Chapter 433: Still In The Gym

Princess stayed around her sleeping pups, silently watching Starpants and Co. do their chaotic business across the gym floor. Since she wasn’t participating in whatever weird plan they were cooking up tonight, she just quietly waited for her girlfriend to finish so they could finally head home together.

All five of the pups were already sound asleep on their soft mats, even little Leonny, who was curled up with his blue pacifier resting loosely against his chest.

Faye and Malo had been glaring continuously at Kiara, who had spent the last ten minutes constantly mocking them for their absolute helplessness.

They were not happy with Kiara at all, their brows furrowed in pure annoyance.

"What are you even doing in our gym?" Faye finally asked the girl, folding her arms over her chest.

"I was waiting for you, and I’m also officially part of your group now," Kiara said, flipping her long hair over her shoulder with a sharp smirk.

"Temporarily..." Malo corrected instantly, raising a single finger to stress the word.

Across the small table, Haley and Sasha had been trying their absolute best to draw a single drop of blood from the blue fish. But no matter how hard they pressed down with their sharp tools, the creature just stretched and bounced back, looking completely like indestructible rubber.

"Maybe we should just look for another Beast and try again somewhere else," Haley suggested, wiping her forehead in frustration.

"But what if this is literally the only Beast we can find? And we’re running out of time so fast. The year is almost over, and we only have six out of 118. How on earth are we supposed to find more Beasts at this rate?" Malo complained loudly.

"Well, since you act like such an expert at everything, why don’t you figure out a real way to remove blood from the fucking fish?" Faye shot back at him.

"I can help you guys if you want, but there’s a catch..." Kiara chimed in smoothly from her seat on the bench.

"Why is there always a catch with you?" Faye asked, glaring hard at her.

"Sweetie, there is nothing for free in this world. Even you have to bear pups for that Alpha every single year just for her love," Kiara said with a cold, mocking grin.

"What is actually wrong with your life?" Faye asked, staring down the girl with complete disgust.

"I did not say anything wrong here. Who the hell gets pregnant again when they literally promised me they would get me what I want?" Kiara hissed back, her tone turning sharp and bitter.

"Yo, bitch, just because I am pregnant does not change our original plan. It’s still completely on, so fucking shut your trap..." Faye mumbled under her breath, desperately trying not to let Princess hear her words.

But the listening Alpha could still hear every single word clearly from across the room. Princess simply kept her eyes on the pups and pretended not to listen to their argument.

"You better not fucking bail on me. If you do, I’m going to follow my sister’s original plan and maybe imprint on your daughter instead. It wouldn’t even be a problem now that you’re adding another one to the collection..."

"How the fuck do you know about that?" Faye asked, her eyes widening in sudden panic.

"Princess told me."

"Princess!" Faye shouted at her girlfriend from across the gym, her loud voice almost disturbing the sleeping kids near the wall.

"Do not call my name over here. I am actively pretending not to listen to whatever bizarre mission you have with that girl. And keep your voice down right now, you will wake the pups up. Also, I did not tell her a single thing. She figured it out completely on her own..." Princess whispered back sharply, turning her back to the scene as she leaned down to check on the quiet pups.

Faye snapped her attention right back to Kiara.

"Fine. She’s right. I figured it out on my own," Kiara admitted, leaning forward. "I’m not completely dumb like you and your stupid team. I do not want to be bound forever to someone I don’t fucking love, so you better not change your mind about our deal."

"I’m not changing my mind. I’d rather watch the council slaughter you than see you as my little girl’s mate. She deserves someone her own age and not someone like you."

"What do you mean, someone like me? I am everybody’s absolute first choice. And why? Because I am the most beautiful of them all," Kiara declared, tossing her head back with full confidence.

"Yes, she really is. The most beautiful girl in the whole wide world..." Bambi said softly from behind her, reaching out her hand to gently touch Kiara’s hair.

Kiara jerked her head away instantly. "Don’t touch my hair or my body ever again without my permission," Kiara said coldly.

Bambi quietly withdrew her hand from Kiara’s hair, looking down at the floor as she silently went to find another place to sit by herself.

Faye looked at Bambi’s hurt face and then turned back to glare at Kiara.

If it were days ago, Faye would have just laughed at the petty drama. But seeing it now made something burn in her chest.

"Kiara, I really don’t like the awful way you treat my Beta."

"She was my girlfriend long before she became your Beta. I treat her however I want to. It’s none of your fucking business. I don’t put my mouth in your relationship, so keep out of mine," Kiara spat back.

"You really want to go there with me right now...?"

There were so many terrible things Faye could have listed about the spoiled brat, but the people who had been silently watching their endless bantering had clearly heard enough.

"Okay, okay, can we please just focus on the main task here?" Malo interrupted, waving his hands between them to break the tension.

"Yeah, it’s getting super late, and I have to go home soon or my sister is going to start an entire patrol around the city searching for me," Sasha said from the bench.

"Dude, she knows you are always hanging out here. Why would she be going around the city searching?" Faye asked, turning to her Beta.

