6 Let the Prank War Begin

6: Let the Prank War Begin

Mason

After I woke up the next morning, I went into the bathroom, flipped on the light, headed for the toilet to do my business, and had to do a double take at what I saw.

Sitting on the toilet seat was a big turd.

"You"re kidding me," I muttered, aware that everyone else was still sleeping. "I knew I shouldn"t have told them the poop story."

Doesn"t smell like crap, Garnet pointed out. I think it"s fake.

It damn well better be fake! I rolled my eyes and crouched down to look at it.

Garnet was right. It didn"t have any odor except for a wet paper smell...

"For the love of the moon. How elementary school can you get?"

Rolling my eyes, I pulled off a wad of paper and picked up the supposed turd, which was really a toilet paper roll that someone had torn up, dampened, and scrunched together into the right shape.

"I wonder which of the little turds did it?" I smirked at my own pun.

What? It was like five a.m. and I was staring at a pile of fake poop. If I didn"t find the humor in it, I would have lost my temper - and I"d done enough of that yesterday.

Ash, probably, Garnet suggested, then curled up and went back to sleep.

As I nodded in agreement and tossed the fake poop into the trash can, one thought went through my mind.

This better not be the start of another prank war or, so help me Goddess, I might actually kill one of them this time.

#

Ash

After I woke up the next morning, I hustled to the bathroom, did my business, and washed my hands. Looking into the mirror above the sink, I had to do a double take at what I saw.

"Huh?" My face curled up in confusion. "How did that get there?"

A heart-shaped waffle was tattooed at the base of my throat.

Sid! What did you get up to last night?

Woof?

Sid! You literally just said the word woof! Wake up! What did you do last night?

Sleep. Me sleep, he mumbled, rolled over, and started snoring again.

"Cole!" I hissed as I stared at it. "Bastard better hope it"s a temporary tattoo, that"s all I have to say!"

As I used up the last of the soap to scrub it off, one thought went through my mind.

All right, then, brother. You might have fired the first shot in the prank war, but I"m going to fire the last one.

#

Cole

After I woke up the next morning, I dragged myself to the bathroom, did my business, and went to wash my hands - and had to do a double-take at what I saw.

An empty soap dish? Who uses the last of it and doesn"t replace it? I grumbled to myself.

Letting out a grr! of irritation, I turned to the linen closet to get a fresh bar. As I opened the door, something landed on my shoulder, and I turned my head to see what it was.

"Ahhhh!" I hissed as I batted the huge black spider off of me.

My heart running a mile a minute, I did a little skippy-hop dance backward until my butt hit the counter. Ignoring Topaz"s snickers, I frantically brushed my hands all over my body to make sure there weren"t any more of the evil little creatures on me.

Not real, boss, Topaz giggled. Look. See? It"s not moving.

Pressing my hand against my thumping heart, I cautiously moved closer and saw that it was indeed not real. It was a rubber toy hanging from a string of what looked like dental floss.

He got you good, boss!

Which one? Ash, Wyatt, or Jay? I snarled as my hands clenched into fists. Or was it all three?

Jay? he shrugged, not as concerned as I was to figure out who to target.

As I grabbed the bar of soap and turned back to the sink, one thought went through my mind.

There"s going to be hell to pay for this, little brother, and you"re never going to see it coming. Let the prank war begin.

#

Jayden

After I woke up the next morning, I yawned my way to the bathroom, did my business, and washed my hands. Looking into the mirror above the sink, I had to do a double take at what I saw.

"Whoa!" I gasped.

My eyelids were coated in blue and purple eyeshadow, my cheeks were heavily painted with dark red blush, and my lips were stained hot pink.

"Wyatt!" I hissed through clenched teeth as I stared at my reflection. "The second you brought home that make-up kit supposedly for Posy, I knew you"d do this to one of us! It was only a matter of time!"

As I lathered up my whole face, one thought went through my mind.

So you want a prank war, do you, boy? Well, I"m about to show you how it"s done.

