Chapter 16 - Damn You, Moon Goddess

"What do you need to tell us?" Aubrey asked.

We moved to the bed after our group hug. Evander was seated on my left, Aubrey on my right. My hands were in my lap in an attempt to stop them from shaking. I had every right to be afraid, though. Even if they were my mates, sharing about my ability was dangerous. The only people who knew about my ability at this point were the pack leaders, Wren, and Joshua. Well, someone else, too.

Was I ready to widen that circle of people in the know?

You'll have to at some point.

Okay. Deep breaths. Just get it over with. "I...so, you know how you said Rin has powers as a dragon?" I started.

"Yes?" Evander prompted.

"Well, you see, werewolves can have powers, too."

"Really? I wasn't aware of this," Evander said with a frown.

"Yeah. It's not very well-known because special wolves like that are hunted down."

"I see."

"And, I'm bringing this up because...well, uh, I'm one of those weres," I admitted slowly.

"Really?" Aubrey asked in shock.

"Mhm," I confirmed with a hum. I looked down at my legs, glad the hardest part was over now. "I can see mate bonds. They're like floating red strings attached to people's fingers."

"So did you see our bonds?" Evander asked me.

"No. I can't see my own. I sensed you guys like any normal wolf would, from your scent. That means I can't see your strings either since it's one and the same. But, I can see everyone else's."

"And you said you're hunted down for it?" Aubrey asked.

"Yes. Luckily, I've never been attacked directly over it, but Alpha James has warned me about past events."

"Who else knows?" Evander asked.

"Not many others. Alpha James, the beta, gamma...Wren and Joshua."

There's one more person, Aaron. Evander frowned at my words. He must've found it odd as to why Wren and Joshua knew and not Erin or Ryder, for example. I wasn't about to explain that Wren was special, though.

"And us, now," Aubrey added.

"Yeah. So, the reason why I told you guys this is because you needed to understand how I know what I'm about to tell you. Since I'm special, I can be pulled into dreamscapes. I've never entered one on my own, but I have been summoned. I was called to a dreamscape last night by Rin."

I then explained to them everything that happened in the dreamscape but left out Wren's involvement for now. The rocks, carvings, earthquakes, everything. I did leave out the part where Evander apparently cares, though; I didn't want to embarrass any of us. When I was done, they both went silent.

"That sounds scary," Aubrey whispered.

"It was," I admitted with a hum.

"Do you plan on telling your alpha what you've told us?" Evander asked.

"Not exactly. Eventually, I want Erin and Ryder to know, but for now, with the rest of the mission group out of the circle, I'd rather just lie the way we have been doing so far by using Kit."

"Alright. Well, thank you for telling us. We will keep your secret, of course," Evander assured me.

"I had to tell you at some point," I mumbled in embarrassment.

"Still, thank you." Evander stood up and looked at us. "Now, it's time we started our mission."

"Um, I have to shower," I said. "If you guys need to, you can go ahead."

"Evander and I were going to shower together," Aubrey piped up with a sweet smile. "You can join us."

"Um." My cheeks burned as I thought about it. Aubrey and I had already showered together, but the idea of Evander joining made it feel even more... I didn't even know. It just felt more. That sounds idiotic, Aaron.

"You don't have to if you don't want to. It would save time, though," Evander pointed out.

"You're right..."

"How about this: we'll go now. If you decide to join, you can just open the door and come inside. But, if you don't feel comfortable with it, you can wait for us to be done and shower afterward. Does that seem fair?" Evander proposed.

"Yes," I said quickly. "Thank you."

They both gathered their clothes and closed the bathroom door, leaving me alone in my thoughts. Did I join them? Could I join them? Ugh, this was such an insignificant thing, but it felt like the end of the world. Could I join them, naked, for a shower? It was just a shower, but literally this morning I was running away from a kiss. Was joining them immediately after that happened going to confuse them?

I joined Aubrey in the shower because our bond was new and he was excited. I was willing to push aside my discomfort for his sake. Naked bodies that hadn't just shifted weirded me out and maybe after what happened this morning, I didn't want to stress myself out anymore.

There's always next time.

They were done quickly. I sat on the bed and waited for my turn. When they left the bathroom, I slipped by with a blush on my cheeks. I quickly showered and got dressed again and the three of us went down for breakfast within an hour.

