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The first sign that something was wrong came when Lucas Hunter woke up and found himself staring at the ceiling of a den he didn’t recognize. The second sign was when he rolled over and saw a very naked and very wolfish Sienna Lauren beside him.
“Oh, hell no,” he muttered, scrambling away and immediately tripping over his own feet.
Meanwhile, across SnowDancer territory, Hawke opened his eyes and groaned. Something felt…off. His body felt too smooth, his instincts different, and—
Why did he have spots?
He turned his head slowly and found himself staring at Sascha Duncan, who was now a silver-white wolf curled up beside him.
From the treetops of DarkRiver territory, two-year-old Nadiya Hunter giggled and took another bite of her cookie. Best. Day. Ever.
Phase One: Mateswap Mayhem
Mated couples all over SnowDancer and DarkRiver woke up in the wrong bodies, and the results were…predictably disastrous.
- Mercy & Riley: Mercy (in Riley’s body) immediately started flexing. “Damn, babe, I didn’t realize you had this much muscle.” Riley (in Mercy’s body) turned bright red and swore vengeance.
- Judd & Brenna: Judd woke up as a leopard and spent the first ten minutes standing absolutely still, staring at his paws, trying to calculate how this had happened. Brenna (in Judd’s Psy body) was delighted. “Ooooh, I have telekinesis! I can float things!”
- Indigo & Drew: Indigo (in Drew’s body) spent a solid twenty minutes flirting with herself in the mirror while Drew (in Indigo’s body) sat in the corner, horrified.
- Dorian: Once a latent leopard, now in someone else’s shifting-capable body, absolutely refused to shift back. “Nope. This is my life now.”
Phase Two: Psy vs. Changeling Body Swap
If swapping mates was bad, this was worse.
- Lucas Hunter woke up as a wolf. Sascha, still very much amused by the fact Lucas was now a wolf, just as she was for the moment, took one look at her mate trying to control his tail and burst into laughter.
- Faith NightStar (once a very composed Psy) was now a leopard. “Oh no. Oh no.” Five minutes later, she had accidentally sprinted into a tree.
- Vasic was now a bear. A very grumpy bear. Ivy Jane was crying from laughter while he tried to figure out how to move without knocking things over.
- Ming LeBon, former ruthless Councilor, was now an otter. An otter. He hated everything.
- Nikita Duncan, the most terrifying Psy matriarch, was now a panther. She refused to leave her office. “I am not participating in this nonsense.”
Phase Three: The Psy Council Becomes…Human.
Every Psy Councilor—Ming LeBon, Nikita Duncan, Tatiana Rika-Smythe, Henry Scott—woke up in completely human bodies. With zero psychic abilities.
- Ming realized he had to sleep now. And eat. And feel emotions. “I despise this.”
- Tatiana tried to start a psychic coup but forgot that humans have no telepathy. “WHY AREN’T YOU RESPONDING TO MY THOUGHTS?!”
- Henry Scott, the most boring man alive, now had bad eyesight. “I require glasses? How inefficient.”
- Nikita had to drink coffee to function. “This is unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, the changelings were dying of laughter. The entire world watched as the once untouchable Psy Council was now struggling with basic human existence.
The Aftermath: The Search for the Mastermind
Lucas, still in wolf form, was done. “Who? Did. This.”
Nadiya, munching another cookie, swung her little legs from her perch in the trees. She locked eyes with her father and grinned.
Lucas’s expression did not change. But his tail did twitch in irritation.
Sascha, still laughing, pulled her mate away. “Face it, Lucas. Our daughter just became a legend.”
Nadiya clapped her hands together. Best. Prank War. Ever.