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He didn't move, "There’s no reason to hide. I trust you and your magic knows me.”

"Now is not the time to get all sweet on me. I'm serious," I told him, trying to look stern while simultaneously melting at his words. Before him and Rook, and now Dorian, no one had trusted me with anything magical.

"It’s just the truth," he said back, inching closer until I could feel his warmth against my back.

"Are you buttering me up so you can sit next to me in here?" I teased. He gave me a look that told me he absolutely knew that I was deflecting again. I really had to stop that. They had proven more than once I could trust them yet I was running away at every turn.

Still, here they were, patient as ever.

“I’m sorry, I promise I’m not trying to pull aw—” My words cut off at the sound of two sets of high-pitched screams echoing out from the backyard.

Merrick and I shared a wide-eyed look before bolting out of our fort and into the night.

“Hey, guys, what’s all this ruckus about?” I called out as I pushed open the enclosure I’d had built. I’d even hired a local teen to come check their feed and water twice a day. They were living the high life right now and here they were… ruining our evening.

“Did you figure it out?” Dorian’s deep, rumbling voice startled me enough that I jumped. He let out a soft chuckle but gently pushed me forward. “Go. Something’s off. I smell magic in the air.”

“You can smell magic?” I questioned, stopping in my tracks and turned to my brother.

“Wolf. Remember?” His sarcasm was truly unmatched.

A sound in the enclosure had us both turning and pulling up our fists, ready to defend our pack if things should turn. It was so dark that I huffed and clicked my fingers, a light forming in the air above us. Illusions and glamour may be my main magic, but fae could at least do elemental magic as well. Something I had over my brother.

Though, he could probably see in the dark.

“What the fuck is that?” I whispered in horror as my light illuminated what had made that awful sound. Instead of the nearly forty chickens that I’d been feeding there was a single chicken. It was no longer the size of a turkey but had grown into a grizzly of a chicken, each footstep sending up plumes of dirt.

“Magic,” Dorian frowned. “Something weird is going on in this town.”

“That’s like saying there’s sick people in a hospital, brother. This town is full of cursed and these chickens formed after a botched potion,” I pointed out.

“Is it friendly?” he countered, ignoring my sarcasm.

“Time to find out,” I hissed back as I stood and walked a little closer. “Hey there, big girl. Are you hungry?”

“Cluck.” The loud response had me flinching again but I tried to keep a smile on my face. “Cluck. Cluck.”

That one sounded angry. Before I could say anything else it started to move, rushing forward. Both Dorian and I screamed and ran toward the house.

“Fuck!” Dorian howled as it caught his tail. I flashed a bolt of lightning at the ground beside it in hopes of startling it but the chicken was determined.

“Get it away from the house!” I yelled back, rushing past the door and toward the road. At least out here we’d have the guards to run backup.

“What happened?” Prue’s voice shrieked. The chicken let out another cluck, giving up chasing us to follow the omega and beta who just stepped outside.

“Go inside!” Dorian commanded. She started to argue but Merrick dragged her in just as the chicken charged again.

My only thought was to protect Prue. I didn’t want a feather hurt on my chickens, but priorities, right?

I changed directions towards the grumpy chicken to cut it off before it reached anyone else. I stopped right in front of her and planted my legs wide and my arms up.

“Take one more step towards anyone and we will have chicken strips for dinner,” I warned her and I meant it. Grabbing my brother’s tail was one thing but she wasn’t hurting anyone on my watch.

Henrietta, or who I assumed was Henrietta seeing as how they’d formed into one giant chicken, cocked her head towards me as if she was giving that a thought for a moment before she plowed right over me.

I hit the ground with a hard thud and I didn't know what hurt more, my pride or my ass. Dorian growled out a warning. He was now standing on all fours. For a wolf, he was large, but Henrietta was three times his size right now. He tried to block her path as she grew even more before our eyes.

What the fuck was going on? This wasn’t a curse variant, this was a new curse or spell introduced tonight.