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While they bickered, I seized my opportunity. Slipping away silently (one advantage of being tiny—no one noticed when you left), I padded down the hall toward Luke’s room. The door was slightly ajar, and I nudged it open with my nose.

Luke sat cross-legged on his bed, laptop open, working on what looked like marketing materials for Stone Industries. He glanced up at my entrance, a smile spreading across his face.

“Jailbreak?” he asked, patting the bed beside him. “The three stooges arguing again?”

I hopped up onto the bed, settling beside him with a contented sigh. Luke, bless him, didn’t feel the need to constantly pet me or coo over how adorable I was. He just continued working, occasionally showing me designs and asking questions I couldn’t answer but appreciated being asked.

“This one’s for their timber division,” he explained, tilting the screen. “Marcus wants it to look ‘established but not stuffy.’ Whatever that means.”

I studied the design, wishing I could offer actual feedback. It looked good—Luke had always had an eye for design—but the font seemed a bit too modern for what Marcus usually preferred. If I had hands, I’d point that out. If I had a voice, I’d make a joke about how Marcus probably considered anything designed after 1950 to be “too trendy.” But all I could do was stare meaningfully at the screen and hope Luke developed telepathy overnight.

“Yeah, I know,” Luke said, as if reading my thoughts. “The typography needs work. Marcus will probably hate it.”

We sat in comfortable silence for a while, Luke working and me just enjoying being treated like a person rather than a pet. It was nice, this small pocket of normalcy in my increasingly bizarre life.

The door swung open to reveal Marcus, looking both relieved and mildly annoyed.

“There you are,” he said, his eyes softening as they landed on me. “We were worried.”

“He’s fine,” Luke said, not looking up from his screen. “Just needed a break from the alpha testosterone convention, I’m guessing.”

Marcus had the grace to look slightly embarrassed. “We may have gotten carried away.”

“You think?” Luke raised an eyebrow. “I could hear you three from down the hall. Pretty sure they could hear you in Seattle.”

Marcus approached the bed, his movements careful as if afraid I might bolt. “Time for sleep, little wolf. Big day tomorrow with the council representatives arriving.”

I considered refusing, making a stand for my independence. But the truth was, I was exhausted. Being a wolf was surprisingly tiring, especially when your body was constantly trying to figure out how to shift back. It was like being stuck in an eternal game of supernatural Twister, with my cells confused about which limb went where.

“Night, Kai,” Luke said as Marcus scooped me up. “Try not to let the wolves bite.”

Marcus carried me back to his room, where Derek and Caleb were already waiting, the argument apparently resolved in Marcus’ favor. The massive bed looked inviting, and despite my earlier resistance, I began to relax as Marcus placed me in the center.

“Stubborn little thing,” Derek murmured, his hand gentle as he stroked my back. “Always trying to escape.”

“Can you blame him?” Caleb asked, settling on my other side. “We’re not exactly giving him much independence.”

“We’re trying to keep him safe,” Marcus said, joining us on the bed. “The world is dangerous enough for a normal wolf, let alone one with his heritage.”

The brothers arranged themselves around me, their bodies forming a protective circle that should have felt claustrophobic but instead felt like the safest place in the world. Despite my frustration at being stuck, despite the looming duel and the mysteries of my heritage, I drifted off, lulled by their warmth and the steady rhythm of their breathing.

My dreams, when they came, were vivid and strange.

I stood in a misty forest clearing, larger than I should have been—human-sized again, though still in wolf form. Before me stood a massive silver wolf with markings like mine, its eyes gleaming with ancient knowledge. Beside it, coiled in impossible elegance, was a creature I’d only seen in my mother’s old picture books—a sinuous dragon with scales that shimmered like opals in moonlight.

They watched me, these impossible creatures, neither threatening nor welcoming. Just… waiting. As if I was supposed to understand something, to recognize something about them—about myself.

The wolf howled, the sound echoing through the dreamscape, while the dragon breathed a gentle flame that didn’t burn but illuminated the mist around us. Their forms began to blur, to merge, becoming something new, something that was neither wolf nor dragon but both and more.

“Remember,” a voice whispered, though neither creature seemed to speak. “Remember who you are.”

I woke with a start, still nestled between the brothers, their steady breathing unchanged. Outside, the moon hung nearly full in the sky, bathing the room in silver light that reminded me of the dream-wolf’s fur.

Three nights until the duel. Three nights until I would face the Knox Pack alongside my mates, still trapped in this tiny form. Three nights to figure out what my mother had been hiding all these years.

No pressure or anything. Just another day in the life of Kai Chen, reluctant quarter-wolf and apparent carrier of mysterious ancient blood that nobody bothered to mention until I got stuck with four paws and a tail. Thanks, Mom. A heads-up would have been nice.

Chapter 20