"She’s just trying to make a point here. Time is definitely not waiting for any of us, so let’s go back to business..." Haley added, pulling out her equipment.

"Alright, let’s focus on how to get that fish’s blood out." Faye looked straight at Kiara. "What’s the stupid catch for giving us the info?"

"Now we’re finally talking..." Kiara said, smirking as she opened her mouth, ready to list her long demands.

"I have a quick solution, and I cannot linger around here all night and watch you sleep on a simple task..." Dre, who had been sitting quietly on the side bench, spoke up as she stood to her feet.

"Shit..." Kiara muttered in deep disappointment, snapping her mouth shut.

Faye and Malo both let out small chuckles at the thoroughly disappointed look on Kiara’s face.

It turned out that Dre’s claws were the exact solution they needed all along. She walked straight over to the table and used one of her long finger claws to pierce the rubber skin of the Beast, and blood immediately trickled out.

The drop of blood fell directly onto the center of the ancient map, forming a single thick line. Then, as if driven by magic, it started circulating around the paper entirely on its own, pinning the exact locations of every single Beast remaining around the world.

When the strange ritual was finally done, Haley leaned over, counted the bright glowing pins, and found 114 specific locations.

Using her smart digital gadget, she quickly transferred all the location information straight into their private tracking app so it would be super easy for everyone on the team to access and track on their phones.

One glowing pin was located right here in Oakland, and that was the Elastic Seahorse lying on their table.

"Why are there 114 locations on the map instead of 113? We already found five before this," Malo said, looking confused. They had already gathered five beasts previously and given them to the Lycan Prince, so the total count remaining should have been 113.

"It’s a complete location map. It’s supposed to show all 118 locations worldwide, but the five we already handed over are supposed to be showing in a single fixed location where the Lycan currently lives," Haley explained, tapping her digital screen.

"Oh my goodness, do you think they actually ate four of them already, and only one is left alive with that Gary dude?" Faye asked, her eyes widening in realization.

"So they are actively killing the Beasts? Why would they do that?, they look so cute to die..." Sasha wondered out loud, her eyebrows drawing together.

"Ugh... do you guys really not know what you are handing over to the Lycans?" Kiara said, rolling her eyes at their ignorance.

"If you actually know something useful, Kiara, just spill it and stop beating around the bush," Malo said, glaring at the girl.

Kiara was just about to open her mouth and explain, but once again, Dre beat her to it without missing a single beat.

"The Beasts are not just mysterious sea animals that randomly gained magical power over time. Centuries ago, there was a witch named Galinda, who was the most powerful witch ever to walk this earth. Before she died, she transferred her soul and power into different kinds of sea animals so she could eventually live forever. So what you are doing with the Lycans is directly helping them raise Galinda back from the dead, because she is the only one who can create a true Lycan," Dre explained in a cold, matter-of-fact voice.

"Wow..." Princess muttered softly from the background near the sleeping pups.

She had been trying her hardest not to intervene in their work tonight, but she could already smell the massive, terrifying danger Starpants and Co. were constantly putting themselves into.

"You really should have just let me explain the story my own way..." Kiara snapped angrily, turning her head to glare at the Walker.

"You were being far too sluggish," Dre replied flatly.

"Seriously, do we have a problem here? I have noticed you constantly staring at me since the moment you walked into this gym, and now you’re purposely stealing my thunder," Kiara hissed, stepping closer to her.

"I am the one who should be asking you that exact kind of question. I did my end of our bargain back then, and then you turned around and tricked me. Did you really think I would not find out about your little play?"

Kiara paused for a brief second, suddenly realizing what Dre was referring to.

"So you want to get back at me now? Go ahead and try to kill me. You know you can never kill me," Kiara said, a dark smirk forming on her lips.

"I can’t kill you, because you will just kill me first. But just so you know... your betrayal cost the life of someone very dear to me, and I will definitely do the exact same thing to you. An eye for an eye..." Dre threatened in a terrifyingly calm, quiet voice.

The ice in her spoken words sent visible chills straight through the people standing around the gym.

Kiara gave a small, arrogant smile.

"I have nothing dear to me..."

Malo quickly leaned over and whispered directly into Faye’s ear.

"Is her sister or her parents not dear to her at all?"

"Shut up. Let’s just pretend to listen to them," Faye whispered back out of the side of her mouth, her eyes glued onto the two girls standing in front of them.

"I actually have someone specific in mind. You wouldn’t care at all if I gouged her heart," Dre threatened softly, the person she was referring wasn’t in the room.. Kiara knew who she was talking about....

And then Kiara completely snapped the instant she heard the emphasis on the word Her.

Her eyes turned pitch black as she pierced her own fingertips with her sharp nails, letting a drop of her blood fly fast through the air toward Dre’s face.

Dre would have met her complete end right then and there on the gym floor, but Faye unknowingly let the deadly blood touch her own hand as she casually reached out over Dre’s head before her skin touched the Walker.