The Lycan King's Fate Calling

Crystal's POV:

I was distracted by my ice cream, which I ate with gusto, when I suddenly felt a tug at my wrist.

Rufus was already standing beside me, my hand still firmly in his. "We should go and look around, dear. We finally got the chance to get out of the house. We shouldn't spend the entire day on this bench." No sooner had I nodded than I was being dragged forward by the man.

A booth caught my eye as we passed, and I stopped in my tracks, pulling Rufus to a halt as well. I gestured at the booth. "What do you suppose is going on over there? Why are there so many people?" Rufus took one glance at the booth and wordlessly led me there.

As we got closer, I realized that the people were crowding around a ring toss game. The booth keeper stood beside a mound of plushies, countless thin hoops adorning one of his arms. He bent over to retrieve the ring that had been successfully looped around one of the toys' head, and then handed the plushie to the eager customer.

It was a pretty simple and straightforward game, but everyone was inexplicable drawn to it.

My greedy eyes fell upon the two giant teddy bears sitting in the middle of the toy stash. Obviously, the booth keeper had put them on full display in order to attract more customers.

Both Arron and Beryl were fond of huge toys like these, and they would be thrilled if I gave them one each.

The other park goers seemed interested in the huge

bears as well, seeing as how they repeatedly tossed their hoops at them. Although several people just barely missed the bears' ears, no one was lucky enough to secure the toys.

I pursed my lips and grinned to myself, excitement already bubbling up inside me.

booth keeper, however, I heard Rufus speak beside me. "Here, give me a few

my gaze, he flashed me a smile. "I'll help you with this. Arron and Beryl will definitely love them." Warmth blossomed in my heart.

stack of

Rufus. His shooting skills were excellent, and his sight had always been accurate. I wondered if that applied to a game of

had barely finished the thought when he suddenly threw a

so blase about it that I smirked. I was just about to make fun of him for his overconfidence when I heard an exclamation from

forward and saw a hoop spinning around the largest bear's ear,

in search of the second hoop, and sure enough, it rested on the ear of the other

amazing!" I blurted out, hugging Rufus

felt him stiffen in my embrace, and it felt like a bucket of cold

my senses, I hastily stepped away and

keeper chose that moment to come up to us

tall each. Rufus put down his

me and

up, I noticed the blase keeper's worried

swr

then out of the blue, he asked, "How did you meet

be a gross understatement. I paused as the realization hit