Chapter Ninety Two

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths!

Guys, can you believe we're 12 scrolls away from the end of the group reading Choosing Love? It's honestly hard to believe, especially since we haven't hit 100 chapters here yet! I definitely didn't expect this to be so big when I started this, and thank you to everyone who's commented/favorited/followed/or even just read silently!

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

Mr. Smee smiled as he chose his scroll. Yes this was a rather odd situation he found himself in but he found he didn't mind it. Not if it meant he could spend time with his kids.

Estelle grinned as he ran up to James, who threw the ball once more.

"Good old James," Benji said with a small smile.

James paused and then shook his head. It wasn't the time to make a comment about the other lad's name.

The Cerberus loved spending time with the older human.

"Good," Malinda said with a small smile. "James loves spending time with Estelle."

He always seemed to make time for them to run around on the grass, something Estelle loved.

"And he'll get to experience it soon," Ben promised.

It wasn't something they had back in the cloudy space with all the familiar humans but it felt nice on his paws.

Mal sighed softly. "I probably got a call from James saying Estelle was freaking out the first time he tried to take him on it…"

Plus James always seemed to have a treat or two on him. Granted, he wasn't Mal but there was only one Mal.

"Well, right now there's two Mal's," Celia chuckled.

Speaking of who...

"I think Mal's about to join in the fun!" Emir grinned.

Mali! Estelle thought with a grin as he lifted his left head to see his human walking toward them, the right head still bent down to get the ball that had been thrown and the center head grinning over at James.

"He acts the same way whenever he sees Mal now," Benji said with a smile. "Though he was a little put out when Firefly started growing and made it harder for Estelle to sit on Mal's lap."

Estelle whined softly. No more Mali cuddles?

"How's he been today James?" Mal asked as Estelle came running over, dropping the ball at her feet and furiously wagging his tail.

"Looks like someone wants to play," Hercules said with a small chuckle.

It was a clear hint that he wanted his human to throw the ball. A hint his human picked up on as Mal grinned and grabbed the ball, throwing it for Estelle who eagerly went chasing after it and running back to her with it firmly in his mouth before dropping it at her feet.

"Don't need to ask me twice boy, I'm always eager to play," Malinda said, giving her dog a smile.

"Perfect as always Lady Mal," James said and Estelle snorted as his Mal made a face at the extra word in front of her name.

"Looks like Mal is definitely back," Uma said with a grin.

He didn't know why the humans made such a big deal about the extra sound. Cerberi didn't!

Herkie tilted his head. "Do…do Cerberi have lords and ladies the way humans do?"

"Do you have any plans for Cotillion James?" Mal asked as she threw the ball once more for Estelle. Her dog seemed to have boundless energy but that was alright by her. As long as he got tired out by bedtime, he could have all the energy he wanted.

"Estelle wouldn't keep you up all night, Mali. He knows better plus he's always happy to cuddle you," Hadie said with a grin.

Plus a tired out Estelle was more likely to give cuddles when it came time for bed. Nothing was better than curling up next to a pooped out pooch.

Estelle yipped softly. He liked cuddling with Mali!

"In all honesty Lady Mal, I had assumed I'd be watching Estelle in my dorm so I hadn't planned on attending Cotillion," James said, looking a bit startled at the question. "Unless you've made other arrangements?"

"Couldn't he watch Estelle at Cotillion?" Neal asked, tilting his head.

Mal smiled and Estelle wagged his tail at seeing it, dropping the ball to give both humans a doggy grin of his own on all three of his heads.

"Good boy," Malinda said with a small smile as her baby gave her a small kick, as if agreeing with her.

A happy Mal was always a good thing!

"I can definitely agree with that," Benji said with a small smile.

There had been a while when she wasn't happy, and put weird things in her eyes, and didn't wear her removable fur...and had to deal with that mean human. Estelle hadn't liked that. Mali wasn't his Mali then.

"Maybe we should make Estelle able to talk, like Audie said her Dude could," Uma said. "Estelle would have talked some sense into Mal so much faster than we did."

But after talking to the pack mother, and the other Alpha, and her mate, it seemed like his Mali was back!

