Triad Mates: Of Wolves & Dragons

… Running... I am running through the woods. My family is in danger... and it’s up to me. It’s up to me to save them. As I run and think of the events that have occurred throughout this last week. I am so distracted that I don’t see when I hit a wall. Or what I think is a wall. I fall to the ground holding my now hurting cheek. I look up and see this giant man peering down at me. He looks older than me by about maybe two to three years. I can’t quite see his face but his eyes... they are darkened, no white in them to be seen. He lifts his nose trying to take my scent. As I lay on the ground, I stare at the man with black eyes. I know he’s a werewolf, growing up with his kind made me aware of their features, even in their human form. And I know that his wolf is the one in control. He circles me slowly, watching me. His muscles and sharp features let me know that he is a seasoned wolf, maybe even one with title. “How old are you?” That is the first thing he says to me. His voice is deep, manly, and gives me chills... the good kind. I look at him thinking of my options. Run and I’m ninety percent sure that I’ll be caught by him. Fight him, and completely reveal who I am. Or answer him and bide my time. “Seventeen.” I answer him. He gives a satisfied growl. “What is your name.” He asks next. ... “... Harley.” -A few days earlier- "Harley!" Early morning light hits my eyes. "Harley!" My eyes open as I hear the familiar voice. "Harley!" "Someone is calling for you." Jessie mumbles, still asleep. "Mmh... that's nice." I whisper as my eyes close again. "Harley Rose Winters! If you are where I think you are..!" My eyes snap open, realizing that that is my mother's voice. She sounds upset and her voice travels through the halls as if she is heading in my direction. "Oh... crap!" I jump out of bed as if the devil had pocked me on the ass and lit it on fire. I start picking up my clothes and putting them on. Not a single piece of clothing ends up where it should be. "What are you doing?" Jesse, asks lifting his head and looking at me with his eyes half closed. "My mom!" I yelp. He suddenly jumps out of bed just like I did but starts panicking even more as he starts putting a shirt on. "That's mine!" I shout but in a whisper, hearing my mother call for me and sounding much closer than before. "s**t! I told you we should have stopped this! She's going to burn me alive!" He says. His eyes hold genuin fear. "You'll be fine as long as she doesn't find me here." I say, heading to the window. His brown eyes look at me completely wide. "Then leave!" He shouts and I feel that if he was close enough, he would push me out of the window. I laugh. "Make sure you hide any of the stuff I leave behind. I am sure I didn't get it all. He starts panicking again and shoves all manner of clothes and items under his bed. Even his own stuff. When I open the window, I look back and wink with a big smile. "Thanks for the dick." He shakes his head. "I feel used." "You were." I stick my tongue out at him and jump out. At the same time, I can hear an aggressive knock on his door. Using my magic to control the air around me makes my fall seem as if I am floating down. When my feet reach the bottom, I take a run and head to the front of the packhouse as I mumble. "I don't know why he is so afraid of her..." I mumble to myself. "Papa Isaac is the one he should really fear." I can see some of the pack members running out of the woods. Some in wolf form and some in their human form either with clothes or completely naked which it's something I am used to seeing. This is natural in a pack of werewolves. As I see nature in its glory, I smile. "Ah... gotta love living here." In the distance, there are two more pack houses that belong to our pack. Most pack houses have just one pack house so our pack is one of the biggest around. Yo my distaste, Titus’s slimy voice comes from behind me. “Why do you spend your time with a boy when you could have a man?” I stop and look back at the man that is almost three times my age. “Eww, no.” I say. “No?” He asks but doesn't look offended at all though he should be because I mean it just like it sounded, with disgust. “Yeah, no." I repeat. "To answer your question, that boy and I are around the same age... and you are old as f**k!” I move both hands on each of my sides up and down as if they were scales, weighing my reason. My answer and the way I say it says everything I feel about this man. I do have a filter that I use occasionally but with this man, I never use it. Guys like this need to hear it straight, not that it matters because he never gives up. “You’ll wish you were nicer to me one of these days.” He says. I can hear the poisonous anger in him but that won’t stop him from trying again. This man is a warrior of the pack. Not really an upstanding citizen. Always looks like he is scheming something but keeps himself from my parents' radar. I walk away from him as fast as I can though I can feel his slimy stare all the way to the front of the house. I walk through the