"He wants a war," Dad mumbles under his breath, releasing a wicked laugh that makes my skin crawl as he walks to a large cabinet in the back on the little hideout. A faint trail of smoke following him with every step he takes. "I'll give him a fucking war."

A whimper leaves me before I can stop it as the room quickly fills with the scent of dad's anger.

Papa was always the one who would get so angry it made it hard for me to function, my genes telling me to appease my alpha. When papa got like that, dad was always there to tell him to calm down before he'd send me an understanding wink and supportive words over our link.

But this time the tables were turned and there was no one to tell papa to calm down. His fury was different from dad's, it was heavy and all-consuming. Thick like a cloud that made it really hard for me to breathe, especially when I could smell the alpha behind it so clearly.

It made me feel weak and made James rollover.

- I tell James and he whines uncomfortably as dad's scent only grows.

- He replies softly. I don't want to be part of this.

I tighten my hold on the loose ends of my sweater, squeezing the fabric as tightly as I could between my fingers while I try to hold my tears back. I didn't want to break down here while everyone else was being strong, but the tears were already pouring out.

Wiping them away quickly, I try to focus on how soft my sweater was, soft things were nice and they weren't scary. If I thought only of nice things then I smiled and things didn't feel so bad or scary, I felt happy with nice things around me so I focused on that.

Everything else was so scary right now.

"He thinks he's so smart," Dad continues as he pulls out a key and unlocks the large, silver padlock on the cabinet lock, not even flinching as his skin hisses in pain. "He thinks he's so brilliant for that one, oh... he will learn."

Dad yanks one of the doors open and drops the lock to the floor. The fast action makes me jump slightly and I instinctively step into the space behind Levi while raising my neck in submission. I know dad didn't like it when I submitted to him like that, but I couldn't help it now with the scent of an alpha so strong in the room that it made me want to shift and hide, or maybe both.

"Here," Dad says as he makes his way back to us, handing out new folders which were much bigger and worn out than the ones we got earlier. "The pranks in these aren't that much harder, so don't worry about the difficulty. Simply carry out as many of these as you can, and we'll make them all beg."

I look down at my new folder, it wasn't as clean and nice as my other one. The outer edges were torn at some ends and the colour faded telling me that this folder had been around for a much longer time than the one before it.

I glance nervously at the slightly open cabinet door, my eyes immediately finding other folders resting there and I find myself whimpering with the knowledge that one of those was probably about me.

No, dad isn't like that - Joseph argues but his voice was shaky. He wouldn't hurt you, us.

- I reply even though I didn't really, not when he was acting in a way I'd never witnessed before.

Dad was being just as crazy as papa usually was.

Looking down at the heavy folder in my hands, I don't even have to think twice about it. I wouldn't open mine, truthfully, I was too scared to look inside and see what it'd say about Damon.

Damon may look tough and mean and scary, but he was actually really sweet deep inside. I didn't know what could possibly be in the folder for him, but whatever it was, he wouldn't handle it well at all.

"I didn't give you these earlier because I thought it'd be best to win diplomatically," Dad continues, his words tight and rough at the ends. "But now I see that there's no need to act...civil. If they wish to behave like animals, then we shall respond accordingly."

I look to Hagen who doesn't look as excited as he did earlier, in fact, he looked a bit scared. I wanted to reach over to him, to hold his hand and tell him it'd be okay, to do what he did for me when I was scared.

But I couldn't, because even though I was his older brother and I was supposed to take care of him... I was still terrified.

Before I can gather up the strength to say something, Hagen sends me a weak smile and a wink that doesn't mask the fearful look coveting his face as he opens his own thick folder that was way bigger than the last one.

I watch as his eyes slowly grow wider, surprise, amusement, discomfort and more flashing through them as he scans page after page.

"Place grapes where cheese should be in multiple rat traps around the house." He reads out with a deepening frown. "Tie him to a chair and make him drink grapes blended with jalapenos, Jayson would literally lose his mind.

"Then we know we succeeded," Dad replies in a monotone.

"Dad I know you're mad, we are too, but this is still just a prank war," Levi starts carefully, his words coming out with the air of an alpha that made Joseph purr and settle inside. "Pranks that preferably don't leave anyone scarred or in the hospital."

"They abandoned that right when they threw fireworks into our bathrooms while we were still in them,"

I whimper uncomfortably at the memory of all the loud bangs that went off all over the house, each one making more tears fall as I waited for whatever it was to reach me. When it did, it was in my bedroom and not the bathroom like the others, but I didn't know they were using fireworks at the time, so I just sat on the toilet crying.

Tears come back quickly as my mind replayed the loud bangs once more.

No more arguments arise after Dad's comment so he carries on as if undisturbed. "Nikola," he calls.

The warlock appears directly beside Hagen, his fingers gently caressing his face for a moment before Hagen jumps away with a shriek of horror and surprise. Nikola only smiles, offering that small, calculated smile that only appeared when Hagen was near.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Hagen exclaims with a heaving chest as he backs himself as far away as he can get from his mate.

