The Dormant: The 5 Goddesses

Episode 9: Three Little Piglets

~Noah~

I heard my mate moving and standing beside me as I pretended to sleep, her breathing hitching as I let out a loud snore. I needed her to know she was safe, and if letting her explore helped her understand she was in no danger from me, she could roam our room freely. All I really wanted was to hold her in my arms. Control yourself, Noah, I told myself as my wolf growled inside of me. I was still angry about what had happened last night, but after spending a night with her in my room, I was almost placated.

I lay motionless with my hands behind my neck as Ben mind-linked me. "Noah, I found something in the library. It reads that if we can't smell a magical, it's because they are probably magically cloaked by faes. Fae kind is the only magical beings that can completely erase the scent of others, humans and non-humans. Do you think they are faes?" he questioned.

"No, I don't think they are. If they were, they could have apparated away from here," I answered him.

I thought for a while, feeling my mate move away towards the door. Then I heard Liam’s mind-link. "Noah, Ben, the other two just kick me in the balls. They're heading your way."

"Nice, all those muscles, Li, and you still get beaten up by teenagers," I heard Ben chuckle.

"Beta, Gamma, it’s time for a hunt," I mind-linked them as she slowly turned the doorknob, stepping out of my room. "Let’s talk to the three of them together, and see what kind of magical beings we are dealing with," I said.

"Yes, Alpha," they both answered.

I counted to three, stood up, and quickly opened the door. Just as I did, I found myself face-to-face with the three girls as they were running back towards me, their faces laced with fear. "You couldn't stay away from me," My wolf was happy to hunt his mate, and this chase was making him giddy. We had waited, and finally, she was here, though, even if the look on her face I didn't think she knew we belonged together. Before I could catch her, her friend opened my office, tugging her inside and locking the door.

Liam and Ben came up the stairs and stood beside me while I knocked softly on the door. I could smell my mate’s panic. My wolf whimpered, sensing her fear, so I decided to speak as sweetly as possible while still asserting myself as an Alpha. Moon Goddess, when was the last time I had to do something like that? "Girls, open this door now," I requested, Liam and Ben laughing at my tone.

"You should try 'please,'" I heard Liam through the mind-link, making Ben chuckle. We could act all tough, but the three of us have grown up together, and in the mind link, we tended to joke around.

"Sorry, Alpha," they both mind-linked as I shot them a menacing look. "You both are worse than schoolgirls," I shot back, shaking my head, trying to hear the conversation between the women inside the room.

My mate said no to my request. Well, we have a feisty one. I passed a hand through my hair. It would be easier if I could kick the door open, but that would probably bring them into a panic. No, I couldn't act all alpha-dominant with her. In an assertive voice, I said, "I am asking nicely. If you do not open, I am going to take down this door."

Liam chuckled, shifting on his spot and mind-linked. "Noah, are we recreating the three little piglets now?"

I shot back with a side look. "Your Luna is inside that room. Show some respect."

"Sorry," He pressed his lips together as they both laughed even harder, their knuckles covering their mouths.

"Guys, please focus," I said, shaking my head while I waited for another response from the room.

"Take it down," another girl answered.

"This is definitely three little piglets," Benjamin mind-linked as Liam slapped his hand against his mouth, a loud roar bursting through it.

"You two are my Beta and my Gamma. Please keep it sober," I sternly looked at my two friends.

My princess replied to her friend in a hushed voice, "Maybe we should open it?"

Another friend answered, "Shh, you have Stockholm syndrome. You came out of his room."

The woman answered again while I scratched my head, slowly closing my eyes and opening them in disbelief. What were they feeding humans nowadays? "I don’t know why I was in there. I can’t remember one single thing about last night. My mind just went woosh." That was my Luna speaking. Still, I had to suppress a smile, she sounded so cute.

This statement made Benjamin and Liam bend over in silent laughter. Liam mind-linked, "I love these girls already."

I admit I was grinning myself, trying not to laugh and making it more uncomfortable for the girls inside my office.

I took a deep breath and put on my best serious face. "I promise we won't hurt you. You were attacked last night by a wild animal. We just want to know your names and make sure you are not hurt, and then we will take you back home." I didn't want to take her back home, she was already home and she was my home. That was how it was done in werewolf culture.

My wolf howled at the thought of her leaving, snarling at me the moment I stated this. "Quiet, she probably doesn't know anything about us wolves. I can’t go to her and say, 'Hey, hello, move in with me.'" He growled in response, making it clear reasoning with him was futile. The animal was eager to meet and keep his mate and after last night he was itching to make sure she didn't have any lasting trauma.

