"A Strange Bond"

Note: The Council visits The Hollow and meets some of the people there. The group splits up to investigate, each with an escort from The Hollow, and both Cupid and Jack Frost do a little digging of their own. TF still has far to go, but he's found his courage again. This will be a longer chapter than usual, and the next one will be huge, so get some popcorn and kick back! I've been working on the next chapter for the past three or four days, not wanting to lose the idea, so I'll be posting both of these in one day. Hope you enjoy!

"Chapter 9: Pairing Off"

February

Upon arriving at The Hollow, Alpha leaned against a wall and removed her shoes and socks. "Easter Bunny, fair warning; I'm goin' tae transform."

He stiffened. "Wh-what for?"

She tucked her socks into the toes of her shoes and patiently explained. "Because people here are used to seeing me that way, and it'll save time explaining. If they see you're all with me, and they know it's me, we can avoid a misunderstanding."

"Oh..."

Cupid rolled his eyes. "C'mon, E.B., you're being ridiculous. She pals around with the Tooth Fairy, for cryin' out loud. She's not gonna eatcha!"

Alpha shook her head, not at all offended. "Most spiders are harmless, and people who're afraid of them know this, but they're still afraid. I'm a wolf, and he's a bunny. I'd think it was weird if he wasn't scared at first. Might even think he was a bit daft." She smiled and tapped the side of her head.

Mother Nature nodded and rested a hand on the Easter Bunny's furry shoulder. "Alpha is able to act against her predatory nature and leave the reindeer alone. There's nothing to fear."

"Ready?" Alpha asked him.

The Easter Bunny sighed and lowered his ears. "No, but go ahead..."

Her transformations were so much quicker now that they were painless, and she stood stock-still immediately afterwards to gauge his reaction. He took a single hop backwards and cringed. Then, seeing that she wasn't doing anything, he twitched his nose. "That's really you in there?"

"Aye," she nodded, her voice slightly deeper in this form, but still, unmistakably, hers. "You all right?"

He hopped forward and hesitantly reached out, then halted just short of touching her arm.

Alpha lowered herself to one knee, giving him the height advantage, and nodded encouragingly. "You can."

Easter Bunny reached out his paw, jerked it back after giving her shoulder a light poke, then tugged on one of her ears. "Huh..." He poked the side of her muzzle a few times.

Her eyes shifted to the main group as if to say, 'can you believe this?', and she smirked. "All right, I'll give ye that. But if ye start petting me, we're gonna have problems."

Everyone laughed, and Easter Bunny covered his face. "Okay...I think I'm good. Where are we going?"

"I thought we'd start at the warehouse on East Mandrake Street. Most of you haven't been here before, so if we split up to look around you'll need to have an escort so there isn't any trouble" she replied.

Sandman yawned. "Good idea. Then, what?"

"I haven't the foggiest..." Alpha's ears drooped.

Santa clapped her on the shoulder. "If nothing stands out, we regroup and compare notes. Maybe one of us will pick up on something everyone else missed."

Alpha nodded and her ears stood up again. She led the group a short distance, and they spotted an angry crowd hanging around the warehouse.

"I have children!"

"You can't do this! You can't lock us out!"

"Are we out of food, or what?!"

"This isn't right!"

A Skeleton blocked the door, holding his clipboard in front of him like a shield. "Please, just listen to me! Alpha said-"

"We don't give a damn what Alpha said!"

Just then, the crowd spotted Alpha, and seeing the company she brought with her they all fell silent.

"James!" Alpha called, waving him over. As soon as he was out of the way, someone kicked in the door and the crowd surged inside.

"Hey!" James turned, but Alpha lightly grabbed his shoulder.

"Let them take what they will." she told him. "And I think it's time we told them all what we know."

"But..." he trailed off when he noticed Alpha's companions, then he hid behind her, his bones rattling like a set of wooden wind chimes.

They could hardly believe what they were seeing. This monstrous creature...this walking corpse...was afraid of them! Mother Nature was the first to recover from the sight of him, unnatural though he was. "Hello. We are the Council of Legendary Figures. I am Mother Nature. These are Father Time, Santa Claus, Jack Frost, Cupid, the Sandman, and the Easter Bunny. We're here to help."

The skeleton immediately fell apart.

Alpha sighed, lightly prodding the bundle of bones and clothing with her foot. "Buck up, old boy. Don't go to pieces on me now!"

