Branches of Life

It turned out I had slept most of the day, as the sun had set while I talked with Ari and Harmony. They insisted I gave them a play-by-play of my first kiss with him, our moment in the hotel, and of course our time in the shower.

Some might think it was odd that we did this, but that was their problem. Ari and I had both recounted our experiences, starting with her first time having sex and then mine. Ari always said half the fun of having sex, was talking about it with your friends later. I never really agreed with that statement, unless we were talking about bad sex. That was way more fun to talk about later and laugh about it. But having truly good sex beat talking about it any day of the week.

I finally went into detail about how I was almost certain Koa was my bonded mate. Harmony nodded and talked about how her oldest sister told her how amazing the sex was between bonded mates.

Ari was harder to get a read on, with her carefully neutral expression. Her response, about how she could see why I drew that conclusion, didn't help matters. If anything it only confused me even more. She was supposed to be helping me sort everything out. Not leave me even more confused than when we started. Every so often she would say cryptic remarks like this, and it felt like she was doing this shit on purpose.

Harmony tsked and shook her head disapprovingly when I told them, I had yet to talk to Koa about our mate bond. Telling me, if I wanted an open and honest relationship with him, I needed to sit down and have a serious conversation with him.

Ari just chose to make chicken sounds at me.

When they were done with their interrogation, Ari stood up and stretched her arms over her head. "Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we're going out. So get cleaned up—I'm talking to you, miss getting nasty while nasty—and get dressed in something cute, because tonight we're celebrating being alive."

Neither Harmony nor I argued. We had a rough couple of days, and that was putting it mildly. I came close to dying several times. Fought a whole myriad of creatures, and even the environment around us. And to top it all off, we stopped an assassination attempt. We deserved to let loose and forget about everything else for one night.

As I showered, I had to actively keep my thoughts from drifting to my shower with Koa and how his body felt against mine, how he felt inside me. When I inevitably failed, I turned the water to cold, and speed up the cleaning process. All the while ignoring the aching need pulsing in my pussy, knowing only one person could satisfy it.

Once clean and dry, I went back into my room and paused at my bed. My blankets were rumpled, torn, and covered in various colors of monster blood. When I stripped my bed of the sheets and blankets, I was still able to smell Koa's scent underneath all the blood. I actually had to resist the urge to bury my nose in the blanket and inhale his rich scent. Gross. Annoyed at myself, I tossed them in the hamper with more force than necessary.

Staring at the clothes in my closet, I was unsure of what I should wear tonight. No part of me wanted to wear a short and sexy dress. If these past couple of days taught me anything, it was there was only one man's attention that I wanted. And he wasn't here right now. After wearing jeans for the past couple of days, and wet ones at that, I wasn't too keen on wearing them either. In fact, I wasn't too sure I wanted to wear pants at all.

I finally decided on a white sleeveless crop top, and a dark green maxi skirt, both of which I had gotten in the human realm when I went shopping with Harmony. The flowing skirt allowed my legs the chance to finally breathe, and the slit up my left leg added a little sex appeal to the look.

A small chuckle escaped as I grabbed a pair of wedges, remembering Harmony's comment when she first saw them. "Are you planning on using them to bludgeon someone to death?" She wasn't wrong about the shoes, they were heavy and the material was solid. I could definitely do some damage to someone. Maybe not kill, but they would be hurting.

The only other accessory I added was a gold necklace with an emerald pendant. My hair was left down since I wasn't really in the mood to mess with it. Mascara and nude lipstick were the only makeup I was in the mood to apply.

Harmony and Ari were already waiting in the living room when I arrived. Normally when we went out, our outfits were usually completely different and would often clash. We would look like we were going to three different places. That's just how it was with us. But tonight was a different story.

Ari went with a light yellow, strappy bralette. Most of her legs were exposed by her dark blue wrap pants. She'd gone simple with her shoes, wearing her favorite pair of sandals. And like me, she opted to wear her wavy hair down. Instead, she chose to go bold with her makeup, wearing navy blue lipstick and a bold winged liner.

Harmony had chosen to wear loose pink romper shorts, with a tie at the waist. As always, she wore colorful makeup. Her lips were painted the same light pink as her romper. For her eyeshadow, she went with yellow and orange, with some pink eyeliner added on top. Pink glitter was dusted along her cheeks and chest. She went in the opposite direction of us, and pulled her hair back into a high bun, showing off her long dangling earrings. Instead of wearing shoes, she had on a pair of foot chains, with pink stones scattered throughout.

