Bracken and Luna watch us curiously as Ma led me and Viktor into the den. Ma motions for them to stay there, probably because she knows what we're gonna tell her may not be appropriate for children.

"Sit." Ma points at two cushions on the ground. "You have twenty minutes to explain yourselves before I kick both of you out and shred the human to bits."

Oh golly gee, that's comforting. Nice to know next time I get into trouble with the gods and have to save two species.

Oh wait, there won't be a next time because I'll either die on this quest, fail and both of our species will be wiped out, or the unlikely result we'll actually succeed!

I should stop thinking so dramatically. I should also probably stop zoning out in important conversations, I think someone's talking to me.

"... Raven! Care to start?" Viktor looks at me inquisitively. How long was I zoned out? Ten seconds? Three minutes? I'll never know.

"Oh! Yes! Uh, I guess we already told you about my run in with the hunters and how we met, so let's start from the collapsing at the pond, shall we?" I say, wringing my hands nervously then folding them in my lap.

Viktor shoots me a reassuring smile and a thumbs up. I try to smile back, but I don't think mine was as comforting. At all.

"So. Uh... I got transported to Ionicia... you know what that is right? The weird werewolf heaven place? Yeah, so I got teleported there and when I woke up there were all these people and birds and wolves, which actually turned out to be all the spiritual parts of a werewolf, which is cool by the way. I like how we have a bunch of different parts that make us-"

"Raven?" Viktor asks.

"Yeah?"

"You're getting off track."

"Oh. Yeah, sorry. Anyways," I continue, "I get up and this lady comes over and introduces herself. She's— get this —Dreadea! You know her, right? Goddess of the Moon? Ok well we have this big talk and she explains the history of werewolves and stuff to me. After that she pulls me away from the crowd of people and explains the darker side of it and stuff. She then explains this dramatic quest that I have to go on to save both werewolves and humans, that by the way is extremely hard but only I can do?"

Ma lets out an audible gasp and Viktor nods solemnly.

"Then she leads me back to the pond, says goodbye and good luck, and shoves me in. I fall through the void and then forty more feet to go splat on the forest floor." I pause to take a breath. "Viktor, care to continue?"

He nods. "Uh yeah. So, this is where I come in. I find her leaning on a tree I think and she explains to me what happened, basically what we're telling you now. So then we head here and you know the rest."

Ma looks at us blankly. "That was somehow the most over-the-top and anticlimactic explanation ever."

I shift uneasily in on my cushion. Viktor reaches over squeezed my hand as we wait for the verdict.

"Well," she finally says. "I can't exactly turn you away, can I? You two can stay for one night, then the human is gone and Raven is grounded. Kapeesh?"

I take a deep breath. "I can't stay Ma. I have to go on this quest, whether you like it or not. Heck, I don't like it either! But it sounds like we don't really have a choice. I'm not your sheltered little girl anymore Ma. I'm growing up and getting my own responsibilities."

I turn away before she can see a tear slide down my cheek.

I don't see hers either.

Viktor breaks the silence. "So, uh... we can stay for a bit? Because I could really go for some food..."

I shoot him a look. He shuts up without me even saying anything. Man, I am getting good at this aren't I?

"Ok second thought, why don't I introduce myself to your siblings... what are their names again?" He says, sensing the tension.

"Bracken and Luna," I supply.

"Yeah, introduce myself to them while you two catch up?" He backs away hastily, pointing finger guns at us.

Ma growls at him and waves him away. She hates anything guns after what happened with Pa, and I don't blame her.

"So..." she says, after a long silence.

"So."

"I missed you babygirl," she says, pulling me in for a hug. "I don't wanna let you go again. Promise me you'll be safe?"

Outside I hear Bracken singing something like "let it go...". I ignore it.

"I can't promise you anything... this is gonna be dangerous. I am growing up Ma, what I said was true," I whisper. "I'll still be your baby girl though. Always."

She smiles and squeezes me tighter, all threats of grounding seemingly forgotten. It's the best hug I've had from her in a while.

We stay like that for a minute, ticking back and forth, until our bubble is burst by Bracken and Luna bursting into the room belting a song at the top of their lungs with Viktor following sheepishly behind.

"Um... so I may have done something..."

"What. Did. You. Do," I say through gritted teeth.

"I showed them a video I had downloaded on my phone," he points to a little thin rectangular black box, "and they kinda took off."

He lights up the box and a moving picture of a young woman in an ice castle singing the lyrics plays, singing the same song my siblings are yelling.

"LET IT GO! LET IT GOOOOO!"

"This was a mistake wasn't it?" Viktor says.

"Yep. Big one."

Fangs and Fates, a Wattpad story

Word count, 974