"Good," everyone in the room said, their voices varying in their volume.

"Actually, Ben and I were hoping Estelle would be able to attend Cotillion with us," Mal said, tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "We'd need your services during the dance and the speeches but other than that, Estelle should be good to stay with me so you can enjoy your night."

Emma chuckled. "Looks like you and Mal are on the same wavelength, Neal," she said as she gave her brother a smile.

Mal didn't mention the fact that James would be well compensated for the night of work. It was actually the thing she had insisted on before even agreeing to ask James to do this. But then again, it wasn't as if Ben needed to have his arm twisted or anything.

"Ben? Have his arm twisted so that someone's treated fairly?" Chip gasped. "Say it ain't so?"

"Why are you the way that you are?" Lucas asked, shaking his head.

"Just lucky!"

He'd even gotten a clip on bow tie to go on Estelle's collar for Cotillion. Purple of course, because purple was Mal's color.

"Why am I not surprised?" Chip asked, shaking his head.

I am going to have to talk to him about where he managed to find a bright purple clip on bow tie with a tiny dragon in the corner, Mal thought as she softly shook her head. Either Ben's just got an obsession with dragons or he's determined to have people associate me with dragons instead of Maleficent.

"Why can't it be both?" Lonnie asked.

Either way, she was fine with but she needed to get to the bottom of it. Though that didn't mean she didn't like it. Or wanted to get two more so that way all three heads would have a bow tie.

Malinda smiled softly at the memory. "I will say Estelle looked so handsome with his bowties."

"I'm...I'm honored Lady Mal, truly I am. But won't Estelle's presence cause a stir with the other royals?"

"The only 'royals' that would have had an issue with it weren't there," Malinda said, her voice low as she thought about Leah and Audrey.

Mal shrugged, bringing herself back to the conversation at hand. "By now all the other royals know I'm Lord Hades' daughter and they know a Cerberus is a symbol of Lord Hades. If there's truly a problem with Estelle being there, I'll handle it. I mean, a problem other than Audrey having an issue that is. But we've cleared it with Fairy Godmother who's already keyed both Estelle and you into the wards that'll be up around the yacht."

"If mom doesn't have an issue, I don't see why anyone else would," Jane said.

Hadie chuckled. "Wouldn't it have saved more time to say 'dad' instead of 'Lord Hades', Mali?"

"Old habits die hard," Malinda shook her head.

The wards were a way to provide protection for the Cotillion goers without needing to make anyone feel stifled with guards surrounding them.

"Why does no one in Auradon want guards?!" Akiho exclaimed. "Honestly you're going to drive me crazy!"

"Drive?" Ben, Emir, Elle, and Lonnie asked.

Each guest was keyed into the wards with their invitation so if they needed to leave the boat for some reason, they'd be able to come back in considering the wards themselves wouldn't be put in place until the start of Cotillion.

"Maybe we should look into other ways to key guests into the wards," Malinda muttered to Benji who nodded.

James gave her a small smile. "Well then, if there truly are no issues with Estelle being at Cotillion, I'd be happy to give my services and look after him while you and King Ben enjoy the night, Lady Mal."

Is it bad that I sometimes wonder if it would have been better if James hadn't been holding back Estelle at Cotillion? Malinda thought.

"Again, it would mainly be just for the first dance and the speeches. You'll be able to enjoy the rest of the night without a Cerberus at your side considering he'll probably spend most of the night with me, Ben, Uma, or Hadie," Mal reiterated. "And you know perfectly well you don't have to use my title."

"Actually ... .wouldn't Mal and James be the same rank?" Kitty asked. "Since Tarzan would be a Lord by birth?"

"Of course, my Lady," James nodded and Estelle snorted in amusement.

"I don't think you're ever going to escape people using that title," Jay chuckled and Mal groaned.

Mal chuckled before turning to Estelle and patting the side of her leg. "Come on boy, we're going to go get Ben from his dorm and then head down to the cafeteria for some food."

"He's actually in his dorm?" Akiho exclaimed. "Mal, why are you not dating him yet?"

Malinda chuckled. "Well…I am in the scroll."

"But this scroll hasn't happened yet!"

"But it has for me."

