~Mason~
"Dearly beloved, we stand here today to honor the fallen,"
The pack elder speaks on the shoreline where our fallen lie in wooden boats, ready to be sailed out to sea. Each of us stood in our traditional pacific islander garb with the dead mummified in flammable cotton strips. Handwoven torches lit the way of the beach as the sunset and my mates stood beside me. The four of us stood in a line with the rest of our pack in a half-circle around the dead.
Thankfully the babies stayed quiet with Clementine strapped to Remy's shirtless back just as Cyprus sucked on his fingers behind Tristan. The drums shook the ground beneath us as the beat started. Waylon stood behind the boat containing our Rowan and started the traditional funeral dance along with the sixteen other children.
Even though it's a sad moment in our pack's history, I can't help but smile as Waylon proudly shows off the dance he had worked so hard on to perfect for Rowan. He took so much pride in his traditional grass skirt, wristlets, and the shark tooth necklace I got from my father when I was younger that I finally let him wear. His dark brown curls rested perfectly on his white crown of flowers to praise the gods of water but for some reason, his blue eyes shined a deep silver. It was almost unsettling, to say the least.
With a single stomp to end the dance, the children held their hands in front of them to ask for the blessing of the moon goddess. At that point, I join hands with my mates who join the rest of the pack. Standing at the end of the half-circle, I only held Remy's hand in mine. His hand shaking slightly as I gave him a small squeeze. Everyone bows their head as the pack elder leads a prayer for the fallen.
"Goddesses and Gods above, we come to you today to ask that you guide our fallen through the spirit realm to Valhalla. That you let their bravery become their light and may their souls rest in peace through your blessing. They will be missed below but let the love travel through to them and keep them warm through their heavenly stop and into their next life if they are blessed with such. In these words, we entrust their shells that remain to you, in this we pray,"
"AJEN!" The pack ends the prayer together as one and I feel Remy drift from me, letting go of my hand as he rests on Noah for support when the strongest warriors start pushing the boats out to the water. The drums start up again for a dramatic trill as the elder raises her hand to our number one archer.
"And now we will say our final farewells with the hand of our gifted archer, Juniper Kailea," She announces and Juniper stands well behind us, perched on the hill. Her blond hair tightly braided back so it would be out of her eyes as she wore a serious expression with the most intense focus.
We watch the boats as they float out with the remaining current, the sun now fully set with only the torches lighting the way as Juniper takes her first shot without missing. But I'm not surprised considering she never does. Within seconds all seventeen boats are lit and our little juniper takes a knee out of respect.
Ending the funeral ceremony and saying our final goodbye to Rowan Moon.
***
"Remy?"
I peek into the nursery which Cyprus and Clementine shared for now beside Waylon and Juniper. We had moved their rooms from below ours to the guest room and library in our suite so we could be closer to our children after the Crimson attack.
"Shh," Remy quiets me with a finger to his lips as he slowly tiptoes away from the two cribs, joining me at the end of the room as the two of us carefully exit the room.
"What's up?" He asked after he closed the door and I nervously scratched the back of my head. I haven't been this nervous since I met Noah and to be with Remy was an entirely different battle.
"Nothing, I just wanted to check on you I guess," I try not to pry but can't help it and he leans up close to me, pressing his hands to my chest and gently kissing my cheek.
"You're so cute when you're nervous. I think it's where most of your handsome charm comes from," He smirks and I shake my head, trying to rid myself of the daze he put me in when his soft lips touched my skin.
"Shut up," I try to defend myself, wishing we had been mated under different circumstances so he could enjoy being mated to each other. Right now I feel like I'm walking on eggshells, hoping I don't break him in the process.
"Hey, I'll be okay, I promise," He sighs, pressing our foreheads together in the same way we used to when we were stressed out kids.
"I know, I just wish-" Remy shuts my mouth with a single kiss upon my lips. The soft pillowy lips I had been dreaming of for so long but was unable to have until now. He tasted like semi-sweet chocolate and I instantly grew addicted to the rising spark. I couldn't stop myself from wanting more until he quickly pulled back in rejection.
"Ah, sorry, I couldn't-I didn't-"
"Calm down, I'm the one who kissed you, idiot," Remy says and runs his hand through my hair causing a whimper to leave my lips uncontrollably.
"Someone's needy for having two other mates," He chuckles as he kisses me again and I try to leave the fact we put his fiance out to sea just a few hours ago. Just a single kiss to somewhat satiate my growing hunger for him before walking away.
