“Does it hurt?” Mara asked sweetly, her eyes indicating the arrow sticking out of Crow’s shoulder. He started to nod and then shook his head. Afraid to answer. “That’s good. That it doesn’t hurt, I mean.”

Mara savagely grabbed the arrow and tore it out of his shoulder. Crow yelped and accepted his fate.

“So… your snake will spit in my face?” Mara grinned, but there was no mirth to it.

“Th-that was a role. I was kidding. Just joking. You said you’d bite my worm off and shove it in my ear. That’s messed up.”

Hearing the conversation, the girls behind Mara burst out laughing. Song Lin stepped forward and treated Crow’s shoulder, but he didn’t dare break eye contact with Mara.

“I’ve missed you. All of you,” Crow finally broke the silence with his statement. It contained all the longing and heartache he had suffered over the last few years, and his eyes misted over. While he did everything in his power to not think about this moment too long, now that it was here, he couldn’t hold back his emotions.

Mara rushed forward into his arms and sobbed for quite some time. Song Lin and Nin were right there with her. Song Xue had her time last night, so he let them have their moment.

Behind them, Otto rolled a massive boulder into place, blocking the cavern from being discovered by a random passerby. It was only then that he smelled something amazing. Nadia was busy cooking a meal, and Acco was near the fire reading a book. With everyone present, Lily came out of his Soulverse, and Crow brought Zoe out.

“Hello?” Mara greeted the newcomer.

“H-hi? I’m Zoe.” The others greeted her politely, but their eyes all turned to Crow.

“Tell us everything,” Mara said while they all sat down and ate.

Crow started with Wistman’s Wood and how he met up with Munro and Hooligan. He didn’t hide anything from them. Even gave them all a token, but Zoe was the only one that would get one from the witches because he didn’t have enough to go around. He passed out the gifts he acquired for each of them, especially those from the Wistman’s Wood trial.

When he reached the part of Unhulde, Nadia asked a few questions, and he told her everything about Kafe and how he planned on using her to get to him. Zoe even stepped in and filled in a lot of gaps.

Then he ended it with Madame Rouge’s story.

Song Xue listened attentively and frowned once it was all said and done. It was easy to judge a person’s actions when she didn’t know why, but not so easy when she realized the truth behind them.

“Are you sure everything she said was true?” Song Xue asked and looked toward the Astrologer. “Acco lost an arm because of her. Even if we had the means to help him grow it back, it’s still traumatizing.”

“I know, and I’m not excusing what she did, but she vowed her story was true. Also, if you decide to go, I’m going with you. Don’t rush to answer. You have time to think it over. More importantly, you can think about what you want in exchange,” Crow explained. “Also, even if you want to turn her down, wait a while. She’s a lot stronger than you know, and we aren’t currently capable of handling her.”

“Okay,” Song Xue nodded.

“She’s that strong?” Mara asked.

“She is. I think you could escape because she didn’t want to harm or kill any of you. If she did, none of you would be here now.”

A few nodding heads felt this might be true. An Astrologer’s power wasn’t infallible, but most of the means to stop one would collapse space which could kill them.

Nin had curled up in Crow’s arms a while ago and mewed in pain.

“You should take care of her,” Mara said, pointing toward a side tunnel. “Her Yearning has pained her a lot this past year. Out of all us, she might have suffered the most.”

Crow looked guiltily at Nin and caressed her pain-filled face.

“Go, we’ll talk more when you are done, and it’ll give us time to get to know Zoe. We’ll want to meet her sisters, too.”

“Uh, there is a baby, too.”

“Bastard!” Mara shouted.

“Wait, it’s not mine.”

“Oh. Well, we can go in and visit them then. You really have a Soulverse?”

“Mmmnn,” Nin moaned.

“Nevermind, take care of her.”

Crow disappeared, and the sounds from the tunnel for the next several hours didn’t seem like those of people mating. The growls were aggressive, like two beasts fighting. The sound of tearing flesh, howls, and…

“Gods, when does it end?” Acco sighed.

Meanwhile, Mara was excitedly discussing all the vault raiding Crow did and Zoe’s participation. The girls were getting along well and didn’t notice that Song Lin had disappeared along with Nadia.

Inside the cavern, Nin was curled up on the mattress with a big smile on her face. Her body had a lot of wounds from her rough lovemaking session, and Song Lin quietly treated her with Nadia’s help.

Song Lin gave Nadia some bandages and another bottle of ointment and told her to treat Crow. However, Nadia felt the situation was strange. Unable to find a reason to refute, she moved over to Crow and wiped him down first before applying the ointment.