#

Wyatt

After I finally woke up the next morning, I untangled myself from Posy, stumbled into the bathroom, did my business, and washed my hands. Looking into the mirror above the sink, I had to do a double take at what I saw.

"What the hell?" I bellowed.

Someone had used a black marker to draw thick eyebrows, a curled mustache, and a goatee on my face!

"Ash!" I growled as I stared at my reflection. "You little bitch! This better not be permanent marker!"

As I splashed water on my face before soaping it up, one thought went through my mind.

If a prank war is what you want, brother, a prank war is what you"re going to get.

#

Posy

After I woke up the next morning, I had to do a double take at what I saw.

Or rather, what I didn"t see. The bedroom was empty except for me. That didn"t happen very often. I usually woke up smothered by Wyatt"s sleepyhead self.

Sitting up quickly, I linked them to see where they were and Mason immediately replied that they were making breakfast in the kitchen.

Concerned now, I grabbed Ash"s rumpled t-shirt, which fit me like a dress, and threw it on, then hurried to the bathroom, did my business, and washed my hands before rushing downstairs to make sure there was no bloodshed.

To my pleasant surprise, I found the five of them moving quietly around the kitchen and dining room. Mason was cooking bacon and eggs, Jayden was manning the waffle maker, Wyatt was washing something at the sink, Ash was setting the table, and Cole was filling glasses with either orange or apple juice.

None of them were speaking, and alarm spiked inside me.

My boys were not silent, and certainly not when they were working together on something, even if it was as normal and simple as making breakfast. Since they weren"t talking, I had to study their faces for clues as to what was wrong, and I blinked in surprise at what I found. Wyatt had faded black marks on his chin and upper lip, Jayden"s cheeks were dull red and his eyelids looked vaguely bruised, and Ash had a bright red patch at the base of his throat.

That one got my immediate attention.

"Waffle?" I went over to him with a frown. "You let someone else suck on your neck?"

"What? Oh, baby, no! Of course not!" His brown eyes widening in panic, he picked me up by my waist and sat me on the counter so we were eye to eye. Planting one hand on either side of my hips, he lifted his chin to show me the red mark better. "Someone put a temporary tattoo there while I was asleep last night. I scrubbed it, but couldn"t get all of it off."

"Oh." I leaned forward and kissed the red skin, then smiled to myself as he shivered under my lips. "Who would do that?"

"Yeah, who would do that?" He narrowed his eyes and looked at each of his brothers. His voice switched to a rumbly growl as he continued. "But don"t worry, princess. I"ll get them back. Whoever did it is going to regret it, I promise you that."

A flash of fear hit me. In my planning session with Eden, I hadn"t considered that they would get mad. Evan had been irritated with Eden, but he hadn"t gotten mad.

Will they punish me if I prank them? My breathing picked up and my heart ran its own marathon.

No, Lark soothed. Never. They promise they never punish you, remember?

Knowing she was right, I took deep breaths to calm down and watched as Jayden started plating the waffles.

"Cole, can you get me a glass of water?" he asked as he worked.

"Okaaaaay," Cole dragged the word out and looked at his brother with suspicious eyes.

I didn"t understand his reaction. Jayden always had water with breakfast, so it wasn"t unusual. My confusion ended when the sound of spraying water and Cole"s cursing filled the air. For some reason, the spray hose was spewing out water, hitting Cole right in the face. Everyone burst out laughing, except for Cole, who was busy ducking the spray to turn off the faucet.

"You asshole!" he shouted as he turned around, red-faced and dripping wet.

"Language," Mason sighed as he gathered up his platters of bacon and eggs and carried them to the table.

"Did you not see what he just did to me?" Cole hollered.

"I didn"t do it! I"m all the way over here!" Jayden yelled back.

"Why did you tell me to get you water if you weren"t setting me up?"

"Wyatt was the last one to use the sink!"

"Would you two pipe down?" Ash grumbled as he went to the fridge. "No yelling around Posy. Cupcake, what do you want to drink?"

Before I could answer, he pulled the fridge door open, and an impossibly loud noise blasted out of it. Already on edge from Cole and Jayden shouting, I flinched so badly, I fell off the counter.

