noun ~ a complete episode or period of play, ending in a definite result

CHARLIE

Fucking time out.

Ridiculous

Utter madness.

I was a grown man, and she made me sit on my ass and face the wall like a toddler!

Nova shifted from Phoenix's lap at the sound of her daughter's cry and I followed her like a hawk. I hid in the shadows of a tree, and I knew she would not notice me if she didn't search for me. I was going to avoid her like a plague.

"What's got you grumbling?"

My eyes darted to Calida over the rim of my glass, and I quickly swallowed the whiskey in my mouth.

"Calida!" I beamed. "Hi!"

I pulled her in for a hug, and she laughed softly. For a fleeting moment, I got to inhale her lemon fresh scent, so happy that my mate was one of my favourite smells. She didn't like hugs for long, but it was one thing we were working toward.

"Hi." she squeaked, smoothing her hands down her top. "I said, what are you grumbling about?"

"Me?" I scoffed. "I'm not grumbling about anything."

She raised one eyebrow at my dismissal, a knowing smirk on her face. I scowled at her, huffing and looking back toward the pack. Had Nova turned my mate against me, too?

"What happened?" She grinned. "To get you this wound up, it had to be good."

"I was put in a time out." I mumbled.

"What? You were put where?" She leaned closer.

My eyes dropped to her chest unwillingly, my jaw tightening at the soft expanse of breast she unknowingly exposed to me. I groaned softly, looking away with a sigh.

"Time out." I huffed. "Nova put me in a time out."

I knew my mate would find it hilarious, no sympathy for the man of her dreams. And I was right, because after a solid three seconds, she burst into soft fits of laughter. Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but admire the sound, just happy to have her near me. Teasing was better than her outbursts. Emotion control was something else we had to work on. For both of us.

Calida was learning to channel her anger and fear, and I had to learn to hold myself back. Being serious came harder than you'd think. I was so used to being the loud guy, becoming the quiet one took a lot out of me.

"What did you do?"

"Why does everyone assume it was something I did?" I frowned.

Calida giggled. "Because you are the one who got put in a time-out?"

"I was just helping!" I defended. "Nova is just stressed, because Pollux leaves tomorrow."

Calida looked at me in a way I didn't like. I grimaced, taking a step further under the tree so she couldn't see me. She appeared almost sympathetic, and I didn't want to know why. If she was to goad me about something that I didn't realise about myself, I knew it wouldn't end well. I was already unstable enough today. I have only ever cried around two people: my parents, and Nova. Oh, wait, that's three. Technically, it could be four because my of my unborn sibling.

Dammit.

"Charlie..." Calida sang.

"Not here." I mumbled, pressing myself into the bark.

She scoffed. "Stop it. You're not hiding anywhere."

"I'm not hiding. I'm just invisible."

Her laughter distracted me enough for her to get the upper hand, and within a second, she was wrapping her hands around my wrists. I scowled, recognising her win and relaxing my posture.

"What?" I sighed. "I just wanted some shade. The sun is bright tonight."

"It's six-thirty." She snorted. "It's not that bright."

Curse you, sun.

"Why are you hiding?" She wondered.

"I'm hiding from Nova."

Calida glanced at her friend over her shoulder before turning to me with a raised eyebrow.

"She seems pretty content."

I followed Nova with my eyes, recognising the sudden jittery waves of her hands. She was going to feed the twins, and I would be free from her boss-aura for a while.

"She's the devil incarnate."

"You love her." Calida rolled her eyes.

My gaze flickered to her then, finding her face content. It was bizarre to hear coming from your mate, even more so when she meant it with no malice. Sure, I loved Nova as both my sister and luna. If anything happened to her, I would turn the world inside out to find her.

"Doesn't mean she isn't a demon." I muttered.

"There are no such things." Calida shook her head. "Now, stop it. Come and enjoy the party. Sean was thinking about setting up a beer pong table..."

That caught my interest, and by the devilish look in her eye, she knew it would.

"I see now." I mused.

"What's that?" She wondered, cocking her head.

"It's not Nova who is the demon, it's you!" I grinned.

She gasped as I took hold of her waist and pulled her into me. My fingers dug into her sides as she burst into soft laughter. I only tortured her for a few seconds before kissing her cheek and letting her go. Flustered, she adjusted her clothes and hair before holding her out to me. I took it greedily, taking my chance as we walked up to Sean.