James reformed again, wiping nonexistent sweat from his skull. "I'm just so relieved..."

Alpha looked back at the Council. "This is James, by the way. Bit timid, but he's a good fellow."

There was a chorus of greetings from the Council, and James waved. "Hello. Come inside. Hopefully we won't get trampled..."

When they got inside, Pearl and Punky, who must've already been in there, were standing off to the side in deep conversation. Robert, who now sported a shock of pink hair, sat cross-legged on top of one of the shelves to observe the chaos. As soon as the Vampire spotted them, he jumped down and walked over.

"Man, this is crazy! What'd you let 'em in for?"

Alpha twitched an ear and snagged his chin in her hand. "Got a better question for ye; why do you have pink hair?"

He pulled free and shook said hair out of his eyes. "Lost a bet."

Everyone missed the look Jack and Cupid exchanged.

Robert looked over at the Easter Bunny. "Boy, you've got some nerve coming down here!"

"Robert!" Alpha growled.

"What? That was a compliment!" the Vampire didn't seem to understand his blunder. "With a food shortage, and all..."

The Easter Bunny trembled, but said nothing.

Pearl walked over, followed by Punky. Omen, who had been sitting on another shelf, jumped down and approached.

Punky interjected. "If everyone knows they're with us, it'll be fine. What's going on?"

Father Time turned to him. "Mother Nature will restore your crops, and Santa wants to take a look at your freezers. The rest of us will look for what caused all the trouble."

Several of the people around them overheard, and the news got passed along like a game of 'telephone'. Naturally, it got distorted, so Alpha had to call for silence so that she could explain. A deafening cheer echoed off the walls of the nearly-empty warehouse, and several members of the odd assortment of creatures declared that the Easter Bunny was safe with them. He didn't seem to fully believe them, but finally he began to relax.

"So!" Santa clapped his hands together, rubbing them eagerly. "How 'bout a look at those freezers?"

James waved him forward with his clipboard. "Right this way."

Pearl led Mother Nature down a flight of stairs to the agricultural level. Father Time, who had decided to tag along with them, covered his nose with his sleeve. The compost smell didn't seem to bother Mother Nature, however, and she shook her head at the sorry state of the plants. In the distance, row upon row of fruit trees stood stark and bare beneath the artificial sunlight that lit up the place. "Is that an apple orchard over there?"

"It is indeed," Pearl led them through the gardens. Tomatoes, peppers, corn, strawberries, and, of course, pumpkins. Here and there, the occasional healthy plant remained. It was indeed a pitiful sight. "We go through a lot of cider here."

Father Time shook his head. "Without intervention, this place will be totally barren in two weeks, one day, seventeen hours, and thirty-three minutes."

Pearl put her fist on her hip and said wryly, "But who's counting?"

"I am. But Mother Nature can take care of this."

"I can restore the gardens, but it may be another year before the trees bear fruit again." Mother Nature pointed to the other plants. "These will take less time, so I'll start here. Father Time, why don't you go for a walk, see what you can see?"

"Can't argue with a lady."

Mother Nature smiled after him before turning to tend to a tomato plant.

Easter Bunny, who had paired off with Punky, kept glancing over his shoulder to see if they were being followed. The pumpkin-headed mannequin noticed this, and tried to reassure him as he led the way to The Pale Horse.

"They're not bad people, you know. They're just suspicious of outsiders. Once they know you're allowed to be here they'll leave you alone."

The Easter Bunny adjusted his large bowtie as he hopped along at Punky's side. "I'm more worried they might look at me and see a giant drumstick, like in the cartoons..."

Punky chuckled at that. "Nooo. For one thing, everyone here seems to be partial to venison, not rabbit. For another, the hunters don't hunt here. Even if they didn't recognize you as a guest, you don't gotta worry about that."

"Well, that's a relief..." Easter Bunny twitched an ear. "This place seems to be full of predators, though. Every instinct in me is telling me to run. It's kind of hard to ignore."

"I guess it would be," Punky fished a key out of his pocket and unlocked the door to his bar. "Welcome to The Pale Horse! I'd offer you something, but I've been cleaned out."

"That's why we're here, then? To see if we can figure out what did that?" Easter Bunny twitched his nose.

"If we can." Punky ducked behind the bar and came up with a list of damages. "I cleaned up most of it, but the other day it looked like someone just came in and went nuts, throwing cider jugs and liquor bottles everywhere. The Jukebox just randomly stopped working. It's old, so it could have just gotten worn out."

