Her eyes were watering. Rowena scrunched her nose but refused to blink. She was in the middle of a staring contest with Winona Howler and this was one battle Rowena refused to lose. They were in Cross' living area, waiting for his brother, Selig, to return from the police station.

Liam and Matt were sitting opposite Rowena, smiles on their faces. They'd seen no one last so long against Winona in a staring match. Usually, a less dominant creature felt compelled to look away.

"Just look away, Ro," Abby urged. "I've seen my mom win tons of these staring contests. It's not worth trying."

Rowena grunted. "I once got into a staring match with a member of the Mexican Mafia. Your mother doesn't scare me."

"I'm not sure I should ask," Bruce Howler said, "but why would you get into a staring match with a gang member?"

"He stole my parking spot in front of the Dollar Tree."

The alpha's father blinked. He opened his mouth to ask a follow-up question, but Cross cleared his throat and gave his head a shake, discouraging his father from continuing.

Cross placed a can of soda on the coffee table in front of Rowena.

"Baby," he whispered. "You don't have to do this. I told you, I'll make them leave if you're not comfortable."

Winona's mouth turned into an angry slash at the bottom of her face. "I gave birth to you, Cross. Your head was the size of a bowling ball and now you're choosing a human over me? Your own mother? Have you ever squeezed a bowling ball out of a hole the size of a quarter?"

"Eeeww! Too much information, mother!" Abby groaned while Bruce chuckled.

"We talked about this." Cross leaned back into the plush cushions of the sofa; his arms outstretched. "You're my mother—I love you. That doesn't mean it's okay for you to insult my future mate. By attacking Rowena, you're really attacking me."

"I know what's best for you," Winona argued. "Did you see what she did to Angelina?"

Bruce's laughter became louder.

"It's not funny. She's hideous!" Winona cried, her blue eyes never blinking as they stared into Rowena's eyes.

"You should give up, Winona," Rowena suggested. "I can do this all day. I used to fall asleep in Pre-Algebra class with my eyes open."

"You're no match for me, human," Winona sneered. "There's no way you're going to win this match. I have more dominance than you."

"If by dominance you mean wrinkles, then yes," Rowena agreed.

Winona gasped, her mouth falling open. "How dare you! I do not have wrinkles!"

"Fine, but you do have a really thick chin hair," Rowena said, tapping her own chin with her finger.

"It seems your girlfriend plays dirty," Bruce noted. He winked at Cross. "I approve."

Cross leaned forward. "Are you sure you want to keep this up? My mom has never lost a dominance stare-off before."

"Don't worry about me. I told you I can do this." She pointed at Winona. "If I win, you'll admit I'm more dominant."

"You won't win, but I'd never admit such a thing," Winona said. "If I win, you'll remove the hex you put on Angelina. She refuses to be seen by anyone. She's done nothing but cry all day. You are despicable for hexing her. It's no wonder your best friend is a murderer!"

"My best friend is not a murderer. She's being framed and I'm going to prove it."

"With our help," Abby chirped.

"By seeing the fairies? You know they're dangerous, Cross." Winona's hand clenched into a fist on her thigh. "I don't want to see you hurt."

"Then you shouldn't have followed Rowena from pageant practice," Cross said. "Liam told you not to come here, but you pulled rank on him."

Liam muttered something about old she-alphas, not willing to listen. Matt nudged the pack's beta. "You couldn't handle Winona on your own, could you?"

The beta scoffed. "You think as the head enforcer you'd have better luck?"

Rowena's eyes were turning pink. She needed to blink. It was time to bring out the big guns. "Cross?"

He was nuzzling her neck, whispering, "Red velvet cupcakes, sun-dried linens, and burnt vanilla. How could I have resisted you?"

"Son, stop sniffing the girl and help her get out of this contest," Bruce demanded. "You know how stubborn your mother is. I should have warned you to stay away from stubborn women."

"Nothing could've kept me away from Rowena," Cross insisted.

Bruce smirked. "If you two ever have pups, you're going to have your hands full. I can only imagine the sort of trouble they'd get into when your two genes combine."

Rowena saw her opening. She plastered a wide smile on her face, still not blinking, and pressed her palm to her belly. "Don't worry, Bruce. You won't have to wait long to find out."

"What?" Winona jumped up from her chair, screeching. "You're pregnant?"

Rowena gave a shout of victory and pointed to the open-mouthed woman. "You blinked. You lose. Admit it—I'm more dominant!"

Cross shook his head, placing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close, kissing her temple. "You're definitely the most cunning."

"Are you truly pregnant?" Winona bellowed. "No, it's impossible. I can't scent it on her."

