I sat behind a table, in a room I've never seen before. When Zine, Obsidian, and I first arrived in the room; there were a bunch of people bustling in and out. We stood in the wide doorway as the place cleared and Zine moved forward with a smile.

"This is the kitchen" he tapped the small table in the middle of the room. "Lots of tasty food made here"

The marbled white and grey counters invited me in and I immediately sat down behind a brown table. Obsidian and Zine moved to the main part of the kitchen and stood behind the island. Zine looked in every cabinet and smiled at the stocked cabinets.

"We just saw a whole bunch of people in here and yet they look like y'all just went shopping" Zine turned to look at me with sparkles in his eyes as Obsidian hugged him from behind.

"So, what are you in the mood for?"

I shrugged. "Whatever you make is fine with me- as long as there are no peanuts"

"....Well I'm not the one making I can't cook for shit, that's Obsidians skill."

I looked at Obsidian. "What do you feel like making?"

Obsidian turned to Zine and raised an eyebrow.

ZIne grinned.

"Same old same old, ya know me and what I would exactly want. Let's do the tastiest stuff, junk food galore!"

Obsidian shook his head with a soft grin and walked over to the stove.

Zine sat down next to Kye.

"Now we wait for the magic to happen." Zine smirked.

It didn't take long before Obsidian came out with plates and dish after dish.

Zine grinned as he looked at Kye.

"Ok this.....this is goldfish crackers and chocolate milk, THEY MUST GO TOGETHER. This is pepperoni pizza, this is ramen, this is the best baked chicken you will ever eat like my god this man is skilled. Now he's working on a stew...." Zine gave Obsidian a grin over the table which Obsidian returned with a smirk.

"Basically my plan is to make you fat and enjoy food." Zine nodded and took a slice of pizza, picking off pieces of pepperoni to eat first.

I looked at the feast in front of me and my stomach rolled over in anticipation. Following Zine's example, I picked up a slice of pizza. The end went limp but I managed to put it in my mouth as the grease hit the corners of my lips. Sauce gushed in my mouth and I found myself smiling as I chewed.

"This is really good, Obsidian" I held a hand over my mouth as I chewed.

Obsidian smiled and stirred whatever was in the pot.

"Ok after you finish the pizza you have GOT to try the goldfish crackers and chocolate milk, there's a certain way to eat them." Zine mumbled as he started on the piece of pizza lacking pepperoni.

I put my half eaten pizza on the convenient paper plate in front of me. I took the goldfish crackers and poured a couple on my plate. I picked one up and ate it. The saltiness scraped my tongue but was replaced with sharp cheddar.

I hummed and swayed slightly in my chair. "This one's good too"

Zine shook his head.

"No no no you are not doing it right!" Zine huffed out.

"I thought you put food in your mouth in order to eat it? Is there another way?" I was starting to get confused.

ZIne picked up one of the glasses of chocolate milk and place it in front of Kye.

"See what you do is put 3-6 goldfish crackers in your mouth, take one bite ONLY one bite and then take a sip of the chocolate milk....got it?" Zine did exactly what he had just said and closed his eyes as he seemed to savor the taste.

I looked at the glass of chocolate milk and grabbed some goldfish. I threw the goldfish in first and washed it down with the milk. It felt like a ball of air was trapped in my throat, so I massaged it until the food went down. The milk made my body cold and I shivered.

I looked at Zine and I could practically see the hot air fuming from his ears like a train.

"Did you even try and taste it! Ugh.... ok look... put in 3-6 in your mouth, chew ONCE only once and take a sip of chocolate milk HOLD IT in your mouth like that then just TASTE it. DO not swallow!" Zine huffed and fell back into his chair, looking annoyed.

"Okay" Hesitation audible in my reply. I put some more crackers in my mouth and followed it with some more milk. The crackers swam in my mouth like fish and tickled my tongue. I was about to swallow off of pure instinct but remembered Zine said to chew. Some of the milk dripped out of my puckered lips as I tried to swallow the now broken crackers- drowned in milk.

I swallowed as the concoction slowly ran down my throat. Unlike the last time, I got a hint of the harmony the salt from the crackers showed me and the sweetness of the chocolate. I smiled while chocolate dribbled like a basketball down a court.

I was so absorbed with the symphony of flavors that I didn't notice the concoction going down the wrong pipe. I coughed a bit before sheepishly looking at Zine.

He sighed heavily before addressing me. "We'll work on it"

I nodded. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Xavier wall in and I waved to him.

"Hey Kye!" He acknowledged me with a smile and then turned to Obsidian who was plating the stew. They talked quietly amongst themselves as Zine tapped me on the shoulder.

"Who's that?"

I picked a pepperoni off my pizza. "That's Alpha Xavier"

Zine looked confused. "I thought Liam was the Alpha and this is his pack"

I shook my head. "Liam could be an Alpha- he just never told me. Xavier is the Alpha here. Liam was visiting from his pack when he found me"

Zine finished the crackers and wiped his mouth of grease and chocolate milk residue. He looked like he had more to say but decided to keep it to himself.

Obsidian put bowls of stew in front of Zine and me. Zine stopped munching on some pizza and started eating the stew.

"I don't think I could stomach another bite" I looked at the stew and even though it smelled as delicious as the others- I knew I was stuffed to the brim.

Zine looked at me and hummed. "Maybe just one bite, and then you're done. You did a good job today- but today is only the beginning" I rolled my eyes and he laughed at my dismay. "After this, we can turn in for the night. I'm getting a bit tired" He yawned to prove his claim and I lightly smiled.

I looked back at the soup and was suddenly taken back when I felt myself drifting out of my body again. It caught me off guard, but my body didn't show any signs of dismay. I saw my hand pick up a spoon and taste the soup. Warmth ran down my tongue like condensation on a window. My head tilted towards Zine and saw him continue to eat without noticing my change in demeanor.

Then, I spoke. This time, I sounded different.

‟𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒆"