“Hey guys!”

  Evan waved enthusiastically at the approag horses and carriage, looking like a puppy who just spotted his favorite humans. Matthew and An, arriving alongside the royal carriage that Bir used for her daily ute, waved back.

  “Yo!” they called, stepping down with the kind of fidenly kids on a sugar rush could possess.

  The three of them made their way ihe grand Wilderwood estate, chatting about everything and nothing, until they wandered into the training grounds.

  There, before their very eyes, was her than Madame Bunny di Sator, in all her bck-haired, slightly chaotic glory. And in the process of being hauled onto a massive stallion—by the waist, no less—was her husband, Mante di Sator. The man handled his wife like a sack of particurly valuable potatoes.

  “Are you sure you ride a horse?” Mante—Burn—asked, clearly skeptical about her equestrian skills.

  “Of course I !” Bunny—Man—replied with absolute fidence. “Horses are good children. They listen so well to what I say esture.”

  Mante gave her a long look, the kind of look a man gives when he wants tue but values his life too much to do so.

  Just as the trio and Evan arrived at the field, Bunny was off, riding a p around the grounds like she was auditioning for the role al Horse Queen.’

  Mante, however, had his attention diverted to the kids, and with the air of a man about to assign a Very Unfun Task, he asked, “I was w when you’d arrive. So, what are your pns?”

  The boys and girl exged gnces, mentally syng up like some kind of hive mind before Evan announced, “Let’s py D&D! I want to join a campaign with you guys so bad!”

  Bir smiled. “I want to try pying together too…”

  “That sounds fun,” Matthew chimed in, while An’s nerd senses activated. His eyes practically sparkled with potential character sheet possibilities.

  And then, like an unwele homework assig, Ma in. “But that wait. Pick up a wooden sword. I want to test your moves.”

  Cue immediate disappoi. The kids groaned, but they plied, running off to grab their wooden ons. Well, almost all of them.

  Bir, the only Vision Major in the group, was left standing there, her role in this apparent battle royale of bruises ent. The 12-year-old girl pouted, hiding it like a seasoned professional i of sulking—until she felt a small, insistent her back.

  Bir turned, only to be met with a beautiful tiny blonde gremlin, peering up at her with wide blue eyes, the kind that could vin army to surrender on sight.

  Bir gasped, stunned. “Oh my God—”

  The small bundle of energy blinked up at her. “Sissy-w?”

  Bir, whose brain had just short-circuited, was further ambushed by Evan suddenly appearing beside her. “Oh, you’ve met my baby sister,” he said casually.

  Matthew and An, meanwhile, had synized heart attacks.

  “You have a little sister?!” they both shouted, their jaws hitting the ground.

  “Hello! Nemo. Three!” the tiny girl decred, proudly pointing at herself.

  And that was it—the teens immediately crumbled uhe sheer weight of how ridiculously cute she was. They cooed and squealed like a group of grandmas spotting a baby in a pumpkin e.

  Before anyone could recover, Nemo proved that she was not just adorable, but also a small, relentless force of chaos.

  The tiny menace sprioward Ma full speed, scaled his pants like a particurly aggressive housecat, and demanded, “Papa! Up!”

  Mante, a fully grown and formidable man, had no choice. The ws of fatherhood dictated his response. He sighed in surrender, lifted her up with one arm like she weighed nothing, aled her fortably.

  But the madness was far from over.

  Because, of course, two grown men and a grandpa came barreling toward them like a chaotic cavalry charge.

  “Nemo! So here’s where you ran up to…”

  Enter Finn Wilderwood, looking slightly exasperated but mostly just resigo his fate.

  But wait—there was more.

  One of the men, an old guy draped in suspiciously ominous bck robes, glided toward them like he had a personal wind effect following him at all times. He was ughing, his voice warm and kind, with a hint of horror behind his red blood eyes.

  “Hohoho, how eic… Pops had to catch his breath.”

  And then there was the st guy.

  A seven-foot-tall, long-haired, menagly handsome man with amber eyes. He was the human embodiment of a final boss fight, radiating Do Not Disturb energy so aggressively that even the air dared not brush against him too quickly.

  Bir, Matthew, and An? Not okay.

  They exged looks, unspoken fusion and arm passiween them.

  Who… were these men?

  Meanwhile, Nemo, pletely unfazed by the entrance, flung her little arms toward them with pure excitement.

  “Pops! Uncles!” she cheered.

  The old man—apparently Pops—reached for her first, and the transfer from Papa to Pops happened with ceremonial wholesomeness.

  Evan, finally deg to clear up their stunned fusioured at the group.

  “This is our Pops, Gran Gran Vd, and our uncle, Isaiah,” he said. “They’re my family from Mama’s side.”

  Matthew, An, and Bir took exactly three seds to process this, the out a synized, “Ohh…” and gave polite bows, because when you’re suddenly introduced to a terrifyingly cool grandpa and a human-sized intimidation tactic, you show respect.

  What is this family, really?

  Just as the Madame finished her p around the field, she waved at the group in the background. “Wele, guys!” she called cheerfully before tinuing her round.

  Something, however, was very wrong.

  Bir gasped, g her hands over her face but still peeking through her fingers, her face burning red. “What is that?!”

  If even an i 12-year-old girl noticed, then of course, a group of fully grown men and teenage boys caught on one sed earlier—and promptly wished they hadn’t.

  The stallion… had a boner.

  Whether it was because the rider was the most stunning woman to ever grace the earth, or because the rider was the most stunning woman to ever grace the earth, it happened.

  A male is a male, okay?

  Doesn’t matter if you’re human, dwarf, elf, dragon, uni, or—apparently—a horse. Dignity crumbles before beauty.

  Sssshhh…

  That was the sound of a sword being uhed.

  Dark energy crackled around Mante di Sator, whose bde was already in his hand before anyone could blink. “Lowly-ass donkey—”

  “HOLD HIM!” Finn paled, moving first.

  Evan lu his father’s waist, Isaiah grabbed his other arm, and Finn secured the remaining one in a desperate attempt to prevent immediate equine castration.

  “Calm down, Papa!”

  “Cease this, Brother!”

  “Lord Sator, this stallion is aremely rare and expensive breed! You ’t castrate him—”

  “HE’S CLEARLY BEGGING FOR IT!” Mante roared.

  Meanwhile, An and Matthew scrambled to cover Bir’s eyes properly, as she was very much still peeking and very much still blushing. Vd chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he shielded Nemo’s eyes in his arms.

  And through all this?

  The Madame happily trotted on, pletely unaware that her mount had just risked its entire bloodline.