After dinner, Sienna grabbed Elias before he could escape.

"I have a meeting." He said quickly.

Sienna held his arm firmer, "Cancel it, you have business with me. Let’s go outside and play a game of fetch." The mission had been put off long enough. The other tasks had been accomplished quickly.

Elias crinkled his nose. "You want to play!" He pulled her outside to the porch, where they could talk without any prying eyes or nosy ears. To make sure their conversation was private, he used his mental strength to create waves around them, irritating the senses of anyone eavesdropping. "Is this one of those things you need to do with me for your mental strength?"

Sienna stretched her arms. "Yes."

His tail flicked in alarm. Her soul being exchanged could be explained but playing a game to grow mental strength from nothing was way too bizarre. He would need to witness it in person to believe it. But of all games, why this one? "Fetch?" His voice carried the weight of suspicion, as though the word itself was a trap.

"Yes, fetch," Sienna repeated cheerfully, summoning a ball into her hand out of thin air.

He raised a brow, stepping back. "Where did that come from?"

Sienna sighed. "I can’t explain. Consider it an extension of my transmigration." She grinned, "Or, just think of it as me being the coolest, favorite daughter of all the beast gods. Every good thing they have, they give to me. When we complete this task, I will have more good things."

Elias narrowed his eyes. Memories flooded back of the last two times she had been insistent that he do what she asked. The first was when she insisted her sit and the next was when she told him to stay. Both times, she had been very commanding. The tone reminded him of the way dogs were trained in the vanguard.

He backed away from her, eyes wide. "You are not training me like a mindless dog." he said firmly, voice low and dangerous.

Sienna gasped theatrically, clutching her chest. "Elias, how can you think of me like that! I would never treat you like a mindless dog. You are my husband, my fox lord, my dignified beast king. This is just a game I am required to play."

"A game where you throw that ball and I fetch it?" He squeezed his brows together.

She nodded enthusiastically. "I guess the fox god has a weird sense of humor. Stop focusing on the game and focus on the rewards. Besides, you are fast, strong and handsome. Fetch will highlight your strengths."

His ears warmed up. He pulled back his mental strength, and took her hand. "Then, let’s go play."

The cubs who were hiding behind the door only heard the last sentence and rushed outside, cheering loudly. "Yay, papa is going to play with us." They bounced in fox forms, their tails wagging in excitement.

Grandma Byra pulled them back by their tails. "Your mama and papa are going to play. You two are going to bed." As she took the whining cubs back into the house, she chuckled mischievously. The old woman had noticed the distance between Sienna and Elias growing ever since they left the hospital. If the couple was making up, they were best left alone. "Linera," she shouted out a window, "make sure that snake beast woman does not join them and hog Sienna." She said it with bitterness in her voice. Mija was like a bandaid, always sticking to Sienna, even when the moment did not call for it.

There was a screech from the sky, which was Linera’s response.

Sienna and Elias didn’t go far, just the courtyard which was cool under the moonlight. The sound of waves accompanied her like music as she held the ball high, her eyes gleaming. "Ready?"

Elias crossed his arms. "Just throw it already."

She rolled her eyes. Sienna hurled the ball with surprising force. It sailed across the courtyard and bounced off a tree. With one leap, Elias caught it. He dropped to the ground with a satisfied grin.

Sienna put her hands on her waist. "You are not supposed to catch it!"

His proud smile vanished, replaced with embarrassment. Elias tossed the ball back to her. "Ooops--sorry." He glared at the trees, easily finding the sniggering guards who were watching them.

In another tree, Sienna’s uncles were in fox form, judging him.

The cubs were pressed against a window, sulking.

Sienna raised her hand high. "Don’t catch it this time, just wait for it to fall and then fetch it."

He waved his hand. "Got it." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

She hurled the ball with half of the strength she had used the first time. Just when the ball was about to touch the ground, Elias’s tail swept out and smacked it, sending it back her way. It fell at Sienna’s feet.

Elias winced.

Sienna groaned.

The wind carried more sniggers.

"Sorry, sorry. I did not mean to do that." He shrugged. "My tail just moved on its own."

She sighed and picked up the ball. Sienna thought to herself that maybe the problem was throwing the ball at him. It excited him. It was like dangling a feather before a cat. The cat couldn’t help itself, it just had to catch the feather. So, this time, she hurled the ball away from him, sending it to the backyard. "Go fetch."

He hesitated, glaring at her, then sprinted after it with the speed of a predator. He snatched it up effortlessly, his movements elegant even in humiliation.

"Good boy!" Sienna clapped when he returned.

Elias froze, ears flattening. "Sienna."

She coughed, correcting herself quickly. "I mean good husband. Very cool. So awesome. The most majestic."

But the sniggers came with the wind and the laughter of the cubs rolled from the window. "Papa is a good boy." Ali shouted. "Great grandma Byra, mama said papa is a good boy."

Elias shoved the ball into Sienna’s hand. His face was dark, as if he had swallowed a fly. "I hope whatever this is worked because we are not doing it again."

Sienna sighed pitifully. "Two more times, just two more times."

His aura turned cold. "Are you sure you are not humiliating me as a way of getting back at me for something?"

She patted his arm. "Just two more times, and I will prove to you that this has worked. Trust me, if I wanted to humiliate you, it would not involve fun."

Elias turned and waited for her to throw the ball. If she didn’t prove this game gave her mental strength, he would bite her.