Estelle gave Mal a doggy grin and wagged his tail. He liked his human's mate! He always gave good scratches and would sometimes slip him snacks when Mali wasn't looking! As well, his human's mate made her happy, like the other Alpha and the Betas. Even the Omega and the non-pack member seemed to make her happy too but not in the way her mate did.

"The only one who can make me as happy as Ben is my future child…and even that's in a slightly different way," Malinda chuckled.

"Thanks again James," Mal said as they turned to leave. With how relaxed her schedule had become, there wasn't much need for Estelle to have an attendant anymore. But Mal found she liked it, having someone looking after her dog.

"And it's a good setup to have established for when we become Queen '' Malinda nodded.

That wasn't to say she didn't like having her dog in Auradon but it...it was more of a comfort. Knowing Estelle was safe and being looked after while she was in class. Or in a meeting.

"You still had meetings?!" Benji exclaimed.

Malinda gave her husband a look. "Ben…you knew about them. They were Cotillion meetings."

Yes, she still had meetings. They were rare but they existed.

"As long as they truly are rare," both Benji and Hades muttered.

"Of course my Lady," James nodded as he packed up the dog toys. "It is truly my pleasure."

"You know, you can tell he's his parents' son. Jane and Tarzan were always good sorts," Malinda says with a small smile.

Mal smiled once more and grabbed Estelle's leash in her hand. While the restraint really wasn't needed, it gave them an alibi in case Audrey tried to say Estelle lunged at her.

"Estelle wouldn't do that!" Kitty protested and Estelle gave her a doggy smile.

Not that he would but Mal wouldn't put it past the Sleeping Brat.

"Neither would we," Alexandria said, her voice low as she gave Audrey a small glare.

Estelle trotted alongside Mal, grinning from ear to ear to ear to ear to ear to ear. He didn't know why his Mali had acted different for a while but clearly it didn't matter! The mean human was gone and wasn't bothering Mali anymore on the small noise thing all the humans seemed to have so all was right with the world.

"Good, I'm glad to hear that Mal," Aurora said with a small smile.

Malinda sighed. "Natalie actually tried calling me the day after Ben fired her…Carlos taught me how to block her number so she couldn't call me or text me. To this day, her number is the only one I have blocked."

There was the smaller mean human but his Mali seemed to know how to handle her!

"Pfft! Audrey wishes she could take me," Mal scoffs.

Plus Mal had her pack back! The other Alpha and the other Beta were great to have around, plus the Omega seemed to change for the better from what Mal had said about him. Estelle never really got to see him before but that was okay. He liked spending his time in the pack's den on the ship.

"You know…it's kinda cool to see Estelle's point of view and know what kind of nicknames he's given us," Uma said with a small smile.

Jay nodded. "Yeah…I'm guessing Uma's the 'other Alpha' and of course Harry's the 'other Beta'. I'd be torn between Gil and Carlos for the 'Omega' if Estelle didn't make it clear he was talking about Carlos. After all, Mal never wanted to freak Carlos out when he was on the ship."

It allowed him to stay away from those mean hyenas!

Mal shook her head. "Why do you think I keep you away from them boy? You don't like them and they don't like you."

"Hey Mal," Ben said with a smile as Mal and Estelle came into his dorm, the teenaged King looking up from the book he was reading. "This is a surprise."

Chip shook his head but refrained from commenting. It shouldn't have been a surprise for Ben to have his girlfriend stop by his room!

"Not as much of a surprise as Emir telling me you were in your dorm for a change instead of your office. What, did you run out of paperwork or something?" Mal teased as she let Estelle off the leash to walk around.

"Is that possible?" Emir asked. "Ben running out of paperwork?"

Normally Estelle would just hop on the bed or the couch if they were in Ben's office. But currently he was sniffing around, content to get to the bottom of a scent that had caught his nose.

Mal stiffened slightly. "Look into that, look into that…" she muttered at the scroll.

It was an odd one that seemed to be lingering around the big box thing that held his human's mate's furs. Estelle knew he had smelled it before but he just couldn't put his paw on where he had encountered it!

"Oh it'll come to you boy. It's the worst scent there is," Malinda muttered, her voice dark.