"Posy!"

Ash reached for me, but I was already falling and hit the floor with a hard thud. My shoulder didn"t win against the hard tile and popped out of place with a sickening sound. Bright red lines shot through my vision and the pain sent my mind back to a dark room.

"Holy shit!"

"Oh my Goddess!"

"Posy!"

"Whose bright idea was an air horn?"

I was too deep in the panic and pain to do anything but scurry away, dragging myself back with one hand as I clutched my injured arm against my chest.

"Look at me, Posy."

With a whimper, I shook my head, tears falling like raindrops, and kept skittering back until I hit a wall.

"Shh. Calm down, little flower." The calm voice was familiar. "You"re okay. You"re safe. It was an air horn. Just a dumb prank. We love you. We love you so much. You"re safe."

He continued to murmur comforting words, and slowly the panic faded and my vision cleared.

"Mason?"

"I"m going to touch you, okay? I need to check your shoulder."

After I nodded, he carefully inspected the damage, then sank back on his haunches with a sigh.

"Can I pop it back into place? Lark will be able to heal the soft tissue in seconds that way."

Knowing it would take her hours otherwise, I nodded and closed my eyes.

"Go ahead," I whispered.

"On three, okay? One, two, three—"

Pop!

As he pushed the bone back into the socket, I grimaced at the sharp stab, and Lark immediately got to work healing me.

"I"m jealous of your high pain tolerance," Mason muttered as he pulled me into a gentle hug, "but I hate knowing how you developed it."

I did, too, but saying it wouldn"t help anything. I sniffed and wrapped my arms around his neck so I could bury my face in his throat.

"Go ahead and cry, little flower. I got you."

And that was all I needed to hear to let the floodgates open.

"I"m sorry. I thought I was better! I want to be better! I"m sorry," I sobbed. "I"m sorry for not being better!"

"You are better. So, so much better."

"Aren"t you sick of this?" I hiccuped, my hand knotting tightly in his shirt. "Aren"t you all tired of dealing with me? I am! I"m so sick of myself!"

"Shh, my little baby. Shh. I know you"re frustrated." He rocked me back and forth, his voice barely above a murmur. "Remember what Dr. York said? No one expects you to be completely healed from years of trauma after less than two months. You need to cut yourself some slack, baby."

I didn"t say anything, but my tears slowed down as I listened to the steady thumping of his heart.

"We aren"t sick of you, and we never will be," he went on. "We told you before, we will never leave your side. We can"t leave you. We"re as dependent on you as you are on us. If you think you could leave us and we"d be okay, you"re dead wrong. Literally. It would kill us to lose you, baby. That"s how deep you"ve dug into our hearts and souls."

He squeezed me gently.

"You have no idea how much you"ve changed us and helped us grow. Cole hardly ever loses his temper now. Sure, he grumps and growls around, but it"s nothing like it used to be. As for Wyatt, I can"t tell you how much happier he is. Ash doesn"t get as distracted and off task as before, which has made him more confident. And Jay is finally seeing his own worth. He doesn"t feel like an extra, unnecessary person anymore."

"And you?" I dared to ask.

He didn"t respond for a minute, then he took a deep breath and bent his head to whisper in my ear.

"I didn"t realize how depressed I was until I found the happiness I have now. I was hanging on by a thread and didn"t even know it. If we never went to Green River, I would have snapped in a matter of months, and Goddess only knows what the fallout of that would have been. Fortunately, you came into my life and filled all my cracks in with gold. It"s like I"m sparkling inside now. I"m a better brother, a better alpha, and a better man because of you."

I knew Mason was not a liar, but it was hard for me to believe that one broken girl could have such an impact on these powerful men. They kept telling me it was true, though.

Others do, too, Lark reminded me. Their wolves. Mama and Mom and Peri. The betas. They all say the boys are happier and have better brain health.

Mental health, I corrected her gently.

Same same. She rolled her eyes.

