Jacob woke up after a good ten hours of sleep to find Lydia still asleep, her head resting on his chest.
He kissed her forehead, playing with her hair as he thought, 'System, sign in.'
[Daily Sign-In Successful. Rewards Obtained:
- 9000 coins
- The Wonka Chocolate Bar x100 (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory): Four flavors of Willy Wonka's signature and most famous product: Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, Chilly Chocolate Crème, Triple Dazzle Caramel, and Nutty Crunch Surprise.
- Nerf Double Punch Blaster]
Jacob read the list and his eyes lit up at the chocolate bars. 'Great, I always wanted to try those when I saw the movie.'
He took a Triple Dazzle Caramel bar from his pocket dimension and bit into it. "Delicious," he said out loud, waking Lydia.
She rubbed her eyes and looked at him. "What are you eating?"
"Willy Wonka's chocolate bar, and I mean the real bar from the movie."
"Really? Give me some."
"What kind do you want? I have four flavors: Whipple Scrumptious Fudgemallow Delight, Chilly Chocolate Crème, Triple Dazzle Caramel, and Nutty Crunch Surprise."
"All of them," Lydia said, "but I need to take a bath and brush my teeth first."
"Alright." Jacob scooped her into his arms and teleported them to the bathroom.
After a quick bath, they dressed and headed to the dining room, where they found Malia, Allison, and Melissa already seated at the large table, with Kitty playing nearby with Saphira.
Jacob gave each of his wives a good-morning kiss, sat down, and placed a generous stack of Wonka bars on the table. He explained what they were, and everyone enjoyed the chocolate together.
Soon, Cogman filled the table with food. As they ate breakfast, Jacob said, "Cogman, make a VIP bank account for Melissa and put five million dollars in it."
"Already created one for her yesterday, sir," Cogman replied smoothly. He reached into his vest and handed a card to Jacob. "Here is the card."
Jacob took it and offered it to Melissa.
Melissa hesitated. "J-Jacob, this is too much. I… I can't take it."
Jacob smiled, pressing the card into her hand. "You're my wife now. If I give you something, take it with peace of mind. I'm very rich."
"I don't know what to say. This is too much money."
"Don't say anything. From now on, just enjoy your life. Go shopping with the girls, buy a nice car for yourself, and if you run out of money, just tell me—I'll give you more." He took some cash from his pocket dimension. "And here's thirty thousand. Give Scott twenty and Stiles ten."
Seeing that Melissa was still looking at the card and cash with a mix of joy and hesitation, Jacob turned to Cogman. "How much money do we have now?"
"I invested a billion as you instructed, and our net worth is now $4 billion—$2 billion of which is liquid. I also started a software company. We're already selling some programs I developed, and they're quite popular worldwide. I plan to expand into electronics soon."
Melissa's jaw dropped in shock. Allison and Lydia just smiled, already aware of Jacob's wealth. Malia, focused entirely on her breakfast, didn't seem to care.
"When did you start the company," Jacob asked, "and what's it called?"
"Fifteen days ago. I simply named it Alexander Technologies—like LuthorCorp and Wayne Enterprises from the DCU, or Stark Industries from the MCU. I thought you'd like it."
"I love it. If we ever get to visit the MCU or DCU, let's make my company even bigger than those three." Jacob grinned. "Show me the logo."
With a thought, Cogman sent the design to Jacob's phone. "Check your phone—I just sent it."
Jacob pulled out his phone. The screen displayed a sleek, modern emblem against a dark background: a stylized dragon's head, etched with luminous electric-blue circuits. Beneath it, in clean, authoritative font, were the words ALEXANDER TECHNOLOGIES.
He passed his phone around for the girls to see and said. "It's perfect."
Allison glanced at the logo. "Won't the dragon head give away what you are?"
"Probably not—and besides, I don't really care anymore. I'm not arrogant enough to think I'm invincible, but we have Serendell, and everyone we care about can enter it. I'm not afraid of trouble."
Lydia added, "Cogman, can't you hide the identity of the company's real owner?"
"Not entirely, my lady. While ownership can be shielded from public records, it's impossible to remain completely anonymous to banks, tax authorities, or in legal proceedings. But as sir said, it's unlikely anyone would assume he's a dragon just from the logo. Dragons have been extinct in this world for thousands of years."
"Alright," Jacob said. "No need to worry about me being exposed. And even if some unlucky bastards suspect what I am and come looking for trouble… they'll only have themselves to blame for what happens next."
"I just don't want our normal lives interrupted by idiots hunting a dragon," Lydia sighed. "But now that my mom can enter Serendell, I guess I don't care as much." She turned to Melissa. "Melissa, let's go shopping today."
Allison took Melissa's hand. "Yes—let's buy you some expensive clothes and jewelry. You're rich now; you should look the part."