"Seems someone's caught an interesting smell," Ben chuckled, noticing Estelle's intense sniffing by his wardrobe.

"And you're not questioning this why?" Chip asked.

"You mean besides the fact that it's Ben?" Akiho sighed.

"You hiding someone in there?" Mal asked with a chuckle of her own though she had stiffened slightly. She hadn't seen Estelle be that intense when it came to sniffing since the first time she'd brought him into Ben's dorm. And that was probably just to get a lay of the land so to speak.

"No…and thank Gods for that…" Mal said, her voice low.

If he was sniffing that intently now…

"It means big trouble!" Harry growled.

"Yes Mal. Emir and Akiho are in there waiting to jump out and drag us all to dinner," Ben shook his head.

"You know…that's not a bad idea! Thanks Ben!" Emir grinned.

"You know I really wouldn't put it past those two," Mal pointed out, relaxing as she realized just how ridiculous it was. No one was going to attack Ben. Anyone who would even think about doing that was back on the Isle after all.

"…Not all of them," Claudine said softly as her mind drifted back to the previous scroll.

"That's a good point. My friends are very strange."

"Thank you!"

Ben sighed and shook his head. "You know that's not a compliment right?

"We take pride in our strangeness," Emir grinned. "So therefore it is to us."

"And what does that say about you, that you've been friends with them for all these years your highness?" Mal teased.

"That they have made me as crazy as them," Benji chuckled fondly.

Ben smiled and pulled Mal close. "My friends are just as strange as your friends, I'll have you know my Lady."

"Ben, what did we say about the use of titles?"

"That I can use yours if you use mine," Ben teased and gently kissed her cheek.

"Hey, that's a fair trade," Uma chuckled.

"You missed," Mal told him with a smirk.

"Oh did I now?"

"You most certainly did."

"Well I see Mal's taught Ben how to flirt," Emir chuckled.

Ben chuckled. "Well, let me go ahead and correct that my Lady."

"TMI! I thought we were done with the TMI moments!" Hadie exclaimed.

He leaned forward and gently connected his lips to hers, something that Mal eagerly welcomed and returned. Private moments like these were rare, considering how much of a public figure the two of them really were.

Malinda smiled sadly but looked over at Mal. "Don't worry, that won't stop Ben from kissing you," she said.

Though thankfully, the press hadn't swarmed them like they had Mal all those weeks ago.

"Good," Snow said and the firm tone in her voice honestly scared some of the people around her.

Mal had to wonder how much of that was the press having common sense and how much of that was her mom, Fairy Godmother, and Ben laying down the law.

"And some of it was apparently mom," Emma said, her eyes still wide in shock.

"Your mother can be scary, I've said that for years!" Emir nodded.

"I never got a chance to thank you," Ben said softly as they broke from the kiss. "For allowing me to see Abby. Even though we were there to help Ryan, I...I hadn't even considered it a possibility to be honest."

"Ben, you don't have to thank me," Malinda said, shaking her head.

"Ben, you've done so much for me," Mal said gently, brushing a bit of hair out of Ben's eyes. "Just the way you handled the issue with Natalie alone...you deserved it."

"I would have taken care of Natalie for you regardless of you doing anything for me," Benji said, his eyes growing hard at the mention of Mal's former handler.

Ben smiled slightly and pulled out his phone. "I took a picture. I haven't had the chance to see if Abby showed up in it...and there's a part of me that's scared to."

Abby gave Ben a small, sad smile before going over to give him a hug. "Even if I don't show up, it was still a sweet idea," she whispered.

Mal gave him a gentle smile as she took the phone out of Ben's hands. "I honestly don't know if the photo will appear Ben. No one's ever tried to take a picture inside the Underworld after all. Okay let me rephrase that. No mortal has ever tried."

"You know…if it works..maybe your scroll selves should consider something like that for Ryan…" Uma mused softly.

"That's not a bad idea Uma," Malinda said softly.

"The only thing is we won't have to make it happen this time around," Benji added.

After all, her mom had taken plenty of photos of her as a baby and with her and Hadie as they grew up and they all came out fine. But Mal didn't know if that was because the photos had been taken by a Goddess or if it was because they had been taken in the residential area of the Underworld.

