The starship hummed like a content beast as it sliced through the cosmos. Inside the luxury quarters, everything was too clean, too shiny, and way too calm for Arwen's liking. He puttered around the ship, cleaning, organizing, putting everything just so, and just in case.
Kaleb leaned back in the captain's chair, watching the stars through the glass dome, annoyingly relaxed. Arwen stood by the window, arms crossed, his one eye twitching as his panther instincts warred with logic.
Three more mates. Maybe four.
Ugh. His jealousy was flaring and he struggled to keep it under control.
He didn't sign up for a fucking gangbang prophecy.
Arwen growled low in his throat. "This was supposed to be a bond. Not a damn group project."
Kaleb smirked without looking at him. "You done brooding?"
"I'll be done when we get rid of your smug wolf face."
"Aw, is someone feeling territorial?" Kaleb turned fully now, arms folded behind his head. "Didn't realize the panther had such a delicate ego."
"You want to test it?" Arwen challenged, cheat already puffing as the two stepped towards each other threateningly.
A digital sigh cut through the tension like a blade dipped in sarcasm.
"*By the void, not this again,*" Sasha groaned, her voice echoing through the intercom system. "If I have to listen to another testosterone fueled dick measuring contest, I'm launching myself out the nearest airlock."
Kaleb barked a laugh and backed off. Arwen rolled his eye.
"I swear she was programmed to mock me," Arwen muttered.
"I was programmed to keep the ship from crashing and to babysit emotionally stunted man children. You're lucky I don't bill hourly," Sasha shot back.
Rhiannan entered just in time to hear Sasha's rant, her arms full of snacks and wearing one of Kaleb's shirts. "Sasha, remind me to give you an upgrade later. Like a sass multiplier."
"Already installed, Goddess Supreme. Unlike these two, I'm actually evolving."
Kaleb snorted. Arwen groaned and flopped onto the couch.
"This is a nightmare," he mumbled. "I'm in love with a woman destined to be mated by a whole ass team, and the ship's AI has better emotional intelligence than I do."
"You just figured that out?" Sasha said sweetly.
Rhiannan dropped onto the couch next to Arwen and tossed a cookie at his head. "Stop sulking, Patchy. I'm not asking you to share a toothbrush. Just my soul." She worries quietly to herself. What if Arwen left because multiple mates were to much for him. Her eyes started to fill with tears.
"Not helping," he muttered, but leaned into her touch, sighing softly. He looked at her with a painted expression, "Don't cry little moon, I'm sorry. No matter what I'm never leaving you." Rhiannan blubbered, "You promise? I just can't, I can't worry about this shit. I know it's a lot. I'm asking you to please never leave us."
Arwen lowered his head with shame. "I'll get over the jealousy little moon. I promise. I'll never ever leave you." He kissed her cheek and held her hand.
Kaleb sat beside them, grabbing Rhiannan's other hand. Kaleb said firmly, "Neither of us will ever abandon you Rhiannan. No matter what the fuck happens." She hugged them both and the three of them sat in silence for a beat, wrapped in something fragile and real.
"I don't like sharing," Arwen said finally. "But I'd rather fight beside all of them than lose you."
"That's... almost romantic," Sasha said. "Do you want me to play a soft violin track or are we skipping straight to the group therapy session?"
"Shut it, Sasha," all three said at once.
"Noted," Sasha replied. "Logging that under 'FML Chapter 7: My crew is insane.'"
Rhiannan grinned and stood, stretching. "Alright, enough sap. Time to explore this floating wolf mansion. Sasha, guide us to the lounge. I want to see if there's a pool or something ridiculous."
"Right this way, your Highness of Sass. And yes, there's a spa. Also, a hot tub. Also, a weapons training room disguised as a yoga studio. Don't ask."
Rhiannan giggled. "Can't wait!"
The trio headed deeper into the ship, the storm of jealousy and tension slowly replaced with laughter and sarcastic banter.
Somehow, against all odds, they were becoming a unit. Rhiannan couldn't be happier. Both bonds humming inside her vibrantly, and strong. They were bound tightly.
And Sasha? She was definitely charging emotional hazard pay.
Kaleb POV
The stars outside the ship flickered unnaturally, like they were blinking. Crying.
Kaleb stood on the observation deck alone, one hand braced on the glass. His wolf was pacing just under his skin, restless. Agitated.
Then the light bent.
It wasn't a hallucination. It wasn't magic.
It was her.
A shimmer of silver mist swept through the space like moonlight come alive, and then the figure emerged faint, flickering like she was made of smoke and sorrow.
The Moon Goddess. Nythera. The weaver.
Not Rhiannan.
The original. The ancient.
Her face was agony.
Her voice was wind and steel.
"You must protect her. The veil is torn. He's found a way in."
Kaleb's heart slammed in his chest. "What veil? Who?" He panicked, eyes wide.
But she was already fading.
"He is rising. The God Realm burns. I can't reach her. You must..."
Static. Silence.
Then...
A scream.
Not Rhiannan's.
Male. Deep. Agonized. It cut through Kaleb's very soul like molten iron.
Kaleb collapsed to his knees as a bond inside Rhiannan flared....not one she'd activated yet.
Another mate. A demon.
In pain. In chains. In hell. Trapped. Fighting for his life.
And though Kaleb couldn't see him, he felt it through the tether now tangled into Rhiannan's soul....a brutal fury and raw torment that wasn't her own. He cried out with raw fury.
The moment passed.
But Kaleb knew, she felt it too.
Somewhere on the ship, Rhiannan's soul cracked open, and her scream echoed through the mate bond like a war cry.
She had another mate.
And he was breaking.
Kaleb rose slowly, trembling, eyes glowing white hot. He headed towards where he felt Rhiannan and Arwen and they all three met in the middle of the ship and fell into each other's arms. They had all felt it. The raw pain. Rhiannan sobbed for a man she didn't know and already loved.
They had to find him. She wiped tears from her face furiously as her men held her tightly. She cried, "We must find him!"
Before it was too late.