Chapter 20- Bonding & Pain

ARWEN POV

Nightfang, somewhere between Realms

The starship hummed beneath my boots like a living beast, content, smooth, all sleek chrome and quiet control. It was too clean. Too still. Too damn perfect. Everything in here gleamed like it belonged to a fucking museum, not a vessel for chaos and blood-soaked prophecy.

I couldn't sit still.

I was pacing, again.

Organizing supplies. Rechecking the weapons. Fixing the angle of the fucking throw pillows. Anything to keep my hands busy. Anything to stop thinking about them.

Three more. Maybe four.

Mates.

Fuck.

I wasn't built for this. I didn't sign up for a damn orgy destiny. I signed up for her. One soul. One bond. Not this cosmic polygamy bullshit.

I growled low, rubbing the tension in my jaw. "This was supposed to be a bond. Not a group project."

Kaleb chuckled without even turning from the captain's chair, where he was laid back like a smug fucker watching the stars like they were gonna hand him a trophy. "You done brooding, Patchy?"

"I'll be done when I get to rearrange your smug wolf face."

He turned, stretching his arms behind his head. "Aw. Is someone feeling territorial? Didn't think panthers got jealous."

I stepped toward him, chest puffed, fists curled. "Wanna test that theory, mutt?"

Before he could smart off again, Sasha cut in over the comms with all the subtlety of a blade to the balls.

"By the void, not this again," she groaned, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "If I have to listen to one more testosterone fueled dick measuring contest, I'm launching myself out of the nearest airlock."

Kaleb burst out laughing, backing off like the little coward he was. I rolled my eye and muttered, "She was programmed to mock me."

Sasha didn't miss a beat. "I was programmed to babysit emotionally constipated man children and keep you from blowing this pretty ship to hell. You're lucky I don't charge therapy rates."

Right on cue, the goddess herself walked in...Rhiannan, hair a mess, arms full of snacks, barefoot in Kaleb's shirt that hung off her like sin dipped in comfort.

"Sasha, remind me to give you an upgrade later. Like a sass multiplier."

"Already installed, Supreme Sass Commander," Sasha replied sweetly. "Unlike these two, I actually evolve."

I groaned and flopped onto the couch dramatically. "This is a nightmare. I'm in love with a woman fated to mate an entire roster and the damn ship has more emotional intelligence than I do."

"You just figuring that out now?" Sasha chirped.

Rhiannan sat beside me and gently tossed a cookie at my face. "Stop sulking, Patchy. I'm not asking you to share a toothbrush. Just my soul."

She was joking. Sort of.

But then I saw her eyes. The shine. The flicker of fear.

Fuck.

She was worried I'd leave.

And just like that, my own chest cracked open. She was scared. Over me. When the entire universe was coming for her and she still had the energy to be scared of losing me?

Fuck me.

I leaned into her touch as she brushed my jaw. "Don't cry, little moon. I'm sorry. I'm not going anywhere."

Her eyes welled. "You promise? I just… I can't worry about this, too. I know it's a lot. But I need you both. Please don't leave me."

Godsdammit.

I lowered my head. Shame burned hot in my throat. "I'll get over it, jealousy and all. I swear it on my soul. I will never leave you."

I kissed her cheek, holding her hand like it anchored me.

Kaleb came to sit on her other side, his tone serious. "Neither of us will ever abandon you, Rhiannan. No matter what the fuck happens."

She hugged us both and I felt it...something real. Fragile. Fierce.

We sat in silence, letting the bond hum between us like a soft song.

"I don't like sharing," I admitted, voice low. "But I'd rather fight beside them than lose you."

"That's… almost romantic," Sasha teased. "Should I cue up violins or just forward you all to a group therapy session?"

"Shut it, Sasha," we all said at once.

"Noted," she snarked. "Logging under 'FML Chapter Seven: My crew is clinically insane.'"

Rhiannan stood, stretching like a goddess that'd just wrecked me emotionally and still wanted snacks. "Alright, enough sap. Time to explore this floating wolf mansion. Sasha, lead us to the lounge. I want to see if there's a pool or something ridiculous."

"Right this way, Your Highness of Sass," Sasha said, amused. "Yes, there's a spa. Also a hot tub. Also a weapons training room disguised as a yoga studio. Don't ask."

Rhiannan grinned. "Can't wait."

And just like that, the storm between us eased. Laughter filled the halls. We walked forward. Together.

We weren't perfect.

But we were becoming something.

And it was stronger than fate.

RHIANNAN POV

Nightfang – Upper Deck

I was laughing.

Kaleb had just made some cocky remark about the hot tub jets being "strategically placed for stamina training" and Arwen had nearly choked on his snack. Sasha was roasting them both through the speakers, and for a moment, just one fleeting moment...it felt like peace.

And then I dropped.

Literally.

My knees buckled, slamming into the floor as my chest exploded with heat and pain. The kind of pain that shattered through bone and soul alike.

It wasn't mine.

A scream ripped through my throat as the mate bond detonated inside me like a star going supernova. White hot agony. Rage. Torture. My vision went white, then black, then nothing but flashes, chains, sigils, blood. And that scream.

Not mine.

His.

Kaleb and Arwen were beside me in an instant, hands gripping my shoulders, voices calling my name, but I couldn't hear them. I couldn't fucking breathe.

Because I felt him.

Not just his pain.

Him.

Raw. Ruined. Still fighting.

My third mate.

The demon.

The one I'd felt flickering for days, just outside the veil of awareness. He was real. He was breaking. And now that the bond had finally burst to life, I could feel everything.

His agony. His fury. His refusal to surrender.

And his desperate, wild need for me.

I sobbed, clutching my chest. "He's in hell," I gasped. "He's screaming for me."

Kaleb's jaw clenched so hard I thought he might break it. Arwen looked pale, but deadly calm.

"What do you mean?" Kaleb asked, already glowing with fury.

"I heard him," I croaked, eyes wide and burning. "I felt him break. Something snapped in the chains, but he's still trapped. He's in chains and they're hurting him."

I looked between them. "He's mine. And they're torturing him."

Arwen knelt in front of me, voice low and steady. "We'll find him, little moon. We swear it."

Kaleb pulled me to his chest, whispering, "You're not alone. He's not alone anymore. The bond is active. We can trace him now."

I clutched Kaleb's shirt and buried my face against his neck, sobbing so hard my ribs ached. "We have to find him. I don't care what we have to do. I don't care who we have to kill. We have to find him."

A pulse of magic flared from me and lit the room like a moonburst, sealing the promise.

He was ours.

And hell would fucking burn before we left him behind.