When we entered the place serving breakfast, I immediately saw Erin and the rest of our group. Erin saw us as well and waved us over. We sat down at the table settled in the corner of the room. "Good morning, lovebirds," Erin teased.

I kicked him under the table. Dumbass. Erin winced but kept up his cheery smile. The others with us looked tired, which was understandable. Well, not all of them. Alpha Lorence looked as annoying as ever.

"So, Aaron, you said you have a plan?" Erin prompted and looked over at me.

"I'll go get breakfast for the three of us," Evander whispered by my side, standing up and leaving the table.

"Wren called me before I went to sleep last night. Kit had another vision. The dragon in question is in fact Rin, Evander's ex. They said to enter the portal and find a Kamihara Yuki. There was also something concerning that happened," I started.

"What was it?" One of the warriors that joined us asked.

I explained to them what happened with the glowing carvings and Rin. When I was done, everyone was silent just like with Aubrey and Evander.

"Woah," Erin commented.

"Yeah. We need to hurry this mission along and find Kamihara Yuki. At least, that's what Kit told Wren, who told me," I said with a shrug.

Evander came back and placed a plate in front of me and then Aubrey. I noticed that Aubrey's had plenty of fruit. Evander sat back down and I noticed he'd gotten some pancakes for himself. He leaned over and whispered, "I wasn't sure what you'd like so I got pretty much everything for you."

I looked down at my plate and noticed the assortment of foods. "Thank you," I whispered back. "And I'm sorry for earlier."

"No need to apologize for something you've already been forgiven for," he answered.

We all ate quickly. Completing this mission could mean so much for us. We didn't know why Rin was adamant about us helping them, but maybe it would help us with our own issues. Having a dragon on our side would tell those cultists that we weren't to be messed with. I secretly hoped that Rin had actual information for us, but even the moral support would be worlds ahead of what we currently had.

After breakfast, we all set out to the location of the portal. It was in a park. Soon, we were entering the park and walking along a dirt path. Aubrey kept looking around with a wide smile, probably enjoying the connection to the new plants.

He was in between Evander and I, his hands connected to ours as we walked down the path. I was glad they were so quick to forgive me. I didn't want to do anything to hurt my mates. And hiding the truth from them isn't hurting them? I ignored the whisper in my head. I wasn't ready to tell them. I was allowed to wait until I was more comfortable and ready to tell them.

"Where is the portal?" I asked Evander, glancing around.

"Rin just told me it was here. They never said anything about where in particular, or even what it would look like."

"It's over there," Aubrey suddenly piped up, pointing off into some trees.

"How do you know?" Erin asked from nearby.

"The flowers told me," he answered simply.

"Good enough for me," I mumbled and pulled my mates along into the trees.

The rest of the group followed and Erin walked faster to be in the front. Of course, he'd be in the front. Something about needing to protect us if there was danger, no doubt. Idiot.

We walked for a minute or so until we came across a weird-looking tree. It was weird because it was too perfect. It looked almost fake. There was an air of magic around it, too. I could feel it rolling off the tree in waves.

"This is it," I said aloud.

"What do we do now?" Aubrey asked.

"Go inside?"

I let go of his hand to cautiously step forward, but Erin stopped me with an arm across my chest. "Let me go first," he said.

"Stop trying to play the valiant hero," I said.

"I'm not," he protested. "I just want to go first."

With a roll of my eyes, I stepped back for him. He walked to the tree and stood in front of it. Slowly, he tried placing a hand on the tree trunk. The magic rippled and his hand went straight through what looked like thin air. Well, now we know this is a portal to something at least.

Erin glanced at us and offered a smile before stepping inside. We all filed in after him and my heart began beating faster. This was exciting. I never thought I'd ever be going into the dragon realm or any other realm for that matter. What would greet us on the other side? What would we see? Experience? Feel?

When we stepped through, we were greeted with another forest, but there was a distinct stone pathway leading to the spot where the portal was. I briefly wondered if any humans had wandered in here before as we all glanced around, but pushed the thought away when we all heard a screech. My head snapped up to the sky and I gasped when I saw that it was clear blue, not red like in the dreamscape. Weird. However, my chest tightened when I saw the large silhouette of a dragon flying by. No...flying down towards us.