"Nice to know you remember how to shower," Ari said looking me over. My only response was to flip her off as I walked out the front door. No discussion on where we should eat was needed. Our favorite restaurant in town was close to fifteen minutes away. And luckily it wasn't too crowded tonight, allowing us to sit at our usual table in the back corner.

All of the tabletops were made out of a white crystal, with gray, green, and orange veins running through it. At the edges of the table was a writing stylus, used to write your order on the crystal surface, that was then transported to the chefs in the kitchen.

Unlike in the human realm, where people ran shops, restaurants, and other businesses for profit, so they had the means to live, our kind did so because they wanted to. Because it made them happy and brought them fulfillment. We didn't have currency or have to pay to live. A dumb concept in my mind. But then again, I wasn't human and didn't live in their realm.

As soon as we sat down, the green veins in the table lit up and words appeared on the surface. There were countless options including menus, tv, and a place for orders. You could also send messages through this, but the only problem was the message wouldn't be secure—like they were when sent from our wristbands. Since we were here often enough, we were able to order without looking through the menu. Moments later, the orange veins in the table lit up, and our drinks appeared.

"While you were actually showering, I talked to Mom and Dad, and told them about our mission," Ari said in a conversational tone, stirring her drink with her straw.

I kind of felt like a shitty daughter, for not even considering calling my parents to let them know I was all right. With everything that had been going on, I'd forgotten that they knew we were out on a mission.

"Did you let them know, how much we didn't appreciate being thrown under the bus like that?" So maybe I was still a little salty about our parents suggesting us for an unknown and dangerous mission. I understood why they did it, and was flattered that they thought so highly of us, but I didn't like how they didn't warn us.

A slow smile was Ari's response and I knew she gave them a piece of her mind. "I'm surprised I didn't get a call from either of them." Just in case I checked my wristband and confirmed there weren't any messages.

Ari held up her finger as she finished off the rest of her lemon water. "That would be me, I told them you were exhausted and resting." I shot her a grateful glance before taking a sip of my strawberry-flavored water.

As much as I loved my parents, talking to them was the last thing I wanted to do. I just knew one of them would hear something in my voice and know something was up and wouldn't let it go until I admitted everything. And that was the last thing I wanted to do right now.

"I wonder what everyone else was told about the attack. I mean it's not like they can keep that a secret right?" Harmony mused, keeping her voice low as she leaned forward.

"Either way, as long as our names aren't mentioned as being a part of it, I'll be good with whatever route they choose." At Harmony's raised brow, I sighed. "As soon as it becomes known you're willing to risk your life to help others, it's almost like you become a magnet for danger." Based on Harmony's dubious expression, she thought I was crazy. I shrugged, taking another sip. "You'll see what I mean."

I might sound like a selfish and terrible person, but I hoped I was nowhere near the next upcoming attack, and there would be one. In fact, I hoped I wouldn't hear about it until it was too late to help. The urge to just stick my head in the sand and ignore the problems brewing was undeniable. This past mission had been miserable and kicked the shit out of all of us. Why would I want to put myself through it again and again?

Unfortunately, even as I had those thoughts, I knew I wouldn't be doing any of that. My parents didn't raise me to run away from a fight. And I knew with absolute certainty, my wolf would never let me be such a coward.

Flashes of orange lit up the table again, and our food appeared, halting all conversation as we dug into our insane amount of food. The last time I had a full meal, was breakfast at Wyatt's house, which was too damn long ago. None of us stopped eating until all of our plates were empty.

"Would it be a dumbass move to go dancing?" Ari mused, resting her chin on her forearms.

Harmony groaned as she lean back in her chair. "Yes."

The fact that it hurt to laugh, proved how full I was, and how dancing was a bad idea. "I second that. Anything other than sitting on my ass is too much excitement for me."

Ari lifted her head from the table, where I swore she had been close to falling asleep. "How about drinks?"

"Yes! But not the one across the street. Way too loud."

I tapped my chin considering all the bars in our district. "The one in the park?"

Both of them gave their approval, and not long after we were "entering" the outdoor bar. Balls of light hovered in the air every few feet, the lights changing colors every so often. Low soothing music drifted through the space, creating a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Over a dozen tables were spread throughout the open grassy area. Along with two long tables near the small bar.

A tall and slim elemental man was tending the bar, pouring a couple of drinks for a summoner and elemental couple. Two of the small tables were occupied by couples enjoying their drinks. This was exactly what we needed after all the craziness. An uneventful evening out in nature. Having a few drinks as we chatted and relaxed.