I realized I haven't given you a date for The Casting Game, so... If you want to win a chapter dedication and a Wattpad shout-out, think of a cast for any character from the Dogs, Bats & Monkeys series before August 27 (Sunday).

To help you find the perfect celebrity or an animated/comic book/manga character to match the characters from my series, I'm going to write a basic description for the most popular/liked ones in the A/N at the bottom.

And now, enjoy the new chapter!

I turned off the shower and reached for my towel. Patting myself dry, I went over my schedule for the day, which consisted of pretty mundane things: call dad to check on mom, check in with my sisters, cook, eat, wash the dishes, clean up the bedsit, work out... That was it.

Wrapping the towel around my waist, I exited the bathroom, shivering as I entered the only other room. Without the steam from the shower, the apartment was rather chilly, the change in temperature raising goosebumps on my heated, naked flesh, so I hurried to my wardrobe, discarding my towel to replace it with a pair of boxers before hastily making my way into a tank top, a shirt and an old pair of sweatpants.

All that was left were the socks.

I reached inside my drawler and... My fingers grazed velvet.

Socks forgotten, I took out the small box and opened it.

The silver ring with the leaves wrapped around a stone the color of red wine was still stunning and utterly confusing, brining memories of last night's dinner.

Last night's unexpectedly tensed, yep pleasant dinner.

For some reason, my palms had been clammy all evening and I'd questioned my every move, and word, and even thought.

My hosts and Keri either didn't notice or had been polite enough not to bring it up.

Not like I'd been when I'd asked why Keri's eyes had been red.

As if she'd been crying.

I huffed and headed for the kitchen area, placed the ring on the counter next to the toaster, loaded the appliance with two slices of white bread and turned it on.

My eyes moved to the still open box with the ring.

Keri's ring.

And, if I had to be honest, it had been Keri who had made me so anxious last night. Her and my previous self-admission that maybe, if I'd met her years ago, I would've asked her out.

I groaned and ran a hand over my face before closing the little box.

I didn't move it though.

And I didn't put it away.

It stood there in all its velvety glory, a symbol of my idiotic behavior.

"I should get rid of you," I told the inanimate object, running a finger over one of its edges.

Maybe I could give the ring to Keri.

I already thought of it as hers anyway. Perhaps as a present... But who gave such presents to casual acquaintances?

My face heated at my stupidity.

Maybe if we were friends...

No. I shook my head. Even then it would be too much.

The only way this wouldn't be weird was if we were - the heat washed down to my chest - lovers.

Which would never happen as she didn't see me that way, and I was old, and I had a demanding job, and she was too good for a sorry bastard like me anyway...

And yet, for perhaps the first time in my life, I could see myself with a specific woman.

I could see myself coming home from a long shift, I could see Keri greeting me with a distracted kiss then going back to work on pack documents, I could see myself coming out of the shower and the two of us having dinner, this time giving each other our full attention...

Sort of.

We'd talk about work.

She could give me advice on my problems and I could try to help her out with the Bullets and neither of us would mind that the other was talking about work because both of us loved what we did, even though it made us pull at our hair sometimes.

The heat spread to my fingers and toes as my fantasy went on.

Us working out together and practice fighting; us watching a movie, sitting on the couch in her house - now our house because she'd want to be close to the pack, and I would understand that, and besides, I thought the place was beautiful...

What I'd seen of it anyway.

How would the bedroom look?

I gulped, my throat dry as if the moisture in it had decided to take a trip to the inside of my hands, making them just as clammy as they'd been the night before.

I'd bet Keri had a big bed with a wooden framework and a beautifully carved headboard.

I could imagine her on such a bed. Lying there, watching me walk in the bedroom. She'd be wearing comfy pajamas that fitted her toned body, a silver ring with a wine-colored stone on her finger...

Sparks flew and the toaster burst into flames.

I grabbed the jewelry box and hid it safely in my pocket, before unplugging the flaming appliance and using un empty beer bottle to push it into the sink. It crashed, then hissed, even more sparks flying as I turned on the water and let it pour over the toaster. Coughing and covering my mouth and nose with my hand to protect them from the smoke, I ran to open the windows. Once that task was completed, I leaned on the frame of one of them, taking in the soot-free air outside.

I knew that once I turned around the kitchen would be a mess.

Parts of the counter and sink would be charcoal black and the toaster... Well, it was completely ruined.

Trash.

And I had to figure out how to get it out of the sink.

Eventually, when I thought the atmosphere in my apartment wouldn't kill me, I pushed myself off the frame and walked back to where I'd been.