"We are stuck," the other girl said. "I can’t kung fu those guys. Have you seen those muscles?"

I glanced at Liam, raising an eyebrow. "At least she gave it a try." He instinctively brought a hand to his junk and closed his eyes. Benjamin started laughing quietly, almost bouncing on his feet.

"Okay, we want to parlay, but if you ask us to join your cult, we must sadly decline." Cult? What in the moon goddess were they talking about? The second she said this, we couldn't hold back, laughter erupting through the mind-link. We were almost on the floor.

"Poppy, open the door," one girl said.

"Why me?" the other one asked.

"You are the smallest and the cutest. If they hurt you, it’s like beating up a chihuahua."

I looked to both sides at my friends. They were both standing seriously, one word away from the room, erupting. We were one laugh away from our sober façade crumbling.

Soon, the door started opening, and I softly pushed it in. On the other side, my princess stood, looking deep into my soul. She was so beautiful, so sweet. I quickly began to speak to them, to her specifically. "I am Noah. This is Benjamin and Liam," my gaze never left hers, I only had eyes for her. I wanted to scent her, touch her, and feel the electricity that came with the bond. I wanted to kiss her, taste her, and finally share our bond-link.

"You may know them as the men who were chasing you all around the house. What are your names, so we don’t have to refer to you as teenager 1…" I asked, still looking at her, "...teen 2 and little teen 3."

I glanced up at the friend who gave me the answer. "Hey, I can be little but still kick ass. That's Charly, Danielle, and I am Poppy."

I bowed my head in respect to my Luna, sticking my hand out towards the hallway. Never touching her, we already had two of the mating signs and I didn't want to scare her with a third one. "Well, Charly, Danielle, and Poppy, can we go to the kitchen so we can talk?" I motioned to the corridors as they made their way in front of us, me walking just beside her. It took all my strength not to grab my Luna and carry her to our room.

We entered the kitchen, and Charly stumbled on a chair before she hit the floor. I had her wrapped in my arms. Yes, there came the sparks. My wolf howled, almost screaming "Mate!" the moment our skin touched, electricity filled the air around us. We could have stayed like this forever, living in our own private bubble in which she only existed for me and I only existed for her. The first year of a natural mate bond tended to be the more intense. I had to check myself when the other girls had taken her from my arms. I let out a small growl but calmed myself down again.

These three seemed tight. I couldn't go around scaring her friends.

"So, girls, why are you here?" I made my way to the counter, flashing one of my smiles at them as each of them took a seat at the kitchen bar.

~Danielle~

"So, Charly, is that small for?" Noah asked, staring at my friend. Charly wasn’t any better, blabbering her way through the conversation. "Charlotte," she mumbled while eyeing him. If looks could do anything, that look meant those two were getting it on in her mind. Go Charlotte, Go! After Sean, even if this guy was a cult leader, he was a looker and that was a major comeback.

"Well, Charlotte, Danielle, Poppy, let’s have some breakfast, shall we? Omelets, anyone?" he asked, taking out a dozen eggs from the fridge. The other guys started to sit on the counter seats around us, and we all watched this hunk of a man cook for us.

He began making breakfast and talking while he did, his hands masterfully moving around the kitchen while cracking an egg in a bowl and beating it with a fork. Impressive, another point to the cult. "How old are you? And didn’t your parents teach you not to go to the woods at night? There are a lot of dangerous things wandering in the forest at that hour?" He glanced back at us while he poured the contents of the bowl he was holding into a pan, raising an eyebrow.

I answered, pointing at Charly and then Poppy. "Seventeen, Little Miss Sunshine over here is eighteen, and I am seventeen. We both have birthdays one day apart," I finished, pointing at Charly and me. "For your second question, that sounds like you think ghosts wander around this forest at night. My mom taught me to be more afraid of living, breathing things. Thank you very much," I said, holding my hand to my hip. Yes, mostly afraid of her and the sluice of flavors of the month she kept bringing home. I wouldn't think of that it was depressing. Happy thoughts Danielle, Happy thoughts.

Noah took a deep breath while the other guys shifted in their seats beside us. Benjamin, the guy I was ogling last night before we got caught, sat beside Poppy, and Liam sat beside me. I felt a draft of cold air at that moment. This sudden ripple caught me off guard, and I instinctively looked to Poppy’s side where the hunky blond was seated. Damn, I missed watching him bare it all off for me. That did the trick of taking my mind away from my dearest mother's problems.

I was tall, but that man was massive. Benjamin's hazel eyes made me uneasy. He looked at me, and I quickly shifted my face to the other side, feeling a blush creeping up from my neck. "What the hell were you trying to find out that you had to compromise your safety and walk through a dark forest at night?" Noah calmly said, placing the first omelet in front of Charly.