"Huh...Can we move it? I wanna take a look at the back."

Punky shrugged and walked back around the bar to turn the juke box. "Help me out with this, wouldja?"

Between the two of them, they pushed the juke box partially away from the wall. The power cord had been severed, but the plug was still in the wall.

"Ugh, someone cut the cord..." Punky reached for it before the Easter Bunny could stop him.

"No, don't touch that, you'll-"

But it was too late. Punky pulled the plug out of the wall; there was an electrical pop, a spark, and the stench of ozone, but Punky held up the plug. He was completely unharmed.

"I'm not technically alive," he explained, "so I can't exactly die of electrocution, can I?"

"Candy hearts, don't do that..." Easter Bunny put a paw to his chest. Then he leaned forward and took the plug, looking closely at the cord. "Wait a minute...This wasn't cut. Something chewed right through it. And look...there's fur on the floor."

"That could be Alpha's. She's in here all the time. She wouldn't do this..."

"Wrong shade of brown," Easter Bunny shook his head.

Punky leaned over for a better look, then straightened again. "Well...far too long to be from a mouse or a rat. I dunno..."

Easter Bunny pointed at a door behind the bar. "Is that the stockroom?"

"Sure is. There's nothing to see, though. Whatever did this, they got everything." Punky didn't stop the Easter Bunny when he went in to look for himself. He simply waited for the large rabbit to come back.

"Nope," Easter Bunny shook his head.

"Told you."

Jack Frost, who had been partnered with Robert, decided to do some sleuthing of another sort. "So...how well do you know Alpha?"

Robert chuckled and flicked an ash from the end of his cigarette. "Dude, she's like my favorite person to piss off! You get her mad enough, and you can't understand a word she says 'cause of that accent of hers. Sometimes she'll even get stuck speaking Gaelic. It's the funniest damn thing!"

Jack didn't care for the swearing, but he had to laugh at that. "Isn't that dangerous, though? Provoking a Werewolf?"

"Yeah. You get a warning first, but make no mistake, she'll kick your ass." Robert rubbed his back as if in remembered pain. "Or throw you into a wall."

Jack knew Alpha to be a fairly gentle person, and even though he'd seen her fight he found that hard to believe. "She threw you into a wall?"

"Yeah."

"What did you do?"

Robert laughed, and had the good manners to look a little ashamed of himself. "I deserved it. This one time, I followed her when she was up on the surface. It wasn't one of her nights to hunt, and she was in human form when she went up, so I was curious."

"Yeah, and?" Jack rolled his wrist impatiently.

"She was swimming." Robert puffed on his cigarette.

"So?" Jack still wasn't getting it.

"Sooo," Robert dropped the butt and ground it under the toe of his combat boot, "she doesn't own a bathing suit."

Now Jack was up to speed. "Ohhh. So, that's why she threw you into the wall? Because you caught her skinny dipping?"

"No," Robert put his hands in his pockets. "She did that because I stole her clothes and she had to walk home naked."

Jack covered his mouth. He didn't want to laugh at that. "You did deserve it."

"Hey, it's all good. She came home in her Wereform, and you can't even see anything with all the fur. And she laughs now when she tells the story. Of course, she's laughing about the part where she threw me, not the other part..." Robert led him through the Vampire District to the Apothecary. "Why're you asking me about Alpha, anyway? Thinkin' about askin' her out?"

"What? No!" Jack did a double-take and nearly walked into a sign. He course corrected, ignoring Robert's bark of laughter, and explained. "But I am trying to fix her up with someone."

The Vampire rolled his eyes. "Foooooorrrrget it. Alpha doesn't date."

"Come on, never?" Jack pushed.

"Nah..." Robert shook his head, turning serious now. "I knew her last mate a little. Old as hell. Not immortal, or even long-lived like the Elves. This was...I guess, like, fifteen years ago. When he died, it just about killed her. I almost cried at the funeral, and I didn't even like the guy. She was a wreck."

Ouch...this will be trickier than I thought...

Robert thought it over again, then rubbed his chin. "Then again...that doesn't mean she'd never date again. Who're you trying to set her up with?"

Jack glanced around and waved Robert closer before whispering, "The Tooth Fairy."

Two minutes later, after Robert stopped rolling around on the ground and wiped the laughter tears from his eyes, he looked up to see Jack Frost standing over him, arms crossed and tapping his foot.

