by Sable Sylvan
“Ashley…” started Jet.
“Go,” said Onyx. “Go now.”
Ashley was taken aback. She never would’ve thought Onyx would be the one to tell her to go.
“I knew it,” said Ashley. “You hate me now, don’t you?”
“No, Ashley…I love you. I love you so frikkin’ much. But I need you to do what you think is right,” said Onyx. “And I know that the bear in me won’t let you leave if you stay a second longer. If you want to leave, leave now. I’m giving you a head start because I know my bear won’t let you go. Once you walk out these doors, it’s not over. We’ll find you again, in one week. But leave now, before we never let you leave again. And Ashley…”
_”What is it?” asked Ashley.
“Don’t you dare kiss us,” said Onyx. “Because I know if you do, you’re saying goodbye…and I refuse to say goodbye.”
Ashley nodded and walked out the diner, giving the pandas one last look before she left and walked out into the city.
Onyx refused to let Jet out of the booth.
“We’re going to lose her if we let her walk away,” said Jet.
“No,” said Onyx, holding Jet still by the arms. He looked Jet in the eyes. He saw in those eyes the same fire he felt raging inside his own heart. “We’re going to lose her if we chase her. One week. That’s how long she has. Then, we’re gonna keep her for good. Would you rather be with her for, what did she say…three weeks, three months, three years…or for an eternity?”
“Where did you learn this patience stuff?” asked Jet.
“From the best,” said Onyx, before pulling Jet in for a bear hug. “We’re gonna make it, Jet…it’s just one week, but after that? We’re gonna get our fairy tale happy ending.”
Jet pulled away and pulled the box he had held in his pocket out of his pants and put it on the table. He popped it opened and looked at what was inside. “I guess I was just hoping we’d get it tonight,” said Jet.
“Me too,” said Onyx, pulling his box out and looking at the matching piece. “Me too.”
Chapter Nine
One Week Later
A week had passed, and Ashley knew what that meant. It was time to talk to Jet and Onyx, whether she was ready or not…and although she didn’t want to admit it, she was ready. She had to do what she had to do, and what she had to do would leave three broken hearts in its wake. Ashley did what she did best…stress cleaned. The silver lining of being depressed for the last week over the decision she had to make? She hadn’t been cleaning up after herself, so she had a week of dishes to work on washing before the guys got to her apartment.
Just as she was finishing putting the last of the drying dishes away, she heard a buzz. It was the apartment buzzer system. She didn’t bother to ask who was at the door and just let them in. In a few minutes, there was a knock at her door, and she opened it to let the pandas in.
Jet. Onyx. The two men that had taken up most of her thoughts over the last few months. They still had a handsome ruggedness about them, but their eyes lacked a sparkle, their faces lacked smiles, and they had bags under their almond shaped eyes.
“Hey,” said Ashley. “I guess it’d be stupid to ask how your week was.”
“Ha-ha,” said Jet sarcastically. “You get some thinking done?”
“Yeah, just…give me a second, I’ll make us some tea,” said Ashley. She rummaged through her cabinet for a set of three mugs, and when she turned, she saw Jet was filling her electric kettle for her. The sight of Jet doing domestic things in her apartment broke her heart. This was going to make what she had to do even harder.
Ashley put the mugs out, and before she could go to the pantry, Onyx came out with a box of green tea. He opened the box and put a bag in each mug. Ashley felt a pain in her chest, not one that gave her alarm, as it was a pain she had felt too many times over the past years, to the point that having that pain over the last week hadn’t come as a surprise…although the pain was more intense than it had ever been before. In that moment, Ashley understood why lovebirds die of sadness when separated from their partners.
Jet poured the hot water into the mugs and carried two mugs to the living room, putting one on a coaster on the coffee table while Onyx carried the last mug. Ashley was sitting on the couch, and as she reached for her tea, Onyx and Jet sat on either side of her. Feeling their bodies radiating a heat hotter than even the tea in the mug sent a shiver up her spine. These two were walking paradoxes, hot enough to send chills down her spine, and, like a reverse Chinese finger trap, the closer they tried to pull her towards them, the harder she pulled away from them.