"Waco," Charly blurted, her eyes shifting side to side.

The three of them let out a chuckle. I stared at the one beside me with a hand on my hip, raising an eyebrow. "So, you’re telling me you go for naked runs in the woods at night, have a giant wolf for a pet, and this doesn’t sound like a cult?"

Liam leaned back, putting his hand on his hip. "That wolf is not giant. It was just Eric."

I shook my head, still not taking my eyes off him. "Maybe he is Eric, Jeff, or Carlos. It’s a colossal wolf snarling at my pretty face on command, and that s**t is not fun." I motioned to my face with my finger, scowling, big time.

My head turned around toward my friends. They both had their heads angled, looking at the muscled man making them breakfast. "Hello, can't you see anything wrong here? Horn bags, he admitted that he has a wolf as a giant pet." I clapped my hands, trying to get their attention. Yes, I wasn't getting any help from them.

Noah placed the rest of the breakfast in front of us, smiling. He asked, "Orange juice?" Charly didn’t even flinch at my outburst. Poppy raised her hand and made a shifting motion with her hand, meaning sort of.

Exasperated with my two friends, I continued shaking my head at them. Put a couple of good-looking guys in front of a hormone-filled teenager, and you get Poppy and Charly at the moment. "Okay, let’s forget about the wolf thing. What about people running through the night naked?"

Liam answered, "That’s easy. We are a nudist commune." The answer made both Charly and Poppy cough up orange juice out their noses. I leaned back, staring at him, then at Benjamin, gaping like a fish, my face going red. I was speechless. Noah stared at Liam and made a sound that sounded like a growl before stating, "Behave Gamma."

"So, I guess naked commune is out of the question?" Charly asked, after watching his reaction. Noah then took a bite of her omelet with her fork and placed it in his mouth, smiling.

"Well, yes and no," Noah continued, placing his elbows on the counter in front of Charly. "It was more like a bonding process for brothers, it is all part of the company we work for. We like going back to our roots. We do this every year so we can make fun of Benjamin," he finished, then pointed his face towards the blond muscle man next to Poppy. I raised my eyebrow at Benjamin, and I swear my face made him blush. I felt proud I wasn't the only one feeling bothered.

"Where do you girls live, by the way?" Benjamin quickly asked, changing the subject, shifting his face away from my gaze. Oh yes, I was affecting him big time, and I liked it. I wanted to mess with him some more.

Poppy answered this question, shaking her head. "For what? So, you can abduct us and sell us to the highest bidder?" Oh s**t, right the cult thingy. I put on my best suspicious look. I was not buying it, but I had to do something.

Noah smiled at her. "No, to take you home. Your parents should be worried by now, don’t you think?" His grin fell as he said this but quickly shook it off. "Though if I wanted to abduct you..." He straightened up, making a flashy gesture with his hands. "There you are, already abducted." I looked at Poppy with a "they are okay, dude" face. Yeah, I hadn't seen anything weird. The house looked like a house, and other than the giant wolf and a handsome man making breakfast, there wasn't anything suspicious about this place. The running naked? How many times do the stupid boys in our school went striking? Hell, it was probably a male rite of passage.

Pops shrugged her arms if to say whatever, and I answered, "We live over at Willamette. Those two..." I signaled my friends with my fork. "...by Rose Park Cul de Sac. I, on the other side of the train tracks." I finished my answer while taking the last bite of my food from the plate.

"Girls, to make you see we are peaceful, that we don’t have anything to hide and definitely are not a cult, why don’t you come and spend some time with us? We could give you self-protection classes. We have them for the women of our company every Saturday at 9 a.m." Noah calmly said as he took a fork and stole another bite of Charly's omelet. Maybe I did need more confirmation this wasn't a cult, and perhaps a little more time to talk to Ben.

We looked at each other. I knew Poppy wasn’t really into it, the girl was allergic to all things fitness. Still, by the look on Charly's face, she was seconds away from selling her things, soul included, and claiming Noah’s room as her own. There was no way in hell she would stay in a nude man’s room with a weird wolf pet fetish gang, probably cult leaders, without my supervision.

I pointed my thumbs to my sides towards Liam and Benjamin. "If they let me kick their asses, I am in." Poppy frowned a bit, shrugged her arms, nodded, and then snapped her fingers at Charlotte. "Charly, snap out of it. What do you say? Self-protection class Saturday, are you in?"