"I am somewhat less than amused," the Winter Sprite scolded.

"Hey, look, you gotta admit, that one came outta left field." Robert got up and dusted himself off. "What makes you think she'll even go for him? Or that he'll go for her?"

"C'mon, she's pretty...when she isn't walking around looking like a giant dog. Stop laughing. And he's got those broad shoulders going for him, amiright?" Jack grinned.

"Alpha doesn't care about looks," Robert told him. "If she did, I doubt she would've stayed with Brian when he got all old and stuff."

"Which brings me to my next point; personality. Those two clicked right from the beginning. They were friends in three seconds flat, from what I hear. You must've noticed it, right?" Jack nudged him.

"Mehhh...she was pretty quick to defend him when I made fun of his wings..." Robert conceded. "Swatted me upside the head and told me to shut up. At least, I think that's what 'haud yer wheesht' means..."

"Well, there ya go!" Jack smiled triumphantly, then got serious and held up a finger. "But you can't tell either one of them, you got it? I was just trying to get a better idea of how to go from here."

Robert gave an uncaring shrug. "If you don't want the secret to get out, you shouldn't go blabbing it around. This could be fun to watch, though. He seems like a decent enough guy. And as much as Alpha and I pick at each other, we're still friends...kinda. If she ends up being happy with him, I guess that'd be kinda cool."

"So, you'll keep it under your hat?"

Robert zipped his lips, made a locking motion, and mimed throwing away a key. They entered the Apothecary, and the place was a mess. "Whoa...it wasn't like that this morning."

There was a rustling sound near the stockroom, but by the time they got there it had stopped. Vampire and Sprite scanned the room, still as statues, listening for the sound to start again. It didn't.

Robert shook his head, picking his way through the room. "Wait until Alpha sees this. She's gonna have and then throw a cow..."

Alpha and Cupid went to investigate one of the three warehouses in The Hollow; the one on West Crypt Street. There were no solid plans; they were all just looking for things that stood out as unusual. This warehouse was every bit as decimated as the one they'd just left, and the place was huge.

"We could be searching all week, and still come up with nothin'." Cupid groused.

"Tell me about it..." Alpha muttered. "We've been trying to figure out what's been causing this for weeks, but no luck."

Cupid fluttered along beside her, tiny compared to her, and he decided to grill her for information on her relationship with Tooth Fairy. "Y'know, I'm surprised you didn't tell Tooth Fairy about all this ages ago."

"Why?" she asked, guardedly.

"No reason," Cupid shrugged. "You two just seem to hang out a lot. Woulda thought you'd be pretty close by now."

Alpha laid back her ears. She didn't know what Cupid was up to, but she just knew he was up to something. "Why so curious?"

"Why so touchy?"

Alpha was beginning to think she'd been paired up with a nosy parker. She leapt over a fallen shelf and strode off towards the back of the building.

So, she's not gonna talk. We'll just see about that...

Cupid caught up with her and decided to try some reverse psychology. "I guess it shouldn't surprise me. He's not the most open person I know, either."

In spite of her previous resolution not to engage, Alpha turned and stared Cupid down. "Meaning?"

"Oh, he's friendly, don't get me wrong, but he keeps a lot to himself. Makes sense that you would, too." Cupid was careful to stay out of reach, but the Werewolf made no move to grab him.

"First of all, we won't discuss him when he's not here to defend himself. Second of all, you don't know what you're talking about."

She turned to walk away, and Cupid saw that he'd literally raised her hackles.

"I'm just making friendly conversation." he grinned at her retreating back.

"Get stuffed, Cupid."

It took all of his willpower not to laugh.

Alpha stopped in her tracks and tilted her head, seemingly listening, and Cupid vaguely sensed a flare of Fairy magic. He didn't say anything until she resumed searching, and then it was just a simple, "What was that?"

"He's here."

"Tooth Fairy? Thought he wasn't comin'."

Alpha peeked under a counter, but found nothing of interest. "I told you all, he had something to take care of. He's finished."

Cupid shrugged. He had no idea what this was about, and he decided that he didn't care. He hovered near Alpha's shoulder again, and decided to take a risk. "You really like him, huh?"

"Aye, we're friends," she said dismissively as she ambled in another direction.

"Just that?"

Alpha sighed heavily and turned to face him. "What are you doing?"

"Moi?" Cupid pointed innocently at himself.