“So…what decision did you end up making?” asked Onyx, solemnly. The seriousness of the situation had tempered even his light heart.
Ashley sighed. “I think you two know what decision I made.”
Jet sipped at his tea. “You need to say it, out loud, I think you owe us that much,” said Jet.
“Owe you?” asked Ashley. “Really?”
“Fine, you don’t owe us,” said Jet. “But…”
“But we need to hear you say it,” said Onyx.
“Then why are you making it so darn hard for me?” asked Ashley. “This is exactly what the problem is.”
“What?” asked Jet.
“The fact that around the two of you, things are just so much harder for me,” said Ashley.
“Like having to deal with the stalker?” asked Jet.
“No, like having to deal with…my feelings,” said Ashley. “Feelings that I didn’t want to have, that I didn’t sign up to have by walking through those doors at Bear Buns.”
“It doesn’t matter where you would’ve met us,” said Jet. “Fate doesn’t care about whether or not you signed up to become our fated mate. You think that if fate had asked, I would’ve been okay with being paired with a woman that doesn’t even want us?”
“No…you wouldn’t’ve been okay with it, right?” asked Ashley.
“Wrong,” said Jet. “Because I trust fate. Because fate? That’s a force that has brought together millions, billions of couples over the eons. My parents met through fate. My grandparents met because of fate. My ancestors from the Song Dynasty? Fate. Kingdoms rise, empires fall, dynasties rise from and fade into dust. But fate? Fate’s a power more powerful than anything in the universe…and sometimes? Fate gives us challenges, challenges we want to reject, like…”
“…Like the challenge of convincing a human who’s too sassy to tolerate, too curvy to resist, that we’re abso-frikkin’-lutely in love with her,” said Onyx.
“Do you think that’s what this is about?” asked Ashley, turning to Onyx. “You think…you think I don’t know you two are in love with me?”
“You mean, you know?” asked Onyx.
“How could I not know?” asked Ashley. “And…that’s part of the problem. I know too well what it looks like when someone’s in love.”
“What?” asked Jet. “I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“I mean…it’s just that…oh, I don’t know if I can do this,” said Ashley, getting up from the couch and turning away from the two men whose hearts she could see breaking in front of her.
“Why not?” asked Onyx. “Is it the danger?”
“No, it’s not that,” said Ashley. “The danger, strangely, turns me on. It’s…fear.”
“Fear?” asked Jet. “Of what?”
“Of me hurting the two of you,” said Ashley. “I…I have a past, a past you two don’t know about.”
“Then tell us, instead of running away,” said Jet. “We’re your fated mates. You know it. We know it. Fate knows it. So just tell us what’s going on.”
“You wanna know?” asked Ashley, turning, her eyes filled with tears. “Then fine. Sit down. I’ll tell you two everything.”
Ashley pushed Jet and Onyx back onto her sofa gently before she sat across from them in her arm chair.
“I…I have a dark side,” said Ashley. “And that’s created a dark past.�
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“A dark past?” asked Onyx.
“Yes, a past I’m not proud of,” said Ashley. She took a pause. “I’m…rather, I’ve dated a lot of men. Like, a lot.”
“Is that it?” asked Jet. “So?”
“When I say ‘dated,’ I’m not talking about just having a one night stand,” said Ashley. “I’ve had those before, lots, but, that’s not something I’m ashamed of. No, I’m ashamed of the path of broken hearts I’ve left behind. Men have fallen for this sassy personality, these sensual curves, and I’ve given them chances, chances that last weeks, months, and every single time, I’ve ended up dumping them. I’ve never been dumped by a guy. I’ve always done the breaking up. The guys have all been great: doctors, engineers, family men, stunt guys, bodybuilders, all that. The only constant in these relationships? Me.”
“Why do you break up with them?” asked Jet.