"Honestly I think it's just because even the photo knows it's a bad idea to make your mom mad," Hades said with a small chuckle.

"Hades," Persephone shook her head.

"I just...I wanted to have it for my mom. A photo of her two kids, something she probably never thought she'd get," Ben said softly and Mal's heart broke as she heard the pain in his voice. The dread at the possibility of the photo not coming out.

"If it didn't show up, I would have gone back to the Underworld and drawn Abby," Malinda said. "And then had Carlos work his tech magic and turn the drawing into a photo."

"Hey, hey," she said gently and cupped his cheek with her hand, smiling slightly as he leaned into her touch. "Just because no mortal has ever tried to take a photo in the Underworld doesn't mean it didn't work. Most mortals visited the Underworld before cameras were even invented so you might have been the first to even try it. Let's see if it worked."

Please please please…please let me have something of both my children… Belle thought.

Pulling the photo up, Mal smiled slightly as she saw Ben with his sister. Granted it was a bit hard to fully make Abigail out compared to Ben, but with a bit of photo editing...not much, just make the image a bit sharper…

"I'd love it either way Mal" Belle said softly.

I bet if I sent this over to Carlos, he'd be able to make it so Abigail was just as crisp and clear as Ben was, Mal thought as she showed the photo to Ben.

"With Auradon tech…I could probably fix that up in my sleep," Carlos said with a small nod.

"It worked?" Ben gasped.

"It's a little hard to see Abigail clearly but it did work. I'll talk to Carlos about making Abigail a bit clearer before we give this to your mom," Mal nodded.

"I'm on it Mal" Carlos nodded.

Ben grinned and pulled Mal into a hug. Normally this would have been joined by a very happy Cerberus but Estelle was still sniffing intently by Ben's wardrobe.

"And the first alarm bell to alert everyone of Freddy's escape will ring in three…two…one…" Ashaki said.

He knew he had encountered this scent before. The smell of salt water was a well known one but there was something else. It almost smelled like the boat that the other humans would surround. Nothing really smelled good on that boat so Estelle never understood the appeal.

"How…how does he know what the food barge smells like?" Mal asked. "He's never been there."

Robin shook her head. "Have you ever studied just how good a dog's sense of smell is? It's supposed to be 100 times better than ours, and Estelle has two extra noses so let's make that 300 times better for him Not to mention the fact that he's a Cerberus."

But humans were strange. Maybe they liked it.

"No, no we don't," Sammy sighed.

Estelle paused as he caught another whiff of the scent, and this time he knew where he had smelled that before. It had been years ago, and he'd only been a pup, but he would never get his Mali's screams for help out of his head.

"So…what age do you think Cerberi consider themselves adults?" Hyllus asked. "Since Estelle would have been three when Mal got him when she was six."

"Maybe Estelle's trying to keep him and Mal on the same level since Mal's a Godling and so would have immortality like Estelle?" Macaria offered.

That scent had hurt his human! Had been near his human's mate!

That mean hooman will never get near my Mali or her mate! Estelle thought with a low growl as he lifted his head.

A low growl emerged from his throat and Estelle pawed at the box of furs, trying to get Mali's attention.

"Don't worry boy, you always have her attention," Harriet said.

"What is it boy?" Mal asked, looking over at Estelle in concern. She had only ever heard him growl on the Isle and that was only around Freddy.

"I can't believe it's not clicking for me," Mal muttered.

Malinda shook her head. "In our defense, we didn't think it was possible for Freddy to escape."

"Maybe he doesn't like my suits?" Ben suggested, trying to joke.

"Ben, no one likes your suits," Mal told him, shaking her head slightly.

"Except Leah and Audrey," Alexandria 'coughed'.

"Need a cough drop there Alex?" Kitty asked.

"Your more dressed down style is a lot more appealing...and if I may say, it's also very attractive. But I don't think that's why Estelle's growling."

Benji nodded before looking over at his younger self. "You know, I know we all gave you grief for the suit but you do know you can take your blazer off right? You've got to be hot in that."

"What do you mean?" Ben asked.

