"Now tell me again what the problem is, Vivi?" Savannah asked. "It's good you came to me with this. It takes my mind off the fact that my daughter is off somewhere suffering horribly."

"No, you'll just think it's stupid," Vivi sighed. "I didn't mean to bother you with it."

"Tell me," Savannah said firmly.

Vivi sighed. "Well, King proposed and I said 'Yes', but now I'm not so sure if I wanna get married. I've only been with him in my whole life and I kind of want to see what else is out there before I settle down. I talked to him about it and he agreed. Am I crazy?"

"No, you're sensible," Savannah replied firmly. "If you were like me or Daddy, or your daughter, you would latch on to King and never wanna be with anyone else again. But because, somehow, you ended up more like Mom, you're fighting your werewolf instincts and want to be with other people besides King, even though he's the one meant for you."

"That can't be right," Vivi replied. "He was a guy I let knock me up when I was sixteen! What if there's a nice, sensible scholarly type out there for me? He could be my guy."

"No," Savannah shook her head. "You're the sensible one, which means you need a nut like King to even things out. Just like how Dad is with Mom and I'm with Jonathan."

"I think you're wrong," Vivi said firmly.

"All right," her sister replied. "Be in denial. It doesn't matter to me."

"Okay," Vivi nodded. "I will." She then said a curt 'goodbye' to Jonathan before striding from the house and going back to talk to King. She knew he wouldn't take the news of her decision well, but he had to accept it, cause no matter what he said, she wouldn't change her mind.

"What did you say to your sister?" Jonathan asked Savannah. "Did you really have to upset her?"

"I wasn't trying to upset her," Savannah corrected him. "She has it in her head that she needs to date a whole bunch of other guys who aren't King because she had Eva so young that she didn't get to experience the dating pool. I told her she was nuts and that the whole idea wouldn't work cause she'd just go back to King in the end."

"True, but that's something she should be able to discover on her own without you pushing her," Jonathan pointed out.

"She is," Savannah nodded. "She didn't listen to me."

"Smart girl, that Vivian," Jonathan smiled.

"Yeah, yeah," Savannah huffed. "Whatever."

Gwen and Mikael both looked up as their front door burst open and King strode in looking incredibly pissed off. "Women are so annoying!" He growled as he flopped on the couch. "I don't know why I like them anyway."

"What did you do to Vivian now?" His mother asked him dryly. "If she's seeing other men, that should be a lesson to you."

"It's not even about that!" King complained. "We dealt with the time that I cheated. But now, just after I ask her to marry me, she decides that she can't do it because she thinks she needs to date first. What did I do to deserve that?"

"The question is not 'what did you do', but 'what will you do'," Mikael told him. "I don't know why you insist on coming here to complain after Vivian makes a fool of you. You know what kind of response you'll get."

"Well, from you, sure," King nodded. "But fortunately, Mother is a bit more helpful."

"And what would you like me to say?" Gwen asked dryly.

"It wouldn't hurt you to give me a hug, tell me how wonderful I am, and say what an idiot Vivi is for leaving me," King told her. "Would you do that?"

"No," Gwen said firmly. "Because we know that won't help anything. Give her the time she wants, and I'm sure that once she gets this need to date out of her system, she'll come right back to you. Cause you have to admit that you've set a standard in her mind that other men will find difficult to meet, no matter how much she says she wants someone different from you."

"There you go!" King smiled. "There's the compliment. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"I was not complimenting you, I was just stating a fact," Gwen corrected. "So do you feel better now?"

"Yes," King nodded. "I do. And what you said just gave me an idea about how to handle all this."

"You promise you'll be leaving Vivian alone?" Gwen asked.

"Yes," King replied. Then, when he left, he said to himself, "I'll leave her alone. In a matter of speaking, that is."

He then went home and encountered Vivi. "I'm really sorry if this decision of mine hurts you," she told him. "I know it was bad timing, especially after you proposed marriage and all, but…it won't last forever. Savannah says that sooner or later, I'll probably get bored and come back to you anyway."

"Well, you probably know how I stand on this choice of yours," King replied. "But despite that, I…I really hope this helps you find what you're looking for."

"Thank you," Vivi smiled at him. "You know, I really wasn't expecting such maturity from you, if I'm gonna be totally honest."

"Well I showed you, didn't I?" King replied. "So…are you gonna move out or something?"

"I could, if you want me to," Vivi said. "I can see how my living here and dating, especially when my dates want to see where I live…would be a bit awkward for you. And dangerous for them."

"No, I can handle it," King promised. "I swear."