“Because…while I feel something at first, I don’t feel anything after the honeymoon stage passes,” said Ashley. “And I can’t keep stringing along someone that I don’t feel for. The number of men that I’ve had a relationship with, a real relationship? It’s in the dozens. And I’m afraid of the same thing happening to the two of you. I want to be with you two, forever, but…what if I end up not loving you two one day? I felt awful hurting all the men that I had to break up with before, even though I wasn’t in love with them. Only a monster would feel okay with themselves after having to break up with dozens of men, having to break dozens of hearts, having to rip dozen of men’s hopes and dreams of a future with me to shreds. Maybe in Humpty Dumpty, all the king’s soldiers and all the king’s men can put that egg back together again, but this is the real world. This isn’t a fairy tale. There’s nobody there to pick up the pieces and patch them back together once I’ve destroyed a man emotionally. I thought these curves were a curse for the longest time because they’ve attracted so many men who think with their dick and this sass? Well, it’s attracted more than a handful of guys. But that doesn’t matter. They’ve all been broken in the end. This is a fate I want to save you two from. If I ever hurt you two the way I’ve hurt other men? I could never forgive myself. I need to be just…just alone. Forever. I need just to have one night stands, or play with some rather expensive toys, but I don’t want to a break a single heart ever again.”
Onyx exchanged a look with Jet to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. Had Ashley just said what he’d thought she’d said? The look on Jet’s face confirmed that Onyx heard what Jet had heard.
“Are you saying that you love us now?” asked Onyx softly.
“Yes, of course, I love the two of you,” said Ashley. “That’s why…that’s why I’m so afraid of hurting you two.”
“Ashley…what’s the one thing that made you fall in love with us?” asked Jet.
“Honestly? It’s more than the hot bodies, the bevy of talents, or your character,” said Ashley. “It’s the adventure. When I’m with you two, I feel like I’m on the greatest adventure of my life. I’m never bored, always excited, and always trying new things.”
“So with the other guys, did you ever get bored?” asked Onyx.
“Yeah, and I feel like shizz admitting that, but, after a while, those guys were just…boring,” admitted Ashley.
“Ashley, we’re more than just guys,” said Jet. “You know that. The only way that you’d ever break our hearts…is by breaking up with us.”
“We’re frikkin’ shifters,” said Onyx. “Shifters who strip. And if you haven’t noticed…”
“…There are two of us,” said Jet. “You’ll always have your hands full with us, and in more than one way.”
“If you ever get bored with us, tell us, and we’ll take you on an adventure,” said Onyx.
“I can’t promise you much, but I can promise this. Your life with us? It’ll be anything but boring,” said Jet. “The only thing we need is for you to come along for the ride.”
“I honestly never thought about it that way,” said Ashley. “You two are obviously special. Fate showed us that night, and you two are showing me now. I’ve never had a dull moment with the two of you, and I don’t think I ever will.”
Ashley laughed, and started to cry out of relief instead of out of sadness. She wiped her eyes, still laughing.
“Ugh, I must be hormonal or something,” said Ashley. “Okay, can I ask for a favor?”
“Anything, my love,” said Jet.
“Your wish, our command, you know the deal,” said Onyx with a wink.
“Alright, can we…go back to the way things were? Can we pretend this never happened?” asked Ashley.
Onyx looked at Jet. Jet looked at Onyx. They knew what they had to do.
“I don’t think that’ll be possible, Ashley,” said Jet.
“What?” asked Ashley. “Fine, what do I possibly have to do to get you two back?”
Jet and Onyx pulled out two boxes, and each got on one knee. They popped open the small black velvet boxes. Inside each box was a ring. In Jet’s box was a silver banded ring, smooth on top, wavy on the bottom, with black jet and onyx in a pave drop shape, curved, with a brilliant diamond in the center of the droplet. Onyx’s box had a dark gunmetal colored band, smooth on the bottom, wavy on the top, with a pave diamond drop shape, curved, with a small black diamond in the center of the droplet. Each droplet represented the original mate mark that the shifters had before they had mated with Ashley.
