Demonic Regime

Chapter 17: Sleepover

"Drake!" I yanked the blankets away from him. "You're messing it up. This is my sleepover, not yours."

"That's not fair. I want to sleep in here, too."

"No," I replied. "You're not invited."

He frowned at me. "Mom!" Running from the room, the annoying pup went to tell on me.

I remade the bed on the floor of the playroom. Case was coming over, and tomorrow, we were going to play all day since he didn't have to go to school. Grabbing my red blanket, I wrapped it around and sat on the couch. The fur brushed against my face. It was softer than my old one. I glanced at my white one. I still wasn't going to let my brother or the baby touch it.

Drake marched into the room with a smug look on his face and a sleeping bag.

"You can't be in here!" I groaned. "It's not fair."

My mother appeared. "Rudy, Drake gets to sleep in here, too."

"No." I fell over. "It's my sleepover. It's my first one ever, and he's going to run it."

She shook her head. "Dramatic much?"

My dad appeared around the corner. "Anything happening in here?"

"Drake has to sleep in his room." I stood on the couch. "This isn't for little pups. You have to be eight."

My brother ignored me as he made his bed.

My father folded his arms and glanced at my mother. "The red is showing."

"Don't even start," said my mother. "He could only have red markings. We don't know."

"Markings or solid red, does it matter?" he laughed.

I curled up in my blanket and scowled at them. My siblings messed up everything.

"Rudy, Drake gets to play with you," said my father.

"Why? I don't get to play with his friends, so he can't play with mine."

My dad shook his head. "His friends don't come over."

I groaned. "It's not fair. Case is my friends. He's the only pup in the whole pack that will be nice to me, and now I have to share him." I threw my arms in the air and glared at my brother. "I hate you. You ruin everything."

Drake grinned at me.

"Rudy," stated my mother. "You will not talk like that. I'll cancel the sleepover if you can't be nice to your brother."

I flopped over and pouted in silence. Case was lucky. All his siblings were older. I got stuck being the oldest with an annoying little brother and sister.

"It's the red," whispered my father.

My mom hit his arm. "Kock it off. We're not playing into that stereotype."

He laughed and wandered off. Drake threw a pillow at the top of his sleeping bed. He better watch out because I was going to get him back.

***

My dad carried in bowls of popcorn and handed us each one. He sat with Drake and Sasha while Case and I took the other end. My mom was still in the kitchen.

"It's cold in here." Case grabbed a blanket off the floor. He smiled at me. "Do you like it?"

I nodded and tucked the furry blanket over my chin. "Yeah, it's my new favorite. It's just like my hair."

"I know." He laughed. "I saw it and told my mom we needed to get it."

"You can shift." I motioned to my family. "It's cold because they have fur. They stay in werewolf form most of the time. I use a blanket so you can shift, too if you want."

Case shook his head. "No, I like being human."

"You do?"

He nodded. "Yeah, it's easy to tell people apart because you can see their faces under their fur. And we can play without worrying about teeth and claws. My brother always hurt me." He examined his arms before leaning over. "My dad had to inject him with toxins once," he whispered. "He cried, and he's fifteen."

"Wow," I breathed. "I've never felt it before."

"It hurts. My dad did it because my brother scratched me. They told him to stop, and he didn't, so I got hurt. It's super painful."

"Did you cry?"

Case nodded. "We don't have toxins or the healing stuff yet. It hurts worse for us."

I picked at my fingernails. "Do you think I'll get toxins since I can't shift?"

"Yeah, you're still a werewolf. Werewolves have toxins no matter what form they're in."

I smiled. "I can get you a furry blanket. We have browns one."

"Okay!"

Jumping off the couch, I hurried to get him one. We curled up next to each other as my mom arrived and started the movie.

***

I jolted awake as my father picked me up. "Did it end?"

He nodded and laid me on my sleeping bag. "Just barely. You did last long before you fell asleep." My dad put the fallen popcorn into one of the bowls.

"Wait." I reached for my blanket. "It's cold."

My dad laid it over me. "Better?"

I nodded. "Case, too. He's still in human—" I yawned.

He put one over my friends as well. "Goodnight, Rudy."

"Goodnight." I rolled onto my side.

Case was sleeping beside me with Drake scrawled across his sleep bag by our heads. His tongue was hanging out his muzzle. I smiled to myself and fell back asleep.

***

"Drake!" I threw my arms down. "It's a two-person game. Go away!"

"Rudy," called my mom. "Come here, right now."

I threw the truck at the wall before marching from the room. I hated him. I had the worst brother in the world.

My mother eyed me with her hands on her hips. "Does Case need to go home?"

I shook my head. "Drake is getting in the way."

"He wants to play with you."

Clenching my jaw, I glared at the floor.

"Rudy," she breathed. She picked me up and sat me on the table. "You know Drake looks up to you."

"Why?" I muttered. "He can shift. I can't."

"Drake doesn't care about that. You're his big brother; he wants to do everything you do."

I sighed. "That's so annoying."

"Be nice." She lifted my chin and shook it. "Play something together."

"Fine." I jumped down and marched to the playroom.

Drake noticed me and handed me one of his trucks.

Taking it, I rolled the wheels against my palm. "Do you want to make a fort?"

"Yeah," said Case. "One that takes up the whole room."

Drake's tail started to wag.

"Go get the big blankets off our beds," I whispered. "Don't let Mom see, or she'll tell us no."

My brother nodded and ran off to do so while I gathered the heavy toys to hold up the blankets. Being the older brother was hard, but I'd tried to be nicer.

***

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