Because Hagen was my brother and didn't like Nikola, I didn't voice what I actually thought about the pair. I didn't share how I thought they'd make an interesting and sweet pair of mates if Hagen ever accepted it, even if Nikola was a little scary.

And most of all, I didn't try to argue that Nikola was definitely Hagen's mate whether he was willing to accept it or not. Warlocks and witches knew their linkers from any age, just because Hagen didn't want it didn't make it any less true.

But nobody in the family had pointed that out to him yet so I didn't either.

"I'll need you a little earlier than I'd originally planned," Dad carries on as he sits down in his seat at the monitors, studying every available room. "Can you carry through pranks A through G, the materials are already in place."

"Yes alpha," Nikola replies securely.

He lets his eyes linger on Hagen for a moment or two, taking him in with a ring of possession that made Hagen release a low growl of defiance. But Nikola just smiles before a tremor of magic carries through the air again and he disappears as if he'd never been there.

"I don't know what I did to offend you Goddess, but I'm sorry," Hagen speaks into the empty space, his eyes focused on the ceiling and his hands clasped tightly together. "I'm really sorry so please, just make him stop."

"Hagen you can plead and beg to a woman who does as she pleases or you can come and watch the show," Dad says as he leans back into his chair and watches the chaos unfold.

Stepping up behind Levi, we all look up to the screens and watch as utter mayhem unfolds before us. Levi offers me his hand and I take it without a second thought, holding on tight as I watch the rest of our family come undone.

Josey, who only a moment ago was in her room scrolling through phone, was now screaming at the top of her lungs as a sea full of opened stuffed animals were suddenly dumped into her bedroom.

I'd never seen Josey scared of anything, never, but now in a room full of stuffed bears and teddies with all their cotton exposed she looked more terrified than I'd ever seen any other person.

"She's afraid of... stuffed animals?" Hagen asks with confusion as he watches his twin scramble back against her headboard, trying to climb the walls to escape the stagnant toys. "What's so scary about stuffed animals?"

"Nothing," Dad replies with a hum.

"This would explain why she threw away the unicorn plushie I got her for her birthday when she was eight," Levi comments mindlessly.

"Score on my end, her loss," Hagen adds with a snort while he slips a handful of chips into his mouth.

I didn't know how he could still eat after what we all went through at dinner, just looking at him eat made my stomach roll so I look away quickly.

"It was a gamble," Dad admits as he watches Josey pull her sheets over her head and shakes under the covers. "She's good at hiding things, too good. But there was an incident when she was little at a Build-a-Bear shop and I suppose I was right to think that she hadn't forgotten it."

Any follow up questions regarding that are cut off by the screen that suddenly turns black before it flashes to night-vision revealing an alert papa in the living room. He had a gun of some sort in his hands as he stood up and spun anxiously through the room.

"Don't you think it's a little fucked up to put me in the dark Jewels?!" Papa calls out as he continues to scan the space carefully. "Especially since you know what happened to me!"

Dad's entire body goes tense for a moment as papa's words wash over him. Clear guilt and regret pour through him as his eyes grow full of a sudden panic as he reached forward to flick a switch that turns the lights back on in the room before Nikola could carry out whatever it was he was supposed to.

"Aw you love me," Papa calls out as he drops his gun and looks to the edges of the room as if trying to find the camera. "There's no love in this war babe! Remember that or it'll cost you in the end."

With that, Papa leaves the room with an evil laugh that bounces off the walls of the entire house and rings into our ears. It was mocking and full of wickedness that made me wish I was on the sidelines like I'd begged to be.

"Levi, Hagen," Dad calls quietly while still facing the monitors. "Get to work."

Hagen and Levi shoot me nervous glances but don't say anything as they take their folders and make their way up the stairs and out of the hideout, leaving me alone with dad.

Usually, I felt safest with dad. When I was with dad I felt as if everything would be okay because I knew that he'd never ever let anyone hurt me and that he'd protect me always. '

It was what made me love him so much.

But now, there was something dark around dad and it made me feel as if I'd need to be protected from that.

"Peter, you're to stay in here until this war is over," Dad says calmly as he looks up at the screen that showed Jayson surrounded by rat traps with grapes in them. "I don't want you to get hurt, staying in here is best for you."

"I-I d-don't want a-anyone to g-get hurt," I reply in protest after a while.

"I'm sorry, but that much is inevitable," Dad replies before he turns his chair to face me. "This way, you won't be caught in the crossfire."

My eyes pull away from dad's as I focus on the screens instead, focus on the way they lit up with the various images that showed everyone's suffering.

Hagen was running away from papa who was shooting at him with a paintball gun, Josey was falling apart on her bed as dead grasshoppers came out of the stuffed animals and Levi was trying to coax a screaming Jayson from under a bed that was wobbling above his back.

"M-Maybe we c-can f-forfeit," I offer in a whisper with my eyes glued to my twisting fingers.

"Wait," Dad says under his breath while I carry on with all my courage.

"T-Then t-this can all s-stop a-and everything c-can go b-back to normal."

"One, two, three...." Dad counts quickly as he stands to his feet and scans the screens viscously. "Damon's missing."

My words fall away as I search the screens as well, looking for my big brother but not finding any signs of him anywhere. I turn around instinctively but there was no one else here but dad and me.

