Onyx welcomes us all home, although one prominent thing remained very clear to him.

My scent was filled with a new pack, and so that night, Oswald takes me out to dinner.

And not just me.

The whole pack was here to wine and dine the girls. It was a nice change.

"You didn't have to," I murmur to myself with Onyx opposite me. In a cutting new outfit, hair nicely swept back, cuff links shining bright, even cologne. It's like a... a full on date night, for human husband and wife, while I could still be reminded of his sexy demonic nature in his blood moon eyes.

Onyx doesn't reply with words, but picks up the wine bottle and pours me the most expensive red wine on offer.

The whole event was beautiful and well thought out. We're in a private set up in the forest. It's an outdoor restaurant, it looked more like a reception for a wedding, but was booked out for all our dates. The outdoor setting is filled with the romantic noises of the warm night, like crickets and fireflies, but there are also numerous fairy lights decorating the trees, providing us with more ambient lighting. Makeshift awnings also protect us from any rain or mist that might come over us, and large generous candles burn on every table, while chimes are our background noise, and a small band set up to play and sing from the decking off the main restaurant itself. Deep Fever Nights. Five star dining, all for Onyx's bitches and his Queen.

I was absolutely smitten, but also a tad curious why he was trying so hard for our affections.

Sloan is dining Carmen across the outdoor space, and Cleo is next to our table, being dined by Magnus. She looks sad and depressed, but otherwise dressed up nicely in a blue-water dress, she's distracted every time a bug lands on the table. They seem attracted to her, and at any time, multiple fire flies just chill on top of her head like a crown.

Something about Cleo disturbed me after I saw her full blown insanity in her eyes, on that altar for Anubis, willing to do anything.

I...

I guess she kind of reminded me of myself... anyway...

"I never knew you had such a romantic side, Oswald," I add, looking Onyx up and down and thinking he looks damn delicious right now in the flickering yellow candle light.

"We married in a court room and never properly celebrated the occasion, I rushed you through it, consider this a remedy," Onyx finally speaks up, formal and to the point, how wonderful he cared now at least. His eyes graze over me as well, looking down my cleavage of the short black dress I adorned for tonight, which didn't leave much to the imagination, "Although, I remember you weren't dressed like a whore on that day – not that it matters –"

"Uh. Excuse me! You wanted me to wear a white dress to my ankles, covering my legs, tonight?" I whisper at him, with a cheeky smile, to dissuade from an argument, "Are you fucking serious?" I'm still annoyed though.

"Don't swear–" Onyx trails off when a waiter quickly approaches, keen on taking our order.

"Are you ready to order, ma'am, sir?" the young man asks.

"Oh, oh yes, I'm starving," I start off, excited, "I'd like a Caesar salad, with curly French fries on the side, and... hmm... a banana split for dessert... and, and chocolate sauce, please, actually, make that the special caramel sauce, and actually, can I have some garlic aioli with the fries? I'm not a fan of tomato sauce... that's all for me," I say, closing my menu, "Darling?" I raise a brow at Oswald, who's pretending to seriously inspect the menu.

"Three steaks, thickest cut you have, stacked on top of one another," Onyx answers, looking directly at the waiter.

"O-of course. Uh, but would you like your steaks well done, medium, or rare?"

"Rare, and tell the chef, don't cook out the blood, seer it quick, a few seconds each side," Onyx watches as the waiter tries to keep a straight face, while writing down the instructions.

"Any sides with that?" the waiter inquires. Onyx shakes his head, "Hmm...you must be on the...carnivore diet, I hear it's very trendy?"

"Currently, yes, he loves meat, but what man doesn't?" I answer for Onyx, and the waiter nods, hesitates, and waits for Onyx to respond too.

"You could say I have the appetite of a wolf," Onyx makes the corny joke, smirking, while the waiter relaxes a little, laughs gently and hurries off.

"You're so awkward. Anyway. So," I begin, now that we have privacy again, "Being human isn't so bad, is it? You just ask for food and they deliver – no murdering required, it's great, isn't it?" I whisper.

"But is it murder when I just bite into my food?" Onyx asks, annoyed, "It's not my problem I like them alive when I do it. And it's good for my teeth –"

"Shh," I shush him, and Onyx relaxes back in his chair instead and looks around the place, seemingly at ease.

Probably the most relaxed I've ever seen him. It helps me relax more too.

"Don't read into it," Onyx speaks quietly, glancing over his shifted pack, dressed well, spoken well and acting the part, before focusing back on me, "There is no ultimatum for this."

"For tonight? No guarantee of group sex in the forest, tracking down naked females pretending to run away from their big bad wolves... just to get f –"

"No. No pressure," Onyx answers very calmly and without amusement. Oh, man. I loved his control. No emotion. No eyebrow thing happening. No twitch in his cheek or eye. Just confident in himself, through and through.

"Oh... so it's just kindness," I murmur over my wine glass as I pick it up, frown and put it back down, "I don't feel like getting drunk..."

"If you won't have it, I will," Cleo speaks up, interrupting our date, as she reaches out a hand, snapping her fingers.

"No," Magnus and Onyx deny her more alcohol than what's in her own glass.

"Why?" Cleo asks, annoyed, "Oh, never mind... because you said so, right?"

"Yup," Onyx replies to her coldly, but looks at me as he says it, reading my expression, "Do you want some water instead, Silvia?"

"Mm, yeah, I am a little... thirsty," I gulp down my dry throat, and I exhale a small sigh.

Onyx waves over a waitress, "Ice and water for Silvia."

