Transgression (Ménage)✔

⊰70⊱

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Acacia/Ciarán - Age 16

While Etain helps me toward the pack lodge, I see Taron take a few steps forward...though the second her eyes land on his, he halts in his tracks. Ridge is the one who manages to get away and allowed to follow us inside, Grandpa Keir keeping his distance only slightly while Alpha Chris is questioning many of the pack members about how this challenge even started.

Etain helps me take a seat in the kitchen, walking directly to the freezer before pulling out an ice pack. I can still feel drops of blood hitting my chest, a wet towel also in her hand as she turns to walk toward me. She pauses for a moment as I can see Ridge out of the corner of my eye standing in the archway of the kitchen. After she shakes her head a second later, she moves toward me, first helping me clean the blood from my face.

She hands me the ice pack and says, "Put this on your lip and tilt your head forward. Pinch the bridge of your nose and the bleeding should stop in about ten or so minutes."

Nodding my head, I apply the ice pack and feel the relief it brings while doing as she says in regards to my nose. I can still see Ridge lingering, though Etain now draws her attention entirely onto him when she states, "You smell like...mate," she pauses a moment as I hear a strain in her voice, a vulnerable hint surfacing that I've never heard before, "that's impossible...my mate was killed by a rogue years ago."

Ridge is also slightly hesitant at the way his voice holds uncertainty when he states, "I...well...m-my mate...he rejected me...just because he didn't want to be held by weak ties as he so put it."

I can't tell the expression on Etain's face as my eyes are slanted downward, but I can hear her question angrily, "Who would do such a thing?"

"Ciarán Mat-"

"Bastard doesn't even deserve a mate," I can practically hear her nostrils flare. Her tone then softens when she says, "You truly don't know what you have until it's gone..."

My chest hurts as some blood had pooled in my lungs from the fight and I suddenly cough harshly as the blood spews from my lips. Ridge moves forward, unafraid of what Etain will say this time, his hand touching my shoulder as he exclaims, "Acacia?! Are you okay?"

I pull the ice pack away from my lips and cough once more before I feel the fluid leave my lungs. Nodding slightly, I return the ice pack to my lips while Etain moves forward, her hand touching my other shoulder...

...a second later, an electrical shock wave ripples through my body and I exhale sharply.

Etain and Ridge immediately remove their touch from my skin, and I hear Etain hesitate, "Th-That's not possible," she pauses a moment and states, "there's no such thing as second chance mates...only tales spun of lore to ease a broken soul and tie..."

I can hear the way Ridge's voice alters when he reaffirms, "I know...but, I don't-"

"Why?" Etain's voice holds so much emotion, "Why would the Moon Goddess ever decide we matter enough in her eyes to..."

Ridge's voice holds uncertainty, "I don't...I..."

My mind immediately flashes back to the moment when Ridge had been rejected by Ciarán, and I felt his pain. I remember begging for it to be eased and...that voice. It's come to me many times...Grandpa Keir and Alpha Chris...deeming I'm an oracle...

...is that voice I hear when I've lost all hope?

...is that the Moon Goddess?

If so...