Melissa smiled. "Okay. I'll call work and ask for a vacation."
Jacob looked at Cogman. "Buy Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital for Melissa and help her hire a competent director to run it."
"Consider it done, sir."
"Wait," Melissa protested, "you don't have to do that."
"You're my wife now. I don't mind if you want to work, but not as a nurse. Now you'll be the owner of the hospital. With Cogman's help and a good director, you can make it profitable and still do good—like providing free operations for those who can't afford them, discounted care for the uninsured based on income, forgiving debts for struggling families, free check-ups and vaccines, funding nurse training, and so on." He gave her a wink. "And if you really want to continue being a nurse, you can dress up as a slutty nurse for me from time to time. That's the only kind of nurse I'll allow you to be."
Melissa leaned in and kissed him, murmuring against his lips, "Okay, I'll dress up as any kind of nurse you want… but not just yet." She kissed him again.
Just then, Scott and Stiles entered the dining room. Scott saw Melissa kissing Jacob passionately and groaned, "I don't want to see that."
Melissa broke the kiss, unfazed. She simply smiled and said, "Good morning, Scott."
Scott sat at the table with a sigh. "Morning, Mom. Everyone."
Stiles sat beside him and grinned at Melissa. "You seem happy. Is Scott going to have a sibling soon?"
Scott's eyes flashed red, and he growled, "Stiles, shut up."
Stiles shrugged. "Don't growl at me. Jacob's the one doing your mom."
Melissa looked at Scott calmly. "I haven't slept with Jacob yet. I told him we should wait until he's eighteen—if I can wait that long." Then she turned to Stiles. "Jacob, will you teach Stiles some manners for me, please?"
"Of course," Jacob said with a smirk.
Stiles panicked. "Wait, I was just joking! See you guys later!" He tried to teleport out of Serendell but couldn't. He looked at Jacob fearfully. "Why can't I leave Serendell or teleport outside the palace?"
"Because," Jacob said, his smirk turning evil, "I deactivated the mark I gave you yesterday."
"That's not fair!" Stiles stood up to run, but Jacob teleported beside him and grabbed him by the back of the neck. "Let's go. I'll teach you the consequences of your bad jokes."
"I'm sorry! Tell him..." Stiles pleaded, turning to Melissa.
But Jacob teleported them both away before he could finish, dropping him to the ground far from the palace. "Now, try your best to survive. I'll show no mercy."
Stiles scrambled to his feet, saw Jacob's evil smirk and glowing red eyes, and turned to run toward the depths of Serendell's ancient-looking woods and towering mountains. "I always knew my loud mouth would get me killed someday!"
Jacob laughed and gave chase. Soon, Stiles's shouts for mercy echoed as Jacob delivered a thorough beating. After half an hour, Jacob summoned a thunderstorm with his Storm Call ability, and it began chasing Stiles through the forest.
Satisfied, Jacob teleported back to the dining room and took his seat, finding that Chris, Victoria, Natalie, and Noah had joined the group for breakfast.
Noah asked, "Where's Stiles?"
Jacob smiled. "He's still training. He'll be here in ten minutes or so."
Chris hesitated a moment, then said, "Jacob, are you going to tell us what you are now?"
Jacob looked at him. "Alright, but from the looks you were giving me yesterday when you saw Saphira, I think you've already guessed."
"So you're really a weredragon?"
"Close, but no. I'm not a weredragon—I'm a dragon. You know the difference between the two, right?"
"Yes," Chris said. "It's like the difference between a house cat and a full-grown lion…"
Kitty interrupted, "Hey! I'm stronger than a stupid lion!"
Allison soothed, "Dad isn't talking about you. He means a normal house cat, right, Dad?"
Chris glanced at Kitty. "Yeah, I wasn't talking about you." He turned back to Jacob. "Isn't your kind extinct?"
Jacob shrugged. "I have no idea. I didn't even know what I was until a few months ago."
Victoria spoke up. "What about your parents? I know you said they're dead, but…"
"Mom, don't!" Allison cut in sharply.
"It's alright, Allison," Jacob said gently. He looked at Victoria. "I think either they died before awakening their bloodline, or only one was a dragon and chose to die with the other."
Noah asked, "How could they do that and leave you alone?"
Jacob thought, 'Because they were just normal humans. Sorry for lying, Mom, Dad.' Out loud, he said, "Losing them was painful—and still hurts to this day—but if one was a dragon and, instead of living with the grief, they chose to die with the person they loved... I understand that. Especially now that I know what love feels like. I know they loved me. And I know how much they loved each other. I can imagine that if one had survived, they would have just been... broken. A hollow shell of who they used to be."
Everyone fell silent. Allison shot her mother a look, and Victoria mouthed, 'I'm sorry.'
