Fated Rivals

Chapter 17

He pinches my side but still lets out a chuckle. However, the little gremlin isn't done, because then he starts rubbing his snotty nose on my shoulder.

"Aw gross dude!" I say, shoving him away from my now ruined costume, "This is the thanks I get for comforting you? I would rather take the pinching." He starts laughing but I don't see what's so funny about it. I'm glad that Luke was the one who bought this so at least my money wasn't waisted.

"Okay, now I feel better," he says lifting his mask and wiping away at his soaked face.

"Well I don't! An amount of money went into this costume that Luke bought."

"That makes it even better."

"Can I at least get another kiss to make ME feel better?"

"When pigs fly."

"Oh please, you were into it too."

"Was I? Or am I just that good of an actor?" he says, raising an eyebrow.

"...Don't play with me." We both start laughing, letting the tense atmosphere dissolve. It feels good to not be fighting anymore, but I know that I'll have to look into any possible leads on who gave him that spray. Since I don't think I'll be getting any more info out of Eli.

"So, not that I'm complaining, but why are you dressed like a black swan at Luke's party?" I say taking in his new look.

He huffs out a breath and even in the barely available moon light I can see a cute blush spread across his cheeks. "A friend of mine wanted to come here, and I needed a good disguise so Luke wouldn't recognize me. So why not dress up as the opposite gender?"

"You definitely have a creative way of solving problems."

"Hey, I thought it was a good idea at the time."

"Yeah well, I'm pretty sure you could have gotten away with a guy costume too. If anything, dressing like a cute girl might attract his attention to you." And something about that doesn't sit well with me or Onyx.

"Oh please, you heard him. A negative a-cup like me wouldn't show up on his douchebag radar," he says, rolling his eyes.

"Good. No one should be touching you like that," I say stepping closer to him.

"Let me guess, no one but you," he says with a chuckle.

"If that's what you would prefer, princess," I say, giving him a sly grin but serious eyes. He scoffs, and looks away from me. But I can still see that blush growing on his face. It's so easy to tease him, that sometimes I just can't help it.

Our talk gets cut short as I get a faint whiff of a foreign rogue smell. Grabbing Eli, I pull him into a nearby bush, crouching us down as low as possible. Eli gives me a confused look, but thankfully stays quiet and watches with me. Not a minute later we hear, then see, a rogue stroll past us towards the direction of the party. My instinct tells me to rip him apart now, but I wait and see what he's up to first. It's not uncommon that a few rogues join the party now and then, but this guy didn't seem like a teenager to me. A few minutes later he passes by us again, this time sprinting back to wherever he came from. We wait a few more minutes before getting up from our hiding spot. Something about this seems really suspicious, so I guess it's time to play detective.

"I'm going after him. Eli, you head back to the party."

"No way. I'm coming with you."

"This isn't up for debate. Go. Now," I say striping off my costume, and immediately shifting. I pick up the rogue's scent trail easily and start to follow it. Leaping over thick roots and plowing through underbrush that gets thicker the deeper into the forest I go. Tapping into a Head Alpha ability that lets me hide my scent, with the obvious name, Camouflage. The scent goes on for a while before finally ending at a slope leading into a clearing where the smell of A LOT of rogues is coming from.