"She is a human," Bruce reminded his mate. "You may not scent a pregnancy on her."

Matt, Liam, and Abby stifled their laughter.

"What did I miss?" Selig asked, standing in the main room's entryway. He wore a dark blue suit and matching tie. He reminded Rowena of a well-dressed Viking.

"How is Gina? Did they let her go?" Rowena asked, moving past Winona.

Selig gave a huff of annoyance before shaking his head. "No, I couldn't convince the judge to allow her out on bail. She'll be in a holding cell overnight." He turned to Rowena with a thoughtful expression. "Did you know your friend was a stripper named Tipsy?"

"Yes."

Selig's voice lowered. "Please tell me you also strip. Maybe you can give me a private dance?" He wriggled his eyebrows.

Cross pushed his brother away from Rowena.

"You have friends who are strippers?" Winona turned to her son, a hand in Rowena's direction. "She's friends with strippers! The mother of your pups is a stripper!"

"Gina hasn't stripped in years," Rowena lied. She didn't know when Gina last stripped as Tipsy. "Besides, I'm not pregnant. I just wanted you to lose our staring contest. At least, I think I'm not pregnant." She widened her eyes and gave a mock gasp.

"You lost a staring contest?" Selig asked his mother, shaking his head. "I can't believe a human beat you."

"She cheated! Besides, she's no ordinary human. She's a hexing witch. There's no shame in losing to a witch. They're powerful beings."

"You think I'm powerful?" Rowena beamed.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Winona mumbled to Bruce.

Rowena smiled. "Maybe you're pregnant! Bruce, you've been a busy boy, haven't you?"

"Eeew! Can we not mention our parents' sex life?" Abby moaned.

"Can we focus on the bigger issue at hand?" Cross asked. "Gina is in jail, and we know the fairies are involved."

"I tried my best, but Clarkton is a small town and your ex-cousin-in-law, Donnie, really wants to close this homicide case. It didn't help that Gina's dating a well-known criminal who is the victim's ex-lover."

"Poor Gina," Rowena whispered.

Cross came up from behind, placing an arm around her. He handed her the cold soda can he brought to her earlier. "Drink the soda. The sugar will make you feel better."

"Cross, we have to help her. She's one of my only friends," Rowena admitted. "When I first started at Sweeter Homes, she took me under her wing. She showed me how to use the register, how to handle irate customers, and where the best spots in the store are to slack off. She's the president of our book club. Plus, she's just awesome. She's fifty but looks like she's thirty and acts like she's twenty. I want to be her when I get older."

"You want to be a stripper?" Selig asked, coming up from behind Rowena's shoulder. "I can train you."

Cross shoved his brother away. "We will help her, Rowena."

"I still think this is a bad idea," Winona added.

"My love, no one asked you," Bruce told her. She glared at him, and he winked in response.

"What's she doing here?" a snarling voice asked from the living room's entryway. Everyone turned to see a figure cloaked in black.

"Get back, it's the Grim Reaper!" Rowena gave a strangled cry before throwing her red soda can at the stranger.

A mottled hand snapped forward from beneath the cloak and slapped the can away. It flew in Selig's direction, smacking him in the forehead. He jerked back with a yelp.

"That is not the Grim Reaper!" Winona hissed, making her way to the newcomer. "It's Angelina. She's been reduced to wearing that hooded cloak after what you did to her."

"What did you do to her?" Abby asked with interest, stepping beside her friend.

"I made her outside beauty match her inside beauty."

Abby's lips canted up. "You. Are. Brilliant!"

Matt and Liam laughed.

"It's not funny! My face is hideous!" Angelina wailed. "They also fired me from my new job. I was planning on winning that beauty contest so Cross and I could travel to Hawaii together."

"Being delusional is not helping you," Rowena told her.

"Cross, make your human fix Angelina," Winona demanded.

Cross exhaled deeply before shaking his head. "Rowena is my girlfriend, not my human. Also, I cannot, nor would I try to force her to do anything she isn't willing to do on her own. If she felt Angelina needed a lesson, it's her lesson to give."

Winona's face turned a pink shade before she turned to her husband and said, "See? He's totally enamored of her. This isn't normal. He's an alpha!"

Selig ambled forward, a red welt on his forehead from the soda can. "Being an alpha has nothing to do with it. If Cross believes Rowena is his future mate, you know how protective he'll be of her. No one can come between an alpha and his mate. On the plus side, once Rowena accepts the bond, she too will be just as protective. You've seen how crazy she can get—she's going to be a great female alpha."