front doors and stop when my dads stand there. They were talking with each other but the minute I opened those doors, their attention went all on me. "What... are you doing?" Papa Isaac asks. My face has a smile but it is stuck. I actually look like the smile emoji, almost creepy. I have no idea what to say. "I... I..." "Harley?" Daddy Luke asks. This is what I call them, Papa for Isaac and Daddy for Luke. Daddy’s caramel eyes give me a questionable stare and papa’s blue eyes narrow. "I... went for a run...?" I say but it almost comes out as a question. "A run?" Papa’s eyebrows furrow. "Uh... yeah..." "That is... strange." Daddy says. I smile again with a pause and then laugh nervously. "I guess that werewolf side of me is kicking in Hehe..." I am not a werewolf so obviously, they are suspicious. "Any particular reason why your bra is on the outside of your shirt?" Daddy Luke asks. Papa Isaac looks at my clothes and his face contorts to anger. "Harley!" He says loudly with a questioning tone. “Well, that’s because I had savage s*x in the woods with one of the savage werewolves.” Papa’s eyes widen and I just roll my eyes as I start to rush up the stairs. "Went for a swim and rushed back to get ready for training. That’s all." Papa grunts but looks relieved. Keep the lies close to the truth, that’s the key to it all... though there was no truth in that other than I was naked at some point. I don't let them say a thing as I speed up the stairs. I have two dads but not like what you might think. They are not together in that way. They are both mated to my mother who now stands in front of me with blazing eyes. "Where were you!?" She asks with a stern voice. "You had to hear what I just said to my dads." I say with sass. She squints her eyes. "You mean the lie you just told them? They barely believed it themselves." She says. I walk up to her and give her a good morning kiss on the cheek. "I didn’t do anything wrong and besides...what proof do you have, mommy?" She stares into my eyes and I stare into hers almost like we are having a staring contest. She breaks with a sigh and hugs me. "I know you are not a little girl anymore but just be careful with what you are doing. You have mates out there somewhere." I am a draconian like my mother and my little brother even though my fathers are werewolves. Draconians come from a line of dragons but that doesn't mean that I am a dragon, it means that I have dragon blood running through my veins. This also means that I can control the elements and bend them to my will without having to recite a spell as witches have to do. I am a conduit for magic, unlike witches and warlocks who have to chant to draw power from the magic around us. "That sounds... great." I say with sarcasm to my mother's comment about me having mates out there. "Harley, I am serious. Be careful. You might not want a mate now but you will when you find them." She says. I don't dislike the idea of having a mate, I dislike the idea of having two. I have seen how hard it has been for my parents and I really don't want that. Draconians have two mates. Draconian souls are as powerful as dragons of old were and so we require two mates to... appease us which it's stupid cause I don't want two mates but as mother tells me, our soul yearns for it unless it is another draconian that can match our soul. That is the only way I would get only one mate. Only if I can find a soul as powerful as mine... another being with a powerful soul or a draconian, but that is nearly impossible seeing as there are no other beings alive anymore that can match a draconian's soul and —even though draconian's do still exist—my kind was haunted down nearly to extinction over the centuries as well and are still being hunted. Apparently, our hearts can give special power and abilities if consumed. In all my years I have never met another draconian other than my mother and brother. Not even mother has met another. "Mom, I get it! Geeze, why is it always the same thing with you?" "Harley! You watch your tone." She says. I take a deep breath and look down. "Sorry." Mom suddenly looks to the side and I can tell she is talking to Archion. Archion is our ancestral dragon. With who our draconian bloodline started. Draconians that are born to be powerful—like my mother—can tap into their ancestral spirit, calling them forth. Not something that can be normally done by draconians. Archion resides in mother's body and so he can talk to her but also because of him, my mother can shift into a dragon, giving him control. It is very useful and terrifies our enemies. Not that we have many. "I'm not going to spank her." She suddenly says. "Spank me!?" I point at my mother but really I am pointing at Archion. "What the hell you stupid dragon!" "Okay shush! Both of you!" Mom says. "Stupid lizard." I mumble as I walk away. I have never gotten along with Archion. He is such a prude stuck-up brat and such a fun sucker. Literally, he sucks the fun out of everything. He’s like a bitter old man. "Harley, I just want you to be careful and make smart