Twenty-Three

Micah

It'd been two weeks since the three of us were intimate for the first time. While I hadn't physically participated, I'd still enjoyed it, mostly because it'd helped me lose the last of my hesitation.

I'd had an epiphany as I'd sat in the corner of the guestroom watching Cam and Ember together: they needed me. Whether they acted like it or not, they were both eager to be told what to do, and I'd enjoyed making them. Cam hadn't even needed to push me this time. It'd come naturally to me.

The way they'd both glanced at me even when they were wrapped up in each other had assured me that I had a place with them, that I'd never be left out. I'd realized that my insecurities were just that, and that I couldn't allow them to come in the way of my happiness.

I was finally ready to be all in with my mates, even the one I had yet to meet, and I owed it all to Cam, because he'd given me the time and space I needed to do it without ever pushing me.

Which was why Cam and I had come up with a plan for today. A plan that would make sure Ember knew how important he was to us, and how much we'd grown to adore him in the short time we'd known him.

"He's here!" Cam raced to the backdoor, sliding it open just as Ember shifted into his human form. One of these days, I wanted to ask Ember to stay in his phoenix form so I could admire and explore every inch of him, but not today. Today, we were on a mission, and I couldn't let anything distract me.

Damn, it had taken more than ten years, but I'd finally started thinking like Cam. He'd be so proud.

"Hey." Ember greeted Cam with a kiss, his thick arm wrapping around his waist, then glanced at me as I approached. His lips were soft and warm as I pressed mine to them, and I hummed softly, sliding my fingers into his hair so I could pull him close. I loved how long and silky his hair was.

"Hey, Ember. How was the flight?"

"Nothing special. I did see a nest full of baby birds, though."

Cam chuckled, and I shook my head as we led him back inside. It was just before noon, and Ember headed straight for the kitchen, completely at home as he started removing utensils from the cabinets and veggies from the fridge.

A week ago, he'd spontaneously shifted into his phoenix form in the middle of a kiss and startled the hell out of us, but other than that, there had been no other symptoms of his end-of-cycle process, and we'd settled into something of a routine.

We chatted as he cooked, helping with the prep work and leaving the cooking to him since he enjoyed it, and it'd become such a routine over the last two weeks that I fell into it easily, loving the comfortable ease of it all.

Once lunch was ready, we moved to the small, cozy dining table, and the whole time we ate our meals, my thoughts kept returning to our plans. How would Ember react? It wasn't too soon, was it?

I might've taken a few peeks into Ember's mind—I had his permission, but I still tried not to do it if I could help it—but I hadn't heard any kind of hesitation or doubts from him. He was all in, just like Cam, just like I was now.

After lunch, we started putting our plan in action.

"We want to take you somewhere. It's one of our favorite spots," Cam said as he led Ember to the car, and I followed behind him, locking the door behind us.

Jodi and Saaya were curled up on the couch as usual, and we'd left more than enough food for them. If everything went right, we'd be home in a couple of hours anyway.

Cam drove, and I told Ember to take shotgun since our car was tiny—we'd bought it before we met Ember, and in hindsight we should've picked something bigger, especially since we knew we'd have two more mates at some point—and he needed the leg space. I wondered what our final mate would be like. Would he be shy or outspoken? Big or small? Magical or human?

Now that I'd decided that I was ready, thoughts like that kept popping up in my mind, and I finally understood how Cam had felt.

At the docks, Cam parked the car, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he met my gaze through the rearview mirror, and I smiled back at him, excited about what we were going to do. It was a big step, after all.

Getting out of the car, I turned to Ember, whose eyes roamed over the docks, taking everything in.

The Silent Creek river—why someone would put 'creek' in the name of a river, I didn't know—was calm at the moment, the water moving gently as boats bobbed in their designated spots. Cam had asked once if we should buy one of our own, but neither of us really spent much time in the water, so I'd thought it would be a waste.

The sun was warm and bright today—I'd heard Cam on the phone earlier with DD, and I was sure that had something to do with it—and I could see glints of red in Ember's brown hair.

"Where to?" he asked curiously, and I let Cam take the lead as we made our way into the woods that edged the river.

The spot we were taking Ember to was an important place for us. It was where, years ago, Cam and I had claimed each other as mates. We'd exchanged rings too, but after we'd discovered we had two more mates, we'd done some thinking and decided to return the rings to each other for then.

While we hadn't stopped being together, we had decided that we'd only swap rings after all four of us were together. We couldn't legally get married in the human world, so the rings would be a way for us to show our commitment.

That wasn't what we were here for today, but it'd still felt like the right place for this conversation. I just hoped it went well.

Ember

After a few minutes of walking with the river on one side and the woods on the other, we arrived at a small clearing.