"Oui, vous." Alpha put her hands on her hips. "Look, I know you're the 'god of love', but I'll thank ye tae keep yer button nose oot o' me love life, or lack thereof. If it happens, it happens. But I'm no' lookin' for it."

Cupid shrugged again and flew off to look elsewhere. Now he knew he had her pegged! He thought Tooth Fairy was interested in her before, and now he was sure that she was interested in him as well. Knowing when to back off, Cupid let the matter drop.

Just then, they heard a scuttling sound near the front register. Alpha bolted for it, but whatever it was, it escaped through a hole in the floor before she could grab it.

Cupid hovered above her, smirking at her muttered curse. "A rat?"

"No," Alpha shook her head. "doesnae smell like a rat."

"What does it smell like?"

"I don't know...I've never smelled anything like it. Maybe...maybe the stink from the compost heap and the rotten food in the broken freezers covered it up. This is something new..."

Tooth Fairy spotted Sandman and Omen napping on a random porch, and he simply moved on. He knew that they would be safe there, and he saw no point in waking Sandman if the guy would just nod off again five minutes later.

After finding nothing of interest, Tooth Fairy flew towards the ruins of the mansion, unsure what drew him to it, but unable to banish the nagging suspicion that whatever was going on might have something to do with that place. His heart pounded as he got closer, and he very nearly turned back. Then he spotted tiny shapes scuttling about in the shadows. At first, he thought they were rats. Then, upon closer inspection, he realized what they were and everything snapped into place. "Hoo boy, this ain't good..."

"Whew...do you smell that?" Santa waved a hand in front of his nose.

James shook his head. "I don't smell anything. Literally. I have no scent receptors."

"Right..." Santa took a small flashlight from his tool belt and shone it underneath the freezer. "Do you think a tomato rolled under there and went bad?"

"It's possible," the Skeleton shrugged, "or maybe it's a dead mouse. That happens from time to time."

Santa made a face, then wedged himself between the freezers.

"Uhh...Santa? What are you doing?" James asked.

"Gonna have a look at where they're plugged in. Maybe the plugs got dislodged somehow, and...whoa." Santa came back out. "That's no dead mouse...but it's a dead something."

"What do you mean?" James looked alarmed, and his bones rattled again.

"Yeah," Santa put his flashlight away. "Whatever it was, it chewed through the power cords and managed to electrocute itself. I think it's some kind of animal."

Mother Nature and Father Time, who were coming back up with Pearl, overheard this last part and asked Santa to repeat himself. "Santa, can you bring it to me?"

"No," Santa shook his head. "I could see it, but I couldn't reach it. My belly's too big to let me get in there."

James held out a bony hand. "Can I borrow the flashlight?" When Santa handed it over, the Skeleton slipped between the freezers. "...Uh-oh."

Santa frowned. "What?"

James came back out with the dead creature in his hand. "We have Gremlins..."

Mother Nature telepathically called everyone back to the warehouse, and most of the others were surprised when the Tooth Fairy joined them. Alpha greeted him with her usual hug, which he gladly returned, and she whispered in his ear, "I'm so proud of you."

He tried to hide his blush when he stepped back. Besides, there were more important matters at hand. "I know what's going on. I was flying over where the mansion was, and the place is just swarming with-"

"Gremlins," Alpha nodded. "We know. Santa found a dead one behind one of the freezers."

Pearl was wide-eyed, but otherwise composed. "It's possible that all these Gremlins originated from one mated pair. We can get rid of them. The question is, how did they get in here in the first place?"

Alpha thoughtfully propped her fist under her muzzle, her ears tilting back but not quite flattening. "Hmm...maybe it's time we had a town meeting."

Several hours later, all of the residents of The Hollow had answered Alpha's call and gathered on Main Street for a conference of sorts. Alpha didn't have a podium, but she didn't need one. She stood on a porch, head and shoulders above most of the crowd, and addressed the group at large. "We have discovered the reason for our food shortage, and, more recently, our malfunctioning machinery. I just want to know who thought it would be a good idea to bring a Gremlin into this place."

The crowd murmured, but no one stepped forward to take the blame, and this was pretty much what Alpha expected.

"As you know, Gremlins are not allowed here. While The Founders did many things wrong, this was one thing they got right. While not inherently malicious, Gremlins can't be reasoned with, and they will eat just about anything. And they will breed out of control, if conditions are right. This is what has happened. Now, I know that they're small and cute. They look a bit like kittens when they're young. This does not mean-"

At that moment, a little Witch child who looked to be about six years old covered her face and burst into tears. Her parents, baffled by her sudden paroxysm, tried to get her to tell them what was wrong, but the child only continued to wail.