The man was fretting around, Rose watching from a comfy seat on the sofa. Hair was weird on Sean. I still wasn't used to it. He spent about six years with a buzz cut; that was normal. This was... strange.

"Seanie!" I called.

Grey eyes darted to me, narrowing accusingly. I narrowed mine back, squaring my shoulders with defiance.

"What do you want?" He clicked his tongue. "What do you want from me?"

"I heard you were going to make a beer pong game." I began cocking my head. "The best table is the one out here."

"It is?" He wondered.

I relaxed my stance, laughing. "Heck yeah, it's perfectly tall and long enough."

"Game on, bro." Sean grinned.

The outdoor table was littered with cups and plates, all of which needed to go. Just as I was about to swipe the lot onto the floor, I noticed Phoenix watching me. Raising my head, my fingers centimetres from the rubbish, he quirked an eyebrow. I felt my heart sink, annoyance rising as I recognised the look.

That was his, really, look. Full of sarcastic questions that would no doubt get me put back into a time-out. Now I had to tidy this up like a normal person.

Annoying.

To my pleasure, Sean appeared with a bag for the rubbish. So, with a slump to my shoulders, I swiped the pieces into the bag before dumping it onto the floor. Sarcastically sprawling my hands out to the alpha, he just chuckled and looked elsewhere.

Glancing around the room, I announced the game. We were going to do four against four to make it more fun, and I greedily grabbed Calida as Sean grabbed Leo.

I grabbed Pollux next, who stumbled into my side with a grunt. Sean narrowed his eyes at me before turning around for another partner. His eyes landed on Kelsey as she passed by, already half-tipsy and the sun hadn't even gone down yet. Sean grabbed her, and my eyes narrowed. He had two warrior-type wolves with him, and I had a human and a tiny wolf.

"Not fair!" I huffed. "They're warriors."

I didn't miss the soft 'hey' from my mate, and looked at her to smile an apology. Pollux rolled his eyes, uninterested, but not exactly moving away.

It was then my eyes landed on the perfect candidate. Legs and arms spread out in the same seat as before, his amber eyes were hooded as he looked back at me. My lips curled into a grin, and I jerked my head for him to approach. Phoenix scowled, fingers curling into the back of the sofa.

I poked at his mind. Come on, you know you want to.

Phoenix rolled his eyes, before rising his entire twenty foot tall figure from the sofa. My grin widened as he lazily stepped toward us, standing beside Pollux with his arms crossed. Pollux glanced up at him, muttering something I didn't care about.

But it seems Sean had caught on, because he growled. "He's an alpha! That's not fair!"

"You have two warriors. That's equal to an alpha."

Sean scowled before begrudgingly pulling Rose in for the game. We all gathered cups before filling them with alcohol. A few had beer, a few had vodka infusions, and a fair couple held whiskey. I rolled my eyes at Phoenix's old-man choice, but set all the cups out, anyway.

"How about we raise the stakes? Whoever misses has to play truth or dare?"

Sean's eyes narrowed. "Sounds good to me."

A while later, we were losing our second round. Pollux, Calida and Rose were lightweight, and every ball they missed, they would just laugh. I had to keep my head in the game, because not only did I have two team members down, but Phoenix wasn't even trying!

He just missed another ball, and I threw my hands up in exasperation. "Why are you even here?"

He did nothing but blink at me, and I groaned as Pollux took his shot and missed. A soft oops escaped him that had Calida snorting.

"Can I change teams?" I huffed.

"Nope." Sean grinned. "Pollux, truth or dare?"

"Truth." He rolled his eyes.

I frowned at the side of his head, watching him blink up at Sean through his lashes. Suddenly, he perked up and enthusiastically waved. I followed his eyeline, cursing softly when I spotted Nova coming back outside with both babies. She eyed us, confused, before noticing the ten cups that remained standing. Her nose wrinkled, eyes flickering from me to Phoenix.

"Let me guess, you're losing?"

"What gave you that impression?" Phoenix grinned.

"My brother can barely stand, and Calida is asleep." She cocked her head.

My eyes widened, peering around Phoenix's massive form. Sure enough, she had fallen into a chair and was snoozing her head off.