Just then, Stiles teleported into the dining room—Jacob had reactivated his mark after the beating. Although healed, his clothes were burned and torn, black spots marred his skin from lightning strikes, and his hair stood on end. He sat down and started eating, ignoring everyone's shocked stares.
Noah finally asked, "Stiles, what happened to you?"
Stiles glanced at Jacob and Scott, who were both laughing, then continued to stuff his mouth with food. "Nothing. I was just training."
"No, that can't be just training. What did you do to get beaten like that?"
"What makes you think I did something?"
"Because you're my son, and I know you."
Stiles shrugged. "I just said something, but Melissa and Jacob have no sense of humor."
Noah looked at Melissa. "I'm sorry if he said something rude."
Melissa smiled. "Don't worry about it. He's just being Stiles."
Jacob took five phones from his pocket dimension and handed them to Melissa, Noah, Natalie, Chris, and Victoria. "These phones were made by Cogman. There's an AI assistant inside that'll explain what they can do. You can even receive calls while you're here in Serendell. There's also a bestiary app on each."
Chris raised an eyebrow. "Bestiary app?"
Allison chimed in. "It's an app with information on every supernatural creature from our world. You just open it, point the camera at a creature, and it'll identify it or give you a list of the closest matches."
Victoria opened the app. "There are creatures in here I've never seen or heard of before. Where did you get this app?"
"It's mine. I have the hard copy, and Cogman turned it into an app."
Chris set his phone down and looked at Cogman. "Can you tell us what you are?"
Cogman glanced at Jacob, who gave a slight nod. "Tell him."
Cogman's nano-skin and suit dissolved, revealing his true form.
Chris stared in surprise. "You're a robot?"
"Not exactly," Cogman replied as his nano-skin reformed. "I'm a living being like you humans. I'm a Cybertronian—a sentient, robotic species from the planet Cybertron."
Allison added, "He's a Transformer, Dad. From the Transformers movies. You've seen them with me before."
"But… how?"
"Jacob summoned him. And yes, the movie worlds are real. Kitty is from the Shrek universe, and Saphira is from a movie called Eragon," Allison explained.
Chris, Victoria, Natalie, and Noah just stared at Allison in stunned silence.
Jacob spoke up. "Alright, if you're questioning your existence now, stop. The theory we came up with is that the writers of those movies are either people who can travel between worlds or have the ability to connect to other dimensions and brought stories back with them. So don't think too much about it, or you'll go crazy."
Chris let out a slow breath. "This is a lot to take in."
"Not really," Jacob said with a shrug. "You and Victoria have known about the supernatural since you were kids, and you're talking to a dragon right now. Why should the existence of other worlds be so hard to accept?"
Chris sighed. "I guess you have a point."
"Alright," Noah said, standing up. "That's enough surprises for me, or my brain's going to shut down. I'm going to work. See you all later." He teleported back to Beacon Hills.
Allison turned to her mother. "Mom, we're going shopping today. Want to join us?"
Victoria smiled. "Sure, sweetheart."
"Great."
Lydia invited her mom as well, then looked at Jacob, about to ask him to come along—but before she could say anything, he stood up and declared, "Oh, look at that, I'm late for school."
Lydia rolled her eyes. "It's still five hours until school starts."
Jacob grinned. "Then I'll go play some video games. See you tonight." He teleported to the gaming room in a hurry.
Lydia snorted and looked at Malia. "What about you?"
"I'm not going. Shopping is boring. Besides, I'm busy."
"Busy with what?"
Malia smiled. "Cogman and I are going to hunt a herd of deer and ask Jacob to bring them to Serendell. If they live here, eat the magic grass, and breathe the magical air, they'll grow bigger and taste even better."
"That's a good idea," Allison said. She glanced at Cogman. "Buy some cattle—two breeds, one for milk, one for meat. Also get sheep, goats, chickens, and all kinds of delicious fish to put in the lake. But check with Jay first."
"Right away, my lady," Cogman replied. He left for the gaming room to speak with Jacob, and Malia followed.
Chris kissed Victoria goodbye and left Serendell.
Stiles and Scott were about to leave too, but Melissa stopped them. "Wait." She took thirty thousand dollars from her ring. "Here, go buy yourselves something nice. And I mean for yourselves—don't waste my money on girls, or I'll beat your asses."
Scott took the money. "How much is this?"
"Thirty thousand. Split it between you."
Scott kissed her cheek. "Thanks, Mom."
Stiles leaned in for a kiss, but Melissa stopped him with a disgusted look. "You're dirty. Go take a bath."
"Oh, right. Thanks for the money." Stiles threw an arm around Scott and led him out of the dining room. "Let's go. I'm buying a new engine, suspension, and wheels for my Jeep, and helping my dad with some bills. What about you?"
Scott grinned. "I'm getting a bike. Something like Jacob's Ducati."
To be continued… 😊