Chapter 21 - Mate of the Year

"Says the person who almost died trying to guide their friend to their mate!"

My mouth shut as soon as Evander raised his voice and I saw Aubrey stiffen out of the corner of my eye. Evander had never once yelled like that before. He was always the one who was calm and collected. "I-"

Evander sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. His body was tense and closed off, making me realize this wasn't just some random outburst. "Aaron, I don't think you understand. We thought you were possibly dead. Aubrey and I were left in the dark about it all. When you came back, your face was so pale. You couldn't even keep your eyes open for more than a few seconds. Your heart was beating so slow and I was watching you die in front of me. Do you understand how terrifying that is? I care about both of you even if I can't feel the bond you do. You cannot just do that to us," he explained, but his voice sounded uncharacteristically desperate. "And this isn't something I'm bringing up randomly. Ever since our relationship started, you've continued to shy away from telling us important information. We're your mates, Aaron. We just want to help."

With a hard swallow, I tried to apologize. "Evander, I'm sorry."

"Do not just apologize to me. Apologize to Aubrey, too. He was worried to the point of tears, and you've continued to mistreat him as well," he said angrily.

I felt my chest tightening as I looked over at Aubrey. "I'm sorry, Aubrey."

"It's okay, Aaron," he whispered. "You just really scared us both."

"You didn't seem mad. I'm sorry, I didn't know," I tried to explain.

"I'm not mad," Evander sighed. "Well, yes, I am a bit upset, but I'm more afraid than mad. Anything could have happened out there and we were clueless. I didn't like it. The secrets you keep hiding are yours to keep, but you can't keep stuff from us if it endangers you or either of us."

"I know, I'm sorry," I whispered.

I didn't even know I was hurting them. What a great mate I was right? Not even a month into our relationship and I was already hurting them. They were silent, but I could practically feel the tension in the air.

Evander sighed. "I apologize for yelling. That was uncalled for. But...do you understand where we're coming from?"

I hummed. Honestly, I wanted to curl up into a ball and stop existing. I felt horrible. The mountain of mistakes I have continued to make piled on top of my shoulders and I felt them hunch a bit in response to the sudden emotional weight. Why couldn't I be a good mate to them? Why couldn't I do anything right? Why did I have to keep messing up? Why was I the only one messing up?

"I will be back. I need a moment," Evander said.

"Okay."

He looked at Aubrey and the nymph bit his lip. "Um, I'll come with you."

Before they left, Aubrey crawled over to kiss my cheek. "I'm not mad at you. I still care about you, too."

I fought back the tears threatening to spill. I refused to cry in front of them if I had the option not to. "Thank you. I care about you, too," I whispered so they couldn't hear how tight my throat was with tears.

They left after that, and the moment they did, the dam broke. "Shit," I mumbled, laying down on the sleeping bag and covering my face.

How long had that built up? How long had Evander been frustrated with me? The tears continued to leak from my eyes and I felt angry at myself for allowing it. Why did I deserve to cry? It was my fault. I tried my best to tell myself otherwise - or at the very least will myself not to cry over it anymore - but all I could do was silently let out my self-hatred in the form of hot tears.

.

.

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Aubrey

I followed after Evander worriedly. He was upset, and I got that. Aaron had scared me just like he said. He kept shutting us out and it hurt, but I didn't bring it up because I didn't think it would help anything. Now, Evander was mad and Aaron was upset.

"Evander, wait up," I said once I realized he was walking way too quickly.

He slowed to a stop once we were in the forest. I hesitantly walked forward. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not," he said with a shake of his head. "I don't think I handled that very well. I shouldn't have raised my voice. I should've calmly explained to him what is going on."

"You can't change it now," I pointed out.

I reached out to touch his arm carefully. Offering a smile, I said, "It's in the past now. The only thing we can do is work to make sure something like this never happens again."

"You're right. Thank you, Aubrey," Evander said tiredly.