Sucker.

"We've been playing this for an hour!" I shook my head. "Are humans that bad?"

"Depends what you're drinking?" Nova wondered.

"A variety." I shrugged.

"Wolf grade?"

Oh shit, didn't think of that.

Phoenix noticed my sudden guilt because his eyebrows quirked, and he grinned. Nova sighed softly, rounding the beer pong table to come closer. Phoenix reached for his daughter, but I was quick to slap his hands away.

"You got to focus!"

"I can play with one arm." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, she could be a good luck charm."

I frowned as he scooped his daughter into his embrace and cooed at her softly. Her face lit up with adoration and I dropped my gaze with envy. He truly had everything.

"Right, Pollux. Truth, yeah?"

"Yep." He nodded.

Sean and Leo conversed, mumbling under their breath as though we couldn't hear. I mean, Pollux couldn't, the lad was barely able to stand without leaning on the table. He sure was going to feel that in the morning.

"Okay, truth." Sean began. "Have you ever kissed somebody?"

Pollux rolled his eyes. "Lame. Yes."

I snickered at his response.

"Oh, yeah, who?"

"Your mum!" He snorted.

Stumbling backwards, he bumped into Phoenix, who steadied him with a careful grip.

"Why don't you go sit with Nova? Freddy wants to see you." He muttered.

Pollux nodded enthusiastically and slouched himself next to his twin. I eyed the shining twins with curiosity as his head fell to her shoulder and his finger laced into Freddy's grip. Boy, he sure was a lightweight.

Kelsey was next, twirling the ball in her hands as she eyed the table. Phoenix stood opposite her, waiting patiently as she aimed. The ball bounced once before successfully landing in a cup of whiskey. Phoenix's lips curled into a smile and the half-cup was empty with one large gulp. He exhaled loudly before taking a ball and sinking it into a vodka cup for Kelsey. Her eyes narrowed, and I laughed because she hated vodka.

She gave him whiskey, and the cheeky fucker gives her vodka. Her nose crinkled as she drank, and when she was barely halfway, she shook her head.

"I'm not playing this anymore. Vodka makes me feel sick, and this one tastes like crap." She grimaced.

"You can't go!" I insisted.

"It's you two versus four. It's not even fair." Kelsey shook her head, grinning.

The next thing I knew, was Kelsey going inside to get something to wash down the taste of cranberry vodka, before Rose capped out too. I watched her with narrowed eyes; all of them were losers! I was sure going to win this one!

I stepped up next, glaring at Sean. He grinned as I aimed and I kept my eye on him as I sank a ball into a beer cup. His grin only broadened as he chugged, and he burped loudly. Nova muttered a soft sound of disapproval at which he rolled his eyes at.

To my surprise, he missed his cup, and I grinned in victory. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare." He narrowed his eyes.

"I dare you to do the rest of this naked." I snickered.

"Charlie..." Phoenix murmured.

I waved him off, watching Sean as he debated. If he suckered out, he had to drink three cups mixed into one. His eyes narrowed before he nodded firmly, and I laughed with glee as he stripped. He stood nude, and I realised my mistake when the tufts of his damn pubes peaked over the table.

Phoenix was next, and without even looking, sank his ball into a cup for Leo. Leo shrugged, drinking it before aiming a ball. He, too, missed, and I felt my stomach bubble with joy.

"Truth or dare." Phoenix stated.

"Dare."

The alpha's lips curled into a smile and I wondered what he had planned.

"I dare you to find Molly and tell her you have decided and you don't want another baby."

Oh geez.

"Done." Leo nodded.

We followed him as he searched the garden for Molly, finding her laying in the grass with her baby and Rose. She perked up at the sight of her mate, but then her nose wrinkled when she spotted her brother.

"Why am I witnessing my brother's penis?" She gagged.

"Molly, I'm sorry, but I don't think we should have any more babies." Leo stated.

Her eyes bugged. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I've been thinking and-

"No, no, no. You don't get to say that now!"

Leo's eyebrows furrowed. "What-

"You can't say that!" she cried. "Leo! I'm pregnant!"

My eyes widened. "Oh, shit."

Now this game was really getting somewhere.

Question of the day:
Cliche one - if you could have any superpower, what would you choose? The randomer the better