Alpha's head jerked in their direction, and her stern expression softened. "...I see."

Tooth Fairy thought he knew what had happened, too. His heart went out to the little girl. Gremlins were cute when they were babies. Perhaps this girl had mistaken one or two of them for kittens and brought them back with her. But now Alpha had stepped down from the porch and was approaching the girl and her parents. Tooth Fairy watched her to see how she would handle it.

"Rose, Liam, might I have a word with your daughter?" Alpha asked, so quietly that the Council members barely heard her.

The child's parents gave their consent, but the child shook her head without uncovering her face. "No...no!"

Alpha got down on one knee in front of the girl. "Zoe?"

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry!"

"You're not in trouble, luv...I just want to ask you a question, okay?" Alpha said.

Zoe subsided into quiet hiccups and sniffles, and lowered her hands from her face.

Alpha gently took her hands. "Now, I want you to tell me the truth. I won't be angry. Did you bring a Gremlin into The Hollow?"

Zoe nodded, lowering her head and beginning to sob again. Alpha gathered her close, and the girl's parents tried to apologize.

"It's all right," Alpha said, both to her and to them. "The important thing is, now we know what's been causing all the trouble, and now we can fix it. Zoe? Look at me, okay?"

Zoe did as she was told, and Alpha took out a hankie and dried her tears.

"It was an accident. A mistake. We all make mistakes, right?"

"Uh-huh..." Now Zoe was calming down, relieved that she wasn't going to get into serious trouble because of this. "But they weren't bad! They didn't mean to be...They just got out, and..."

Zoe's mother, a Witch with teal skin and black hair, covered her mouth. "Oh dear...She mentioned finding some kittens last year. I thought she was talking about actual kittens..."

Alpha nodded, turning back to Zoe. "All right, now, what have you learned from this?"

"No Gremlins..." the child mumbled.

"That's right. No Gremlins. Can I have a hug?" Alpha held out her arms, and when Zoe nodded she hugged her again. Then she stood up and raised her voice again. "And now we know how they got here. There's no need to mention it again. Let's get this sorted!"

"I found one!" A Sasquatch held up a squirming, spitting creature that sort of resembled a cross between a cat and a spider monkey. "What do you want me to do with it?"

Alpha sighed. "Just...take it topside, far from civilization, and get rid of it, please."

The Sasquatch began to turn away, but Alpha called him back. "Oh, Harry?"

"What?" he frowned.

"By 'get rid of it', I mean 'release it'. Don't eat it."

Harry looked at the struggling creature he'd scruffed a minute ago, and curled his lip. "Wasn't gonna, but why not?"

Alpha flapped a dismissive hand and turned her back. "Well, if you enjoy having a three-day bellyache, that's up to you."

Several of the people around them snickered, and the townsfolk dispersed to search for Gremlins.

Tooth Fairy beamed at Alpha when she came over. It was such a relief that this situation had a good outcome, and he was impressed with how she handled the revelation of how the Gremlins got inside. "Poor kid..."

"Aye..." Alpha folded her arms. "She never meant any real harm. Sort of like the Gremlins, really...Difference is, she can be reasoned with, and they can't. I just hope I didn't scare her..."

"Nawww," he shook his head. "I think she just felt bad. She seems okay now."

Indeed, Zoe was all smiles as she played with two of her friends.

"So...can I ask you something?" Alpha turned to him.

"Sure." He had a feeling he knew what she was going to ask.

"What changed your mind about coming here?"

Tooth Fairy gave a low, gravelly chuckle. "Oh, Bernard lit a fire under my butt and got me thinking."

"Aye?"

"Yeah..." he put his hands in his pockets and turned to face her. "I wasn't ready before...but I am now. There are some things I have to face...and it's not gonna be easy. But I think, now, I can."

Alpha nodded, then spotted Cupid smirking at them. She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Have you noticed Cupid acting peculiar lately?"

"Peculiar for anyone, or peculiar for him?" Tooth Fairy deadpanned.

"For him. He was...y'know what, never mind..." She remembered the subject of Cupid's interrogation, and she wasn't ready to go there yet.

Tooth Fairy was confused, but he didn't press her. "Oookay."