The river was much narrower here, the water moving too rapidly for the boats to manage coming this way.

It was a secluded spot, and I could tell why Cam and Micah liked it.

"It's beautiful," I said, eyeing the large trees that edged the clearing. Their branches created a canopy, allowing only slivers of sunlight to pass through and fall on the ground.

If I didn't know better, I'd say the place was magical.

"Right? We found this place years ago, and it's sort of become our spot," Cam said, and my heart skipped a beat. I loved learning more about my mates, loved being accepted into their lives more and more.

I'd tried my best not to push them, to give them time to accept me, because while I'd been waiting for them for many centuries, they were still young, and they needed time. I understood that, and I'd never begrudge them time. After all, I had all the time in the world, and I could be patient with them.

Yet I couldn't deny how good it felt every time they took a step toward me, no matter how small it was.

"We brought you here today for a reason," Micah said, his dark eyes soft as he looked up at me. It'd taken me some time to understand Micah, to figure out what made him smile, what made him happy, and I loved everything I'd learned. He and I were quite similar in some ways, and very different in others.

"Yeah?"

"Years ago, this was the spot where I officially claimed Micah as my mate. And where we found out we had two more mates."

My eyes widened at Cam's words. Did he mean to say...

"Since then," Micah added quickly, as if he'd read my thoughts. "This place has become our milestone spot. We wanted to ask you a question, and this felt like the best place to do it."

For the love of Fate, could they stop beating around the bush? I didn't think my heart could take much more of this.

Micah winced, then shared a glance with Cam. "Ember, will you—and Jodi, of course—move in with us?"

I sucked in a sharp breath, my eyes sliding from Micah to Cam, who nodded, a wide grin on his face.

They wanted me to live with them and be with them all the time?

"I'd love to," I answered, and I wasn't the only one who noticed how choked up I sounded.

Micah smiled widely, and then two sets of strong arms were wrapped around me, their warmth, their scents, and their soft, happy sighs enveloping me in a cloud of comfort unlike anything I'd ever experienced.

I curled my arms around their waists, holding them close as I breathed them in. I was sure they could hear how fast my heart was beating, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to hide how they made me feel, how much they affected me.

After what felt like hours, I loosened my hold on them, allowing them to take a step back.

"Oh! When we get back, I'll ask Rhiannon for a portal. She's the warlock I told you about. That way we can move you in quickly. Do you have a lot of stuff?"

While I had collected a few things over my lifetime, most of it was in storage. My actual home didn't have much in the way of personal possessions, so I shook my head, stunned at how quickly all of this was happening.

"Awesome! I'll text Rhi."

"Take a breath, Cam. We have all the time in the world," Micah said, probably sensing I'd started to feel a little overwhelmed.

Okay? Micah asked in my mind, and I smiled.

I'm okay. Just don't know how to deal with all this happiness . Somehow, it was easier to make that confession in my mind than saying the words out loud.

Micah's lips stretched in a wide smile and he leaned up to press a soft kiss to my lips. "I know exactly what you mean." He turned to look at Cam, who was watching us with a smile. "Do you want to stay—"

Cam raised a hand, stopping Micah mid-sentence, and his brows furrowed as he turned to face the river. "You hear that?"

As a dragon, Cam's hearing was better than mine, and much better than Micah's. Whatever had caught his attention, I couldn't hear it yet.

"What is that?" Micah asked, and I realized he could sense whatever Cam was sensing through his thoughts. That was handy.

It was then that I heard the sound. There was something in the water, something that was moving this way.

My senses tingled, though I wasn't getting any danger signs.

"Stay here," Cam said before making his way down the incline, and I glanced between my mates, unsure what to do. I wanted to back Cam up just in case whatever was coming this way was dangerous, but I also couldn't leave Micah alone.

"Go," Micah urged, and I glanced back at him. Maybe sensing the danger through whatever link a familiar and mage shared, Saaya had slinked through the shadows, and was now wrapped around Micah's legs, her black fur seeming to suck the light out of the space around her. "Go. Saaya will keep me safe."

With a frustrated growl, I nodded and followed after Cam, who was standing right at the edge of the river, his eyes narrowed as he gazed upstream.

"Can you see anything?"

If he couldn't, I had no hope, but I still tried. The water was moving too fast for me to tell if any of the shadows under its surface were what Cam had sensed.

Something smacked against a rock jutting out of the water a few feet from us, making both Cam and me jump.

Recovering quickly, Cam rushed into the water, grabbing the form before the water could drag them away. He pulled them above the water, and I blinked at the beautiful face, freezing in my tracks.

The person was unconscious, their dark hair clinging to their face, their skin pale, but there was no denying what I saw. What I felt.

Cam glanced up at me, and as our eyes met, I knew he knew it too.

We'd found our final mate.