CHAPTER 36: TRUTH OR DARE I

Everyone was seated. More eyes lingered around the small gathering, and the bonfire seemed to crack even hotter.

Liam and Theo sat on one log, while Aurelius and Celeste sat perpendicular to them. That smug look was still on Voss’s face, while Celeste looked uninterested.

"So, what game are we playing?" Theodora asked.

"Truth or dare," Aurelius replied.

"We are not thirteen,"

"Oh, don’t worry," He extended his arm to his right. One of the boys standing behind him dropped a deck of cards on his palm, "This won’t be your usual truth or dare," He dropped the cards on the floor and continued, "These cards each contain dark instructions that we would have to obey, if we refuse to answer any questions or do any dare. Got it?"

She glanced down at the cards. They weren’t your regular cards; they were different colours.

"I’ll start," Aurelius said when everyone remained silent.

Theo locked eyes with him, wishing she could wipe that smug look on his face.

She would. She was here to do just that.

"William, Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he replied.

"Always the boring option," He grumbled.

"Just ask!"

"Alright then," Aurelius said, then proceeded, "What’s something or someone you’ve wanted, but you aren’t supposed to touch?"

Theodora didn’t think that was too much of a personal question, till she felt Liam turn stiff next to her.

A second later, he had reached in and picked one of the cards from the desk. When he saw what was written, he let out a groan, "What the fuck is this?"

"What’s that?"

"The paper says: Let someone trace your throat with their finger, stopping where they want to,"

Aurelius shrugged, "Rules are rules, William. Choose someone to do it so everyone can move on,"

Liam’s eyes held each person around, a breathable silence passing. His eyes lingered on Theo a bit longer, before he moved closer to Celeste, and tilted his head enough to expose his neckline, "Trace me,"

Celeste didn’t react and placed his finger on Liam’s neck, then trailed a path down and back up. It looked pretty simple to Theo, and they all thought nothing of it.

"My turn," Liam said as he sat back down, "Aurelius, Truth or dare,"

"Dare,"

Liam smirked, "Let someone give you an order and you’ll follow it for thirty seconds no questions asked,"

"Fine, who’s giving the order?"

"Thad will,"

Thaddeus and Liam shared a knowing look, then she turned to Aurelius and said, "You’re not allowed to smirk or grin, or talk, or do anything with your lips for the next thirty seconds,"

Honestly, as time passed, Theo wasn’t satisfied with what she got. Aurelius had kept to the dare, but there was no sign of irritation on his face like she had hoped. In fact, that normal, apathetic look appeared more natural to her than the grin he always had.

"Time up," Aurelius announced, slipping back the smirk on again.

"My turn," She said and turned to Celeste, "Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," He answered.

"If I stripped away your name and bloodline, who would you be?" She asked.

The question took them by surprise, but Celeste maintained that normal look.

He hesitated before he answered, "I would be the version of myself no one’s met yet. The one that walks where names don’t reach," His eyes lingered on the flames, "You’d be surprised how much freer you can be when no one knows who you are."

Theodora had no words for that, but it stayed in her mind for a while.

The way Aurelius’s smile faltered a bit said he wasn’t expecting that kind of answer, either, which was surprising since they’ve known each other since they were kids.

"My turn," Celeste said, and faced her like she did him, "Truth or dare, Thaddeus,"

"Truth,"

Aurelius groaned.

"When was the last time you lied to yourself?"

She froze.

Aurelius tilted his head, "Interesting,"

Theodora looked back at Celeste, "Every day, when I look at my reflection in the mirror,"

"I would like to know what you lie to yourself about," Aurelius grinned.

"I’m sure you would," She almost rolled her eyes.

"My turn, again," Aurelius stated, "Thad, Truth or Dare,"

She couldn’t tell the truth. She already knew what he would ask her to tell them, so she said, "Dare,"

The flash in his eyes told her he was expecting that, and that just maybe, she had fallen for his trap, "I dare you to take off both shirts you’re wearing, and remain as so for the rest of the night,"

Now, this was one hell of a trap. To anyone, that was the easiest dare since male Werewolves move around shirtless all the time. But if she picked a deck of cards, it would give them intel that she was hiding something.

*Seraphina* Theo called.

*Don’t tell me...,*

*Suck in the whole of my chest and give me abs,*

*What?* Seraphina almost growled, *That would weaken the both of us. I told you I can only keep up your masculine facade for 15 hours, and I sucked in your boobs as much as I could. If I gave you a full masculine chest, it would reduce that time to twelve hours which means you have to be in bed by 8pm which is by the next hour*

*We would have to all leave sooner or later. Curfew is in the next two hours* Theodora answered.

*I can’t believe you!*

*It’s not like I have any other choice here*

*Fine. Just make sure you’re in bed before 8pm!*

Theodora felt her chest transforming and in seconds, she pulled off her sweatshirt and folded it next to her.

Her heart raced as she glanced down at herself, a part of her thinking Seraphina hadn’t done the work well.

But when she saw a perfectly sculptured look for a male like her, she loved her wolf even more. And of course, the pendant was now exposed to everyone’s eyes.

*Thank you*

*Yeah, now I feel weaker*

*Sorry*

"Took you long enough," Aurelius said as his eyes moved down to her chest. Something she couldn’t decipher flickered across his eyes, then he looked back at her face.

"Careful," she warned, "You might drool too much and extinguish the bonfire,"

Liam didn’t bother covering up his laughter this time, and she would have sworn Aurelius’s smirk faltered for a second. If it did, he had covered it up quite nicely.

"There’s something about you, Redhead," Aurelius stated, eyes locked on hers with that smug smile along with another raw emotion that made her a bit nervous, "Something about you... That’s just--,"

Just then, the noise around them grew even louder with hushed whispers and comments. The four of them looked back to see what was the cause of the ruckus, and for the first time that night, a small grin subtly appeared on Celeste’s face.

Standing across them was Tobias with the most excited look on his face, with Hezekiah next to him, eyes slowly shifting and catching everything that was happening around him with an intensity that made students shush whenever his eyes fell on them.

"Well, well, well," Aurelius drawled tauntingly, shaking his head in amusement, "I can hardly believe what I’m seeing,"

As if he had heard Aurelius’s voice, Zeke’s eyes snapped in their direction.

Theo looked away when she found him looking at them before they would make eye contact, eyes now glued to the fire like it was the most fascinating thing around her.

She didn’t hear his footsteps, as usual.

Only his presence, and his scent.

She could feel his eyes on her shirtless body, her pendant... Then it trailed up to her face.