
Those girls did right by you after all, but they could have called the pack police much sooner if they had done the right thing initially. They should have contacted the authorities as soon as it became obvious that Madame was harboring a young girl against her will. You could have been returned to us sooner, Baby, and for that, they need to serve some time to learn their lesson fully, said Felix.
After they’re out, they’ll be acknowledged for saving you. We’ll have a ceremony for them…huh? How about that? Suggested Calix.
Chasity smiled. She gave the mental equivalent of an approving nod.
“Will the girls be okay sans body-snatching?” Wondered my Luna aloud.
“Who cares?” Grumbled Mom.
“Obviously, she cares, Mom! That’s why she asked about them!” Said Felix.
“What are you planning on doing? Making them your bridesmaids?” Snapped Mom, slurring her last few words. “Leave those criminals be.”
I exchanged glances with my brothers. The stress of keeping off a facade was making
Mom was a bit extra snippy now, as if she hadn’t been persnickety enough before.
“To answer your question, Luna,” I said. “The girls are were-foxes, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now.”
Chasity nodded. I smiled at her.
“They’re immortal just like werewolves, but we remain youthful for a much longer time,” I explained.
“So they were body-snatching for youth, not for immortality?” Asked Chasity, murmuring more to herself than to any of us.
I nodded.
“But they didn’t have any bodies lined up for them to switch to?” Said Calix.
“They’re young now. They don’t have any bodies yet,” I said ominously, imparting to them the seriousness of the situation.
“That means Madame is out there somewhere,” mumbled Chasity.
“Back in her old decrepit body in some ancient tomb somewhere,” grumbled Felix, pressing against his fork with such force that he bent the tines.
“Only if she gets back into her body quickly enough before she disintegrates,” I cautioned.
“That reminds me of the little mermaid,” said Calix out of the blue, eliciting a bright smile from our tipsy mother.
“That reminds you of the little mermaid?” Said Felix incredulously.
I raised my eyebrows at Calix. Surprisingly, Chasity shared the same sentiments as Calix, so she launched into a retelling.
“In the original version, the little mermaid traded her tail for legs for a period of time in which she had to get the prince to fall in love with her or face death according to her deal with the sea witch. The little mermaid failed to get the prince to marry her. He married someone else, so the little mermaid’s sisters brought her a dagger from the sea witch and told the little mermaid that in order to live and return to the sea as a mermaid she had to kill the prince in his sleep and let his blood fall on her legs so they would become a tail again. The prince was asleep on his ship with his new bride but the little mermaid couldn’t bring herself to kill him because she truly loved him and was kindhearted in general, so she threw herself into the ocean,” explained Chasity.
Felix, hater of fairytales, was listening to our Luna with rapt attention, devouring every word. Felix erupted at hearing this injustice.
“That’s awful!” He exclaimed. “He didn’t even love her back! She should’ve stabbed him and lived so she could find herself a better prince!”
“The story isn’t over yet,” said Chasity patiently.
“I read that to you boys so many times,” said Mom indignantly. “Don’t you remember?”
“I remember, Mom,” said Calix kindly.
“You must’ve read it to Calix, mostly,” said Felix, with a shrug.
“Nah, we were there,” I recalled.
Chasity cleared her throat, miffed at all these interruptions. Felix smirked whilst Calix and I exchanged a grin. She was a lot less timid now. She would’ve never done that when she first began sitting with us for meals. Just a few months ago, she wouldn’t even look up from her plate.
“The little mermaid threw herself off the ship into the sea when the time of her contract with the sea witch was up. She seemingly dissolved into sea foam but she didn’t cease to exist. She felt herself rise up into the air. She had become an air spirit, a being who would rise up into heaven after completing three hundred years of good deeds. The other daughters of the air welcomed her as their sister and they all soared over the open sea, unseen but influential in safeguarding those at sea,” explained Chasity.
Calix and I politely applauded.
“No, I don’t like it,” complained Felix.
Chasity pouted.
“Here’s my version, except it’s called the little minx,” said Felix.