choices..." Mom cups my chin and smiles but it's like she is seeing someone else instead of me. "You are a special girl." I roll my eyes. "Every parent thinks their kid is special." She smiles again. "It is more than that for me. Since the day you were born, I've always known how strong you were. You just need to believe it too." That makes no sense with how I easily lose control when I use my power. I can do simple level-one magic perfectly fine but when it comes to something major, I can't control it properly. I almost tore the house down with violent winds when I was practicing level-two wind magic. Leaving my mom, I get to my room and I take a quick shower. After, as I gather my clothes in my room, I catch a glimpse in the mirror of myself. Besides my normal physical features—Blonde almost white hair and blue eyes just like my mother—I have patches of golden scales on my body. The biggest one runs from my left shoulder to the back and ends at my waist. My mother has the same but mine is bigger. There is another that runs from my right shoulder and down my arm to my elbow. And the last one is from my left knee on the outer side of my leg, all the way to my ankle. The reason they are golden is that Archion was a golden dragon. With our bloodline, we gain certain characteristics from our ancestral dragon. That is why my eyes and hair—even though they are acceptable normal colors in human society—still look a bit ethereal. Luckily, I don't have to hide them here. Everyone in the pack knows what I am yet they accept me, my brother, and my mother, as part of the pack. I put on a black sports bra, black workout leggings, gray sneakers, and my long hair in a ponytail. When I am done, I head downstairs. I go into the dining room and see my family sitting around the dining table. It is one of mom’s rules that we always have breakfast together. “But I don’t want scrambled eggs!” Eliam, my eight-year-old brother shouts. “It makes you big and strong. Eat it.” Mom says. “I don’t wanna!” He whines. This kid will eat his broccoli but not his delicious scrambled egg? Weirdo. I sit and start eating too. “Eliam, what did we talk about last time?” Papa Isaac asks. “There are others out there that are not as privileged as you are. There are rogues that have to hunt for their food every day but you are given yours on a platter.” Elias looks down with a pout and takes a spoonful of the scrambled eggs but you can tell he is not happy about it. I giggle. My dad’s are both so different. Papa Isaac is a bit stricter but he has a way to persuade us instead of just using an iron fist. Daddy Luke will let us get away with a lot of things and mom is in between. “Are you sure you are ready to sell it?” Daddy Luke asks mom. “Sell what?” I ask. “My grandmother's house. The caretaker, Sebastian, is getting too old to be able to take care of it. So, I think it’s best if we sell it.” “Oh, are you really okay with that?” I ask. “Yes, it’s time. It’s been years since she died. I’ve made peace with it.” Daddy rubs her shoulder, comforting her. After a long period of silence, I decide to rock the boat just because it’s fun. “You know, I... I think I found one of my mates.” I say. “What!” Mom shouts. Papa Isaac spits his food out. “Who?!” Daddy Luke asks. “Well...” I act as if I am afraid to tell them. “I... I think it’s Dylan.” Pappa Isaac growls annoyed and rolls his eyes. “You are grounded.” I hold my impulse to laugh and complain instead. “But whyyyy?” “Because you are lying.” He says. He is used to my tasteless jokes so he is starting to see right through them. I almost giggle but I manage to hold it in and remain serious. “But I think he really is my mate? I feel so attracted to him He is sooooo-” “Stop!” Mom shouts and looks between all of us with wide eyes. “Are you sure?” She asks now looking horrified. I am joking here and I hope to the goddess that she doesn’t punish me for it by actually making my nasty, ugly cousin my mate. Families never get mated to each other but if it did happen, it would be a horror. Papa pinches the bridge of his nose. “For goddess's sake, stop.” “Would it be incest if he was my mate?” I ask with an innocent expression. Daddy Luke closes his eyes and shakes his head, annoyed and not liking the idea. “Yes!” Mom spits out. “She’s lying.” Papa mumbles as he now ignores the conversation and starts eating again. I start laughing. “You all are so dramatic.” “That is not funny, Harley!” Mom shouts. Daddy Luke takes his glass of water and chugs it like it was alcohol. “What is incest?” Eliam asks with innocent curiosity. “Nothing!” Mom says with panic. I start laughing. “Harley, we’ll be combat training after breakfast and I'm going extra hard at you now.” Papa says. “Oh, but why!?” That’s what happens. Stop lying to us and you wouldn’t get in so much trouble.” “It was just a joke.” I pout. “A bad one.” Daddy Luke says. I huff and stay quiet as I continue to eat. Everyone else finishes before me but once I am done, I take an apple from the kitchen and head outside ready to begin my training with my grumpy dad.