As it got closer and closer, I found myself reaching out for Aubrey and Evander's hands to squeeze. They squeezed back as our group watched in horrified awe when the dragon landed in front of us with a huff. Holy shit. It was beautiful in a terrifying sort of way. Colored hues of green and brown, their scales resembled a grove of trees, and a pair of branchlike antlers sat atop its head. It glared at us with bright green eyes slit like snakes' eyes.

The dragon shifted right before us. Immediately, they growled. "Who are you? Why have you entered our realm?"

I noticed the accent. It was warm and very lilted. Was that what all dragons sounded like? "We're here in search of a dragon, Kamihara Yuki," I spoke up, trying to seem brave.

"Kamihara Yuki? What business do you have with her?" They demanded with a glare.

"We were sent here by a kitsune. He had a vision of a person who told us to contact her," I tried to explain.

They continued to stare at us, even locking eyes with me at one point while I spoke. They suddenly straightened up, the glare gone. "Follow me."

I glanced at the rest of our group and followed after the dragon. They reached into a tree hollow and pulled out a green robe and wrapped it around their body. Now that I realized they had been naked - being a shifter makes you unaware of that fact sometimes - I frowned curiously. They had a fairly sized chest, but they also had a...ahem, traditionally male appendage. At least, it looked like they did. My head snapped around to see if anyone else noticed and was just as confused as I was.

"I am Minori, the guardian of this portal. Refer to me however you wish. I know your realm likes to focus intensely on pronouns," they spoke as we walked.

We all remained silent. What could we say to that? Well, almost all of us remained silent. "I'm Erin, future alpha of the Ridgeside pack. It's nice to meet you, Minori."

I watched them ahead of us, Erin trying to strike up a conversation and Minori answering curtly. I rolled my eyes at Erin's stupidity, then focused back in on their backs.

Holy shit.

I stopped in my tracks, looking in shock at his string. It was pointing in a direction that did not lead back to the portal. Not like the other strings of our fellow group members did. Great Goddess above, you are such a bitch. I hate you.

Erin's mate was here. In the dragon realm. And being the idiot I was - Erin rubbed off on me - I was already creating a plan to help him out.

Don't do it, dumbass. You're not supposed to interfere with fate, remember? Ugh, the urge to step in and tell him was insane. He was so close, closer than he'd ever been. He deserved a happy ending and I was the only person who could lead him to it.

Damnit.

"Aaron? What's wrong?" Aubrey asked from beside me.

"Oh, uh, nothing," I said with an awkward chuckle.

"You saw something, didn't you?" Evander asked quietly.

"Yes," I admitted. "Erin's mate is in this realm and I want to help him find them."

Evander looked down at me with raised eyebrows. "Really? But, wouldn't that interfere with his fated bond?"

"Yes, but he's my best friend. I want him to be happy."

We continued to walk, but I fought the urge to run to Erin and drag him to the end of his string. A frown made its way onto my face. He didn't even have a clue how close he was.

"He will be. You just have to let fate guide him," Aubrey said, offering a gentle smile. "It will work out, just like it did for all of us."

They're right. I can't step in no matter how much I want to. Just like with Wren and Joshua.

"We're here," Minori suddenly called.

I looked up the pathway to find a small cottage in the middle of the forest. It was surrounded by beautiful plants and even a babbling brook nearby. It was pretty and all...but how the hell did we find Kamihara Yuki so quickly? "Where is here?" I asked just in case.

Minori glanced at me before walking up to the door. "Yuki's home."

~~~

I wrote so much two nights ago. I was suddenly inspired and I finished this chapter, made it longer than usual, and finished a chunk of the next chapter.

What do you guys think? Erin's finally getting his mate! Ugh, I'm so so so very excited to start their interactions. I've messed around with it already and these two are so adorable lmao. Also, I can't wait for Aaron, Aubrey, and Evander to get to that point where they're all lovey-dovey. It'll be a bit more of a slow burn compared to Joshua and Wren, but it will be so worth it. I also want to develop more of the plot outside of their relationship so I can set it up for Erin's book. Things get wild lol.

Also, for future reference, Minori goes by any pronouns. They have no preference :) I'll probably stick to they and she, but if I throw a random he in there then you know why XD I'll also get more into dragons as the story progresses. They become a bigger part of the plot from here on out so yeah.

Stay tuned for more insanity and thank you so much for reading!

Please vote, share, and comment if you like it :)