"M-Maybe h-he went o-outside," I offer but dad quickly shakes his head as he pulls away from the table and grabs my hand to lead me to the stairs.

"In the middle of the war, not a chance," He replies quickly as he climbs the stairs with me close behind him. "He's carrying something out, something big."

We may our way out of the hideout through rushed blurred movements that make my heart raise and James whine. I just wanted to go back to when everyone was in the living room and things were quiet and nice.

I missed those times and it was only day one.

We keep moving in a rush, moving out of my bathroom and into my bedroom when dad suddenly comes to a stop. It came so quickly that I had no hopes of stopping and end up knocking straight into his back before I stumble back, my nose aching a little bit.

"Turn around," Dad says quickly as he turns himself and tries to lead me back. "Go back."

"D-Dad?" I try nervously as he turns me, my heart sinking into my lungs as fear comes up so quickly I stumble over my feet and get a glimpse of what rested over his shoulder.

Everything stops.

All the screams and laughter that echoed around the house fade away, my racing heart slowing to a slow, strained beat in my chest as my body turns to stone. It all froze or fell away, completely irrelevant as I laid eyes on the most torturous image in this world.

Dad stops trying to lead me away as I push past his large body with silent strength and head straight for my heart and soul.

The tears were falling before I even reached him, my sobs louder than I'd even heard them as I crash to my knees and lift Mr.Fluff up. My Mr.Fluff, my bunny who was sweet and nice and fluffy.

Mr.Fluff who was innocent.

He was shaking all over, whether from fear or the cold I didn't know, but he was shaking so bad my arms felt wobbly with him in it. His wide eyes met mine and they were glossy in a way I'd never seen them before as he stared up at me, and it completely tore my heart apart to see.

Desperately, I pull him into my chest, it was safe there and he knew this spot because it was his. I close my eyes, not knowing how to calm myself down enough to make him feel safer than this. But he was making soft, terrified sounds that made my heart tighten and twist every time they came out.

"I'm sorry Peter," Dad says from behind me, his voice kind as always. "I-I should've thought to hide him... but I didn't think they'd go after him."

With effort, I open my eyes and turn to face him, everything in me full of turmoil to drown me in sadness and fear.

Mr.Fluff didn't deserve this.

My tears stop however when my eyes find dad bending down to pick up a knife from the pool of fluff;y hair that was once on Mr.Fluff. The hair that was his before someone took it from him, stripped it from him.

I knew that knife.....

........ I saw long fingers twist it between them almost every day.

That was Damon's knife.

"I should've thought to cover all the bases," Dad continues while I stare blankly at the knife in his hand, something unfamiliar forming in my chest. But it wasn't entirely unfamiliar, I felt this before, once only once. When I was fourteen and found that pack member tearing into one of the bunnies that used to live in the pack. "This is my fault."

It was hot, this feeling.

Hot and unpure as it pumped its way through my veins and burned its way into my system and heart like lava. It was violent and fueled by hatred and anger, destruction its best friend while it ran through me demanding payment in the form of revenge and pain.

It was something mean and horrible, and I didn't like it, but I couldn't stop it from filling me up until all I could taste was pure, unfiltered rage.

I didn't like it, I'd avoided it from the moment I'd seen what I'd done to that pack member, but there was no stopping now while I held a shaved Mr.Fluff in my hands and stared at the weapon used to do it.

I'd make them pay.

Papa, Jayson, Damon and Josey; I'd make them all pay.

I'd make them pay... so that they'd never ever think of hurting Mr.Fluff again.

"I'll get them bac-"

"No," I growl and I feel my eyes glow with anger as they narrow to slits, focused only on the knife in his hands. "Leave the rest to me."

-------------------

When Jayson finally falls asleep and his tears dry up soon after, I slowly slip away from his tight grasp and make my way out of my room on light feet.

I didn't want to leave him on his own, especially when he was so scared, but Caspar was with him and he wouldn't let anything truly horrible happen to him. So I continue to make my way down the hallway with quick, careful steps and tuned ears, waiting and prepared for anything to come crashing down and plaster me to the floor.

But the house was eerily quiet, not a sound to be heard now as everyone enjoyed the much-needed stalemate.

The house was a complete wreck with both sides taking massive hits.

The walls were splattered with drying paint that hadn't found its target, the scent of blood and fear poignant in the air while this war raged on. It was hard to tell who was winning, the counting system left to Aunt Katty who was pointedly staying out of it.

I didn't believe that though, she would have a part to play in all of this and would strike when we least expected it.

I release a soft sigh of relief when I make it to Peter's room without having to face anything or anyone, it may have been the hour of the ceasefire but I wouldn't put it above Po to attack regardless.

I pass by the pile of fur on the ground and try not to look at it, guilt rising in my chest but I shove it down as I make my way down into the hideout after checking to make sure the coast was clear.

I find Dad at his seat in front of the monitors and Hagen standing directly behind the chair, both their focus on the screen that showed Peter approaching the master bedroom.

"He'll hate us for a bit when he finds out," Hagen voices as he watches Peter knock on the door.