“These rings represent our relationship with you, and with each other,” said Jet.
“Each of us represents a part of the ring,” said Onyx. “I’m the yin in this relationship: the bright, happy, cheery one, carefree and funny.”
“Which makes me the yang,” said Jet. “Dark, mysterious, brooding, responsible and serious…and more attractive.”
Onyx elbowed Jet and Jet raised his brows. “You know it’s true,” said Jet.
“Anyway, the two of us? We’re a package deal,” said Onyx. “Just like this ring.”
Jet and Onyx put the ring together, the wavy sides of the brand linking together, forming one ring, with a yin-yang symbol of duality yet oneness on the top of the ring.
“And just like this ring,” said Jet. “The thing we need to be complete? You.”
“Will you join us in the threesome to end all threesomes?” asked Onyx.
This time it was Jet’s term to elbow Onyx. “Will you accept not only this ring but…our hands in marriage?” asked Jet. “For as long as any of us shall live, we promise to love you, cherish you, protect you…and above all?”
“Show you a darn good time, and give you an unforgettable adventure,” said Onyx. “So, what do you say, Ashley? Will you go on the ultimate journey with us?”
“Oh, Onyx…Jet…of course, I will!” said Ashley.
That’s all the guys needed to hear. Jet slipped the ring on Ashley’s finger, and before she could have even a second to appreciate the custom designed ring, Onyx had scooped Ashley up and was carrying her into her bedroom.
“Are you ready to go on the first part of your adventure?” asked Onyx, leaning in to kiss Ashley on the cheek.
“I’ll never be more ready,” said Ashley. “Are you sure you’re ready, given all my baggage?”
“Any journey worth going on requires plenty of baggage,” said Jet, as he opened the door to her bedroom, to their new lives together. “And Ashley?”
“Yeah?” asked Ashley.
Jet leaned in to kiss Ashley as she was lowered to the bed. “You didn’t have to do anything to get us back because you never lost us.”
Epilogue
Six Months Later
Over the next six months, things for Ashley, Jet, and Onyx went back to normal, but at the same time? Ashley’s life would never be the same because she no longer had the self-doubt about dating and commitment that had kept her up for all too many sleepless nights.
Of course, with the copious video evidence placing her at the scene of both fire alarm pullings, Jet and Onyx�
��s stalker was put away. She’d hid her face in the videos, but worn the same purse to Bear Buns and the theater…and to her trial. Plus, the video Jet had taken contained her admission of guilt, and her credit card records showed that she had purchased tickets to both Bear Buns and ‘Franklin’ on the nights of the fire alarm pullings. It was an open and shut case.
With the waitress out of the way, Ashley had time to focus on herself and her relationship. Even though she had self-doubts at first, by the time the wedding came along, she was confident in her ability to fully love both her sexy pandas. She also had a symbol of pride that she carried with her at all times, and it wasn’t the engagement ring. It was the tattoo on her chest, which she had filled in at a local tattoo parlor so that her mark would match the marks on her mates’ chests. It was the best engagement gift that Jet and Onyx could’ve ever hoped for because when they saw their fated mate’s new ink on her curves, they knew that she was in this to win it, and she wasn’t about to let anyone scare her away from loving them…not even herself.
The trio had a mixed tradition wedding in Seattle, consisting of a mix of Western and Eastern traditions. While the bride and grooms wore Western wedding apparel, they wore it in red, which was good luck in Chinese culture and the traditional color of Chinese wedding garb. While tradition dictated that the men send out pastries to announce their impending nuptials, they had opted for cupcakes with candy toppers printed with the wedding info, alongside the Western paper invitations, instead of the traditional Chinese pastries. Of course, the food was to die for, a mix of Eastern and Western cuisine, with Peking roasted duck served alongside American fried chicken, with mini egg rolls and mini burritos served on the same platters. After all, weddings were about families coming together, and with that came the mixing of cultures.