"Yes," Charly said, flustered, jumping at the sound of Poppy's voice. She was not her usual sweet self today, almost standoffish, it was probably all the excitement from the night before.

"Well, it's a deal," Benjamin stated. Meanwhile, he again started to stare at me. It was making me feel uneasy, so I hastily finished, shifting my eyes away,

"So home, right? Parents and milk cartons, isn’t it not a good idea to keep them waiting if we want to have a field trip over here on Saturday? So, you guys ready?" I looked at my friends, they nodded, and we all stood up. As we exited, Noah put a hand on Charly's back, whispering something in her ear that made her shudder.

~Charly~

"So, Charly, that's small for?" Noah asked as he stared at me for an answer.

"Catalina," the voice answered in my head. God that voice wouldn't stop, I couldn't make it stop, and it was making me mad, worried mad, it had never been this bad before.

"Charlotte," I blurted, never taking my eyes away from him.

"He is yours. Why don't you jump him and make sure everyone else knows about it?" My head was getting rowdy, and it felt like I was sharing it with someone else.

"Head, you know I am a virgin, right?" I blushed at my own self-admission, but I was happy I had never given myself to Sean. It wasn't because I was a prude, but because it didn't feel right. Now looking at Noah, somehow I knew he was capable of opening that side of me I had never felt the need to explore.

"Easy fix," it purred, making me blush even harder.

"Well, Charlotte, Danielle, Poppy, let's have breakfast. Shall we have omelets?" Noah said and took some eggs out of the fridge.

"Jackpot, and he can feed you. What else do you want?" the voice asked, genuinely excited that the man could make breakfast.

"FOR YOU TO STOP YAPPING! LET ME CONCENTRATE!" I screamed in my head as he made his way through the kitchen, breaking eggs into a bowl. I was fascinated with this man—how he moved, how he talked, the way he looked, and the way he smelled. Everything about him screamed at me.

"How old are you? Didn’t your parents teach you not to go walking in the woods at night? There are a lot of dangerous things wandering in the woods at that hour?" He turned slightly, looking behind his back at me.

The voice sided with him, or I sided with him at that point. I wasn’t sure anymore. "He is right, you know. Why did you get yourself in that kind of danger? You could have been seriously hurt," I shifted slightly in my seat, feeling I was being scolded by an invisible parent.

As it spoke, I realized I didn’t have any recollection of what happened last night. One minute I was running, the next, I was waking up with him. "You know what happened?" I asked myself. "God, I am starting to ask myself and reply to my own questions." My eyes darted back and forth, trying to make sense of the whole situation. I was certifiable, there was no other explanation.

"Yes, I do," the voice answered.

What does my brain know that I don't remember? I asked, tapping my nail on my chin. "Tell me," I demanded.

"Let him tell you," and like a switch, she stopped talking.

He expertly made his way through the kitchen while he spoke. "What the hell were you trying to find out that you had to compromise your safety and walk through a dark forest at night?" He knew something. I need to find out, but not right away.

I blurted, feeling quite exhausted from having to simultaneously manage two conversations. "Waco." Noah had me talking in one-word sentences. He was going to think I was stupid. I made a mental facepalm.

Danielle asked something. I sat there stunned, wrapped in the rosewood smell of the man in front of me. I really wanted to hug him tightly and never let him go, burying my nose in him forever. For some reason, he was making me feel safe just by being around me.

One of my girls tried to snap me out of my daydream. "Hello, horn dogs. Wolf giant pet," but he knew something by the look on his face. He looked at me in a way I couldn’t resist. My whole self was hanging on by a thread.

I wasn’t really following the conversation when one of the guys said, "We are a nudist commune." That woke me up! I started coughing up orange juice. Great way to get me out of my man-induced mental coma.

"So, umm, I guess naked commune is out of the question?" I asked while taking a bite of my breakfast. I hoped Noah would say no. I wanted to see him naked. What was happening to me? When did I became this overly sexualized creature?

"Well, yes and no." My mind did a Hallelujah. My eyes turned to heaven and I did a little prayer when he said yes.

"Where do you girls live, by the way?" Oh s**t, my mom. I remembered I had a full-blown family, probably sick and worried I wasn’t home or called. I wasn't even following the conversation. Now I was worried.

Poppy answered, putting a hand on her hip. "For what? So, you can abduct us and sell us to the highest bidder?" Smiling at her, he explained, "No, to take you home. Your parents should be worried about you, don't you think?" A small hopeless reaction appeared on his face like he was trying hard to find a reason for us to stay. It flashed in a second, and he was back at giving us that million-dollar smile again and said, "Though if I wanted to abduct you…" He made a flashy hand gesture. "…there you are, already abducted."

