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Bonus Chapter 1

Thanksgiving 2014

I sat there on the floor of D.K.'s bedroom for almost twenty minutes before finally getting up and leaving. I needed to go find Kimberly and calm her down. As I walked, drying my eyes, I wasn't watching where I was going and almost ran right into Mr. Wrogan.

"Hello, Amber!" he said with a huge smile on his face. "Happy Thanksgiving!"

"Um," I said, looking up at the gigantic man who had suddenly appeared in my pack house, "hi."

He took my by the shoulder in a gentle yet firm grip and led me towards the kitchen.

"Dinner's almost ready. We were worried you wouldn't make it!"

"Dinner?" I asked dumbly, still having trouble coming to terms with Mr. Wrogan, a director for Majestic, being in my house.

"Who the heck is that?" I heard D.K. yell from the living room. "Who's in my..."

He rounded the corner, caught sight of Mr. Wrogan, and fell silent.

"Thank you for having us over, Dalton," Mr. Wrogan said with a pleasant smile. "We're just putting the finishing touches on dinner."

"Who are you?" D.K. asked in a much less demanding tone. He looked much like the way I suspect I did when I first laid eyes on the enormous man and his funky animal skin coat.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself," Mr. Wrogan held out a huge hand to shake. "I'm Mr. Wrogan."

Does he even have a first name? I wondered.

"Honey boo, who is it?" Kaylie asked, stepping into the hallway just in time for Edgar to step out of the kitchen carrying a big bowl of mashed potatoes.

"Hey, can you take this to the table for me?" he asked, hastily loading it into the shocked young woman's arms. "Thanks. Hi, Amber!" He quickly retreated back into the kitchen.

"Who the heck was that?" D.K. asked.

Kaylie, for once, seemed at a loss for words, so she did as she was asked and brought the steaming bowl of potatoes to the dining room.

"I should go help them," Mr. Wrogan said, turning and going into the kitchen as well. "Amber, would you mind giving us a hand?"

"Uh, sure, no problem," I agreed, hesitantly following him in.

"Who the heck are these people?" I heard D.K. ask from behind me.

Inside the kitchen, I found the rest of the Majestic gang hard at work preparing a Thanksgiving dinner like you only see on TV. Victor was cutting lettuce for a salad, Dex was watching the oven while the turkey baked, and Lewis was using all eight of his hands to shuck corn. Mr. Wrogan was at the counter, carving a big juicy ham. The smell of it made my mouth water.

"Hey, Sugarsnout!" Dex greeted me just as the timer dinged. "How's life been treating you?"

"Crappy," I answered.

"Sorry to hear that." He opened the oven and pulled the turkey out and set it on the counter. "You like turkey?"

"Yeah." My head was still spinning. I didn't even know how all these people had managed to fit into the Swag Pag's tiny kitchen.

"The salad is done, Mr. Wrogan," Victor said, turning to face his boss. He was wearing a pink floral apron that, I'll admit, went very nicely with his spiffy black suit.

"Put it on the table and then you can put the corn in to boil."

"Aw, come on!" Dex exclaimed. I spun around to look, and found the turkey writhing around in tin foil pan, trying to escape. "Who brought the turkey back to life?"

"Not me," Ed said from the other side of the room, a sly smile on his face.

Dex glared at him and pulled his scepter out from inside his jacket. "Not funny, man."

He shot the undead turkey with a bolt of magic, and it collapsed back into its pan.

"What's going on?"

I turned and found Kimberly staring at us wide eyed from the kitchen doorway. Before I could answer, Mr. Wrogan had thrust a basket of hot rolls into her hands.

"Bring these to the table, please. And wash your hands, it's almost time to eat!"

Kimberly didn't need any more encouragement- the promise of her first hot meal in days was enough to convince her. She raced off, almost spilling bread in the hallway.

"Turkey's ready," Dex said.

"Good, that should be enough," Mr. Wrogan said. "Everyone to the dining room. We'll eat while we wait for the corn to finish cooking."

"All right, I'm starving!" Ed exclaimed, hurrying to get there first.

"Time to eat!" Dex hollered toward the living room.

"How did you people get into my house?" D.K. demanded. He was still in shock, but that didn't stop him from following everyone else towards the smell of food anyway.