"Are you sure?" Vivi wanted to know.

"Yes," King nodded. "I promise."

A few nights later, Vivi dressed up in a new blue dress she'd bought specifically for the occasion and went out into the world of dating. As she drove off, King got in his own car, used his powers to make it invisible, and followed her. When they both reached the bar, he watched her go inside, made the car visible (but red instead of silver), and changed his appearance to someone with brown hair, brown eyes, and olive skin. He then waited a bit and strode into the building, seeing Vivi sitting at the bar as a small line of men approached her. But she didn't seem too keen on any of them, and finally, when she was alone, he made his move.

"Hi, there," he said, taking a seat on the bar stool beside her and giving her his most brilliant smile. "How are you this evening?"

"Fine," she sighed. "I came here looking for a date, but it seems like I'm gonna go home alone. It's my first time, you know, dating, and apparently, I'm no good at it. Every guy who's shown any interest is completely wrong for me."

"What do you mean when you say you've never dated?" King asked. "You can't expect me to believe that someone as beautiful as you has never had a man show any interest. Or is it women you prefer and that's why you haven't had any luck?"

"Oh, no, I like boys," Vivi assured him. "I've been with the same guy since I was sixteen, and we even have a kid together."

"And…you don't like this man anymore?" King prompted.

"Oh, no, I like him plenty!" Vivi said. "He's probably the most handsome guy I'll ever meet, and my sister says I'll most likely never find anyone better, but I feel like I owe it to myself to at least see what's out there, even if it comes to nothing, you know?" She paused as she noticed her companion grinning. "What?" She asked. "What are you smiling for?"

"Oh, nothing at all," King replied. He stared at her very watered down drink which she was continually stirring with a straw. "Can I get you a new drink?" He asked. "That one seems like it's no good anymore."

"All right," Vivi nodded. "Sure. I'm Vivian, by the way." She put out her hand.

"Tom," King replied, taking her hand and shaking it. "Lovely to meet you, Vivian."

"I feel the same about you, Tom," Vivi smiled. "Now…you said you wanted to buy me a drink?"

"Yes, I did," King nodded. "What will you have?"

"A glass of champagne would be nice," Vivi decided. "And if you get one for yourself too, perhaps we could toast? I know this might sound strange cause we just met and all, but I have a good feeling about you. Better than I felt about all the other men who've approached me tonight."

"Do you?" 'Tom' asked. "That's good, cause I feel exactly the same way."

They had their drink and ended up talking for a few hours. When she was ready to go home, King led her out to her car, watched her drive away, and then zapped both himself and his car home before changing back to his old self and sitting down on the sofa just as Vivi came through the door.

"How was your night, hmmm?" He asked. "Did you meet anyone nice? From that smile on your face, I think you did."

"Yeah, his name was Tom," Vivi said. "He was perfectly wonderful."

"Good," King replied. "Since he's so wonderful, when you bring him over here, I'll be sure to be out of the way, so you have privacy."

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Vivi told him.

"Yes, I do," King replied. "I insist."

"All right," Vivi nodded. "Whatever. I've had a long night. I'm going to bed."

"Sweet dreams," King called after her. "And sleep tight!"

"I don't see why we have to do this again," Mary told Liam as he tied her to the bed yet again in an attempt to stop her from changing, even though they'd tried it several times before and it hadn't worked. "Why can't we try something else to stop me from being that monster?"

"I would love to try something else, but I don't know what to try!" Liam cried. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Not off the top of my head, but with the way I'm feeling right now, a little affection wouldn't hurt," Mary huffed. "Could you untie me and kiss me or something? I'm beginning to get very painful rope burns."

Liam looked out the window as the sky darkened. "I don't know if now is the best time to let you go," he said.

"Who cares if you think it's not the best time to let me go?" Mary cried. "Just do it! Please!"

"Oh, all right," Liam replied, feeling that he was gonna regret this later. He then grabbed her and kissed her as the moon came up, and to his surprise, she didn't begin to change until he released her. His kiss delayed her transformation, even if it didn't stop it completely.

"Well, I'll be damned," he said to himself as he watched her slither away once more. "Every spell has to have a way to be ended, and I think I might have just gotten a hint of how to end Mary's. I just have to ask Edele to know for sure."

But he knew that was easier said than done. Cause even if Edele had made a way to end the spell, the last thing she'd wanna do is tell it to someone. But he would make her tell. There was no doubt about that. Feeling a bit better now that he had a plan to end this nightmare, he set out to find Edele, wherever she was.