There’s no way I look cute, sexy or good in any way with a pig’s nose and ears. And I’m not foolish enough to believe my mates when they say that I look good when I obviously don’t. I mean, I’m pretty confident, but there’s no amount of confidence that can make my face look okay right now.
He reaches for my hands, trying to pull them away from my ears, but I shake my head, glaring at him as best I can.
“What’s wrong, Lupine?” he asks firmly.
It’s the voice he uses with the members of our mafia, when he’s telling them what to do. It’s his alpha boss voice and if he was using it in our bedroom, I’d totally dig it, but not in this situation. I am NOT about to show him my ears.
“She probably just doesn’t want to show you her ears,” Evanora tells him. “It’s sort of embarrassing, isn’t it?”
“Embarrassing? Her ears?” Wren doesn’t seem to understand what the witch is talking about as he stares at me. He glances away towards Evanora when she doesn’t answer him immediately. “Oh…”
Realization crosses his face, and then his mouth curls into a smirk as he turns back to me. More forceful now, he pulls my hands away from my ears.
“Ah, look at that,” he whispers. “Even with pig ears you’re beautiful.”
He’s lying, but I’m grateful all the same. I’m not about to tell him that I appreciate his words though. Not when he’s so obviously talking utter crap.
“I’m serious,” he says sternly, as if he can read my mind.
He doesn’t seem to care that we’re currently inside Evanora’s house as his lips drop to mine. I’m not completely sure how he manages to avoid my massive snout. This kiss is slightly more challenging than our usual kisses as we both have to navigate our way around our pig features.
But somehow, for the briefest of moments, I’m able to completely forget about all the bedlam that Castalia has caused. Wren’s lips have a habit of making me lose my train of thought.
Evanora clears her throat, forcing us to pull apart just in time for me to let out a scream.
“LUPINE!” Wren panics, completely bewildered. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s the tail,” Evanora says, all business with very little patience. “We need to leave.”
“I’ve got a tail,” I whisper, rubbing the palm of my hand across my arse.
“Does it hurt?” Wren asks, even though he already knows it doesn’t. It’s not like I’m the only one who has just gained a tail.
“No. Just a bit of a surprise is all,” I tell him, my voice a whisper.
“I’m sorry, dear. But we really don’t have time,” Evanora says. “We need to leave.”
Wren looks like he wants to growl at her, so I take his hand in mine and lead him towards the door. We stride through the forest, rushing to get back to the car. I offer for Evanora to sit up front as I take the backseat before Wren does a U-turn so we can return to town.
My foot taps on the floor of the car nervously, my mind full of all the possible things that could be going wrong right now back at the orphanage. If Castalia has made a potion, absolutely anything is possible.
“So, what are we going to do?” I ask, looking out the window at the Silver Springs townspeople. They’re clearly confused as they walk about the streets, talking to one another. One lady is wearing a scarf around her head so that she can cover her ears. She’s holding it up over her nose, her eyes darting about as if she’s terrified that she might run into someone she knows.
“Well, there isn’t much we can do,” Evanora answers.
Wren’s driving becomes erratic, and he swerves onto the sidewalk, barely missing an old couple walking by.
“SHIT! Wren, be careful!” I shout. Looking at him, my eyes widen in horror as his hands suddenly morph into pig trotters. “Your hands!”
We’re still at least two roads away from the Orphanage. We’re never going to make it there safely at this rate. We’ll be lucky if we don’t crash into a lamppost before we reach the top of the street.
“PULL OVER!” I cry out in fear.
“I can’t,” Wren says. “I’m not doing anything.”
“What?” I demand.
“Hush children!” Evanora says softly with what I believe is disinterest. “I’ll get us there in one piece.”
“You’re driving?” Wren asks uncertainly.
“Well, who did you think was driving after your little mishap?” Sarcasm drips from her words.
Looking down at my own hands, I watch in absolute disbelief as they begin to transform before my very eyes. “We need to hurry!”
“All in good time, dear.”
I don’t understand how she can be so calm about this. We’re literally turning into pigs! But she doesn’t seem at all phased about that fact. Anyone would think that she was transformed into a pig on a regular basis. I want to scream at her that we’re running out of time—the thought of my little Luna turning into a pig making it hard to breathe—but something tells me that Evanora wouldn’t appreciate having to listen to my panicky ramblings.
So instead, I take a deep breath and try to steady myself.
We can do this! We can make this right… I hope.
What Now?
A s we rush into the orphanage, I feel completely overwhelmed by the sensation that my entire body is changing. Just as Wren opens the door, letting us into the orphanage, I hear a loud bang and I can see what appears to pink smoke coming from the kitchen.
What now? The thought comes out exasperated.
My pace quickens as my feet begin to push out of my shoes. Leaving the shoes behind, I don’t bother to look at my feet. There’s no point. It’s pretty obvious that my feet will no longer be there if I do. No doubt, I now have a second pair of trotters.
There’s a horrible stench coming from the kitchen, a mixture of rotten eggs and garbage. It’s absolutely pungent. I try to cover my mouth, but having trotters for hands makes it a tad difficult. I hear Luna crying and dart straight through to her. She’s probably terrified. Unlike us, she doesn’t understand what is happening.
Luna is in Kalen’s arms. He’s struggling to hold her, and he looks positively panicked.
Making my way across the room to them, I look down at my little wolf. I try to smile at her, but I’m not sure what I actually look like anymore. I’m probably terrifying.
“Hey little wolf,” I whisper softly. Even as a little piglet, my daughter is adorable. Her crying stops at the sound of my voice and then I look around, taking in the sight of the room and its inhabitants.
They don’t look too bad. Their faces are smudged with soot, but other than that they look perfectly normal. Well, as normal as it’s possible to look when you’re rapidly turning into a pig.
“Piney!” Evangeline calls out as if she thinks she’s going to get in trouble. “We were trying to fix it.”
“It’s okay, Evangeline,” I say as I take in the state of the kitchen. “It’s nothing a little visit from the Cleanly Den team won’t fix.”
Evanora drops her stuff on the kitchen table, preparing to help Castalia.