"I mean, you're the only one fully suited up," Benji said. "Even dad's taken his suit jacket off by this point."

Ben smiled slightly at Mal's words but the smile faded as he looked over at his girlfriend's dog. "Let me go and check out the wardrobe. He had been smelling it very intently before growling which makes me think—."

"Call. The. Guards! You think there is an unknown person or persons in your room! That's what the guards are for!" Akiho cried, shaking his head.

"Ben, if you honestly think you're going to be the one to check out a potential threat, think again," Mal stated as she got up. "If there is someone lingering in your wardrobe, I'll be able to hold them off while you run and get help."

"No, both of you get out of there and get someone like a guard!" Akiho exclaimed.

Actually all that would matter is that Ben runs out of here if there's someone in this wardrobe, Mal thought. I can handle an attacker easily, plus I'll have Estelle with me.

"You can't save the day every time, Mal," Benji said.

"Mal, I'm not going to just leave you alone if there's someone hiding in my wardrobe!" Ben exclaimed. "What kind of a boyfriend would do that?"

Ben shook his head. "Mal, I can defend myself you know. I'm not just going to flee and abandon you.'"

"The kind of boyfriend who's also a King and has no official heir to the kingdom?" Mal stated, raising an eyebrow.

"...well when you put it like that…"

"Plus, you know, I had magic," Malinda added.

Mal chuckled and gently kissed his cheek before getting up. She slowly walked over to the wardrobe and opened the door.

"At least tell me Ben's poised to run," Chip muttered as Lucas gently rested a hand on his not-husband's shoulder.

"Huh, that was more anticlimactic than I thought," she said as she found nothing but suits in the wardrobe. Looking over at her dog, she asked, "so what's with all the growling huh? You don't like Ben's suits?"

"As you said, no one likes Ben's suits but think about it! What or rather who is the only reason Estelle growls?!" Mal cried, glaring at the scroll.

Estelle shook his head. Honestly! Couldn't Mal smell it? It was the only other scent in the room.

Mal shook her head. "I'm so angry at my scroll self right now! Pick up on the hints!"

Well, other than his human's mate's pack. And his human's pack. And his human. And his human's mate. And his scent.

"So…not the only other scent in the room," Celia chuckled.

You know what, maybe Mal could be forgiven for not picking up on the scent right away. Humans were strange creatures in that regard.

"Well I'm sorry that I happen to not be part dog or shark, boy" Malinda chuckles slightly.

"Maybe he's just hungry," Ben suggested as he walked over to the wardrobe, now that it had been established to be safe to approach. "Let's say you, me, and Estelle go get some food?"

"Yes mom, I know you want me fed," Malinda chuckles as Persephone opened her mouth.

"Okay," Mal said softly. "I really don't know why he's growling Ben. He's never done this before. Just growled at random I mean."

"He's only growled at Freddy! Why are you not putting two and two together?" Uma groaned.

"He might just be getting used to Auradon," Ben said gently. "My dad said his dog Sultan used to growl every time he saw a rabbit or a squirrel run past after the curse got lifted."

Estelle lifted his head. He didn't know what a rabbit or a squirrel was but for some reason he wanted to know where they were!

"Do you normally have rabbits or squirrels in your dorm?"

"No," Benji sighed.

"Emir and Akiho are my best friends. Do you honestly think they wouldn't try to put a squirrel or a rabbit in my dorm?"

"Please, we know what you'd do to us if we did anything to risk damaging your books," Emir chuckled.

"I think they'd be more likely to put it in your office to try to chase you out," Mal said with a chuckle. "Oh Gods, what if they had a squirrel or a rabbit in your office and left you with Estelle?"

The aforementioned boys shook their heads. "We may be insane but we draw the line at animal cruelty," Akiho said.

"Good," Emma said, crossing her arms. "The poor rabbit didn't do anything to deserve that, even in a hypothetical situation."

"That'd be one way to wear him out," Ben chuckled as Mal leaned down to put the leash back on her dog. "You don't have to put that on him Mal. No one's got an issue with him and we're just going down to the cafeteria."

"If you're sure Ben…"

"Estelle's a good boy, he'll be fine," Ben said.