My smile melted away a bit. "Once we go back, how are we going to make Aaron feel better? He must feel awful."

"I don't know," he admitted. "I don't know what would make him more upset and what would help."

"Maybe, we should just ask," I suggested.

Evander tilted his head. "I'm supposed to be the mature one between the three of us. I've lived longer. Why are you handling this so much better than me?"

"Because you two aren't okay, so I have to help," I said. "I'm not very helpful otherwise..."

"Don't say that," he protested. "You're more than helpful."

"I don't do anything," I mumbled.

Evander grabbed my hands in his and pulled me close. "You do plenty, Aubrey. You encourage us whenever we're down, you help us when we fight. You're the balance in our little trio. You've also given plenty of information to help the cause. Don't ever say that you don't do anything."

My eyes welled with thankful tears. Evander's words were so kind. "Thank you," I whispered.

"Do not thank me for speaking the truth," he said.

Looking up into my mate's eyes, I found the sudden urge to show him just how much he meant to me. I stood up on my tippy toes and pressed my lips to his, fully confident that he wouldn't pull away.

And he didn't. He was surprised at first but reached out to hold my waist and pull me closer. My heart beat rapidly in my chest as we kissed. It felt so right. We pulled away after a moment and Evander looked at me with a shocked expression. "What was that?"

"A thank you," I said. "You said I couldn't thank you, but I needed to. Besides, I've been wanting to do that with both of you since forever ago."

Evander chuckled. "I understand the feeling."

He leaned down to kiss me again and I happily kissed him back. It felt good, but I wished Aaron was around to kiss, too. I wished that I could watch my mates kiss passionately and I wished I could kiss them in the same way. But, Evander was here, kissing me, so that was enough for now.

Evander slowly guided me against a tree while we continued to kiss. Once my back was against the tree, I reached up to run a hand through his hair and grip it gently. He groaned lowly and surprised me by nipping at my lip. I didn't think much of it until I felt a sharp pain. With a yelp, I pulled away in shock and brought a finger to my lip. I looked down and saw blood.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry," Evander apologized, taking a step back. "I didn't even realize my fangs were coming out. Aubrey, are you hurt?"

"No, not really. It just surprised me," I mumbled.

I wasn't mad. When I looked up at him, he looked visibly upset. His eyes were extremely dark, too. Did that mean his vampire-ness was showing? "Evander, it was an accident. It's okay," I said and stepped forward.

He took another step back. "No, no, please stay there. My hunger got the best of me for a moment, I apologize. Go back to the tent, I'll be back in a bit."

"What are you going to do?" I asked carefully.

"Maybe I can try to hunt for something," he said. "I don't want...something worse to happen to either you or Aaron."

I paused. How was he going to hunt if we didn't even know what was dangerous out here? I couldn't let my mate run off like that. What if he got hurt? It was already hard enough seeing Aaron hurt and dying, I didn't want Evander to face the same. I...I didn't want my mates to get hurt if I could help it.

"Evander, drink from me," I whispered, but I knew he heard it.

"What? Aubrey, you don't have to do that. I can go-"

"No," I cut him off with a glare. "Aaron already got hurt because we're here and I don't want you to get hurt, too. So shut up and take my blood."

He went silent after that. I didn't know where that came from. Maybe I was more stressed about what had been going on than I first thought. It was my turn to raise my voice. "Evander, it's okay. We'll have to figure out a solution to your blood needs at some point, right? And if Aaron doesn't want you drinking from him, then drink from me," I added softly.

"Are you sure?" He asked cautiously.

"Yes. I want to help you."

Evander sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked stressed out. I slowly took a few steps toward him until I could gently touch his arm. "I want you to. So, please, drink."

