Chapter Sixty Two

*Ariya*


I wanted to stay awake to know how things were going but I couldn’t fight sleep. I was worried about Ivan but it was late and he had made sure to make me sleepy by giving me head scratches before he left. I don’t know why but it felt so good. Having him running his hands through my hair made me sleepy. I was fighting a losing battle and drifted off to sleep probably before he even made it out of the building.
- -
*After I finished getting dressed I ran to the kitchen. I was eager to get back to Ivan but I really wanted to talk to Keo. As luck would have it I found my brother before anyone else.
“Keo! Did you see?!” I jumped excitedly.
“See what, Ari?” Keo asked, intrigued.
“Ivan shifted! His wolf is so amazing. It’s beautiful!” I squealed.
“What? Really?! What’s it look like?” Keo jumped up excitedly.
One of the many reasons I loved my brother. He got just as excited and animated about something as I did. It made it easy for us to switch places with each other. Mom, Drake, Caleb, and Derek were always fooled. Ivan was always the first to figure it out. He knew instantly most of the time when we switched and we couldn’t figure out why he always knew but I wanted to see if he would know being a wolf now.
“His wolf has the most amazing blue eyes I’ve ever seen and he has black fur but he’s got white tips all around. It’s so cool!”
“Whoa! I can’t wait to see it!” Keo got a sinister look in his eyes, “Ari, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
I grinned at him and nodded.
“Switch!” We both shouted in a hushed whisper high fived each other. We ran off to the bathroom to swap clothes and style our hair the same.
We were heading to the kitchen when we ran into Mom and Ivan.
“See! He’s got the most amazing blue eyes with black fur and white tips all around, Keo!” Keo said to me, pretending to be me.
“Whoa! That’s so cool! Ivan, you look awesome!” I expressed my excitement pretending to be Keo.
Keo ran to Ivan and threw his arms around Ivan.
“Ari, don’t smother Ivan.” Mom told Keo.
I laughed, “You know she’s just excited, Mom.”
Ivan shrugged Keo off of him gently and came right up to me, nudging my hand so I would scratch his head. Keo and I’s jaws dropped to the ground and then we immediately started laughing.
“How does he always know?” Keo laughed.
Mom looked back and forth between us putting it together, “Oh you 2! You both are just trouble! Good thing Ivan is on my side and will let me know when my twins switch places with each other!”
Mom was laughing as she picked Keo up and hugged him tightly. Keo laughed, hugging her back.
“Sorry Mom, we wanted to see. Ivan always knows though! I don’t get it. We can fool everyone else but we can never fool Ivan.” Keo said.
Mom came over to me and hugged me tightly as I laughed with them. She was never mad when we switched. It was a game and we never did it in a way that caused harm. But for some reason Ivan always knew and he would always tell Mom if she didn’t realize it right away.
Mom set me down and I immediately wrapped my arms around Ivan, snuggling my head into his fur. His fur was so soft and comfy.
“Just don’t smother him, Ari.” Mom laughed.
“I don’t mean to.” I said looking up at her.
“Oh sweetie, you’re not right now. But if he pulls away, let him. That’s all I’m saying. Don’t force him to stay in one spot if he doesn’t want to.” Mom reassured me.
I looked seriously at Ivan, “Promise me you’ll move if you get uncomfortable or need space. I don’t want to smother you.”
In response, Ivan leaned into me more and I laughed. *
- -
I began to stir awake with a hand running through my hair. I looked up to see who the hand belonged to even though I already knew.
“Good morning, Ari.” Ivan leaned down and kissed me softly on the forehead, flashing his wolf eyes at me.
“Good morning, Ivan. How did everything go last night?”
“Everything went perfectly, Ari. No need for any worries.” Ivan said softly.
“You shifted?” I asked, getting excited.
Ivan looked down at me and grinned widely. I sat up quickly and looked at him closely. Something was different about him. Something felt different. He flashed his wolf eyes at me and I stared at them in awe. Then it hit me. I touched his hair, playing with the white tipped spikes throughout his black hair.
“Ivan…It’s really, really you.” I said, the tears falling down my face.
“It’s really, really me, Ari.” Ivan said, leaning his head against mine.
“How are you feeling? Any difference? Did you get any new memories? Was it easy to shift? Did you miss the feeling? Will the white tips go away when they come back? How did Drake alter the lock?” I bombarded him with questions.
Ivan laughed, “I think I know where Caleb got his intense questioning from now. Did you rub off on him, princess?”
“Huh?” I looked at him confused.
“Ask Keo, he’ll explain. As to your questions, yes, I shifted. I feel better now that I’m back with you. I kept thinking of what would happen if you were left here alone and I couldn’t shift back and that triggered my shift. I almost didn’t control it. Keo helped me out. I did get some new memories after sleeping last night. It isn’t super easy to shift back. I think I need to keep shifting every day for a while, until it gets easier. I missed running. I ran for a couple hours. Don’t tell Caleb but he’s impressive. He kept up with me.”
I giggled, “We used to go and work on it. He would run with me when I was training. We didn’t really go anywhere without one another. Except for when I came to work. I’m pretty sure you’re still going to be faster than him.”
“Once I get my strength back fully and get used to running on all fours again, I think so too. Oh and yes, the hair changes when someone comes back. Just like my eyes. You’ll always know it’s really me when people leave if my hair changes back and I flash my eyes at you.” Ivan said.
I kissed him, I was so excited to be able to share my true feelings with him.
“I’ve loved you since I was a little kid.”