It wasn’t until she felt a burning desire that she knew she’d been played. The ointment was a mild aphrodisiac that was administered through the skin. So both she and Crow felt its effect when his eyes snapped open. He quickly eliminated the aphrodisiac, but not before his member awakened again.

Seeing that it wasn’t Nin above him, he controlled himself. Song Lin didn’t want to take away their reasoning, or she would have used something way more potent. At times like this, it reminded him that Song Lin wasn’t the quiet, innocent girl everyone believed her to be. His little alchemist was watching from the side, wondering if they’d keep going.

Crow glanced over at her and rolled his eyes. Based on his earlier meal, he already knew what was going through this little woman’s head. Nadia’s hand was still on his chest, and her breathing had become more labored. She was looking into Crow’s eyes, and he stared back curiously.

“Up to you,” he told her softly. “Song Lin will give you something to cleanse it from your system if you don’t want to.”

“Y-you’d have me?” Nadia asked. “I’ve been with a lot of men. My physique makes men forceful, and I’m… I…”

Crow sighed, knowing she wouldn’t make the first move, so he pulled her face down to his and kissed her. It was light and innocent at first. He only wanted to show he didn’t reject her.

Released from his grip, she sat up and stared at him.

“Nadia? I accept you. My wives won’t let you go, even if you choose not to be with me. Regardless of whether you want to take this step, you are part of our family.”

Song Lin came over and hugged Nadia from behind. A small hand reached around, grasped Nadia’s left tit, and pinched her erect nipple. Nadia wasn’t nearly as shocked as Crow. He grew up with Song Lin and knew how quiet and introverted she was most of the time. It was odd seeing her being so proactive. Crow went with it, and his hand slid up Nadia’s thigh until it touched the wet crevice between her legs. Even through her clothes, he could feel how wet she was. The heat radiating from her turned him on fully.

No longer resisting, Nadia leaned over and took Crow’s cock into her mouth. Song Lin’s smile was big enough to swallow the moon, and she gave Crow a deep kiss to reward him for a job well done. Since she was already involved, Song Lin figured she’d go all the way. She missed her lover greatly and moaned loudly when his finger entered her wet vagina.

As things escalated, Crow felt a powerful urge to dominate the moment he pressed Nadia down and let his dragon enter her inviting opening. There was this overwhelming sense that she wanted to devour his soul through his dick. It was an intense and exciting feeling, but he didn’t know what it meant. A few hours later, all three of them collapsed. At some point, Nin also came over and curled up on his chest.

Seeing her eyes open and staring at him, he slid a finger down her nose.

“Nin…?” Crow asked and explained what he felt while penetrating Nadia. “Do you know anything about that?”

“What do you know about Morrigan, the Mysterious Goddess of Fate?”

“Other than her ability to control fate? We also know her as the Phantom Queen, a warrior goddess who claims she guards her people against death.”

“She is also known as a sexual being who can affect the fate of her chosen war leader. Her mysterious nature is related to her mate, and it’s said that the person she chooses will often see success in battle.”

“You are saying Nadia is related to Morrigan?”

“It’s possible—a little ironic that she might have a Druid bloodline that is more pure than yours. What you described sounded like the bloodline power in both of you seemed to resonate. Assuming I’m right, anyway, this might speed up its activation.”

“Why are men driven wild by her?”

“Morrigan had the power to change a person’s fate. You didn’t feel that overwhelming desire until you were intimate with her because you are unfated. However, everyone else will feel the urge of fate and want to dominate her. Sadly, that’s part of Morrigan’s nature, and the difference was she had the power to strike down any man that couldn’t control themselves. Nadia doesn’t—not yet. Assuming Nadia is her descendant, she will awaken Sage’s Mind if she hasn’t already, but her other powers might differ vastly from you.”

Crow nodded and didn’t ask anymore. Nor did he know Nadia was awake and listening to the conversation. Subconsciously, her hand grasped onto Crow’s waist a little tighter.

Nadia didn’t originally intend to become Crow’s wife, but she witnessed from afar the events that transpired today. She saw how Crow destroyed those that dared harm his people and even put himself at the front of it all, taking the most risk. Those were actions a person like Kafe would never take. That man would never risk his life for her, and at that moment, she knew she’d accept Crow if he didn’t mind her past.

His simple kiss broke all her resistance, and Song Lin’s hand on her breast triggered the lust building up from the mild aphrodisiac. The combination of actions triggered something in her, and she initiated the action with her partner for the first time. For the first time, she chose the person she wanted to be with, and it was enough.

Smiling, she fell into a deep sleep, which she hadn’t done since she’d had her first monthly and became a woman. It triggered the awakening of her physique and her days of facing off against lust-filled men. It was the first time in a long time she felt safe.