His eyes were practically black when he finally gave in. He started by pressing his lips to mine again for a few moments before he drew away to trail his lips down to my chin and the column of my neck. A small giggle escaped me at how light he was being and I felt him smile against my skin. His arm wrapped around my waist and drew me close. "I wish I hadn't messed this up when Aaron and I tried," he mumbled against my neck. "Maybe I should've tried to be more gentle."

I paused. Gently, I ran a hand through his hair. "It's okay. I'm sure you were gentle enough. Hopefully, he warms up to the idea, but if not, I'll still be here for you."

"Thank you."

It was odd seeing such a vulnerable side of Evander. He'd always been so cool and collected. But, today - and maybe even a lot more - must've really worn him out. And maybe his hunger was making him cranky, too. Hunger made a lot of people irrational. I didn't blame him for being uncharacteristic. Besides, it felt nice being the one supporting him instead of the other way around.

There was a moment of silence before I felt his fangs press against my skin. I involuntarily tensed for a moment and he retracted his teeth to kiss the spot. "Relax. It will hurt if you tense up, but I promise it won't be too painful. The opposite, in fact."

"Okay."

I relaxed my body and felt him pierce my skin. It hurt for a brief moment as his fangs sunk in, but then it disappeared. It felt kind of funny, like someone was tickling me, but it was nice. I giggled lightly and held Evander closer to me. I was surprised by how pleasant it was. I expected pain. I should've known Evander would never inflict pain upon me if he could help it.

After a few minutes, he pulled away. He stood up to his full height and pulled me into a hug. I felt a bit light-headed and weak, but I think he knew that already. "Thank you, Aubrey."

"No need to thank me. I was just helping my mate," I mumbled against his chest.

"We should head back. Sleeping after a meal is common, and I can tell you're tired," Evander commented.

I hummed and nodded my head. He chuckled and surprised me - again - by lifting me into his arms and cradling me to his chest. My eyes widened in surprise but I happily accepted the position and rested my head against his chest. We walked back in comfortable silence. When we neared the tent, I felt anxiety bubble up inside my chest. "What if he's mad at us for being mean?" I whispered.

"If he is, we can talk about it. I want to apologize for exploding either way. Why? Are you worried?"

"I don't want him to be angry at us. We're supposed to be mates," I mumbled. "We're supposed to love and care for each other."

"We got angry because we care," he reminded me. "So long as we properly communicate, everything will be fine."

We entered the tent, and I half expected Aaron to be sulking, but instead, he was curled up in a ball near the edge of the tent. Evander set me down on the ground and I walked over to kneel next to him. Evander knelt beside Aaron, opposite of me, as we looked at him closely. I heard my mate sigh softly. "He was crying."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"There are tear tracks on his cheeks," he said. "Oh, I supposed you can't see that in the darkness."

"No," I mumbled.

I felt guilty. He'd been crying because of us. He didn't need to cry. We could've all handled this better. We could've talked things out instead of leaving him like this. We could've comforted him first. We could've waited. There was so much we could've done, but it was too late.

Quietly, I took off my pants and folded them near our bags. I crawled over to Aaron and snuggled against him. He hummed and curled against me. I smiled lightly and reached out to intertwine our fingers. Evander shifted around before I saw him on the other side of Aaron. His arm reached out and pulled me closer by my waist, sandwiching our sleeping mate between us. We fell asleep like that, but before I let myself drift away, I promised that we'd talk it out. Everything.

I didn't want to lose my mates after I just got them.

~~~

So, Aubrey and Evander kissed! And Evander found himself a blood donor.

Do you think the way Evander reacted was fair? What about Aaron's reaction to it? The next chapter is going to be kinda heavy (it's important to me haha) but after that our throuple will finally be on track to becoming cute and wholesome (as wholesome as you can get given the circumstances they're in lol).

Sorry about the lack of an update last week. I was swamped with finals and even though I had this chapter done I felt like maybe I should treat you guys (somewhat) so...

Double update time!!! This is my Christmas present to you XD No need to wait another week. Happy holidays and stay safe!

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

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