Page 76 of Who Let The Wolves Out?

Just when I think we’ve made it through without incident—no surprise slime explosions, no unscheduled transformations—there’s a loudbangfrom behind the stage curtain.

A puff of green smoke bursts out from the side exit.

Every head in the room swivels.

“Oh no,” Alice mutters beside me, eyes already scanning the crowd.

I don’t even need to ask.

Iknowthat smell.

That’s prank potion.Unfiltered.

I bolt toward the curtain just in time to see Levi—tiny, gremlin-like, and armed with a suspiciously dented cauldron—about to launch what looks like a balloon filled with shapeshifting mist into the crowd.

“Levi,” I bark. “Don’t youdare.”

He freezes, hand mid-air, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights—and also maybe high on fizzing mushroom extract.

“I was just gonna add alittle chaos,” he says, voice high and crackly.

“You were about to turn half the crowd into frogs.”

“Only temporarily!”

I don’t slow.

I grab the cauldron, pluck the balloon from his hand, and very calmly deposit both into the enchanted containment bin we keep for “Hazardous Hijinks”—thank you, Julie.

“Nice try, bud,” I say, crouching to his eye level. “But you pull a stunt like that again during someone else’s big moment?You’re cleaning the latrineandapologizing with interpretive dance.”

His eyes widen in horror. “You wouldn’t.”

“Ask Ferix. He still shudders at the memory.”

Levi gulps and nods.

Crisis averted.

I lead him back out into the crowd just as Alice rushes over, concern still in her eyes.

“He okay?”

“Yeah. Just hopped up on mischief and poor timing.”

She exhales and smiles. “You handled that like a pro.”

“I’ve leveled up. Counselor slash chaos negotiator.”

She laughs and grabs my hand.

The crowd’s still buzzing, the energy of the show lingering like fireflies in the air.

And as Levi quietly slides back into the crowd under Hazel’s watchful glare, I realize something else:

Thisis the job.

Not just the sparkle and applause.

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