"It'll be fine," Ben said with a small smile as he bent down to unclip the leash from Estelle's collar. An action that earned Ben a small lick on the cheek.

"Wait, did Estelle just stand on his hind legs? Or did he jump up on the bed after all? Wouldn't it be easier for him to reach Ben's hand?" Aziz asked.

Mal chuckled and slipped her hand into Ben's, the three of them making their way to the cafeteria. Estelle trotted after them, the scent in his human's mate's den quickly leaving his mind as he took in the scent of the humans' dinner.

"Someone note this moment! A rare moment of Ben walking down the hall, hand in hand with his girlfriend!" Chip grinned before shooting a look at Audrey, as if daring her to comment.

Why did they always have such good smelling food? Kibble was great but it always smelled the same. The humans' food seemed to have a different smell with every passing of the bright ball in the sky!

"How…how does Estelle know what clouds are but not the sun?" Neal asked, tilting his head.

"So Mal, what'll you be having for dinner tonight?" Ben asked with a grin.

"You know perfectly well what I'll be having Ben," Mal smirked. "It seems to be steak night after all."

"Ooooh, just like our first night, how far we have come." Jay said, looking between Ben and Mal.

"I think you read my mind," Ben told her. "Steak and potatoes has got to be one of the best dinners anyone could come up with."

"Ahem?" Hadie said raising an eyebrow

"Not better than my dad's garlic crispy chicken!"

"I said one of the best Mal."

"He has learned well," Mal nodded her head in approval.

"Good," Mal nodded. "Estelle, go sit down. We'll meet you at a table."

"Oh yeah Estelle's got to have near human level intelligence," Rose said. "How many other dogs would have understood that?"

Estelle nodded and went to one of the empty tables, quickly scurrying under it before any humans could react. Though lately the humans really didn't care what he did. Well there was the loud, mean, pink furred one but Estelle tried his best to ignore her.

"We all do Estelle, we all do," Kitty said as she shook her head.

"Hey buddy," he heard Mal's Beta—the one she called Jay—whisper as he sat down and dropped his hand under the table. Estelle grinned and wagged his tail as he licked Jay's hand. Dinner with Mali and her pack always meant scraps for him!

"You see? Now he's getting used to begging," Mal shook her head in fond exasperation.

"Jay, did you just feed Estelle table scraps?"

"Like you weren't going to do the same thing Harry!"

"Hey, I feed my crew,'' Harry shrugged.

"I can neither confirm nor deny that the accusation you just gave is accurate," Harry said as his hand found its way under the table too.

Estelle yipped softly, giving Harry a doggy grin in thanks.

"If you three spoil my dog anymore than you already have, he'll get to be three hundred pounds! I like being able to cuddle with him!"

"Three?" Rose asked, tilting her head. "Only Jay and Harry said anything."

Malinda shook her head. "Carlos was there too…and yes, he snuck Estelle a treat."

"A little bit of snacking under the table isn't going to make him weigh three hundred pounds Mali."

"Uma, you're just saying that because your hand is under the table right now, aren't you?"

"It'd better be!" Uma said with a proud smile.

Estelle grinned and trotted over to the other Alpha's hand and ate the bit of steak fat that she was holding. And what was this? Mali's mate's hand! With a nice juicy bit of steak!

"Oh yeah, this one here? One of the main culprits for feeding Estelle scraps from the table," Malinda said, shaking her head as she pointed to Benji.

Benji chuckled. "I will neither confirm nor deny that fact."

"Ben!"

"Last one Mal, I promise," Ben said and Estelle curled up next to his feet. Just in case one of them 'dropped' a bit of steak on the ground.

"Looks like the scroll's confirmed it for you Benji," Chip chuckled.

He could figure out that scent and why it was in Mali's mate's den later. Right now, he needed to be alert. He needed to be Auradon Prep's clean up crew!

"And he's the best clean up crew Auradon Prep's ever had," Malinda said with a small nod.

"That's the truth," Benji smiled.

Mr. Smee looked around. "That's the end of the scroll. Who…would anyone like to read next?"

"I wouldn't mind reading again," Benji said. "If no one minds?"

"Knock yourself out," Mal shrugged.