Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Strengthening Family Ties (Part 10)

The next morning, Don didn't wake up at his usual time to do his morning routine. This was because he hadn't set an alarm, as he didn't want to interfere with the assimilation process of his new powers.Instead, he was awoken by a loud knocking on his door.

*knock* *knock*

"Huh?" He quickly lifted his head off the pillow, initially alert but soon relaxing after realizing it was just a knock on the door.

He yawned and groggily got out of bed, not even bothering to get dressed as he walked to the door and opened it.

What greeted him was a grumpy Summer, already dressed in her school uniform.

She wore a frown and had her arms crossed under her chest. Once she caught sight of Don, she furrowed her brows and asked, "Are you sick or something? You should've been up ages ago."

'What's got her so uptight this early?' Don wondered, using one hand to rub his eyes before replying, "I was tired, y'know, from dealing with a weird church cult."

Using this as his reason, Don made Summer feel a little bad, but she remained stubborn and just huffed. "Well, how am I supposed to know when you didn't bother telling me what happened?"

'So that's what she's angry about? Women, man.' Don just sighed and didn't argue, finding it too early to begin bickering with her.

Instead, he just conceded. "Fair point, I guess. Is that all you wanted to tell me, or did you just want to see my beautiful face?"

Summer narrowed her eyes at him and clicked her tongue in irritation. "Would it kill you to say 'thanks for waking me up, sis'? Whatever, I just wanted to remind you to remember our deal. When I text you to pick me up, you better be there."

Don looked a bit confused hearing this and shrugged his shoulders. "With what car? I haven't gotten it fixed yet. Or do you want me to fly there?"

Summer didn't appreciate Don's sarcasm, but he did have a point. She had been so eager to have him pick her up that she had forgotten about that little important detail.

Of course, she wouldn't let him know this, so she just tried to play it off. "I know that, I was just reminding you in case you get it fixed today. Whatever, I'm leaving," she stated with a scoff before turning on her heel and walking away.

However, Don noticed the slight blush on her face and knew she was just acting. And as tempting as it was to tease her, he knew it would only lead to more bickering, so he just let her leave while shaking his head.

As soon as she was out of view, Don closed the door to his room and turned his attention to his own body, wondering, 'Did the powers manage to assimilate?'

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, a system prompt flashed in front of him:

---

**Beastshift Powers Successfully Assimilated**

**Status**: Inactive

**Activate Command**: Beastshift

---

Don smiled upon looking at this prompt. 'I guess that answers that.'

After he finished reading, the prompt vanished, and he turned his attention to his body while muttering, "Beastshift."

...

However, nothing happened.

He showed a slightly perplexed expression and looked over his own body but couldn't see any noticeable difference.

"Did it not work?" he asked himself as he proceeded to clench his fist. However, upon doing this, he felt a strange sensation in his arms as they tensed up, with the veins becoming more prominent.

"Woah..." he muttered, able to feel the intense pressure that was building up in his hand.

That feeling alone was more than enough to tell him that if he decided to throw a punch using that hand, it would end badly for his room.

'Let's save testing this out for later...' Don was fairly excited about trying out the powers and now looked forward to the day even more.

Not wasting any time, he quickly took a shower, got dressed, and carried his student I.D. in hand, as well as his E.H.P (Elite Hero Program) I.D., just in case.

With all that done, he was ready for his day, so he made his way downstairs, where he found Samantha and Amanda sitting at the dining table having breakfast.

Samantha was dressed in a crisp dark blue office suit, composed of a white button-up shirt, a navy blazer on top, an office skirt of the same color, black pantyhose, and black heeled office shoes.

She had her hair combed neatly into a styled ponytail that looked professional. She also wore a reasonable amount of makeup to complete the look.

Sitting to her side, Amanda was still clearly in her sleeping attire—loose shorts and a loose vest, incredibly simple but very ideal for someone with a body shape like hers.

Once Don appeared in the doorway, they both looked his way with smiles, with Amanda being the first to speak. "Morning, Donnie. Didn't expect you to sleep in."

Before Don could answer, Samantha also gave her greeting. "Morning, sweetie. Come join us, I put your food in the microwave."

"Good morning to you too, ladies." Don smiled and returned the greetings while walking toward the microwave in the kitchen, just next to the dining area.

He quickly retrieved the plate that had simple bacon, eggs, and toast on it and took his seat at the dining table, opposite Samantha.

Once seated, he looked toward Amanda and decided to answer her question. "Well, I slept in today because I honestly had too good a sleep. My body was so relaxed that I felt like I had melted into my bed."

Samantha visibly smiled at hearing this as she immediately associated what he was describing with the massage and 'help' she gave him.

This was exactly what Don was hinting at, but he was careful not to make it obvious, quickly changing the topic right after as he began to dig into his meal. "So, what do you guys have planned for the day?"

Samantha took a sip of the orange juice next to her before answering first. "Oh, I'll just be at the office until about 2 PM. Then I think I'll just do a little grocery shopping and come back here—nothing exciting."

From the way Samantha spoke, it was clear she wasn't that happy about going back to work. It wasn't something Don wanted to see, but it also meant he didn't have to worry about her finding enjoyment elsewhere while he was still building his relationship with her.

To try and make her feel better, he smiled at her and suggested, "Maybe if I come back early, we can do something fun."

Don actually meant it that way, but Samantha took it a little differently, given what happened between them last night.

"Eh... what kind?" She also felt she might be reading too much into the words, so she asked just to be sure.

Don nonchalantly shrugged before replying, "I don't know, we'll figure something out. Depends on what you consider fun, I guess."

Amanda suddenly burst into laughter, holding her stomach and shaking her head as she said to Don, "I think you're asking the wrong person about fun, Donnie."

"Hey! I can be very fun!" Samantha narrowed her eyes at Amanda and immediately defended herself, but Amanda just kept laughing while nodding sarcastically, "Sure, sure. I must have you mistaken with my other boring sister."

Samantha just huffed at Amanda's teasing and turned her attention back to Don. "Don't listen to her, honey, I'd love to do something fun with you after work. Speaking of, I better get going."

After saying this, she stood up from her seat and was about to take her leave but then paused as if remembering something. "Oh, will you be needing a lift, sweetie? Since your car has problems and all."

That was actually a good point that Don had forgotten about. He swallowed the food currently in his mouth before replying, "Hmm, I might. Let me just confirm with Donald first, I could just go with him."

Don reached into his pocket and took out his phone before calling Donald. It only rang for a few seconds before he picked up.

[ Hello? ]

"Morning, man. Listen, I wanted to ask if we can go to school together? That is, if you haven't gone already."

[ Oh yeah, I thought that was already the plan. Mom already said I could have the car today. She's on one of her self-care days or something. ] S~eaʀᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"All right, great, I'll meet you in the next 20 minutes or so then."

[ No problem. ]

*click~* With that, Don ended the call.