Disclaimer: This chapter talks about psychiatry/psychology treatment. I am not belittling the effects of treatment of any mental disorder. This chapter is strictly for entertainment purposes only. If you need help, please see a qualified provider.

Things have been strained with Darric since Callum and I made love. He will not return our calls and he seems to have just opted to disappear. Hiding from us isn't going to cut it. That is not happening. No mate of mine will run out on me. This childish behavior has to stop.

"Are you ready?" I turn to Callum worried about his demeanor. Since we got the phone call from our mate yesterday, and when subsequent tries to reach him have failed, Callum has been consumed with guilt. Why? I don't know. I managed to convince him to take a trip with me to Darric's pack and settle this once and for all.

"My Lord?" Jeffery knocks on our door.

"Yes."

"Lord Nikolas will like a word with you before you leave."

"Okay. Callum, Jeffery will walk you to the car and I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Okay," he replies sounding morose.

I stop him on his way to the door and kiss him, hard enough to elicit a moan. Good!

"Everything will be alright, I promise." That's one promise I intend to keep one way or the other for both our sakes.

I make haste to my parent's suite. I have an inkling what my father wants to talk about. Jeffery! He'll be the third person to 'talk' about the ritual. This is getting ridiculous!

"Good morning father," I greet as I walk into their suite. My mother is having breakfast, while my dad is pacing up and down. He faces me and motions for me to sit. I kiss my mother and I take the seat beside her.

"Something wrong?" I feign ignorance.

"Don't be flippant with me Raphael. You know very well what I must talk to you about."

"Raphael is it? Must be really important, right mother?"

"I don't know why he's fussing, I told him you'll take care of things before Jeffery has to 'recall' your mates."

"Ah! The 'recall'. Father, I have two more weeks and I will find a way to get my mates on board. I won't have them 'recalled'."

"No one in this family has ever waited this close to 'recall' date, Rafe. I'm worried about your mates and you."

"I get it. First Jeffery then Original Drago, now you. I know what I am doing."

"Do you? What will you do when you cannot find them? And no one can help you, unh? Tell me!"

"It won't come to that, I will tell them soon and convince them to go through the ritual."

"Fine. Let me give you the same advice passed on to me by my father when it was your mother's turn. Mate with both of them before they leave."

"Why?"

"I don't know exactly what happens to them, and your mother had no recollection of her time with Jeffery, but I felt every pain she went through. Sharing the pain with her through our bond allowed her to endure the process."

"Mother?" I hug her, wondering how painful it must have been for her and my father.

"Like he said love, I don't remember anything, not even the pain. But I agree with your father, hurry up. They will not give you a minute longer, you know that."

"I know," I reply.

I kiss them both and leave to meet Callum. He's in the back seat of the car still looking lost. This is turning out to be a really draining day and it's not even midday yet. I get in beside him and hold his hand. He jolts at the contact, smiles and squeezes my hand back.

I feel his anguish and guilt as we drive to Darric. He asks that we not teleport and I know why. He wants to delay the inevitable as long as possible. I lean back and wonder how I'm going to handle this new situation.

I feel bad for Darric, honestly, I do. Before I got to know him, I wouldn't have cared, but now I do care about his feelings. The drive was a long hour and a half drive. We arrive at the pack gates. Protocol still demands I check in with the warriors at the gate to see my mate, until we are fully mated.

The guards return with a message that our mate is in a meeting, he apologizes but he cannot see us now. Oh, hell no! I will not deal with a petulant man child.

"Jeffery, we'll be back. I'll call if I need you."

"Yes, my Lord."

"Will you picture his office, Callum?"

"Sure."

"Hold on, we're barging into his meeting."

I pull Callum out of the car with me. The wolves start to surround us, I hold on to Callum and fly straight to the room he pictured in his mind. Growls erupted all around us, but I pay no mind, Jeffery's got this.

We land in Darric's office and find him alone going through some paperwork. He didn't even blink at our appearance, he glances at us and goes back to reading his paperwork.

"So meeting is it? With whom?" I ask pissed off.

"It's my polite way of telling you both that I don't want to see you right now. So please leave. I'm busy."

"Darric, I'm sorry. I didn't, I mean we didn't plan..."

"Don't Cal, please don't apologize. You made love with your mate, there's nothing to apologize for," he whispers.

"I love you Darric, I just..,"

"I know, I just felt left out, that's all. I don't mean to make you feel any guilt, but I always speak my mind, you know that about me. I don't hide things or way I feel."

Cal goes to him and bends to kiss him, but Darric turns his head away, standing up and moving away from us.

"Don't," he says holding his hand up, waving Callum away.

"You don't want to kiss me?" Callum asks hurt.

"Goddess help me. I want to kiss you, I want to do more than kiss you Cal but I will not guilt you into anything."

This situation is getting out of hand and not helping anyone of us and I'm about to make my mates understand that. I walk to the table, slam my hands on it, getting their attention.

"Now listen to me the both of you," I raise my voice in anger. "We will set some ground rules."

"Rules?"

"Yes, rules. We are mates and we will learn to live and love each other. There will be times when we make love as a trio and sometimes as a duo. Each one of us is entitled to alone time with the other one. There will be no taking sides against one another. We may agree with the one person, but we will not diminish the other person's point of view."

I continue, "sometimes you and I will spend time together, you and Callum, Callum and I. Personally, the one that'll be the best for me is when all three of us are together. You are my mate, Callum is my mate, I love both of you the same. Just so you know Darric, you and Callum will make love, you and I will make love, the three of us will screw each other's brains out. One thing that will not happen is one of us running out on the others or be petulant. We have problems, we deal with it together. No taking sides, capische?

"I wasn't being petulant, just angry and jealous," Darric replies sulking.