Now that I'm taken care of, he sits up and looks over the table.

Simple set up. Napkins. Big candle. Small candle. Cutlery. Plates. Bleached table cloth. My black painted fingers, tapping along the blunt knife. I watch as his large human hand, is sliding over the table, then over my hand, and threading his fingers through mine.

Oo.

For a while, Onyx just looks at his hand dwarfing my own, and then he asks, "Do you think our pups are okay in hell?"

This catches me off guard.

I clench his hand back with my surge in emotion.

He had asked it too seriously.

"They have to be okay," I whisper back, "They will be. Sardonix wanted me alive when he was older enough to find me again," I've told him before, and I'll tell him again, "We stay away. I trust his judgement."

"He said to you, the devil devoured you in front of the pups, in a reality where you go looking for them... what if in this reality, they're all dead?" Onyx says it so plainly and out of the blue, that I take my hand from his, recoiling in shock.

"Why would you say that, how could you say that –?"

"It's a legitimate question," Onyx lets a snarl rip, and it echoes a little far, and I bow my head, hiding my teary eyes.

"...how do we find out if they're alive... will Phantasy let you visit them?" I whisper, gulping down the sick feeling in my stomach.

"No. I don't have that influence with him, but we are going to find out, tonight. Astral projection. That's how our son visited you. We're going to call Sardonix forward tonight, after dinner. Around us is the Forest of Four Truths. Present Future and Present Past. If Sardonix and the pack is still alive, they'll walk out those doors, by the time we get dessert," Onyx explains this blandly, trying not to show emotion, "I've organised it. They've received the invitation. Now we wait."

"How does that process work exactly?" I ask, now excited rather than sick.

'You need a fairy'

Onyx mouths this to me, and I don't hear any word, but I read his lips clearly.

Cleo, for one, heard nothing, but her head tilts and turns toward our table again in curiosity.

"No sacrifice, I hope," I add, "Right?"

"No," Onyx reassures me, "An offering. A price to be paid."

"All dealings in the Four Truths, require a pass over," Cleo speaks up, "Whoever passes over time, must return with another of that time, back to their own, to stop interference in the space time continuum. Duh. Everyone knows this."

"Duh," Magnus repeats what she said, "You're so cute, fae bitch."

"Anubis thinks I'm cute too –" Cleo fires back.

"Forget him," Onyx faces her, letting a snarl out, his full attention on her now, "Anubis isn't real anymore. He's a projection two feet under the reality we know of, here, hell and under... he simply exists in imagination and groundless faith. He's never coming to get you. Never. He's what you call temporary, Cleo. A temporary fuck."

Cleo gasps and immediately goes red in the face.

"I – I will not be subject to loneliness because of you," she hisses quietly, "I only like you because you're a Lycan –"

"Oh, I know you like Lycans, that's precisely why you're here," Onyx glances at her lips, and then my eyes, "She's almost a Lycan Queen... almost..."

"...seriously..." I growl, a little offended.

"Over the rainbow, la la, ohh la la... pretty demon dick..." Onyx attempts to mimic me, or her, then shakes his head at me, explaining more bluntly, "She's batshit crazy like you."

"Oh, fuck you –"

"What? She sees a Lycan dick, she falls to her knees in surrender – no questions asked," Onyx counters.

"I can hear you," Cleo sing songs, "And I am not a bat!"

"No. You're batshit –" Magnus tries to explain, endearingly, he looks at her like she's a lost little doll.

"I'm not bat shit either," Cleo lowers her voice into a serious growl, "Can someone tell me what in hell is going on?"

I've worked it out.

And I think about it.

And... okay, I approve.

I nod at Onyx.

He nods at me.

"Hello?" Cleo slams her palm down on the table, "Hello?"

"We're giving you a gift, as a welcome into the family," Onyx explains, "It's a surprise. You'll see after dinner. Now behave."

"Mm. Wait. Onyx – Oswald. Can I just fuck her once before the... you know, or can she suck me off under the table? Come on, boss –" Magnus pleads with Onyx.

"No," Onyx shakes his head, "She stays energetic."

"Energetic for what?" Cleo asks.

"Probably, like... this is just a guess... running?" I joke, but I'm not joking. I give her a knowing look, and I hope she realises I'm telling the truth.

Cleo seems worried at the mention of 'running'. Oops? I had to give her a hint though.

Just in time, the waiter returns with our food in cloches.

"Oh, hell," I murmur, "I can't wait," for her to be kicked into another dimension – precisely, the future.

Onyx drools at the sight of his raw meat.

I dig into my salad and fries.

Meanwhile, Magnus, has apprehended her cutlery, and now the handsome fool, feeds Cleo her pasta with her fork, while she just glares at him, pouting with her chin resting on her fist, but she still accepts the assistance, while he drools over her fae beauty.

Poor Cleo.

She was the gift to our son.

For Onyx and I to know our pups had survived, we had to offer up a person to cross over into their time.

Cleo was perfect.

Cleo being a Queen of Lycans was a bit far-fetched, however. Onyx was saying that to be nice. To justify the swap.

What Sardonix and his brothers did with her, whether she lived or died? Frankly, was not my problem.

Because as a mother, I would do anything to see my sons again.

To confirm they survived one more time.

Onyx is on the same page as me. As he cuts up his steak and eats it, and I eat my lettuce, we lock eyes and we have an understanding.

We're being a little bit evil tonight. Together.

And when tonight was all over.

Mmm... I wanted him.

To. Fuck. Me.

Hard.

Grimes - Angels on Earth (slowed + reverb)