chapter 12

The problem with interdimensional incidents, Luna discovered, was that they came with an alarming amount of paperwork and an even more alarming number of unexpected consequences.

Victoria had transformed the dining room into what could only be described as a war room of bureaucratic nightmares. Multiple screens flickered with dimensional maps, incident reports, and what appeared to be a very complicated flowchart explaining how one werewolf queen could accidentally tackle an interdimensional raccoon reconnaissance agent.

The flowchart was color-coded. There were Post-it notes. Several of them were labeled with phrases like "Potential Dimensional Contamination" and "Classified: Do Not Discuss Over Unsecured Channels."

Mrs. Chen was treating the entire situation like a particularly delicate cooking experiment. She moved between the screens and the kitchen, her movements precise, calculating. Lavender-honey cookies were arranged with the same mathematical precision one might use to map quantum mechanics.

"These are my diplomatic-grade cookies," she announced, placing a plate near Agent Reyes. The cookies were perfectly hexagonal, each one decorated with what looked like microscopic dimensional coordinates in edible silver ink.

Luna stared. "Is that... math?"

"Cookies are a language," Mrs. Chen said firmly. "Especially in supernatural diplomacy."

Alexander, who had been quiet for most of the morning, looked like he was trying very hard not to laugh. His silk pajama top - still subtly dusted with flour from Luna's earlier stress-baking - seemed incongruously elegant against the serious supernatural backdrop.

Agent Reyes looked like she'd stepped out of multiple time periods simultaneously. Part modern tech consultant, part 1940s spy, part something else entirely. Her outfit seemed to shimmer with possibilities, with potential realities that existed just beyond normal perception.

The holographic map continued to pulse. Versions of Luna. Versions of the raccoon. Multiple realities bleeding into each other, all centered around one impulsive moment of what Luna maintained was simply being friendly.

"Let me be absolutely clear," Reyes said, her voice carrying a complex mixture of respect, amusement, and something else. Something that made the hair on the back of Luna's neck stand up. "That raccoon was not just a raccoon."

Luna remembered that night with perfect clarity. The full moon had been particularly bright, casting everything in a silver-blue glow that made the abandoned warehouse district feel like something out of a dream. She and Alexander had been doing their regular territorial patrol - part security measure, part werewolf instinct, part excuse to run together under moonlight.

The warehouse was old. Abandoned. The kind of place that seemed to exist in multiple states of reality simultaneously. Broken windows reflected moonlight at impossible angles. Shadows moved in ways shadows shouldn't.

And then there was the raccoon.

At first, it seemed ordinary. Garbage-eating. Skittish. But something was... off. Its movements were too precise. Its eyes caught the moonlight in a way that suggested something deeper than simple animal awareness.

When Luna had first seen it, her wolf instincts had gone from "potential threat" to "something is very wrong" in approximately 0.2 seconds.

"He looked lonely," she said again, because it was true.

Alexander's hand found hers under the table. A silent communication passed between them - years of partnership, of understanding, of knowing exactly how the other would react.

"Loneliness," Agent Reyes said carefully, "is a complicated concept in interdimensional travel."

The holographic map zoomed in. Luna could see herself - a golden wolf shape - very definitely mid-tackle on what had appeared to be a raccoon but was now clearly something... else. Multiple versions of the same moment, flickering across different dimensional planes.

Victoria's tablet hummed with what Luna knew were multiple layers of supernatural diplomatic communications. Redaction protocols. Incident reports. Potential narrative management strategies.

"What exactly was this raccoon doing?" Luna asked.

Reyes's smile was sharp enough to cut through dimensional barriers. "Monitoring a potential breach."

"A breach of what?"

The room went very still.

Mrs. Chen stopped arranging cookies. Victoria's tablet went silent. Alexander's hand tightened around Luna's.

"Reality," Reyes said finally. "The boundaries between dimensions are... thin. In certain locations. And your warehouse? It's what we call a soft point."

Luna's phone buzzed. A message from James: "Dad wants to know if you've started any international - or interdimensional - incidents this week."

She showed the message to Alexander, who promptly started laughing.

"This is not helping," Victoria said.

The holographic map continued to pulse. Versions of Luna. Versions of the raccoon. Multiple realities bleeding into each other.

"I was being friendly," Luna insisted.

Mrs. Chen rolled her eyes. Alexander covered a laugh. Victoria looked like she was calculating how many diplomatic incidents they could potentially avoid.

"Friendly," Reyes repeated, "is not typically how we describe accidentally tackling an undercover interdimensional agent during a territorial patrol."

Luna considered this. "Still looked sad."

The room went silent.

Then the holographic map did something unexpected. It shifted. Expanded. And suddenly, they could see the raccoon from multiple perspectives. Not just an animal. Not just an agent. Something... more.

Technological components were visible beneath its fur. Microscopic sensors. Quantum entanglement devices. This was no ordinary reconnaissance mission.

"Oh," Luna said softly.

The raccoon - in multiple realities - looked directly at her. Not with animal eyes. With something else. Something that suggested understanding. Intention.

Mrs. Chen pushed forward another plate of cookies. "I'm sensing this is going to be a long meeting."

Victoria's tablet pinged. Seventeen different incident reports seemed imminent.

"Tuesday," Luna said.

"Definitely a Tuesday," Alexander confirmed.

To be continued...