Calix snorted with laughter. Chase raised an eyebrow at Felix. He didn’t seem keen on ‘minx’ as a nickname for his only daughter. Chalice, on the other hand, looked amused whilst Mom looked sullen. Chance and Dad were unreadable.
“Once upon a time, there was a little minx who fell in love with this douchebag prince who was all wrong for her and liked another chick who couldn’t even hold a candle to the minx because she was by far the hottest in the kingdom,” said Felix.
“Does the minx have a tail? Is she a mermaid?” wondered Calix, looking confused.
“Nobody cares. Just picture the cutest girl you know,” said Felix, with a wink at Chasity, who giggled.
I was holding back an eye-roll.
“The minx was too shy to get the attention of the douchebag despite her unparalleled beauty, so she made a deal with Jamie,” said Felix.
“Jamie’s good!” Said Calix indignantly.
“Duh, that’s why this story turned out well!” Said Felix impatiently.
“Jamie agreed to cast a courage and charisma spell on the minx in exchange for the minx’s firstborn with the douchebag prince whom Luna Witch Jamie would raise as her own,” said Felix.
“That doesn’t sound like Jamie at all,” complained Calix.
Felix rolled his eyes but continued seeing how amused Chasity was.
“So Ch…the little minx went to the prince’s ball with her magically enhanced courage and charisma and she dazzled and charmed everyone there, including the douchebag prince. The douchebag prince kinda wanted to marry the little minx but he was flakey and the other chick he liked had already been knocked up,” explained Felix.
Mom groaned and held her forehead in her hands. Dad and Chance actually laughed.
“The little minx had to report to the Luna Witch Jamie heartbroken and empty-handed. Whilst in Jamie’s castle, the little minx bumped right into the sexiest guy she had ever seen and all thoughts of the douchebag prince were erased instantly from her head. In fact, if the little minx tried really hard to remember the douchebag she remembered him as being kinda cringey because now she had seen this guy, she knew what true sexiness was. The guy was a king also, which is better than a prince obviously, but he had a secret. Even though he instantly fell in love with the little minx, despite the charisma spell having worn off, he couldn’t marry anyone unless they also loved his slightly less cool triplet brothers,” revealed Felix.
I sighed loudly. Calix simply laughed.
“The little minx agreed because she would do anything to get the sexiest king ever,” announced Felix.
“He didn’t mind her shyness?” Asked Calix.
“No, not at all, she wasn’t all that shy when they were alone, she just got shy in public,” said Felix.
I could see that Chase hated this story.
“Then Ch…the little minx met the other two brothers and they were almost as great, so it was fine. Everyone said the three kings were identical triplets, but that was kind of a lie, the main one just had something special and people could tell. It was very obvious,” said Felix.
Felix was insane. The “something special” was insanity. I loved him regardless, though. He knew how to entertain. No one looked bored.
“The three kings professed their love to the little minx and whisked her away into a world of wedded bliss,” said Felix.
“What about the firstborn?” I asked.
“The firstborn of the little minx and the douchebag doesn’t exist and would never exist and the Luna Witch Jamie knew that because she was just as clever as her cousin-in-law, the sexiest king, so the little minx was off the hook. Plus, Jamie had like two kids already with a different sexy king, so why would she steal a random kid like that Snow White witch,” said Felix, annoyed.
“Rapunzel,” said Calix. “She was stolen by the witch, Mother Gothel. The witch in Snow White had the poison apple, remember? No baby stealing.”
“Rumpelstiltskin tried to take a firstborn in exchange for spinning hay into gold too, but the girl guessed his name correctly and got to keep her baby and marry the king,” said Chasity.
“Why do you two know all this stuff?” Chuckled Felix.
“You seem to know a lot yourself,” said Chasity.
“Stuff I make up,” said Felix with a shrug. “And thus, the pretty little minx and the three kings all lived happily ever after!”
That earned a round of applause from everyone except our Mom and Chasity’s Dad. They kept looking at each other strangely. I wasn’t so sure that Mom’s operation cover-up was working. It wasn’t quite time for happily ever after just yet.