"Thank you, my eternal flame." I leaned forward and kissed his big, soft lips. "I know it hurt you to have to hurt me."

"I would have taken every ounce of your pain if I could have. Now, are you ready for breakfast? Or do you want to go back to the bedroom and relax on your own for a bit? Or we can sit here on the kitchen floor for as long as you want."

"I"m ready for breakfast." I gave him a tiny smile.

Apparently, my other mates took that as a cue to stop hovering around us in anxious silence because they instantly dropped down and squished me in a group hug.

"I know you didn"t mean to scare me by shouting," I said before any of them could open their mouths, "just like I didn"t mean to upset you by panicking. I"m okay, I don"t blame any of you for anything, and I"m not mad. Please don"t be sad or upset or angry with yourselves or each other."

"But you got hurt." Tears overflowed Ash"s brown eyes.

I made grabby hands at him, and he instantly pulled me into his arms and hid his face into the crook of my neck. As his impossibly wide shoulders shook, all I knew to do was pet his curls and reassure him I was fine and whisper good things to him.

"I love you, Posy, more than anything in this world," he said at last, his breath warm and tickly on my damp throat.

"I love you, too, waffle." I kissed his forehead.

Then I was passed from mate to mate to repeat the process, minus the tears but not the regret, and I ended up sitting on Jayden"s lap as we gathered around the table and Mason served up breakfast.

I reached for the salt shaker, but Cole caught it, took it from me, and set it next to Mason"s plate. I glanced over at him, and he shook his head.

Use the other one, he linked me. When I raised my eyebrows in question, he only grinned. Trust me, honey. You don"t want that "salt" on your eggs.

Confused but curious, I nodded and asked Wyatt to pass me the shaker at his end of the table. I sprinkled some on my finger and tasted it and found it was only normal table salt. With a shrug, I put some on my eggs and sat the shaker down.

Watch this, sweetness, Jayden purred in our mate link and tilted his head toward Wyatt, who had finished spooning sugar into his coffee and was lifting the mug to his lips.

Seconds later, my fifth star spewed hot brown liquid everywhere, gagging and choking, and I burst out into giggles.

"Who switched the sugar with salt?!" he roared. "That"s just sacrilege, to ruin good coffee like that!"

At the same time, Mason quietly grimaced and spat his eggs into his napkin.

"And I don"t appreciate sugar on my eggs," he groaned, then stared hard at each of his brothers. "Okay, boys, I can see we need to set some pranking rules now that Posy"s with us, and there will be no violations, understood?"

"What kind of rules?" Cole asked as he folded his arms over his chest.

"One. Air horns are absolutely forbidden. Two. Posy is not to be used, with or without her permission and/or knowledge, to set someone up. Three—"

"Wait." I held up my hands. "What"s happening here? Why are you pranking each other all of a sudden, and why is Mason acting like this is the beginning of something?"

"Because it is, cutie." Wyatt winked and grinned at me. "Someone decided to start a prank war this morning, and I"m going to win it this time."

"As if."

"Sure you are, baby bro."

"I don"t think so, numbnuts."

"What"s to win?" Mason shrugged. "Either one of you will do something stupidly catastrophic, or I"ll end it because I can"t take it anymore."

As the boys bantered back and forth, they each steadily pushed out love and care to me through the mate bond. That warmed my heart more than any words they could give me.

When Cole began to clear the table, Jayden and Mason got up to do dish duty, and Wyatt and Ash went to pack what they could. We were going to be leaving for our big "secret" vacation as soon as everyone was ready, and I was bursting with excitement to finally find out where we were going.

Posy? Lark said softly as I headed off to shower. You help me?

With what, wolfie?

I want to prank my wolves.

All right. Did you have something in mind?

I going to dye Quartz purple! she yipped as she bounced up and down.

Um, no. My eyes widened as I tried to picture that. Remember what Eden said? Our best advantage is to be underestimated. We need to be sneaky and make it look like it wasn"t us.

Oh, yeah. She was quiet for a moment, then gasped. I going to trick Granite into dyeing Quartz purple!

Now you"re talking, wolfie!