Once we were all seated, Mr. Wrogan said, "Dalton, this is your house. Would you like to say grace?"

"No," he answered.

"Very well, then. Everybody..."

He was cut off when the doorbell rang. D.K. and Mr. Wrogan both immediately jumped up to get it. I followed them. When D.K. opened the door, I sucked in a startled breath when I saw the G-Nomes standing on the other side.

"Hey, Dalton!" Zeke said with a bright smile. "Thanks for inviting us over."

"I didn't invite you over," my alpha said, sounding like he had had enough surprises for one day. "Get lost!"

Zeke's face fell. "But we brought pie!"

"I don't..." D.K. hesitated. "What kind of pie?"

"Pumpkin pie," the green haired one answered, holding it up for him to see.

D.K. was quiet for a few seconds, but then he stood back and waved them in. "Fine, but I want the first slice!"

"Thanks, Dalton!" Zeke said, slapping him on the shoulder. "You're the best!"

We all went back to the dining room and took our seats. Mr. Wrogan carved the turkey and began distributing it across the table. Tyler helped himself to a big glob of mashed potatoes before passing them to me. I still had no idea what was going on, but... well, the food looked and smelled amazing, so I decided to just go with it. I served myself some potatoes and then passed the bowl to Dex.

"We always make sure Lewis gets served last," he whispered to me with a smirk. "He eats, like, twelve horses every day."

He paused, then added, "And by that I mean that he literally eats roughly twelve horses a day. Not that he eats like twelve horses a day."

I stared at Lewis in shock as he poured the entire rest of the bowl onto his plate. He then mixed chopped up bits of turkey, ham, broccoli, and an entire cob of corn into it before dumping half our supply of gravy on top of it.

"What is he, again?" I asked.

Dex shrugged. "No idea," he said before taking a huge bite of turkey.

"Oh." I began to eat as well. Turns out, the food tasted just as good as it looked, and soon I was reaching for seconds. A few minutes later, I became aware of the tall, blonde haired young man sitting next to me. I'm about 99% sure he hadn't been there when I sat down.

"Um," I said hesitantly, "who are you?"

"Don't mind me," he said, dabbing a bit of mashed potato out of his scruffy beard, "I'm just breaking the fourth wall. Pass the gravy, please."

"I find you indescribably handsome and mysterious," I said, passing him the gravy. "Please make out with me."

The man, whoever he was, wagged a finger in my face. "Can't do that. You're only seventeen."

My heart throbbed in my chest. This fabulous hunk of chunk new my age? I almost fainted right there.

"I know everything about you," he said around a mouthful of bread and butter. He leaned in closer so I could see the little bits of corn stuck in his teeth when he smiled. "Everything."

"I think I'm in love," I said, completely breathless.

"Football time!" D.K. shouted at the top of his lungs, standing up.

With a hoot, all the men got up and ran out of the dining room, leaving behind a messy table and plates that had been licked clean.

"Don't tell me they expect us to clean up this whole mess!" Kaylie complained, looking at the table in disgust.

"I... still have no idea what's going on," I admitted. I turned to look at my new future husband, who was the only man still sitting at the table (he's so considerate and understanding!).

"Don't worry," he said. "Everything will go back to normal Saturday morning, and you won't remember a thing."

"But I don't want to forget!" I cried, reaching out to take him in my arms. "Stay with me forever! I can't live without you!"

"Alas, I cannot!" he said, standing up and putting one foot on the table- the epitome of manliness. "I have tarried here for too long. I must go. My planet needs me!"

With that, fire shot from his feet and he flew upwards, crashing straight through the ceiling, leaving nothing but memories and the smell of manly body odor behind. I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from crying.

"I'll see you again someday, my love," I whispered at the wonderful new sunroof he'd installed in our dining room. "Someday."

As I sat there, listening to the men cheer for the football game, I came to realize something.

This had been the best Thanksgiving ever.

Author's Note: Okay, if it isn't already obvious, this did not really happen. I just decided to do something fun for Thanksgiving. I kinda like this. Maybe I'll do one of these for every holiday. Anyway, check back in on Saturday for when the REAL story resumes! Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!