"I'm not- It's different," I try my best to explain but there was no way to perfectly describe this situation.
"Oh? I'm different from Tris and Noah? That's kind of unfair don't you think?" He mentions as we walk down the hallway towards the living room.
"No, it's just like having three vials with two full and one empty. I want the empty one to be full too," I try to explain it to both myself and Remy aloud with some success.
"Yeah, but what happens if you neglect the other two vials? They'll dry up in the sun. Your explanation is complicated but I like to think of you guys as growing plants. Each one is at a different stage but I'm trying to grow them at the same time. One is just beginning, one has a few sprouts, and another already has a leaf," Remy explains it a lot better than I could, just listening to his deep voice made itself added credibility.
"Wait, but who's which plant?" I ask and Remy shrugs with a small smirk.
"That's for the gardener to know not the plant," He says as he wraps his arm around my shoulder and I stop.
"Are you sure you're okay? You don't have to do this so fast hon. Trust me, we can wait," I tell him and he pouts a little bit, stepping in front of me once more.
"Mase, do you love me?" He asked and my heart stopped for so long that it hurt when it started again. I swear to god this man is going to give me an arrhythmia.
"Yes," I answer without thinking twice and his smile was a beautiful site to see.
"Then what am I waiting for? I'm sure the last thing Rowan would want is for my mourning to get in the way of my happiness," He says and I know he's not completely okay but he's getting there.
Walking into the living room we find Tristan on the couch half asleep as he tried to type a few things on his tablet. He wakes up when he smells Remy and I enter the room, pretending to be mostly awake again when Remy falls to his knees beside him.
"Whatcha doing baby?" He asks and Tris looked a little confused but takes it as it comes much like I did.
"I'm trying to work on our emergency family plan in case this ever happens again. It's long and tedious but necessary since we're meeting with the council tomorrow," Tris explains and Remy rests his head on his lap while I lean against the back of the couch.
"You gonna work here all night?" He asks and Tris put down the tablet, running his finger's through our new mate's soft brown locks.
"I guess it can wait until tomorrow. What do you need?" Tris asked before suddenly being scooped up onto Remy's strong shoulder.
"Remy!" Tris puts up a fight for a second or so before breaking down into a fit of laughter as Remy carried him to our bedroom. Tris looked defeated and playfully glared at me for letting Remy tear him away from his important work.
"What? It's been a really long day and I want you to get some rest," Remy explains before we crash into the bedroom where Noah was trying to study.
"What in the hell," he mutters before Tristan crashes into the bed and I take Noah's side. Usually, we sleep with Tris in the middle but I think he'll be fine on Remy's side.
"What are you reading?" I asked him and he closed the book, tossing it onto the nightstand.
"Nothing of importance," He quickly covers it up and I look over to see the spine read 'The History of Gods and Goddesses above'. What could he possibly be researching? Himself?
"You only say that when it's important," I add and Noah buries himself under the covers, ignoring me as Tris turns off the light. I snuggle up behind him and don't touch him since I know he doesn't like people holding while he sleeps. But I'm surprised when he takes my arm and pulls it over his chest, snuggling up to it like a pillow.
"You okay babe?" I whisper in his ear and he nods while Tris and Rem laughed about something on the other side of the bed.
"Are you worried about tomorrow?" I ask and Noah doesn't say anything. Instead, he turns around so his head is rested on my hairy chest and he listens to my heartbeat. Something he only does when he's stressed out about something.
"I love you," I whisper in the tiny gap between us and Noah's tenseness calms down just a little. I look up just to meet Remy and Tristan's gaze as they both eye me as if they're asking if he's okay. I quietly nod just to put their worries off even though that's not the truth.
The last thing Noah would want is for all of his mates to hover over him with worry. While Tris presses his head to the back of Noah's, Remy curls up beside Tris and as soon as they close their eyes they're practically dead to the world.
I just rub Noah's back, knowing he can't sleep when he's like this and neither can I.
"I'm scared of starting a war," Noah whispered in the darkness and I kissed the top of his head.
"I know baby, I am too," I tell him the truth, looking over my three mates with my children in the next room. My entire world was right here and I don't want that to change. If I get deployed, Noah's coming with me and it will split our family in half for who knows how long.
"We'll be okay right?" Noah asked, thinking of the same outcome and I watch Remy taking deep breaths in his sleep.
"Now we will be,"
***********
Puppy update; these Grayson & Clementine are doing just fine.