The Art Of Sneezing

Chapter 25

"Go fish."

I sigh. "I have two queens. There's only three cards left in the deck. I know you have a queen." I tip my hand out. "Give it here, cheater."

Stone grumbles and passes two queens over to me. I gape. I asked him twelve times for a queen. TWELVE TIMES. Each time he has told me to go fish.

"You are a sore loser, Stone." I place my queens on the table. Leaving me with a few odd cards.

He pauses, mouth open to ask for a card. Placing his cards face down on the table, he gives me a deep stare. "Riley . . . you know, it wouldn't bother me if you -- I mean, if you want to . . . You can call me -"

"Dad," I smile. "Got it."

He grins, "Then, give me those threes." I laugh and begin to hand him the two cards when his phone rings. Call Me Maybe blasts through the silent house. He blushes lightly and says, "Cindy - my wife - set the ringtone. Do you mind if I . . . ?" He points to the phone and I shrug, gesturing for him to go for it.

"Sweetie," he greets. "Actually, I'm with Riley. . . . yes I did . . . I can ask, honey, but you know she's Luna for Crescent Pack ,. . . I'm not sure, but -" There's suddenly a long pause. "Oh? If Rey can handle it . . . Yes, then switch. Let me ask."

Dad, pulls his phone away. "Can Cindy have permission to cross into your territory? She wants to meet you." I nod. "Great, can you inform Alexander?" Again, I nod and he quickly tells her goodbye.

"May I borrow your phone?"

He glances up. "You can't mind link him?"

I wince at a sudden burst of fire inside and chomp some ice, not that it helps much. "I've only ever mind linked Daniel. We were both shifted and he contacted me first. I don't know how."

Still giving me weird looks, he hands me his phone. I dial Alexander's number by heart. Suddenly, loud music shouts in my ear.

"Hello?" Alexander yells over the music and laughter.

"It's me. What's going on?"

"A Paaaaaaarty." He drawls. "Wanna join?"

I scrunch my nose. I hate parties. "No, I just called to say I gave Luna Stone permission to cross into our territory."

There's a loud cheer from Alexander, shocking me. "Whoooooooo! I got it, babe!"

Click.

"Ugh, don't call me 'babe'," I grumble into the dead phone.

"What's going on? A party?" Dad asks as I hand him the phone back.

I sigh, "Yeah, he sounded drunk already."

He shakes his head. "He needs to be an Alpha, not some 'frat-boy'."

"You know, I have to remind him of every appointment? I clean his room and laundry and plan his meetings. When I ask him to do one simple task, I end up having to do it."

Dad grunts. "Luna's are the mothers to the pack, not their Alpha."

The doorbell rings and I excuse myself to answer it. I swing the door open and sneeze.

"Bless you, dear."

I look up to see two adults. They remind me of Alexander. I realize these must be his parents.

"Hello."

"We're Alexander's parents. I'm Rose and this is my husband, Bruce."

Opening the door wider, I invite them in. "Riley, but call me Mouse, please." I lead them to the living room where my dad is shuffling the cards.

"Alpha Stone," Alexander's father rumbles. My eyes widen at his deep voice. He stands tall with very toned muscles. Rich brown eyes paired with his tan skin gives a very outdoor feel to this character.

Rose is short and petite with blonde hair and blue eyes. Alexander obviously got his looks from his father.

"Crescent," Dad acknowledges. "Would you like to play a game of cards with us?"

So, that is how I ended up playing B.S. with my dad and Alexander's parents. Basically, we used two decks and each person got ten cards. The person with the Ace goes first and places their card face down. The person to their right has to place a two, then the next, a three, announcing each one. This continues until all the cards are gone. Except, someone may not have the right card. They place some other card down while saying the number it's supposed to be. If someone else thinks they are lying about their card, they call 'B.S.' If the card isn't right, the person who put that card down gets all the cards that have been placed down. If the card is right, the person who called B.S. gets all the cards.

"Um . . nine," I say, placing the card face down.

Rose jumps. "B.S." I smirk, flipping over the card to show her the nine. She sighs, "not again!"

Bruce laughs. "Stop falling for that, baby."

We've been playing for a couple of hours. It's about 1 am now. I yawn and stretch my arms up when I feel it - a pain far worse than any heat before. This is a sharp pain that makes me clutch my chest and neck.

"Riley! What is it?"

I double over in pain. "I don't know, " I gasp. "My chest. . . and neck . . . "

"Honey, that's her mark! Do something, please!" Rose exclaims.

"Riley, Riley, look at me." Bruce puts his hand under my chin and lifts my head to stare into my eyes. "Sleep".