I was feeling useless. My head was not okay, and I was not keeping up with anything anyone said. "Girls, to make you see we are peaceful, that we have nothing to hide, and we are definitely not a cult, why don’t you come and spend some time here with us? We could teach you a few self-defense classes. We have them for our women every Saturday at 9 a.m."

I was lost for words, really. I was an i***t. I really should just crawl and let the earth swallow me. Poppy snapped her finger at me, as if saying, "Earth to Charly, are you okay?"

We needed to go before I made more of a fool of myself. "Yes, yes," I repeated myself, my inner dialogue just taking a toll on my social skills. Danielle, to the rescue, stood beside me and commanded, "Stand up." And I did, my feet feeling a little wobbly, not even sure if I wanted to leave in the first place.

We exited the clubhouse. Noah put his hand on the small of my back and sweetly caressed my cheek. Electricity flowed between us while he whispered, "I know what's in your mind, Luna. We will talk soon." Then he took a big breath, and he led me outside.

This was so confusing, my mind raced while waiting for the car that was going to take us home. "Well, he will help you not be confused, Catalina," I sighed, rolling my eyes at the annoying voice. "Oh, just shut up, voice. You are not helping."

-----------------

"Charly, snap out of it, girl!" I heard Poppy's voice and turned my eyes to her. She pointed at the front door, making me take out my keys and open it.

Benjamin had just left us on our street, and this morning had only been a confusing daze. We stepped through my front door, my mom was heading out, but stopped at once when she saw Poppy's head bruise. "Poppy, beautiful, what happened to your forehead?" Pops just grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "Danielle's sleeping Tae kwon do." Poppy gave Danielle a look, and Danielle made a martial arts stance.

My mom mischievously looked at us and tapped her chin. "You three are not getting into any trouble, are you?" As innocently as possible, we shook our heads simultaneously. She squeezed her eyes and looked straight at us for a minute. "Well, whatever you are planning, please be safe." "Yes, Mom," I quickly replied, grabbing Poppy's arm, and Danny's hand, then running upstairs to my room.

"Charly, what was that all about?" Danielle asked as we stepped inside my room. "I haven't seen you lost for words over a man since ever."

The voice inside my head replied to her. "He is not a man. He is your mate." I rolled my eyes, sighing at the voice. "Head voice, okay, please stop talking. You are making me look crazy. Wait. Am I mad?"

"No, Catalina, you are not," the head voice said quickly. That's exactly what a head voice would say. I motioned the girls to give me a second and ran to the kitchen to take my pill. That would probably calm this thing up. "Forgot my pill," I said while entering my room. Both Danielle and Poppy stared at me for a second and shrugged.

"Okay, we need to compare notes. Danielle, what happened to you last night?" Danny gave us a full description of her experience. Poppy turned to me. "I remember the clearing and then zero. I thought I heard you being attacked, but I am not sure." Making a quizzical face and shaking my head, I silently answered. "I remember following your small butt through the wood, but that's the last thing I remember. I just don’t know."

"So, why were you in a room with him?" Danny asked with a playful look. "Did you convert to Noahism?" My cheeks flushed to a shade of red I wasn’t sure I possessed. "No, he wasn’t in bed with me. I was about to jump him when I saw a giraffe and a crazy chipmunk running, so I thought I'd better follow the mad stampede."

Poppy raised an eyebrow. "Well, what crazed animal were you in all of this? An opossum? You just played dead." I laughed, looking at my fingernails. Deep down, I knew the girls were right. Today I was useless.

"It's weird, but the first time I saw him, it was like a tornado. When he touched me, I could feel electricity—not 'I am in love' kind of electricity, but seriously small bolts where his skin touched mine. He is like static," I said, remembering what Noah's touch felt like.

"Umm...that's being in love, sweetie," Danielle raised her index finger at me.

"What did he say to you when we were leaving?" Poppy asked, moving her torso expectantly.

"We need to talk," I blurted, biting my lips and looking sideways, a small grin appearing on my mouth. "Then I think the man smelled me, though I am not sure."

They both started laughing. Danielle collapsed on my bed, as Poppy said, "That's just plain creepy."

Danielle continued while turning around on her back. "I don’t care how good-looking you are, you don’t go demanding talks and smelling teenagers."

We three laughed at the statement.

"So, are we going back?" I asked, looking straight at Poppy.

"Oh, you wish, don’t you, jailbait," Danielle replied, my face turning fast towards her, flushing red again.

"We better go back before she explodes," Poppy said, looking at my unnatural color. It was hard to accept; not being around him felt just like that—like I was about to explode.