Step one: turn off the water.

Step two: watch the blackened liquid go down the drain while pondering whether it was safe to pull the toaster out. It was an electric appliance - a wet electric appliance - but I had turned it off before I'd pushed it in so it should be alright to touch it... Right?

Whoever was under the delusion that all man knew about electricity and was spreading that misconception around, was an ass.

All I knew about electricity was that the human race had found a way to turn it on and off, depending on our needs. And that it could kill you.

And now I felt stupid for pushing my toaster into the sink and pouring water over it.

But it was in flames and water was the enemy of flames.

I sighed.

There was no way around it: I'd have to call my dad and ask for advice.

At forty years old, I'd had to bother my old man.

A twenty-something year old would probably just look on the internet, but I found my father a better source of information, at least, when it came to something like this.

Heat spread all over me again, an equal amount of embarrassment and irritation, my mind tempted for another fantasy of her, this time producing a possible sequence of events if she'd been the one who'd carelessly forgotten the bread to the point where it had burnt and actual flames were coming out of the toaster.

I was sure that she'd unplug it, use something long that wouldn't easily catch fire to push the device in the sink, then run to get the fire extinguisher.

Not drench the electric appliance in water.

I cussed myself - I had a tiny fire extinguisher, but I did have one - and searched for my mobile on the stand next to my bed.

It wasn't there.

I reached into my pocket, my fingers grasping the now very familiar velvety surface of the jewelry box.

My first instinct hadn't been to unplug the toaster, I realized as I took the box out of my pocket.

It had been to reach close to the flames and save the ring I'd bought for Keri...

The box tumbled out of my grasp, landing on the floor.

My hands shaking, my fingertips warm, I stared in stunned silence at the small object at my feet, a most terrifying discovery taking my breath away: I'd bought the ring for Keri.

"Rhys," I started, lifting my head off his shoulder to look at him. "About Kelly's dinner the other night."

"What about it?" He asked, rearranging his position on the couch now that I wasn't leaning on him. On the floor at his feet Luna yawned.

"Why do you think she invited Callum and Keri?"

"Because one is her colleague, the other is her cousin," he answered simply.

"Yes, but..." I lifted one of my legs on the couch and bent it to curl it beneath my butt. "Why didn't she invite anyone else? Why not her other cousin and his wife, or her brother - I mean Jared obviously, not Jasper - or a friend of hers and Steve's?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "Maybe she wanted a quiet evening. Does it matter?"

"Maybe."

He raised an eyebrow at me, his so far casual demeanor making way to interest.

"Rhys, why would you invite two seemingly unrelated heterosexual people of opposing genres to dinner?" I tried to give him a hint to my theory, but, of course, Rhys being Rhys and my theory involving dating, he didn't get it.

"Because I want to spend time with them."

I sighed.

"Yes, that, but why else?"

When he didn't reply, I decided to stop tiptoeing around the topic and just spell it out for him:

"What if Kelly was trying to matchmake them?"

Rhys laughed, his head tilting back.

"Callum and Keri?" He asked when he was able to talk again. "I don't see why Kelly would want to bring those two together. Not unless they are mates."

"Huh."

I absentmindedly chewed on my lip as yet another theory made its way into my head. What if it wasn't a simple matchmaking like I'd thought; what if...

"How do we know they are not mates?"

The whole mate thing was still somewhat a mystery to me. Several people had been kind enough to explain it, but with all of them including in their narration 'we don't really know how exactly it works' and/or 'we have no idea how we are paired', I was still left with questions.

They were too, apparently, but for a lot of shifters it was enough that it did happen, that they did find The One, so they weren't too bothered about how it happened.

"You got to admit, Keri is always reacting strongly to Callum and sometimes it's for no apparent reason," I went on speaking to a puzzled Rhys. "There's always this tension between them and, well, he isn't a bad person, so why does she oppose to him so much?"

Rhys opened his mouth to answer, but he didn't. Little lines appeared on his forehead, his eyes narrowing as he took my words into consideration.

In the silence, Luna yawned once again, loudly, then stretched and jumped on the couch, placing her small muzzle on my knee. I petted her silky head as I waited for Rhys to make up his mind. A few minutes later, he said:

"You know, Riley... That is a very good question!"

An eventful chapter, huh?

Callum realizing why he bought the ring, causing an accident, Rhys and Riley on their way to figuring out Keri's no-longer-so-secret secret...

So, what did you think of all this?

Please give the chapter a VOTE if you enjoyed it!

As for The Casting Game...

If you'd like me to describe another character, say so in the comments!

Have fun finding a cast!