"That's okay. It wasn't our plan to make you jealous, honestly. It was in the heat of the moment. I forgot you could feel everything," Callum pleads with him.

"Will this tri-mate thing be easy, hell no but it is doable if we work at this relationship, and yes, it is our relationship." I walk over to Darric, "and besides I look forward to teaching you something too, Darric?"

I push him against the wall, boxing him in with my body. I run my hands up his buffed arms to his face, running my finger over his lips.

"What?" He whispers.

"My dear Alpha Grey, I will thoroughly enjoy teaching you how to give AND receive."

I tilt his head back and kiss him for the first time. He tastes different from Callum but just as great and delicious, his kisses are harder and rougher than Callum's gentle and enticing ones.

I nip his lips, "you smell so delicious when you're aroused." His eyes turn to red, I realize his wolf is out.

"Hello Titan, good to see you again," and I kiss my alpha wolf hard.

"That is so hot," Callum drawls.

"Come here," I hold my hand out to Callum.

He runs over and hugs us. We stay that way for a while.

"Sköll is happy."

"Titan too."

"Rafe three," and they both burst out laughing.

"So how long are you two staying?" Darric asks.

"Umm! We're not, Callum needs to stop by Esme's and I must go back home to handle some Clan matters today."

"So, this is a driveby, thank you, sir! Pat the other mate on the head and leave kinda thing?" Darric growls.

Oh shit, here we go again.

Ahh!!! Quiet at last. There is a reason I have those wolves work from ten to four. I like my time of silence with a nice cup of tea. The doorbell jungles and my heartbeat races alerting me to my visitor: Lars Crane. I hastily put my cup down to disguise my trembling hands.

"Lars, back in town, I see."

"Some things never change, still tea in the afternoon for High priestess Esme. May I have a cup?"

Lars Crane, my childhood friend from my coven. A handsome unassuming man. He's one of the few people I trust and genuinely like. Lately, he's been visiting the coven more than usual.

"Visiting the coven again? What's going on, Lars?"

"There's some noise about the current High Priest and his and I quote 'new ways' that are rubbing the old folks including my parents the wrong way."

"What has that got to do with you?"

"They want me to talk to the High Priest and get him 'on board'?"

"What do you think of the High Priest? Micah is it?"

"Well now, I thought you cut links with the coven when you left. How do you still know so much about the coven you rejected?"

"Correction, they rejected me, remember? And besides, knowing everything about your enemy gives you an advantage every time."

This has always been an ongoing disagreement between us, the only thing we can never agree on. I reject the coven and he embraces the coven.

"I remember but..."

And then the three dumbasses badge into my store, screaming and arguing with each other.

"I said I will visit you in a week, Darric so stop the whining," Cal yells.

"Whining, me? I just find it ridiculous that I have to schedule visits with my mates, that's all I'm saying."

"Hi, Esme, oh and who is this?" Cal asks as he walks up to me, his mates right behind him and gives me a hug. He pulls up a chair and sits beside me.

"Lars Crane, it's a pleasure to meet you. I was at your mating ritual with Esme but you disappeared before I could meet you. Congratulations to the three of you."

"Oh my God, Lars Crane? The Lars Crane. So sorry that I missed you at the mating ritual. I wanted to meet you too."

"The guy she brought to the ritual?" Rafe whispers to Darric and sits down.

"Yeah, the poor sucker," he whispers back.

Cal hits Darric's leg as he walks by to sit down. "Quiet!"

"So, Lars, how long have you and Esme been close friends?"

"Since we were about eleven or twelve, right, Esme? My parents moved into the coven and she became one of my very first friends."

"That long? So, you see each other a lot?"

"We try to get together every time I'm in town."

"Enough, Cal or I'll make you," I threaten the little scoundrel. "Well, Lars has to go now," I jump up and drag Lars to the door.

"Nice meeting you, Lars. I'm sure I'll see you again," he yells.

"What are you three doing here?"

"We came to see Darric since he was being a petulant man child," Rafe answers.

"I was not!"

"Was too," Cal quips.

"Is it wrong to feel abandoned when your mates are fucking up a storm and not only are you not invited but feel every cock pulsing moment?"

"Ewww! Darric, TMI! And why did you all bring your drama to my store?"

"Because now they are not even going to spend the night."

And then all three go into a full-blown, loud argument. Sun god help me, I ask for the thousandth time, why am I rooted to a wolf?

"Enough!!!" I yell. Silence blessed silence.

"I might have a solution to your arguing, bickering and what not."

"What Esme?"

"I shudder to think," Rafe smirks.

"This should be good," Darric injects.

"Cal, promise me you'll give it a chance."

"What is it, Esme?"

I take a deep breath and blurt out, "I think you all should see a shrink or to be politically correct, a psychiatrist?"

"A what?" Darric and Rafe yell.

"A shrink. She may help you with all this arguing, misunderstanding, the fucking and not fucking issue you three have to deal with. Let's face it, you three are on uncharted waters here and you need an impartial person to help you ride the tides."

"I think she's right. We need an impartial person to help us. We are not doing so well by ourselves," Cal tells his mates.

"You must be joking?"

"Guys we need this. I'm tired of the arguing, the guilt, and absences. Let someone helps us figure this whole 'triple mate' thing out. We are doing it, so suck it up! Esme, who do you know that can help us."

"I know the perfect person."

"Who?"

"Our very own shrink in training, Dr. Raven Hayes, your neighborhood supernatural head doctor," Esme says branding a Cheshire grin.

The looks on their faces will keep me laughing for weeks. You know what? I take it back. Thank you Sun god for making Cal my root. I have never had so much fun messing with wolves and vampires in my life.

Dr. Raven Hayes??? The Omega??? What is our mischievous Esme up to? Just when you think Esme couldn't be any stranger!!!

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