Taking a Bite Out of the Moons

CH 15: Birthdays and Mates

WAYO'S POV

It's Friday and I just got home from school a few minutes ago, but I'm already packing my overnight bag to leave. The guys invited me over to the pack house for the weekend, so I'm trying to get ready as quickly as possible. I told Sonthi to just stay in the car, because I would be right down.

It's Forth's 18th birthday this weekend and they are throwing a party for him. I found out 18th birthdays are a big deal for wolves, because that's when they can start 'scenting' their mates if they are in range. From what I understand, for a wolf to find their mate takes a whole lot of luck and faith in their Moon Goddess. I'm not sure I'm willing to place all my trust of finding my one true partner to a deity. But then again, I'm human, what do I know?

Alright, I have everything I need. I zip my bag, race down the stairs and run for the waiting car.

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I don't call the guys when I arrive, because I want to surprise them with how quickly I got here. The Luna told me months ago to stop being so polite when I come over and to just open the door myself instead of waiting for someone to do it for me. I really like the Luna a lot.

I'm at the pack house almost every weekend and everyone knows me now, so when I walk through the door I receive a chorus of hellos right before I'm swamped by wolf pups.

I really don't know why they like me so much, but I don't stand a chance against them. When they see me, about six of them charge and tackle me to the floor. Half then proceed to smother me with licks and kisses, while a couple play with and chew my hair, and there is always at least one who decides to help me get my shoes off. The problem is once they get them off they run away with them. The Luna always says it's because they don't want me to leave, but I think they're just messing with me.

Anyway, one of the laughing moms finally comes to my rescue and shoos the pups away from me, so I can get off the floor. She hands me a wet wipe, so I can clean my drool covered face.

"Thank you."

"If you weren't so darn cute, they wouldn't give you so many kisses!" Then she pinches my cheeks and rejoins the group of ladies she was sitting with.

Yep, just my normal welcome to the pack house.

I grab my bag and head for the stairs to find Ming and Forth. Someone will find my shoes for me later, they always do.

I check Forth's room first, and they're not there so I head down the hall to Ming's room. As I get closer, I can hear their voices, so I know they're in there.

"... think it will be him?" Ming is asking Forth something. I'm really not trying to be nosy, but I don't want to interrupt either.

"Maybe, I don't know. It's whatever the Moon Goddess wills." Forth says, then sighs.

"Do you want it to be?"

"Look, I'm not sure. I like what we have now, if he's my mate you know everything will change. I'm not ready for it to change, are you?"

"Hell, No! I like what we have now too. The three of us work great together. We have fun together. We're best friends. If he's mated to one of us, someone will be left out."

"Well there's nothing we can do, but wait and see. We'll know for sure tomorrow night."

I'm pretty sure I know what they were talking about. It's not that hard to puzzle out when I know they're talking about the three of us and knowing it's Forth's birthday.

When nothing else is said for a minute, I step into the door way and ask, "Do things have to change?" Damn, my voice came out a little shakier than I hoped.

"N'Yo!"

"Ai'Yo!"

They both say at the same time. "Do things have to change?" I ask again.

They look at each other, then both walk towards me. Forth speaks first, "How long were you standing outside the door."

"Not long."

"Do you know what we're talking about?"

"I think so." I swallow hard, then say, "Neither of you want me as a mate." Argh, that's not what I meant to say. Why did I say that out loud? My insecurity is rearing its ugly head.

My comment gets an immediate reaction from Ming, "Ai'Asshole!! That is not what either of us said and you know it!"

I know that's not what they said, but that's what it felt like to a tiny, buried not as deep down as I thought, part of me.

Forth grabs my arm, jerks me into the room and closes the door, shutting the three of us in together. "Enough! Sit down both of you. We're going to talk this out and we're not leaving this room till we all understand each other."

And that's what we did. We talked and when we were finally done talking we were all exhausted, so we just went to bed.

Laying snuggled between Forth and Ming, I had no doubts both of them cared for me, and would be fine with me as a mate. But right then, I agreed with them wholeheartedly, I didn't want anything to change either.

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Saturday came and went along with Forth's party. Since his birthday was actually on Sunday, the three of us have been sitting on Ming's bed since 11:30pm waiting.

Luckily midnight rolled around and... nothing happened. While I might have had slightly mixed feelings that I kept as concealed as possible, we all breathed a loud sigh of relief and called it a night.

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Nine months later we're in the same position again, except now it's Ming's 18th birthday. Again, I came over right after school Friday afternoon, but this time we didn't have to wait an extra day. Ming's birthday is on Saturday.

So, we're all sitting around in Ming's room at 11:30pm on Friday night talking and waiting. Midnight rolls around and Forth and I watch Ming closely, but he just shakes his head and smiles at us. Ming says we dodged the bullet again, and they're really happy and relieved. I'm smiling but I'm not sure happy or relieved is what I'm feeling. We decide to call it a night and get ready for bed.

I'm taking my turn in the shower now and my brain won't shut down. My friends are pleased nothing will change now, but... I can't help but think of what ifs.

What if I had been Forth's mate – I would have lost Ming.

What if I had been Ming's mate – I would have lost Forth.

So, I should be happy, right? Then why am I sad?

All I know is now I'm not either of their mates. So, what happens when Ming and Forth both find their real mates...

I lose both of them.

My suddenly shaky legs give way at this thought. I sit down under the spray from the showerhead and quietly let loose the tears flooding my eyes.

Wouldn't it have been better to just lose one of them? Is that selfish of me? Is it so wrong for me to want to belong to someone? To want someone to want me? To want someone to love me as more than a friend?

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A/N:

Ok, I'm going to admit I cried when I wrote the chapter AND every freaking time I edited it. While I don't hope you cried, I do hope it at least gave you the 'feels'.

Sneek peek at next chapter - we're off to college!!!

Don' forget to vote and comment! See a tomorrow.  :-]

11.16.2017   8:11 am  US CST