Now it''s my turn to stare. "You were at Ordan
n Central? During those years?"
+20 Bonus
We both fall silent, studying each other''s faces with new awareness. There''s something vaguely familiar about Alice''s features
now that I''m looking for it-the shape of her eyes, maybe, or the way she tilts her head when she''s thinking.
"There was a girl," Alice says slowly. "Who used to draw pictures for everyone. She made one for me before I was adopted. A butterfly, I think?"
A memory stirs then-a small, tearful girl clutching a battered stuffed rabbit, preparing to leave the orphanage with her new family. Me, pressing a crayon drawing into her hands. "It''s yours to keep," I''d told her. "So you won''t forget us." "Your rabbit," I whisper. "You had a stuffed rabbit named... Hoppy?"
"Floppy," Alice corrects. "Holy shit, it was you!"
Without warning, she throws her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I hug her back, astonished by this unexpected connection.
Miles watches us curiously.
"I can''t believe it," Alice says, pulling back to look at me. "Iris from the orphanage.
I remember you now! You were always so nice
to me when the older kids were mean.
"And you were thed who could do a perfect cartwheel," I recall with augh. "You tried to teach me, but I was terrible at it."
It''s strange but wonderful, connecting this piece of my past with my present. Alice, my new friend, was once little Alice from the
orphanage. The coincidence seems almost too perfect to be real.
"We have so much to catch up on," Alice says, ncing at her watch. "Do you have time for coffee? There''s a cafe just down the
street."
"I''d love that," I reply, genuinely excited at the prospect. "Miles, would you like some hot chocte?"
He nods enthusiastically, and the three of us exit the testing center together.
As we step onto the sidewalk, Alice links her arm through mine. "So, tell me everything. What happened after I left? Did you stay in touch with anyone else from the orphanage?"
"Not really," I admit. "Once we all aged out, everyone scattered. Life happened." "And look at us now," Alice says with a smile. "Both sessful, both getting DNA tests on the off chance we''re secretly werewolf royalty"
Iugh. "When you put it that way, it sounds ridiculous."
"Maybe, but isn''t it fun to Imagine?" She nudges me with her elbow. "Picture it: one of us turns out to be the long-lost Willford heir, moves into a mansion, then runs away somewhere tropical with the fortune and never looks back..."
"Right, I''m sure that''s exactly how it would go," I say with a dry chuckle.
+20 Bonus
We''re about to cross the street to the cafe when a familiar ck car pulls up alongside us, tires squealing slightly as ites to an abrupt stop. The window rolls down, revealing Beta Ezra in the driver''s seat.
"Iris," he says urgently. "You and Miles need toe with me right now."
My heart immediately kicks into overdrive. "What? Why? What''s happened?" "Just get in the car, please. Before it happens."
"Before what happens?" I nce at Alice, who looks as confused as I feel. "Ezra, I''m not just going to-
"Iris," he cuts me off. "Trust me. You want to be in this car right now.
#
Something in his tone makes me obey. I climb into the car with Miles, even pulling Alice in after me, just in case a bomb is about to go off or something. But to my surprise, Ezra doesn''t pull away just yet.
Instead, he reaches forward and taps a button on the dashboard. A screen descends from the ceiling of the car, flickering to life. with a live news broadcast. The presidential seal is visible on a podium, and a crowd of reporters waits expectantly, cameras
shing.
Suddenly, Arthur walks into frame. The room falls silent as he adjusts the microphone and looks directly into the camera.
And then, without preamble, Arthur leans into the microphone and says, "My mate
is a human. We have a son together, and I''m tired of keeping them hidden away in the dark."