"She's not even a shifter!" Winona protested. "She's a human. A human who wants my son to visit the land of the fairies to help her human friend. We all know how dangerous that place is, especially you, Selig."

The handsome Viking looked away. Rowena frowned. She'd have to ask Cross about that later.

"Is that why you followed Rowena to my home, even though I banned you and Angelina from it?" Cross asked.

Winona's eyes flitted to the right. "Well, I planned to ask her to fix Angelina. It's why she's here. She was waiting for me in my car. Then the human's detective friend came and arrested her murdering friend. I knew she wanted to trick you into going into fairy territory... so, I followed. Bruce was already here. Why is your father allowed to be here when I'm not?"

"Because he didn't try to kill Rowena," her son reminded her.

"She started that attack!"

"You're a shifter! As you so often remind us, she is a human. She cannot physically match up to you."

Winona scoffed. "She's no weak female. Didn't you just see her beat me at our dominance match?"

"That's right, I did," Rowena nodded, a smile on her face. "Thank you for telling everyone I'm more dominant than you."

"Cross, don't you care that she hexed me?" Angelina simpered next to Selig.

"Take off the hood so we can see what happened to you," Cross said.

"No, I'm too ugly," Angelina pouted.

"It can't be that bad," Liam pitched in. "Remove your hood."

"Yeah, Angelina," Matt added. "You may not be your normal self, but it can't be that bad. Take it off."

"Take it off?" Selig repeated. "Her clothes? I concur." He turned to Angelina and began chanting, "Take it off! Take it off."

"Fine," the female shifter mumbled. She removed the hood from her head to reveal a face covered in blotchy skin, warts, and thinning hair.

Everyone jerked back with a horrified groan.

"Put it back on. Put it back on," Selig pleaded, making the sign of the cross.

"Do you see?" Winona asked the room.

"Fine, I'll change her hex on one condition," Rowena said. "Cross, Abby, Liam, Matt, and Selig have to come with me to visit the fairies and you can't keep complaining about it."

"No, I can't go," Selig said abruptly. "I'm sorry, Rowena. It's not that I don't want to go. I'm not allowed. It's a long story."

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, everyone but Selig."

"This isn't a good idea," Winona reminded her. She turned to Angelina. "You don't mind wearing the cloak, do you?"

"Winona!" Angelina howled.

"We're going to go whether or not you agree," Cross reminded her.

Winona cursed under her breath. "Fine, it's a deal."

Rowena stomped toward Angelina. "I hex you to look normal."

"Normal!" Angelina shrieked. "I don't want to look normal. I want my beauty back. You promised!"

"No, I told Winona I'd change your hex, not that I'd make you beautiful again. You used your beauty for evil. You manipulated people and lied. Gullible people like Winona believed you because of your beauty. Let's see how kind people are to you when you're normal, like the rest of us."

Abby cackled. "Poor Angelina. I'd say I pity you, but I don't. Meanwhile, I have all our disguises to visit the fairy territory."

"I better not be another Stephen King character," Liam warned.

"You're not. I promise." Abby ran to a knapsack she placed on the sofa and began handing out costumes.

Cross noticed Rowena grimacing, clutching her stomach as she sat down. He sat next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay, baby?"

She frowned. "I haven't been feeling well. At first, I thought it was just gas. Then I thought I ate some bad nuts. Now, I'm not so sure."

"Is it possible she's really pregnant?" Bruce asked. Everyone's heads turned to Rowena with inquiring eyes.

Rowena knew it was impossible, but she saw the look of panic on Winona and Angelina's faces and couldn't resist. "Hmmm... now that you mention it, I haven't had a visit from Aunt Flo." She stuck out her bottom lip and turned to Cross. "Cross, do you think you could send Matt out to get me a pregnancy test? Just in case."

She didn't hear his response. Everyone shouting drowned it out.

NOTE FROM SHEHOPES: He everyone! The holidays have been keeping me busy. I hope yours are treating you well. There was some sort of glitch with Wattpad this month so my last chapter didn't get announced when it originally was posted. Please make sure you read it so you don't miss anything. I drop clues in very subtle places so you won't recognize them until the story ends. 

THANK YOU all for reading this series! I posted pictures of Rowena and Cross on my Instagram. The link is on my profile and message board. I'm shehopes101 on social media. If you're feeling artistic and want to make artwork for this series, please do so. I'd love to see it and share it! I'm trying to think of fun ways to connect with readers, so please feel free to let me know if you have any ideas.

Also, do you have any New Year resolutions? Share them in the comments! I have a ton but for writing, it's to write more in 2023. I have so many ideas for new stories and this series. Anyway, I hope you have an AMAZING NEW YEAR! -Sandra ❤